Speedbump's Dump

Tri-ing again

2011-07-20T23:24:00.000-07:00

Last year, I "competed" in my first triathlon, the Try-a-tri at the Chelanman Multisport weekend in Chelan. The Try-a-tri featured a 1/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and a 3.1 mile run and was intended to introduce newcomers to the sport in a non-competitive way. Despite very challenging swim conditions and the fact that I am a very poor swimmer, I made it through and found it to be kind of fun.

Thus, early this past Sunday, I again found myself standing in Lake Chelan waiting for my wave to start. This year, however, I was entered in the Sprint event (1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 3.1mile run) and although many were there just to finish, this was definitely a competitive event. As I mentioned, I'm not a great swimmer and knew I would be near the back when we came out of the water and would have to rely on my cycling and to a lesser extent my running for whatever result I might achieve.

The morning of the race blessed me with very calm waters and little wind which raised my confidence for the swim leg. Soon the countdown was complete and I was underway dropping to the back of my wave with a mixture of backstroke, sidestroke, and occasional freestyle. As the meters went by, I became a little more comfortable and gradually began to pass a few other swimmers. I certainly wasn't threatening the leaders, but at least I wasn't going to be last out of the water.

The beach finally arrived and I headed for my bike with the knowledge that I was now going to be moving forward through the field. I quickly got my jersey, helmet, and shoes on and headed out on the course. My legs were a little noodly from the swim, but I was clearly going well and blasting by people like they weren't moving. The rest of the bike leg continued well and I headed into the final leg feeling pretty good about my position.

I am lucky to not have difficulty transitioning from the bike to the run. I've heard that it is common for it to take people quite a bit of distance to adjust to the change to the running motion, but for me as soon as I'm off the bike, I'm ready to run. I headed out on the run and continued to steadily pass people and was only occasionally passed by others. Passing through the final aid station with about a mile to go, I passed a competitor in my age group and soon heard his footsteps following close behind. As the final short hill before the finish approached, I knew he would soon make his move and I just hoped I could match his acceleration. Unfortunately, I was just unable to manage that and finished 10 seconds or so behind him.

All in all,though, my race had been a success, I was 85th overall out of a field of 386 and 7th in my age group. My swim leg was 358th overall ( I told you I was poor), but my bike leg was the fastest overall of the day. I 'll have to spend a little more time in the pool before next year.

2011 Washington State Time Trial Championship

2011-06-09T23:49:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday’s Washington State Time Trial Championships was my last “A” priority event for my 2011 season. After a good month of racing in May that included my best ever effort at the Enumclaw Stage Race, my plan was to do some focused time trial training in the weeks leading up to the event. That was the plan, and as you go through life and racing, you learn that sometime the plan doesn’t come to fruition and you just have to adapt and make do. Life’s other commitments and responsibilities intervened and in the two weeks leading up the State Championships, I rode only twice. I was rested for sure, but not at my best form.

On the plus side, I got to travel to the race with two of my Methow Cycle & Sport – Blue Star Coffee Roasters teammates which was quite entertaining at times and definitely made the hours in the car pass quicker. Sometimes, the journey to the race is the most memorable part of the race weekend. Our dinner experience at a restaurant on the way to the race is one I won’t soon forget as one of the other customers answered the blues musician performing at the restaurant with, “ I don’t play music, but I can appreciate it and I love goats” when asked if he played an instrument. He also added that he could hug a tree and eat a cheeseburger at the same time.

As it has been several times in recent years, the race was held on a course just outside of Tenino. It’s a course that I really enjoy and most of it has been recently resurfaced which made the ride even better. As for the race itself, it was pretty unremarkable. I got off to a good start and settled into my pace easily. I caught a few riders prior to the turnaround. On the way back, I was passed by one rider, but I kept my pace high and felt strong all the way to the finish. My time of 59:18 ended up being good enough for 7^th place in the age 40+ Category 4-5 group. An okay result from an okay time resulting from okay form. Hopefully, next year the plan comes to fruition and the result is a little better!

Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race

2011-05-24T22:48:00.000-07:00

The reasons to race bikes are as varied as the people who race them. Of course it’s easy to enjoy it when you get a high placing and your friends are telling you how well you did, but for me some of the most rewarding races are those where I’ve had nothing on paper to point to when all was said and done. This past weekend at the Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race was such an occasion. The Enumclaw race is a stage race and unlike an omnium where points are awarded in each event based on finish places and totaled for the weekend, all that matters is the total elapsed time for the events for the rider. Ride a great time trial and don’t lose any time in the criterium or road race and you’ll have a high finish.

My time trials are usually solid and this year was no different with my ride being good enough for a 12^th place finish in the Masters C/D field of 47 riders. As for the weekend’s other events, my previous attempts at this race have left me wanting in the “don’t lose any time in the criterium or road race” department which has led to bottom half of the field finishes for the weekend. Road racing is full of moments where you are challenged to push just a little harder, hurt a little more to stay in the race. Ease up in those critical moments and the suffering goes away, but so does the pack and any chance of finishing well. For me, criteriums are full of those moments. The races are usually about 30 minutes long and the middle third is the hardest and where the most doubt creeps in. In the beginning, you’re fresh and have enough energy to hang tough. Somewhere in the middle though, the strength begins to fade, the finish is still a long way off, and it would just be easier to let off a little and let the pack drop you. You have to battle through these moments, and there may be several each lap, and keep telling yourself it’s just a little bit more until the finish. Make it through that middle third of the race and the finish is close enough, you can take a little more hurt and get the job done. This year I successfully fought off the self doubt and lost just 11 seconds to the leaders when a crash caused a split in the field early in the last lap.

The road race at Enumclaw is another race that has given me fits in past attempts. The race consists of three laps of a 14.5 mile circuit that features a long, steep climb up Mud Mountain Road. In previous attempts, I haven’t managed to top out on that climb with the field even once. I have managed to chase back on before being dropped for good, but all previous attempts have ended in big time losses. The ride up the climb is a lot like that middle third of the criterium, lots of suffering and struggle while trying to focus on hanging on a few meters at a time instead of worrying about the miles to come. As the top of the first trip up the climb approached, I was fighting for all I was worth and although I was beginning to lose the battle, I crested the top within easy reach of the pack and caught back on within a quarter mile or so. This was a significant step in the right direction.

The second lap saw me lose contact about two thirds of the way up the climb and then join five other riders in a full throttle chase for the rest of the lap in an attempt to regain contact. We worked very well together and managed to rejoin the main field a mile or so before the final trip up the climb. The chase had left me drained and as soon as the final climb started, I lost contact as the front riders pushed the pace in their bids to set up victory. As the climb went on, the pack’s pace moderated and I actually began to close the gap a little. I was never able to close the gap, however, and was left to trail in a little over four minutes behind at the finish.

The results sheet shows that I finished 23^rd for the weekend out of 47 starters in the Masters C/D field. The real story though, is that this was my best effort at this race and probably my best racing weekend in a couple years.

2011 Wenatchee Omnium

2011-05-17T22:22:00.000-07:00

This was my fourth time participating in the Wenatchee Omnium. I’ve done pretty well at this race in the past even though the road course really doesn’t suit me. The weather forecast for this year’s edition was pretty grim and for the most part, it lived up to the predictions.

The time trial in Wenatchee is usually a windy affair and this year was no exception. In fact this year was the windiest that I have experienced. As a bonus, it was cool and rainy too! The 9.5 mile course is oriented in such a way that you blast out to the turnaround with a big tailwind and then battle the headwind all the way back to the finish. With the wind at my back and my new Easton TT wheels (this was my maiden ride on them) I pushed past 40 mph a couple times on the small descents during the outbound leg. The return leg as you might expect was slower, at times I was down below 15 mph. My time was the slowest for me of my four times at this race but was good enough for 5^th in the Masters C category and got my weekend score off to a good start.

I headed back to the hotel for a nap dreading a wet criterium that afternoon. After rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I was very happy to see the sun shining and dry pavement went I looked out the window after my nap. I usually struggle with the speed of criteriums and this one was no different. For the criterium and the road race the Masters C field would be combined with the Masters D field but be scored separately. I survived about two-thirds of the race before being pulled out by the officials, but still managed an eighth place and a few more points towards my total.

Sunday morning brought the return of the rain. It was going to be a soggy, challenging day on the bike. The road course consisted primarily of a loop that featured a five plus mile long climb that is very steep in spots and would be completed twice. Being a larger rider and not really a climber, this road race is always a case of riding my own pace up the climb trying to limit my losses and bombing the descent to the best of my ability to regain time. I felt that I struggled a little more on the climbs than usual and maybe had a bad day, but still managed a seventh place in the weather induced small field.

Speaking of the weather, it’s not as fun to race in the rain, but on these miserable days, I always think of the volunteers and course marshals that make it possible for us to go racing. As racers, we tell tales of battles in epic conditions, but the volunteers stand in the rain and cold for hours with no recognition or tales of glory. I always make a point of thanking them as I pass by and I hope that the other racers appreciate them as well and let them know.

As for my final weekend placing, I ended up 6^th in the Masters C field. A pretty good result, but I would have liked a faster time trial and to have felt better on the climbs. Five days of recovery and I’ll do it all again at Enumclaw.

2011 Frozen Flatlands Omnium

2011-04-06T23:24:00.000-07:00

Finally! This past weekend it was finally time to get out and race on the road. I made my annual trek to the Frozen Flatlands Omnium in Cheney, Washington. The weekend’s events included a short time trial and a 24 mile road race on Saturday and a 50 mile road race on Sunday. Points are awarded for high finishes in each event and the rider with the most points at the end of weekend wins. This was the fourth year I had raced in this omnium and as usual I approached the weekend of racing with training as my primary goal. I wanted to ride a solid time trial, but I had no expectations of results in the road races. As a bonus, I would be introducing two of my Methow Cycle & Sport – Blue Star Coffee Roasters Cycling Team junior teammates to the world of road racing as this would be their first time racing on pavement.

In all my previous visits to this race, weather has been a factor at some point and this trip was no different. Saturday we awoke to temperatures in the upper 30s and sideways rain with high winds. By the start of my time trial, at least the rain had ended but the cold and wind was still in full effect. This year, the organizers had required that “mass start legal” bikes be used for the time trial which meant no specialized time trial bikes with aero handlebars. Essentially, everyone rode their regular road racing machines. When the weather is crappy, it tends to dampen my enthusiasm and I’m a little slower to get my act together for my pre-race routine and thus my usual 45 minute warm up was more like 15 minutes. Despite that, my time trial went pretty well and I managed an eighth place in the Masters 40+ field.

The weather continued to improve and by the afternoon we had sunshine and dry roads for the weekend’s “short” road race of 24 miles. The wind was still howling and as the conditions had been identical last year, I was pretty confident of how the race would develop and where I would need to be when. Last year, the race broke up during the last 5 miles of rolling hills and crosswinds. I expected this year to be no different. Unfortunately, some inattention on my part found me bridging to rejoin the main field as we entered the last five miles when I realized that the half-dozen riders around me were no longer attached to the main group. I rejoined the main pack soon enough but the damage was done. As the pace hotted up and the wind and rollers did their part, I yo-yoed off the back a couple times and then was gone for good. I trailed into the finish off the back.

The “long” road race on Sunday was blessed with sunny weather and significantly lighter winds. Although it was another off-the-back finish for me (I’ve never finished the long road race in contact with the pack), I was very encouraged to have ridden comfortably in the pack for the first 40 miles to the key climb in the race before becoming detached. The weekend had met my goals going in: a solid time trial and some valuable road race training miles which will serve me well as the season progresses. As for the weekend omnium standings, my time trial netted me enough points to finish 19th in the Masters 40+ field.

Coming along nicely

2011-03-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday was my second race of the year and the third race in the Singletrack Cycles Westside Mountain Bike Series. It was held on the trails at King County’s Soaring Eagle Park near Sammamish. Having last raced nearly a month ago, I was hoping to see a little improvement in my riding and my results just to let me know my early season training is progressing as it should. While this is event was still “just for fun” in my mind and having no real expectations for it, I decided I needed to approach it a little more seriously to test my early season fitness appropriately. The race started up a gradual climb for maybe a ¼ mile before entering the singletrack that made up nearly all of the course. Another feature of this opening stretch was a fairly significant muddy section over the upper half that tried to slow you down just when you were fighting for position to enter the singletrack.

I charged up the hill with the rest of the field, trying to hold my position through the sticky mud and be as far up as I could entering the singletrack. I certainly went out harder than I had at the first race of the season. I was moderately successful and entered the singletrack approximately mid-pack. This course was far less technical than the Dash Point course had been and really had only a few spots that were really muddy or rooty. I tried to push as hard as I could throughout the race, but kept developing bouts of nausea. Whether it was from effort or too big a breakfast, I’m not sure. I’d ease my pace a bit and then begin to feel better.

For two and a half of the three laps, I felt pretty good, not great, but good enough for this point in the season. For that last half lap though, I really began to feel the effort and lost any sense of smoothness or flow on the trails. All my turn ins were late and I began to miss my lines. I made my way through it though and ended up 14th in the Sport 40-49 field. Definitely an improvement over a month earlier as was the gap to the leader. All in all, the training seems to be progressing right on schedule with my first road race less than two weeks away now and I’m excited for my “real” racing to begin.

Getting a little dirty....

2011-02-22T16:45:00.000-08:00

I decided to begin my racing season at this past weekend’s opener of the Singletrack Cycles Westside Mountain Bike Series. It was a great chance to stretch my legs a bit in anticipation of the 2011 road racing season. The race was held at Dash Point State Park on a really fun course made up of slightly muddy and rooty singletrack with just enough elevation change to give the heart and lungs a real workout. The weather gods even cooperated, providing racers with sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 30s. All in all, a great recipe for an early season mountain bike race.

Being primarily a roadie, I generally don’t race my mountain bike more than a few times a year and then usually with no real expectations. My approach to this race was just to use it to add a little intensity to my training and as an excuse to escape the snows of the Methow Valley, if only for a day. My race started pretty calmly with me settled in near the back of a thirty or so strong field strung out nose to tail on the twisty singletrack trails. It took a good part of the partial lap that opened the race before enough space was appearing between riders to get a good look at the trails and to begin to think about passing.

As the course began to reveal itself (I didn’t get a chance to pre-ride), I was reminded of just how much fun the correct amount of mud can be. You need enough to get dirty and make the ride a little tricky, but not so much that it bogs you down. I was very happy to have left large aggressive tires on my bike as opposed to the faster rolling tires I might have usually opted for. Although this early season effort put the hurt on me at times, playing in the mud for most of the race left me giddy.

From a competitive standpoint, the race passed pretty unremarkably. I passed a few riders here and there, got passed by others, and continually swapped places with a couple more. When the end finally came, I’d finished 20th of 27, or about what I would have expected for my current fitness. I had a lot of fun and may try to add a couple more mountain bike races to my schedule before the road season kicks off for me in a couple months.

Getting the riding season started.......on snow!

2011-01-30T11:40:00.000-08:00

Although snow storms have been sparse in the Methow Valley this January, it is still the middle of winter and icy roads have kept the bike riding options somewhat limited. This year I decided to try a couple of new (to me) ideas to open up some other outdoor options for riding my bike in the middle of winter. The shop I work at, Methow Cycle & Sport, has a demo Surly Pugsley, which for those who are unfamiliar with them, is a bike designed for soft surfaces. It features tires that are nearly four inches wide and are run at very low pressures to get better traction and flotation on soft surfaces such as snow. For my first ride of the year, I decided to take it out and see what it could do.

I took it to the local wildlife area and found some trails that had been packed slightly by snowmobile traffic. These were not "groomed" snowmobile routes, but just areas that had been tracked a few times by snowmobiles passing by. It was a ridiculous amount of fun. Given the couple feet of snow cover, it was essentially like riding on an elevated trail. The occasional soft spot or steering mistake was rewarded (not punished) with a short flight into a pillowy soft landing. I probably only took one or two diggers at any significant speed, but they left me laughing not cringing. It was so cool being in an area that I typically only access this time of year on snowshoes or touring skis. If you have the opportunity to try one of these "fat bikes", I highly recommend it.

Given the success of the "fat" tires on a moderately packed trail, I decided to see how my 29er with 2.4" tires on it would fare on a more firmly packed surface. A recent warm period followed by cold had left the groomed trails at Loup Loup's South Summit Sno-Park very firm. To my delight, the riding was excellent. The tires sunk just enough to provide excellent traction without unduly slowing my progress. To be fair, riding a regular mountain bike on groomed snowmobile trails is going to be very dependent on conditions that provide the firmest platform possible. However, I got in a couple hour ride on a beautiful Methow winter day outside in the middle of January. I'll take that over the indoor trainer anytime!

Putting a wrap on 2010

2010-12-31T23:17:00.000-08:00

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

2010-09-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-08T23:39:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-26T00:33:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-04T23:23:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-22T23:03:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-04-06T15:57:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-04-03T23:20:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-06T23:57:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-16T16:54:00.000-08:00

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.

Another year down...

2009-12-31T17:57:00.000-08:00

With the year drawing to a close, it's a natural time to look back and reflect on the previous twelve months. 2009 was a great season for me. My level of riding was a little higher than previous years and I saw some improved results as well. Most importantly though, riding and racing remained just as fun as it always has. A change of jobs to a more bike focused shop in the early spring also helped reinforce my passion for all things bicycle.

It was a year with more highlights than lowlights. My first mountain bike race in years in February was a whole lot of fun and went better than I should have expected given my fitness at that time of year. A training ride in the Okanogan area in May led to the discovery of some great new training routes to put in my repetoire. May was also the month I raced for the first time at the Enumclaw omnium, an extremely well run and enjoyable race weekend.

Midsummer and July brought a mixed bag. One of my season's big goals, the state time trial championships, passed with a disappointing effort and result. Only one week later, however, I turned in a career result at the state masters omnium championship with a second place time trial result and a sixth place for the weekend in the Masters C field.

Late summer and fall racing and training brought more fun and enjoyable miles on the bike. Now, I'm back in the gym and looking forward to 2010 and hopefully another season of all good things bicycle.

Thoughts from Interbike .........finally.

2009-11-20T21:48:00.000-08:00

It's been two months now since I went to Interbike, the bike industry's yearly gathering in Las Vegas, and now that everything new and wow for next year has been in the press, I thought I'd offer at least a couple of observations on bikes and equipment I tried at the demos and stuff I saw on the show floor.

My first full day in Vegas was spent at Bootleg Canyon at the OutDoor Demo riding several 2010 road and mountain bikes from a variety of manufacturers. I had the opportunity to try new rides from Orbea, BH, Pivot, Rocky Mountain, Felt, and Scott. The demos are a great chance to try different bikes and make direct comparisons since they are all being tried on the same terrain in the same conditions. As most manufacturers are really pushing their flagships, its also an opportunity to ride some bikes that I could never afford.

On the mountain bike side of things, I only sampled 29ers as I am a total convert to the big wheel thing. They just roll so well and handle the trails in my part of the world so well that I will never have another little wheeled bike again. The bikes I tried ranged from a full carbon Felt hardtail that was an absolute rocket, definitely a race-bred machine, to 4" travel full suspension bikes from Rocky and Pivot. Aluminum hardtails from Rocky and Scott filled the middle ground. The full-squishies were nice, but the inherent smoothness of the larger wheels has me thinking my next bike is going to be a 29er hardtail. One feature that a few of the bikes had that made a big difference in their handling was the new 15mm through axle front hub and fork combo. It just makes the front end track much more precisely and really livens up the bike.

On the road side of things, all the bikes I tried were plastic, oops I mean carbon, and were definitely some of the nicest rides I've had the opportunity to try. The upper limit was the BH G5 with Dura-Ace Di2 electric shifting. Way out of my price range, but what a race bike. After riding mountain bikes all morning, I nearly dumped it when I stood up to sprint on it as the handling was much quicker than I was used to. It wasn't twitchy or squirrely though, just very responsive. If you race, you'd love it. If you like to do 6 hour rides and look at the birds flying by, you might end up in a ditch after the late ride fatigue and inattentiveness sets it. And Di2 is simply amazing. Hopefully, the technology will become affordable before I'm too old to make use of it. After the BH, I rode a new 6700 Ultegra equipped Orbea Orca. This was definitely and all day type of bike. It was light and responsive (everything in this price range is) but more forgiving than the full-race BH. As for the new version Ultegra, I was underwhelmed. The shift lever effort has gone up considerably with the routing of the cables under the tape and the crispness of the rear shifting just isn't there in my opinion. I'll keep my 6600 thanks.

The best blend of raciness and all-day comfort was the Felt AR2. That bike felt perfect as soon as I rolled off on it. The Felt B2 time trial bike I tried however was a little dissapointing. I'm not sure what I expected and to be fair a TT bike is so much about your position being comfortable on it that without taking the time to fit it well, its tough to get a meaningful demo of one, but it just didn't feel all that fast or impressive to me.

As for observations from the show floor itself, after ten annual trips to Interbike, a lot of it looks the same, but a few things always stand out. The SRAM XX group looks pretty cool (although I'm sure out of most mortals' price ranges) and the rear cassette is an amazing piece of machine work. Last year, I raved about the Blackburn Flea lights and this year they've made them even better with a model that charges off of a USB port or even a solar cell. White is pretty widespread for mountain bike parts now as a color, but there are more disturbing color trends in the near future. For those of you who remember anodized parts in all the colors of the rainbow, they appear to be coming back with even large manufacturers like SRAM getting in on the action. And the color of choice for the coming year or two appears to be gold. Truth be told some of the gold parts and accents look nice to me, kind of a brushed brass look, but some of it is really, really hideous and should only be seen on a chain around someone's neck surrounded by a polyester shirt.

That's my take on the highlights of Interbike 2009. Only ten months to go 'til next time.........

Ride 542 - A fine way to close out my season

2009-09-27T22:33:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, I headed over to the west side to take part in Ride 542, which is a recreational ride/race up the Mt. Baker highway from the town of Glacier to Artist's Point. I've done this event the past two years and have always enjoyed it a lot and have found that its mix of recreational riders and hard core racers make for a relaxed vibe that is a really enjoyable way to close out my road season. The past two editions had been blessed with spectacular weather and this year was no different with temps in the upper 70s and plenty of sun.

The first part of the course is kind of rolling with a couple short climbs while steadily gaining elevation. This first part is about 14 miles or so. Then, the final 10 miles are the serious climb broken only by a short flat section in the vicinity of the Mt. Baker ski area. For me the question is always do I push hard and burn matches trying to hang with the front group for the first 14 miles and hope I have something left for the "real" climb or do I throttle back a little and ride with a smaller group so that I know I have something left for the climb.

The first year I did this event, I eased out of the back of the pack almost immediately and found a small group to ride with for the first part of the course. This seemed like the safest strategy seeing as how I had never ridden the climb before and I wanted to make sure I wouldn't blow before the top. Last year with the confidence of a successful first year behind me, I fought to stay in the main bunch and then got up the climb with what I had left. Having turned in a slightly faster time with last year's strategy, I decided to try and hang with the bunch again this year.

I got lined up a little too far back in the pack and in a group of 260 or so that can make a big difference. I spent a lot of energy early closing gaps and moving around slower riders to maintain contact with the group. On the Powerhouse climb (the longest of the climbs in the first part of the course) I finally lost contact for good. I rode alone for a mile or so, caught in the no man's land between groups, and then was finally caught up by a group of about ten riders. We continued to make a good pace and soon we were at the base of the main climb with 10 miles to go.

A couple riders in the group continued to push the pace and I decided that their tempo was more than I was going to be able to sustain. I let them and the remnants of the group go and settled into my own rhythm. I caught and dropped a couple of them a few miles later when the aggressive early tempo turned out to be too much for them. One of these riders would catch back to me later and we would swap positions the rest of the ride with neither one of us ever getting more than a couple hundred meters on the other.

Once through the "flat" at the ski area, the final five kilometers are marked with signs and the road is steeper and even features numerous switchbacks just to make it interesting. If you're into that kind of thing, there are even spectacular views of the surrounding peaks. I continued to try and maintain the fastest pace that I thought I could hold. The kilometer signs slowly counted down, and I must say I did not feel as bad at this point as I had the previous two trips up the climb. Soon I was in the final kilometer and round the final switchback and digging towards the finish. As I rounded the last bend and headed for the line, I was annoyed to find that nearly the entire road was blocked by a race vehicle attempting to get parked just shy of the line. I had to slow slightly, but the situation was an annoyance and not a serious time loss.

I crossed the finish and had recorded a time of 1:45:24. Again, I was just over one hour and 45 minutes. I have done this event three times now with three different approaches and all my times are within a span of 23 seconds. I'll continue to try and break the 1:45:00 mark. This year I struggled a bit early, but definitely felt the best of the three attempts on the main climb. Next year, I'll be back to give it another shot.

Sometimes things are uphill

2009-08-25T23:12:00.000-07:00

This past saturday was the Washington State Hillclimb Championships at Crystal Mountain. The event is put on by the Wheelsport Cycling Team and they do a great job putting on a fun event. The entry fee even includes a post race barbeque lunch. Coming as close as it does to the end of the road racing season in Washington, the event has kind of a relaxed vibe to it as for a lot of racers it is one of their last events of the season.

The course is straightforward. It begins at the bottom of Crystal Mountain Boulevard just off of Highway 410 and climbs for about 6 miles to the finish in the main parking lot at the base of the ski hill. It gains a little over 1600 feet in the six miles. It is run just like any other time trial with riders starting at thirty second intervals. An interesting addition at this race is that you weigh in at the finish and they have a prize based on the rider's time-to-weight ratio as well as the tradtional competition on elapsed time.

I had done this race once before in 2007 and had managed to clock in just under 30 minutes at 29:48. I added a lot of climbing to my training rides in the last month or two and hoped that would help me to improve on my previous time. Other than that, I really didn't have any great hopes as I don't generally consider myself much of a climber.

My turn to start arrived and I eased onto the early pitches of the climb. I maintained a steady but somewhat relaxed pace for the first couple minutes to give my body a chance to settle in and adjust to the effort. I then began to lift my effort to my target heartrate and establish a rhythm. The mantra of "good pain, feeling strong" repeated over and over in my head in sync with my breathing helped me lock in on my pace. Just after the first mile passed, I caught and passed my 30 second man and caught my one minute man maybe a mile later. I was feeling good and staying focused on the task at hand.

At around the 2.5 mile mark a rider came steaming past me. I resisted the temptation to try and lift my pace and instead maintained my own rhythm. He had lifted his pace to get around me as he did not pull away all that quickly. The middle of the course flattens out for a bit and I was able to match his pace across that section. When the steeps returned, he gradually left me behind though.

As the climb continued, it looked like I was going to be very close to my goal of bettering my time and this provided even more motivation. I was able to push harder and stand occasionally as the consequences of blowing up became less as the finish grew closer. The 200m to go sign passed and I dug in and clawed my way up the final rise to the finish to post a time of 29:43, five seconds better than my previous effort.

My wife and I went to the BBQ and waited for the results to be posted. I really wasn't expecting much as in 2007 I was 12th out of 16 in the Masters C field. I was in for a pleasant surprise though. When the results were posted, I had achieved a 9th place out of 23 in the Masters C field. That was quite unexpected and capped off a great day for me. In hindsight, I think that conditions were slightly faster in 2007 with a stronger tailwind up the climb. So this years time was only an improvement of five seconds, but effort and work wise it was a bigger improvement.

The last event for me this season is another "uphill" task. In a few weeks, I'll take on Ride 542, the Mount Baker Hillclimb, for the third time. Hopefully, another surprising improvement is in store.

Masters Omnium Criterium - 7 seconds can be an eternity

2009-07-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

Sunday evening was the final event in the Washington state masters omnium championship. Shortly before 7pm, the masters C field rolled off the start line for a 30 minute long criterium. I managed to have probably the worst start of my career. As can happen occasionally, I had difficulty getting my foot clipped into my pedal quickly. No big deal. I figured I'd pedal a few strokes unclipped to stay near the pack and try again. In the process of doing that, my chain dropped off. With my speed dropping, I urgently tried to shift my chain back on and get my foot in my pedal. Just as I was about to hop off and put the chain back on by hand, it finally shifted on and my foot clipped in and I was off in pursuit of the pack. It seemed at the time like this crisis had taken forever, but in watching video today that my wife shot, I saw that the whole mess transpired in seven seconds. Still, I was left with a pretty good gap to close to the pack. It took half a lap but I managed to rejoin the group and try to settle in for the race. Fortunately, masters tend to ease into their races. If that had been a category 4-5 pack, which usually start full gas, I'm not sure I would have gotten back. As I caught the pack, I took a deep breath and told myself that must have been my bad luck for the race.

The course was basically flat and sort of triangular in shape. Each lap was about a kilometer in length and enclosed a few blocks around city hall. The pace was fairly quick but steady. Only a few attacks tried to get away during the race. Unlike most of my criterium experiences in recent years, I was quite comfortable and was able to focus on positioning and trying to get a result rather than just hanging on. As the race wore on, I tried different pack positions and lines through the last couple corners to see what might work. As the last lap began, the pace elevated as expected and I was only able to hold a mid-pack position. We all got through the last two corners safely and began the sprint down the finishing straight. Although, I didn't manage to move up more than a place after the last corner I also managed not to lose any spots. After crossing the line, I counted the riders in front of me and realized I had finished 13th. With points going 15 deep, I was in a points paying position.

I had been sitting 5th in the omnium standings after my strong time trial result earlier in the day and these few points from the criterium might help me keep a high omnium finish. They did. I slipped one spot, but finished the weekend in 6th place in the omnium standings for the masters C field. It was easily my best complete weekend of racing of my career. Its been a while coming, but it feels really good.

Masters Omnium TT - That's what I'm talking about

2009-07-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

Usually, when I go to omniums, I put in good time trials. I'm usually in the points and generally somewhere between 7th and 10th place. I've been waiting for the day when I put it all together and jump a little further up the results table. Today was that day.

Today's TT was eight miles in length and started at the Padilla Bay Interpretive center and headed north. The profile in the tech guide made the course look like it had a good size hill to climb over in the middle of it, once each way. The reality was that it started on a plateau overlooking Padilla Bay for a couple miles and then dropped down onto the flats for a couple miles until the turnaround. The only real hill was on the return leg climbing back up onto the plateau and it wasn't all that bad.

I started well and settled into a pretty good pace right away. Typically, the first challenge in a TT is to avoid going out too strong and blowing up. With tired legs from yesterday's road race, I don't think anyone had that problem. I overheard numerous comments in the parking lot after the race regarding rider's inability to elevate their heartrates to their usual levels. Today was less about finding that perfect max aerobic pace and more about just pushing through the pain and fatigue caused by yesterday. It was akin to the last rep or two in a weightlifting set in the gym. The whole race was just trying to keep pushing a little more.

I dropped off the plateau and down onto the flats. This stretch of the course to the turnaround was dead flat and straight for two miles. It was a little like being on a treadmill, there wasn't much sensation of movement. I made a decent turn, maybe a little wider than necessary, and got back on the gas for the return leg. The flats passed quickly and I was faced with getting back up onto the plateau. Again, blowing up wasn't much of a risk, so I just stood and kept the wheels turning as quick as I could.

Back up top, I could see the rider who started thirty seconds ahead of me, and although I wasn't going to catch him, by marking his time as he passed the 1k to go mark I could tell I was a couple seconds ahead of him. I dug in and really tried to lift my pace as all I could think of is that it would be a drag to lose a place to him when I was up with a kilometer to go.

I crossed the line and saw on my watch that my time was in the neighborhood of 18:30 for the 8 miles. Not too bad. I was sure I'd be in the points and probably well in the top-10. When the results were posted, I'd managed 2nd place, only about 5 seconds behind first. And my thirty second man? He was in third, two seconds behind me.

2009 State Masters Omnium - Road Race

2009-07-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

Today was the first event in the Washington State Masters and Juniors Omnium Championships. Unlike most omniums which start with a time trial, today featured the road race with a time trial and criterium on tap for tomorrow. The road race was held on the challenging Northshore road race circuit which is about 8 miles per lap and has about 500 feet of climbing per lap divided primarily between two main climbs. A strong wind was blowing as well providing that extra touch.

After my disappointment with my effort and result at last weekend's state TT championship, I was hopeful that this weekend's racing would help me put that behind me. I didn't get a chance to pre-ride or drive the course so when I rolled away from the start with 36 other masters C riders, it was a little bit of a voyage into the unknown. Our race was to be 6 laps plus another time up the first climb to the finish at the top. This would leave us with a tally of about 50 miles and 3300 feet of climbing for the day.

In less than a mile, the first climb began. It was kind of a stair step affair with sections of various steepness but gained a couple hundred feet in about a mile. The pack took it at a fairly relaxed pace, with everyone still loosening up a little bit. After the "frontside" climb, the course had a long mostly flat, downwind leg that kept the speed nice and high. At this early point in the race, I was mostly still settling in and taking notice of any riders whose pack riding skills, or lack thereof, might make them a hazard to be avoided. Usually these riders are no longer in contact after a lap or two. Today was no exception. The rider that most worried me today had a habit of changing which wheel he was following without making sure he was clear. It's fairly amazing he didn't take anyone down, but he was off the back on lap two.

After the fast downwind section, the course turned and headed back into the wind and towards the other main climb, which also had the feed zone located at the top of it. The wind on this section was strong and as we turned onto it, the pack would stretch a little and riders near the back would have to sprint out of the corner to close back up with the group. I suspect more than a couple tired riders lost contact at this point today as the wind took its toll.

The "feed zone" climb was simlilar in size to the frontside climb, but was much more steady in its grade. It was followed by a fast, steady descent back down to the start area. On the descent, there was a couple spots with crosswinds that seemed to make life difficult for those racers running deep section wheels. You could certainly tell who had ridden their fancy wheels in the wind before, and those who had not.

The first few laps were marked by occasional attempts by riders to form breakaways. As would be expected on this course, the pack was also steadily losing numbers out the back. I think it was on lap four that a breakaway of four or so riders finally got a good gap and disappeared off into the distance. By this time the remaining field was down to about 15 riders or so. The pack had been pretty quiet up to this point. Generally, there is a little small talk going on between riders throughout the race, but I think today's effort kept the chat to a minimum. On lap 5 that changed, I think we all came to the same conclusion, the break was gone and with two laps to go there was no reason squander our individual chances chasing it. With omnium points going 15 deep, everyone still in the pack was in the running. The pace eased noticeably and the small talk picked up. Even approaching the feedzone climb for the last time, guys were chatting away like it was a weekend club ride.

We came down the descent quite leisurely, as everyone was waiting for the final time up the front side climb and the "bonus" 200m long climb on a side road to the finish line. As we rolled onto the bottom of the climb, I tried to be patient and get up it at my own pace, but obviously as fast as possible. I was pretty spent by this point and although I lost contact with the group, I was still hopeful I might pick off a straggler or two by the top and get into the points. As it was I caught and dropped only one but was able to hold him off to the line. The final 200m turned off onto a side road and was the steepest part of the whole race. By the time I was halfway up it, I was seeing stars. I got across the line and was quite relieved to be done and extremely happy with how I had ridden on this challenging course. For the record, I missed out on the points, but I did finish 17th out of 37 starters. Hopefully, I've got something left in the legs for tomorrow's time trial.

2009 State TT Championship - Dealing with disappointment

2009-07-14T23:10:00.000-07:00

When I reconned the course for this year's time trial championship a few weeks ago, I realized it was going to be a challenge and that conditions would play a big part. As I arrived at the race site this past sunday, a stiff wind was blowing and it was clearly going to be a big headwind for the return leg of the race. The course also featured a sizable hill to climb over within a mile or so of the turnaround point. This was going to be a day where correct pacing would be critical. I felt good warming up and although I didn't expect to set the world on fire, I felt I was ready and capable of doing a good ride and turning in a solid time.

I rolled off the start line quickly and settled in to a slightly reserved pace. The small roller a half mile into the race passed easily and with a strong tailwind, I was flying right along. Knowing I had a big hill to get over twice and a strong headwind to battle on the return trip, I tried to hold back just a bit on the way out and not give into the temptation to ride like a wind-aided hero only to half nothing left for the second half. At mile 10, the kilometer long climb began, and I got up it fairly quickly and down the other side without being blown off the road at 45mph in the buffeting winds. The climb broke my rhythm a bit, but I found it again just before the turnaround.

The turnaround was uneventful. Usually, I wouldn't even mention the turn, but this course was on a highway that had "rumble strips" on the centerline. I hadn't even thought about them until the manmade potholes appeared before me as I rounded the cone. The wind was immediately apparent as I headed back towards the hill. The return side of the hill was a little steeper and featured the headwind as well. I struggled a little on it and probably lost a fair amount of time. Over the hill and down the other side, all that was left was to fight as hard as possible into the wind back to the finish. I struggled at times to keep my speed above 20mph and dropped as low as 17mph at times. I got back to the finish with a time on my stopwatch of about 1:02. I knew it wasn't a great time, but given the conditions, I thought it might place me mid-field or so.

I went and cooled down and then back to the car to change clothes and have a snack. An hour had passed since I crossed the finish so I headed over to check out the results. To my shock, I was listed in last place with a time of over 1:24, worse yet the results had been posted a half hour earlier, so by rule, it was too late to protest them. I asked a volunteer if the officials were still around, but was informed that they had left. My correct time was only going to move me up a couple places, it really was a poor ride, but I at least wanted to know what my actual time was. I sent an e-mail to the results company when I got home pointing out the error and they were able to get my correct time to me the next day, 1:02:12. It was only good enough for 15th out of 18 riders in the masters C field.

After getting home that evening, showering, and eating some dinner, it struck me that I really didn't feel all that tired. I definitely did not "leave it all on the course". For whatever reason, I had a bad day and couldn't or didn't push myself hard enough. This event had been a main priority for my season so I am pretty bummed, but life goes on. My next race is the state masters omnium championships in Bellingham next weekend. At the very least, I'll try to get back on track in the TT.

Tdf Team Time Trial - F1 on a dirt oval?

2009-07-07T15:37:00.000-07:00

Today's team time trial stage of the Tour certainly proved suspenseful and exciting but at times it also seemed a little absurd. I'm all for a technical time trial course rather than just a straight wide highway but asking nine guys to ride full-gas with precision and focus on a narrow, super twisty course in a windy part of the world is a little like asking Formula One cars to put on their best performance on a 1/4-mile dirt oval.

Pros riding a team time trial should be about speed, power, and poetry in motion, not who can navigate a super complicated roundabout without falling over or blasting off into the weeds. Furthermore, a course like today's puts the lower budget teams at even more of a disadvantage as they probably don't have the time or resources to dedicate to the ultra-thorough reconnaisance required to ride the course at top speed without falling all over themselves.

Lets keep the dirt track cars on the dirt tracks and Formula One cars on the road race circuits.

2009 State Time Trial Championship course preview

2009-06-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I put the bike on the car and headed down to Ellensburg to check out the course for the Washington State Time Trial Championships, which will be held July 12th on a course that winds through the Yakima River Canyon. Since the race announcement describes the course as mostly flat with one short climb in both directions, I thought it would be useful to ride those climbs for myself on my TT bike so that I would know what I'd be in for on race day.

I found my way to the start area and parked at Helen McCabe State Park at the mouth of the canyon. The "park" consists of some undeveloped land owned by the state and a large pond which is a local fishing hole. Having gone to school in Ellensburg for a couple of years, I was not surprised to have very windy conditions for my reconnaissance ride. I changed into my riding clothes, got the bike off the car, and headed out on the course. The course is on a fairly busy, two-lane highway through the Yakima River Canyon. On the weekday afternoon I rode, there was a fair amount of traffic and I can't imagine it will be any quieter on race weekend since the canyon is a very popular recreation area.

The course has a small roller within the first (and last) half mile or so and then flattens out. The pavement is so-so for the first few miles. The roadway was originally sectioned concrete and has been paved and chipsealed over throughout its history. This has left the surface uneven and cracked in spots and there are occasional small potholes as well. It's not really bad, but it will require attention on the part of the rider, especially on the return trip when fatigue is at its greatest. The next several miles are flat with better pavement and unremarkable.....until the climb at mile ten.

The "short climb" is about a kilometer long and on the outbound leg appears to be about 4% or 5%, it is immediately followed by a descent of about the same length. The return leg side of climb is slightly steeper, maybe 6% or so. Both descents are straight forward without any turns to worry about. Since the climb is about two miles from the turnaround, there is effectively about four miles between the two significant sections of climbing in the ride. This should provide some chance to recover.

The wind will likely be the biggest factor on this course. The canyon twists around quite a bit so the wind direction the rider feels will change a lot. In addition, the wind swirls a lot in the canyon. Some places are quite sheltered and others are pretty exposed to the wind. If it is very windy, light riders and those who don't like gusty crosswinds may want to consider their wheel choices carefully.

After previewing the course, I got back to the car and noticed that the parking lot was empty. I started to put my stuff in the trunk and noticed a mosquito on my arm and dispatched him with a swat. She was not alone. I was immediately swarmed by mosquitoes and frantically threw my bike on the car and got out of there as quickly as possible. It appeared there had been a large hatch of mosquitoes at the pond while I was on my ride. I must have had fifteen or twenty bites on each leg in the few minutes it took to get the bike loaded up. I don't envy the race officials who will have to hang out in this area if there is another hatch on race day.

Overall, it will be a challenging course. Personally, I'd prefer it without the hills, but that's just me whining. In a couple weeks we'll see how it rides at race pace.

Methow Valley Tour omnium - Road Race

2009-06-14T22:59:00.000-07:00

My goal for today's road race stage of the 2009 Methow Valley Tour omnium was to stay out of trouble and finish with the bunch. Happily, I achieved that goal. It was a beautiful morning for a bike race with clear skies, temps in the 70s and only a little wind. The race for the category 4/5 field consisted of 4 laps of the the 13.5 mile Chewuch loop for a total of 54 miles. Once each lap we passed right through the center of downtown Winthrop.

Like last year, the first lap was pretty mellow. Our field of 70 or so rolled out neutral until we had passed through town and were out on the East Chewuch Road for the first time. When the officials honked their horn signalling us to race, there was no immediate acceleration as usually occurs. The pack continued at a pretty comfortable pace for the rest of the first lap, seemingly in no real hurry. That changed on the second lap.

Coming through town to start our second lap, the pace went up considerably and people began to drop off the back on the hills. I made sure I closed gaps in front of me and stayed in contact. Looking at video my wife shot of our pack each lap as we passed through the finish area, it looks like we lost at least a third of the field that lap.

On lap three, the pace seemed to relax again. Last year, the race became very nervous on lap three culminating in a crash that took down or delayed about half the field. This year, there seemed to me to be less of that. There was one solo attack for about half a lap, but other than that, very little aggression or driving of the pace and very little twitchiness in the pack.

I thought for sure that the pace would elevate again for the final lap and that riders might try their luck at getting off the front. The pace was high as we passed through town, but on the hill leaving town it was only slightly higher than the previous lap and the other hills on the East Chewuch were taken similarly. There were no serious attacks and the bunch seemed resigned to a sprint finish as we headed back in the West Chewuch Road and the final 6 miles or so to the finish.

To this point, I was not aware of any crashes in our field although their had been one or two close calls with the customary skidding and cussing from the involved riders. As we crested one of the final rises a few miles from the finish, I heard a rider go down behind me and off to the other side of the pack from me. I have no idea what happened as I was nearly at the back and the pace was steady at the time. I guess he probably touched wheels with the rider in front of him out of fatigue and loss of concentration.

With the finish approaching rapidly it was clear it was going to be a bunch sprint and I was not going to be a factor in it as I was sitting on at the back. I set my self up towards the right side of the bunch figuring that as people swung across the road at the 200m point, some room to pick up a couple places might appear on the right side. With about 25om to go however, the inevitable happened. Too many people trying to squeeze into too narrow a lane resulted in someone drifting onto the gravel shoulder and taking themselves and at least one other rider down with them. I had to slow to get around the crash and crossed the line at the tail end of the main field in 36th. Still, I had achieved my goal of finishing with the field and staying out of trouble. I had a great day and a great weekend racing my bike on my home roads and look forward to doing it all again here next year.

Methow Valley Tour omnium - TT and Hillclimb

2009-06-13T21:53:00.001-07:00

The Time Trial:
(thanks to Kristen Smith and MVSTA for the startline photo)

As I wrote in my post last night, I was pretty excited for this morning's time trial and beginning of the Methow Valley Tour omnium. This weekend's courses are on my home roads and I am very familiar with them. My TT form has been steadily improving this year and I feel like I am going really well right now. Given all these factors, I was optimistic for today's TT and expecting a big result. I usually hover around the top 10 in time trials an felt that now was the time I could step up and bump up a few places and maybe even score a top 5 placing.

The TT course features four significant (at least to me) hills that are usually my undoing. This year I planned to start out a little easier than normal until the base of the first hill and then ramp it up on the hill, recover a bit on the backside and flat section before the second climb and so on. I hoped that by doing this, I could avoid losing big chunks of time on the hills, especially the last one which is followed immediately by a gradually rising false flat that makes it difficult to get back up to speed.

The plan seemed to work well on the outbound leg and the first two hills. I got up and over them pretty quickly and seemed to be on a great ride. The return trip over the hills was less impressive. The first one was passibly okay, but the last one left me crawling along at the top as usual. My 30-second man who I had passed just after the first hill on the outbound leg passed me back. To add insult to injury, he was on a standard road bike with no aero trickery. I comforted myself with the thought that I would get him back before the finish as it was all downhill or flat remaining.

Try as I might though, I was unable to close the gap back to him and trailed him across the line by a few seconds. I congratulated him on his effort and he replied that I had made a great carrot for him. I told him I just die on those hills and he said, "I noticed." I had hoped to turn in a time of around 22:30 which I hoped might put me near that elusive top 5, alas I was only able to go about 22:52. I say "about" because there was a scoring error that added a minute or so to everyone's times. The placings and gaps were all correct, but I'm not sure if the error was exactly one minute or little more or less. My target time would have gotten me 7th, as it was I ended up 10th. Another "hovering" top 10. Related to the size of the field though (72 riders) it is my best TT placing ever, so I'm pretty happy even if frustrated by those freakin' hills!

The Hillclimb:

Speaking of hills, we got to race up a big one this year. Usually the second event of this, and most, omniums is a criterium. In the MV Tour the criterium has been held in Twisp. This year however Twisp has a large street project going on in their downtown that has torn up most of the criterium course. Undaunted, the organizers came up with a great replacement event, a mass-start hill climb. The course starts out with about a 1.25 miles of flat before hitting the steeps in earnest. The next 1.25 miles are about 10% followed by 5 miles of pitches ranging from flat to 10%. All told, the course is about 7.5 miles long and according to the tech guide gains over 1600 feet.

As expected, the pack splintered as soon as we turned onto the climb. Not being a climber (see part 1 of this post), I assumed my customary position drifting off the back and settling into my own rhythm. Being a local really helped out in this event. Many riders rode beyond themselves on the early steeps of the climb trying in vain to stay in contact or chased too hard on the intermittent flat sections and struggled mightily in the late stages of the climb. I rode my pace, picked stragglers off whenever possible, and managed a 44th place finish out of the 72 starters. Truly not a headline worthy finish I know, but given how I usually suffer on this climb in training, I was quite pleased with it. As a bonus, with the points this weekend in each event going 50 places deep, I even added a few points to my weekend total.

I really hope they keep this event in future years instead of a criterium. I suffered like mad, but you can ride a crit anywhere. This hillclimb stage was unique and fun and I think makes this omnium a little more special.

Methow Valley Tour omnium - Ready to GO!

2009-06-12T23:26:00.000-07:00

This weekend is my home race, the Methow Valley Tour omnium. It will be on roads I ride all the time and that always makes it a bit more fun. When I laid out my race schedule for the year, this was not a high priority race for me, but now that it is here, I am fired up and ready to race. I rode a strong TT a couple weeks ago at Enumclaw and earlier this week posted a personal best in a local TT held on the same road as tomorrow's TT. I have no idea how the hillclimb will go for me tomorrow afternoon or how Sunday's road race will turn out, but I expect big things of myself tomorrow morning in the TT.

Enumclaw Omnium Road Race - A pleasant ride in the country

2009-05-31T23:09:00.000-07:00

Not being a great climber, today's goal was to stay in contact with the bunch up the Mud Mountain Road climb for at least the first of three laps. Close but no cigar. I lost touch with just a few hundred meters left the first time up and spent the rest of the first lap in a group of about eight riders trying to chase back. Most of us in the group understood the plan: pull through and swing off as soon as you hit the front. When we managed to keep it working smoothly, we were definitely making great headway coming back to the group. Periodically however, someone would sit on the front too long and the pace would drop and the rotation would be disrupted. We managed to get within a few hundred meters or so, but could never quite close the gap.

Approaching the climb for the second time, at least half the group shut off, probably feeling that even if we caught back on, we'd immediately get dropped when the climbing started again. That sealed our fate to a day off the back. Shortly after the climb began for the second time, a pack of riders with lead and follow cars miraculously appeared before us and we were gaining quickly. As we drew closer, our dreams were dashed as it turned out to be the Cat 4 field which had been neutralized to allow our field, the one we were chasing, to pass. A few of the stronger riders in our group attempted to climb past the Cat 4s and a few of the weaker ones had already dropped off our pace. My pace on the climb was just enough to match the neutralized Cat 4s and so I followed along up the rest of climb behind their follow vehicles. Climbing a steep hill while breathing the exhaust of the follow vehicles gave me a new appreciation for the pros you see climbing the Alps in the Tour led by a number of cars and motorcycles.

After the climb was crested, the officials released the Cat 4s and they began to pull away. Our little group had splintered and I found myself working with one other rider on the descent back to Enumclaw. He seemed a little stronger than me and we were working well so I was surprised when he told me he was going to pull out at the fairgrounds and bail on the last lap. I told him I was going to finish it off and was left to start the third and final lap by myself. On the flat farm roads that begin the lap I was making good time and soon found myself up the back of the Cat 4s who again had been neutralized for some reason. Just as I pulled along side their follow car to ask if I should attempt to pass or not, they were again released and quickly left me behind.

The third and final time up the climb, I just rode at a comfortable pace and topped out with another rider in view just up the road. I picked up my pace and soon caught him. He turned out to be another master C/D rider, but he was pretty dead and unable to hold my wheel. I set about trying to get myself back to the finish as quickly as possible. Partway down the SR 410 descent I was caught by two members of our original chase group. We stayed together to the finish where I put in a token 75m sprint only to finish second in our group.

All in all it was a really enjoyable weekend of bike racing. The event was well run and marshalled, although I'm continually puzzled why it takes so much longer to put together the masters results as compared to any other field. I will definitely try to put this race on my schedule for next year.

Next up is my home race the Methow Valley Tour in two weeks.

Enumclaw Omnium Day 1 - The satisfaction of zero

2009-05-30T23:47:00.000-07:00

Having never competed in this race before, I really didn't know what to expect. The TT course seemed to be favorable for a big guy like me, nearly dead flat with good pavement and short in length. Coming into the weekend, I was hopeful I would break 15 minutes for the 6.4 mile course. I didn't know if that would be good enough for a top-10 and omnium points, but it seemed like it was doable and might be just good enough to eke out a point or two.

There seems to be a new trend among promoters putting together their TT start lists. Instead of being truly random, they are sorting them alphabetically. This is the third race this year where I have started first in my class and as there is usually a couple minute break between classes, it leaves me with no "rabbits" to chase. Today, the break ahead of me was three minutes long. I saw no one to chase until the last 200m.

The race itself went well, I started off quickly and settled into my rhythm quite well. The course has three narrow turns at intersections and I took them all pretty well, maybe not on the limit, but reasonably fast. The one "hill" on the course, it gains all of about 50 feet or so, went by smoothly without disturbing my pace too severely. At the end, I stopped the clock with a time of 14:42. It was good enough for 13th in a masters C/D field of 76 riders. I was stoked to have beaten my target time so handily and was happy with my placing as well even if it netted zero points.

The criterium in the afternoon turned out to be another pleasant surprise. My recent history in criteriums has been poor at best, usually being pulled by the officials to spare me the insult of being lapped. The Enumclaw course is dead flat, "8" shaped, and a fairly long lap so I figured I'd be able to make the necessary halfway point to stay in the omnium.

I was actually able to stay in contact with the pack until around the halfway mark, and after being dropped managed to avoid being lapped thus finishing my first criterium in a very long time.

Tomorrow's road race with its three trips up Mud Mountain Rd. ought to provide another stiff challenge for me. Although I probably won't increase my current point tally of zero, hopefully I'll have another satisfying day.

Wenatchee Omnium - Road racing and a satisfying weekend

2009-05-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the final day of the Washington State Omnium Championships in Wenatchee. The day's event was the road race which takes place on a very challenging course. It features a very long (10 mile) climb. The first half of the climb is almost totally up with a frequently changing gradient and a couple short sections of up to 16%. The second half of the climb is more rolling in nature, but continues to gain significant elevation. As we all learned early in life, what goes up, must come down and this course is no different. It features an equally long descent on which riders' speeds approach 50mph. The final feature of the road course is a long mostly flat section back to the finish that usually features a strong tailwind.

Just as last year, I'm still not a climber so my plan was to limit my losses as much as possible on the climb and then hopefully hook up with some willing partners and chase like mad on the descent and flats back to the finish. The masters C race started with an out and back on saturday's TT course before heading to the climb and the rest of the road race course. These first nine miles on the TT course seemed more relaxed to me this year or at least the pace was more steady. There were a couple of short lived breakaways but not much other action. At the turnaround point it was annoying to find that the organizers had not placed a cone for us to mark the turnaround. There was a "turnaround 200m" sign, but the pack had to make a 180 on a two-lane road at what it collectively thought was the spot. All in all it went quite smooth, but a definite turning point would have helped.

As we started the climb, I tried to positition myself mid-pack. My expectation was to ease off the back on the early pitches of the climb and stay within myself. All went according to plan, the climb got steeper, I maintained the pace I could manage, and the pack left me behind. I was much more comfortable on the climb this year. I don't think I was much faster, if at all, but having done it once before definitely made the steeps less fearful.

Across the rollers on the top half of the climb I kept on the lookout for partners for the chase to come. I hooked up with a rider from Baddlands and started the trip down with him. On the steeper, upper part of the descent, he was unable to hang with my gravitationally enhanced physique and he lost contact. I had a tense moment at one point as I was approaching an object in the road on the descent at 40mph. At first I thought it was just a scrap of plastic wrap blowing across the lane, but as I got closer I saw that it was a water bottle that had been dropped by a rider and it was rolling down the hill in a somewhat weaving manner. I avoided it and also negotiated the one 180 degree switchback on the steepest section of the descent. Just after this turn, my Baddlands partner returned on the wheel of another rider and finally I had a group to work with. Our rotations were a little sloppy as we continued downhill, but they did begin to get a little better. Just as we seemed to get it all together and work well with each other, Mr. Baddlands was gone again.

My remaining partner and I finished the descent and turned onto the flat highway to the finish. Along the way, we picked up a couple more riders. Everyone worked well together and the finish approached rapidly. At this point, I was trying to figure out how to get the best placing out of this group of four that I was part of. I figured the rider I descended with was the strongest of the other three and that the other two that we caught up to were likely weaker than me. The Second Ascent rider who had been just in front of me in the rotation was pretty ragged in his pulls so I figured he had little or nothing left. At the 1k to go sign he went all in and attacked. He only got a gap of about 5om but it seemed to be holding and no one else reacted so I decided to go across to him. As I pulled up to him, I told him we had a little gap and asked him if he had anything left. His reply, "A little", didn't exactly fill me with confidence so I pulled, but definitely not all out. He faded and the other rider we caught on the highway pulled along side me at the 200m to go sign. The final 200m are uphill and after a day as challenging as this one, the shorter the sprint, the better. We continued up the hill and I watched and waited for him to jump for the line. At about 75m to go, I realized he was already giving it all he had. I lifted my pace and easily took the sprint in my group (okay, so it was only for 25th, but it felt good anyway).

My elapsed time for the road race was almost exactly the same as last year, but I felt much, much better this year. For the weekend, I ended up 16th in the omnium, basically the same placing as last year. Given the increased field size in my category this year though, I consider that an improvement and am very happy with my results from the weekend.

Next up is the Enumclaw omnium in two weeks.

Wenatchee Omnium Criterium - An unexpected development

2009-05-16T22:18:00.000-07:00

This afternoon's crit was fast and furious and unfortunately ended with my typical crit result, being pulled by the officials after being dropped. There was a pleasant surprise this afternoon however.

They are requiring all the riders to sign in before each event to confirm their participation in order to be scored in the omnium standings. Unlike some omniums, they are also requiring that you finish each event to remain in the omnium competition. For the criterium, as long as you made half distance before being pulled, you were considered to have finished and were placed.

As I was waiting in line to sign in, I overheard the rider in front of me discussing with the official that he had been mistakenly scored in my category for the TT. The official said they'd check into it and correct it if necessary. Fast forward to this evening when I went back to make sure I was credited with a finish in the crit as I was pretty sure I made it past halfway. I checked the crit results and saw that I was credited with 32nd of 35 finishers. The bigger development though was that they had corrected the aforementioned misplacing of riders in my category and it turns out I got 9th in this morning's time trial and scored a couple of points in the omnium.

It was a great morale boost to make the top 10 in the TT and will make tomorrow's heinous climb on the road course a little easier to bear. The road race course is a beast, but I managed to come away with a couple points last year on it, so I'm hoping I can do it again tomorrow.

Wenatchee Omnium TT - Reading between the numbers

2009-05-16T13:33:00.000-07:00

Today's time trial was a mixed bag for me. Conditions were good, not quite as windy as last year and temperatures in the low 60s. I was the first in my class to go off, starting after a couple minute gap to the class in front of me. This left me with no one in sight to chase. Having done this race last year and having been unpleasantly surprised by the severity of the headwind on the return leg, I tried to hold a little back on the way out for the return struggle. This plan worked well and I turned in a time that was about 10 seconds quicker than last year. Unfortunately, it was not quite good enough to equal my 10th place and single point from last year. I ended up 11th out of 38 riders. Last year's TT field was only 35 riders, so from my perspective, this years 11th is maybe an improvement of last year's 10th.

Next up is this afternoon's criterium downtown, never one of my strong suits.

The Night Before

2009-05-15T23:19:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the first day of the Washington State Omnium Championships in Wenatchee. It will start with a TT in the morning, move on to a criterium in the afternoon, and finish up with a very difficult road race on Sunday. Last year was the first time I did this race and I entered it with few expectations. I managed to score a 10th place in the TT and got some points in the road race as well.

This year, in part due to my "success" last year and the fact that I've raced and trained a little more leading up to it, I'm hoping, and maybe even expecting, to do a little better. A local TT ridden earlier this week shows I am at least as ready as I was last year and probably even better. Its a little like waiting to open your Christmas present in the morning. I'm ready, excited, and hopeful. Lets tear in to it and see what we get!

The Power of New Routes

2009-05-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty lucky. I live in an area with a pretty good diversity of training routes. There's some flat terrain, some good rolling terrain, and of course the Methow Valley is at one end of the spectacular North Cascades Highway and some serious climbs in the mountains. What we don't have here, is a great quantity of training routes. The riding we have is great. What's not to like about quiet country roads and cooperative (for the most part) drivers? It's just that, well, its easy to get that "been there, done that" feeling occasionally when you live here.

Last Wednesday was shaping up to be one of those "been there, done that" type of days. I figured I needed around a 50 mile training ride and with an iffy weather forecast and the thought of my regular routes not lighting a fire under my butt, motivation was lacking. I couldn't do anything about the weather but maybe some new roads would do the trick. I logged on to MapMyRide and searched for likely routes within an hour or so drive of home. Nothing really jumped out at me, so I decided to drive over to Okanogan and ride up towards Omak Lake and then back down to Omak and back to Okanogan on the roads on the west side of the Okanogan Valley. I'd never ridden any of these roads, but on the map, they looked like just the right mix of terrain and distance.

With the weather looking ever more favorable, I parked at the American Legion Park in Okanogan and headed east across Highway 97 and into the hills towards Omak Lake. Soon after, I made a serendipitous mistake. I missed the turn towards Omak Lake and continued up the Cameron Lake Road. This road is a really great climb to nowhere. About 10 miles from Okanogan, the pavement ends on a high plateau. Little traffic and some difficult pitches make it a great climb to file away for future training rides.

After failing to find Omak Lake at the end of Cameron Lake Road (imagine that), I came back down and took Cameron Lake-Omak Lake Rd. over to Omak Lake Road. A sign indicated that Omak Lake was only 4 miles up the road. At this point, Omak Lake Road looked like any other county road in Okanogan County. It was a somewhat narrow, chipsealed two-lane road. Just before reaching Omak Lake though, it changed dramatically, for the better. It became a wide, smooth two lane highway with 2 to 3 foot wide shoulders on both sides. Unlike most highways though, it had almost no traffic on it. The stretch along the lake featured a few short climbs and great views of the lake.

I had expected the pavement to end in the vicinity of the lake, but it just kept going, and I kept following it. I was blessed with almost no wind or traffic and plenty of smooth pavement. I just kept rolling along until I finally had to turn back to get back to Okanogan before dark. It turned out to be a little over 60 miles for the day and one of the most enjoyable rides I've done in a long time. Maybe this road is busier on the weekends or later in the summer, but on a midweek day in late April, it was a nearly perfect training ride. Given my earlier lack of motivation and enthusiasm for my usual routes, it was a day that demonstrated the power that a new training route can sometimes have.

A Grand Day Out

2009-04-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day to get out on the mountain bike and take in one of the Methow Valley's classic mountain bike rides, the Buck Mountain loop. I had figured I'd end up only riding part of the loop, expecting some of it to still be snowbound, but was pleasantly surprised to find only a few very small patches of snow that were easily ridden through. This loop is also mostly in sparsely timbered terrain, so it doesn't suffer from a lot of blown down trees after the winter.

It was great to be out on the mountain bike for a couple hours. It provided a nice change of pace from my usual training on the road. The trail was in great shape and the it was a beautiful spring day in the Methow. It is still a little early for wildflowers with only a few Bluebells and Yellowbells in bloom, but in another month or so this route will be carpeted in the yellow of Balsam Root flowers. The snowcapped peaks in the distance were a nice touch, however.

I found a nice spot with a great view of the valley below to enjoy my lunch before beginning the final descent down to the trailhead. The very end of the ride features a high speed section on a fire road with some perfectly shaped waterbars.

I suppose you could stay on the ground if you tried, but that wouldn't be much fun. Its a great way to finish up a great ride. Today was truly a day that reminded me of how lucky I am to be able to live and ride in the Methow.

Frozen Flatlands Omnium Day 2 - Taking it easy

2009-04-05T23:41:00.000-07:00

Today was the second day of the Frozen Flatlands omnium put on by Baddlands Cycling Club. It was the third and final event of the omnium, a circuit race on the car road racing track at Spokane Raceway Park. Unlike last year, when the race was postponed for two hours while the track was snowplowed, the weather was great. The course was a little different than last year though. Due to resurfacing on the track's main straightaway, which doubles as a dragstrip, the organizers were required to be a little creative in creating a circuit. The resulting course used nearly all of the track except for the dragstrip and utilized about a quarter mile of narrow, infield road with some bad pavement. Certain sections were delineated by numerous cones and a 180 degree turn on the main straight about 400m from the finish line was also a necessary feature. An additional highlight was the "fence" running along most of the straightaway, including the area where the 180 was, that consisted of rebar set up for the new concrete walls to line the dragstrip. Certainly not something you would want to fall on or into. The organizers did a good job making do with the situation on the dragstrip and I feel the course was reasonably safe, but it did provide for some additional stress in a large Cat 4/5 field.

I felt quite good, even after yesterday's sufferfest in the road race, but decided not to take any chances in a nervous pack on a slightly sketchy course. I spent the race just sitting in and finished near the back, but comfortably in the bunch. My single point from the TT did net me 27th out of 77 competitors in Cat 4/5 for the weekend and just like every Baddlands event I've attended, this weekend's racing was well run. They do a great job with their races.

Last year was my best season ever and I didn't see anything this weekend to concern me that I am off my pace of last year. This season is off to a great start for me. Next up is the Wenatchee Ominium in a little less than six weeks.

Frozen Flatlands Omnium Day 1 - a long, hard day

2009-04-04T21:06:00.000-07:00

Today, I got my road racing season started for real. I am competing in Baddlands Cycling Club's Frozen Flatlands omnium this weekend in the Cat 4/5 field. When I raced in this omnium last year it had just two events, a circuit race at Spokane Raceway Park on saturday and a road race through the rolling hills south of Cheney on sunday. This year Baddlands decided to add a 12.5 mile time trial to the mix as well. Since both the time trial and the road race course start and end in Cheney, they moved the road race to saturday and the circuit race to sunday. Having both the TT and the road race on the same day makes for a very long and tiring day.

Last year, this race weekend had snow, hail, rain, and wind. The forecast for this year's race was much more favorable and I looked forward to competing on some great courses in decent weather. When I left my hotel in Spokane this morning to head for Cheney, it appeared like mother nature might still have a trick or two up her sleeve. While it was a beautiful sunny morning, the roads were coated in treacherous black ice. I passed several accidents on I-90, including a nasty looking roll-over, from drivers losing control on the ice. A time trial on ice didn't sound like a whole lot of fun. I got to the race site and went about my normal preparations, I went and drove the TT course and found several shady sections that were still icy. I hoped that they would thaw as the sun climbed higher in the sky. I saw one rider warming up crash on a shady patch of ice. Always good to bring a trainer to warm up on.

My time to start came and fortunately it had warmed to the point that not only had the ice thawed, but the roads had nearly completely dried. I started well and quickly settled into a good rhythm. On the way out I passed a rider who had crashed on his return trip and was being tended to by several people. The outbound trip loses a little elevation and had a slight tailwind, so it really made you feel heroic. I was riding around 28mph. Having had experiences like this before, I tried to keep a little in reserve for the return trip which was sure to be harder and slower. Sure enough, on the return trip, getting up to 22 mph was a challenge. I passed by the crashed rider who was still down and in the same position as when I passed by earlier. Later, I would learn he had been riding with his head down and crashed into the back of a parked car on the shoulder of the highway we were on. A lesson to all, keep your head up!

My return trip went as well as could be expected. I had been hoping to be around 30 minutes for the 12.5 miles but could only manage a 30:27. Still, that's 24.6 mph for an average and really quite good for me since I've only got a little over a month and a half of training in so far. Better yet, the time placed me 10th of 52 riders in my field and netted me one point in the omnium competition.

On the afternoon's agenda was a nearly 50 mile road race through windy, rolling terrain. I ate a bowl of my new recovery snack, grapenuts with chocolate milk (kind of looks like stucco, but it tastes pretty good), and rested up as much as I could before the start. The road race starts with about a 2 mile neutral section while we wind our way out of Cheney and get across two sets of very bad railroad crossings while leaving town. It didn't seem like a good omen when one of my two bottles bounced out while crossing the tracks leaving me with just one small bottle for 2+ hours of racing. Oh well.

It was clear pretty early that I didn't have a lot in the tank for this event. Unlike a lot of omniums, this one doesn't require riders to start each event, so although we had 52 riders for the TT, for the road race we added another 20+ sets of fresh legs to the field. This made the pace pretty high. I was solid for the first 20 miles or so then began to yo-yo off the back on the climbs a bit. At about the 30 mile mark it was all over. I came off the back and was left to ride in by myself the last 20 miles. Soon after being dropped, I began to bonk and the suffering really set in. I had plenty of gel with me and my one bottle of energy drink, but they just made the ride survivable. At least the weather was nice and I got some good training volume in.

Tomorrow is a 50 minute circuit race on the car road racing track at Spokane Raceway Park. After a large dinner this evening and a good night's sleep, I'll try to see if I can add to my single point in the omnium.

Another diversion

2009-03-14T22:05:00.001-07:00

While the road racing season for many (if not most) has kicked off, I am still trying to round myself into some sort of shape before my 2009 road racing debut at the Frozen Flatlands omnium the first weekend in April. Winter in the Methow has been reluctant to give up this year and I am eagerly awaiting the warmer weather of spring. A few weeks ago, I raced my mountain bike as a diversion from the usual base building rides and indoor trainer sessions. Then, last weekend, I had another opportunity to break my training routine with a little competitive diversion.

Every year at the beginning of March, the Methow Valley Sport Trails Association puts on a winter triathlon. It features a 12k bike leg on mountain bikes, a 22k nordic ski leg, and ends with an 8k run. Like most triathlons, it is contested by both iron competitors doing the whole event themselves and teams of 2 or 3 participants. Like all MVSTA events, it is well run and a whole lot of fun.

I was invited by a couple of friends to be their teammate and ride the bike leg. I accepted and soon enough race day came. The bike leg is ridden on mountain bikes but it is all on paved roads. The rules call for tires of a minimum width of 1.5" and the event is a mass start. With nearly all of the strong riders on slick tires, the pace is pretty high and pack riding is the rule. The bike leg route climbs slightly in steps for the first 5.5 miles and then gains another 500+ feet in the final 2 miles. Not being a climber, I hoped to maintain contact with the lead group until the last few miles.

Alas, it was not to be. I lost the shelter of the lead group on a rise about halfway through the leg. Three of us who were dropped formed a small group and continued at a pretty good clip until the base of the final climb. Here, more humility was dished out to me as one of my good friends and regular riding partners unceremoniously dropped me and climbed away from me. (I'll have to find an opportunity this season to return the favor.)

I completed the final climb at my own pace, trying to limit my losses. I knew that our team had the strongest skier in the race so that as long as I didn't lose too much time we'd be in good shape. I reached the transition and handed off the bib to our skier and he took over. He quickly erased the deficit on the leaders and extended to a comfortable 6 to 7 minute lead at the end of the ski leg. Our runner put in a solid run to finish it off and my 2009 season had its first achievement. It was a lot of fun and I was very fortunate to have such strong teammates. I can't wait until next year!

Getting the racing season started (sort of)

2009-02-22T22:14:00.000-08:00

Since I had the time and opportunity, I decided to do a mountain bike race today. I took part in BuDu Racing's West Side Mountain Bike Series at South SeaTac park. I haven't raced a mountain bike in well over 2 1/2 years so, combined with how early it is in my training season, my expectations were low. I was pleasantly surprised however. I raced in the sport category and although I started out near the back of the field, my lap times were consistent and by the end I had moved up to the middle of the field, finishing 10th out of 20 in my age group.

More encouraging than the results page though was how I felt during the race. I haven't done any real intensity yet in my training and have only been back on the bike for a little less than a month. I felt good on the what climbs there were and was able to push hard without blowing up. The work in the weight room over the winter paid off as well as I had very little fatigue in my upper body. The trails at South SeaTac were as fun as always and the weather man was wrong and it didn't rain. Oh yeah, and the new bike is a kick in the pants as well!

Is there anything more fun than a new bike?

2009-02-21T21:52:00.000-08:00

Being the bike geek I am, I can't think of anything more fun than getting a new bike. In the "real world", some people get company cars, at the bike shop I work for, I get a "company bike". It's a Kona Hei Hei 29er. I got it put together yesterday and will take it for its first ride tomorrow at BuDu Racing's West Side Mountain Bike Series race at South SeaTac.

I know, I know, it's a bad idea to try out new equipment for the first time on race day (much less an entire bike.) Since I'm not a mountain bike racer (it's been 2 1/2 years since my last one), I really don't mind if I finish dead last. It will just be a fun day in the mud on my newest toy and hopefully the first of many, many to come.

Splat!

2009-02-04T22:48:00.000-08:00

Monday, I got out for my first outdoor ride of the year. Today I went for another season first. I decided to fall down and go splat. I was rolling along enjoying a blue sky, sunny day when I encountered a refrozen patch of meltwater on a heavily cambered, shady bend in the road.

Its interesting how many things can go through your mind in a short space of time. "Hmmm that's an interesting sensation, as if my rear wheel is slipping. Hey, my front wheel is slipping too. Uh-oh, I'm going down. I hope I don't break anything. Well, I didn't break anything. Did anyone see that? Is the bike okay?"

Luckily it was just a bump on the hip as the slick road meant I just slid along without even tearing any of my clothing. Still, it was a great day and a nice ride.

Outside again!

2009-02-02T23:03:00.001-08:00

I got out for my first outside ride of the year this afternoon. I know, I know, there are lots of people who don't let the cold, snow, and ice keep them indoors and off their bikes for the winter, but I'm not one of them. The roads around here have cleared enough and it was a sunny afternoon in the low 30s, a perfect day for spin on my Ritchey that I sung the praises of in an earlier post.

Its amazing how good it feels to do that first outing of the season. The little hills that will barely be noticed later in the season provide a perfect opportunity to stretch the legs a bit and think of all the work yet to be done. All the memories of the previous season and all the hopes for the upcoming season compete for attention in my brain. The best part is the scenery changes. It never does on a trainer in the garage or a spin bike at the gym.

I'm glad to be back at it and out on the road again.

Who designs these things?

2009-01-10T23:57:00.001-08:00

Last summer I posted some ramblings on the excessive amount of light blue in the pro peleton. Team Columbia has decided to go in a new direction this year with its team kit (http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos.php?id=/photos/2009/features/columbia_launch09/16-mensteam). I think the blue may have been better!

The Season of Hope

2008-12-13T22:39:00.001-08:00

It's that time of year, that special season, a time for hope and a time for optimism. The time when gifts are received that can raise your spirit. Yes, its time for off-season training!

Since I don't race cyclocross (although I probably should try it even though that would mean yet another bike), I've been off the bike for a several weeks now. Its time to get back to work and hit the gym for some off-season strength training in preparation for 2009. The hope and optimism I mentioned earlier runs rampant this time of year for me. I begin to think of the races of the next year and of course since it hasn't started, all things are possible. I enjoy the workouts in the gym. They are a nice change of pace for a few months. By February though, I'll be tired of being inside and ready to hit the road again. The work I do now indoors hopefully will set me up for a strong racing season. Last year was the first winter I did any work in the gym and I feel it really helped me get off to a great start to my best ever season this past year.

I also mentioned gifts that can raise your spirit. I'm not talking about a new pair of pedals, or a jersey, or a sexy new pair of carbon wheels. No, I'm talking about something just as hard to wait for as Christmas morning. It's the posting of the racing calendar for the upcoming year on the WSBA website. Once its posted the planning and goal setting can begin. I think about the races I enjoyed last year and the ones I might like to try. I begin to plan which days from work I'll need off and if I can rope any of my friends into joining me at some far away race. Okay, I also think about new pieces of equipment that will make those races and my training all the more enjoyable and memorable.

Lots to think about and hope for in this Season of Hope.

Happy Holidays!

My Favorite?

2008-11-24T23:05:00.001-08:00

Which one of my bikes is my favorite? That's a really tough question. I have a Bushnell custom road bike that I have had for 17 years that fits like a pair of old blue jeans and that I race on and ride probably 75% of my miles on. I've got a slippery fast Trek Equinox TT bike that's a kick to ride, but being a TT bike, it doesn't get a whole lot of miles on it. Right now, I'm between mountain bikes, but although I usually have one, I don't really get all that attached to them or ride them very much.

I like all my bikes a lot, that's part of being a bike geek like me. But if I had to pick one favorite though, it would be the "ugly duck" of the flock. I put it together a couple of years ago to ride on the road early and late in the season when the weather is cruddy and the roads are sandy, wet, and slushy. Its heavy and slow, but when the temperature is in the 30s, less speed is a good thing because there is less wind chill. Its got fenders, a rack, and lights so its practical for wet weather and the shorter days of late fall and early spring. Its a 1985 Ritchey mountain bike that I got off of eBay for about $250. I added some drop bars and the proper stem to match my road bike position. Its long wheelbase and relaxed geometry make it nice and stable on slick roads and the fat tires help as well. Although its not my lightest, fastest, or flashiest bike, it is unquestionably the best suited to its respective task. As a bonus, I put flat pedals on it for the summer and use it for running errands around town which it does quite well. Is it my favorite? I don't know, but I'm awfully fond of it!

The Rally for Ed

2008-11-09T23:10:00.000-08:00

Tyler Farrar (in the Garmin kit) visits with Rally For Ed participants

My wife and I joined several hundred cyclists of all types earlier today in Wenatchee for a ride to show support for the recently injured Dr. Edward Farrar and bicycle safety. Such a turnout is impressive as the organizers only had little more than a week to organize the event. The ride was a procession complete with police escort from the Wenatchee Omnium criterium course near the Convention Center up to Skyline Drive where Dr. Farrar's accident occurred and onto Central Washington Hospital where he is currenty recovering from his injuries. (For more on Dr. Farrar's accident and condition please visit: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/edfarrar)

A steady stream of cyclists takes to Wenatchee Avenue

The procession leaves downtown towards Skyline Drive

Coming off Skyline Drive towards the hospital, bikes as far as you can see

Following the ride, a rally was held at the hospital where supporters heard from a few of Dr. Farrar's friends and colleagues and his son, Tyler Farrar. Get well cards and wishes were also signed by the participants for Dr. Farrar.

Riders gather afterwards to show their support for Dr. Farrar

Signs of support and encouragement for Dr. Farrar

It was an amazing experience to be part of such an outpouring of support for the Farrar family and it really highlights what a special group of people the bicycling community is. Several teams from the Seattle area made the trip over the mountains with First Rate Mortgage, Carter Subaru, and Wines of Washington among others all having members present. Everyone present joined in a cheer of "Ed!" at the end of the event with the hope that he could hear it in his room.

All in all, it was a wonderful ride and gathering and my wife and I were so glad to be able to participate. We are sending our most positive thoughts and wishes to Dr. Farrar and the Farrar family.

Bibjeans?

2008-10-17T23:29:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog, I said it may contain things unrelated to bike racing that happen to leak out of my brain. This is just such a post.

Every year as the weather cools, I'm forced back into wearing blue jeans. I'm blessed/cursed with very narrow hips which makes it difficult to keep my jeans up. A belt helps, but really needs to be uncomfortably tight to do the job. I could try to be cool and wear my pants halfway down my butt, although that looks stupid on a teenager and exceptionally stupid on someone more than twice that age like myself.

Drawing on my cycling experience, I think I have a solution. Nearly every cyclist who has ever tried bibshorts never wears anything else on the bike. They are very comfortable and totally eliminate the chance of a gap between your jersey and your shorts. This is the inspiration for Bibjeans. Imagine, no uncomfortable waistband or overtightened belt. Just as with cycling bibs the bib material could be mesh or some other lightweight material. It's true that you wouldn't be able to tuck in your shirt, but that's not cool anyway. Maybe a modular solution with shirts that attach to the jeans could allow those who feel the need to have a shirt that tucks in to do so.

It's a long off-season, who know what other bizarre ideas I'll come up with.

Vegas memories

2008-10-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

It's been three weeks since I got back from Interbike and I thought I'd share some miscellaneous thoughts and observations from the few days in Vegas.

Most Unique Schwag:

The compression wear company Skins was giving away these distinctive pens with the tag line "Break records legally" to hype their products.

Favorite Interbike Tradition:

My friend Tom has a tattoo of the Columbus tubing dove logo on his calf and every year he heads to the Columbus booth in search of schwag. The reaction depends on the person staffing the booth. Some year's the person doesn't care at all, but this year the guy was really impressed and had to get a picture for the folks back home. As for Tom, he got a cycling cap out of the deal.

The Coolest Things I Saw at the Show:

The Blackburn Flea headlight and taillight are really, really cool. They are very small (weighing only 17 grams), recharge off of any "flashlight" battery, and are quite bright. They also have a runtime of 3 to 6 hours. I've been using them on my road bike for the last couple weeks and have been very impressed. They may not be the type of carbon fiber or unobtanium racing technology that usually grab headlines, but they work really well and are the kind of product that would be really useful for a commuter and anything that makes it easier for people to make more trips by bike is a good thing.

Now, back to the whiz-bang racing technology. Electronic Dura-Ace struck me as one of those technologies you didn't know you needed. I didn't get a chance to try it firsthand but watching a variety of folks try it on the trainer they had set up in the Shimano booth, I was impressed with the speed and accuracy of the shifts. The front derailleur also has a slick auto-trim feature to keep the chain from rubbing when at the extremes of the freewheel. As I am usually several generations behind the times (still using 9-speed Dura-Ace), it will probably be awhile before I indulge in this technology.

That's it for my impressions of Interbike. It was fun being in Vegas again, but as always, a couple days is enough!

The stars of Interbike Day 2

2008-09-25T17:45:00.000-07:00

Let me start by giving credit to my friends Phil and Tom for the photos taken at Interbike this year. Phil has never been to Interbike (or Vegas for that matter) and has been snapping pictures like crazy. Tom is a jaded veteran of the bike industry who snaps pictures more selectively.

A big part of the attraction of Interbike is a chance to meet the stars of our sport, chat a little with them, and maybe get an autograph. Here's a sampling of the celebs in attendence on day 2 of the show:

Eddy Merckx

Lance Armstrong

Bobby Julich

A pair of Phils (Liggett on the right)

George Hincapie

Tomorrow is our final day at Interbike and will be primarily a last dash for schwag before getting on the plane and heading home.

Interbike - Day 1

2008-09-25T07:54:00.000-07:00

We started our Wednesday at 4:45 am in Seattle and finished it after midnight in Vegas. Along the way, we walked the aisles at Interbike looking for the latest and greatest, searching out free schwag, and celebrated a friend's "birthday" at dinner.

We got to the show just after lunch and spent the afternoon walking the show floor getting the lay of the land. In the weeks leading up to Interbike, bike shops receive many postcards and such inviting them to "bring this postcard to our booth for a free.........". Some of these are usually for entries in some sort of product drawing. One of them this year was for a free cable guide and an entry into a drawing for a dirt jumping stem from Dirty Dog. We dropped off the card at the booth and the rep advised us to be sure and come back for the drawing at 4pm because only a couple people had attended the drawing the previous year so the odds should be in our favor (something hard to find in Vegas).

The appointed hour arrived, and sure enough, turnout for the drawing was low. In fact, we were the only shop there. That is an easy drawing to win. Thanks to Dirty Dog for the stem and the tip on the easy to win drawing.

The coolest thing we saw on day one was actually only a prototype and not actually a product available on the market yet. Jet Lites is working on a midweight heated glove that has a small rechargeable battery that sits on the gauntlet of the glove. It looks like it would be great for winter riding or even, depending on the final battery location, XC skiing.

The highlight of our evening was dinner with my friends and a "birthday" celebration for one of them. Tom's friend Chad joined us for dinner and being a spontaneous type he snuck off and told the waitstaff it was Tom's birthday (which was actually in May). We were all quite surprised and amused when the waiter appeared with a cupcake with a candle on a plate with chocolate covered strawberries and Chad stood up and broke into a moving rendition of Happy Birthday. It was a great way to start our evening on the town.

It's time to head off to the show now for day two. I'll let you know what we find.

That's a wrap

2008-09-22T14:16:00.000-07:00

Well, the "competitive" cycling season for 2008 is done for me. I finished up last Monday with the last of this year's local time trials. The rest of the season will be spent riding to keep the winter pounds at bay until the snow comes, then I'll take a short break then head to the gym and start working towards next season.

All in all, I'm very pleased with my 2008 racing season. I certainly rode at least as well if not better than I ever have before. It was great to go to races and always be riding with a feeling of being competitive rather than just fighting to finish with the bunch. I didn't always achieve my goals in each event, but 2008 had plenty of pleasant surprises and a few personal bests as well.

Some of my fondest experiences now, looking back, were also some of the most unpleasant at the time. Racing through cold and hailstorms in Cheney in April at the Frozen Flatlands road race was nasty at the time, but my form at the time was beginning to show that the rest of the season might be a lot of fun and hold some pleasant surprises like my best ever 3rd place finish at a Pacific Raceways training race a few weeks later.

The Washington State Omnium Championships in Wenatchee in May featured a road course that I never would have gone near in my earlier years as a racer. The long, steep climb was a beast, but I rode my own pace, and chased on the descent and flats to the finish and ended up finishing pretty well. I'm definitely excited about trying this event again next year and trying to improve on my result from this year.

The State Time Trial Championships in Tenino in August yielded a personal best and a first time ever under one hour for 40k for me. And although I failed to achieve my goal of medalling, I had a great day on the bike and rode really well. I am waiting with great interest to see where next year's State TT will be held as I have high expectations for next year.

Ride 542, the Mount Baker Hillclimb, rounded off the big events for the season in early September and was held in even more perfect weather than last year. As last year, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and managed to knock off 20 or so seconds of last year's time. I'll be back next year, hopefully with a few friends along for the ride.

The other positive memories of the racing season are too numerous to detail but involve group training rides, friends made along the way, and the simple joy of rolling along on two wheels. Next up is one of my other yearly activities, my annual trip to Interbike in Las Vegas. Three days with friends surrounded by all the latest and greatest the bike industry has to offer. A great way for a bike geek like me to wrap up the season.

Racing up the Mount Baker Highway

2008-09-08T22:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was another absolutely perfect day to have a bike race up the Mount Baker Highway to Artist's Point. This was fortuitous because yesterday also happened to be the day of the 2008 Ride 542 which is a bike race/ride up SR 542 to the aforementioned Artist's Point. I did this event for the first time last year and after having a very enjoyable day (and posting a time of 1:45:23 for the 24.5 mile/4300 ft. gain course), I didn't think there could ever be conditions more perfect than the sunny and warm day we had then. I was wrong. This year was even a little warmer.

Last year being my first time, I approached the race somewhat conservatively and didn't fight too hard to stay with a pack over the first "flat" 14 miles of the course. This tactic, I reasoned, would leave me with more energy for the steep remaining 10.5 miles to the finish. With nothing to compare to, after all was said and done, it seemed to work well and I was happy with my time.

This year, now that I knew the course, I decided I would be more aggressive early and try and hang with a pack. The competitive division consists of a around 250 entrants and ranges in abilities from riders like Ian McKissick and Ned Overend down (way, way down) to riders like me and beyond. Given this wide range of rider talent, the field tends to break into several packs almost immediately with countless smaller groups trailing behind those.

The first 14 miles of the course gains only about 1000 feet so being in a pack can help save some time. There are a couple of short climbs of about 6% in this section so it does cost some energy to try and hang with a pack that climbs quicker than you normally would. I hung in there on these early climbs and managed to avoid a crash caused by a touch of wheels that took down four riders and arrived at the base of the"real climb" feeling pretty good and in a group of about 15 riders. I sat on the group for another mile or so and finally eased off the back before I popped off. I felt strong on the climb and with about three miles to go, appeared to be a couple minutes ahead of last year's pace. I grabbed a bottle at the last aid station and settled in for the last couple miles.

This last bit contains the steepest sections of the ride and as you pass through 5000 feet the earlier efforts begin to take their toll. By this point, I was passing many of the recreational divison riders who had started an hour earlier than me. One of these impressive souls was pulling his child in a trailer. When I passed him, his child was wailing louder than my legs, but my wife reported that when the trailer passed her viewing point near the finish, all was quiet. As for my legs, they wailed all the way to the finish and left me trembling for several minutes after as well. Despite my fading pace over the last couple miles, I managed to better my time from last year by around 20 seconds or so. It was a fantastic ride again and I will definitely be back next year.

The dog days are over

2008-09-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I wrote about my waning motivation during the Dog Days of the season (evidently this lack of motivation applies to blog posts as well!). Well, tomorrow is Ride 542, the Mount Baker hillclimb, and I am as fired up as I was in June. Last night, I went for a ride after work and after about ten minutes of riding, the enthusiasm had returned. I felt great the entire ride and am really looking forward to tomorrow's effort. I'll be trying to better my time from last year (1:45:23) and I think I've got a really good shot at it. My wife and her family are even going to make a day of it and come out to cheer all the riders on. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

The season's dog days

2008-08-16T18:01:00.001-07:00

This is an odd time of the cycling season for me. Now that all the main goals for the season are past, it's a little harder to maintain focus and a sense of purpose in my riding. My form is great. The weather is still fantastic. I feel stronger and faster than ever, but a little scattered on rides and even in races. I did a weeknight training race at Pacific Raceways this past Tuesday and although I was very strong, I ended up squandering that strength by doing too much work several times throughout the race. Without the attention to a race strategy that I might of had earlier in the season, I found myself drifting frequently to the front, pushing the pace or chasing inconsequential breaks. Late in the race my lack of focus resulted in poor positioning which left too much ground to make up on the final climb. A further symptom of this time of year for me was that I was not terribly disappointed with my lackluster effort. Earlier in the season, I would have been quite annoyed with myself.

To combat these late season blahs, I generally try to change things up a little. Overall, my training volume might remain the same, but I'll do some longer or more challenging rides during the week and fewer total rides. I might also look for some "fun ride" events to participate in for a change of pace. Last year, I took part in Ride 542, the Mount Baker hillclimb, for the first time. It's a great event for me to look forward to this time of year. It takes place in early September and has participants with all levels of abilities and types of motivations. For many, it is a race and they take it very seriously. For others, it is just a ride and the goal is merely to get to the top. As my motivation lies somewhere in between this time of year, this is the event for me. It is well run event and takes place on a highway closed to other traffic. For more information visit: http://www.norkarecreation.com/hcindex.html. If you like to ride in the mountains, check it out.

The Big Day

2008-08-05T16:39:00.000-07:00

This past sunday was the 2008 Washington State Time Trial Championships in Tenino, Washington. I raced in the Masters C category and after a seventh place finish last year just a minute out of the medals, I had set my sights this season on bringing home some hardware. As with most of the other participants, my other main goal was to be under one hour for the 40 kilometer course. (I wish I had a nickel for everyone I overheard afterwards telling somebody, "My goal was to be under an hour.")

One of my friends had travelled to the race with me to be my "pit crew" and his help and support was very welcomed. After having nearly screwed up two TT starts this year (Wenatchee and MV omniums), I had prepared myself a schedule and checklist to guide my race morning preparations. It may have appeared a little OCD to have this itemized list of tasks starting more than three hours before my start time, but it worked like a dream. I arrived at the starting line on-time, relaxed, and focused.

We went and drove the course in the morning to refresh my memory and check for any changes to pavement, etc. in the last year. It seemed that the turn around was not in the same place as the previous year. Last year, it seemed that the general opinion was that the course was a little longer than 40k. This year, it was definitely shorter than 40k (probably more like 39.3k).

For my Eastern Washington trained body, the morning low-clouds, breeze, damp air, and temps in the 60s were a little chilly and I whined a little during warm-up about it, much to my pit crew's annoyance. Once I was on the trainer for a little while though, I got a little heat built up and felt much better about the day's conditions. Another of my friends arrived just before I finished my warm-up and joined my pit crew in supporting me.

I rolled to start line and received the usual comments about my tigerstripe skinsuit (all positive). I noticed that one of the riders I had really been hoping to better was a no show and while being sorry he wasn't there, recognized that his absence bettered my chances as he usually beats me. The clock counted down and soon I was on my way. I settled into a rhythm quickly and tried to make the best use of a slight tailwind while saving a little for the inevitable headwind on the way back. My screaming fans (both of them) drove out and got pictures of me and shouted encouragement at several points on the course. I was feeling great and clearly riding fast. I knew from my cyclocomputer that I was ahead of hour pace and I was having a solid day. A mile or so from the turnaround I caught my one-minute and two-minute men (more on that later). I was rocking!

Heading back, I kept pushing and telling myself I was on a great day. As the course turned to the west, I prepared myself for the expected headwind, but it wasn't to be found, or only in occasional puffs. I kept my pace high and kept driving towards the finish. At 20 miles in, it was clear I was going to be well under one hour. With a couple miles to go, the headwind finally appeared and I tried to use that little bit I had saved earlier for this purpose. At about a mile to go, the course turns onto a road that is of a chipseal that the Methow would be proud of. It is so slow. I was closing on my third rider at this point (who had started at least four minutes ahead of me) and tried hard to catch him. I ended up right on his tail at the finish line.

My timer showed a time of just over 57 minutes and I was psyched. I felt really good about my effort and was confident about my chance at medalling. My computer told me that the course was a little short, but I had still averaged well over 25 mph.

I rolled back to registration at the city park and waited for the results. And waited. And waited. Finally, they posted Cat 4 results which were a few classes before us, but would give me an indication of how my time might measure up. The Cat 4 winner was at 56:16 so it seemed I was in with a shout. We waited some more and finally decided to go get some lunch. We chatted about my effort and I still felt good and cautiously optimistic about my chances.

After lunch, we headed back to the park and the results were posted. I was sixth with a time of 57:01.7. What? I was a little shocked. Even allowing for the shorter course, that time would have been an easy medal last year. I looked closer and saw that two of the names ahead of me were my one-minute and two-minute men. That's not right, I caught them before the turn. I pleaded my case to the officials. They reviewed their notes and records, they reviewed the notes of the marshal who was working the turnaround. It appeared I had not caught those two riders who started just ahead of me and they stood by their results. I begrudgingly accepted it and we headed back to the car. My friends and I talked a little in the car about it and decided they had to have a finish video that would conclusively show what order we came across in. I went back and asked the official if that was the case. They said they had one and it had all been packed up but they would look at it and e-mail me. I went back to the car still sure of the riders I had seen when I passed them.

I got in the car and my friend showed me a couple pictures he took of riders on the second half of the course after the turnaround. The sequence of pictures seemed to clearly show that my minute man was still ahead of me at that point. We drove home and I began to accept that the results were accurate, but who the heck were the riders I passed? Once the results were posted online the day after race, it became clear. Of the five riders in my class who started in front of me, two were my one and two minute men who I never caught and the other three were three of the four slowest riders in my class. They started four, five, and six minutes ahead of me and I caught two of them before the turn and the other one right at the finish. The bigger irony is that the one I caught at the finish was the only one on a standard bike with no aero equipment at all.

I e-mailed the promoter and officials and apologized for being a hallucinating, whiny bike racer and thanked them for professionally listening to my questioning of their work. They both responded positively and thanked me saying that riders scrutinizing the results in a timely manner helps them make sure their work is accurate. They also sent me the finish line image showing my one minute and two minute men finishing ahead of me.

So then, for the record, I finished 6th of 18 riders in the Masters C field with a time of 57:01.7.

I was less than a minute behind the winner so you know what next year's goal is...................

Five days to go and ready to rock!

2008-07-29T15:55:00.000-07:00

Just five more days until the 2008 Washington State Time Trial Championships and I am ready to go and fired up about my chances to achieve my goal of medalling in the Masters C field. Last night I averaged over 25 mph for a 15 mile training time trial on a slightly hillier course than the championships course in Tenino. I'm definitely feeling on form and riding fast. I've got a sexy and fast new Ritchey WCS deep section carbon front wheel to go with my rear disc so the bike is flying too.

These last few days before a targeted event for me are like waiting for the arrival of Santa Claus. I'm sure I'll be jumping out of my skin by Sunday morning. I'll do a couple of easy rides this week, try and get enough rest, and keep focusing on positive thoughts for this weekend's race. I'll let you know how it all works out.

Two weeks to go

2008-07-20T23:49:00.000-07:00

Last time I wrote about my feelings about time trialling vs. road racing and said that if I could do only one it would be road racing. Despite that, I'm now two weeks away from, and very eagerly looking forward to, my biggest goal for the racing season. Last season, I finished 7th in the Masters C field at the Washington State TT Championships but found myself less than a minute out of the medals. During the off season, I set myself a goal of medalling at this year's TT championships. I spent time in the gym over the winter for the first time and have been working hard all year towards this goal. This season, I've been faster than ever in the time trials I've ridden, so it all seems to be working. I've got one more week of hard training and then I'll rest up for a few days and head for Tenino to see what I can do. It's the same course as last year so it will be easy to get a direct comparison to last year's effort. I'm sure I'm capable of going under an hour and if I do, I should be in good shape for my goal.

Two more weeks and hopefully I'll have to think of a new and improved goal. Stay tuned ............

The solo effort vs. the pack dynamic

2008-07-16T22:55:00.001-07:00

I was chatting with a friend the other day and was telling him about how my weekend at the Methow Valley Tour had gone. I told him I'd had a good time trial but had been caught up in the crash in the road race and was therefore a little disappointed that I didn't get to find out how well I might have done without the crash. He replied, "That's why I like time trials, you're not relying on others to affect or not affect your chances." We talked a little more and it seemed that it wasn't only that he didn't like the idea of having his chances ruined by someone else's mistake, but he actually didn't enjoy figuring out the teamwork and tactics of the group.

It got me to thinking about what I enjoy in my racing. I enjoy time trialling, but largely because I'm pretty good at it and being a bike "geek", I enjoy all the specialized equipment and choices. Road racing is really what I enjoy though and for all those reasons that my friend didn't. I love trying to work and ride as a team. As a Cat 4, you don't see much of it and it's always rewarding when a few riders can manage to do it right and work together and achieve a good result. The tactical choices of racing in a group are a lot of fun to me as well. There is always that balance of watching out for yourself by conserving your energy vs. sharing in the work of the group which will benefit others while hoping that it will benefit yourself as well.

Time trialling is by definition a solitary pursuit. Even if you have friends or teammates at a given race, your race experience is unique to you. In a road race, there is a shared experience and a social element that is missing from the time trial. If something happens in a road race, or even outside of the race along the roadside, you and your teammates will all have a slightly different observation of it that will fuel the post-race discussions and memories. In a TT, you and your teammates may be many minutes apart on the road and other than the course characteristics or conditions, if you experience something unique or memorable during the ride, its yours alone and it won't mean much to your teammates who didn't experience it.

Because of the social element and shared experience of road racing, if I had to choose only one, I'd choose the pack dynamic over the solo effort.

Pro cycling seems blue

2008-07-08T23:04:00.000-07:00

Watching the Tour de France this year I can't help but notice the proliferation of baby blue in the peloton. Milram, Gerolsteiner, AG2R, and now Columbia all feature large amounts of the color in their team kits. What really puzzles me is why Columbia would choose a color that is so close to Milram. If the purpose of the team kit is to be recognized and provide exposure to your sponsors, it would seem that being distinctive (within reason) would be a good goal for your design. It's important to have colors that are consistent with your sponsors image and corporate logos etc. but it seems to me that quite a few other colors would have fit that bill for Columbia and would have allowed their riders to stand out a little more clearly. Oh, well, at least the god awful bubble letter "High Road" logos are gone.

Cycling is a passion

2008-06-30T16:26:00.000-07:00

I was originally going to write today about how I became a cyclist and a cycling fan. But my sport will receive another 30 seconds of attention by the mainstream media this week (if that) for the wrong reason. Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport announced the denial of Floyd Landis' appeal of his doping suspension and subsequent disqualification as the winner of the 2006 Tour de France. With this unfortunate attention on the sport, I thought I would write about why I am passionate about this sport. I still don't know what to believe about Floyd and it really doesn't matter to my passion for cycling. For me, cycling is primarily about my participation and only as a secondary matter about being a spectator sport that I enjoy watching.

My passion for cycling is at its most basic level all about sensations. The ease of movement on two wheels is an amazing experience to me. When I straddle my bike, push off and just roll along for those first few seconds of the ride is when the magic happens. Sure its rewarding to ride faster, farther, or whatever than I have before, but it is that effortless movement through space that is what captures the imagination from the day you first learn to ride a bike. Everything after that is just a refinement of technology and training. In those first few moments of a ride, the wildly imagininative child in me conceives of the limitless places I could go or races I could win. After those first moments, the magic subsides and the purpose of the ride occupies my mind, the errand I'm running, the training goals for the day, etc..

The more "advanced" sensations of cycling also fuel my passion. The sense of speed and the physical effort required to achieve it, the satisfaction of avoiding a trip in a car by using my bike to complete an errand, the sense of pride or disappointment from a successful or unsuccessful race all are part of what I feel as a cyclist on any given ride. Whether or not a pro rider is successful in his quest for victory somewhere and whether he competes "honorably" does not effect this personal relationship with cycling that is the very essence of why I love the sport.

As a spectator sport, I certainly would prefer that bicycle racing be as credible and believable as possible, but even my relationship to that part of cycling is fueled by feelings and emotions that are largely in the moment and unaffected by later scandal. I suppose racing as a Master or Category 4, I may be up against someone who is doping in some simple (or not so simple) way. I would expect at my low level of the sport that they are few and far between. In any case, at this level I would propose that doping by any of my competitors says more about them than it does about my sport.

At the highest level, most sports are at least in part entertainment for the spectator. For me a large portion of that "entertainment" are the emotions and feelings I have watching the event. In 2004, I was fortunate enough to travel to France with my wife to see a few of the Tour de France stages that year in person. I was quite unprepared for the wave of emotion that engulfed me when the first riders passed. As we walked a few kilometers up the road to Plateau de Beille, the fans along the road, the location, and general atmosphere conspired to give me a sense of excitement about being at the Tour, but it was still in a slightly calculated and detached way. It was kind of like the logical mind saying to me "You're at the Tour, not just watching it on TV as usual". As the helicopters and lead cars approached, nothing really changed, but when the breakaway riders rolled by, the emotional mind said to me "You really are at the tour, how about if you get wobbly in the knees and shed a tear or two!". Being the obedient sort I am (at least to my mind), I complied immediately. The interesting thing is that it wasn't a one off experience due to the newness of it all. Several days later in the Alps, after having seen a stage start in the interim, I had the exact same emotional response when the riders rolled by.

What does all this emotional, rubber kneed experience have to do with doping? Those experiences at the Tour were what I remember about the sport and that trip. Whether any of those riders have been subsequently proven to have cheated or not (and some of them have), does not rob me of those very personal and intense experiences and memories from those days. Bicycle racing needs to remain credible and honorable to ensure its continued existence. Its existence gives me another aspect of cycling to be passionate about, but it is certainly not the only one or the most important one.

For me my passion for cycling will always start in those first few moments with a sensation of easy movement on two wheels.

The 2008 racing season so far

2008-06-25T23:15:00.000-07:00

On the whole, this racing season has been an enjoyable and satisfying one for me so far. I've competed in a couple of races that were new to me (Frozen Flatlands omnium, Wenatchee omnium) and raced the Methow Valley omnium for the second time. Going into the season, my plan was to use Flatlands and the Wenatchee omnium only as preparation for the Methow Valley omnium, but I enjoyed both of them so much, I think I'll target them a little more seriously next season.

The Frozen Flatlands omnium consists of a circuit race held at Spokane Raceway Park (a car road racing track) and a road race on the roads south of Cheney. The races took place the first weekend in April and coming so early in my season, my hopes were just to finish with the bunch. This proved to be no problem in the circuit race on Saturday, but the 5o mile long road race on Sunday was a little taller challenge. The road race had it all weather wise. We had wind, rain, and hail. It was definitely the harshest conditions I have raced in on the road. Around the midpoint of the race, the pack fractured into three main groups. I found myself in the third group. We set to chasing and were able to regain the second bunch which I suppose would be considered the main field. Shortly after this, we came to the last significant climb on the course which was maybe 12 miles or so from the finish. The group basically dissolved on the climb and the rollers following it and for the last 10 miles or so it was small groups of 2 or 3 heading for the finish. Riding in solo felt like I had been dropped and had failed in my goal to finish with the bunch, but I actually finished the road race in 25th out of 58 starters in the Cat 4/5 field. If there had been a true bunch, I would have been in it. At the time, I felt I had ridden strongly for the first race of the season and after seeing the results, I was quite pleased with my weekend's efforts.

The next race I competed in was a Tuesday night training race at Pacific Raceway in Kent. I raced in the Cat 4/5 field and to my surprise was able to manage a third place finish. This was my highest placing ever in a road race. With these early successes under my belt, I headed to Wenatchee.

I raced Masters C at the Wenatchee omnium and had a sense of quiet optimism for the weekend's racing. The time trial course was nearly flat and I expected to do well based on my strength as a time trialist. I managed to nearly screw up my start by being a little too relaxed during my warm-up and arrived at the start line only about 20 seconds before my start. The outbound trip went well and felt great due to a substantial tailwind. The trip back as you might guess was quite a bit tougher due to that wind. I had hoped to be well into the points for the TT an was a little deflated to find myself in tenth, the last points paying place. I noticed that eleventh was less than a second behind me and decided that my single point was better than if I was that guy in eleventh wondering all weekend where I lost eight tenths of a second.

The crit was later that afternoon and although I felt pretty recovered from the TT, I wasn't overly confident as it has been a long time since I've finished a crit. Since I don't have the opportunity to ride a lot of them, the speed is always a shock. I had a bad start when a rider a few places ahead of me had a difficult time clipping into his pedals. After that, it was chase, chase, chase in an effort to regain the main field. I never did get back and was pulled with about 5 minutes left in the race. From a fitness point of view, I felt good about my effort as I was able to hang in there for a long time, but results wise a dnf is a dnf.

The road race course filled me some trepidation as I approached the weekend as it features a very long and difficult climb. It would definitely be the hardest climb I had ever tackled in a road race. The saving grace about the course is that due to the difficulty of the climb, there really is no group from which you are dropped. As soon as the field starts up the climb, it just sort of detonates and breaks into small groups. I was able to stay somewhere around the middle of the field until the detonation occurred and then hold that relative place in the race as I fought my way up the climb at my own pace. I was definitely at my limit several times during the climb and really didn't have a sense of my placing by the time I reached the top. The descent off the top of Wenatchee Heights is like descending off the roof of the world (or at least North Central Washington). I managed to hook up with a couple of Cucina Fresca riders and we drove the pace all the way down the descent, occasionally catching and sometimes dropping other riders. Once back down by the Columbia and on the flat, tailwind endowed highway back to the finish our group had swollen to about six or seven riders. With only a couple miles to go, I began to feel that me and maybe one or two other riders were doing all the work and that the rest were just being towed in. I was trying to figure out how not to get outsprinted by these "passengers" when I looked over my shoulder on a rise while sitting second wheel and saw that we had opened a gap of about 150 meters. They were passengers because they were cooked. I let the guy pulling know it was time to go and we just kept pushing the pace all the way to the finish. I ended up 17th out of about 40 starters and felt really good about that result because I am not what I would consider a climber. For the weekend I managed to tie for 15th out of 35 in the Masters C field. I really enjoyed my weekend in Wenatchee and look forward to trying to improve next year.

Next up on my racing calendar was my home race, the Methow Valley Omnium. As the Masters field was all categories and I didn't feel the need to get killed by Cat 2s, I chose to race in the Cat 4/5 field. Again I felt very confident going into the time trial and expected to be well into the points, likely as high as top 5. Also again, my scatter brain took over and I rolled to the start without the proper focus. My tt helmet has a clear shield or visor on it which drops down over the eyes to make it more aero. Because I was wearing sunglasses on the trainer when I was warming up I didn't notice when I put my helmet on that the visor was flipped up out of the way. About a mile into my race I thought to myself something seems different. I realized that I was still wearing my sunglasses and that my visor was in its less than aero position. I had a few moments of indecision. Should I throw my glasses on the shoulder and hope I can find them after the race? Should I just leave the visor up? I tried pulling the visor down and luckily it cleared the glasses. Also luckily, it was a sunny day as the combination of the sunglasses and the tinted visor would have made things quite dark on a cloudy day. The rest of the tt went well although I felt I struggled more than I should have getting over the hills on the course. I'm sure the visor episode didn't cost me any significant time, but I was certainly annoyed with myself for allowing it to happen. My time was about 35 seconds faster than I had achieved the previous year so I felt good about that, but I managed only 8th which was a little lower than I had hoped for.

For the crit that afternoon in Twisp, I was determined to give it my all and try to get near the front early as a way to deal with the speed and yo-yoing that usually dooms my efforts in crits. I got a good start and stuck to my plan of trying to stay up near the front, but soon the inexorable slide down the field started for me. I lost contact with the bunch and realizing that burying myself to finish off the back in a non point paying 30-somethingth position didn't make a lot of sense with a long road race the next day. I eased up and just cooled down until I was pulled by the official.

For the road race, I had high hopes of finishing in the points. Earlier that week, a few of us local riders who were doing the race without the benefit of a team had met over beers to discuss our expectations of how the race would unfold and how we could best pool our talents and efforts to ensure some good results for the locals. The first two laps of the Chewuch Loop course passed well and we were all riding well and feeling quite confident. It all changed on the third lap of the scheduled four. Beginning the third lap, it was clear that riders were getting antsy and waiting for an invitable attack to occur. There was a little more crowding and a little higher pace up the hills and then ........the inevitable tangle of bikes and bodies hitting the pavement. I was on the opposite side of the field from the initial crash and thought I was going to get through when a rider came tumbling across in front of me. I got slowed down considerably before I hit him but still ended up going down and landing on my hip. I got up as quickly as possible and started chasing. The large number of riders in and behind the crash created a lead group of about 17 riders. According to other reports I've read, those 17 immediately started trying to drive open the gap. As one of my friends put it, for Cat 4/5 racers, the sound of a crash is like a starter's gun going off. This is in direct contrast to my experience last year in the Masters field at this race where after a couple of riders fell, the field sat up and waited for delayed riders to rejoin.

I never did see the main field again, but managed to drag myself in 19th place for the road race and finish the weekend in 21st position overall. As for the rest of the local contingent that had met at the pub to carefully discuss this race. They both went down hard in the crash and were unable to finish. Next year we'll try again and try to get it right. I felt pretty good about the weekend, but was certainly disappointed to have missed out on the opportunity for a good result in the road race.

That's for my race season to this point. The next big goal: The Washington State Time Trial Championships in Tenino on August 3rd.

Welcome to Speedbump's Dump

2008-06-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've enjoyed reading some other folks' blogs regarding bike racing (especially in Washington State) and cycling and thought I'd take a stab at it. As I don't race more than about ten times a year, there won't be a lot of first person race reports, but probably just more general observations and thoughts on bike racing and cycling in general. I'm sure many totally unrelated posts will also leak out of my brain as well. Welcome to the Dump!

Speedbump