On the road for another season

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

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

Methow Valley Tour omnium - Road Race

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

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.

A Grand Day Out

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.

Another diversion

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!