Cross Fall 2011

Pappa and Son

May

A lot has happened since the last post, lots of racing...and lots of rain.
We combined a race day at Volunteer park with Jett's Birthday party... weather wise it was a bit of a risk... but it worked, slightly cold but no rain.
Kele upped the birthday cake design from last year, with an even more impressive cake.


The race went ok, Kyle got in the break, and Andrew won the pack sprint... can't complain there.

The following day i raced down in Olympia, doing the masters race, thinking i would get home earlier, Kele had lots of work to do and needed help.
It was probably one of the wettest races I've even done, never stopped raining... i got lucky though and got in a two man break for the last 60 miles of so, with the only rider with a full rear fender...how good is that, either i was in the front, with no spray, or behind a fender, with no spray... so with that, and the fact we were working pretty hard i stayed relatively warm.

I was off to Walla Walla again this year, I've been doing this race since I moved out here, starting in 2001. The 1-2 race is a lot harder then it used to be, now four stages, and a full field of 120 riders. I was feeling good, getting stronger all spring, so i was eager to race, plus maybe we would have good weather...
However luck would not be on my side, mile four on a fast decent , after a 2 mile neural climb there was a crash at the front. Riders were going down on both sides of the road, i thought i was going to get though when suddenly two guys appeared laying on the road right in front of me. I hit them, doing a superman over them at 30mph, next i remember laying on the ground, trying to get as small as possible, to not get hit from behind.
Crashing at 30mph, and all i did was rip my gloves, a few scrapes and bruises here and there. I hurt my left leg quite a bit, must have landed on something hard, as i hobbled across the road looking for my bike. It looked ok at from a distance, not like Collin's that was laying on the road in three separate pieces..
I need a new rear wheel though, as a spoke had ripped trough the carbon rim. It was only my second ride on it since I got it rebuilt...going to be expensive, but that's the risk you take racing. I finally get back on, the pack is well gone by now...and we still have 60 miles or so to go. At this point i realize i only have half a saddle, as it must have taken the brute of the impact, a bit uncomfortable, but doable. The main problem though was my left leg... it hurt so bad could hardly push at all on the pedals. After a few miles solo i got caught by a Audi rider, and we rode the following 3 1/2 laps together. He could have dropped me at any time, and did more then his share at the front. The rain started soon after, and we both got really cold... We kept going, deciding to finish the stage... and after a long 3 1/2 hours we rolled across the line, just missing the time cut by 7min or so.
So that was the race for me, i would not be allowed to start the TT or crit the following day or the final road race on Sunday...not that i was sure i could with the pain i was having in my leg.
I could have probably protested the time cut, and got back in, since it was due to a crash... but upon further inspection i noticed by bike frame had cracked in two places, but a good idea to ride on that.

Even after icing my leg all evening i was hobbling around pretty bad, i could have probably done a TT, but a crit, with all the surges and jumps...don't think so...
I still had a pretty good weekend though, hanging out wit the guys.
It took about 1 1/2 for my leg to really feel better..

Masters State RR and senior state RR were back to back, Saturday and Sunday.. and we had great weather for both... I felt strong, especially on Saturday, got in a few moves, and attacked a bunch... in the end though, a few riders slipped of, and I was 2ond in a chasing group of four.

early on, a bridging up to Nikos of the front.

Sunday was 91 miles... a long race..wasn't feeling as good, but was more concerned with the energy level at the end of a race like this, as the finish was atop on the 1 mile climb. We got a guy in the break early, so all i had to do was jump on y move of the front and sit on, a lot better then having to bridge up there. On the 7th and final lap, the break slip, and our rider came back. At this point it was too late to try and bring it back or get up there, so it was now a pack sprint for 3ed.
I ended up 13th for the day, not bad, but not anticipating the sprint quite good enough and missed out on the final acceleration to the line.
I was still pretty happy though, it;s been a while since I've races this long...
I few years ago i was 4th in this race, just missing a medal, but that was back when i was training a lot more and was considerably stronger... so this result was quite ok.

First races of 2011

It was fun getting back out there again...
Last time racing on the road was back in August...
To finally be racing doesn't really mean that winter training is over, but it nearly feels like it. Finally all those long rids in the cold, rain and dark have a meaning to them... even if it only means you are in the pack.

It's always bit of a shock to the body, it really hasn't gone this hard in months...the speed and surges are just so different then training, or even a group ride. But there is something about the speed that is exhilarating, I'm just happy the first few races are on pretty flat roads. This year i haven't done any high intensity before the first few races, I usually get a few weeks worth in February...but this years schedule has delayed my training plan slightly... might be good for the later races in April/May.. which is usually when my favorite stuff is anyway.

The TT on Saturday was pretty painful...I started a bit too hard...and was just a bit too excited i think, and i couldn't make myself throttle off until on the way back from the turnaround at 5 miles...was pretty much forced to by my body, not my brain at this point. Although I felt fast, i was slower than last year, and actually slower then anything going back to 2004!!!....I would guess that the fact that i haven't done any intensity plays a role there. Power average on the way out was 345W(355 for the first 5min) and for the entire ride 327W... so there was a considerably drop of.

Mason lake on Sunday was the first 72 mile road race...the first lap started of fast(and I resisted doing any thing crazy)...by the second lap my legs finally came around and I was felling pretty good.. no breaks were sticking, too many people wanted to be in it...

I attacked a few times, tried to created something...but it wouldn't stick.

At the start of lap 5 after about 50miles a group finally got of,Kyle was in it and so where most of the other teams...so the gap grew quick. The only teams missing out where the Oregon ones, but they never really got a chase going...so that was that. There was 8 guys away, and we were then sprinting for 9th, i debated if it was worth the risk...but decided after a late attack didn't work that the practice would be worth it. The HB guys were trying to set Owen up for the sprint, but got a bit excited and and just about all crossed the yellow line moving up with a few miles to go. The next few miles were the normal shoulder to shoulder high stress anticipation riding before a sprint. The last corner was a bit hairy, as there was sand in the lane and we were coming in fast...I got taken wide, but got back on a wheel...so that wasn't too bad. The sprint proper started right before 200m , and being a bit too far back there was quite a bit of traffic as few front guys sat up. I narrowly avoided running into a few guys and had to brake and swerve s few times losing valuable momentum...I should have just stayed to the far right and I would have been good... I had about 3 guys come past at 50m, and ended up 8th in the pack sprint, 16th overall.
Kyle was 5th, Hitch was second in the sprint for 10th...and then we had me and one other garage rider in the top 20.

Felt good to race again, and I was happy how I felt, just not with the last effort, but that's why i keep trying.

James from KR won the race...which was nice, nearly expected but still very hard to pull of... good to see someone who has been working so hard be rewarded for it.

Snow

First race of the year got canceled because of snow. There wasn't that much of it, nut enough to make it a dangerous, and nobody likes to get hurt the first week......although someone manged to anyway.


Work had been real busy that week, I'd not manged to get much riding in except a few short rides on the trainer...it was a forced rest week.... although I didn't especially feel very rested...all that work stress and late nights don't really help you recover.

This is probably the biggest difference between us "hobby" cyclists and those who manage to take it a bit more serious.
The few local cyclist who train full time, or have reduced work obligations have a distinct advantage. Having the opportunity to train as much as you want it great, and will result in great improvements, but the ones who also can spent the rest of the time "resting", from work, stress, family obligations etc have another level of performance benefit that can't be underestimated.

Local racing usually isn't that hard or long, so we can for the most part get away with it... and thankfully we don't have to compete in the NRC stage races they training for...so it works out ok for the most part.

Now there aren't many of us who wouldn't like the same opportunity, but usually at this point in our life it would be hard to do anyway, unless winning the lottery.
I spent my 20's going to college and racing Crew, and honestly at that point I would probably focused on that sport, which i was actually better at... Not until graduation did i start biking, and by then it was just about practically too late.
Work, family student loans show up quick....

But lets get this racing season going.......(hopefully without anymore snow)

2011

The 2011 race season is about to start. The big difference this year as compared to others is the amount of training I have done... Although I do feel like it has been going pretty good, the hours are down quite a bit... but that is expected with the busy schedule at work, and a toddler at home.

We just had out "team" camp last weekend. This year we stayed in Pt Townsend.. it was actually a nice change, maybe the weather had something to do with that. I was just about the only sunny dry weekend we have had all winter, we got lucky there....a bit cold and windy... but that beats rain any time.
I was also on my race bike for the first time since September i think...