Tree

There I was, riding down the tail, minding my own business, and out of nowhere this tree jumped at me.
The tree didn’t so much jump at me, more like actually just stood there, not moving at all… but it’s all relative.
The race had originally been scheduled for a much different course, with much less trees, and definitely less aggressive ones at that.
Well here I was, on the first lap mind you giving this perfectly healthy tree a perfect tackle, I guess should have known, that I didn’t really have a chance, me against the tree, there was no other outcome, then me being on the short end of the stick.

It all happened during the first lap of the 3ed race of the Seattle cross series on Sunday.
We all know the first lap is a bit hectic to say the least. On a right hand corner my front tire slipped for just a split second, changing my path just enough, sending me into the corner tighter then I wanted. There it was, and there was no avoiding it… damm!! my right collar bone took the hit, sending me cart wheeling into the bushes.
I got up, checked my bike, shoulder hurt bad, waited until the trail was clear and got back on my bike. Racing down the trail again I was slightly upset to why I had waited so long to get going, the racer in me was more angry about lossing time then beeing hurt. I came to a section that required me to pull on the handlebar, and I was quickly reminded of the encounter with the tree. I still keep going, but finally came to my senses as I plowed through the deep sand, pushing the heavy gear and trying maintainin my momentum, it hurt like the...... By the end of the sand pit I came to a slow stop and got off the bike, the race was over for today.

As I walked my bike down to the infield the shoulder pain was intensifying, and I knew I had made the right decision. Now I instead started worrying about having broken or torn something. This is not at all a good plan for the rest of the cross season.

After slowly loading the car I drove the emergency room. X-rays and the doctor confirmed that I hadn’t broken anything but had suffered a separated shoulder. I hadn’t completely torn my ligaments so that’s good… but it will definitely take a while to heal, It just hurts and even minor things are hard to do.

If it wasn’t cross, maybe I could be back racing in a few weeks… cross though is a bit tough on the shoulder with all the bumps and jarring, not to mention lifting the bike over barriers and shouldering the bike for the Knapp run-up… yeah… don’t think so.

I was getting over my cold, training was going good, I was feeling strong... this is always when you get injured...

I still slightly optimistic…we will see…

I now have a great opertunity to practise doing everything with my left hand..

Evergreen

For the First race of the Seattle series, the weather could not have been better.
After last weeks rain and mud, we now had to deal with dry grass and sandy corners.
After a pretty good start, I once again had a misshap, from where i spent the entire race trying to recover from.

On the first 180 turn of the race, we all quickly slowed to a crawl, what I didn't notice at the time, was that when the rider from behind ran into me, they actually ran into my skewer, partially opening it. A lap later my rear wheel came to a screeching halt as the wheel came out. Why i had closed it with the lever pointing backwards I don't know?... another thing to think about for cross.

I really didn't loose to much time, it was more the fact that I got passed by just about the entire field, as I figured out what was wrong, and got my wheel back in.
I spent a lot of time getting stuck behind and trying to get around riders.
The longer the race went, the faster I making up spots... road season fitness is helping a bit.
I eked out a top 10, so i am happy with that... one of these days it will all work out.

Cross is On

Cyclocross season just started again... why didn't anybody remind me how painful it is??

First Star-crossed in Redmond on Saturday..




Then after suffering from a mechanical, Rad GrandPrix on Sunday





cool sky.......

Track

After only racing on the track, twice the last few summers, this year I managed three...and was promptly upgraded, to a cat 3. So last Friday Kele and I both showed up to race.
There where enough riders there for two heats, and they split us up, so we wouldn't cooperate... and I who needed some help……..
Track you would think would be simple, since there is only one gear... but not quite so... now you have to spend all this time deciding what gear to run, depending on the race, other riders tactics, and ones own strengths. No matter what you do, you are invariably going to have the wrong gear, for at least part of the race.
First race I picked a slightly bigger gear then I was used to… turned out it was ok at speed, but accelerating was a bit harder, and my legs were just about shoot after that. Second race I went smaller to a 49x15… pretty small, but now I was better of with the small accelerations… but just could not go fast enough during the sprint for the line. (All in all though, I think a better gear for me)..

For the third race I should have gone up again. The race would be a lot more consistent in speed, no intermediate sprints or funny stuff…I ended up of the front a few times… and the high cadence I had to keep with that gear just wore me down… and I was caught. During the final sprint to the line I was feeling good, on a great wheel and between corner 3 and 4 I was flying over the top of the pack to the front. As we are about to exit the corner a rider pulls up, the rider on my inside who I’m passing reacts my going up, then the rookie as I am, I over react even more and even “stop” pedaling for a split second… I promptly settle down, but have now lost my wheel and inertia, so I back of and pull out of the sprint… what a rookie mistake… The riders wheel I was on ends up winning the sprint, I would like to think I would have been right up there, and not back practically coasting across the line.
Well I’m a rookie on the track, I didn’t go down… I will learn..
and I did win $10 in my second race… more then enough for a Blizzard, so really not a bad night after all.

Team Pursuit

This weekend I did my first team pursuit at the FSA challenge race at Marymoore.
It was also probably my shortest race ever, less then 5 min.
Considering that this was new to all of us, with only a few training sessions, never done more then 2 1/2 laps at full effort prior to this, it went pretty good.

I think all of us agreed that we could improve our time considerably.
We rode pretty conservatively, not quite knowing how to pace it... I think we all finished with plenty left in the tank.

We only missed 3ed by less than a second, and second by 4...

I'm tired

Too much racing in too few days....sure it was fun...
but I'm paying for it now..

Just too bad more people didn't show up for the Omnium in Bellingham...

I felt great all weekend, and even managed to take the crowd preem of $100+ in the crit..

I shared it with Brian V from Carter though, as we were working together good, trying to hold of the pack for the finish.
We didn't quite make it.
Getting caught at the last corner with 200m to go, I tried to sprint but faded to 10th...
It was a good effort though.

W in W

Off to the 3ed “W” stage race of the year.
First one was Walla Walla, in April…I haven’t updated the blog since…
Second was the State Stage race in Wenatchee and the third will be this weekend in Winthrop..

The first two did not go so well.

Walla Walla had a very big field with some very strong riders. Wind was a factor as well. For the first time in a while a was more then happy to just hang on, and that was hard enough.


I’ve like so many others, have been fighting colds and sickness all spring. I was, and am still trying to get over and recover from a virus. I could have picked it up on my India trip in late December, or maybe just as likely the Starbucks at JFK during my return trip,,, The virus has been leaving me weak and tried. I was having problem with my digestion system, I was not able to absorb enough nutrients… finally though after numerous tests and doctor visits, I am now on a daily viral suppressive medicine…and the last few weeks I have been feeling a lot better.

I still have a hard time recovering from efforts, and the trick now is to make sure I don’t overdue it and make sure I get enough rest. Better being over rested then over trained anytime.

Anyway Wenatchee was hot and windy. The Crit was harder then I liked. Muscle weakness and repeated high intensity efforts in a crit is not a good mix.

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The long climb in the road race was very hot. Even before the second time over I was dead. Just pushing the pedals down at all was just barley possible. I don’t think I could have climbed any slower.


Even though I struggled at lot of the races this year, I really tried to enjoy the process instead… it’s not all about wining and just setting different goals. At a few races I have felt great, others not so much… but It’s all been “fun”…

One advantage with having a power meter on my bike is that I can quantify a big part of the symptoms. My power is down 5% across the board, from sprint to TT efforts. 5% does not seem like a lot… but I can assure you that it is quite noticeable.

So now I’m getting ready for the third W, the Methow Valley Stage race in Wintrop.
Hopefully can do a bit better this time.

But no matter what happens I will make sure I have a good time…

80'F

How nice was the 80’s on Saturday?..

After have been suffering from some kind of post sickness fatigue the last week or so, I finally began to feel a lot better on Friday.
Since the race on Saturday was only a 14 mile ride from home, and with a start time at early afternoon, it meant a possibility to catch up on some sleep, have a relaxing morning and then leisurely cruising over to Volunteer Park, doesn’t get much better then that..
And did I mention it was 80’… only my 3ed ride with out leg warmers all year, (the 2nd was on a short lunch ride Friday).
Dalai Lama is in town all week, and with a Baseball game also going on, it was nice being able to park the car for the entire weekend, avoiding all traffic.
I haven’t done this race since 2004. I think it was cancelled last year, and the other years it was later in the summer when I was usually gone in England for wind tunnel testing.
This would be my first criterium of the year, although I consider this a non-crit crit, because of its simple course…
One big round loop, It’s just like Seward Park, but twice as big. Flat section by the Start/ finish, long fast downhill followed by an uphill that you can coast up halfway (especially in the slip stream of the pack) before a sharp right turn into the last 200m. This is always easier then a flat multi corner course, where you have no downhill to ‘recover”. On the other hand, a solo move is definitely harder, you have to work up and down to maintain your lead.
The race it went ok. You could tell that it was the first crit of the year for a lot of people, both by the feeling I got in the corners, and the fatigue you could see set in after a few laps.


I tried a move or two, bridged up to a short lasting two man break ½ though.. but nothing would stay away. Well, Clayville did have about a 12 sec lead the last 10 laps, only to get caught at 200m. With 1lap to go I was a bit too far back, and going around the tower, I managed to loose a few more spots… I definitely wasn’t “aggressive enough”.. coming around the last corner I started to sprint, and once I realized I wasn’t gaining much on anybody, I rolled across in 14th .. Teufel was up there and took 6th I think.
After the race I had nice ride home in the gorgeous weather… if it would only last, but rain and cold was forecasted for Sunday.

I decided to do the early race Sunday, trying to avoid the rain that was surly on its way.
When I showed up I was surprised by the small fields in all the races. Tom, Alex and I lined up for the A race. I could definitely feel some fatigue from Saturday, and I noticed that I didn’t have much of any acceleration coming out of the corners, or trying to get of the front. Tom and Alex did a good job covering, or making sure no move got of the front. Halfway though, the rain came, but all throughout race it never really got worse then a light mist. With 2 1/2 laps to go, I got seriously cut of in corner two, I had to slam on my brakes, lift my right foot to avoiding the curb and lost 20 spots. Now I didn’t have much time to get back up front. Going up the back side on the last lap I had managed to get back up to 5th, but when the three front riders surged and opened up a gap ahead of the 4th placed rider, I was too fatigued to respond right away…. And that was that.

I came around the last corner 5th, and then got passed by Erik Anderson, before the line as he sprinted by me …. Oh well, It could have been worse... Alex was right behind me somewhere in the last corner, but was taken wide and came out of his pedal, luckily he didn’t go down, but it didn’t help his finishing order for sure.
Now it started raining, and I decided to skip the last race and ride home before I got too wet and cold, especially as I had forgot to bring my legwarmers and raincoat. By the time I got home it was raining pretty hard, and I was happy with my decision, but there was still a part of me that wanted to race.

Independence Valley

Ok, at some point I will have to mention that we raced in miserable rain, and I was wet and cold, but not yet….
Saturday the Sun was out once again, it was slightly cold, still a bit too cold for bare legs, but it was a close call.
A big field this week, over 70 riders, several pro’s were at hand for some training, 3 Bissell riders, Ian (BMC), Doug (Rock Racing) Mountain Biker Jason Sager, and plenty local strong guys from both Washington and Oregon. First time up the first hill we were steady, at 450W mind you… at least it was only 3min. Once on the back side, the pace slowed way down. A few miles later, attacks started going, right before the second hill Ian, Dan and Morgan get a gap, and it balloons pretty quick. I don’t think the fact that out chase wasn’t the best made much of a difference with those guys up there; the gap was going up no matter what. Chris flatted, so we didn’t help much with chase until he got back, then just as we were coming up to the climb he got DQ for crossing the centerline…
Second time up was probably just as fast, but ok. On the back side Kevin and I helped with the chase so did Joe Holmes, but that was it (Carter had already spent most of there guys)… what was the point…. We quickly realized that this was futile….Kevin attacked and went away solo. Campbell tried to bridge but never made it up there. By the top of the second climb Kevin came back.
Next time up the main hill was going to be decisive, we all knew it. I attacked and countered to many moves, and spent too much energy to try and get in a small group before the climb, nothing stayed for very long. Then as I momentarily drifted back to the 3ed row, Strangelove and someone gets of the front, and then Hone and Ian attack at the same time and are also “let go”. These four get a gap before anything else happens, just enough it turns out. Another split rolls of, but this one is chased down right before the corner. Then less than a mile before the hill Ian gets of again, but gets caught ¼ way up, got to be the worst place.
The surge happens right at the bottom, Doug, Omer all come flying around on my left. I try and surge but after all the attacking my legs are toast…halfway up I finally start to close in on a group of riders right in front, but I needed to stand and surge a lot more to catch the main group…5 sec late at the top, is just too much, that was that.
This was one of those moments you have to realize, when it happens, that the race is over unless you do something now. Put away all thoughts of pain and simply shift, stand, and do what ever you have to do, to catch back up. You have to be willing to suffer more then you ever have, ignore the logic and thoughts of being in control… this is the race, and if you want to be a part of it.. go.
I didn’t realize this, until it was too late, maybe it was denial, or maybe I was just too preoccupied with the pain right now, and not the race at hand.

The small break with Hone and Strangelove got absorbed on the way up, but made it over the top.
The race was now for 15th.. and some good training I guess. Shawn missed the split, not sure how, but was now trying to pull us all back.
An hour later we sprinted in for 15th, Campbell taking the Sprint. I had a go at it but, somehow found myself squeezed across the yellow line with 300m to go and sprinted from the back, with what it felt like two flat tires..

March racing with no rain

Total riding time actually drops quite a lot for me during racing season, and time in the car goes up accordingly. Saturday rides from the front door are numbered for a while. Stops at Pert’s after the ride, for a cup of coffee and lunch are going to suffer. Well, at least I now have good reason to stop for a DQ blizzard on the drive home.


The second Mason Lake was a bit more intense then the first week, a lot of teams showed up with full teams. The pace was always high, and I personally did a lot of work for the team, bringing back breaks. The final rider was caught at 1km, and we were barreling down for a pack sprint.
The finish was rather hazardous, riders moving up to the left of the yellow line, head and shoulder butting and wheels touching, all at 30mph. Coming around the last corner I was a bit too far back, but managed to squeeze in at 8th, closing in on the riders ahead, but still upright and alive.


Sunday morning came too early, lost an hour sleep to daylight saving. I had to make the first ferry out of Kingston to Sequim, since we and Carter were putting on the race.
After being in the follow car all morning, which is a pretty posh job actually, especially if the weather is bad, I got ready to race the afternoon race. It was actually quite a bit colder then the day before, but once again there was no rain. Quite a big field again, plenty strong teams. The pace was very fast the first two laps as usual, with attacks going continuously. Every team was trying to get their riders in the break, before they let it go. Half way through lap three a four man break went up the road. Attacks kept coming and bride attempts were still being made though, as several teams missed out, and others wanted to improve their odds. Jason was away in the four man break; Kyle and I were flying along in the 12 man chase group. Once we got together, the gap to the pack opened up, and a few laps later we had over a 3minuite lead. With one lap to go the attacks started again, most people wanted to break things up, hopefully get rid of a few of the more tired riders, and make the final surge to the line a bit smaller affair. This is when racing gets hard and fun. This is the part I enjoy the most, this is when you have to dig deep, and are motivated to do so. Over the next few miles our group split and came back together more times then I can remember. Finally, after Lang countered a move by me and his teammate Patrick, and before you know it he had just a big enough gap that it would take a very strong or combined effort to get up to. A few times he was close, and I thought we would close it down, but there were too many people sitting on, and the rest of us had no desire bringing them up for an easy sprint. Last year I was in the same position as Lang, but got caught within the last 200m, so I knew how had it was to stay out there, and how fast the gap can close down. Lang however is probably stronger than me, and he had a bigger gap going around that last corner.
Lang did a great effort and hung on for the win. I started my sprint too soon, and died a horrible death the last few seconds and got passed by two riders right before the line for 6th.

After this race I was ready for a break, these two races wore me down and I needed to rest.
Maybe it was the weekend, maybe it was the flu going around the office at work, or maybe it was a combination, but by Wednesday afternoon I was sick, real sick. Fever, headache, soar throat and body aches. I was out for two days. By Saturday I was feeling a bit better, but decided to stay home and rest one more, as I wasn’t over it yet (and by now Kele was also feeling it).

Sunday we both decided to show up and race Market Street, maybe we weren’t completely well, but we were rested. It was cold, but once again it was dry.
The race started fast again, lots of strong teams this year, and nobody wants to settle for the right break goes. I felt ok for the first lap and a half until I ran out of energy and my legs had no jump at all. I decided to be a bit more careful for a while, after having the flu for a few days; it really wasn’t a surprise that my energy level would drop of dramatically. Right then though, Flavio got of solo, and was soon joined by Hone. Not until a lap later, when another group bridged did the pack let it go. The break now had 7 riders, Clayville later bridged up solo, after a series of attacks and a great setup by Lang. They were now eight up there, and the gap went up to a few minuets.
Ongers once again proved too strong and jumped early to take the win with Hone right behind. Flavio ended up 5th. The pack sprinted for 9th , which somehow I took, more luck and timing then anything. I jumped right when the front rider swung of and the front hesitated, giving me just enough of gap to hold until the line.

Next week it’s Independence Valley, and I think we might run out of luck with the weather this time. This will be the first “hilly” race of the season, and we will see how that feels :)

Mason 1

First race of the season always brings a slight panic:, am I ready, is the bike ready..
I spent up until 10pm Friday night getting Kele's bike ready, and than managed to work some magic on my 5year old race bike, as my new tarmac isn't in for another 2weeks or so..
Even though I didn't manage to ride in the sun all week, and missed a few training days to jet lag, sickness and working on bike.. I was looking forward to the first race.



Garage has a strong team this year, even though we lost Nathan to the South East ( his climbing and stage racing will be missed). On Saturday no less the nine riders showed up, all relatively fit and ready. Even with two of our strongest missing, Robert and Flavio, I felt confident we could match any team out there.
The Race started right away, with the first break going within the first mile. Once it came back, the next break went right away, Chris got up there, I was about to join him, when I quickly glanced back, the pack was right on me, I decided to sit up and not risk bringing the whole thing back.. and that was it, by the start/finish they had 2 minuets. The rest of the race was a mix of attacking, chasing and rolling along at 14mph... several more groups got of during the following laps.
We ended up with two in the top 5 and several more finishing up there.
No one could match Shawn Ongers though.... good to see such a nice guy riding so strong and making the rest of us look slow.

New Delhi

Last Week I went on a delivery flight of a brand new 777-300ER to India Airlines. Me and and one other Boeing engineer got to fly to New Delhi for a 1 day vacation... The catch... we worked 22hours straight on the way over there, only slept 6 hours in 3 days..and did I mention the smog and the stomach bug, but I did have some excellent curry........

There was only 10 of us on the entire flight, and we got to spend lots of in the cockpit, so that was kind of cool. The computer we used to access the airplane speed, altitude, engine RPM, Fuel flow...etc broke down on us...so we had to manually record everything instead of saving it to a disk...this was one cause of the lack of sleep. We spend half a day around in New Delhi...mostly looking around, shopping for some Christmas gifts, and really trying to to get run over crossing the street...which was definitely a lot harder then anywhere else I've been.

Over North Pole


Looks New




Plenty of room to spread around




This thing Broke down


Traffic..

Kelly Creek, Series final

This was the last race of the Seattle metro series, and my final cross race of the season. I wanted to end of the cross season with a good result, and maybe move up in the overall standings. I was finally getting over the virus that seams to reoccur in the fall over the last two years. I started the cross season recovering from a broken rib and bruised hip, very rusty handing skills and tired legs. Each week they were all getting better. For this last race I wanted to give it myself a fighting chance, I cut out the weight room and the hours on the bike…and did shorter more intense workouts.
I got up Sunday, not the same blue skies as Saturday I was hoping for, but a grey overcast. As I made breakfast it started snowing out side…and by the time I was loading the car we had an inch. As I was driving south, the roads dried up, and by Bellevue there was no sign of any snow at all…maybe it won’t be so bad after all! I was starting to feel good about the weather…until I got of hwy 167, and headed up the hill to Bonny lake…snow was coming down hard up here… I was a bit worried that it would be very wet and muddy but after riding the course a few times during warm-up I realized that the opposite was true. The ground was frozen, and rock solid…and very bumpy. There was a slight dusting of snow on the ground, and rather cold..the thermal jacket I was wearing during warm-up felt nice.. hopefully the effort during the race would keep me warm without it.
I lined up in the second row, right behind Matt Hill. I clipped in right away…but Matt had problems which caused us to be swarmed pretty fast. We both went on the left side to move up as much as possible before squeezing though the wood pools and taking the right turn. I was still pretty far back, maybe 15th. I felt good and moved up a few spots as soon as I could. Half way the first lap on a small riser I’m just about to pass a rider on the right when he snaps his chain and blocks me completely, once I get going again, I’ve lost 5-6 spots. One thing after another!. Right after going down the hill I manage to just about re connect with a group of 6-7 riders ahead. I need to make up some ground now…so on the long starting straight I stand and surge past 5-6 riders… I manage to keep the gap for a while, but pretty soon they are on my heels as I try to and recover from the effort. It was an eventful first lap…and maybe I spent a bit too much energy too soon.

As I jump back on my bike after the run-up on lap two, I hear a crack..… my saddle tilted up. It’s still ridable but not that comfortable. I look at the lap sign, and there are still 6 laps to go. As long as it doesn’t get worse I can probably finish. As soon as I think this, I hear another crack and the saddle moves even more. Now I really have to careful to not jump back on too hard, but gently trying to remount the bike, stand when very bumpy. I can feel a lack of power in this position, and my lower back is starting to hurt. Riders soon pass me, one by one. Is it worth stooping and trying to fix the problem in the pit?... probably not, unless I had a spare seatpost and saddle set up , or a spare bike… I just have to be careful and hope for the best, there isn’t much hope in moving up any more as my back is getting worse, just try and not get caught…
I finally roll across the line in 9th…not as good as I had hoped, but not too bad considering…but I knew I had more in me.. that is cross, you have to be able overcome all kind of setbacks, and be prepared for anything.

During the nine cross races I did this season I had one rolled tire, two incidents with my rear brake and one seatpost issue, that really isn’t too bad. No bad crashes, no flats 20min away form the pit and no injuries worse then a few cuts and bruises.

I was really happy with the performance of the tubular setup, I really liked being able to run a lower tire pressure without having to worry about pinch flats. The bike in general worked real well. I can’t really think of anything I need to improve setup wise for next year, once I switch out the brake pads for the gripper red ones and run a larger range cassette. Maybe a single up front, but not sure if it is worth the hassle, and what would I really gain?..

Next year I will try and be more specific about my training for cross, and maybe I can improve some again

Fort Flagler

Fort Flagler did not go as good as I had hoped wanted… Everybody at work has been sick, some one also came back from Hong Kong with some kind of disease…hopefully it was not a strain of bird flue, or something worse.!!..I wasn't feeling good all last week…so I took it very easy, and on Friday I could feel something in my throat…but I did an hour on the trainer, with a few 1min efforts and my legs felt great (one advantage of resting). This week has probably been the lowest training volume week, in months. Since the first race was on Saturday, for once I did not do a 60 mile ride with the team the day before the race (that should help)…

Saturday though…I just never got comfortable, I felt behind all race ,,, there was hardly any time to "rest"..lots of loose technical corners and a big sand pit, big bush stuck in my rear derailleur.. Combined with a bad start……it didn’t turn out so good.. Last ¼ of the last lap, I slowed down making sure I wouldn’t get in the way of the front runners of the Elite race, who were battling it out for the top spots. … ended up 13th, not exactly what I had hoped for… I would like to move up to around 5th or so.. I feel like I should be able to, hopefully before the end of cross season.


Sundays course was a lot more open and very windy, but had a lot of corners, a short step section that you could ride up, but if you didn't quite make it… big trouble… to be safe I decided to get of and run (even though I cleared it fine several times during pre-riding the course).…don't think I actually lost much time there at all…and it was definitely more consistent.
My legs were surprisingly tired from the previous days effort, it’s been a few months since back to back race days.. and without specific training, and the fact that I’m going 100% the entire race really is noticeable. At least most everybody else were in the same boat.
The start was on long gravel section… I actually clipped in right away…but as we near the corner…I can feel my rear fishtailing around…and I think I might have a flat…the pit is right here so I want to make sure,..my hesitation caused everyone to pass me…sweet….now I'm probably 25th..I think riding the loose gravel and the fact that we were going for it. made it seem flat, I’m still trying to figure this tire pressure thing out… it always feels different going full speed, vs. just pre-riding the course … … I managed to pass a few right away…after a lap or so I'm right on the Cal-Giant guy, when some tape blows in and wraps around my cassette… can't shift and the gears are skipping… I stop at the bottom on the tail wind hill and rip it out(luckily it comes out easy)….but after an initial surge to make up some lost ground, I never get close to the Cal-Giant guy again… a lap later as I jump of my bike for the short run up,,, I somehow knock my rear brake past the rim and into the wheel.?????.... I stop and fix this and I get passed again….I surge again , but now I'm starting to feel the efforts. and actually get caught from behind… I finally manage to catch and pass them with ¼ lap to go… and ended up a disappointed 13th again.... …well at least I didn't get lapped by Russell..

I might not be getting the results I want, but who does?… I’m having fun though… and I’m already looking forward to next year.

criss-cross

Steilacoom seams like it always has sun and blue skies… I don’t think I have raced there in bad weather since the UCI race in 2002.. (wow that was a while ago) and that was before the advent of the Knapp run-up… back, then we actually even went down it once in a while…

The Steilacoom race went ok, after a few incidents in the first corner, where Matt Hill went down and the two riders in front of leaning on each other,.. the race started for real… there is plenty time and opportunity to gain/lose spots on this course, no need to go crazy 30 sec into the first lap. I was happy to see the inclusion of the long gravel path up the hill, I just which we could have continued all the way up and not go around the ruin. and back down to the run-up. The run-up sucks… but it sucks for everyone, and it actually helped me ,as I frequently gained ground going up…
My form and technique is starting to come around, maybe one day I can hang with all these mountain bikers.


Donida Farms was another great cross day… the sun was out when I left home, but I got a bit worried as the rain was coming down pretty good in Kirkland and Bellevue. It was a good course, actually seamed like it would be harder during the warm-up, but it flowed pretty good.. Nikos and I lined up, I was lucky to be in the second start row, right behind Matt Hill.. It wasn’t the smoothest start, and once again I had a bit of trouble getting my left cleat engaged…just the panic I guess. At least I missed the crash that happened right behind me, that delayed Nikos.
I felt better then any cross race so far this season, I was moving up constantly closing gaps to the groups ahead. I had too mishaps that slowed me down. The first incident happened about halfway though and although it didn’t take more then 10-20 sec to resolve, but I instantly lost 3spots. Our bike shorts this year for some reason include a draw string…(why I don’t know)…and somehow it came “untucked” and stuck on my seat rails, “what the!!!”… I had to slow down and slightly and rip it off, I didn’t want to try and dismount to find my self stuck to the bike.. It took me an entire lap to make it back up to where I was…damm, wasted energy.. could have been worse..

Nikos looking fast

The second incident was a bit more serious. I ran pretty low pressure to try and smooth some of the bumps out, and increase traction. Early on I would feel my tire briefly kind of roll of the rim for a second, during a few sharp corners, before it popped back on.. I decided to keep going and hope for the best. .However with a bit more then 1 ½ laps to go, turning sharplyin the grass , it rolled off completely and brought me to a skidding halt. Lucky for me the pits were close, and even better I actually have a pair of wheels in there. After a bit of panic and somewhat slow wheel change I got back on…now with a mission to catch back up to all the riders who had passed me during the wheel change…
The last lap was probably one of my fastest, as I managed to claw my self back up to 10th… didn’t quit manage to catch everybody… but considering, I was pretty happy with 10th….
Could have been a lot worse… Nikos finished 15th.. we are all improving.. maybe next week…

Kelly Creek.

I had completely expected the race to be wet and muddy, and after waking up Sunday morning it was really no surprise when it was raining. I’d got lucky on Saturday…and basically avoided all rain on my team ride, so a little today wasn’t a big deal… I just hoped it wouldn’t be too much mud, and heavy wet grass to negotiate. As I arrived at Kelly Creek it was a nice surprise to learn that not only wasn’t it raining, it had held of all day so far…it was actually kind of warm..(once you got going). I arrived a bit late but was able to pre-ride the course once before the 1:30 race. It was a good course… a bit bumpy maybe… but plenty of room to pass and not too technical… the racers would make it hard.. not the terrain… just how I like it.

I felt a lot better then last week, maybe it was because I skipped the weights and trainer ride on Thursday, due to the power outage..or maybe I just took it easer during my Saturday ride… It’s always a struggle to balance training for the next road season and racing cross. This year I have tried to cut down on the hours during the week, and stick to a shorter 60 mile loop on Saturday…. Hopefully it will work…and for some of the later races I might cut the Saturday ride to an hour or something.

I actually thought I had a pretty good position during the line up… but as we took of, someone bobbled right in front of me, causing me to miss my pedal, once I got clipped in, I was getting swarmed from all sides…and as we turned around the fence pole 200m later I was just about right at the back…only a few 45+ where behind me… I accelerated up on the side and managed to pass a few. When things settled down a bit (after the first lap panic)… I was probably already at least 20sec back. As I rounded the fence pole, I could see a group of 5-6 riders just cresting the little steep hill ahead, so close but still so far away. After a few laps I noticed that I was closing in on the riders ahead, as each lap the gap would be a little less…maybe not to the top 2-3 guys though… they were definitely going faster. I think maybe I was able to slow down less than a lot of guys up there.. but it’s funny how fatigue goes in waves…you can be feeling great one lap, pass a rider, to just stumble the next and just barley hold them of, if you just went a bit too hard, and then suddenly feel good and open the gap again...
I was hoping too make it into the top ten, but I think I wast just too far back at the start. The last lap and a half I was only a few seconds behind what turned out to me 10th… but just could not close it down… I tried to pick it up on the fast sections…but he matched me… I knew I had to get around him before the last twisty section to have a chance… but no…
If you cross the line are not completely wasted or winning you didn’t go hard enough..
This was definitely an improvement… hopefully I can do even better next week…maybe even get a good start.

Evergreen

Last weeks cross race at Evergreen high school


The weather was perfect... my starting position not too bad... my position after 1/2 lap not so good to say the least. The rusty cross handling skills...eh..need improvement...I need to stop turning like a roadie.

I had a good time though...painful to say the least... this week I will try to take it a bit easier on the weights..and see if my legs feel better...
I suspect the weather will be a bit different on Sunday... more like a northwest cross race you would expect.

October Ride....

Not too bad for a ride in October... so if I had to
complain it was the fact that it was a bit windy...

I was down in California for a few days (watching track nationals) and managed to go
for a few rides around Pales Verdes.

Can you say Mud...

If you were at the cross race Sunday in Snohomish… you know what I mean.



I lined up for my first cross race of the season, and my first race since I cracked a rib or two a few weeks ago…(they have healed pretty good… sneezing is no longer something I fear, and I have no problem going full speed…they still ache when I start breathing to fast… but you can’t sit around forever)


Last year this course was a mud fest… even though it rained all night and all day…there was no way it could be as bad as last year…right!… well it was… On the plus side it wasn’t as cold as last year, and there was no snow.

After a test lap, I had to change my cassette, it had been working ok on the trainer, the middle gears would slip when cranking down, luckily I actually had some spare wheels and took it’s cassette…but now all I had was a 23… and with all this mud I might need something lighter to avoid bogging down at 50rpm.

The field size wasn’t huge… but there were still plenty die hards, and some even looked excited to get to ride around in the mud..

The start was crazy as normal…everyone going for the hole shot, I took it a bit easy…figuring that it might be best to stay back a bit, and avoid the crashes,, and then pick off as many riders as possible during the next few laps. The first part of my plan worked…the second part.passing…a bit harder…

After 3 laps my legs were getting tired, I really needed something smaller then the 23…going up though the trees, it was thick and sticky, but surprisingly all ridable. As long as you keep your momentum going you could ride 95% of the course, only the barriers and step muddy hill required dismounting.

I wasn’t overly excited with my performance, but I finished 14th I think, didn’t crash once (so my ribs are still ok) and considering this was my first cross race in a while…on a technical course, not too shabby..

I will miss next weeks cross race, since I will be in LA… but Evergreen the following week should be good.... lets hope for a less muddy day though.

Cross

The 787 Flight test is delayed...a few months



The good news is that it will alow me to have a cross season.. the bad news is that I don't know what it will do to my road season next year..

Now, as long as I can get my ribs healed enouth for some jaring, I'm ready to go.. or soon will be.

Danmark Runt

Stage 6 finish of Tour of Denmark..
Mark Cavendish coming around Juan José Haedo at 50m.
Ok, so it's a bit blurry, we had to push our way to the front row at the barriers between two kids and their grandmothers..

4th of July

To celebrate 4th of July, there are bike races...well I guess we have races all the time...but this time we have a reason.

I got up early, actually earlier then if I was going to work, to make down to Burien in time for the Master A race... why I do there I'm not sure.
Last weekend I raced both the master A and the 1-2 race in Olympia...and I haven't learnt my lesson yet.

The Master A race is usually significantly shorter...but I always shorter...and not necessarily any easier... actually by looking at my power numbers the master A race is a lot harder, or more likely I'm tired and unable to produce the same power the second time around.

Last week I overshoot a corner on the last lap(and popped the tire of the rim) in the master A race and DNFed.. and then in the 1-2 race I crashed with 7 laps to go..still have a sore neck from that one...

Since last weekend actually only was a few days ago, my legs could really feel it...and the morning race was sluggish... I set my self up for a good finish though, sitting 3ed wheel with 1/2 lap to go, but as the front slowed slightly and before I had time to react, an attack came by on the left, I finally managed to get on, but the race was over as I was already eighth by the second to last corner...and that's were I finished eighth..... very disappointing...

The 1-2 race was only a few hours away...and this is where I really want a result (so I need to stop wearing myself out during the morning race)..My legs were definitely tired and I had to work harder early on then I should have had to... I managed to get up front and went with a few moves, chased down a small break with no Garage riders in, countered an attack or two.

Each required near 100% effort, each time it was getting harder, and a race in my legs already wasn't helping.
With 4 laps to go I had managed to get up to the top 10. Starting 3 to go I was 7-8th... however right before corner 3 It got tight as riders on both sides came in, somebody's bike part was hitting my front spokes..and I had to back of to avoid going down,,, instantly I lost 20 spots..and no matter how much I tried to move up the last 2 laps , it was over...and that was that...I was too far back now and simply rolled across the line.

Pete did a great Job and managed 3ed.....and for his effort he won a tire and two tubes... come on!...3ed.... I'm not in it for the money or prices... but this is getting a bit silly....( but at least it wasn't a microsoft product!!)

The New Black

98 Giro

For Christmas I got the 98 Giro and Tour on DVD.
Before I started road cycling, I had always been a fan of Pantani. There was something I admired I guess, about the way he road. He was always seen as being and underdog for the big stage races, since he lacked the size for the flat stages and time trialing. He was an underdog and someone who would push himself to the limit in the mountains and always attacked as soon as the road went up. Pain was written all over his face, and as soon as the speed dropped he would stand and accelerate again, he would not give in .
Back in 98 I hadn’t yet touched a road bike, didn’t really follow cycling much except the occasional news I would hear from Eurosport. I remember seeing images of his climbing and attacking over and over again.. back then I was into rowing, where the more pain you could endure the faster you went, so how could you not admire a drive like Pantani had up those mountains….just hunker down and go!!!………..
As I was watching the first few stages this weekend I was surprised how I felt about the whole thing. There was a lack of enthusiasm to say the least. As the names of the rides attacking, and riding strong started to appear I realized that just about all of these rides have since been either ,caught, suspended or emitted using illegal doping products. Zulle was climbing like a motor cycle…yeah that didn’t feel right…he was new on the Festina team that year. Camenzind was attacking like crazy, Bartoli was flying…and Pantani… we all know he was on everything…it just didn’t feel like I was watching something real… I didn’t believe what I saw, gone was the feeling of admiration of pushing though the pain, fighting, hanging on for deer life.
Riders would shoot of in the last few miles of a stage and solo hold of the pack at 40mph..I just didn’t buy it.. I wasn’t sitting there cheering them on, sharing the pain they must be in..willing them to succeed.. Instead I was catching myself wondering what and how much they were on.
A few riders I haven’t heard any implications about were doing ok, a young Bettini was trying and trying to win a stage. Guerini ended up 3ed overall… But this was 1998, I don’t know how many riders really were clean.

Hopefully when I watch the 98 tour I will feel better… but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Fixed

I now know how much I like freewheeling, or just the fact that even a slight down hill can be so pleasurable.
Last wednesday I decided to go and do my second Wednesday track racing session ever (I went once at the end of last season.) . As a new track rider I’m racing in the cat 4 field, I might have more endurance then most of those guys, but this no coasting and only one gear thing is all new to me.
Ok, so I know I can’t spin, so I decided to go with a slightly larger gear (not that I would really know).. Kele told me that a 50x15 is pretty big.. and since spinning isn’t exactly my strength I decided to go with that. I should to be able to go fast, as long as I have time or a draft to accelerate in.
There were 27 riders in the race, pretty big for the track I thought…better try and stay up front.
My first race was a 8 lap snowball, where the 1st lap was worth 1point, 2nd lap two..etc..A riders jumped hard right of the bat…he can have that one… I waited patiently for a few laps.. finally on lap six I moved up front and attacked hard along turn 3 and 4… I took the 7points for that lap and just kept going.. and managed to stay away for the final lap also…hmmm, that wasn’t too bad! I couldn’t believe though how tired my legs were after that effort, it was only a 2mile race, and it definitely hurt a lot more than most 2 mile efforts I’ve done…and I didn’t even go really hard until the last 1 ½ lap…
The next race was a win and out.. if you win lap 10 you are done, else you keep going for another lap for 2n’d place, and then if you have anything left another for 3ed. I had no intention of doing more laps then I had to. I managed to get up front font lap nine, helped by the fact that two Zoka teammates were driving it at the front, as soon as the second riders died (slowed down) with exactly one lap to go, I went.. and once again I managed to stay away for the win..
The final race was a points race, and I managed to win three of the four sprints..and hopefully the overall.
It was a short night, but pretty intense, maybe I’ll try it again soon…

I really did need an 11......

A weekend full of up’s and down’s.
The Methow Valley stage race was a lot later this year and despite not conflicting with any major race in Oregon (as far as I know) the participation although twice of last year was still a bit low. The omnium format was modified from last year, making the TT a bit more important, and it was still possible to score points if out of the top 10. It’s a pretty good TT, it’s not often we do a 10mile TT on a rolling course. I tried to start out a bit slower, well aware that the return leg was considerably harder, steeper climbs and with a headwind. Morgan my 30second man caught me at mile 3 or so, as he went up the climbs considerable faster then me. As we went down the other side I caught back up, and was forced to ride of the optimum line (if there was one) to avoid the draft. At the turn around I was a sec behind… going back down and along the flat I lost a bit of ground… until the second to last climb where I went my pace and he went his… and he was gone… oh well…I’, starting to get more comfortable on the TT bike every time… I just need to ride it more… I should have the power to go fast, at least on the flats, maybe I’m just too dragy??
The crit was way too hard… not sure quite what happened… I just couldn’t keep accelerating anymore, and just died fast…every 40sec I was sprinting out of the corners at 850-950W…20min later I just couldn’t do it anymore… I needed to be further up where the surges out of the corners was less, but once you get behind.. it’s even harder to move up.
After a great nights sleep where my air mattress went flat, and I slept on hard wood floor.. I was ready for the road race…at least my back was straight.

The road race was changed, to basically one longer loop, instead of a circuit race we had last year. We did last years loop as part of this years stage in both directions. With all the head wind and an early 3man break up the road, most of the out leg was pretty easy, except for the HB guys pulling. The feed zone hill and the following side wind section was really the only selective section…. I was ready and felt good up over the top. A few small splits appeared but nothing much happened here, many of the HB guys who had been working in the head wind understandingly suffered and got gapped of. The break was close and had split, with Ongers continuing on his own. Morgan attacked on the right, I was on the left and missed it.. nobody went with him… he quickly caught Ongers and of they went. If this stayed away Tubbs would have to wind the sprint for 3ed to guarantee the overall win (depending on the tie breaker rule..) Tubbs and especially Stanko did a lot of work in the closing miles… but with the tail wind the pace was so high it was nearly impossible to close the gap. The last few miles where a bit nervous, with the average speed at nearly 40mph. I wanted to stay up front, figuring that at this speed there wouldn’t be too many people coming around in the sprint, and in case of a crash a 40mph…the front is the place to be. 1 mile to go I was 5th wheel.. then a Canadian rider (why is it always them)..comes way across the yellow line and up front causing some surges. 1km to go I’m not quite where I want to be, but I still have time… Lang surges on the right I manage to shuffle in 4th or 5th on Tubbs wheel, but as soon as I get there we hit the 200m mark…(way too soon, ) and as the front guys realize that the line is right there, the sprint is on… I just barley got in place and can’t manage to surge again… I’m pedaling my 53x12 as fast as I can on the downhill tailwind sprint, but I’m losing ground…and cross the line 10th (12th overall)..I really needed an 11…and or faster legs… I was definitely disappointed with my finish, I was in pretty good positioning and just didn’t have it in the end.. I was hoping to get one good result for the weekend…oh well. Campbell took the sprint with Tubbs in Second, Andrew in third… not sure who won the overall with Morgan and Tubbs tied on points.

Ravendale

One of the last road races, well not really but it feels like it, since crit season is just getting started. No more road races every Saturday and Sunday like in March and April…
This is my kind of race.. Maybe a bit too easy of a course, a few more times up the steep 20% climb would have benefited me… especially if it was hot.
Ian Mensher started out fast, and never really slowed down. As the race had barely started he took of with Hone, Campbell bridged up as he realized the danger seconds later. With HB, and Garage in the break the gap went up fast. Garage had just about the entire 1-2 team out for this race, only Neil (out with a broken arm), Jay (racing masters in his first race of the year), Robert and Derrick where missing.. that still left nine. Before we got to the climb. The break already had 45sec. HB was clearly a bit worried that Hone wouldn’t last and tried to bridge continuously, we covered every move, but in the end this resulted in a pretty fast pace and by mile 20 or so, we caught the break.


As we approached the smaller climb, after the sharp left turn, I sat on the front. As the climb started, Flavio and two other riders attacked, soon a few more went by with two garage riders, with three riders of the front, I slowed down ever so slightly and made sure a gap opened over the top. Over the next mile or so there was some reorganizing of the front…but now the winning move of the day was made, eight riders of the front. We where definitely happy with those odds since we had a really good climber/TT with Nathan and a just plain strong rider with Ian in the break.
Unfortunately the last few miles were a bit too easy it came down to a sprint, with WOW taking the win, and Ian coming in second. Nathan in his last road race before moving to Charleston walked away with 6th. The main pack was eventually sprinting for 8th.. with 1k to go I was right were I wanted to be.. then we got neutralized , there had been a crash in the masters field at about 800m. For some reason I thought the race was over and sat up, drifted back…but before I know it we started up again…ops… I made an effort to make my way back up to the front, but by 400m to go I was still too far out of it, and at mid pack it was a bit too sketchy…the front was about to make the final left turn into the sprint.. it was over.. I decided to sit this one out.. no point risking a crash.. for a mid pack finish…
Strangelove took the sprint, and has just about now sealed the deal on the Washington Cup I would guess, Pete came in 10th and Chris 11th.

Enumclaw

I can’t believe that was only my second stage race of the year,
Pretty big field this year, + most of the local pros, Health net, Priority Health, Jittery Joe’s . BMC, Rubicon, Kelley’s, Symetrics and full teams from Bob’s and HB… so this was going to be a hard race. The opening TT was windy and nobody expected fast times, but with the talent in attendance that didn’t hold true.
It was actually only my second TT of the year, and although my time wasn’t great, I was pretty happy with my performance, I paced my self reasonable well, not starting too hard, and finishing with nothing much left, the way it was supposed to be done. I didn’t let the wind get to me at all, and I felt reasonably in control the entire 6.3 miles. Ok, so I had to be a staggering 50sec faster to be in the omnium points, not this time. The big surprise, although Svein Tuft won, there were no other Symetrics riders in the top ten.

The weather was looking ok for the crit, the sun was out for most of the afternoon. During the Cat 3 race however we had out first showers. For the women’s race next, the roads were wet and slick. Kele managed to go down on the first corner of the first lap…but got up, and was ok, although slightly embarrassed. During that race the rain came was off and on, making a lot of the 1-2 to question the point of participating in an omnium crit, why risk it, with only a small chance of scoring points.
I lowered my tire pressure, drank my coffee and weighted the decision to wear legwarmers or not, sure it was cold enough, but even a small spill would probably tear the rather expensive clothing. In a wet crit like this, and with a strong field you know it will start fast, and stay that way until the end. I managed to line up on the very important front row. Well that’s were I lined up…after a number of “pro” line ups, were you simply ride from the front, turn around and back into the first row I somehow ended up in-between the 1-2-3 row…what the! Ok I’m fine with Svein doing this move, he was leading the GC, but the entire Symetrics team…yeah I don’t think so… who do you really think you are?... it got a little old when the 15th guy tried this move. The race started fast, but I managed to get up front early. Two laps in the rain started coming down hard, it was even hard to see, corner one was flooding and gaps were opening up all over the place. I was either taking the corners too easy, or not accelerating enough out of them, but I found my self struggling for any kind of draft. My legs felt unbelievably heavy and every acceleration was painful. Pretty soon I was struggling to hang on. A few laps later I was the last guy in the front group…and then I was off…I drifted back to the second, but I could tell even this would be hard. Two laps later I pulled out, 10guys in the front split that wasn’t coming back, another 10-15 in the second… which was going to be hard to hang in with legs like this… I didn’t see the point to keep going, and crashing for no reason.
I had a good start, never felt my tires slip, but clearly didn’t have it in my legs that evening, especially when I wasn’t riding aggressively enough in the corners… at least I was alive and I didn’t actually loose any time since it was an omnium.

The road race seamed interesting with new course planed, a new loop with long unprotected straights and a section of 11% grade…should be fun… well would have been fun. As we arrive Sunday morning the decision was made to revert back to the old course, but with the finish in a new location down town…not sure how I felt about that… 5 times up the climb sure is harder then 2, especially if you are trying to hold at a pace that is above your level. At least it was dry for the start of the race, and it mostly rained at the top and during the descent, for the later laps it moved down to the lower sections also.
The first climb is usually one of the hardest, at least for me, I’m not quite good enough to climb with the fast climbers, or powerful enough hang with the power riders going full boar on the initial slopes…
I started the climb pretty much up in the first 1/3, drifted back on the first two steep sections as the pace went sky high, moved up again on the “rolling” section in the middle, as much as I could without spending too much effort, that I would need for the last part of the climb. The front of the pack was still right there!, as we started the last part… before you know it though the pack is basically single file thru the feed zone and past the old finish line… I can see the lead car lights and a slight gap between the leaders and the front of my long long group. I didn’t panic, maybe I should have… by now the rain is coming down hard, and during the descent on 410 we are going over 45mph, and with the rain, spray form the tires ahead of me, I’m busy just staying alive, not realizing that a rather large group has gone of the front, with just about all the strong riders. When we turn of 410 we all realize that the race might be over, as we learn that the lead group contains 17 riders. Morgan Schmidt missed the split and spends the next two laps chasing hard… but to no avail. I wish I could have helped but I had enough problems getting over the climb without pulling the pack around. The second and third time over were the hardest, I few times I was going so hard my arms were going numb. Each lap we would loose a few riders. The last two laps were getting cold, but at least we climbed a lot more steady and at a doable pace. The points for the omnium went 15 deep for the road race. There were originally 17 in lead pack, but you know some must have flatted, dropped out or quit, so there was a pretty big chance there were some points on the line for us. The pack now contained about 17 riders, and maybe one or two had points from the previous stage, so you knew they would be going for it.
I wanted to have a go at it, as I usually sprint pretty well after a long road race, relatively anyway. Well I didn’t have a chance. As I move though the pack, getting ready for the right turn at the bottom of 410, I hear a load bang. I look around wondering if I or somebody else hit something lying on the road. A second later I realize I spoke on my back wheel and snapped, again. That is the third race in a row, with the same wheel. It’s time to get it totally rebuilt; I can’t have this happening anymore. The wheel is way out of true, but it still turns. Since there is only about a mile to go, I decide to ride it in and limp in and finish right behind the pack, no sprint for me.

PIR

With my transfer down to Renton for work, into the 787 certification and flight test group, I was already halfway to PIR…so why not. It would also allow me to miss the traffic jam on 405 going home.
After the last few races I had never quite recovered from my cold and tired legs, so I skipped last weekends activities over in Wenatchee…and instead took 3 days completely of the bike, followed by two easy recovery ride days. I finally did some hard efforts Saturday, and actually didn’t feel half bad. Monday night I did some climbing but Tuesday would be the first real hard efforts. The weather was perfect, actually record high temperatures in Seattle, but by 7pm it was nice.
The race it self went ok, Nathan got of early, and after trying to latch on or chase down any bridge attempts (which I could only cover half)…before you know it though a few more bridged up, and a 3-4 man chase group was half way across. Half way though the race I bridged up to O’Donnell and we then spent the next 30min in the middle somewhere, trying to catch up and hold of the pack at the same time. It was a good hard workout; with some sustained efforts…
At the best news was that I didn’t break any spokes in my rear wheel… so hopefully it will hold up during Enumclaw.

I didn't see much on the Prudog vs. PStache battle.... but I think I saw Prudog at the back...............

Longbranch

Another hard race… at least the winner would be worth the title…
It was a big field for a narrow course like this. The hills are step but short, with splits basically only happening right at the top as it flattens out. Once again I didn’t feel very good, but usually I get better, relatively, at the closing laps anyway. Not sure if that happened or not, maybe it was the rear ending I experienced on 405 Friday that left me with a sore neck and back, but most likely just the fact that I’m still fighting the remnants of the cold I got after Walla Walla.
The first beak went up the road early, as usual on this course, HB put their team on the front to chase it down. A few laps later a eight man break went up the road, with Kevin in it this time. Brian Hall, and Doug Davis got dropped, Brad flatted out and Gardner and Kevin got gapped, and before you know it they are down to 3 with two laps to go. Previous time up the hill I was too far back and new it, the split happened at the top and group got of the front and the only place splits ever happened. As the group I was in was chasing back on, riders touched and two went down hard, a WOW rider went down right in-front of me, and I ended up riding down into the ditch. I jump of, climb back up and takeoff, I glance back and notice a black jersey on the road…is that Neil?... it was, and he ended up being taken to Tacoma general hospital for the night, with a compound wrist break, but after x-rays his collar bone is ok but with lots of lacerations that required stitches. At this point I’m of the back, I’m trying to chase back on, but the downhill sections is just so much faster in a group. As I cross the bridge I shift down and my legs are done..I can’t see how I can climb this, after that effort. As I come around the corner I see the pack right there, they must have slowed for the climb…maybe, I have to get back on now! I shift down and put in another effort… and finally a few hundred feet after the left turn I make contact with the back, as we crest as start descending again, just in time. Two laps to go, the hill creates a split again, I dig deep and make the 8 or so man split, I pull though a few times but too many people are sitting on, and right before the feed hill the pack catches up. Another split happens here, at this point there are so many tired legs that splits happen all over the place. It all comes together a mile or so before the start/finish line. At this point we should have been neutralized; because we pass the women as they are sprinting for the line…not too good… it wouldn’t have changed our race at all. One lap to go., still with a three man break up the road. Campbell sensing that the hill would probably do him in this time, attacks a few times, finally gets of and hits the hill with a slight gap, but it’s not enough as we catch him half way up,, he looks done. Once again a split is happening up front, I dig even deeper this time, but I’m to far back and can’t get across. Six guys get off, 3 off us in the middle and then the pack behind. Lange does a lot of work, but we can’t close it, and right as we start the feed hill the pack catches up, as the front group splits, with Ian Tubbs, Kenny, Richter and Jake taking off I think. Jake takes fourth and Tubbs takes the sprint for fifth. There is a slight lull in the pace of the pack, and with a mile to go I attack, Mick comes with me…and for some reason he don’t want to pull me to the line…damm.. After a few hard pulls, the pack is upon us and we get swallowed within the last 200m. Chris Teufel takes the sprint for 8th I guess….well, at least we got one rider in the top 10.

After the race we find out the seriousness of Neil’s crash, not good. Luckily it wasn’t quite as bad as we first heard, but he still has a pretty bad arm break, and is getting a steel plate put in today.
Hopefully everything will turn out ok, but it’s amazing really, that it doesn’t happen more often..

On my ride today, I stopped by the Windermere cup Rowing race going on at UW. I rode down past the finish line; right by the water were all the crews were hanging out before returning back down the course.


As I was standing there I could hear the water splash against the boats, and all the so familiar sounds, the memories and urge to row came back stronger then it has since I left rowing years ago.
I rowed all four years at college, traveling all over, Philadelphia, Tennessee, San Diego, Boston and all over the mid west.

All that pain you go though in less then 6 minuets is amazing, nothing in cycling compares to the full body pain experience those last few strokes before the line.

This Sunday we have the State road race championships, with that gold medal being the ultimate goal. When I think back to how many State and regional gold medals I have from rowing, and how long ago that seems now, it's amazing... I will do my best to get that gold medal on Sunday, I will probably go though pain and self doubt...but I will push on.
In a few years it would probably collect dust in some box somewhere with the others. What will remain is the memories of teamwork, suffering and perseverance that got me there, the price is more then a medal, it's the road that got me there that really counts and what will last.

Was this Vance Creek?

That was harder then it should have been….. or am I just weak?
After being sick since Wednesday, and feeling ok on a short Saturday ride I decided to race Vance Creek. I figured even if my fitness might be down slightly, at least my legs would be rested. Maybe it was the nice weather, maybe it was the fact that most people did not race Saturday. I don’t know…but it looked like everybody decided to show up on Sunday. Nathan was out of town, Flavio and Jason decided to skip this one, and we still had seven riders in the 1-2 pack…and it looked like most other teams did to. There was even a few pro’s showing up, Doug O, Even Elken, Ian M, Richter and a miraculously healed Tyler Farrar (after a miss diagnosed broken knee cap a few weeks ago in Belgium). It started out ok…started.
The first two laps were fine, sure some splits happened on the climb… on lap two the pack split in half, and I had to dig pretty deep to make it to the front, after taking it a bit too easy during the climb, drifting too far back. A small break of three got of at some point, but I wasn’t worried yet. The wind was picking up, not good. As we entered the farm roads for the third time, a placed my self near the front. 50m before the hard right into the cross wind section, Tyler and Elken come flying around my left, straight to the front and hit the corner at full speed and continue to drill it, the entire pack is single file, hanging on for dear life. I’m on Herriot’s wheel, but a gap opens up in front of him, when he finally pulls of, I go by and try to close it down as much as I can, I look back and there are gaps everywhere.. a few pulls later and I have nothing left, the group is still 50 yards ahead of us… I swing of and now there is more help, 15-20 guys go by and I dig deep to jump on the back. Robert does a monster pull at the front, which got us closer but killed him, and I never see him again. Finally by the parking lot we catch back on. The pack is now probably ½ size, and there are only 3 garage guys left. I move up on the right but apparently not far enough. As we take the right turn back onto the main road, we get hit by the cross wind again. I’m mid pack, but it’s still too far in the rear as the front drills it, and we are all hugging the centerline, hanging on for dear life. Pete is two riders ahead of me, and finally he can’t hold it, and leaves a gap, the Rubicon riders directly head can’t and neither can I.. just like that 17riders get of.. Campbell tries to bridge, but doesn’t make it. It was all about positioning, well not all… but being even just 5 riders further up at the corner could have made a world of difference. Pete and Kevin do a lot of chasing, but a lot of guys are just sitting on… The race is basically over at this point. Two laps later as I surge to go up the steep section before the finish line, I brake a spoke and my rear wheel seizes up…..just what I need, not that it wasn’t hard enough already. This was the same wheel that broke in Walla Walla, and just got fixed, sweet…….. I get a new wheel from the car and chase for a few miles before I pull out at the parking lot… 1 1/2 short. Yeah , no point in going another 15 miles for 35th and dig myself a deeper whole to get well from..
I don’t even know how it all ended….
Sometimes it good to get reminded how hard racing can be, how hard you have to dig to stay on, how much pain you have to be willing to push though… it actually feels pretty good….(now and a then)
And I didn’t even get my DQ on the way home.

Walla Walla

Going into this weekends racing we had some great hopes for our main GC rider Nathan, who has been riding really strong lately. Personally I was hoping for some good results also, but I’m nowhere near good enough in TT’s to be a GC contender.
The new stage on Friday afternoon would definitely shake things up, and at least wear people down.
The new stage was all up or down. Initially I felt pretty bad but was just starting to feel better on the decent form the feed hill, when I spoke on my rear wheel suddenly decided to give out. The wheel change was a bit slow, but with some luck I should be able to catch on…10sec later I have to stop as the chain has somehow come of the rear derailleur pulleys.. damm… Once back I’m chasing in full TT mode, after a mile or so I take a right turn up the KOM hill… I can see the follow cars in the distance… I’m pushing nearly 400W up the entire climb…but as I crest the top, nothing…not even blown riders, nothing, no cars, nothing…This is where I start my 2hour solo break (of the back mind you)…I catch and pass a few rider on the next climb, but they are too blown to offer any help. I finish over 18min down, surprisingly 1min ahead of a group of riders I didn’t know existed ,sprinting in behind me…
Nathan ended up wining the stage, taking the sprint from a small group. Although this was great news, it turns out that the 4 fastest TT’ers where in the break also, so this could be hard weekend.

I left my TT bike in the hotel room for the TT, I decided to ride my road bike. There was no use killing my self and still be 18min down, so I used my road bike with power so I could ride within my limits and save myself for the 97mile RR in the afternoon. Hopefully Nathan could bust out a good TT and I would be ready to help him if necessary during the RR.

The RR wasn’t too exciting.. The neutral climb was actually neutral this year….
There were a few attacks, but nothing got of until the tail wind section on the last lap. The break of 6 contained 2 GC riders who were ahead of Nathan, so letting them go wouldn’t loose him anything, it was more up to the other teams if they wanted to defend their positions. We however decided to help chase it down, with HB and Bob’s. Maybe catching the break right at the base of the climb would help Nathan move ahead of the two riders in the break (if they spent too much energy, and he could gap them during the final accent). After pulling though a few miles I nearly blew completely on climb going into Waitsburg..I went back though the pack like a rock, but managed to hang on over the top. My hardest 30minuits of the weekend was that section, just miles before the final climb. I started the last climb a bit too far back, but actually climbed ok, had I started a bit further up, and saved some energy I might have managed a top 10… not that it meant anything for the overall, but it was nice to take something good personally out of the weekend. Nathan held on to his 5th, with now only the criterium left.

Somehow the rain stopped for our race…and after a while the roads actually dried up completely.


This sign was in the last corner of the crit...very appropiate

Two laps in realized that this would be a hard crit, my legs hurt. I had no power at all, and no matter what I did I my heart rate would not go up. Mid race I moved up to about 10th for a lap, and then when back just as fast. Feeling this bad, I decided to slowly move up, and hopefully time it ok, so I could be there for the finish. With a few laps to go, two riders get of the front. I somehow missed the two laps to go, and with one to go I was still a bit too far back… and that was that.. top 20maybe.. I needed another lap or two to give it a good effort.. oh well…...my HR average for the crit was below 160, a sure sign of fatigue..
Anyho, we survived and Nathan took 5th GC and Flavio 11h, and Garage 3ed in team GC….not too bad at all.

Kele won two stages during the weekend, missed the start for the TT, and ended up 4th overall… Nice when someone wins enough money for DQ on the way home………