The Pursuit of PRO

Doing things a little different for 2012

2012-01-21T22:40:00.000-08:00

This year: no coach, no rigid structure, no staring at tiny screens just hoping it will finally display that magical number, just fluidity.

This past cx season I noticed that I was able to train at a higher level without focusing on the numbers. Instead, I based everything on feel. Maybe this was stupid and foolish but I feel it left me in a better place physically and, more importantly, mentally. The few times I did hop on a road bike and actually measure power during cx season I was blown away by the quality of the workouts I'd been doing. I'd never been able to hit some of those numbers on the road but somehow I was hitting and exceeding them with shocking consistency. The reason for this: I actually enjoyed riding and racing my bike again. I was no longer attempting to fight a schedule and hammer out an interval when everything was falling apart around me. That is the model I am going to take into the 2012 race season. Yes, I will write a schedule but if I feel like doing intervals on Tuesday instead of Wednesday then Tuesday it is. So often racers become so focused on their prescribed schedules they forget why they're even doing it. We do this because we love racing. We love pushing ourselves and we love the feeling of going out there knowing we're trying to be better than we were before. No one is paying us for this so why don't we all just take a few deep breaths and enjoy ourselves.

This year I will be there at the finish. No more off-the-back in the first 8 miles. No more trying to will myself to get over just this one more hill. No. This year I am going to be there. I make no promises as to winning races or obtaining my Cat 1 upgrade but I will be there for my teammates, turn myself inside out for them and use my brain and legs to be as close to the front as I can. All of that aside, I'm going to have fun and I'm going to enjoy every mile. Like I said, we're not paid so we may as well enjoy this silly sport if we're going to spend as many hours on the road as we do.

Psycho Cross Day 2

2011-11-28T21:42:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a short one.

The weather Sunday was awesome, 60 degrees, sunny and just a light breeze. We had the pleasure of enjoying that right up until about 30 minutes before the A race went off. In that half hour leading up to our race the clouds rolled in, temperature dropped to 45 and the rain settled in.

One of the reasons I enjoy these small races is for what happened next. As all six of huddled under shelter trying to stay warm the official proposed a shorter race if we were feeling it. After a short discussion we settled on a laps. The faster we rode the faster we finished.

Ross Brody led through the first single track section, I sat second wheel and that's where I finished the day. Without even trying I managed to finish second overall . I definitely would have preferred first but hey, all in time.

Psycho Cross Day 1: Good Result, Crap Legs

2011-11-26T19:53:00.000-08:00

It was a week of essentially no training and I was loosing motivation. Fast. As I type this I have 15 days and 4 races left in my season. I had to race this weekend, if for no other reason than to remind myself I can still ride a bike somewhat fast.

We really couldn't have asked for a nicer day. While I race better in the mud and slop I won't turn down an opportunity to race in 60o and sunny weather, especially at the end of November. That was today and it was as close to perfect as it could get.

Our race had 8 people in it. 4 of them on single speeds. 2 of them masters. While this was by no means a Cross Crusade turnout I was looking forward to the opportunity to ride a tactical race, rather than just one of survival. I abandoned last week's strategy of racing from the back and figured I'd give it a shot at the front. I headed through the single track section riding second wheel with the intention of following any wheel that came around me. I knew it was only a matter of time before Ross Brody made his move so I wanted to be there. Two laps in Brody made his move and I didn't jump quick enough to grab his wheel. He led through a section of single track and I got gapped off. I'm still unclear whether my hesitation was mental, physical or just smart tactics on Brody's part but I'm pretty sure I was unwilling to follow a wheel I knew I couldn't hold. Nope, not proud of it but now I know what to watch for next time.

After watching Brody ride away I rode steady and just got the workout in I needed. I netted 2nd on the day. Tomorrow I'm aiming for that top spot, let's see what I can do.

Psycho Cross/OBRA State Champs: A New Way To Race Bikes

2011-11-19T21:41:00.000-08:00

all photos courtesy of Will Sullivan Cycling

Over the past few seasons of both road and cyclocross I've gone into every race with a clean bike, a well prepared body and a plan. I've been doing a little experimenting this season. Part of it is out of laziness, time constraints, motivation and the willingness to try something new. I didn't really plan it, it just kind of happened.

In the past, I'd always follow the exact same ritual starting about 36 hours before my race but this year I've showed up with dirty bikes, bags packed half an hour before leaving the house and eat whatever the hell I felt like the night before. Yep, big change of plans.

well that's cute. Maybe I'll make
this face more often

These past two weeks I've showed up concentrating on having fun and enjoying my hour in the mud, rather than how far down the list I want to find my name on that results sheet. And so far it's actually worked out pretty well.

Today I made a conscious effort to line up dead last. I just wanted to have fun and I do that when I get to pass people. I went through the first corner with one person behind me and 19 in front.

I rode steady, stayed upright, laid down power where I could and passed anyone that crashed. No idea on the final result but I'm guessing somewhere 12-15th in a stacked field. The biggest thing about this new approach is that I finish a race happy. Instead of focusing on just missing a top-20 result instead I get to look at how many people I passed and the lines I nailed every time. No one is ever going to pay me to do this so I may as well enjoy it if I'm going to commit so much time to it.

The icing on the cake today was a pretty awesome battle with Matt Fox (Silverado/Sunnyside). I had the legs and would gap him off on the straight sections but he was always right there breathing down my neck on the techy stuff. Lucky for me I was able to ride the techy stuff clean(ly?) every lap and there was a quarter-mile straight stretch leading into the finish. I managed to hold him off but it was nice to finally have a back-and-forth with another racer.

Overall a really fun race but I'm a little bummed attendance was so low. Sal and the Psycho Cross crew do an awesome job of putting this series on, I really hope it sticks around. Come on people, do races outside of the Cross Crusade series!

Awesome Photo

2011-11-14T18:46:00.000-08:00

Normally I just tack photos onto the related post but I feel this one deserves its own post.

photo credit to PDX Cross for this one

PDX Cross always seems to put out an awesome set of photos each week. This is easily one of my all-time favorites. Thanks for being out there each week and providing free photos for all us cheap-asses!

Cross Crusade P.I.R.: I Got My Legs Back!

2011-11-13T22:34:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it's just faster to run
(photo courtesy of Dave Roth)

Last Cross Crusade of the year and I pull the second-to-last number callup. Not necessarily how I wanted to round out this year. Before my race a teammate asked me if I was going to win. Ha, not really a chance of that, but heck, I'll go out there and see how many people I can pass. Have fun and pass people, that's all I was looking for today.

I raced this course two years ago at the USGP and it has always been one of my favorite courses. Today was my chance to revisit that awesome course.

73 people on the start line. 1 of them was behind me. This felt like PIR-Heron Lakes a few weeks ago. Only this time I wasn't going flat. And I didn't.

Knowing I would have over 70 people on the course in front of me my warmup was a little limited. After the first lap settled down I went to work. I rode my strengths, made myself wide in the sections I was weak and just had fun. This course was the perfect mix of mud, pavement, elevation and turns. I'm typically not a huge fan of technical courses but for some reason this course was perfect for me.

My laps weren't consistent but somehow it worked out. I managed to ride myself into a group I'd never been able to break into. It was kind of bittersweet because I'll always wonder what I could have done with a descent call up but then again I'm still happy I was able to ride myself into that group.

I finished the day 22nd, my best Cross Crusade result to date. Everything managed to come together today and I'm just glad my legs still had at least one more good race in them. Now let's just see if I pull it off in Bend again next month.

A huge thanks to everyone who came out and cheered today. It makes a huge difference when I'm out there. A special thanks to those who cheer for me that I haven't had a chance to meet yet. I met a few of you today and hope to meet the rest of you in the future.

Edgefield CX: I like my bike again

2011-11-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

The past few week have been kind of rough on the racing front. First there was the flat at PIR then the next week I got turned into a speed bump, then the following day I flatted again. Needless to say, I just wanted to go out and finish a race without anything happening. That's what the Bend/Halloween races were for. I didn't fo well but I got my confidence back that I can ride a bike without crashing, flatting or doing something stupid. Plus, when you're dressed as Kermit the Frog it's hard to have a pissy attitude.

When this week rolled around I knew this was kind of the make-or-break for the season. If I did well/put up a good fight then I knew I could keep racing for another month. If not, then well, I'm pretty much just one more person on the startline.

Let me start by saying I had two courses to choose from. The first was the Apple Core Cross down in Salem which I raced last year or a new venue out at the Edgefield McMenamins. Let's put it this way, I could go race through a flat apple orchard with approximately 6 right-angle turns or I could go to a brand new race on the ride of a huge hill. Yep, I chose the hill.

Ok, really short plug for this venue. This place is awesome! Course aside, this is an awesome place just to come hang out. The fact that they can hold a quality race here makes it even better. This is easily one of the most difficult races I've raced this year in the fact that it offered a little something of everything. Gravel road-like section, some awesome downhills, fast grass sections and about 4 ball-busting run ups. I'm usually the one to complain that there aren't enough running or technical sections in a course. This one satisfied me. While I don't like to see multiple races on the same day competing for participants I know this one will be on the top of my list for next year, regardless of other races occurring on the same day. My only critique for the course: if the promoter could somehow work in a sand pit and possibly change the start/finish location then you have a golden course.

photo courtesy of Richard Rosko

As far as my race goes, it went. Nothing super special and as mentioned above, it was a tough course. After the first lap I was riding in third but knew I couldn't hold that. I eventually settled into 5th and just cranked away. Today wasn't about winning, just being comfortable on the bike again and remembering why I come out and do this every week. With about 2-3 laps to go Kolben, riding in 7th put in a huge surge. I looked back and had one of those "oh shit, I need to start trying" moments. He made up a ton of time and dropped the 30-second gap down to about 5-10. At first I was almost willing to let him take it and then I remembered, I worked for this, it's mine. I put in a solid last lap and held him off. To his credit, Kolben rode himself inside out. Yes, he definitely worked harder than me and if he would have caught me I doubt I would have been able to hold his wheel. That said, this is cyclocross.

photo courtesy of Richard Rosko

A huge thanks again to the promoters of this race, I really hope to see it on the calendar in the future.

Upon further reflection, this is the first time we've had real mud in Oregon all season! It was nice to finally break out the mud tires and get a little dirty for once.

A few pictures from the Bend races:

Kermit railing a corner

I'm passing Molly! I hear cracked ribs aren't
conducive to racing. Heal up fast!

Cross Crusade Washington County Fairgrounds: I want mine

2011-10-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

the only time I'd be with the field
(photo courtesy of Dave Roth)

While I didn't have the best legs on Sunday I had the opportunity and I was going to take it. With the last place call up last week I got to start third row and I had my pick of exactly which fast wheel I could follow through the first lap. After the first lap, there I was, in the top 20 and legs were opening up. I was leading a solid group and I knew if I hung with them I'd finally be able to get that result I've been looking for.

There we go, into the second lap, past the pit, through the barriers, past the pit again and into the S-bends. Then it happened, my front tire washing out in the corners. I'm sitting there thinking "ok, I know I'm not the best bike handler out there but surely I can take this next corner clean." Then I'm laying on the ground. Turns out when your tire has 12 psi, rather than the expected 24, you can't take a corner that hard. Yes, another flat. A mile and a half of running. By the time I finally made it to the pit and got a wheel I was at the back of the women's field with the last-place A racer about 5 minutes ahead. Faced with the choice of DFL or DNF I knew there was no choice. I already pulled out of one race this year, it wasn't going to happen again. I finished the 61st out of 62 starters, with one DNF.

you owe me

While yes, I do realize that it's bike racing and shit happens I'm getting a little sick of wasting these golden opportunities, be it awesome legs or spectacular starting position. That said, if all I have to show for the past three races are crappy results, flat tires and some bruises I'll take that over broken collarbones, bikes, ribs, or even a concussion. As much as I may complain about how a particular race didn't go my way I'm also very mindful that I've been incredibly lucky the past few years so I'm just going to view this as paying my dues to the luck fairy. Here's to another two years of mishap-free racing.

Lastly, major props to teammate Scott Gray for his top-20 finish yesterday! This is his third cross race (ever) and yes, while he does have incredible fitness a result like that is fairly spectacular. Also, teammate Jim Anderson beat young Trek-Livestrong rider Ian Boswell so I guess the day wasn't a total wash.

Het Meer: alex, the human speedbump

2011-10-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

I'll keep this short and with lots of pictures (all courtesy of David Kindstorm). This course was super flat and definitely a good day to work on tactics, something I was looking forward to. Unfortunately, a crash about 600m into the race turned this into a training day for me. I tangled with another racer and there I was flying through the air and staring at the ground. After using my helmet as a shovel I just curled up and waited for the carnage to end. At some point someone ran over my left arm and I definitely have tire marks all the way up my right side, up my neck and on my ear. Whoever managed to pull that one off, I'm impressed. Truly, I am. After crawling out from under my bike I decided today would be a great day to take a spin. This was a really fun course and would have given me a chance to work on tactics and sand sections but it wasn't to be. Instead, I just worked on the sand sections.

Oh well, it's bike racing and crap happens. Apart from some soreness I'm fine and I hope everyone else involved is too. Tomorrow is another day and let's hope it goes a little better.

Also, a major thanks to whoever raked the sand section each lap. You saved me from embarrassing myself once a lap.

Cross Crusade P.I.R.: Spectacular legs

2011-10-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

Apparently a week spent at elevation and a week not riding a bike does wonders for one's fitness. Who would have thought.

photo courtesy of Matt Haughey

Today's race was awesome, except for a few mishaps I rode a perfect races. That is if you don't count the last place call up, thrown chain, crash and subsequent bent shifter and thrown chain. Oh, and the flat on the last lap. Don't count that one either. Yep, first time I've ever flatted during a race, either road or cx. Well, I guess it has to happen sometime.

All this aside, my legs were awesome today. I went through the first corner second to last. 78 people in front of me. There was hardly any chance to move up in the first lap so it was simply a matter of biding my time. Things cleared up by the second lap and I opened up the throttle. This wasn't a very technical course so it was simply a matter of keeping up a hard, steady effort and surging on the road sections. I did this and I was slaying it. I threw my chain about lap 4 or so and lost a lap's worth of work but it was by no means the end of my race. I kept moving up and knew today was a good day to break into the top 20. At that point I decided it would be a really good idea to take an off-camber turn a little too hot and make friends with the course tape. Bad idea. By the time I got back on the bike I'd lost about 15 places. I went right back to work. At some point it becomes really boring passing people, crashing and then having to pass them all over again. So I guess I'm going to stop crashing. Going in to the last lap I was hanging around the low 30s. With half a lap to go the flat came. I ran the bike to the pit but as you know, unless you flat right in front of the pit your race is over. I crossed the line 54th.

While I'm disappointed with my actual placing I'm pretty happy with how I rode. Yes, I need to use a little more caution when cornering but I rode both aggressively and smart. Given a decent call up and an incident-free race I know I can break into that top-20 if I have another day like I did today. Oh well, it's just one more race to learn from.

I'll see if I can hunt down a picture of my awesome superman/stomach-ride remount when the bike took an unexpected hop. Hey, at least the crowds liked it.

GPMC: Ninkrossi; that podium was mine

2011-10-15T22:48:00.000-07:00

the start
(photo courtesy of Dave Roth)

This is still easily one of my favorite cx courses out there. No, it's not a "true" cx course, more like a dirt circuit race with tons of climbing and a pretty unique course feature (below), but regardless, I like it.

the Ninkasi "N"
(photo courtesy of Dave Roth)

I showed up late to the start line so I wound up starting at the back. Really, not that big of a deal when the hole shot is 400m up a paved hill. The first lap seemed really weird, it didn't seem like people were really trying or pushing it. Maybe they knew it would be a long race and were saving it or maybe I was just being stupid and riding to hard. Regardless, halfway through lap two I was in third place. Reeb and Brody were up the road and I knew there was no way I could catch them so I settled in and tried to keep a gap to the two-man chase which had a 15-year old from Boise in it. The last thing I wanted to do was get caught by a junior.

the barriers
(photo courtesy of Dave Roth)

And then I did something stupid. I was hanging 5-8 seconds in front of the chase group and at the very top of the climb I slid out. Not just dab-and-slide but a full on wipe out, roll and slide. By the time I was back on the bike I'd been caught. I hung with the two and was amazed at how easy it was just following wheels. And then I made the mistake of looking down for half a second. When I looked back up Ian Leitheiser (Moots/Cyclepath) had attacked and potato-boy was on his wheel, I was 3 seconds back. It was all downhill from there.

the climb
(photo courtesy of Dave Roth)

I finished the day in 5th but really could have been on that podium. Potato-boy (William Barta-B.Y.R.D.S) rode a great race and although I don't agree with sitting on wheels all race I'm impressed that he was able to haul Leitheiser around all race and then still drop him. Yeah, I could have ridden a little smarter and probably wound up 3rd on the day but it would have involved a whole lot of wheel sucking. Not my kind of thing. Oh well, Cross Crusade at PIR tomorrow, we'll see how it goes.

Post-USGP Shenanigans

2011-10-13T07:03:00.000-07:00

After the USGP I spent a few extra days in Fort Collins before heading back to Portland. Below are some pictures of things we did in the sunshine before heading back to the rain.

visited the historic/haunted Stanley Hotel; Stephen King's
inspiration for The Shining

saw some awesome scenery

found a really long piece of grass

more awesome scenery (and sunshine!)

found a snake

terrorized prairie dogs

visited Wyoming

found camels on a bison ranch

found a cactus

went hiking

more scenery

threw rocks

All in all a good trip. Colorado would be an awesome place to live and race out of and while the cx scene isn't quite as big as Portland there's still some pretty competitive people down there. Oh well, maybe in the future.

USGP New Belgium Cup: Day 2; Elevation is killer

2011-10-09T23:25:00.000-07:00

I have decided I need to add two pieces of equipment to my arsenal in order to be competitive: a mountain bike and an altitude tent.

definitely a better pick than yesterday's 72

Today was a totally different course than yesterday. The promoters didn't even need to change the tape, the weather shift was enough. Instead of the slip-n-slide we encountered yesterday today presented the perfect traction situation for me, tacky corners with a few rutted sections but just enough give to give your tires that little bit of extra traction. While I could ride through all the corners and power up the hills without slipping I forgot about one thing: the course is faster for everyone, not just me.

on the start line

Everything seemed to be going my way, I'd slept better, gotten the lowest number I could possibly draw for the callup and my head was in the game for this race. That should have been my first warning sign.

When I rolled up to the start I was a little overwhelmed. Chris Sheppard, the Canadian national cx champ, was to my right, the U23 leader was to my left and I was in the 4th row, not the 12th like yesterday. I managed to survive the first lap without any crashes or sliding out but even given my awesome (for me) starting position I was still sliding back. I was riding the corners great but people were still slipping past me. Then I got murdered on the hills. I rode a really steady race and hit even splits but that still saw me drifting towards the back of the pack. I finished 61st on the day. I feel that I rode a better race than yesterday but would have liked to have just a little snap in my legs and get a least another lap or two in. Oh well, this weekend was about experience and I definitely got it.

working my way (backwards) through a group

As far as fitness it's time to start another big block and try and kick up the diesel another notch. From there I'm going to work on the twitchy stuff. Yeah, I can go out and hold a certain pace for 3 hours but cross is only an hour. I learned a ton just by watching Powers' late move in the race and seeing how he slowly reeled Trebon in before spitting him out. I want that kind of power and I'm going to go get it.

USGP New Belgium Cup: Day 1 Slip-n-Slide

2011-10-08T21:56:00.000-07:00

After a crappy night's sleep I woke up to discover someones had turned on the tap, turned the fan up to 11 and turned the thermostat way down. Outside my window it was raining like the apocalypse, with sustained 20 mph winds and a thermometer that hadn't broken the 40f mark. This is cyclocross. As if to get one more jab in I find that OBRA's Heiser Farm CX race is going to have perfect weather.

and I am missing this weather why?
(photo credit: Matt Haughey)

Upon arrival at the race venue the wind and rain had abated somewhat but the course was totally different from the pre-ride 24 hours earlier. Instead of a fast, bumpy course with lots of turns we were faced with what I can only equate to a mud Slip-n-Slide. All the corners were coated with slick, greasy mud and anytime you attempted to change direction you risked sliding out.

Unfortunately, someone changed the rules for start position. It was originally posted that callups would be based on UCI points and then order of registration, placing me in the middle of the pack. Not the case. Random drawn. Boo. The guy in front of me drew 50. I drew 72. There were 73 pre-registered riders. Awesome, back of the pack again.

today's big winner. Congrats, Ryan!
(photo from VeloVivid Cycling)

The start actually just went a lot better than I was expecting. I was able to move up rather than come through the first corner dead last. And then people crashed. I dodged it and continued working my way up. Another crash. This time I stuck my front wheel into someone's rear triangle. After some crunching and scraping sounds I was off again. People were wiping out right and left. I was sliding but managed to stay upright. After the first lap something unusual happened. My lungs started to burn. Crap, forgot about the elevation, that's going to make this even more difficult. At some point I just started riding my race. I stopped looking up for people to pass and just focused on taking the corners as fast as I could, without wiping out. I went for a $5 handup and missed it, slid out but saved it. Tomorrow, that is my goal: get a handup. After 3 laps the course was littered with $1 bills and plastic beer cups. I was tempted to do what I at Mt Hood's queen stage this year and stop to pick up all the bills but I really didn't want to have to get off and back on my bike again. I kept riding. Trebon passed my at the barriers and I knew my race was over. Powers and Kabush came by a little later and I focused on not crashing them.

In the end, 57th out of 71 starters. I was hoping for a little better result but given the course conditions and my first muddy race of the year I'm happy enough. I wanted to make the top 50 (I know, aiming high) but I can partly blame my start position. I rode a solid race given the hand I was dealt and while I slid out several times I never wound up on the ground. All in all a successful day.

To put a damper on a decent day, see picture below. Somehow TSA and/or Frontier managed to crack both my wheels on my way down here. No, they're not going to do anything about it. They were small cracks and I figured I'd use this as an experiment to test the durability of carbon. It was a soft course so I was figured the crack wouldn't spread, much. I was wrong. Yesterday the crack was only below the brake track, today it's propagated all the way to the top of the rim. Oops. Looks like I'll have some materials to experiment with in the future.

Also, thank you to everyone who was out there cheering for me today. I know there were a lot more people cheering for me than I recognized to thanks to all. Additionally, Trebon's mechanic saved my butt. Right before the race I noticed my left crank arm was about ready to fall off. Dusty, you're a life saver.

Reflections on cyclocross

2011-10-07T20:56:00.000-07:00

First of all, if you haven't seen the video below and have been even remotely following the state of our economy it's worth your time. There is quite a bit of language in this. You've been warned.

Ok, cultural quota filled. I'm currently in Fort Collins, Colorado for the USGP New Belgium Cup this weekend. I really wanted to do this race last year but logistically it just didn't work out; this year it did.

Cross Crusade-Alpenrose
(photo credit to Matthew Lasala)

This post was initially going to go something like "wah, cyclocross is hard, I don't have support, why do I do this?" Until I realized that would be incredibly lame.
Yes, cx is hard, both physically and logistically.
Yes, I always wish I could do better.
Yes, I want to be a fully supported rider.
Yes, I also realize that I need to earn that; so far I haven't.
No, not a lot of people can do what we (wanna-be elite-ish cx racers) do.
Hell yes, I'd love to have someone throwing plane tickets, frames, entry fees, wheels and tires at me but that's not what this is about.

To me, cyclocross is about proving yourself. To yourself. True, endless money and equipment would make the logistics easier but would it be better? In the end there will always be someone stronger, with a better selection of equipment or better technical skills. Your job is to use the resources you have available, train as hard as you can with the time given and every time you line up in that start chute acknowledge one thing: you only have to be better than yourself. No one else.

Lastly, on a totally unrelated note, one of my friends entered a film festival and could use your help. Below is the video he helped produced. Take a look at it and if you like the special effects check out some of his other videos at his YouTube channel. They're all incredibly detailed, well thought out and executed. Enjoy.

Cross Crusade-Alpenrose Dairy: consistency

2011-10-02T18:41:00.000-07:00

So originally this post was going to be about me sucking today. Don't get me wrong, I didn't ride a great race today but I just made a revelation.

start line of our race today (photo unceremoniously
stolen from Embrocation Journal via Twitter)

Last year I placed 34th. This year I crossed the line 34th. That said, last year had 38 starters, this year had 81. I'll consider that an improvement.

(Sorry, no pictures at the moment but I will update when I find a few-check back Tuesday or so)

Ok, now on to the race. When prepping for this race Saturday night I forgot one thing: the Alpenrose Clusterf*** Factor (ACF). I showed up with a clean bike, a bag packed the night before and at least some level of preparation and motivation; that all went out the door with the ACF. On the pre-ride the course was dry and bumpy. The corners and off-camber sections were a little torn up but just enough to either make it really exciting or give you a little extra grip depending on how you hit it. As always, the course is going to be slammed with people so the goal is to continually move up. In this race if you're not moving up you're moving back.

At the staging area the ACF raised its ugly head again. What is normally a fairly structured call-up process was quickly thrown out the window and people just scrambled to the line. I wound up just a little over halfway back. Not bad, but last year I had the advantage of a front-row position. In some ways my race was already determined from that point. The first lap was exactly how I predicted it: slammed with people and absolutely no room to pass. My goal immediately became "no one past me after the first lap." That kind of worked. I started working my way up but bobbled a barrier, throwing a chain, a few laps in. Most of the people I'd just passed sailed past me. A few more laps go by and it starts to rain. Nothing heavy but just enough to totally change the course. The lines I had been riding a lap before were immediately greasy and I knew I was in bad shape; I did what I could but all I came away with was another reason that I need a mountain bike. With about two laps to go I decided to mix it up. How about a Superman? But seriously, I was coming down the off-camber-ish descent and suddenly I had no more traction. Superman mode! After sliding the rest of the way down the hill I grabbed my bike and saw the saddle we askew about 30o to the right. A few quick slams with my hand and I thought I'd gotten it straightened out. Nope, still about 15o off. Screw it, the next person was at least 30 seconds up on me and there were only masters riders behind me. I just rode it in. (Whichever official decided to start pulling us early, thank you!)

Overall, today wasn't quite what I was hoping for. My legs don't feel like they worked that hard and I'm a little frustrated how easily your place can be determined by your start position. Regardless, I finished, the bike is okay, I'm not too banged up and I'll live to race another day.

A special thanks goes out to all the teammates and friends out there cheering today. I really appreciate all the support, I'm just a little bummed I couldn't have put on a better show. Thank you for coming out!

Next week: Elite USGP race in Ft. Collins, CO. Because racing the A field at Cross Crusade isn't humbling enough.

Canby Cross-WORD Challenge

2011-10-01T22:37:00.000-07:00

Short post for this one, Cross Crusade kicks off at Alpenrose tomorrow.

Well, I did it again. Showed up at a race with a dirty bike and a race bag that had been thrown together that morning. I really need to stop doing that.

Today's race was out in Canby at a go-kart track/family fun center, surprisingly close and a nice change from the farm courses (nothing against farm courses, it's just nice to race on some different terrain).

In keeping with the Saturday races we had an absolutely kick-ass course and tiny fields. The A field contained a whole 11 starters. Regardless, the course was pretty flat but had everything from dirt and gravel roads to twisty-turny forest sections and even a river crossing. While I would have liked at least one big hill I'm willing to let that one slide because we even got to race on the go-kart course. Like I said, pretty awesome. Oh, and the 'barrier' section was killer. Major props to whoever found and placed those tree trunks, the spacing was prefect!

As far as my race, I was pretty unmotivated until the whistle blew, then I started caring, until I missed the holeshot that was mine and fell off the back of the group in the first 200m. Immediately, this got stuck in my head and I thought I was done for. And then I realized something, if I have the energy to keep singing a stupid song in my head then I need to ride harder. So I did. Over the 9 laps we raced I went from 10th to 5th, soundly attacking each person I passed to make sure they couldn't tag along for a free ride. I had a few small bobbles but saved it each time. I made a conscious effort to race hard the first part of the race and I did. I negative split the first few laps and then powered through the rest of the course. The only problem was I decided that I was feeling a little too good near the end of the race so I decided to kick myself in the Achilles when hopping the barriers. It's now swollen to the size of a small chicken egg; that's going to hurt tomorrow. Overall, I had a really solid race but am still lacking the punch I need in the first 400m. Oh well, my training has been focused on the longer stuff right now so the focus will begin to shift to the holeshot soon.

All in all an awesome day but I did realize one thing: my legs run on diesel, not high octane.

Sorry, no pictures but I'm sure there will be loads from Alpenrose tomorrow.

what 'PRO' means to me

2011-09-29T22:28:00.000-07:00

yes, I've actually seen people
riding around before like this
(sans frame number, of course)

This week a Twitter post caught my eye. mrjoestaples: "Let me tell you how PRO @stevencxracer is.... He is willing to do boring rides when it's the right thing to do..." With this I began thinking back to what the definition of PRO means to me.

When I entered the world of amateur competitive cycling I never knew there were so many unwritten rules. I came from an endurance running background where everyone wore short shorts and Dri-Fit shirts. You wore whatever shoes fit you and your running style, regardless of color. Respect was earned based on the hours you put in and who crossed the finish line first. Nothing else.

As most of you reading this will already know, the world of cycling is totally different. Just look around pack of Cat 5s. You'll see a field full of $6k, 14 lbs. carbon bikes on top of $2k carbon tubular wheels, being piloted by a rider in $500 white shoes. I thought this was the norm. I thought this is what you needed in order be a racer, even a beginning one.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

Just look at the racers who others call 'PRO' today. You'll see these individuals clad in $250 merino wool jerseys, white helmets, glasses that don't fit their faces-yet are worn simply for that big letter on the side and white shoes that have never seen the rain or dust. Don't get me wrong, if you have the thousands to spend on awesome clothing and equipment by all means go for it. Now take these riders with all the schwanky equipment; look at their legs. That's what I thought.

Over the past year year I've come to realize something: Who cares how good you look if you can't back it up with your legs? Instead of carbon I ride aluminum bikes now. My clothing has transitioned from the white super-pro look to the more sensible hide-all black. My bar tape is black and I train on reliable, non-name brand aluminum clinchers. Yes, I am truly un-PRO. But is white bar tape, sparkly white shoes and carbon bikes all cycling is about?

yes, he is a professional but by no
means PRO in my book

With this in mind, my definition of PRO has migrated back to my distance running days.

Today, I define PRO as more of a mindset and attitude, rather than something you strap on or click into before a ride. To me, you can't buy PRO, you have to earn it; yet you can't earn it by wanting it. To me, PRO is the rider out there all winter putting in the solo six hour rides in the rain and sleet. PRO is the rider who trains in mis-matched clothing because it works, not because it looks the best. PRO is the rider who slows to check on someone on the side of the road. PRO is the rider who offers a gel, bottle, or push to another because they know that person is suffering. PRO is the rider who can ride at the front AND the back of the pack for an entire group ride. PRO is the rider who looks out for the little guy because they were there once too. PRO is the rider who spends their money on travelling to bigger/faster races, rather than on gear. PRO is the rider who listens to their body, knows exactly when to push it, and more importantly, when to rest. PRO is the rider who fights for 61st place, knowing they won't (or can't) go home happy without knowing they left everything out on the course that day.

The other day a friend asked me "why do you race?" For some reason I really had to think about this one. I'd responded something about it being fun, promoting sponsors and passing on the knowledge others had given me. While that's true I now know the real answer to that question: I want to be just like the people I consider PRO. Not only from a cycling perspective, but also from a lifestyle one.

this man fits every definition of PRO
you could every think of
(Lincoln Barbur photo)

The individual laying on the ground is by far one of the most PRO people I have ever met.

(PDX Cross photo; Barton Park)

The true mark of a PRO: they would never call themselves that.

If you have the time, this is a very related post by one of my PRO heroes.

Battle at Barlow. I finally finished this one

2011-09-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

Battle at Barlow. A course marked by it's brutal railroad tie run up, long off-camber section and bumpy terrain. The past two years this course wasn't so kind to me. In 2009 this was my very first cross race; I broke my chain after 1.5 laps. Last year the course was almost impossible to ride due to the amount and consistency of mud; I broke a derailleur. This year I wasn't even planning on going anywhere near this course but plans changed on Thursday and there I was, registered for this race yet again.

through the barriers
(photo courtesy of David Mackintosh)

I'll admit, I didn't go into this race with the usual gusto. When I show up to a race my equipment is sparkling, my bags packed the night before and my pre-race ritual begins at about 10am the day before. Not today; bags were thrown together, bike lightly wiped off and I was not in this race at all. I came to this race with one goal: finish with myself and bike intact. As long as I accomplished that everything else was a bonus.

Sorry, no photos yet so you'll have to settle for Strava data.

Looking around on the start line I knew this was going to be a fast race. A lot of the local heavy hitters were there and they all looked ready to throw down. In keeping with the past few races I wound up second row from the back on the start line. For the past two years I've always believed that people put too much emphasis on the start. I thought that in the end it only made a difference for the top 5 or so and from there everyone else fell into place based on a combination of fitness and handling skills. If I came away with one thing today it's been that the start (and first lap) is the most important part of the race.

off-camber
(Photo courtesy of Dave Roth)

One lap in I knew I was in a bad place. I was dangling in the bottom 5 and knew I had to get my butt in gear. After 20 minutes of 'racing' I decided now would be a good time to start. I rode hard, picked people off and moved through the traffic. Unfortunately, I'd let such a large grow that there was no way I would be able to regain contact with my fitness group. I made one last hard dig in the last two laps and caught a few more riders, one of them in the finishing straight. Out of 43 starters and 38 finishers I wound up 21st on the day. I know I have the fitness and handling skills to ride myself into the top 10 at a race like this I just need to start racing before everything has settled down. With the USGP in Fort Collins, Colorado two weeks away I am going to focus on one thing: the first half of the race. I know I have the fitness and drive to get myself through the second half of the race now I just need the determination to lay it all out there on the start. From here on out, no more giving people my lines and pulling elbows on the first lap. It's there for me, I'm going to take it.

Lastly, a huge thanks to everyone who was out there and cheering for me today. I got a chance to see and thank a couple of you but I know I missed a bunch. If I did, THANK YOU for coming out!

Rapha Focus GP

2011-09-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

I was bouncing off the walls after Saturday's race. At post-race
dinner the waitress made the mistake of giving me crayons...

I woke up Sunday morning and thought one thing, "ouch." I knew Starcrossed was going to be a tough race and I knew that doing back-to-back races isn't easy but somehow I never imagined that I would be quite this sore. I blame it on the sand. And Belgians.

Whether good or bad, I still can't decide, Sunday's course was the exact same as Saturday's. Normally I don't like riding the same course two days in a row but for some reason it was okay this time. Maybe it was the overnight rain or the fact that I really liked the course but regardless, I was looking forward to another day out there.

from Starcrossed on Saturday
(photo courtesy of Matt Haughey)
My legs on the other hand, were not. After a long, slow warmup just to get the legs opened up I think I'd finally convinced them they were ready to race. After watching the officials argue about whether a back-of-the-pack racer's tires exceeded the maximum width measurement we finally got lined up. Yesterday I was called up second row from the back, today I was dead last. I'm kind of confused how people who didn't race yesterday or finished yesterday were placed ahead of me but it's the UCI and USAC so I've given up trying to understand.

We get the 1 minute warning and you can feel the energy building. The 30 second warning goes up and the gun could go off at any time. About 10 seconds later Bart Wellens decides he's ready to start and rolls a few feet in front of the start line. After jeering from crowd and a scolding from the official he backs up. Just as he rolls back over the line the gun goes off, catching Wellens totally unprepared. Hey, at least the official has a sense of humor.
I wind up dead last through the first corner. This time I really did try and find the gaps and move up during the initial gallop towards the first corner but it wasn't to be. A few guys hit the deck two rows ahead of me and I get around them but not before a gap has opened. I close it down but could feel that effort linger in my legs. I make it through the first lap hanging near the end of the group I need to be with. As we enter the first sand pit on the second lap I bobble the tight corner and am forced to dismount. This wouldn't have been a big deal on Saturday because running was just as fast a riding but today a solid line had been established on the right hand side. If you miss that you lose easily 5 seconds. There goes the group. I chase but just don't have the spark I had yesterday.

through the sandpit at Starcrossed
(photo courtesy of Matt Haughey)

Then it starts to rain. I have to admit, there's nothing quite like relearning a course in the middle of a race. Tree roots you'd been able to roll over before are suddenly seemingly oil-slicked, corners are greasy and the sand sucks even more energy, like running through wet cement. My glasses begin to fog and I get distracted. I know I need to ditch them but I can't take the time from chasing to stick them in a pocket. I begin to look for people I know but they're in the beer garden at the time. A lap later I get pulled. Yesterday I made it 50 minutes, today I only made it 35. No idea on official result yet but I finished another group down so I was definitely near the very back. Whatever, I came for the experience of Starcrossed and I got it. I found another gear this weekend and while I won't be even near the front of any of these races for a while it was awesome just to be able to line up next to some of the top racers in the world, even if I only for a minute.

For comparison purposes here's the data from Saturday and Sunday. Looks like Sunday was actually faster but it sure didn't feel that way.

Starcrossed: Damn, Belgians are fast.

2011-09-18T07:57:00.000-07:00

Here’s what I learned today: if you eat Belgian waffles every morning you can make a bike go really fast. Heck, even ex-dopers can’t keep up with you.

But seriously though, today’s race was awesome. The course was bone-dry and super-fast; lots of bends and twisty-turnys but an all-around awesome course. That said, I’m definitely not a fan of sand. This course contained two sand sections, one which was mostly ridable and one that was unridable, unless you eat Belgian waffles every day.

In keeping with my typical clusterf*** luck I dropped my bike on the drive-side, slightly bending the derailleur hanger. Well that wasn’t part of the plan. With my shifting slightly off my warmup went all according to plan but as soon as I put my rear wheel on and did a few openers I knew something was up. Damn, broken spoke and 10 minutes to staging. I was torn between riding the carbon tubular with a broken spoke or risk running a clincher with the same tread. I opted for the clincher. Good choice.

Start position 46 out of 60ish. A small but relatively stacked field. Looking around I recognized a lot of people near the front and not a whole lot around me. That means one thing: this is going to be one fast race. Bam, gun goes off and we’re off. As I enter the first corner and I look over to see that the leaders already have 15 seconds on me. Holy crap, it’s been 100m and they’re really that far ahead? Enter survival mode. Because of my total lack of twitchy muscles at the moment I switched the diesel into overdrive and went after anyone I could see. I settled into my rhythm and slowly picked people off. I had trouble riding the sand section and lost a few seconds every lap but gained it back in other sections. I wound up getting pulled with two laps to go because some waffle-eating fast dude was burning rubber behind me. I really wanted one more lap but I’m pretty happy with my performance today. I rode within myself and despite the equipment hiccup and poor start position I managed to ride my best race of the season. No idea on placing but I’ll update it when I know. It just started pouring so I’m sure whatever the course is tomorrow it’ll be drastically different from what we rode today.

Dust, blood, hay: Pain on the Peak cx

2011-09-11T21:55:00.001-07:00

My number of bodily injuries have exponentially increased over the past two weeks. That can mean only one thing, it's cyclocross season. I won't go through all the injuries but let's just say I look like either a victim of the Cheese-grater Killer or a 5-year-old who just got done with a summer of climbing (and falling out of) trees. Suffice to say, I'm getting a little better at cornering.

rawr, hills.
(photo courtesy of Mattew Haughey)

On today's warmup I crashed hard on the first real corner on the course. Blood running down my knee, shifters all crooked and a busted open gel running down my leg. Then I had a flashback to last year. I did the exact same thing, blood, shifters, hay and I wound up winning off the front. Hey, let's see if it works this year. Oh, and on top of this my gear cable pulled out 10 minutes before the start leading to a rather rushed pre-race ritual. Heck, this all this I'm probably going to lap the entire field. Twice.

Hey look, I'm passing people!
(photo courtesy of Richard Rosko)

grinding up yet another hill
(photo courtesy of Richard Rosko)

I didn't. I don't know what happened but I just didn't have it at the start. The race took off and there I was trying to get up to speed. I don't know if it was legs or mind but something wasn't quite there today. I butchered the first few corners and found myself second from last. Well, at least I can only go up from here. I did the work and got the workout in but I wasn't impressed with my performance. I wound up 11th out of 18 but really should have been in the top 10. I could blame it on the injuries from the pre-race crash, crappy shifting due to my rushed fix or the fact that this course was like riding through a giant bowl of powdered sugar which was better suited for a mountain bike, rather than a cross bike. Ok, enough excuses and complaining, I didn't get the job done and I let this one go. I've got it out of my system. Oh, yesterday I had the song "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry stuck in my head during the race; today it was S.E.X. by Nickelback, definitely an improvement but next time I'd rather be rocking out to something like this.

Heading out for one last lap
(photo courtesy of Richard Rosko)

Up next: Starcrossed. I am by no means prepared for it but I'm excited to line up against the like of Bart Wellens, Jeremy Powers and Todd Wells. My goal: have the race of my life and finish on the leaders' lap. Hey, I can dream can't I?

On a very related note, I have to say a huge thank you to this lady below. She puts up with all this racing, listens to me whine about how I stink about handling a bike and bandages all the road rash that seems to appear far too often. Miss Derf, thank you.

the unseen, and often unthanked
other half of the team

Psycho Cross; first double cx weekend of the year

2011-09-10T20:42:00.000-07:00

Back-to-back races, traveling and jamming to obscene music for hours on end while stuck in traffic, traveling to yet another race. Ahh, the season has begun.

Today was Psycho Cross in Eugene, OR and it was terrifically under attended. Seeing as this would be the same venue for the OBRA CCX Champs in November I figured it'd be good to at least see the course and get a feel for it.

We had 9 people in our combined field, 3 As and 6 Masters. Seriously? This is an awesome venue and so much better than racing on the mountain bike course through the dust bowl that we're going to be at tomorrow. Immediate race goal: don't let a Master pass me. We'd start at the same time so I'd have a chance to throw down with the old guys. And no, I'm not apologizing for the old man comment because I got asked what grade I was in today. I'm seriously thinking I need to get a fake ID and start passing myself off as a junior racer. If only.

The whistle blows and judging by the pre-race banter I was expecting an easy rollout. Nope, race on, I go to kick into the pedal and totally miss, foot hits the ground and there goes the field. Remembering my lesson from last week I keep my calm and start the battle. Heck, worst I can get is third place and this is a practice race anyway. Unfortunately, the two other As get the gap and they're off.

I really should have pre-ridden the course more. It took me three laps before I eventually nailed down the right lines but I got it. By then the damage was done and I just had to finish. One interesting aspect of this race was the heat. While the course was shaded the 95F heat, dust and open field sections really drained your energy, and moisture from your mouth. Throwing a bottle cage on was the best decision I'd made. I watched as I slowly lost about 10 seconds per lap and then made up about 20 seconds per lap for the last three. Maybe I took it too easy in the middle but I definitely had a good jump in the closing laps.

Successful day, I wound up third on the day and didn't let any of the old guys me pass me. I'm kind of disappointed that more people didn't show up, this is an awesome course but I'm pretty psyched to come back in November.

Another night in Eugene, then back to Portland for Pain on the Peak tomorrow. Great, another race in a dust bowl.

Today I kind of sucked

2011-09-03T21:24:00.000-07:00

(photo courtesy of "richtheneighbor")

So, first cross race of the season and I kind of screwed up. While I wasn't looking for or expecting a spectacular result I wanted to go out, get dirty and have some fun. Well, I definitely got dirty; fun is questionable.

you know you're in trouble when this bike shows up

Here we go, David Douglas Park, Vancouver, Washington, first cross race of the season and the opener for the Gran Prix Molly Cameron. As I'm pulling all my stuff together I look over and see a size 63 Felt cx bike with about two feet of drop on it. Shit, looks like Ryan Trebon is here. As a three-time (three, right?) former national cyclocross champion, when he shows up to these local races it's not a matter of who will win, simply who won't get lapped. Oh, and on top of this I get stuck with the number in the picture below, not just for this race, for the entire season.

No pressure...

As far as the course goes it was dry and fast. There were a few silty sections through the woods but other than that it's a fast course. So there I am, sitting pretty probably 5th wheel, right where I wanted to be hurtling through the first few corners. Then I go ahead and mess it all up. I stick a pedal down in a corner and pivot the entire rear end of the bike around, almost winding up on the ground. I go from 5th to dead last in a second and a half. There goes my strategy, so much for a defensive and smart race, I had to revert to all out chasing. There I go, taking some risks, railing corners and chasing as hard as I can. This kind of bit me in the butt with about 3 laps to go. I was working hard to stay ahead of a Team S&M rider when I took the second downhill/dirt section a little too hard. Down I go, there he goes. Wound up 10th overall. Should have been 9th due to some lap confusion but doesn't really matter, after that initial spill my head was a little out of it. I'm a little bummed I wasn't able to hang in there and see what I could have really done but that time will come, just not today.

(photo courtesy of Pat Malach
at Oregon Cycling Action)

Today's lessons: learn to corner faster than a Cat 5. I know it comes with experience and it'll get better as the season progresses but I really sucked at cornering today, that's where I'm going to get the time back.

From here on out, this will be my warmup song for every race. Courtesy of a teammate.

Specialized Crux Review

2011-08-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

photo from Specialized website

A few things before I jump into this:
-I purchased all of this equipment myself (I'm under no obligation to say anything positive, or negative, about this equipment, this is simply my opinion/reaction to it)
-I'm comparing this frame against the 2008 Specialized Tricross Pro I've ridden the past two seasons
-I'm 5'9" and 140 lbs (read: I'm not going to be able to flex things the way you big guys can)

Below is a the component list of each bike, I feel this is important to provide so people know what I'm comparing against. Wheels are frequently changed so I have ommitted those, along with cassette and chain; Crank Brothers Eggbeater SL pedals were run on both bikes.

A little bit of background: the Crux was a new model introduced in the 2011 model year with a standard (threaded) bottom bracket. Changes over the Tricross included a tapered headtube, geometry tweaks, front derailleur mount, bolt-on brake cable stop attached to the fork, and fully internal housing. Specialized omitted the vibration-damping Zertz inserts in both fork and seatstays and went with full alloy stays, rather than the carbon seatstays on the Tricross.

The biggest difference I noticed when first hopping on this bike was the stiffness. I don't believe this was simply changing from standard to BB30 cranks. After inspecting the geometry chart, one will notice the chainstays on the Crux are a whopping 15mm shorter (yes, that is big) than the Tricross (425mm vs 440mm). This, combined with the reshaped chainstays creates a much stiffer frame that scampers up hills without any trouble. On the Tricross I'd find myself fighting lateral motion in the bottom bracket area whenever I stamped down on the pedals, not the case with the Crux. While there is still a *little* flex there it is nothing like what I experienced on the Tricross. While the rounder chainstays of the Crux may collect a little more mud that the Tricross I've found a way around that (Pam, trust me, it works). Additionally, I find the use of alloy, rather than carbon, for the seatstays to be a significant improvement. I broke enough derailleurs over the past two seasons that I was fearful one might eventually just go through the seatstay. Not any more.

Another huge improvement was the incorporation of a tapered headtube. Some just might see this as an industry trend but believe me, this isn't a debate of whether 3k, 1k or unidirectional carbon weave looks better, this actually works. On the Tricross I was terrified to take my hands off the bars if I wasn't on anything other than a perfectly flat road. Enter the Crux and I'm reaching in my pockets and jamming my glasses into my helmet while descending a gravel road at 30 mph. No stability problems there. On my first couple descents I was blown away by how easily I was able to navigate the bike around rocks and away from the edges of the trail. I'd gotten used to constantly fighting the Tricross so I was pleasantly surprised when the bike went exactly where I pointed it.

Another very nice side effect of the tapered headtube is the total elimination of brake chatter. True, part of this is the fact that Specialized includes a custom hanger which attaches to the brake mount on the fork, rather than at the headtube. That said, I tried every solution I would think of to eliminate chatter from the Tricross and no matter what pads/wheels I used, how much I toed them or where I mounted the cable stop I still felt like I was being hit with a jackhammer (ok, slight exaggeration) when I tried to stop. Yes, I do have to give some credit to the Avid Shorty Ultimates I have on there right now but the tapered headtube is the secret to this.

Now I get to complain about something. While the new fork/headtube combination is awesome it does lack something. Mainly, interchangeability. The fork included with the frameset comes with an alloy steer tube. Not a huge deal but it easily adds 100 grams to the front end of the bike, something most people would like to avoid. Unfortunately, after a call to Specialized it turns out they are only manufacturing full carbon forks for their sponsored/professional riders. Fair, but I still don't want that extra weight just hanging around. Even more unfortunately, Specialized went ahead and decided to make it a proprietary system by seating the bearing over a 1/4" inside the headtube (see picture below). Sure, it's nice the lower bearing is hidden from the mud/grit up there but it's a giant pain you can't swap out the fork for something lighter. -1 for Specialized.

note how bearing sits well inside frame
(photo from Weight Weenies forum)

crown race raised by aluminum spacer
(photo from Weight Weenies forum)

While I'm in a complaining mood I'll mention the cable routing. Yes, as a general rule, full and internal cable routing is a good idea, especially in cyclocross. Specialized screwed this one up by only allowing for full cable routing. I find the requirement to run full cables from the shifters to the brakes/derailleurs to be a giant pain. True, it (theoretically) means you don't have to replace the cable all season but it also adds a tremendous amount of friction to your shift cables. I run the Gore Professional Sealed cables on all my other bikes and am truly amazed at the extra amount of friction in the system, even after installing the best cables and housing out there. Of all the things about this bike, this was by far my biggest disappointment.

In the end, the Crux is definitely a step up from the Tricross. I don't have exact number to compare weight but I *think* the framesets are roughly equivalent. That said, the addition of the tapered headtube, BB30 and geometry tweaks leave the Tricross in the dust (or mud, as the case may be). I'm still coming up with a suitable alternative to get around the full cable issue but that will come.

In short: the Crux is a stiffer, stronger, more stable, better constructed bike than the Tricross Pro. The big guys may be able to flex it in out-of-the-saddle efforts but it's a solid frame that can take multiple seasons of abuse. With a little creativity and engineering work one would easily be able to modify a fork and replace the boat anchor that currently resides. Furthermore, if you're super-picky about your shifting you may want to find something else. While the full routing will keep your cables clean all season long you'll definitely have some strong fingers at the end of the season.

Pros: tapered headtube, incredibly stiff front end, no brake chatter, climbs well but won't rattle the crap out of you on a rocky descent, BB30, no Zertz inserts

Cons: fork not interchangeable, full cable routing with no option to run compressionless housing or liners, kind of ugly paint job/lots of logos

Homemade Larabars

2011-07-25T22:03:00.000-07:00

So it's been a few weeks and I haven't touched ridden a bike for more than 30 minutes. No injury, just taking a bit of a breather before the chaos that is my cyclocross starts in full force. All of a sudden I have an extra 15-20 hours every week and have no idea what to do with myself. Such was the inspiration for my most recent project, an attempt to my homemade Larabars.

As a cyclist I've tried loads of nutritional products both on and off the bike. While I've found that Dr. Will Bars work great while on the bike, I always like a little bit of variety and was looking for something a little lighter that could be used as a snack during the day. Below are my first two attempts: a lower calorie, fruity bar made with dried cherries, and a higher calorie, sweeter version with peanut butter and chocolate (best combination ever, no contest).

When cooking I'm not a huge fan of following recipes to the letter so I did some improvising. After a little searching around I came up with a rough template and went to work. Like I said, these are rough so feel free to experiment. One note, you need a food processor to do this. Go ahead and get one of the cheap, smaller ones, you don't need the huge $200+ KitchenAid one; the $20 knock-off should work just fine.

Very Cherry Bars

Ingredients

¼ cup chopped dates (not pre-chopped)
¼ cup dried cherries
1/3 cup raw whole pecans, almonds or walnuts (I used almonds with a few pecans thrown in)
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

Lay out two sheets of plastic wrap; do this now because you'll have sticky fingers later
Place dates and cherries in food processor; process until a paste
Place paste in medium bowl, no, make that a large bowl; trust me, it looks small but you'll want the wiggle room
Add nuts to processor and pulse until finely chopped
Add the nuts, along with the cinnamon, to the bowl with the fruit paste
Use fingers to knead the nuts into the paste (think Play-Dough); keep mixing to cinnamon is fully incorporated, see what I said about sticky fingers?
Lay out bars in desired size, place second plastic sheet over the top, roll to desired thickness, cut and wrap

Nutrition:

Calories: 414

Fat: 18.8g (1.6g sat, 10.6g mono, 6.2g poly)

Protein: 7.8g

Cholesterol: 0mg

Carbohydrate: 49.8g

Sodium: 0.8mg

For the Chocolate Peanut Butter bars omit the cherries and process one heaping tablespoon of semi-sweet chocolate with the nuts. During step 6 (play-dough mushing stage) mix in ~2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter. Looking for a protein and sugar boost while on the bike? This is it.

Also, I highly recommend throwing the bars in the fridge for at least half an hour, I've found that this firms them up very nicely so they don't fall apart as easily.

I'm going to try a few more combinations but I'd encourage you to research and experiment on your own.

chocolate peanut butter on the left; cherry on the right

You know the best thing about these? Not only can you fine-tune the recipe to get exactly what you want out of them but they probably cost a quarter of what a single Larabar costs. DIY wins again.

Lastly, I have to give credit to Angela over at Oh She Glows; she's put together some great posts and I'll admit that my procedure closely follows hers.

High Desert Omnium Crit

2011-07-09T17:48:00.000-07:00

Today was a first for me; I pulled out of a race. If you've followed this at all you know I hate quitting. I'll ride off the back of a race for 5 hours by myself or drag my broken bike through 2 miles of mud just so I don't have to see that dreaded DNF next to my name.

Today was different. Forgive me but I'm going to revert to engineer mode for this story. For all of you without an engineering/metallurgy background, forgive me. Two weeks ago my legs felt like this:

Pearlite; source: http://hsc.csu.edu.au/

Everything was in order, I felt awesome, I was climbing well, I was finishing in the lead group and most of all my legs felt awesome. Then I trained and my legs felt like this:

Martensite; source: www.threeplanes.net

You see how all those nice, pretty lines aren't there anymore? Exactly. My legs feel like someone did this to them:

So, no training for a few days and hoping to get my legs back to looking something like this:

Bainite; source: http://tadg.org

No, not quite as nice as the pearlite, but getting there. That was the plan, this is how they felt about 20 minutes into the crit:

sorry, glass not iron this time.
source: www.wallpaperweb.org

On the team side of things we didn't do too bad, Adam was able to snag one of the $50 primes and we think we got Bedford a 2nd place. Boone got a little caught up in the action and soloed off the front a little early, winning the second-to-last lap. See, these crit things are confusing...

In short, I can only exert about a 5-8 second effort when I'd normally be able to throw down a 30-45 second effort again and again. It's really frustrating because this time last year I was just hitting a peak, this was my first 3 race and I actually scored my highest placing at this race. Fast forward to this year and you see a cracked racer who can't even hold on in a relatively easy 50 minute crit. Regardless, I'm going to go out and give the team everything I've got tomorrow and take a nice long break and organize for cyclocross season. on that note I give you this:

USGP Stanley Portland Cup day 1 from mark colton on Vimeo.

Oh, and stay tuned for an update about the awesome wheels I may be rocking this cx season!

Cracked. Again.

2011-07-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while since Elkhorn; I've finally forgotten about the totally shattered state that Mt. Dooley left me in and decided I could keep racing my bike. 3 days after the thrashing of Dooley I raced Tabor. And got killed. Off the back and then scored with the main field as I got lapped. Yippie, skippy, yet another race off the back.

Then I didn't touch a bike for a few days. I started feeling like I could actually finish a race; went out and raced the Franz Crit and had a blast. Nothing spectacular as far as results but I went out, stayed safe and had a great time.

From there I went for a hike (and didn't even think about a bike).

Meh, took a few more days off then raced PIR and Tabor back-to-back. Hey, my legs were back! Put in some good digs at PIR and actually finished with the pack at Tabor.

Then I trained over the weekend. Team ride on Saturday out to Larch Mountain and back; 100+ miles of hot, DHFT. Well done team. Went out and beat up on a group ride on Monday then went and helped with the PIR 100. 100 miles at PIR? Bo-ring.

So you'd think that a few good rides would have put my legs in a really good place. Wrong. My legs feel like they're shattered into millions of tiny little pieces. I knew Tabor was going to be hard last night but I guess I was hoping for a miracle. Nope, 3 laps in and I'm off the back after trying to help a teammate who was falling off the back. Chased a lap then gave up. Eventually got caught then attacked the field, blew up, retreated back to the field and slowly came off on the final lap as the sprinters drilled the pace.

Here's my analysis: training=cracked legs; not training=feel good physically, mentally and can help the team. My conclusion: I'm not touching a bike for a month. I'll race the crits, help the team and just generally screw around until I get CX plans figured out. It's been a full season and you couldn't pay me enough to race Cascade in a few weeks. I'm going to ride out my fitness and build cx bikes for the next month. Heck, after the High Desert Omnium this weekend road is over!

Elkhorn; the last 3 stages

2011-06-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

Alright, it is now several days later and everything is unpacked so I figure it's about time I get around to posting about the rest of my race at Elkhorn. Looking back on my report from stage 1 I realize I was more than a little cranky when I write that. At the time I was actually pretty sick so that coupled with a poor performance didn't help much. Here's a quick rundown of the rest of the weekend.

Stage 2: TT. I was actually really looking forward to going out and giving it everything I had in the TT. I knew I didn't have a prayer of contending but I really wanted to see just what I could do. Then the team needed me. I wound up lending out a bunch of equipment to our faster guys and playing mechanic/soungier right before my start. I wound up soft pedaling the TT and making fun of everyone that went past me. In all honesty, I felt like death. My nose, sinuses, throat and lungs were all full of crap and my stomach felt like an ADD kid on a teeter-totter; not settled. I immediately got done and called a teammate who'd dropped out the day before and was prepared to beg for a ride home. No answer.

With no immediate ride back to Portland I knew it was probably best if I just hung out and at least started the crit so if by some miracle I was feeling better by Sunday then I'd at least be able to start.

Pre-Stage 3: I can't really talk about the crit without describing all the chaos that ensued immediately beforehand. It all started when teammate Andrew Boone decided to bring up that his rear shifting was a little off. I took a look at it and recommended that we just lube the cable and hope because we were within an hour of our start time. Nope, can't lube the cable, he had a full liner installed from shifter to derailleur. Ok, easy enough, we just replace the cable. Here's where things started going downhill. This is Baker City, not Portland, there aren't bike shops open all day and night. We scrounge around and eventually just pull a cable off my TT bike; not like it was doing me any good anyway. Then the liner pinches, then it does it again. We are now stuck 20 minutes before the start of a crit with a bike stuck in the 11T cog. Oh, and he's pretty much our GC guy. After 15 minutes of panic, 2 trips across town and begging for a cable and housing from every cycling team in downtown Baker we come up with a solution: borrow a size-too-small bike and race on that. Boone borrowed a teammate's Cervelo S1 and rolled to the start line. Boone and I had no warmup but damn our heart rate was up.

Stage 3: we flat out crushed the crit. Eli got into a move nice and early which gave us a nice 20 minute break where we just set tempo. As soon as that came back we attacked. Again, and again and again. We always had at least one guy up the road and as soon as anything came back we were right there firing off the front again. I had a great race, didn't really do anything but somehow wound up on the front for a lap driving the pace. My work being done I settled into my comfort zone, 5 from the back and just rode. Boone finished solo after dropping his break-mate and grabbed 5 seconds over the field. This alone did wonders for the team's (and my) morale. We all rolled back to the high school (where we were camping) like we were walking on sunshin. On top of this, I felt amazing. My legs were there and I actually felt like a somewhat fit human being, not something that was dying in a gutter.

Stage 4: for those of you who are not familiar Elkhorn's Queen stage is a killer. Sadly, it's just a more tame version of Mt Hood's Queen Stage. 100 miles with intermediate climbs, all leading up to an 8 mile ball-breaker of a climb. My plan: sit in, take it easy, cover moves for the team (none of which will stick) and make it over the third climb with the field, from there, we'd see how I was feeling. Reality: total opposite.

Here's how it all happened: on our neutral roll out on the way out of town Eli rolls up to me and says "we need you on the front this first part." Of course, I go to the front and think "meh, this can't be too bad, no one's dumb enough to go before the first climb, I'll have an easy warmup." WRONG. 3 miles in Gabe from Yahoo attacks. I'm there, it's my job to follow his wheel. Life Cycle and Hagens come with. That's the day's break. I really, really didn't want to be there but I knew it was necessary. All I wanted to do was sit in the field for an easy ride over the first few climbs but it wasn't to be. We immediately got to work and quickly built our lead. I knew from 7 miles in that I wouldn't have a lot of gas to give to this break but had to hang in as long as I could. I lasted for 50 miles of headwinds. If you've ridden with me you know I hate headwinds. I came off right before the third climb. We made a left hander and when I looked up there were 4 bike lengths between Hagens and me. He looked back and knew I was done. I blinked and they were 15 seconds up the road. I sat up attempting to recover so I could rejoin the peleton when they passed and suddenly they were right there, not a minute after I came off. At our last time check we had an almost 5 minute lead, where'd that go? I went straight through the peleton like a cement brick through water and was promptly spit out the back. Hey, at least it was a balanced race, 50 miles off the front, 50 off the back. 10 miles later all the caffeine hit. I started singing, making sheep noises at the cows and having conversations with ground squirrels. Yep, I probably looked like one of those crazy people that's been lost in the woods for the past 2 years.

Regardless, I finished. I soft pedaled (with the tail wind I may add) to the base of Dooley with the intention of giving it one last go in an attempt to reconcile myself. I put in a solid climb until about 3.5k to go. At that point I ran out of gas, no warning, just empty. I spent those last few kilometers watching myself get passed by everyone I'd just shelled as I clumsily threw my body from one pedal to the other.

If you've managed to read this entire thing and are still bored check out Oregon Cycling Action's recap of the stage. I get a nice little mention.

All in all it was a good weekend. If you look at the results you can see I did terribly but with sickness and not great fitness at the moment I've accepted that. The thing I'm most impressed with this past weekend was the team work; from scrambling around Baker City in search of cables and housing to getting in a break knowing it would make the team's life easier. Overall, I'm happy with the weekend.

There, no longer cranky. I still want cx season to be here...

Elkhorn Classic-Stage 1

2011-06-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's official, I'm a pretty sucky road racer. No, this isn't me being dramatic or feeling sorry for myself, when compared to the guys I'm racing against I am definitely sub-par. True, I made it more than halfway through the race without getting dropped but as soon as the road goes up I go out the back. Alright, in all fairness we were climbing steady up Catherine (Hill, Mountain?) and then Gabe from Yahoo went to the front...

I go off the back of yet another race. I'm getting sick of this. I joined up with a group of 3 on the descent and we made an honest effort to make contact but it wasn't to be. I came off the back of that group and was faced with a pleasant ride through gorgeous Eastern Oregon.

Ok, no more whining. I'm here, this is an awesome race and I'm going to enjoy my time.

In all honesty I'm just biding my time until this:

Mt Hood Cycling Classic: Stage 4; Queen Stage

2011-06-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

Well shit. That was hard. It all started by covering the first 5 miles in 8:08 and the next 5 in 7:52 in a balls-out descent from the start line. Yes, a 38mph average for the first 10 miles. Even as we were descending it I knew I'd hate climbing back up it, but I knew I had to finish this stage. I'd made it this far and even if I had to crawl to the top of that hill I was going to finish. Sadly, I didn't know how close to the truth this would be.

After 4 races to this point by legs were pretty well loaded so it was always a matter of how long I could stick with the group, not if I could stick with them. The goal was over the first climb, reality had another idea for me: 24:25. Yep, first rise/kinda climb of the day (which no one knew about), boom, alex off the back, again. I knew that I had to hang on to wheels as long as possible but no matter what my brain told my legs to do it wasn't happening. Ok, survival mode: hang onto the caravan as long as possible. Over the next few miles I played accordion with the caravan, leeching onto every single wheel I could but when the road pitched up for real I knew it was all over. There I stood, staring a 5 hour solo ride in the face.

Turns out you have a lot of time to think without distractions when you're off the back of a race like that. I began to wonder whether it looks worse for the team if I drop out or if I finish way back. I tried to ask this to a teammate helping out in the feed zone but think I said "is it better to drop out or quit?". Turns out I wasn't really thinking clearly. All the feed zone people laughed and someone yelled "just keep riding!" I did. Boosted by that I railed the descent and caught a few shelled Masters who I rode with for the next 40 miles. Then my legs couldn't even hold the pace of 4 Masters riders. I slunk back in shame. Then there was the insane descent from Lolo Pass. The climb was brutal but the descent was insane. Imagine an 8' wide road just cut through the trees and into the side of cliffs, overgrown on all sides with 4-6% slopes on the way down. At one point I looked down and was doing 40+ mph. Rough gravel patches, overgrown sides, high speeds, cliffs and no one in sight, probably not the best decision ever but I was actually enjoying myself. Then the road started going up again. The enjoyment stopped. To make it even more demeaning, I got caught by the Cat 3 peleton which started an hour and twenty minutes behind me! Yeah, bad day. My legs were so toasted at this point I rolled up to the last follow car and asked if I could just sit in the draft. The volunteer didn't know any better and let me sit on. 45 minutes later the official finally caught on and yelled at me. I yelled back something about "just give me a time penalty (jerk!)" and moved out of shelter. Honestly, if I hadn't had that 15 mile haul in finishing would have been a heroic feat. To the Cat 3 follow car driver, you are a saint.

From there it was just a grind up the last 20k. Lots of climbing, lots of slow. I did take advantage of the chilled Gatorade at the illegal feed zone (meh, give me another time penalty) halfway up the climb. Fueled by cool, sticky, sugary goodness the climb seemed a bit more bearable. And I made it, over an hour behind the stage winner but I finished. Can't say I'm super proud of my result or even my performance but I finished. My only concern is I hope I didn't make sponsor Laurelwood Brew Pub look too bad.

Stage result: 102; 1:11:43 behind the leader
Final GC: 103; 1:52:10 behind the leader

I may post a few reflections about this race sometime this week, we'll just have to see if I can forget about it enough. Thanks again to all for reading and the kind words and support this weekend, they all helped!

Mount Hood Cycling Classic: Crit

2011-06-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

As previously noted, I was fairly anxious heading into this race. Not only for the sheer speed of the race but also the fear of doing something stupid and causing a crash. Yeah, it sucks to crash but I realize that it happens. What's even worse than crashing (in my mind) is crashing someone else. Call it chivalry, call it stupidity, call it what you will but I'd hate to crash another person.

Ok, crit time. After some aggressive maneuvering I was able to get a start position about mid-pack. Not the best but still a lot better than I usually fare. The race went off and it was just like any other crit, full gas, except these guys have a lot higher top end. After about a lap I almost started having fun, then I slowly lost about 2 wheels/lap. I knew I had a cushion as my goal was simply to finish 20 minutes but I didn't want to spend any more time off the back then I had to. Wheels kept slowly slipping by me but I was holding my own. When I did come off the back I made the cut and stayed upright. Mission complete.

Stage result: 124th; 3:08 back
GC after 124th; 40:36 back

Hey, at least I've got consistency going for me. But I get to start the stage today and that's all I care about. I'm going to finish this race and I will be going one with one big learning experience.

Mt Hood Cycling Classic: Stage 2 TT

2011-06-04T16:00:00.000-07:00

Photo courtesy of Pat Malach
at Oregon Cycling Action

Ok, so the above photo is from the prologue but whatever, I'm on the TT bike, same thing.

My TT today was surprisingly ok. Power was a little lower than I wanted but then again after yesterday's race I was pretty alright with just finishing the race. Warming up with a teammate we both felt like crap, no legs and when we attempted a 30 second interval it lasted a whopping 5 seconds before we blew up. In short my warmup was this: play with aero gear for 30 minutes, 6 rolling competitions with a teammate to see who is more aero and one 5 second interval. Somehow, that worked fairly well. Legs came around right out of the gate and held a fairly consistent power, just enough to open them up for tonight. Overall, not a phenomenal performance but was good for the legs.

Crit goals for tonight:
1) stay safe
2) survive to make the time cut
Yes, in that order.

Time: 25:23
Stage result: 114; 3:31 off the leader
GC result: 126; 37:40 off the leader

a nice little road hazard on corner 1 of the TT

Mt Hood Cycling Classic: Stage 1 RR

2011-06-03T22:03:00.000-07:00

Wow. 136 racers, 84 miles, almost 8000ft of climbing and a 32mph 'neutral' rollout. Talk about baptism by fire. I always knew this day would be harder than I anticipated but I never really expected it to be that hard.

Here's how it all went down. Mile 8, first climb of the day, we go tearing up it like we were running from the rapture. I'm already cross eyed and am slowly losing wheels and it's 8 miles into the race! I hate to say it but I came unglued. Part of it was poor positioning and part of it was too much testosterone on the front of the race. Still, I came off and spent the next 76 miles chasing. Great, it's San Dimas all over again. Then again, the time cut was a little less merciless this time around so I didn't have to worry about making the 105% of the winner's time, instead just a cushy 130%. That I can do. I don't really know what else to say so I'll just let the numbers do the talking. Normally I wouldn't share power data but at this point there's not a whole lot for anyone to gain from it.
Final results on the day: finished in 4:01:58, good for 124th on the day, moving me into 128th overall. Like I said, quite the change of scenery.

Oh, the one condolence for the day came upon my arrival back at the team car where the entire Peanut Butter & Co. Cycling Team was lined up having a team meeting right behind us. Hey, it's life's little victories, right?

Oh, one last note: today's course was awesome! Besides the fact it was ball-bustingly hard all the climbs were longs, steady and hard, the descents were fast, twisty and never ending and the combination of sunshine and Gorge scenery was absolutely breathtaking today. Overall, not a whole lot to complain about today.

Survived another day, TT tomorrow morning and crit in the evening.

Mount Hood Cycling Classic: Prologue

2011-06-02T22:02:00.000-07:00

Dictionary.com defines a prologue as "a preliminary discourse; a preface or introductory part of a discourse..." Instead, I define it as "as exercise, equivalent to repeatedly striking oneself in the head with a hammer, in which one wastes an entire day to go race for less than 10 minutes for the simple purpose of establishing who sucks more."

As you can guess, the prologue didn't quite go as well as I'd hoped. 132nd place and 1:15 off the lead. While my time off the lead isn't anything I'm really worried about at this race I'm simply amazed that I'm a minute slower over 3 measly little miles than some guy I've never heard of. Then again, we'll see how he climbs tomorrow.

Oh, and the "oh, shit" moment finally hit. I always knew this was a big race but I never really grasped exactly how big it was until we rolled into the parking lot today and I saw teams like Trek Red Truck, Yahoo, Peanut & Butter Co and Cal Giant Strawberry. Oh yeah, and I'm racing against guys who dedicate the entirety of their peak physical lives to racing at this level. I guess that I'm ok with my performance, I just have a feeling that race kind of sets the tone for the rest of this weekend. We'll see, at least I can't complain about finishing the race and still having something left in the tank, right?

Here's a look at the hell that tomorrow holds for me. 84 miles, almost 8000ft of climbing. With fast people. Awesome.

Mt. Tabor. Cat 2.

2011-05-29T13:41:00.000-07:00

Sweet baby Jesus that hurt. The picture above describes about where I spent just about the entire race.

Cat 2 is a whole different ball game. Just like my just from B to A last cross season I was blown away by the speed and smoothness of the riders there. The Pro/1/2 road field is no different, I don't know why I expected it to be.

A short race report:the race was on from corner 1. 4-6 people rolled off the front but I thought it was people that had just gotten clipped on in quicker and were trying to show what they got. Nope, they're actually racing. Crap. The next lap and a half was just a steady stream of strong riders bridging up to the lead group while I struggled to hold on. Can't get dropped 3 laps in...

Soon there's 15 strong guys up the road and 15 not-so-strong guys 'chasing.' Bad combination. Eventually it just becomes two races being held at the same time. After about 15 laps our pathetic little chase group is down to 5. We get lapped and everyone is back together. 2 laps later I find myself 70 meters off the front of the group. One of my teammates watching me has a confused look on his face and I say "I have no idea what the hell I'm doing right now" as I go by. Turns out I didn't. I was promptly caught and shot off the back. In my defense, a lot more people had dropped out and I thought I was 2/3 of the way back in the field when I was really dead last. One small acceleration from the group and I'm off the back. 5 laps by myself. Overall, 19th out of 30 starters. Am I proud of my placing? Not at all. Am I happy with my race? Of course. Of all the things I take away from this race it's that I got what I asked for. In the Cat 3 races I was always tired of getting done with a race and still having half a tank left. Not the case here. I rode right at my limit and while where I'm at in my training probably played a factor I rode as hard as I could. I am happy with the result and motivated to work harder.

Silverton: RR State Champs

2011-05-14T23:21:00.000-07:00

After 2 of the most hectic weeks of my life to this point it's off to another race. This one the OBRA Road Race State Championships held at Silverton, OR. Never heard of it? Me either.

(a picture from today's race)
3 laps, 50ish miles, 1450ft of climbing per lap and some stupid/itchy 3s. Oh what fun.
My thoughts the first time up the climb: "this is it? Is this really what everyone was complaining about"
Second time up the climb, cross-eyed and redlining: "who the f*** is doing this to me?" I look over and see a teammate with his eyes about ready to pop out of his head. I suddenly feel a lot better. Well, turns out that was one of our guys on the front drilling it. He established a break of 3 and they went to work building their advantage. As a team we did a sufficient job of causing pandemonium and disrupting just about any chase effort that moved. And then two of the three rejoined the pack with half a lap to go. Let the BS games begin. I won't go into my frustrations with road racing but let's just say they came out again today.

Chase, chase, chase, sit up, chase, sit up, play a little grab ass and chase some more. We eventually caught the solo break at 1k to go. Too bad he didn't have just a little more gas.

The uphill charge begins, I have great legs but am about 2 rows too far back. Wound up 6th. Not a great result but we worked really well together as a team and everyone came away safe. Can't complain about that.

In related news, the internet broke and accidently awarded one of our riders the championship. I think they've fixed it by now but it makes for a good story, right?

Gainful Employment!

2011-05-14T22:57:00.000-07:00

Someone recently told me that the average college graduate must send out 38 resumes/applications before obtaining their first job. I don't know if I refused to believe this because in my mind that was an obscene number or because I didn't want to admit that I was fast approaching that number. SRAM, Acumed, Stryker, Johnson & Johnson, Biomet, Miosek, Specialized, Trek, Nike, Oakley, Intel (just to name a few); they all had my resume and all I'd received were polite emails (read: form letters) explaining that although my skills and background (I have no background) were impressive they've chosen to go with another candidate. And then out of nowhere I receive an email from a teammate essentially say "send this guy your resume." End of message. After a blind email thinking I was throwing my resume into yet another abyss I received a prompt reply and an interview the following day.

Shortish story even shorter: I'll be working at Renovo Bicycles as a design and test engineer. I had to choose between working at a bike shop mindlessly adjusting derailleurs and building kids bikes and a real, honest-to-God engineering job. No contest. Work starts Monday. Welcome to the good life.

Life at Mach 3

2011-05-14T22:35:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been kind of hectic.

First I went down to Eugene and raced Eugene Roubaix. Wound up losing both bottles on the first lap so did 55 miles with no water. Not the smartest choice. Then proceeded to bury my wheel in every pothole I could find; bars sliding and shifters moving makes an unhappy me. Somehow managed to pull out 9th but were able to put one of our guys in the top 3! Great sprint Clemens!

The day after that CB went and ran her marathon (and crushed it)!

Then back to school for finals. My finals week entailed approximately 8 parts studying, 89 parts bike riding and 436.2 parts procrastination. Good week.

Then one of the most hectic weekends of my life: graduation. Let's just say I did it. ME degree, 4 years, no debt. Mission accomplished. There was a lot of family, friends and celebration involved in this weekend so I'll just say a good time was had by all.

Next, moving day. 14 hours, 1 dorm room, 1 house, and way too many trips. I hate moving. Same goes for trips, I like going on trips but absolutely despise the packing/unpacking part of it. Life out of a duffel bag is beginning to look more and more promising each day.

That's enough for now. Yeah, a lot more happened but who needs all the boring graduation details about people passing out, last minute shit-fits and all the drama involved with that.

Tuesday PIR

2011-04-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

Another Tuesday, another PIR. I typically don't post race reports for PIR simply because it's a training race but I found a few pictures from last night so I thought I'd share. Both photos are from Jose Sandoval. Hit the jump to see them.

I'm still amazed at how low my position is, yet how high it
feels when actually on the bike

ok, I promise it wasn't that hard

Tour of Walla Walla: Stages 2, 3 and 4

2011-04-18T22:37:00.000-07:00

So I've done a poor job of posting updates about Tour of Walla Walla. Below is a brief recap from each stage:

Stage 2: time trial
I was sitting 5th GC after Friday's 1 second time bonus. Looking back this was really stupid. 1 second doesn't mean crap if you can't protect it. I went a little too deep on Friday's stage chasing that KOM bonus and definitely felt it Saturday morning. At the start gate I was chasing guy on a regular road bike and getting chased by a Canadian junior on a TT setup that was worth more than a year's worth of college. Between my mind and sore legs I wasn't totally into this TT. I tried, I really did but I just couldn't will my legs to push any harder. I could blame it on the wind, the course or Canadians but in the end I didn't get it done. This was my course and I was ready to tear it apart but I let my mind get in the way of my legs. Wound up 29th, 2:20 off the leader, putting me 21st on GC, 2:22 back. Definitely not ideal. I guess this is just one hard lesson that every race matters, every second counts and there's no place for mental weakness in a race like this.

photo courtesy of Wheels in Focus

Stage 3: Downtown Crit

8-corner crit on super-wide but really crappy roads. My plan: stay near the front the first half and then drift to the back once the sketchy stuff started happening. Well, turns out the sketchy stuff happened on the 4th turn. Someone did something stupid and a crash blossomed to the right side of the road. At this point I made the executive decision to take it as easy as possible. Straight to the back and soft pedaling the entire way. I did absolutely no work and just hung out. No, definitely not the most exciting but safe and easy. Legs were primed and ready for Stage 4.

also stolen from Wheels in Focus

Stage 4: The final road race. 64 miles of rollers and nasty winds the entire race, a true hard man's race. As a team we were set for a hard race. We knew exactly where the selection would occur and we knew exactly what we needed to do. And then the Canadians controlled the race. Sitting at the front those dang maple syrup-drinking juniors would only let one rider off the front at a time. We drilled it up the climbs at 25mph and then promptly sat up in the head wind and let all the big guys catch on. At one point we had a big separation with 10 miles to go but again, we sat up and it all slammed back together. This is the point at which I gave up. Our separation had 20 guys and ten minutes later we had 34. I call BS. I had banked on a separation of which I could have produced a good result but here we were coming into the final 5k, 34 racers strong and all of the strong crit guys. And of course, guess what happens. Audi crashes. 200m from the line there's bodies on the road. I avoid it and coast across the line.

Overall, not a great weekend for me. True, I didn't crash, which I'm thankful for but I definitely hoped for a better result. Oh well, you win, some you lose some. I think the most disappointing part of the weekend was not riding at my capacity. Too much gas in the tank, won't happen next time.

Final result: 18th GC 2:22 down.

Tour of Walla Walla: Stage 1

2011-04-15T22:32:00.000-07:00

Yep, another stage race, this time in my old stomping grounds: Walla Walla.

While I'd targeted this race since November I lost almost all motivation after Cherry Blossom. Part of it was the depression/denial about the Jamis but also my legs were totally shot after Cherry Blossom. The other part was that I graduate in 3 weeks, have no idea what I'm doing and trying to wrap up our senior project and projects while still training. Not the best combination. This past week was a cascade of little sleep, poor eating and too much stress. Whatever.

So, stage 1 went. Nothing exceptional. I grabbed an easy 3rd on the KOM lap for a 2 second time bonus. 11th on today's stage and finishing puts me on the board at 5th GC, 11 seconds down. The TT will start to settle out the GC so we'll see how it goes tomorrow. Below are a few pictures from the team house. We have some awesome hosts here. Somehow they've managed to fit 15 people and almost 20 bikes into the house with ease. Thank you hosts!

(another) new bike

2011-04-14T22:52:00.000-07:00

So remember the picture below and how I described myself as "cracked out of my mind"?

Well it turns out that I wasn't the only thing that was cracked. Recall that crash at the end of Stage 1. After inspection, I thought the frame had miraculously survived and that it was safe to ride for stages 3 and 4. I was wrong. When prepping the bike for PIR on Tuesday afternoon I found something that made my heart sink. Right at the headtube/downtube there's tiny spiderweb cracks about 3" along the downtube on both sides of the bike. Oh, and a crack in the top of the headtube and another 1.5" one on the driveside chainstay. Well crap, that's toast.

I typically don't list names but I feel this is warranted, forgive me. Mr. Joseph Skokan, this is me calling you out. You need to learn to ride a bike safely. A rider in an orange jersey didn't cross your wheel, you caused the Stage 1 crash. This crash resulted in two destroyed frames and at least half dozen people on the ground. Granted, apart from from some road rash and deep bruising we're all ok. I do realize you went down too and I hope you're healing quickly. In the future, please just relax, look, signal and SMOOTHLY make a move. I see you're registered for Tour of Walla Walla and I wish you the best of luck. That said, I'm going to tell every single rider there that they don't want to be anywhere near you.

Rant over. Below is the replacement bike. Yes, it's aluminum. No, it's not the superbike the Jamis was; that will by no means stop me from riding this thing just as hard. My only hope is that this one lasts more than 9 months.

Cherry Blossom Stage 4

2011-04-04T23:43:00.000-07:00

So, no recap for Stage 3. Easy 4-corner crit, stayed safe and burned as little energy as possible. Tried making my way to the front but kept loosing spots so resigned myself to hanging on the back. Yeah, not the ideal spot but it was safe.

Stage 4: 2 small circuits, 2 big circuits, 41 miles, how bad could it possibly be? The proper answer is "holy f*** what the hell just happened."

The race begins, Team O is on the front hammering hard. While this is good my legs are by no means ready for this. Make my way to the front and prepare to do as much wheel-sucking as possible. I'm sitting 6th GC and really want to move into 5th at the very least by the end of the day.

2 small circuits down, the field stays together and we prepare for the fireworks heading into the big loop. 12 miles down, 29 to go. Also, 1000 ft of climbing down, 3200 to go. Joy.

The field explodes on the first real climb of the day. And when I say climb I'm talking about a 3k long suffer-fest, into the wind, pitches of anywhere from 5-17%. I didn't make the lead group but settled into a decent chase group. After the decent we eventually made contact with the lead group, only to have the field split again. Found the chase group, shattered that and made 3rd GC work his balls off to get us back to the lead group. The field had shattered so badly at this point that the support vehicle was right behind us. If there was one thing I was not going to let happen it was letting that vehicle past me.

absolutely cracked out of my mind
(photo credit: David Mackintosh)

We made it. I look around and there's 3 of us (Team O) in the lead group of 11. While my legs were totally destroyed two of our guys took flyers off the front, just to make the field hurt a little bit more. It worked, down to 9. Entering the final corner I tried, I really really did try to make it up that hill first. My legs detonated at the 200m to go sign. I simply sat down and pedaled the rest of the way up the hill. My legs felt like someone had just ripped the muscle from the bone and left it laying at the last corner.

That all said and done, I advanced to 4th GC with Will coming in right behind me for 5th. This result gives us both the points we were looking for towards our Cat 2 upgrades!

To be totally honest, I was quite surprised with this result. Coming off San Dimas I was disappointed with my performance and a little bummed about travelling so far just to not make the time cut. That said, I was pleasantly surprised with fitness at this race.

Lastly, this race would have been tremendously different without the help of my teammates. Jeff, Will, Clemens, Phelan, Zac and Tony. The support both on and off the bikes was amazing, you are an awesome group of guys and I'm very happy we had the opportunity to spend the week out there crushing it (for the most part).

Cherry Blossom Stage 2: The Humbug crushes the TT

2011-04-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

As you saw in last night's post The Humbug, my TT bike, is finally built, decaled and ready to race. I've spent a whole 6 minutes on it just making sure it kind of shifts and fits alright. By the way, 6 minutes is the optimal break-in time for a new bike. Not 5, not 7, 6. Let's just say I was a little anxious racing a completely different type of bike with no actual workout on it.

gorgeous weather this morning

I went out and killed it. I didn't feel super great about it but then again I didn't feel much so I guess that's a good thing. 27:04 got me 6th. Here's how I did it:
-first of all, the super sketchy guy from yesterday started right in front of me. I was determined to get him within the first mile. He put up a good fight and held me off until 1.25 miles
-find the next person, visualize them and blame them for all the world's problems
-pass them
-repeat until finished

Global hunger, climate change, genocide in Africa, the Holocaust, world dependency on oil, the economic recession, etc. The guy in front of me, it was all his fault.

the Humbug in all it's "glory"

a look at the back of the car. Got enough wheels?

New TT build

2011-04-01T21:48:00.000-07:00

Behold my new TT bike. I have spend a whopping 6 minutes riding this thing (in 2 minute sections) and am racing it tomorrow morning. No fitting, no workouts, no nothing. This is a good idea, no?

Cherry Blossom Stage 1: Crash

2011-04-01T14:51:00.000-07:00

Yep, starting another stage race this weekend. Coming off San Dimas I knew I had the legs but just not the luck. My goal was to change that this weekend.

Event #1 happened last night. I went to install a K-Edge chain watcher in order to prevent any future dropped chains and evil time cuts. Then I got a nice little scare, the left shifter wouldn't shift. Awesome, I'm sitting here 12 hours before my race starts and I have no front shifting. After a short freak out I just try to replace the cable--with a little finagling it works out. Disaster averted.

Then the road race. At this point a 56 mile Cat 3 race feel like a walk in the park. Racing almost feels like a day off at this point. We all go out, ride bikes for a few hours and sprint for the line. There's natural attrition on the climbs but apart from a few short jumps I feel like I'm out for a Sunday ride.

This 'race' was essentially just another ride. We went out, rode bikes and the only work I did was to fight for a position--which I did quite well may I add. Then Event 2 occurred. We're all cranking uphill and I hear something. A bad something. Carbon-on-ground something. I look up to see a mess of bikes and bodies strewn across the road. No idea how it happened but I avoided it. Short burst and I'm back with the lead. 6 miles to go. Long sweeping decent and everyone seems to be taking it easy. My least favorite part of a race; let the BS games begin... We make the final turn with 500m to go and everyone is twitchy. I'm in the top 30 and feel like I'm about ready to break my pedals off. Someone open the sprint and we're off. Then there's people on the ground. 250m from the line a racer rolls right in front of me. Nowhere to go. I hit him square in the ribs. I'm in the air. I'm on the ground. By the time I stop moving the winner has already crossed the line. I go check on the guy I hit and he's kind of banged up but we get him up and rolling. I look up the road and see one of my teammates pulling a set of handlebars out of his rear triangle. Cracked seat stay there. I pick up my bike and soft pedal the last 200m in. Then I start to feel the road rash.

Here's the damage count: deep scrapes on left shoulder and hip, mild scrapes on both arms above the elbow (in the meat of the arm) 1 broken spoke, a loose headset and 1 in^2 of scrapes on the very back of the helmet. Looking at it, I made it out fairly well. Headset is already squared away and once I replace the spoke the wheel will be golden. As far as the road rash, think of it like in a basketball, soccer or football game when someone gives you an elbow. Yeah, it hurts but more than anything it just makes you angry.

I am going to make this field hurt. Exit Grumpy Gus, enter Angry Arex.

Picture from San Dimas

2011-04-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

Found this photo from Stage 1 at San Dimas.

photo courtesy of Annette--SDSR Media

San Dimas Stage 2--I killed it today

2011-03-26T20:29:00.000-07:00

I straight up dominated today. I had read several reports (1, 2) from last year's race so I expected this to be a tough race not nothing out of my grasp. This course is notorious for cross winds and natural attrition due to the climbs. Also, the KOM and Sprint points on the line tend to keep the field together. Looking at it, I didn't think it would be that bad. Plus, I had some business to take care of after yesterday's sub-par TT.

So, race goes off, the pace is high but not unbearable. "The climb" comes and goes. If this is considered a climb these people need to go ride some 'real' roads. Yes, there's a small 13% pitch in there but this thing is short. Next lap is the KOM. Speaking of which, the KOM is about a 200m before the summit and descent so all the climbers immediately sit up before actually cresting the summit. KOM 1 comes and I'm with the lead group. Everyone sits up and I attack off the front. I get my gap on the descent and they let me just ride off the front. The tailwind pushes me all the way through the finish line and I'm gone. The entire field just sat up and looked at each other, waiting for someone else to chase. Over the next 6 laps I built up a 4 minute lead and I think the field forgot about me. 40+ miles off the front, in the wind. I'm now holding the overall with a 2:37 lead over second place. Assuming I can just finish the crit tomorrow I've got this thing in the bag.

Right. Want to read what really happened? Jump past the break...

40+ miles off the front? Me? Yeah, right. Here's what went down: separation occurred after the first KOM. And when I say separation I'm talking about the field splitting in half. I was in the slow half... That began to fracture and we had a bunch of people making stupid moves and not working together to get back to the chase group. Really, you're going to bridge a 45 second gap by yourself in a headwind?! Finally, we got a good group of ~10 riders together and we started bringing the group back. Then it happened. Heading up the smaller hill with the feed zone I dropped my chain. Couldn't pedal it back on so I was off the bike throwing it back on. By the time that was done another group had already passed me and I was on my own. I chased and chased and was ever so slowly getting back on until about lap 5 when they disappeared, never to be seen again. All in all I spent about 40 miles off the back chasing my little heart out.

Just got results: finished 56th, 10:21 off the lead and didn't make the time cut. Had I stuck with that chase group I'd have finished at or less than 5 minutes off the lead. And would be able to race tomorrow...

Hmm, not the result I was looking for when I came here. Any chance of flying back and defending that Banana Belt spot?

San Dimas: Glendora Mountian Time Trial--Disappointed

2011-03-25T19:33:00.000-07:00

Today reminded me of one thing: I need to work on time trialing. I know I have the physical strength, now I need the mental component. I went into this race with both a time and wattage goal, I didn't hit either.

a look at one of the switchbacks

I finished this race in 16:33, placing me 39th out of 93 and 1:27 off the leader's time. I was really hoping for something about a minute faster which would have conveniently placed me well within the top 15, and in the points. Simply, I didn't do it. I caught my 30 second and 1 minute man so I thought I'd definitely ridden into one of those top spots. Oh well, you do what you can, right?

Oh, and to cap all this off there's a nice little email sitting in my inbox when I get back. I'm currently ranked 3rd in the Banana Belt series. 1st and 2nd won't be there this weekend and I could have easily taken the overall. Well, 1 season goal evaporated, looks like I just need to focus on the other two.

San Dimas Stage Race: holy crap, this is happening

2011-03-24T18:54:00.000-07:00

Here I sit in Southern California, still amazed that this trip is actually happening. When I was initially presented with this trip proposal I thought "yeah right, there's no way that could happen" and then things started falling into place. Next thing I know I'm on a plane and then riding along the California coast.

You know those places you see pictures of with palm trees, resorts on the ocean and surfers everywhere? This is it. Ok, I'm a few months early but you get the picture.

Anyway, uphill TT tomorrow. Excited, apprehensive, anxious and intimidated are all good words to describe how I'm feeling right about now. That said, it's going to be 20 degrees warmer than Portland and 267363 times drier. Heck, it's less than 4 miles, how bad could it be?

But, do you know the best part about today? Riding--no tights, no rain jacket, no shoe covers/booties and it was dry the entire time! In the words of the esteemed Mr. Sheen "WINNING" --yes, JLV, that was just for you.

PSU Collegiate RR

2011-03-24T10:09:00.001-07:00

Been sitting on these pictures for a few days with the intention of writing something in more detail but I realize that's not going to happen. Below are a few pictures from the collegiate race last Sunday (3/20). I used this race as practice and finished 9th out of 19. The major accomplishment was staying with the group and learning exactly how these guys work together--good prep for San Dimas. Well, enjoy and I'll keep you updated as to how San Dimas goes.

All pictures taken from Wheels in Focus.

San Dimas Stage Race

2011-03-14T23:26:00.000-07:00

Holy s*** this is actually happening. You know how you dream about something happening but never really believe it will and somehow everything falls into place? That about sums it up.

March 24-28 I will be in lovely Southern California. Yes, I realize it's "So Cal." Think about it, I've been training and racing in the snow, sleet, ice and rain for the past few months.

Forecasts for tomorrow:
Portland: 100% chance of rain (aka, rain all day); high of 55; gusts as high as 34
San Dimas: Mostly sunny; high of 77; calm wind

F-yeah!
A HUGE thank you goes out to Team Oregon and Lana Atchley for making all this happen. I would not be able to do this without all of you.
More details later.

Crosswinds Blow

2011-03-14T23:10:00.000-07:00

I pride myself in being able to ride and race in just about any condition. Yes, part of it comes from necessity if racing in Oregon but through racing cyclocross I've realized that if you can capitalize on the conditions and psych others out you've already beat them.

Climbs, descents, gravel, mud, snow, freezing rain and excessively long races: I'll do them all.
Cross winds: f*** that.

If you get a chance, take a look back at my report from OBRA RR State Champs last August. Notice the brevity? Not like me, right? That's because that race still haunts me; 25mph cross winds, a shattered field and 50+ miles of balls-out chasing.

Now, simply repeat that only add rain and some college racers. You have my past Saturday at the OSU RR outside Corvallis.

Dear UW rider, you look pudgy. Still, congrats on the win.
Hell of a lot better than I managed
(photo stolen from Wheels in Focus)

Very short report:
-Collegiate A (way out of my league)
-20mph crosswind
-race starts
-immediately guttered
-balls-out pace (I'm talking 500+ watts 30 seconds into the race)
-200m in I'm ready to quit
-break rolls off the front
-I try to bridge with PSU guy
-we blow, spend 6 miles soft pedaling waiting for the field to catch us
-the break is gone and instead of chasing, people are attacking in the field. Why? Beats the hell out of me
-I roll off the back at mile 16
-join up with UO friend and soft pedal the rest
-get lapped by Men's A and B fields
-don't care
-head into the finish on the lead lap
-get yelled at by UW (insert nasty word here) after finishing
-go recover from hypothermia

In short, a terrible race. Enough said.

Banana Belt 2 and breakthrough

2011-03-14T22:56:00.000-07:00

After our previous attempts at a plan we went into this race without one. No protected rider, no designated sprinter, just ride hard and make people hurt.

this picture tells the story of the day. Drowned rats, that's all
(courtesy of Oregon Cycling Action)

To tell you the truth, the weather took care of that last part pretty well. Cold and rain, hello Oregon road racing, about time you returned.

We executed. Every hill, one of us was off the front. Attacking, counterattacking and whittling the field down. We started with 30+ riders and after each lap we got smaller and smaller. Then it happened, one guy went off the front and everyone sat up. Our fault for not chasing? Yes. Oh, and when I say one guy I don't mean one average rider, I talking about a freight train. Now, I can lay waste to this guy in a sprint but I have never seen him crack or even look like he's working that hard. Not the guy you want off the front by himself.

Instead of dragging you through the details here's the rundown: Freight Train builds up a 3+ minute lead. 4 other people individually solo off the front and stick it. We're left sprinting for 5th place. I got it. I rolled to from with a few miles to go and slotted into the perfect position, hung with it on the climbs, played like I was blown and waited to the perfect moment to make my jump.

Looking at the numbers, I got lucky. There's no way my sprint should have worked but it was good enough for the day. I would have liked to have the entire field together because I know can beat the 4 riders up the road but I'll live with 5th. It's upgrade points but more importantly it gave me the breakthrough I need. I raced collegiate on Saturday and got destroyed so Sunday's result was the perfect morale boost.

It's only bigger and better from here.

Congrats to our Cat 4 rider winning his race!
He'll be with us in the 3s soon enough
(photo courtesy of Oregon Cycling Action)

new kits and Banana Belt 1

2011-03-14T22:40:00.000-07:00

Alright, Team Oregon. I know you created a huge stir back in the winter when you presented the new kit design without even informing anyone it was in the works. Also, I thought it was one of the ugliest designs I'd ever seen. That said, I would like to change my opinion and state that the new design is pretty freaking sweet! I thought I'd miss the red-orange but this new grey-scheme is pretty sharp (see below).

a teammate modeling the new kit
(courtesy of Oregon Cycling Action)

Banana Belt 1 marked the first race in the new kits and with the return of decent weather we were looking to throw down. Again, great plans of mice and men...

As a team I feel that we rode well. Individually, holy crap, I worked hard. One teammate (WL) threw a chain during the second lap (about 25 miles into a 44 miles race). One other teammate (JB) and I waited for WL to get it fixed but after 30+ seconds of messing with it he couldn't get it to stick--he told us to go. And the chase began... JB knew his job was to get me back to the field with the least amount of energy on my part as I was the leadout for a birthday-boy that race. We chased, and we chased. After 6 minutes or so JB blew. Hard. As I went to take my pull I looked over my shoulder and knew he was done for. While I wanted to wait and pull him back I knew we'd never make it. JB, if you read this, thank you. You worked your ass off for me and I don't forget that easily.

Then I was solo. Pounding, mashing and spinning my legs as fast as I could, doing anything to distract myself from looking at heart rate or power readings which were way beyond 'safe' levels. Hammer, hammer, hammer. Flying up hills and ripping down the back side. Past the neutralized women's field and finally, the tail end of my field. One last surge and I was on. Looking back at the data: a 12 minute TT above redline and way too much time in Power Zone 6. But hey, it gave some awesome numbers to look at later.

another sweet shot of one of our riders
(courtesy of Oregon Cycling Action)

I was cooked. I spent the next lap and a half eating, drinking and recovering as best I could to lead out birthday-boy. Then the s***-hit the fan, again. We were set up just about perfectly headed into the final 500m when someone slammed into me from the right, hard. 500m from the line my left cleat is unclipped, just awesome. I frantically jam it in and prepare to mix it up with the sprinters. Somehow we wound up on the right hand side of the field and I drag b-boy up the shoulder and get ready to dump him on he-man sprinter's wheel. Then I look up and see it. Less than 100m from our finish line there's a women's field, a follow car and to top it all off, a truck hauling a boat trailer. B-boy doesn't see this because the sprint has already opened up and he's waiting for the slightest lull in my pace to come off and sprint.

Long story short: I yell "go right!" The truck see people coming around on the left, it moves right, we're on the right hand side, it sees us and stops, leaving about 2 feet of clear road, I squeeze by but b-boy gets trapped behind a blown rider, I jump left, dodge the follow car and random women scattered about the road and sprint to 7th. Definitely not the ideal situation but we made do with what he had.

I've played this situation over and over in my head and I still think we made the right choice. While we didn't get the win like we were aiming for we had a good plan and executed well but an unforeseen set of circumstances arose and we were forced to compromise. Overall, I'll take a safe finish and moderate place over and win and huge pileup any day.

Stay safe out there racers and good job to all of you who kept your head up and avoided a disaster there.

Cherry Pie race report

2011-03-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know this is late. Get over it.

Nope, not me. One of our teammates looking a whole
lot more badass than I ever could
(courtesy of Oregon Cycling Action)

Let's just say I put off writing this because Cherry Pie didn't quite go as planned. We (Team O) went into this race thinking it would stay together and that we'd be able to set up a decent leadout for the uphill finish. Heck, we had 3 guys who could contest it so we were bound to put someone in the top 5, right?

We couldn't have been much more wrong. The weather was surprisingly nice, sunny and warm (enough) but with a strong enough cross wind that it could create some trouble. And it did. A group of 7 just rolled off the front of the field and soon grew to 14 and they were off, never yo be seen again. Looking back on it, we were really stupid. We put one guy in the break but it wasn't the horsepower or the numbers we were looking for. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Hey, it's lessons learned right? Wound up finishing 16th on the. Yeah, I had an awesome kick and blew people away but it's going to be hard to catch a break 3+ minutes up the road in a 200m kick...

Heck, it was the season opener and we all stayed safe. Couldn't really ask for more.

God's Country

2011-02-21T10:19:00.000-08:00

I still can't get over just how gorgeous the Pacific Northwest is. True, Colorado has it's domineering mountains, Nevada it's deep blood-red canyons and Louisiana it's bayous (...right). Still, after riding yesterday I came around the bend and this was laid out before me. How do you beat that?

I still have no clue what I'm doing with my life post-graduation but how could I possibly leave a place like this?

Update

2011-02-17T00:12:00.000-08:00

So, it's been a while and I've neglected this again--here's the shortest, most complete update I can come up with.

Since returning from Colorado I broke the Scott yet again. You know how something bad is going to happen even though you really don't want it to? Yeah. That's my relationship with that bike. I was tired of messing around with it so I dropped it off with the guys at Veloce Bikes in Hawthorne and let them work their magic. And magic they did work. 2 weeks and $30 later I had a bike with a replaceable hanger!! Let's just say this has been a huge relief knowing that if/when I break that sucker again I can fix it in 15 minutes, not 15 weeks.

Also, after 5 years of riding the same helmet I decided it was probably a good idea to replace my helmet. Upon inspection there were at least 3 cracks in the old one (no, not this one) and all the pads were shot. With the Lazer there's absolutely no way of comparing them. First, the Lazer actually has pads in it (the one in the Louis Garneau wore out a year ago). Also, it doesn't ram my head into weird positions, oh and I can actually fit a hat under it. All around Lazer Helium = win. So far the Tardiz (that TT helmet) has sat in the box and is eagerly awaiting testing. Don't worry, as soon as it comes out I'll make sure and get the 'unicorn' shot of me wearing it backwards.

Next, you know how certain schools of fish move as one unit? I've been riding with the our elite team the past few weeks and I've realized that we act just like a bunch of fish. An obstacle is introduced and everyone moves as one. I realize that me telling you about it is pretty underwhelming but it was just an observation from my end of how fluidly a group of people can work together without saying a word. Just watch the video, you'll understand what I'm getting at.

Oh, and then there was the Crater Lake trip. 3 days, no cell phones, no email, just some snowshoes and a tent. I'll just keep it short and say it was awesome.

And if you've stayed with me this long I've got a little treat for you. I've been working on this project I've dubbed Imagined Reality Shifting. This project is an exploration into 10-speed electronic shifting. The goal of this project is to build a workable electronic shifting system for under $500. I won't go into all the details but you can track the progress of this project over at the project-specific site.

There, done. See, that wasn't so bad

If you're gonna bonk, do it right.

2011-01-15T15:42:00.000-08:00

I would like to start with noting that I've never really bonked before, I've had rides where I've gotten tired or just haven't been feeling it and been on the edges of a bonk but never really bonked hard. Take for example the last time I rode Pumpkin Ridge (65 miles or so) near the start of base miles. It was one of my first rides back and I probably should have started with something a little shorter/easier but it seemed like a good idea at the time. The last 10 miles up Thompson were rough; gear-grinding, teeth-clenched and then I got passed by a couple of 60-year olds... Regardless, at the top I caught my second wind and made it back just fine. Not today.

Today started like any normal Saturday ride: get up, eat the normal breakfast, pull on the team kit, throw the normal food and equipment in the pockets and take off. It didn't end like one.

It's Portland. It's January. Of course, it rained but at this point that's to be expected. The team rides goes awesome, about 20 people and a really good showing of new people, then for the ride home. I knew I was in trouble when Will started telling a story about a fairly recent ride when the group was riding home and everyone was on the verge of cracking/killing each other. Then I started to feel the creeping feeling. It started in my chest and slowly spread. You know the feeling, the hollow crushing emptiness that creeps into every corner of your body and slowly sucks every molecule of energy from your body and discards it ungracefully into the gutter. By the time we hit the base of Thompson I knew I was toast. I looked up to see my riding buddies floating away, legs pumping effortlessly as I had done so many times. When I looked down I saw a jerky mess of leg, road grime and a falling speedometer. Hello Bonk, it's about time we met.

I wouldn't have even made it off
the bike today before collapsing

Slower and slower still. I crawled my way up Thompson. I gave the guys the go-ahead to take off without me so I knew it was just Bonk and me stuck out on that hill with no food and pounding rain. I start dreaming of burritos, quesadillas, and all forms of Mexican food (why? Hell if I know). I stop. I start. I stop again and drape myself over the bike. I somehow start again, knowing I have to finish this ride. As I round yet another bend I look up to see the guys waiting for me. Crap, I thought it was just me. Now they know. As I pass by, Eli hands over a peanut bar which I shred the wrapper all over the road just to get at that salty and sugary goodness. 10 seconds, it's gone. The psychological boost from that bar got me to the top, a whole 150m away.

At this point we part ways, Will and I go left, Eli and the other guy straight. I try and try but no matter what I do I can't hang with Will, and he's soft pedaling. He knows what's happening and passes over a gel containing more than my average monthly dosage of caffeine and I pour the entire syrupy mixture down my throat. By now I'm nothing more than an empty shell, if I could safely do it my shoulders would be draped over the handlebars and I would just pedal along in my 39-25 until I finally got home. Somehow I mustered the energy to brake during the Germantown descent and drag my sorry butt over the bridge and back home where I promptly collapsed into 2000 calories.

me post-ride

In short, I didn't just crack, I shattered. Eli and Will, you guys are saviors. There's not a whole lot else to say but thank you.

If you're looking for another bonk story head over here to read a much more amusing/better written piece.

broken bike. Again.

2010-12-31T09:40:00.000-08:00

So remember back in July when I broke my bike? Well it happened again. Same thing, Shimano chain failed, wound up in the spokes and took the derailleur and non replaceable hanger with it. Rather than fix it with the same part that could fail (again) I looked into other options. Long story short: no other options.

The dilemma: I need a rain bike. My rain bike is broken.
Possible solutions:
1) buy a new frame
2) have Ruckus Components fix the dropout again and hope I don't break another chain

Nope, not spending money this time. Going to try and fix it myself. Below is a short photo diary of the fixing process.

Take one bent-to-s*** non-replaceable hanger

Add one blow torch

Heat affected area until medium-well.

Then add channel-lock pliers.

Bend liberally with complete disregard to metal fatigue.

Add more heat.

And wa-lah (?) there you have it. A good enough-ly aligned derailleur hanger

Ok, this is where the "don't try this at home" note is supposed to come in but I assume you all know that carbon bikes and blow torches don't mix well. Just don't do it. We'll see how this holds but and I'll be sure to let you know if something fails.

Lastly, Shimano's chain-connecting mechanisms s-u-c-k. I'm not one to call out companies but two of their chain connectors (one quick-link, the other a reinforced pin) have caused extensive damage to my bikes. Save yourself the time, money and hassle and just buy a SRAM chain.

Here's another way of putting it: I've broken 7 Shimano chains, none through overuse or improper maintenance (ok, maybe one). I've broken 0 SRAM chains (yes, used equally between bikes). I think that number alone speaks for itself.

road trip: Spokane, WA to Fort Collins, CO

2010-12-25T21:09:00.000-08:00

December 17th:

-wake up at 3:30am and head to Shari's with CB

-get on a plane at some ungodly hour for the flight to Spokane. Side note: I really like flying, especially in the morning. I witnessed one of the greatest sunrises in my memory: the sun rising over a set of altostratus clouds and I got to watch it seemingly ripple away from the plane. Think about this image but only seeing it from the air. Pretty rad.

Once in Spokane it was a matter of meeting my Dad and beginning the journey West and South. While I'd looked at a map and knew where Colorado was in relation to Washington I never really grasped how far it actually was. Rather than bore you with all the details of what was a pretty boring drive I'll hit the high points.

about 900 lbs of gear. We had about 1" of travel

High points of the day: my Dad decides he's tired of driving and hands it over to me. While this is perfectly reasonable his choice location was somewhat questionable. We had dry pavement the entire day and within 2 miles of assuming the driving responsibilities the road promptly turns to ice exactly as we're trying to pass a semi. Let's just say we both had a little adrenaline pumping after when the van slipped on some ice but the tires hooked up and I continued at a little more cautious pace. Oh, and then there's the Continental Divide. Thanks Dad, making me drive the most treacherous part within 5 miles of getting behind the wheel.

Oh, and then just ask dusk I seem something at the top of a little rise, here's my train of thought:

"eh, just a piece of plastic, no big deal"

"ok, maybe a busted up cardboard box"

"holy ****"

-somehow my brain takes over and swerves

turns out it was a ladder laying in the middle of the interstate. Lucky miss.

Anyway, we made it to Billings without incident. One observation, there are almost no minivans in Montana. I'm not exaggerating when I say the vehicle breakdown is probably 55% trucks, 40% SUVs, 4.99% sedans, 0.01% minivans. No joke.

you know you're in Montana when...
doesn't quite measure up to Portland beers

typical Montana... 'murika!

December 18th.

Goal of the day: make it to Fort Collins. We're most of the way through Montana so it's just a matter of driving across all of Wyoming and we're just about there. Right? Not so much.

welcome to Wyoming, there's nothing here

So I'm driving again somewhere outside of Sheridan going over yet another hill and I see a truck off on the shoulder and people by it. So what do I do? Move to the left lane like a good driver and watch for people in case someone is trying to wave us down. Bad choice. Just as I'm getting ready to pass the truck I hear and feel the front driver-side tire hit something, go under the car and shoot at the back. When I look in the mirror I see something that looks like this (pic below) sailing about 20 feet in the air.

10 seconds later: thump, thump, thump. F***.

center of the tire: bad

Turns out the truck blew his transmission all over the left lane and I hit the cover or something like that. Oops. After 3 hours and the incredible generosity of a stranger we're back on the road.

Side story: Sam Watson now ranks in the top 10 strangers I know. This guy is the brand new manager at the Sheridan Firestone store. When we called him he dropped everything at his store, drove 15 miles out of town to pick us up, drove us back and fixed the tire and then drove us back out to our car. He fixed something that would have taken us the entire rest of sort out and did it only a matter of hours. This guy is a model to live after. He didn't know us, had better things to do and had no reason to but he dropped everything and went and picked up a few strangers to help them out. We all could take a lesson from this.

Back on the road. We hit Cheyenne and park next to some restaurant with creepy figurines. Seriously, I would have been terrified if my parents had taken me here as a child.

The rest is history. We made it to Fort Collins after dark but we still made the entire trip in 2 days. There's probably a few more grey hairs on my Dad's head but hey, it was an adventure and if a flat tire's all that happened we can both live with that. Here's a few pictures of unpacking the car.

the wine cooler. Lost a total of 3 degrees over 3 days
in sub-zero temperatures

the cooler unsealed

Sorry this post is a little late. I've been busy riding and working on a certain cycling-related project. Until next time I leave you with this view of where I get to ride for the next few weeks. WITHOUT FENDERS!!!

cleanliness

2010-12-08T01:19:00.000-08:00

Eh, while I'm up, why not another one.

For the few of you that have had the pleasure (or maybe I should say misfortune) of gracing my room you've seen firsthand that I don't place the highest emphasis organization. I view my room as a warehouse and a place to store stuff. Heck, I'm either on the bike, in class, meetings or at work most of the time so as long as I can find stuff why do I need a clean room?

I'll tell you why, because one day you're going to walk into your room, it'll look like this and you'll think to yourself, "how the hell do I live in this?" I had that exact though Monday. Let's just say the bikes are put back together, the laundry is done and I can actually get to the window now.

back on the bike

2010-12-08T01:05:00.000-08:00

I just came to the realization that almost all of these posts are written/posted after midnight/1am; looks like this one will be no different.

So after a solid 2-3 weeks off the bike I'm back on it, this time cranking out the boring winter miles. When I got back on I know I'd want to immediately jump back to the fitness I was in August but alas, it wasn't too be.

For some reason I had the brilliant idea that I would ride Germantown to Skyline to Pumpkin Ridge to Springville as my second ride back. What, it's only 60 miles and it's base so I'll be going slow. DUMB! I forgot to include the 5400+ ft of climbing, fog and oh, it's only my first ride over 30 miles in 2.5 months! Here's a short rundown of how it went: saw an awesome sunrise over downtown. Promptly left the clear valley and climbed into the fog of Skyline. Remembered "holy s*** there's a lot of up and down out near North Plains." Hit Pumpkin Ridge.

Legs finally warmed up after 28 miles!! If you're in the Portland area and have never ridden up Pumpkin Ridge I would highly recommend it. A gorgeous view, never too steep and some great scenery up there. Oh, I found a lama and promptly made fun of it on my way past (if you're ridden on a bike or in a car with me you know I get bored/distracted/sidetracked really easily).

Gorgeous descent down Pumpkin Ridge and off into Hillsboro when BONK! My legs say "f*** you" and promptly turn off. Balls, I'm 9 miles from home and still have to climb up Springville. I'm going to skip the boring parts and just say I was beat up Springville by two guys old enough they to be my dad. Talk about demoralizing. But hey, it's base miles right?

Looks like I've got a damn long way to go before I come back into the form I had this summer.

2010 racing in review

2010-11-24T20:33:00.000-08:00

So, my "rookie year," looking back on it I accomplished a lot. 57 races in 44 weeks!

photo credit: Jose Sandoval

I entered road season eager and stupid. I had a ridiculously nice bike and absolutely no idea where it could take me; all I knew was that i wanted Cat III by the end of the season, a challenging goal but by no means impossible. I already did a recap at the end of road season so I'll keep this relatively brief.

Looking back at my results I'm still 2nd in the Cat 5 Road BAR, 4th in the Cat 4 Road BAR, 9th in the Tabor Series-Cat 4 (with only 2 races) and 8th in the Cat 3 Tabor series (with only 3 races).

Time to receive Cat 4 upgrade: 29 days (4 races)
Time to receive Cat 3 upgrade: 101 days (17 races/stages)
Current standing: 16 races/stages; 4 points (21 left until Cat 2)

Favorite race of the year: Rapha Gentlemans' Race
I still am in awe of how to describe this event. Maybe just watch the video and read my teammate's recollection of the day. Oh, and if you watch the video I'm at 8:46. Still, a great day on the bike but good Lord we suffered.

post Rapha Gentleman's Race
photo credit: Karey Swan

Favorite "real" (road) race of the year: Elkhorn Stage Race-Stage 4-Mt Dooley
This race was an absolute killer but it served as a breaking through point for me. It taught me that even after a fitful night's rest in a tent while it's pouring rain I could get up, race 101 miles in 45o rain and still fight my way to the top of a mountain. While this stage race fried my legs for the next month I proved to myself that my success was more dependent on my mental toughness than equipment, tactics and sometimes even teamwork.

finishing atop Mt Dooley

Least favorite (road) race of the year: Eugene Celebration--the entire thing (prologue) (road race)
Ok, I really appreciate all the time and effort OBRA and all promoters put into making these events happen but the Eugene Celebration was one of the worst run races I've ever been to. A 19 mile circuit that some groups had to do up to 4 times? A crit in an industrial park? The longest, flattest TT on the planet? I realize I was fully ready for cross season and that I shouldn't be comparing this race to Elkhorn or High Desert but maybe I'm just spoiled.

starting the Coburg Prologue
(photo credit: Maggie Rising)

Favorite (cross) race of the year: toss up between Pain on the Peak and Cross Crusade-PIR
This one is a toss up because I really liked the PIR course, had an awesome crowd there cheering for me and the mud waas perfectly suited to my riding style. On the other hand, Pain on the Peak was my first cross race of the season and I flat out dominated. Granted, it was a B race but I shocked myself that I was able to ride that way, especially with almost no time on the cross bike this year.

Pain on the Peak: at the top of the runup
Photo credit: Christian Reed

powering through the mud at PIR

What this all comes down to is I have a lot of people to thank: my friends, parents, teammates, CB and every single company that has cut me a deal. Team Oregon, you guys have been awesome to me and brought me from a strong and stupid Cat 4 into a pre-Cat 2 road and pre-Elite cross racer. While I don't know where I'll be a year from now Team Oregon has definitely given me the option to do just about anything.

Teammates, parents, friends, CB thank all of you. The rides, places to crash, massages after workouts/races, team housing and everything else, thank you!

I'm now due for a few weeks off the bike. Updates will be sporadic over the next few months but I'll try and update this with non-bike related topics in the meantime. Thanks again for putting up with this often disconnected blog.

OBRA CCX Champs

2010-11-24T17:19:00.000-08:00

Photo credit: Nita Galambos

Overall, good race. Not my best place but snot nearly as bad as last week. This course was super hard (at least for me). Lots of peanut-buttery mud, lots of elevation, a ton of off-camber sections and parts that you almost couldn't even run. I finished 18/24 on the day--again, not the best day out there.

One exciting note of the race was the start. I started 4th row (essentially the back) but after the second turn was in 2nd!! Let's just say that didn't last long. As soon as I was back on the bike Skerritt, Schmidt and all those guys blew past. Hey, at least I was there for a little tiny bit!

transitioning to the drops
photo credit: Dave Roth

From there on out the race just went downhill. It was an incredibly hard course, my tires weren't hooking up and I was having a hard time finding lines. I wound up running a bunch of sections that others were riding and at the end of the race I was glad it was over. On the up side, I didn't crash on any of the pavement sections, I didn't get passed by Sue Butler and I finished. Overall, a successful way to end the season.

over the barriers
photo credit: Dave Roth

I've thought a lot about when I should end my season and while I'd like to take it all the way through Collegiate Nationals in mid-December my legs just don't have it any more. This race marked my 57th race in 44 weeks. While I know I'll probably look back and have wanted to compete at Nationals I know it would be just another time of where I was there riding but not really racing. In the end I have to remember that I had an incredibly successful year racing and I've gained invaluable experience. I believe that this experience far outweighs a mid-pack finish at Nationals.

hey look, I'm racing Skerritt! oh wait...
Photo credit: Dave Roth

Cross Crusade-Barton Park: Bad day on the bike

2010-11-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

Instead of a race report this post is more of an open letter to my teammates, friends and everyone else supports me both on and off the bike.

I let you guys down today. There are about a hundred different excuses I could make for my performance today but in the end I wasn't able to get the job done. Of all courses in the Cross Crusade series this was my course: some really good power sections, not a whole lot of energy-sucking mud and two longer run ups. I should have dominated. I'd wanted a top-20 place all season and this was my opportunity yet I didn't even put the effort in.

What it comes down to is I let you down. My body showed up primed for this race but my brain didn't come prepared to do what it needed to. I had the best possible starting position (right behind all the call ups) and I left it ride away from me. Even when my teammate came past and tried to motivate me I wasn't able to hang, I let him go by as I continued to go backwards.

I keep trying to tell myself that I've had a pretty good run of races so I was about due for a crappy race but it's not true, today was all on me. At the end of the day I can sit around making excuses or I can accept that I didn't complete that task handed to me. I choose the later.

I'm not unhappy with my result today (very, very close to the end) but what I am unhappy about is the way I achieved it. I feel that I've let down my team and each one of you. I'm sorry and I won't let this happen again.

A few quick notes then I'm done:
CS and TS; Bend Memorial: you guys have a long drive back to Bend but instead of taking off right after CS's race you stick around and cheer me on. Thank you for this. It's awesome to have people from other team's cheering for you.
JL; Team O: J, you race in the morning yet stick around through the last race of the day. I heard the disappointment in your voice grow with each lap and it absolutely killed me inside to know that I was letting you down. I really do appreciate you sticking around and all the support on the course.
JA, RA, anyone else; Team O: There's not a whole lot to say. I'm sorry. I'm supposed to be the one out there mixing it up with the big guns and I let you guys down. I'm sorry I rode our kit into last place today.
CB, AM, R?, HK; U of P: I'm supposed to be motivating news riders and showing that college kids can kick these old rich guy's butts (forgive the generality anyone older than 24 and making more than $10k/year).

I still argue that I have one of the best cheering sections out there. I'm just sorry I didn't perform today.

photo credit: Matt Haughey

Why we wear helmets

2010-11-10T11:46:00.000-08:00

One of my rides takes me down a steep little hill then dumps me into a wide, open left hand turn. Monday that was covered with wet leaves. No big deal, my tires always unhook on the corner and I usually just take it wide and slide both wheels through. That wasn't the case on Monday. Down the hill, tires started to slide like normal, bike leaned a little more than normal but was able to correct it, something happens and I'm kind of tangled in the bike going down. On the way down I thought, "hey this isn't going to be that bad, I'll slide a little and continue my ride." And that's pretty much exactly what happened. I remember hitting the back of my head on the ground and hearing a noise but hey, we all hear stuff when we crash right? I laid there for about 5 seconds, thought, "hmm, well that sucked." Got up, put my glasses back together and continued my ride.

I didn't realize how "bad" the crash was until I caught a glimpse of my helmet laying on the floor that afternoon. I counted 3 major cracks in the back, one in the main body and another in the front, all completely through the material.

Well, I guess helmets are worth it after all. I was able to ride away without a headache or any injury whatsoever. Had I not been wearing it circumstances would be a little different.

WEAR YOUR DAMN HELMET WHENEVER YOU'RE ON A BIKE!!!

Sunday: Cross Crusade-Hillsboro

2010-11-10T11:31:00.000-08:00

After the half-race Saturday my legs were feeling a little off. I couldn't really pinpoint it but there was *something* going on. Meh, let's race anyway.

A look at one of the shallower mud pits
Photo credit: David Mackintosh

The Hillsboro course was everything I remember it being and then some. Think of PIR mud with about 3 more of those really long deep puddles and a bunch of grass to make the whole thing stick to your bike. Yep, a perfect day to use an entire can of PAM.

Still felt off on the start line so mentally I didn't really click until we'd completed two laps. All of a sudden, the legs loosened up, I was able to find lines and I started to think "hey, I can actually do this." It was a race from then on out. I was able to catch the 17 year old I've had in my sights all season but he caught me again on the last lap. Regardless, 23rd on the day (so close to top-20!!!), lots of mud and a good bit of fun but I want more runups! Oh well, next week's race at Barton is my course. Two runups, a couple of barrier sections and a nice off-camber dropoff. Should be fun, until then it's just more training for Nationals.

Lap times on the day: 7:13, 9:15, 9:18, 9:18, 9:18, 9:21, 9:29. Hey, there's something to be said about consistency.

Oh, one last thing, apologies to Nat for my move in the off camber section. I was running, he was riding. I went to pass, he slipped towards me and I pushed past causing him to get tangled in the tape. Sorry about that, next time I'll wait until a more open part of the course.

picking through another group
photo credit: Pat Malach; Oregon Cycling Action

Saturday: EZ Orchards

2010-11-08T12:22:00.000-08:00

photo: Matt H

Saturday didn't go too poorly. M and I headed down to volunteer so we spent 3 hours what we'd normally do at a cross race: walking around, picking up cones, heckling people and trying to get people to crash on slick corners. Oh, and we got to race for free, can't complain about that.

This course was, well, boring. Here's about the rundown: 200m straight stretch, 90 degree turn, 400m straight gravel road, turn down row of apple orchard, etc. Long, straight and flat. Definitely more of a road course than a cross race.

M took the hole shot and led for about 1/2 a lap. I attacked on the gravel stretch and blew up the race from there. I wound up second on the day. M took third. Ok, I'll give you the rest of the information. There were 4 starters in the A race and one of them dropped out. Either way, it was a free "race" and we were able to support a new venue.

Astoria Sunday

2010-11-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

So I've decided some stories are better left untold. Let's just say Astoria Sunday was everything I expected it to be, and then some.

photo credit: Dave Roth

I dressed as Oscar the Grouch and I raced like crap. I know this wasn't a serious race and it's difficult to actually race when you're being stabbed in the quads and armpits by a trash can. So I decided to just have fun. Was able to grab two $1 bills from bottles, crashed a lot, heckled Shannon Skerritt (who was actually racing) and hit the jump every lap except one and just cruised around not really racing. Don't even think about asking for lap times, there was no was I was trying to dig my watch out from under that sweaty shawl/Oscar costume.


photo credit: Dave Roth

Lastly, I give you the drunk gorilla. I knew there was a reason I stayed for Sunday, it's to see things like this:

Astoria weekend (aka Halloween s***-show)

2010-11-03T17:39:00.000-07:00

As with the best plans, this one was devised at the very last minute. My original plan was to head to Astoria Friday evening after a test which is supposed to cover every engineering topic I learned sophomore year. Thursday morning I learned that plan wasn’t going to happen. After a huge flurry of emails and phone calls the perfect plan worked out: I would skip work, bio class and that huge test and head out to Astoria Friday morning, giving me the chance to hang out, pre-ride in the gorgeous weather and just generally enjoy not being in school. I never really took a fall break so this was going to be it for me. And that it was.

yay, sponsors!

Dinner Friday night

the flagpole of distraction

When we got to Astoria the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Barely a cloud in the sky, temps in the mid-50s and barely anyone around. G, J and I took a sweet little spin around Astoria; up to the Astoria column, cruised through some cool neighborhoods and just opened the legs up for Saturday. Then we hit the condo. Once we got everyone in the same place the party really started. Homemade sushi by R and T: AWESOME! There was a subsequent disappearance of 2 bottles of sakѐ and a case of beer and then someone came up with the brilliant idea to walk down to the Sandtrap (a McMinnemans located on the same golf course our condo was). You know how when you walk somewhere at night it seems a lot different than when you see it in the day? This was a really good example of that (not to mention the very “uninhibibted” mindset of our current company). We started walking knowing that the Sandtrap was “that way” (ish). Then we got distracted by this awesome flag pole. Then one of us decided to take us down to the beach. Mind you, only one of us has any clue where we are and he’s pretty toasted at this point. Eventually the 2 sober people are able to convince the 3 smashed ones that there’s no way we should go wandering through backyards, scrambling up goat paths and blindly follow a smashed person all to see the ocean…at night. 45 minutes after leaving the condo we finally arrived. Like all McMinnemans it’s an awesome bar but our crowd was instantly drawn to the sculpture above fireplace: a mermaid with nipples the size of tatertots. Needless to say there were multiple pictures taken. We eventually made it out of the bar and stumbled our way back to the condo; it took about 25 minutes. I wake up in the morning and look down the driveway, the Sandtrap is 110 meters down the road—not even kidding.

preparing for the journey to the Sandtrap

turns out they're called bladed spoked for a reason.
note to self: next time, tighten skewer while off the bike

Saturday’s race was awesome with a few stupid portions thrown in: long up and downhill sections, an incredibly fast barrier section and lots of stupid hairpin turns. Take out the hairpins and I would have dominated this course. That said, I did pretty damn well. It seems like every time we hit the long hill I drop everyone and hit the top with a 5 second lead. Apart from majorly sucking in the hairpin sections and a few mechanical issues I raced pretty well. Aside from a thrown chain which lost me about 6 spots and having to tighten my front quick release, twice, while riding (see picture) I was able to fight it out until the end and finish 22nd-best place yet! Once the race was done it was on to Saturday night. Saturday lap times: 7:05 (lead lap is shorter), 7:24, 7:32, 15:06 (2 laps), 7:33, 7:32, 7:42, 7:31.

The agenda: Cross Crusade bonfire-10 gallons of Laurelwood beer, P.A.C.E./Hammer party, another 10 gallons of Laurelwood and then wherever the night takes us from there.

What really happened: we showed up at the fairgrounds for the bonfire and I could have been convinced we were in the middle of a monsoon. Rain was pouring down and somehow the bonfire was still going. Someone had turntables set up out of the back of their car and it felt more like a rave than a bonfire in the middle of an ocean storm. Take a look at this video. You can’t really see much but it gives you an idea of the atmosphere. Needless to say, we were pansies and peaced out after we picked up stuff from the team tent. Next up: Rouge Brewery and the P.A.C.E./Hammer party.

Let’s just say this was less than we anticipated. Kind of small and it seemed to be dwindling by the time we got there. We took our beer and peaced.

view from the condo. Hell yes!

From there it was off to the Shipyard; two pirates at Rouge told us there was a KISS cover band playing so we figured it was worth checking out. This falls into the category of “you have to be there” so I’ll drop a few pictures but be assured that everyone had quite the time; particularly J who danced until 1 am.

I’m going to save Sunday’s shenanigans for a separate post.

I rode awesome today

2010-10-24T23:17:00.000-07:00

Cross Crusade #4--PIR.

This race was the event of my first win (in the lowly Cs) last year and the course is always fast with an ample amount of mud mixed in so I was definitely looking forward to this race.

Alright, wake up and yep, it's pouring...again. Yes, yet another day in the mud. Throughout the day I watched the course deteriorate from ridable to chewed-up to "yeah, good luck". The only redeeming factor was that it wasn't the typical mix of grass and sand which leaves you with a bike weighing twice what you started with. Ok, enough description.

over the cement tabletop/barrier
(photo credit: Soso Velo)

Good news: this week, first number called up! Yep, there I am right next to Steven Hunter, Erik Tonkin and two people away from Chris Sheppard. While I have absolutely no chance of being able to complete with these guys (at this point) it's neat to 'race' with them for about 0.2 seconds.

Whistle blows and it's a complete s***-show. People are sprinting all-out, bikes are bobbling underneath them as the tires find different lines than the riders intend and others are consciously dodging pot holes which resulted in about 30 pinch flats throughout the race. I'd like to say that the race eventually settled in but there was always movement in the field so I really worked to pay attention as to exactly who was passing me. One really neat aspect of this course was how wide it was. That said, you'd have a 5 meter-wide course and I found that every time I was near another racer we were constantly throwing elbows trying to get the perfect line through the muck. Well, to tell you the truth, there was no perfect line, only a not-as-bad line. Nonetheless, elbows were thrown and everyone had themselves a good-ole dirty time.

Overall, this was an awesome course and at the end of the day I had an incredible ride. I have no clue where I wound up but I do know one thing: I finished on the lead lap. There's always the "oh s***" thought that runs through your brain when the "dude, Sheppard is 150 meters behind you" comment finally registers. As I crossed the finish line going into the last lap I heard the official say "oh, there he is" and promptly pulled out the checkered flag. HA! I snuck past just in time. I look back and I'm the last person on the course. Hmm, well let's see if we can go catch a few more people. Bam, lapped Serena Bishop, one of the top women in the field yet still can't catch Doug or Joshua up the road. Oh well, a good race either way.

Lap times: 7:18; 7:14; 7:11; 7:12; 7:15; 7:16; 7:21; 7:18; 7:23

lots and lots of mud
(photo credit: PDX Cross)

Ok, I would be doing my teammates and support crew a HUGE dishonor if I didn't mention them. First of all, an enormous thank-you to Stephen. Not only did he drive me over and race in the morning he set up all my gear, listened to me whine about the mud and waited patiently in the pit while I rode in circles and got really muddy. Oh, and then he hung around and packed everything up while I tried to peel my way out of a skinsuit while shivering. Stephen, you're awesome.

Now on to Team O. We started the day with 20 gallons of beer courtesy of our awesome sponsor Laurelwood Brewing. I'm pretty sure almost all of it was gone by the end of the day. On that note, Kevin, you were insane and it was awesome. Every time I came by that section of the course I immediately sped up and carried it through the next few minutes. I have no clue what got in to you (Laurelwood Golden Ale?) but you were awesome. The rest of you: Jim, Rob, Shawn, John, Eli(?), Stephan, Doobie, Clemens, Dennis/lady friend, (am I missing anyone?) you were incredible. Believe me, I heard each and every one of you and it was hugely motivating. I doubt that anyone else out there had the support I did today. All of you: thank you. I know it makes a long day, especially for those of you that race in the morning, but I sincerely appreciate all your support today.

Finally, the lady entourage: CP, CJ, CB. Thanks for coming out. No offense but you guys need to hang out with the aforementioned individuals and learn how to be obnoxious cyclocross fans/hecklers. Regardless, thanks for making the trek down to watch.

how'd I even see through these?

I realize that's a lot of writing allocated to just thanking people but today was probably the best I felt about any race yet and it's in a large part due to everyone that came out and yelled at me.

THANK YOU ALL!

Headed to bed and a long, slow rain-filled spin in the morning. Dang, looks like the rain has finally set in. Sun, see you next June!

UPDATE: preliminary results had me scored at 16th place! I don't completely believe it as there was so much mud and I'm pretty sure some of the people scored around 30th place were ahead of me but with that much mud I guess we'll never really know!

UPDATE 2: final results have me at 22nd. Sounds about right. Still, I know I can be top-20 if not top-15...

powering through the mud

yay mud!

Double CX weekend

2010-10-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

Ninkrossi at Washougal MX Park and Cross Crusade #3 and Sherwood Equestrian Center. Makes for a full weekend.

After last weekend's slog-fest out at Heiser and my subsequent skipping of Cross Crusade #2 I was looking forward to a full weekend of racing and not destroying bikes.

the Ninkassi 'N'
(photo credit: Dave Roth)
http://www.dmroth.com

So, up at 6:30 and off to Washougal to see what this course had in store for us. This being a brand new course we had no real idea what it would hold for us and the conflicting reports of "flat and fast" and "bumpy with two big climbs" didn't really help. We went anyway. Upon arrival we were greeted with this lovely scene at the right. What this picture doesn't show is the two enormous climbs. Well, looks like today is going to be a power day. Overall the race went really well; we had a small field (you can see all the entire Mens' A field in the 'N') but it was a great race and an incredible venue. There were motocross races happening on the racetrack right next door and with all the Ninkassi beer flowing it made for a great day. And you know what's best? A little bit of volunteering after the race paid for my entry fee. Free race, good (workout (aka, getting stomped by Molly Cameron...again), incredible views and an awesome venue made for a great way to spend a Saturday. (one side note: UP teammate Mike stomped the crap out of the B field finishing 45 seconds up on 2nd place, good job Mike!).

yeeeaa, getting aero on the cross bike
(photo credit: Soso Velo)
http://sosovelo.com/

Oh, and the long downhill section made for some pretty cool pictures. And yes, all the roadies did get aero.

Pack up, head home, eat, clean stuff up, pack and get ready to do it all over again on Sunday.

on the run up
(photo credit: Dave Roth)
www.dmroth.com/

And do it we did. Cross Crusade #3 at Sherwood was enormous. Stephen and I agreed that this was one of the most epic team pit areas we'd seen. Team tents were packed side-to-side from the start chute all the way through the second corner and the resulting noise at the start of each race was cacophonous.

When I rolled up to the start line I noticed my number was located at the far end of the chute meaning one of two things: (1) I start in the front with the likes of Trebon, Sheppard, Cameron and all those other super-PRO guys, OR (2) I start at the back and get a free 6-pack our of the deal, either way, I win. I'm last, looks like free beer for me!

The gun goes off and honest-to-God I am tied for last place through the first two corners. Looks like today is going to be another workout day...

Here's a quick recap of how this race went: gun goes off, tied for last, ride down a dusty road--can't see anything, just follow the shadow in front of me, pass 20 people on the next two barrier sections and the hill-from-hell, learn I'm a pansy because I've been using my brakes in the corners, pass teammate Dave, throw a chain, get passed by huge pack, spend next 2 laps picking off that group, throw chain again, suffer up the evil hill and pass more people, get passed by Trebon and Sheppard (seriously, does Trebon ever look tired?), watch a guy go flying off into the trees, get passed by Babcock, busy myself and pass the last few people I can, suffer up the hill one last time and coast in to the finish.

if I've got one thing going for me it's my form;
the guy ahead of me looks like he's about to have a painful landing
(photo credit: Chris DuBois)

Surprisingly I wound up 27th out of 59 (10 of those we DQ or DNFs). Still, I'm pretty happy with starting dead last and taking out half the field on a course where you can only really pass on the hill (or spend 6x energy passing on the bumpy stuff--bad idea). I'm still looking for that top-20 spot but there's plenty of races left and I still have a lot of fitness to gain.
I was kind of bad about split times this week but here's a look at what they are (obviously the 14 minute ones are two laps...): 14:19; 14:02; 7:14, 14:35, 7:09; 7:10. Overall, I'm really happy with how evenly I've been able to hold most of my laps, now it's just time to turn up the overall speed a notch.

post-race
(photo credit: Jose Sandoval)

The Domination of Thursday...well, someone got dominated, it wasn't Thursday

2010-10-15T01:04:00.000-07:00

completely unrelated:
yes, that bike is called the Bush Pilot...
it would be pink

So, I went to bed Wednesday evening with the intention of absolutely dominating Thursday. The following is a report of Thursday.

My deliverables (yeah engineers, how you like that?) for Thursday: Thermo lab formal report, Thermo lab quiz, Biomaterials quiz, Psych midterm.

Here's how it all went down:

-wake up at 7, feel like death, set the alarm for 7:30
-get up, eat breakfast (hashbrowns, pancakes, bacon--fatty but fuel breakfast!), straight to the computer lab.
-half-ass 'study' for Thermo quiz. Look up quiz questions from previous years and call it good.
-destroy 2-question quiz
-sit and watch a cooling tower evaporate water for 45 minutes while a computer records all the necessary values
-watch our Kermit the Frog-like professor walk us through the entire calculation process involved with the lab
-get back Thermo memo (96%!!)
-lunch and proceed to stress out about stupid psych test
-try to study and can't absorb any information
-Systems and Measurements class--act like a complete tool; apologizes have already been issued to involved parties. Probably a result of stress but that's no excuse (I need to work on that whole think-before-speaking thing)
-get a** handed to me by psych test--seriously, it's INTRO to Psychology, I should not be studying 12 hours for this thing and failing it!
-go wallow in self-pity in the bike shop
-say f*** rest week and go ride my bike
-Pier Park, piss off frisbee golfers
-back by the river trail, stumble on a bunch of Army ROTC cult members playing Cowboys and Indians with huge plastic guns; subsequently piss them off too
-enjoy the post ride endorphin wave
-dinner then pretend to study for Biomaterials quiz
-study wrong slides, damn, looks like I'll be failing this one too
-come up with ingenious prank idea (more on that a little later)
-laugh way through Biomaterials quiz (result of prank), probably got a 30% (really, my average is ~60% on those things, I'm a B student, not a D one!)
-yet another Biomaterials lecture gets thrown so far into the stratosphere none of us understand it
-leave our should-stay-in-research professor wondering why the music (see prank below) suddenly turned off
-crank the s*** out of a biology project
-get told I'm a grumpy person by a freshman and subsequently asked if I need to have sex... (yet another reason I dislike people...)

Yeah, that was my day. Ok, now to expand on the prank in Biomaterials. I guess it's not really a prank, more just screwing with our professor, but still. I'm sitting in the classroom about 15 minutes before class starts and another student is in the room listening to music and studying. Somehow my brain connects that we should hide a computer in the ceiling tiles and play music quietly just to see what happens. I run this idea by the several other people in the room just to make sure it's not incredibly stupid and they're all on board. For some reason we thought it out be a great idea to have this last the entire class period (3 hours). Bad idea. We get 20 minutes through the quiz and everyone is distracted. Our professor is convinced the music is coming from a faculty office the floor above and only about half the class knows what's really going on. Then Elmo's Song comes on. No one can concentrate for the next 2:28, then the Mass of the Immaculate Conception sung in Gregorian chants by the Benedictine Monks comes on... At this point our prof has wandered all around the room and tried turning off computer-A/V system with no luck. As soon as the last person turns in their quiz he takes off to find the offending faculty member. Within 5 seconds of him leaving the room I'm on top of the front table pulling my laptop out of the ceiling. I'm all for messing with professors every once in a while but I can't take another 2.5 hours of Sesame Street, Katy Perry, B.o.B. and O.A.R. Overall, everyone seemed to enjoy the light bit of humor and by the time our prof figured out there wasn't any music he seemed to admit defeat when he came back in and there was no music. All in all, a successful "prank" and the most surprising bit: everyone kept their mouths shut!

Ok, now a few random pictures that wind up on my camera every once in a while:

a nice little surprise on the way over to Tabor the other day

an experiment with vodka and Skittles a few weeks ago
didn't yield the greatest results, still needs tweaking

dumbo I got to house-sit. When he's not waking you
up at 7am he's actually pretty fun

weekend race report.

2010-10-14T23:46:00.000-07:00

this is only 1/4 mile into the race...
you couldn't see my skin at the end
(photo credit: Matt Haughey)

I'm going to make this short because not a whole lot happened.

Raced Heiser Farms CX. Molly Cameron showed up with her entourage. First race with a B bike and switched to it after 3/4 lap and rode it the rest of the race. Ok, with the exception of power sliding the majority of the course, almost falling down a dropoff and oh yeah, when I finally broke the derailleur and hanger AGAIN. I was in 4th until that s*** happened. Ended up running/walking/slogging the last 3/4 mile surprisingly only losing 2 places. Oh, and I finished in the money at 6th! Hey, pays for gas money!

After coming home sore bloody and with a broken bike I wasn't too psyched about racing Sunday. That was further reinforced when I woke up Sunday morning and saw the sky tear in half and an ocean pour down on us. I wasn't feeling like slogging through another mud pit and potentially breaking even more stuff so I stayed home and did homework for 13 hours...

One note: a special thanks to Jim for driving, cheering, holding bikes and being "that spectator" with his new airhorn. Thanks Jim!

Full weekend

2010-10-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm going to make this quick.
Next week is midterms and I have a huge (stupid) Biomaterials assignment due Modnay night. So what am I dong this weekend? Homework? Nope! Heiser Farms CX race Saturday then Cross Crusade #2 at Rainier on Sunday! Somewhere in there I'm going to attempt cram just a little bit of homework in but we all know that's not really going to happen. But you know the glorious thing about next week? REST WEEK!!! Ok, I love riding/racing my bikes but there's something about 6 days of incredibly easy riding and just taking it easy that I just can't pass up every once in a while. Race reports from this weekend probably won't be up until mid-next week but until then enjoy this video from the Krosstoberfest race in San Dimas CA this past weekend:

SocalCross KROSSTOBERFEST 2010 Day 1 from mark colton on Vimeo.

first "real" A race

2010-10-05T00:54:00.000-07:00

1500 racers. Alpenrose Dairy. Cross Crusade #1. Holy crap.

(photo credit: PDX Cross)

I have to admit, I was kind of anxious heading into this race. I know, I raced A last week but something felt different this time around. Maybe it was the fact that I DNF'd at Barlow last year and this year due to equipment failure and that I double flatted last year at this race. Maybe it was the 2 shots of caffeine having their own little cyclocross race through my bloodstream. Or maybe it was the fact that I was about to get called up to the front of the A field. Yeah, that was it.

So there I stand, Shannon Skerritt, Chris Sheppard, Damian Schmitt, Erik Tonkin, Brett Luelling, Ben Thomson and Eric Sheagley...and me, all right there. These are the guys that get paid to go race the NACT races throughout the country and here I stand: one year from the date of my second cyclocross race ever. Intimidated: check. Anxious: check. Heart about to explode from caffeine: double check. And the race goes off.

(photo credit: Dave Roth)
http://www.dmroth.com/

I always considered myself a fairly good starter but holy crap, these guys are on another level. Yep, that's me on the right. I probably should have lined up closer to the inside of the corner but hey, it's experience, right? From here on out it's ball-to-the-wall racing. If you're not in a technical section you're out of the saddle sprinting. This is the type of racing I've been looking for. In every other race I feel like I've just hung out, put on the pain face and pretended to race. Now this is actually racing.

Nat, I'm coming for you!
(photo credit: Dean Bailey)

To be honest, I don't remember a bunch of specifics about the race. I rode hard. I threw my chain 2 laps in on the stupid-bumpy downhill section and lost about 10-12 spots. I spent the rest of the race trying to claw those spots back. I gained a few, lost a few, lost a few more, passed some women and then this happened:

Making the transition from the warmup track to the velodrome I hit something funny, I wind up on the ground, left shifter is bent inwards and brakes are too tight. I think I was on the group but don't remember going down... Either way, I'm right back up and bending the shifter back into place. When I give the wheel a test spin it doesn't complete the revolution. Then I see that more than 25% of my tire is no longer secured to the rim. At this point I have a decision to make: do I say screw it and race my bike or go into cross country mode and run half a mile to the pit and lose 50 places? F*** it, this is a bike race, I'm going to race it. In the end I survived. I took it easy on some of the corners but if the tire was going to come off it would have done it already. That said, I feel incredibly lucky I didn't wind up on my a** at some point because I rolled that thing off.

awesome downhill section
(photo credit: Christian Reed)

With a lap to go I'm sitting right behind Brendan. He kicked the crap out of me last year at Sherwood and I told myself I'd get him at some point. This was my time. Stephen yells at me and I take off. I feel like I'm on fire the last lap. Legs are just starting to get that tingly feeling but I can hold it off for just a bit longer. Dominate the last barrier section, make up another place on the double run-up. Don't lose anything through the rough downhill stuff. Getting close, one more place. Onto the warmup track, back onto the velodrome (careful not to roll the tubular) and into the sprint. There's a guy 40ft up the road...didn't get him. Dang.

(photo credit: Christian Reed)

I'd be interested to see data from that last 100 meters. The finish line was 30(?) yards away and the guy was probably 40 ft in front of me. When we crossed the line my front wheel was even with his rear. I never really had a chance but the crowd loved it and it was a great way to finish the race.

Overall, I had an awesome race. Aside from a few small mechanical issues I can't really complain. I dominated the s*** out of the barrier sections and held really consistent splits, didn't suck too badly on the technical sections and met my race goals: 1) don't get passed by Sue Butler, 2) finish on the leader's lap 3) ride hard.

(photo credit: Dean Bailey)

Here's a look at my lap data. Both the slow times (lap 2 and 7) are due to mechanical issues:

7:21, 14:52 (missed the button one lap), 7:30, 7:24, 7:18, 7:43, 7:30, 7:29, 3:34 (last half-lap into the velodrome). That said, eventual race winner Chris Sheppard was hitting 6:30 laps so I've got a ways to go.

Lastly, teammate Stephan made it into Velonews!! Maybe not quite how he wanted but hey, we take what we can get!

I almost forgot. I want to send out a HUGE thank you to everyone how came out and cheered for me. All of Team Oregon (Stephan, Jim, Doobie, Shawn, Emiliano, Eli, Alex, whoever else I'm forgetting), Stephen, Aaron, Cearra, Caitlin, Joseph and everyone else I'm forgetting. It seemed like wherever I was on the course someone was yelling for me. It was awesome! Thank you all so much!

first A race

2010-09-27T22:10:00.000-07:00

Battle at Barlow.

A little history from last year: I raced C and broke a chain halfway through Lap 2. I went into this race with two goals: 1) don't get completely thrashed; 2) finish the race (no mechanicals)

I didn't really meet either of those goals. Busted my derailleur hanger 52 minutes in--I was leading Chris Sheppard, eventual race winner, by 100 meters. And by leading by 100 meters I mean 1.5 miles behind... The course was sloppy, I couldn't get traction, I didn't run through my routine beforehand, but no excuses, I didn't ride the race I should have. Below are a few pictures from the race (click 'more').

the only part of the course I dominated
--the pavement to grass barriers transition
(photo credit: Dave Roth)

lap 1? Before things got too muddy
(photo credit: Aaron Carlson)

Team O teammate Dave actually staying upright
(photo credit: Aaron Carlson)

notice all the mud on the tires
(photo credit: Aaron Carlson)

ok, I'm tired of this mud. Are we done yet?
(photo credit: Aaron Carlson)

bike now weighs 32 lbs...
(photo credit: Aaron Carlson)

Dave hanging on
(photo credit: Aaron Carlson)

this shows a lot
(photo credit: Aaron Carlson)

running the bike yet again
(photo credit: Oregon Cycling Action--Pat Malach)

and a very good summary of my race
(photo credit: Aaron Carlson)

I am now going to spend the next several days replacing the following because of this race: derailleur, derailleur hanger, bottom bracket, pulley bearings and pedal bearings. I like cross and all but I really dislike replacing bearings. Ceramic time?

called out

2010-09-23T23:51:00.000-07:00

so I just got called out on OBRA Chat. Keep in mind, I already got an email from Candi so I was planning on upgrading anyway. Regardless:

To: OBRA List
From: Jeff L
Subject: Early Season 'Cross Points Series
Message:

I learned several things while compiling this data:
1. Always show appreciation to the judges, particularly the ones who have been around long enough to have a lot of experience with manual data entry.
2. There is a three-way tie for first in the Women's Cat B series.
3. Alex Wentz (Cat B) and Geoff Rice (Master Cat B) need to upgrade.

When you find errors in this, and I'm sure you will, please let me know politely. This information is not linked to any OBRA database. I manually entered every name and result for each race, for all 16 categories.

Some of these competitions are still very close. Should make for some great racing at Barlow! Remember, the top three from each category will receive a call-up at the Alpenrose Crusade!

And special thanks to everyone who made it to the Hood River Double Cross. We had 780 racers over the weekend, an increase of about 150 over last year!

Jeff L

--End Message--

I knew I was due for the upgrade and I have no problem getting thrashed in the As but i wasn't expecting such a public callout. In my defense, I've only raced 6 B races!

Rapha Gentleman's Race: revisited

2010-09-22T22:37:00.000-07:00

So enough time has finally passed that I have forgotten the hell we all went through on August 14th. That said, the video and picture below bring all of it back. Maybe it's time to put this memory on the shelf for a while. In the mean time, enjoy the video below.

2010 NW Gentlemen's Race from RAPHA on Vimeo.

For photos please see the race website and look at the 'feature menu' on the left.

Yes, I had an amazing time on that hot, hellish day but I'm very glad it's over and not coming around for another 11 months.

"the email"

2010-09-22T17:04:00.000-07:00

Crap, it finally arrived.

To: alex -----
From: Candi ------
Subject: Ccx Category
Message:
Alex

You are going to have to cat up. The guidelines are 3 top 3 or 5 top 5s

Candi

--End message--

Well crap, the call has finally arrived and it's way too early. My goal for this season was "Cat A by the end of the season" NOT 3 weeks into the season!

oh well, looks like it's time to go play with the big boys. And by that I mean try and finish on the same lap as this dude. I'll let you know how my a**-kicking goes at Alpenrose

photo credit: Oregon Cycling Action

Ya win some, ya lose some.

2010-09-22T00:43:00.000-07:00

Hood River Double Cross: two days of racing, two chances to win.

terrible picture of me but you get the point
(Photo credit: Katie Doyle)

I rode with Stephen, one of my UP teammates, out to the races this past weekend, meaning getting up way to early to race on a course while the officials are still putting up all the barriers. While the idea of hanging out for 6 hours before my race didn't sound like a bunch of fun at the time I found a way to make it fun: be the most obnoxious spectator out there. No one comes out for the morning races so I had some making up to do. Let's just say I laid down some Cross Crusade-quality heckling. Making fun of skinny guys, people on $6k carbon setups in the beginner race and cheering my a** off for every person on a mountain bike getting thrashed by the field. Hell, I had a ton of fun and I still hadn't even raced yet. Alright, I'll get on with it.

Day 1: Hood River Valley High School--incredibly technical course with only three, maybe four, good passing sections and a BUNCH of singletrack. When I pre-rode the course I knew this course potentially spelled disaster for me. In cross I am TERRIBLE at handling. Put me on barriers, run-ups, mud pits or any ridable section of course and I will lay down attacks until I either blow up or there's no one left in front of me. On the other hand, put me on a technical piece of course and I use the brakes like a trigger-happy Halo-playing teenager.

on the switchback run-up
(photo credit: Stephen Street)

The race didn't really start out in my favor for two reasons: single speeds started ahead of us, meaning a lot more people clogging the course and I didn't start in the front, meaning I had to pass even more geared bikes. Whistle goes off and the immediately go single file through the first singletrack. Make up some time in the straightaway but head into the next section of technical singletrack in a group of 3. This is where I fulfilled my quota of crashing for the race. Rear wheel slips (or was it bumped?) on some mud. I go down halfway and try to avoid landing on the foot-wide lane. In doing this a high schooler ends up pinned to a tree. Oops, say a quick "sorry!" and jump back on the bike. The rest of the race was pretty uneventful, it was essentially this pattern over and over again: go, go, go on the open sections, get caught behind people (singlespeeds) on the singletrack, rest up and let heart rate drop way down, go, go, go on another open section. That said, this race required a lot more strategy than a "usual" race. My winning move was made by depositing the race leader behind three singlespeeds right before more singletrack. By the time he had a chance to pass them I was long gone. Cruised across the line 28 seconds ahead of #2. Overall, good race.
And for you data nerds, here were my splits: 7:42, 6:56, 6:53, 6:50, 6:58, 6:57. After I was able to actually ride can't say I did too poorly.

Day 2: Hood River Fairgrounds (or something like that). This was the epitomy of a strong-mans' course--pancake flat, bumpy grass, a 30 meter mud pit with about 6 different kinds of mud in it and some ridiculously long straightaways. In case you didn't pick up on it yet, this is the "losing some" part of the story.

Geared bikes out first, no singlespeeds in the way and the course all to myself. On the start line I hear mentions of "watch out for that Team O guy" and "yeah, him, stick on his wheel." While this is nothing new it always makes me nervous.

Honestly, I don't remember much of this race. Soon after we took off it started dumping rain, then it was glaring sun, then overcast. I wound up 4th off the start and immediately picked off two people. Bad news. Half a lap later I pick off the last guy. Uh oh, off the front and 5 laps to go, not a good idea. I drop back and let Nat take over the lead. He holds it for a while but eventually drops off. Then come the d*** singlespeeds. A quick aside: John Rollert is an absolute animal. For being a weightlifter (and looking like one) he's one hell of a bike racer. Anyway, three singlespeeds blow by and drop of Brent. Singlespeeds take off and it's just Brent and me fighting it out. I attack, attack and attack again, I can't shake this guy. 'Well, looks like it's his time to work' and I sit on his wheel for the next 5 laps. He can't shake me but either isn't smart enough or isn't willing to let me take over the pace setting duties (which I'm just fine with). Blah, blah, blah: we complete 4 more laps, neither of us can drop the other and we're both trying our hardest not to crash.

Enter the last 200 meters of the race. As a preface, the mud pit is about 30 meters long, immediately followed by a flat zig-zag on grass in to the finish. Very close but enough space for me to make a move.

As we enter the mud pit there's two singlespeeds immediately in front of us. Instead of dismounting like normal and running from the gate Brent starts riding in.
S***, I'm already off my bike.
Well, let's hope I can make up the time.
Good, he's off his bike, I'm right behind him.
(I feel a tug on my bike)--What the f***!--(I look back to see the singlespeed's handlebar through my rear wheel)
Come on, that's my win!--he gets it untangled and I make up the ground
Ok, I got this--we exit the pit and hop on our bikes. He's 1 meter in front of me, I have this.
There's my gap!
On your right, on your right!!

you sir, are going down at our next meeting
(photo credit: Jose Sandoval)

(things start happening in slow motion): Brent moves right. I look down to see Brent's butt pushing on the left of my handlebars. The stake holding the course tape comes on the inside of my handlebars, grabbing them and throwing them to the right. "REALLY!?!?" I go down. Brent rides in for the win.

To his credit, he did come over and apologize after the race. He said he couldn't get his pedal clipped in and slipped to the right. Sure, I believe him. It sucks that is came down the way it did and I doubt he'd purposely crash someone but he worked his butt off for that win while I sat in and let him drag me along.

That said, I'm still a firm believer in the belief that if the race comes down to a small thing like that, you don't deserve to win anyway.
Split times for Sunday: 6:04, 6:33, 6:41, 6:39, 6:36, 6:34, 6:40. I guess there's not a whole lot else either one of us could have done.

On a final note, I won the series. While I didn't feel like a winner on Sunday, or Monday, or today for that matter, the results don't lie. 1st on Saturday and 2nd (boo!) Sunday nets a win.

winnings from the weekend. I liked
last weekend's prize better. Just saying...