and the season is upon us: David Douglas #1

And just like that the season is here.  Instead of taking my typical "race from February through December" approach I decided to try something a little different this year.  If you've been "following" (what little there's been) I stopped racing mid-May and never really started back up.  Until cyclocross!

the start
photo credit:  Matt Haughey

Yesterday's race at David Douglas was your typical season opener:  smaller but lots of enthusiasm.  Except for the fact that Ryan Trebon and Carl Decker showed up.  Here's a sample of a conversation between a friend and myself on the starting line:
Nat:  "so how do you think this race is going to play out?"
me:  "well, he's [pointing to Trebon] going to ride really fast, he [pointing to Decker] is going to ride almost as fast, and he [pointing to Shannon Skerritt] will be right there.  The rest of us are just going to finish"

2012 Season Schedule

With my first race of the 2012 cx season only a few short hours away from starting I figured it's about time I posted where I'll be racing this year

September
1-  David Douglas CX #1-Vancouver, WA (GPTB)
9-  Het Meer CX-Vancouver, WA (GPTB)
15-  Double Cross-Cascade Locks, OR (GPTB)
16-  Double Cross-Cascade Locks, OR
22-  (undecided), most likely Zaandercross at Frenchman's Bar (Vancouver, WA) (GPTB)
23-  (TENTATIVE) Future Cross
29-  Fazio Farms-Portland, OR
30-  Battle at Barlow-Gresham, OR

October
6-  Heiser Farms CX-Salem-ish, OR (GPTB)
7-  Cross Crusade-Alpenrose Dairy, Portland, OR (Cross Crusade)
13-  Ninkrossi-Washougal, WA (GPTB)
14-  Cross Crusade-Rainier, WA (Cross Crusade)
20-  Canby Cross Race-Canby, OR
21-  Cross Crusade-PIR, Portland, OR (Cross Crusade)
27-  (TBD)  either Bend, Eugene or Vancouver
28-  HALLOWEEN CX-Cross Crusade-Bend, OR (Cross Crusade)

November
3-  Canby Cross-Word CX Challenge-Canby, OR
4- (TENTATIVE) Canby Cross-Word CX Challenge-Canby, OR
10-  TBD
11-  Cross Crusade-Hillsboro, OR (Cross Crusade)
18-  FAVORITE RACE EVER-Cross Crusade, PIR Pro Paddock, Portland, OR (Cross Crusade)
25-  Psycho Cross-Eugene, OR (Psycho Cross)

December
1-  STATE CHAMPS-Psycho Cross, Eugene, OR (Psycho Cross)
2-  Winter Cross-Washougal, WA (GPTB)

(lots of running)

January
12- GET MARRIED!!

I was torn about travelling this year and racing as big of a schedule as I did last year but there were a few key deciding factors.  First, Cross Vegas became invite only and with no UCI points a start spot in that race would have been next to impossible.  Furthermore, Seattle's StarCrossed would not be a UCI event this year.  Without those two big races early on I had a hard time justifying a UCI license just for a weekend in Colorado and another in Bend for the USGP series (which may not even happen this year).

In short, I'm staying local this year.  I have a couple goals in the back of my mind but I'm going to focus on building and just having fun this year.  Boulder, CO is hosting the 2014 National Championships so next year will definitely be big.  I'm definitely looking forward to this season and hope to see all of you out there at some point.  If we haven't met before please stop by the Team Oregon tent and introduce yourself.

Ok, time to go ride out to a race.  Look for a report tonight.  Let's see just how badly I get spanked by Ryan Trebon this year.

...and I'm back

I'm not even going to attempt to make excuses about my total absence over the past few months.  Let's just say I stopped consistently training in March, rode my fitness through April and promptly lost it all in the middle of May.

This upcoming season has a huge question mark written all over it.  I really wanted to go to Cross Vegas this year, both for the experience and to race on the national level again but just a few weeks ago the organizer dealt us all a surprise:  this year's event would be invite-only.  With no UCI points to draw from I have a better chance of beating Ryan Trebon in a slam dunk contest than I do of gaining a spot on that star-studded start line.  Oh well, maybe one day.  

After that "snub" I'd planned on just keeping it simple, staying close to home and having fun.  The last few weeks of training have changed that.  This year I feel fast.  On almost no training.  Maybe there's something to this whole 'don't overtrain' thing.



There have been a few hiccups over the past few months but I'm happy to say I'll be out there for a full cx season.  My schedule isn't completely set in stone yet but I'm aiming for at least two USGP weekends but with no Cross Vegas or Starcrossed (not UCI this year) it's going to be tough to pick up any UCI points.  Anyone want to fly me to Japan or New Zealand?

OBRA RR Champs Rehearsal Race: End of the line

This one is going to be short because...well, you'll see why.

With the actual 6-lap, 95 mile state champs race being held in June this race gives everyone a good chance to see the course, and exactly what they've gotten themselves into for the real race.  State champs are always tough and this course was to be no different; a 16 mile loop filled with crosswinds, lots of ups and downs and very few flat sections.

We showed up with 11 guys in what looked like a 70+ rider field.  We had one goal:  win.   While it's never as simple as a number's game we had the cards to play and we knew we should be able to do something.

Eugene Roubaix: Finally, a race goes "according to plan"

For as many pre-race plans as we make, they rarely, if ever, work out.  Today was a little different.

I always really like this course but never seem to do really well down here.  I had a 7th place finish in the 4s two years ago and a 9th in the 3s last year but my main goal was to avoid last year's fisaco where I jettisoned both bottles on the first time through the gravel, resulting in a hot 50 miles without water.

The solution to retaining your bottles:  rubber bands

This year the fiasco was different but at least we planned for it.  With a smaller squad (just Scott, Robin, David and myself) the plan was simple; David and/or I was to get in the early break and take the pressure off the other guys.  Robin's job was simple:  sit around, look like a badass and in the event of a sprint finish, lead out Scott.  Scott was free to make the field hurt as he saw fit.

King's Valley RR: Best Road Result in Two Years!!

Saturday I did something I haven't done in almost two years:  I podium'd at a road race.  The last time I did this was in June 2010 as a Cat 4.

close but couldn't close it
photo courtesy of Leonard Johnson

To be honest, I'm still a little shocked but more than anything I'm disappointed with how it all played out.

Review: Gore Oxygen Jacket

Life is full of no-joy purchases; underwear, training tires and rain jackets.  These are all things we need but it's never fun when we have to replace them.  If you're anything like me, replacing any of these things is simply a matter of walking past the appropriate aisle and throwing it in the cart.  No discussion, no second thoughts, I know what I want and that's what I'm getting.

When my rain jacket crapped out this past winter I decided to change it up.  I'd been riding in a Cutter Cyclical jacket (eVent fabric) which I'd picked up at 90% off.  With that, the bar for performance and value had been set pretty high.

I picked up a 25th Anniversary Oxygen jacket by Gore Bike Wear on closeout for 40% off.  I was just looking for a jacket, nothing special, just something that would work.  To say I've been blown away by this jacket would be an understatement.  I wanted to write about this jacket earlier but wanted to hold off until the right moment.  Following Portland's wettest March in recorded history seemed like an appropriate time to write about a rain jacket.