Winding Down

The running challenge is winding down and for me, it's probably just as well. I started out strong with a minor hiccup on day 15. And then......the holidays. I got my run in the day I was supposed to fly out, but didn't end up flying out. Then I got my run in on the 24th and that's the last time I've run. Instead, I made an executive decision to visit a friend in Aspen and ski. I spent two days on my teles and one day on my new alpine skis. With the temps in Aspen in single digits (and sometimes the single digit was below zero), I opted for hanging with my friend. Besides, I was still getting a pretty good workout all of the days.

After two days on my teles (one at Keystone and one at Aspen Mtn/Ajax), my legs needed a rest and Pdoo (Ryan Pardue) and I decided to head to Aspen Highlands. One of the draws at the Highlands is the bowls, and in particular, Highlands Bowl. However, to ski Highlands Bowl you have to hike about 45 minutes (in your ski gear with your skis on your back). If you blow up the picture below you can kind of see people hiking all the way up to the very top behind the sign.

A couple spots were kind of sketchy and my fear of heights didn't help, but all in all, it wasn't that bad. The views at the top were definitely worth it.

The Maroon Bells are right behind me with Pyramid Peak over my right shoulder. Once we got to the top we enjoyed the views, talked to some people and then, of course, skied down. The snow was pretty good as it was some of the best I've skied so far in this short season. I'm also pretty sure that the hike up was a good substitute for the run I missed that day.

The only downside of the trip, and the reason I haven't been hitting the pavement since, is that I picked up a nasty cold along the way. I spent two days on the couch waiting for my head to fall off. Today I'm finally starting to feel better, but still pretty run down. I don't know if it's because of the cold draining my energy or from not having worked out in a few days, but I can feel the laziness in my legs. If I wake up feeling good tomorrow I'll try and hit the gym to get in the last few days. Nonetheless, it got me more miles than I would have done and will help set me up for some real training starting in January.

One More Down

Fairly easy day at work which was nice. Still getting up to speed there and leaving some things out that should go in to reviews, but that will come. Had lunch with friends so no run over lunch. Got home at 5:30 and didn't want to go out for the run. Not really tired but not really motivated either. Mainly just hungry. Debated for 5 minutes and just went and grabbed my gear so I could head out. 25 minutes isn't too bad anyway so there's no excuses. Got in 3.14 miles at an 8:10/mile pace - nice and easy the whole time. The only downside to this challenge is that I haven't logged all my runs. I've gotten all but one in but haven't always had time to log them so I don't know my current cumulative total. I've got 50 logged, but am guessing it's somewhere closer to 65 or 70. Anyway, now it's time to eat!

Running Around

That's what it's felt like since I've been back from Dallas. Lots of running and running around. First, with the run "challenge" I broke my streak. On Tuesday I went out for happy hour with Brant and some others. One drink led to another.....then another......then another. And when I got home around 10 I wasn't quite up for a quick jog. I've still been going strong though and getting things in, and probably moreso than I would have without the challenge which is really the point anyway. Today's run was particularly good. Not sure how it would go down after being on tired legs. I went up to A-Basin for some skiing on my teles yesterday with Brant, Mindy, and Matty. It was pretty cold in the morning but a blue sky day otherwise and the snow loosened up nicely. Then they opened up some more terrain after lunch and we had about a foot of fresh snow to play in. My legs were getting pretty trashed at that point so we did about 3 or 4 runs and called it. Still plenty of ski days left for the year.

Got my run in yesterday when I got home and it was easy enough that it was a non-issue, but I have noticed my calves are starting to get tight lately. So today I ran some errands and then went out for the daily run. Forty-five minutes later I felt pretty damn good, surprisingly. It's always nice when I can run outside in December in shorts so maybe that's what helped me. Still, when I went out I felt like I was plodding along but every time I looked at my pace I was moving faster than expected. All said and done, I went at a 7:41 pace. Pretty solid.

I'm Back

Back from Dallas, that is. Went there for a week for work training. In general, I've decided it's the mumble capital of the world. Hotel staff, people at restaurants, you name it.....mumbles. Still managed to get all my runs in, including one night that was after we went out for Mexican immediately after work. That run wasn't fun, but fortunately it was short. Made it back and was glad to see my own bed. And the dogs. As usual, they were sleeping in the car within 3 minutes of having picked them up. Christmas party was last night. Good times but didn't get to bed unitl 4 and woke up at 7:30. Ouch. It'll be a long day of napping but sneaking in my run at some point. And then starting to eat better to make up for last week!

Weekend Update

It's not an original title. In fact, it probably won't be the last time I use it or steal it from Saturday Night Live. The running challenge started on 12/1 and I've stayed with it. My pace is a little slower than I was expecting but that's not too surprising and I'm sure it will start to come down fairly quickly. I don't have goals for where I want it to be since outside of being consistent at this time of year, there's not a lot more I can do. Right now I have about 19 miles in for the month. Most of that has been outside but I do have a couple treadmill runs in there too, like the one today. It snowed last night and the sidewalks were all covered so I hit up the gym and followed up the run with some core work, lunges and a couple other things.

This week will be a little more challenging to get all of my runs in since I'm heading to Dallas for work. I'm pretty sure there's a fitness facility with a treadmill at the hotel, but I haven't checked to be certain. And since I'm already at my suitcase's limit, any additional running gear isn't coming with.

Since I'm flying to Dallas early (7:25 a.m. flight) I had to get up this morning and get the dogs to the daycare/kennel where they're spending the week. All it takes is for me to grab their beds and they immediately get excited and start running around the house like wild idiots. Actually, Whiskey catches on first and I think Tacoma just copies his excitement but the end product is the same. Two super excited dogs. So we loaded up and headed out. I had them dropped off and got back home to an empty and quiet house. On one hand it's nice that I can pick up, pack, etc. without tripping over them every five seconds, but I'm definitely not used to it. Suuuuuuuppper quiet.

In cyclocross news, my season is now officially finished. I had registered for the State Championships on Saturday, but when I woke up I was feeling pretty run down, had a headache and some congestion in my chest. I tried talking myself into going but ultimately decided against it since I didn't want to stress out my body by racing in the cold and ending up being sick while I'm away for work. I'm a little bummed about missing it, especially since I heard it was a pretty cool course and a good time, but I think it was the right move. Beyond that I was starting to feel a little crispy week in and week out. My cycling fitness is at the point where going hard like that for 45 minutes at a time is just an exercise in futility. I'm not bouncing back from it quickly and it's all just a good sign to return to some general base work for the off season. It was a fun season though, and I know that in a month or so I'll already be looking forward to the next one.

Day One

Day one. Of December? Yes. Of a new job? Also yes. And it turns out it's also day one of the running challenge. While today was technically the first day of my new job, I still spent most of it transitioning from my previous one and tying up loose ends. Not a big deal and that's what most of this week will be before heading to Dallas next week for an on-boarding process. After that the learning curve will continue to be steep but I'll have a much better idea of how things work.

Day one of the running challenge wasn't very eventful but I did get out to run. Turns out there's a cold front moving in and I was a little underdressed but it was a quick run of 3.14 miles in 26:30. I took it particularly slow to be sure I stayed in zone 2 (aerobic) the whole time rather than training in the gray area when I don't have the fitnees or need to do so right now. Looks like another 20 minutes is on tap for tomorrow. It also looks like we could get some snow tonight. I'll still get it done outside though.

Sore/Pool

I woke up a little sore today from my crash yesterday. My right shoulder, ribs and hip were all feeling it a bit. Nothing too visible; just a little minor bruising and tightness. Headed to the pool to loosen up a little bit and realized just how long it's been since I've been there. That hurt. More mentally than physically. It was only 1000 yds but there's a lot of work to be done there. No strength in the water at all.

2 For 1

Race Summaries. Two races since my last post, neither of them easy. Truth be told, they couldn't have been more different from each other.

Last Sunday was the second Green Mountain Cross race which greeted us with mud. Sticky, slow, snotty, peanut butter. One lap into the warm-up and my drivetrain was caked. Two laps into the race and my entire body was caked.

Usually we get about 6 laps in but on this day we got 4; it was that slow. Every pedal stroke was an effort in itself. By the end of the race it felt like I was pedaling a singlespeed that was stuck in the big ring. It ended up not being too far from that since when I finished Ionly had two gears that worked. Mud and weeds had clogged the rest of them and if you try and force through it, there's a better than good chance that you'll knock off the rear derailleur.

I was shot out the back early on in the race, but I was fine with that this time. I knew I didn't have the leg strength to keep up with a lot of the other people out there and with these conditions, you really had to focus on your own race. In most cases you're out there to race. On this day I was 100% satisfied that I simply finished. Once across the line, it was dropping my bike and sitting down......just like everyone else did. There's usually a post-race, informal 'hey, great job out there on this part,' etc. but this time everybody was quiet in their own misery right up until we all realized we were cold, wet and covered in mud. Overall there were 42 that started, 38 that finished, and I was 29th.

No pictures from today's race, which was AlphaCross 2. I'm not sure what prompted the change of venue, but instead of the anticipated 50-minute drive, I instead only had about 15 minutes. It also made it easier for Nate, Todd, and Rick to come out and watch the race. I had no idea what to expect but when I saw an all grass course I knew it would be trouble. Riding on grass feels like velcro against your wheels. All effort and no speed to show for it. Throw in a bunch of off camber turns, some short but steep hills and a couple sand pits and we had a course. I almost missed the start because I was talking to a friend and when I got up there they were calling 30 seconds before we go. Just in time! First lap was uneventful - just fighting for position as usual and seeing who will be in your pack. It changes every week based on course and conditions. I knew a couple of people and one of the guys has been beating me all season. Once I saw he was faltering I thought today would be my day. After stopping for a dropped chain, I was able to work my way back up to him. I'm sure I burned a couple matches in the process. Once on, I settled in to see how he was riding and given the pace I figured I'd be able to make a move without him staying with. Not necessarily the case. I made my move but before I was able to see what he had in the tank, we both came around a 180* turn with me in the lead and my front wheel washed out. I hit the deck sliding, and then so did he. Another lap with him trailing and on the bell lap he came around me on a straight away. Perfect since I was always faster than him on a stretch before the finish anyway. One thing I forgot to mention was that it was windy out. The tape marking the course was blowing into the course in between each of the stakes. I knew the other rider was stronger through one of the S-turn sections so in order to get my turn right, I started wider. When I did, the tape blew up under my handlebars and somehow wrapped around them. Since it was right by the stake, it jerked my bike and I went straight over the handlebars. I landed on my right hip, got up, slowly walked the bike to top of the hill and got passed by a few people. Fixed my chain and soft-pedaled to see how things were. No problem so with only half a lap to go I sucked it up to see what I could salvage. I got two places back but lost two in the process. Out of 25 riders that started, 21 finished. I was 18th.

Even though I wasn't able to acknowledge anybody that came out to watch, it was cool to have them out there. When you're that cooked, it literally takes too much effort to even wave when you're going by. Any break in the focus is energy wasted to get it back and the way these races go, there's no energy to spare. The last two races I've come home and taken naps!

One more race weekend to go and then it'll be time to hang up the 'cross bike for the season. In the meantime Rick, Chad, Cory (Rick's brother) and I have the run challenge coming up starting on 12/1. And I also have the mountains calling for ski season to get underway!

Cross Clinic

On Monday afternoon I headed up to Boulder for a cyclocross clinic put on by Boulder Cyclesport with Brandon Dwight and Joachim Parbo. Brandon's a co-owner of BCS and is a 2x U.S. National Cyclocross Champion for Masters 35-39 (2007 & 2008) and Joachim is a 3x Danish National Cyclocross Champion (2006, 2007, 2009) so needless to say, we were under good instruction. The clinic was supposed to go over some technique while riding through sand, as well as dismounts and re-mounts for about an hour and a half on the bike, followed by 2 hours of discussion over some food (and beer). Since it snowed over the weekend, there wasn't much exposed sand but the snow was a good substitute since the mechanics we were going over were basically how to center your weight and just trust the bike. Kind of tough to do at times, especially when you're riding off camber on a descent while having to turn and go back uphill. And oh yeah, they're telling you to pedal harder into the corner.



Without going into everything that we did, it turns out they knew what they were talking about. Once I started drilling it into some of the corners, I had a lot better control even though I almost bailed a couple times. That was probably the biggest take away for me - just going for it. But if that was the biggest, coming in a close second was when we were talking about managing the race. Since the race within the race always comes down to a matter of seconds, being able to pay attention to your competitors, to the course, and to how when/where you apply the effort saves energy, keeps the heart rate down a little bit more when needed, and leaves you in a better position for when it counts at the end of the race. If any of that makes the clinic sound easy, it wasn't. It wasn't super hard, but doing a bunch of repeats of sprints on the bike up a snowy hill, mashing through it after you've lost your momentum, etc. and getting some quick recovery turned out to be more of a workout than I was expecting. It didn't help that I did a quick 30 minute run earlier followed by 30 minutes of core work. At the same time, it was a good reminder (which they pointed out afterwards as well) that once winter is here full on, and I'm tired of hitting up sessions on the trainer, hop on the 'cross bike, pedal over to the park and figure out a loop to do. Good intervals and some added bike handling skills to go with it.



Once it got too dark and cold to see and feel, we headed back over to BCS to change and then went to 4580 Restaurant to grab some food and get to the discussion part of the clinic. I think we talked about everything from tire pressure, wheel choice, start and race strategy, training, nutrition, etc. One of Joachim's best points was about just enjoying it. Whether it's nutrition or training or racing, trying to program everything down to perfection will eventually end up ruining the experience. Instead, loosen up a little bit and have fun. Pick training routes that have good scenery, eat things that are good/good for you but don't be afraid to have a beer too, and remember that the world won't end if you miss a workout to go do something else you enjoy. Train hard, have fun, and go race. Then do it all again the next week. Sounds pretty easy.

Getting An Itch

No cyclocross racing for me today. I did everything right to make sure I'd be there but with about 8" of snow at my house, and really slippery roads, I wasn't up for making the 45+ minute drive up to Longmont. Too bad since I did well at this venue last time, and I also like racing in the slop which it was sure to be today. Should be some good stories to come out of this race.

The snow started last night when I was out. Since I knew I would be racing, and the roads were already getting bad, I wasn't drinking. I stayed out until about 12 switching between Cokes and water. Still had a good time and slept great. It's always nice to wake up feeling good instead of groggy and hungover. I went out on Friday night and even though I wasn't hungover on Saturday, I slept like crap. That seems to be the trend for me when I drink. Awful sleep and I wake up feeling unrested regardless of if I'm having Advil for breakfast or not. I'll sleep great for about 3-4 hours and then just wake up and toss and turn. Very frustrating. So yesterday was essentially a wasted day. While Whiskey and I took periodic naps, Tacoma patrolled the backyard despite being rained on the whole time. Odd dog, that one.

When I knew I wasn't going to be racing, I had to figure out what I was going to do with all the energy I had so I came up with a list that's only about halfway complete. Nothing fun, but all necessary. I also realized I need to get a workout of some sort in, and that's when I realized that the itch had begun. That is, the itch for next season. Any workouts I've been doing have not necessarily just been going through the motions, but they weren't with any real purpose either. Now it's time to start trending that way and I'm also looking forward to when the 2010 Xterra schedule of races will come out. Right now the only one I know is Xterra Indian Peaks which conflicts with Boulder 70.3 so I'll have to choose between the two. It could be my first season in a while without a half ironman on the schedule, but with an increased focus on getting some more technical skills on the mountain bike, the shorter stuff will be a good focus. I'm sure it will benefit my cycling strength in the long run and help me race better at HIMs once I get back there. Still a lot to be figured out but things are starting to feel good again and seem to be heading in the right direction.

Even though it probably has little benefit, I moved the furniture around in my family room. It's been too easy to come in and plop down on the couch and get sucked in, either to the internet or the TV. I'm certain the rearranging isn't as good of a layout, but it's not as accomodating for laziness either. When I moved the couch I found 6 dog bones under there! I took each one and placed them on the fireplace and while I was vacuuming, Whiskey would go over and grab one off, chew on it for about 5 minutes and then go get another one until all 6 were scattered around the floor. He was very pleased with what he'd done. I told him he's a shithead. His wagging tail and smiling face told me he was unnerved by my comments.

In addition to my motivation moving in the right direction, my eating has also gotten better. Even though I'm very far from eating great, and never plan to be perfect with it, what's been going in has been a lot cleaner and I haven't gained as much weight this off season. All good things.

With both dogs sleeping right now it's going to be a good time to either hop on the trainer or go finish painting the guest bathroom. There's also some weights I'm going to go push around. Then, since I still have vacation days to burn, I took tomorrow off and in the afternoon I'm heading up to Boulder for a cyclocross clinic with Joachim Parbo, the Danish National Champion. Should be interesting and fun.

Midweek Update

Not a whole lot going on but since it's Veteran's Day (thanks to any/everyone who's served or serving!), I got the day off and there's only so much of an NCIS marathon I can watch. I've come to realize that about 8:30 is all the longer the dogs will let me sleep and I'm not sure if that's good or bad. Either way, I was up for an uneventful morning routine but I took it slow since, well....., because I could.

The last two days I had good intentions but poor follow-through when it's come to working out. It's a poor excuse but I'm still thrown off by getting home and having it completely dark out. Once I get out I don't mind running in the dark at all but I start feeling like I have about 3 hours less to get some other things in, including dinner. With today off, though, I was able to get out for a good ride. It wasn't long, but it was at a good pace. Too bad my powertap wasn't working since I was curious about my watts. I'll keep that up through the weekend to try and maintain some pop in my legs for the cx race on Sunday.

One of the things I did today was go to an accupuncture appointment. I won 4 sessions in a silent auction that was held for two friends that were involved in a bike accident. I paid $50 and got 4 sessions. Pretty good deal! I think there's a good balance in there somewhere between Chinese medicine and Western medicine where the body has natural healing energies that can be triggered. At the same time, science can help jumpstart the process as well. Point being, they're not mutually exclusive. Anyway, the accupuncturist/therapist is a competitive open water swimmer so while she was pricking me with about 20 or so pins (I'm guessing), we were talking about having a proper off season. Right now I'm definitely not in top shape, but that's not a bad thing. Rather, it's an appropriate thing. Still, it's time to start getting it back. I know I've said that before, but then the whole job thing happened so it's take 2.

I'll be using the last four or so 'cross races for my weekly dose of high efforts on the bike and just maintaining otherwise. I even have plans to hop in the pool starting next week. That will probably be 2-3x/week. Then in December we're working on some sort of running "challenge." Rick and Chad are in charge of details so I'm just waiting for the word. The only hesitation I have with it is that I'll be going from low volume to an initial guess of about 120 miles in one month. Maybe not the smartest thing but if I feel like I'm starting to get an overuse injury I'll shut it down. That also highlights the need to get going in the second half of this month.

No insight as to a schedule for next season just yet but I'm thinking I'll start the heavy training later, as in March. I've come to realize just how much I like riding my bikes in the Fall so instead of having my fitness start to decline in mid-August, I'm going to try and push that to mid-October. I can fake it for a couple months there through 'cross season.

There are a couple other things going on like a cycling club we're working on throwing together but that's a post for another time.

3 Days, 3 Bikes

Another weekend of riding bikes. It's pretty much the only thing I do consistently, or at least kind of consistently since I haven't been on the trainer as much as I should. Still haven't warmed up enough to the fact that even though it's already dark out by the time I get home, I need to get on that dumb thing to stay fit. Maybe one of these days. Anyway, I took Friday off work and got some things done in the morning so I could meet Adam and Brant at Green Mountain for a mountain bike ride. We weren't really sure if it would be dry enough, but it was still worth finding out. Good thing is we didn't have any real problems. We were far from clean at the end of the ride but no real problems......other than lungs and legs. My aerobic conditioning seems to be good but once I get anaerobic, I fade pretty quickly to where it's just managing the process. On this ride there was a long climb to the top that tested everyone's conditioning, and everyone agreed that we failed. Other than making it to the top of course. The downhill was a bit anticlimactic since it was down a fire road rather than singletrack but we were running up against the dark so it was the quickest descent with the most light.

On Saturday I could have gone up to Louisville to race 'cross but opted against it since I was racing on Sunday. Instead I hopped on my road bike for a bit which was fun since I hadn't been on it in a while. Nothing special about the ride; just a solid tempo ride. I think it's easier to ride a steady-hard pace on the roadie after pushing (and spinning) on the mountain bike. It was good to feel the vibration of the road too - just a steady hum the whole time through.

Sunday. Race day. Actually it was race day that I almost missed. I woke up and fell into my routine of making breakfast, watching NFL pre-game and then some of whatever game is being shown while I gather my stuff and head out to the race. Well today they changed the times and the race was about 1:25 earlier. I figured it out in time, but only got one warm-up lap in. Seems to be the story as of late. Fortunately I had talked to Adam after he was finished with his race so I had an idea of what to expect. The course was pretty twisty in the front half with a lot of S-turns that were capped off by a steep run up with a barrier in the middle of it. A few more turns at the top and then flat and rough on the back with a section that was just soft. You could pedal as hard as you wanted but you weren't going anywhere fast through it. Kind of like pedaling through a moss field. Then a barrier section, turn a corner and back to the beginning.

The field was smaller than fields have been in the past. Could be that the early season saw a lot of people just giving cyclocross a try and they've fallen out, or that it was in Brighton which is basically the middle of nowhere. Judging by the caliber of people riding, I think it's the former and you're now getting the people that actually want to be out there who want and know how to ride their bikes.

As usual, my start wasn't anything spectacular. I got in a decent position and was generally able to hold it on the first lap. As the separation of groups started to occur, I could see the people up ahead of me, whether it was a couple bike lengths or 10 seconds. With all the turns on the front side you need to have some good explosive strength to pedal out of the slow corners, even if it's only for about 10-15 yards. Hit it hard, slow for the turn, and hammer again. One section had about 5 turns like that. Without the upper end strength, instead of picking up some ground, I was left to defend the ground I had and/or watch a few people pick me off.

Once to the back side, somewhere on the second or third lap I realized that it was a good long, flat stretch that I could get into a solid steady-hard effort like I did on the road bike the day before. And then I realized I could shift up to the big ring and make my effort more efficient. Lo and behold it worked and I started moving past a couple guys. No big groups but every person counts. That became my strategy for the rest of the race. Maintain on the front half, push it on the second half. There was a group of maybe 4 people that I kept playing leap frog with because of our different abilities. Finally it was down to two laps so I figured I had to make whatever moves I was going to, but be smart about it. I got to the top of the run up and passed a guy. Then another guy I'd been following (and passed on the last lap last weekend) bobbled briefly which was just enough for me to get by. Hoping I could drop him, I kicked it into gear and hammered the back stretch. I got a gap but it came at a price and coming back around the start section I saw he had made it up. I've ridden a lot of these races on my own without much of a chance to use race tactics against other people riding with me so this was a chance for that. With that in mind, since he was so close, I let him come by and figured I'd just hold his wheel on the front again, bide my time and do a repeat on the back stretch. That worked great right up until the run up.

Once I got to the top I realized I'd blown up a bit and the guy in front got a gap. It started small but kept growing and by the time we got to the flats it was too late. I was able to hold off the guy behind me but didn't get to make the move I wanted and finished 29/40.

In retrospect, knowing that I was a weaker rider through the turns, I should have held my position and made him work harder to get around me. That would have been my best bet to moving up that one spot. Either way it was fun to race like that and even though I was close to the bottom, I was happier with the way I rode than what the standings showed.

Next week is the final race of the Boulder Series so I'm expecting another big crowd at the start. Not sure of the course yet but I'm hoping for mud!

Halloweekend

Hockey, bike racing, concert, looking at naughty......ness (?), bike racing. That was my Halloween weekend and it was pretty fun. By Friday night I was pretty fried and ready for the weekend and it just so happened that DU hockey was in town and I have season tickets. Went to the game and had a couple beers, and although it was a bit uncertain at times, DU ended up winning. We usually go out afterwards but since I was racing early on Saturday, I called it a night.

Saturday morning I was up at 6:30 to get ready and make the 45 minute drive up to Longmont. There were two times I seriously questioned why I race today. One of them is always about halfway into the race where you've already committed enough and know you have to keep suffering while trying to hold off anyone you've already passed and work to catch the guys you can see just ahead. That happens every. single. race. Without fail. The second time today was actually first. The alarm clock. Waking up earlier on the weekend than during the work week? Awful. Nonetheless, up I was and it was out the door. Because it was the Boulder Cup weekend (which means that all the pros were in town to race this stop on the circuit), the start times for the rest of the categories were moved around and I was starting at 8:50. I didn't have quite as much time as I would've liked to warm up but I still got to see the course. They did a good job of moving the snow off, but the ground was basically frozen ruts which made for a bumpy ride. Even though it was only about 40* when we started it felt a lot warmer, and as we raced it continued to warm up.

Once the gun went off it was up a hill, around a soft left and off the road to the dirt. Or at least to the ruts. Try as you might to hold a line, you really didn't get much say especially if you were the guy that got squeezed out of the course and ended up over the front of his handlebars. The lines were all being dictated from the lines that had been taken from earlier racers. And apparently some of the earlier racers took shitty lines! Really though, it was going all over the place but the course had a bit of everything and was set up well. The front side was some good S-turns with a couple off camber corners. That led into a paved section with a fun wall to ride up and down through a corner, some barriers and a sand pit. Then the back was just plain old sloppy. And hard. Off camber hills, muddy steps, slippery corners, and once you hit the pavement you were rewarded with a hill.

After about the second lap, right when you were starting to get a feel for the lines, it all changed. The frozen mud thawed out and turned into slimy mud and it was going everywhere. Pretty sure I ingested a good amount but I certainly wasn't alone there. Of course, it probably didn't help that I went down once. After a run up (that was rideable on the first two laps with firmer ground), there was a sloppy downhill with a right hand turn that led to some steps. The descent looked like this:

Except for when I went. Then it looked like this (pic isn't of me, but the result was the same):

What was once a nice, light bike instantly added 10 lbs of grime and became harder to pedal, not to mention lift over the barriers. But the riding also became more fun. It wasn't any easier, and in fact, just the opposite, but definitely more exciting. At one point, on about the 4th lap, I remember wondering how in the hell I was going to make it through the typical 7 or so laps. Whether it was pedaling my easiest gear uphill, trying to run through the sand or up the steps, or re-mounting my bike, I was quickly getting down to having burned my last match. The good news was first that the lack of oxygen to my brain kept me from realizing we were turning laps a lot slower. So when I came through on the next lap it was the final lap. Awesome. The next part was that everyone else was starting to get tired too, and somehow in that final lap I was able to move past 4 more people and hold off the final one on the last sprint up the hill to the finish. When it was all said and done I had finished 23/43 which I was definitely pleased with. A very challenging course, changing conditions, and always good competition, not to mention that I was able to finish ahead of a guy that has consistently beat me by a handful of spots in all of the races we've entered together.

Not a lot of pics of me from the day but here's my bike post-race:

Here's a picture of my friend Adam's bike post-race. There really is a crankset, front and rear derailleur in there somewhere. Makes for some nice, smooth shifting.

The organizers had already planned ahead to prepare for the mud and dirty bikes (and people) and had pressure washers for some post-race cleaning:

Since it was Halloween there were a few costumes rolling around, including the support from the Mavic sponsored pits:

And this guy (yes, it's a guy):

All in the name of fun, of course. Speaking of costumes and fun, that night I went to the Jason Isbell concert. It started pretty late but there were some interesting "outfits" being worn that night. None by me, but to keep this blog from quickly becoming rated R or worse, there will be no pics of the costumes or body parts that may have been seen. However, I'm pretty sure there was no shortage of nurses running around should their services have been needed. Services, in this case, probably has a pretty loose interpretation!

On Sunday it was back up to Boulder for some more bike racing but this time it was just watching. To be brief, watching the pros race was a completely different world. From floating through the sand, sprinting over the barriers, or just laying it down when they needed to, there wasn't much that they made look difficult. Pretty cool experience. More pics on that another time.

Valmont CX

Mid-week update? No thanks. That would suggest something exciting has been going on. But I am a couple days behind on what seems to have become my weekly cyclocross race update. On Saturday they combined a 'cross race with the official groundbreaking ceremony for the Valmont Bike Park. I don't know the full details of the park but it does sound pretty awesome and will have a 'cross course that's there all the time. State of the art. Anyway, because of, well, I have no idea because of what, but because of something, they changed the starting times for the day. Usually Cat 4s don't race until 2:45 but today we were going off at 10. Even though my Friday night was pretty uneventful, it was still tough waking up on Saturday and I considered skipping the race. I can thank the dogs for getting me up though since they had to go outside and once I was up, I was racing.

Since I was slow going in the morning, instead of making something or stopping at Einstein's, I decided to fuel up with some delicious chocolate donuts from the gas station and topped it off with a Gatorade. All nutrition, all the time. I sucked that down on the way up to Boulder and debated how many layers I should wear during the race. It was pretty cold out in the morning and still in the high 40s when I got to the race. After I registered, switched out my wheels and started doing some warm-up laps, the temp started to rise and slowly but surely I took off the leg warmers, arm warmers, and then base layer. Somehow it had gone from 40s to 60s and was still on its way up.

Since I've been a slow starter in the past, I figured I'd start up front so I got to the line early and was in the first row. Then they did call-ups. Or at least the first half. Then they did call-ups for those people that had donated to the bike park. Then they did the rest of call-ups and then I was starting near the back again. At least I tried. The start was good in that it was a straight away for about 300 meters then turning right and going uphill. It broke some things up a little bit but with 70 riders on fresh legs, it took longer than that. The course itself was alright but it wasn't one that I was a big fan of. In fact, I was less a fan of the course than I am of ending sentences with prepositions which explains my previous sentence. But I digress..... The course was very bumpy witha lot of loose dirt that was very bumpy and mainly followed an earthmover's tracks that made it very bumpy. Kind of like parallel singletrack that was rough in between, making it difficult to pass in those sections. The backside was hacked weeds with a narrow singletrack. Again, it was tough to make passes but everyone had to deal with the same conditions. I think those with strong mountain biking backgrounds probably had the better advantage on this course. Hell, those with full suspension would have had the real advantage on this course.

Back to the race. It usually takes a lap to string out the pack and today was no exception. Surprisingly, though, I could feel my heart rate moving up but I wasn't feeling like death immediately. Second lap came and I was moving past a few people. This lap was still feeling good and so was the first half of the third. Only the first half because I was riding steady at the front of a pack and came into a turn that I knew was, you guessed it - bumpy, but you could still take it at speed. This time when I came in, I almost lost it since my back tire hit a couple bumps and I almost went down. Much to the applause of the on-lookers and fellow riders, I was able to stay upright, but it came at the expense of about five spots. Fortunately, I was able bridge the gap later in the lap and decided to sit in behind some of the riders. There were points where I really wanted to pass but decided to stay content just sitting in. And then I got impatient and decided to pass since we were close enough to the next pack that I could put in a little surge and bridge the gap. Since I had been running the barriers well all day I decided to wait until one of those sections to make my move. I could see the next group ahead, thought about running the barriers and putting in a grind on the following flats and catch them by the turn. This all worked out nicely in my head. The problem was that becoming exhausted, combined with being overly anxious doesn't work out so well. As I was dismounting, my foot didn't come out of the pedal and I face planted. Just like I was diving into home plate. I was safe from everything but embarrassment. I'm sure it was comical to watch, and while I didn't get hurt, not only did I not catch the next group, but I also let the following group by me. The good news is that I passed some of those guys back later in the race but the damage was done and I was just happy picking off anyone as I could. By the time the race finished I was pretty much cooked. I had no idea how I placed but figured it was pretty far back given my two bobbles. As it turned out, I was 40 out of 70. Not nearly as bad as I expected, but that also made the 10 or so spots that I lost on the bobbles suck that much more.

I can tell I'm starting to get some of my fitness back and briefly considered testing it again on Sunday, but with the temps getting in the mid-80s I decided it was too warm. Instead I settled for watching a Packers victory. I'm not certain I'll be able to race this coming weekend which just makes me look forward to two weeks from now when I'll be able to get out there again. The fitness will keep coming around and I'm sure my leg strength will keep getting better. And as it does, I'll be hoping for a finish in the top half of the field.

Good Thing For Weekends

Another weekend, another race. And it's a good thing too since I wouldn't have any updates for Rick and Chad (you're welcome) who talked me into starting this in the first place. More than looking forward to racing, after this week I was just looking forward to not having to be at work. Fortunately for me it's a 3-day weekend since good 'ol Christopher Columbus decided to get lost, crash into a continent, call it America and give school kids, government employees and bankers everywhere the day off. I didn't wake up once before 9:30 this weekend unless you count the phone call from my grandparents at about 6:30 this morning.

I was hoping to get back on the wagon and get some solid workouts in during the last week and was off to a good start with the CX race last weekend and a good MTB ride. Monday and Tuesday were both solid and then Wednesday happened and derailed everything. Everyone from the office went out for drinks on Wednesday night and then there was just no motivation for the next couple days. Come Sunday I knew I was in trouble with fitness for the race but it was basically the highlight of the week so I was definitely heading out.

Cross weather has arrived! I'm not sure that's a good thing or not, but it's here. Cold, snowy, slimy conditions that make you question what the hell you're doing out there during the entire warm-up. Usually you're only questioning what you're doing when you're about ready to puke up your lungs from the effort, and now we get to add the conditions to the mix. MMmmmm, Tasty. When I race (usually at 2:45), it's 2 slots behind the Open Men which means I get to watch the guys that are good. And be cold for a while. When they were going down on off camber descents, around slippery turns, etc., I knew it would be an interesting day.

See the smiles and laughing in that picture? It's a good indicator that it's before the race. AJ (my triathlon coach with D3 from two and three seasons ago) and I headed over to the call-ups but guess what.....neither of us got called up as expected so instead I lined up in back. Mainly because I was slow getting over there. I realize this isn't rocket science but I've come to realize just how important the start is. It can really make or break your placement throughout the race. There are guys that finished 10-15 places in front of me that I can ride with, but they either had better starts, or better positions at the start. Something to work on.

Once the gun went off it wasn't long before the first crash happened. I didn't go down but got caught up in the bottleneck and lost a few spots. Surprisingly, though, there weren't as many crashes as I expected. The course was snotty but had a good flow to it where you could recover on a couple sections, hammer it on some others, and just gut it out on a few more. All those sections were well-balanced. On about the third lap I was working my way up to a group of about 5 riders and I knew if I caught them I could pass them. I got within about 2-3 bike lengths and was waiting to make a move. We came down a sweeping righthander. It wasn't a sharp turn but the descent combined with the slippery/muddy conditions kept you honest. Apparently I was most honest when my bike slid out from under me and I ended up on my side. The crash didn't hurt but I lost that group, and while I was getting back on I got passed by another five to seven riders. That sucked. I was able to catch some of them, but definitely not all.

It looks like I'm walking in this picture but I really was trying to run through the barriers. This was the toughest section on the course since it went from this to this:

And then mount the bike and ride back through the sand. By the time you got out the other side you were leaning over the bars trying to suck in any air so you could get ready for the next section.

All said and done I finished 57/80. Throw in a better starting position and not crashing and that's probably 40/80 but that's part of what makes CX so much fun and interesting. A couple bobbles can really cost you. Now it's time to get serious again about my bike fitness and ride with some more strength. I'll be back next weekend and am considering a back to back effort for the weekend. Saturday is the official groundbreaking for the Valmont Bike Park in Boulder that's being brought in with a 'cross race. Should be awesome. Then depending on how I feel, there's a race in Golden on Sunday. Hup hup.

Rubber Side Down

Seems like the pattern the last couple of weeks has been to back up a day of cyclocross racing with a day of mountain biking. It's fun, relaxed, and nice to get out into the foothills for some good riding, especially while the leaves are changing. Perfect riding weather! I went up to Bergen Peak with Brant and Nate and apparently it was cute girl hiking day. I'm all for it, except maybe next time I should try and bring some MTB'ing skills to even mildly impress anyone.

To be honest I felt a bit squirrely on the bike all day. It didn't matter the terrain or speed, I just didn't have it. My legs were a bit fatigued but nothing terrible. There may have been a part of it that was from crashing on my CX bike three times yesterday, but I don't know that that really played into things all that much. The climb to the top was pretty uneventful while passing by plenty of, yes, cute girls hiking. Seriously, who knew?! As got close to the top, around 9300 feet, it started snowing. Not hard, and it didn't really feel all that cold, but it was still coming down.

And of course since the only real reason we ride up is to ride down, that's when the fun usually begins. Usually because this time going down didn't just mean going down the hill, it also included two more crashes. The first one was a non-event. My rear derailleur got caught up on a rock while going around a corner and I went down. The second one, however, was definitely a spectacle. I was coming up to a technical part just before a switchback that Brant and Nate had already cleared and were on the path just below me heading the other way, but waiting for me. Somewhere in the middle of the technical section I realized I wasn't going to make it through so I put my foot down, which slid out from underneath me since it was on a slope. Then I completely lost my footing and somehow rolled but was bringing my bike with me because my other foot was still clipped in. As I was rolling I was headed straight for Brant who was perfectly in the way of this disaster. When the bike started coming over top of me and almost into him, he was able to grab it and chuck it over his shoulder, but not without getting knocked down and tumbling down the hill himself. Nate had the best seat in the house and watched it all happen and was laughing after he realized we were both okay. I would have laughed too but my left hand hurt too damn bad! It took a while (as in hours) before it started feeling normal again, but I think it's just bruised and no torn ligaments. I also have a few nice cherries on my legs, but they're in places that I'm pretty sure would be inappropriate to post on here. Most importantly of all of this, aside from nothing being broken and the bike being okay, is that it didn't happen in front of any of the cute girls hiking!

After the crash we rode the rest of the way down and were still able to salvage a pretty good day of bike riding. So now with five crashes in two days, I'm hoping that's all out of my system for a while. And even if it's not I'll still be back on the bike before too long. If I start crashing while I'm on my trainer though, I may have to reconsider!

Cyclocrash

Headed up to Frisco to race Day 1 of the two day Frisco-X races. My races with the Cat 4s aren't until around 2:40 or 2:45 all season so normally I get to sleep in a bit, eat breakfast while watching GameDay, get some things done and then head to the race. However, I rode up with Adam and Yvonne and their 2.5 y/o Lenora Grace, and since Adam races earlier, we were out the door at 8.

The weather in the mountains was pretty much perfect all day long as it warmed up to about 50*. Maybe a little higher. Only a little wind and some clouds that were off and on. All in all, a great day to be in the mountains, a great day to race, and one more thing that's just great about living in Colorado in general.

Adam raced in the SM35+ Cat 4s and did really well finishing around 11th or 12th. While we hung out for the few hours in between his race and mine, we watched the Open Men race which included some guys that simply stated, are ridiculously good. Jake Wells, who finished 12th at CrossVegas, took 1st and did it without looking like he ever got tired.

I pre-rode the course a few times and realized that the tubeless wheelset I was running wasn't going to work so I switched it up and put tubes in and was ready to roll. It was a good course with an uphill right out of the start that was followed up by a winding descent with some tight turns, all of it being over woodchips. A few more tight turns led to a straight section that spit you at a technical downhill into a righthander and then a hairpin lefthander. The next tough part was a tight left hand turn on gravel that was pretty dug out and made things tricky. Then it was over some barriers, up and around the frontside, over some more barriers and a place to actually breathe before heading back up the hill. All in all, I thought this would be a good course for me. All in all, it probably would be if I had my cycling fitness from two months ago!

There were around 60 people starting and I got stuck near mid-back; not where I wanted to be. Nothing really changed going uphill and the first lap was pretty tight, but without incident. Feeling like you can't breathe deeply enough isn't enough of an incident to mention while racing since that's how everyone felt. Since most of the laps blurred together, here's what happened at some point. First, coming into the gravel-rutted lefthander, there was another rider that didn't make it through clean and when I came in carrying speed, I slammed my brakes, hit the rut and went straight over the handlebars. No biggie - get up and race. I was more pissed that two guys got past me than anything. On the next lap coming down the technical descent into the right hand turn, my wheels slid out and I landed on my side. Two laps later who knows what happened but my bike ended up being caught by a pine tree and I was on the ground about five feet in front of it. Again, two more riders got by me. Aside from that, I was lacking the leg strength needed to ride like I felt I should have. I was running the barriers well and re-mounting the bike well. That was probably the highlight since I was able to pass some guys there. The laps came and went and at the finish I think I was somewhere around 40 out of 60. Not my best day but it was still fun to be out there.

I think I'll round out the weekend with a good mountain bike ride tomorrow, and then hitting the trainer pretty hard during the week so I can start to get some of that cycling strength and fitness back!

Getting It Back

Since the end of my tri season I've kept working out and have even had a schedule. However, I've more or less just used it as a very general guide and over time it led to me doing what I want when I want. Again, it's not a terrible thing, but in the last week or two I've started to notice the loss of fitness. And a gain in weight. Not terrible, but I don't need it to be terrible to be noticeable. So now it's time to get it back. My fitness, that is, and it started this weekend.

Yesterday I raced CX which was good and hard. In fact, it was even harder than I thought since I zonked on the couch a while after I got home. The legs are expected to be fatigued, but what's really draining is the amount of energy it zaps from the rest of my body. Trying to keep it together when going over all the bumps (yesterday was pretty bumpy throughout the whole course), and the occasional running while carrying the bike doesn't sound like much, but doing it repeatedly while redlined did me in. Today I backed it up with a mountain bike ride outside of Golden with Nate, Brant, and Ed. The ride is pretty tough from all aspects, including a hard climb and a very technical downhill.

Early on I knew I didn't have the top end strength I'd need for some of the more technical uphill sections, but was able to get in an okay groove one I got warmed up some. Still, I was gassing pretty early but since it wasn't a race I was able to back off and take breaks as needed. My legs just weren't there, which is just another sign of the fitness and strength that I've lost since the season ended. Finally, after dodging a bunch of hikers (who were all very courteous and stepped off to the side to let us through) that were out chasing leaves that are changing colors, we made it to the top before turning the wheels down over a lot of technical terrain. I was definitely glad to have my Yeti 575 for that since my technical abilities are far from fantastic!

Even with the technical terrain being above my head, it was still a lot of fun. I took a couple runners off the bike but never went down hard and didn't get hurt. And with the leaves changing like they were, it was gorgeous scenery and a great day to be out there. Definitely need to take advantage of these nice weekends while we still can since it's going to be hats and jackets before too long.

Now that the ride's done and I have two solid days on the bike in, it's time to get back at training on a little bit more regular schedule. As long as I'm doing something each day, I'll be happy. In addition to simply enjoying working out and how I feel afterwards (and all the food it afford me the opportunity to eat!), I want to maintain a good base this off season so I can build on it next season and keep getting faster. In the meantime, it's nice to get out and ride a bike because it's fun and not have to stare at a power meter to maintain watts. There will be plenty more time for that over the winter.

I'm Not Belgian

I'm not Belgian. Seriously, I'm not. Maybe Norwegian, German, Irish, English, and I thought somebody once said Luxembourgian, but Belgian is not in there. I've studied in Antwerp, been to Brussels, Gent, Brugge, Charleroi, Namur, and a bunch of other places, I've been hammered off of Hoegaarden and Duvel, and have eaten my weight in frites that I'm pretty sure just solidify into one giant potatoe once in your gut, but still not even close to being a Belgie. My newest bike though? It's Belgian.

I recently got a Ridley X-Ride, just the fork and frame, so I can race cyclocross. The bike is great. The rider is not so great. Sven Nys, Niels Albert, Erwin Vervecken? They're great at cyclocross. And Belgian. Go figure.

Today was my second CX race of the year. I raced last week and it was hot and dusty, but I felt like I was riding well right up until I got a pinch flat with two laps to go. Being too far from the pit to switch out my wheel, I dropped out. I wanted to make up for that today, which was the first race in the Boulder CX Series. I got there early, watched some others, including the Open Men race, and did my warm up laps. I was told the course was very bumpy and tough, and there were a few places to watch out for. This was all confirmed on my warm-up.

Heading over to the staging for Cat 4s, it was warm - somewhere in the upper 80s. Cyclocross racing is used to rain, snow, and otherwise cooler temps, not 80s. And when you're riding the rivet for 45 minutes, there's a reason why that's better than the upper 80s. I lined up closer to the back than the front since I'm still learning how to race and didn't want to ruin someone's hole shot that would be a contender. Apparently, I felt that most of the ~ 80 people were contenders. Once the gun sounded, we were off on a nice straight path to get the legs and lungs moving. We worked our way through a sand pit and up a big hill that required most to dismount. A little chance to recover and then on to a bumpy, winding descent, on to some flats, over some barriers, up another hill that required dismounting, and back near the staging area. First lap done. That wasn't so hard and I moved my way up a little bit. Second lap was more of the same with another hill and more barriers added that we skipped the first time through. Again, no big deal. Not sure what happened between the second lap and third, but my lungs were beyond capacity. Legs weren't bad, but my lungs were cooked. This is generally the point in the race where the selection has occurred and even if you're not racing for the win, you've figured out those you're racing against and go for the race within the race. They pass you here, you pass them back there. Little mistakes can lead to big gaps. That's where I was, and apparently lots of others. I was also starting to feel like I was going to pass out from the heat. The good news was that I was figuring out the rhythm of the course even if I wasn't destroying it. One more lap and then, coming down a hard turn, I almost rolled my wheel off the rim. It stayed on, but felt different. Riding a little more I realized it was leaking air but I was able to ride and run it most of the way back to the pit, switch out the wheel and keep going. It also led to me getting lapped but that happens. With a new wheel I was able to ride out the remaining laps. Maybe not as hard as earlier on, but I was willing to take that if it meant I didn't DNF. By the end, I ran (kind of) my bike up the last hill, re-mounted and cruised across the finish line......then straight to the grass to lie down and decide if I needed to puke or not. It turned out to be not. That's also a very normal decision for me after each of the CX races I've done. Just a nice little way to cap off the race really.

When it's all said and done, it was a fun race. The flat cost me, but I still finished even if the course didn't play to my strengths at all. Chalk it up to more experience, and next time maybe I'll be able to ride a little bit more like I'm Belgian. But probably not.