That DID Hurt. A Little.

After a mixed but mostly good return from my one-week cycling hiatus last week, I was anxious to see what kind of legs I'd have at Green Mountain Cross and Boulder CycleSport Series #4. I think we're on 4. After last Sunday I feel like I have pretty good form and am hopeful I can hang on to it for just a little longer. With that in mind, it was off to the races.

Green Mountain was apparently opposite day since we rode the course in reverse from last year. It was also opposite day since I spent more time riding the ground with my bike on top of me. Turns out you don't go as fast that way. From the start I was at the front with Adam and after the second turn, was in the lead. And then? Crash #1. Front wheel slipped out right before the stair run-up and a few guys went by me. I was fortunate in that I was able to get back on quickly and keep fighting. Somehow I got into second position and the guy that I was following forgot to turn. Anyone know what happened to him? He was last seen heading for Lookout Mtn. Maybe he's hangin with Buffalo Bill. Anyway, the rest of the lap was uneventful except Eric passed me and in what I'm sure was an effort to help me feel better about myself, he slid out of the first corner after the start/finish. Back near the front I wanted to show everyone who didn't see it the first time exactly how to fall while going through a corner and dumped it into a right hand turn. This time a bunch of guys got by me and I was a little slower to get back on my bike. I tried fighting for a lap or two to see if I could make up any ground but it quickly became clear that the good legs I had were only going to be wasted. I hung out somewhere around 14th for a little bit and was able to move up to 12th but not before seeing what the dirt felt like one more time. Three times down, all three on my right side. Once I got home and cleaned up my leg looked like I got into a fight with a cat and the cat won. Lots of scratches that drew blood and a couple cherries on the knee. Same with my right elbow. The problem, though, is that there's a lot of bruising underneath that and the combination was pretty sore for the rest of the night. I literally spent the rest of the night on the couch since any movement hurt my leg, even if it was just my pants brushing against it when I walked. Oh yeah, I finished in 12th which I was happy with considering I forgot how to ride a bike.

Race day 2. As painful as it can be, I really love racing both days of the weekend. Even though I was sore when I got out of bed, I got to the race with enough time to chat with a lot of the guys I end up racing shoulder to shoulder with. And even if I curse their names as they're passing me, it's still a good bunch of guys that makes the racing fun. After a few warm-up laps I knew this wasn't a great course for me and I'd end up hurting from the effort. Uphill start to a grass section that led to a staircase with about 30 steps (seriously) to more grass that slowly goes uphill to, yes, another staircase with 30 more steps. Fortunately there was a huge downhill from there and the lower part of the course was fast and a little more technical. I got the hole shot I wanted, only because I didn't want to be caught up with anyone going through the first two 180s before the steps. It wasn't too long after that that people started going by me. Eric first, then Tony. The passes were happening in the same place - the grass section. I just didn't have the power to keep up despite the encouragement as they passed. With a couple more laps to go, Frank came by me, again with encouragement. I hung on to his wheel until the final sprint and then watched as the black and red blur that was Brad sped by me and I hung on for 7th. An improvement from the day before with the added bonus of not crashing.

One more week and I'll probably hang up the bikes (literally - they hang in my garage) for the season. If I do race after that it will be purely for fun. First, though, we have to get through States this weekend. No idea what the course will be like but I'm already looking forward to it!

Needing A Break

My plan for the season was to not race the Ft. Collins New Belgium Cup races despite the fanfare and fun atmosphere that accompanied it. Lucky for me, I stayed true to form and was able to see what normal people do on weekends. That obviously assumes that racing your bike almost every Saturday and Sunday throughout the Fall isn't normal. Personally, I still think that's up for debate. Anyway, that was the plan going in and I knew it had to happen since I was starting to feel a bit crispy and annoyed. During both days of warm-ups the week before I seriously considered dropping out of the race before it started. I didn't, but it was contemplated and feeling like that was all the confirmation I needed. So what did I do instead? I stayed away from my bike for all but one evening, went to a Broncos game, and slept in. It was nice.

My little hiatus may have been too nice since Saturday came and I was having a hard time getting going at AlphaCross during warm-ups. The course wasn't overly tricky with the exception of a few off camber sections, but it was almost all grass and required a lot of power. Let's just say that if this were a two, maybe three lap race, I would have been great! I was near the front and feeling........empty. I was pushing hard but couldn't do anything to sustain the effort and sure enough, nobody felt sorry for me (other than me) and I watched guys go right by unable to hang on to them. When the race mercifully ended I got 7th and Adam had a great race with a duel for 1st that he won in a sprint. We celebrated at Park Burger with one of the tastiest damn burgers I've had in a while - beef, ham, and fried egg (over easy to the snottiness gets on everything).

Fast forward to Sunday and everything felt better. Except the weather. The weather sucked. It was 45* in Denver when I was at Einstein's at 7:30 and 28* and windy in Longmont when we got there. Everything about the warm-up (and related rituals) was planned around staying in the car as long as possible. Registration, back to the car. Bathrooms, back to the car. Change....in the car. If I could have set up a trainer in the car and pre-rode the course from my front seat, you can bet I would have done that too. The warm-up was a quick 2 laps of what was a relatively shorter and fast course. The tricks were the loooong starting sprint to the hole shot, a looooong sandy section that we were running since it wasn't packed down enough to ride yet, and the bmx bike section. Once the whistle blew I somehow managed to come into the hole shot in second and held the wheel of first place. That lasted until the down/up section when first place......well, I have no idea what happened, but the guy in first didn't make it up the hill and I think he crashed. It pushed me to the side and into the course tape. I rode through and was lucky enough to not have it wrap around any part of my bike. Crisis averted, I went from 2d to 5th, and from 5th to 4th/3d. There were three of us in 2d - 4th and we worked to pull back the lead that 1st had. And then took the lead ourselves. Adam and I rode together and opened up a small gap. I was riding the back side better, he was riding the front better. As we got down to the last two laps, we were side by side when it was Adam's turn to pull and when he went, I didn't have the legs to go with. It was a small enough gap that I lost the draft and had to re-assess. Realizing that two guys were right behind me, and knowing who they were, I also knew that if I wanted 2d I had to keep pushing. Hard. While that worked, it didn't work well enough and I got passed in the last section but was able to roll in for 3d. It was a great feeling after how terrible I felt the day before. And even if I would have been passed by more people, it was as much fun as I can remember having in a race in a long time. Good tactics and charging hard the whole time changing roles from being the hunter to the hunted. There are definitely no gifts out there which made 3d all the better for me.

Apparently that's what the podium looks like. I can't say for sure since I'm not all that familiar with it, but it's nice up there. And the prizes were good too. Aside from being warm, the two things you generally need after a cross race are beer and a massage and we received a 6-pack of beer, gift certificates for massage, granola and a coffee mug. Nice way to wrap up another weekend!

It's Alive!

The blog that is. It enjoyed taking a nice nap for the last 4 months or so, but that doesn't mean nothing has happened. I think the last one I did was 'My First Second.' Well, the week after that I got my first first in the mountain bike short track series. And then I quit. Yep, got my first place and hung up the bike. Or at least kind of. We headed up to Aspen for a few days over the 4th of July, then to Driggs, ID for a few days, and then I took a week long trip to Brazil to go to my friend Jamie's wedding where I had a blast. Meanwhile, the temps outside were getting ridiculous and even though mountain biking in the trees helps, there were a lot of days where it was simply too hot to ride. So I didn't and it resulted in a bit of a hiatus from consistent riding, and I'm sure a loss of some of the power I had accumulated. That's not that big of a deal but going into cyclocross season, aka, the best time of the year, it had me a little bit concerned. Last year was my second year (first full season) racing 'cross and was a consistent middle of the pack guy in the Cat 4s. This year I was bumping up to the 35+4s and was mentally prepared to be a good, solid, middle of the pack guy.

In my first race I finished 29th and followed it up with a 28th the next day. Knowing I'd made a few dumb mistakes that were correctable with a little more experience and a few more races, I thought that if I could sneak out a top 20 finish somewhere in the season it would be a success. My best case scenario was a top 15 finish. After a few races I was starting to think that I couldn't finish in a place that wasn't a multiple of 7. The 29th notwithstanding, I was 28, 28, 7, 21, 14. And no, the 7 isn't a typo. I was really happy with that finish despite a lot of the other riders not being there. But since I can't control who shows up to race, it was my 7th and the start of a little bit of confidence. The next day where I finished 21 at AspenLodge was another confidence builder. Prior to then I'd been worried about how everyone around me was riding. Not at this course. It was so bumpy, technical, and just flat out hard that I could only concern myself with my ride and focus on riding clean lines. People would come around me, and just as quickly they'd go backwards. I did have a little trip over the top of my handlebars on one section, but hey, it's all part of the game. Knowing that I could ride well helped push my confidence for the few weeks.

I've gotta say that the rest of my results were a combination of some guys catting up to 3s and clearing out some space on the top of the 4s, but if they're that good then they probably belong there. Either way I was getting stronger and have since gone 14, 9, 10, 13, 6, 3. I was ecstatic with the 14 since it was a solid and legitimate field. Again with the 9. And the 3, well, it was unexpected for sure, but every bit as good as I could have expected and I was able to go by some guys that had been beating me all year.

So what do you when the legs start coming around? Take a break of course. Or at least that's what I did this summer. This time, though, I'm not planning on 2 months of inconsistent riding. Rather, my legs were getting heavy, it was taking longer to recover, and my attitude toward racing was starting to get a bit pissy. With the US Grand Prix of Cyclocross in Ft. Collins this weekend, it would have been easy to race. I love the big events and from what I heard, they did it right and it was a great weekend of racing. However, they helped make my decision by putting the 4s at 8:30 on both Saturday and Sunday, and shortening the race from 45 minutes to 30. Tack on an hour and a half drive to get there and it meant about a 5 a.m. wake up call. If you know anything about me, it's that I don't mix well with mornings. Never have and don't expect that I ever will. Growing up grandma would have to come in to my room a few times to wake me up and after that failed, she'd resort to either a cold, wet washcloth on my face or banging pots and pans together. That's just mean! Anyway, I took a pass on this week, got a massage, and started feeling like a normal human again on Thursday. Of course, the Taco Bell I had last night may have set me back a few days but I digress.

With a bit of life back in my legs the plan is to get a few trainer rides in this week, race twice this weekend, twice next weekend, and then see what I can do at States on the first weekend in December. Hoping for good results at all of the races but nothing's ever guaranteed. With the temps finally starting to drop, the courses are starting to change from grass/dirt crits to sloppy, technical battlegrounds. I don't have as much experience in the latter but there's only one way to get it, and everybody has to race in the same conditions.

Race Day #5 - My First Second

Race Day #5 was another CU Short Track Mountain Bike Race. But before we get there, maybe the Tuesday ride before is worth telling. I rode Bergen Peak/Elk Meadows with Adam, Brant, and Nate. Good ride on the way up, and descending is always a blast. Trying to move trees with your face, however, is not. Yep. Man meets tree, man loses to tree, man bleeds from ear with scratches on face, neck, shoulder, elbows and legs. It was a slow motion crash but my last thought before impact was, "I'm going to wake up in the hospital." Brant's thought was that I had broken my collar bone. Fortunately, neither of these was true and I walked away (actually rode) with only some blood. Even though I ultimately lost, I'll still take it as a win!

Fast forward to the next day and I was a little sketchy on if I wanted to race but decided I would. After heading up to Boulder with Brant I didn't know what to expect. It was a tight and technical course given all the hard turns. I was able to line up in the front and was in 5th out of the hole shot. Some guy crashed in front of me and I thought I was going down too but was able to move, which meant I was in fourth. Around the first lap I bounced up to second and since the leader wasn't going that fast, and I was afraid of others catching back on, made my pass and didn't look back. That's only because I could see people after doing switchbacks so I didn't need to look back. I led the race for a couple laps but knew there was one guy gaining on me, and sure enough, he caught and passed me. Two laps later he crossed the line in first and despite my best efforts, I was about 10 seconds behind him.......in second! I realized that I really don't know how to race from the front, mainly since this is the first time I've ever had to, but I'm willing to learn and figure it out! I was also pretty pumped that I was on the (virtual) podium for the first time in 6 years of racing. Not bad considering I tried chopping down a tree with my face the day before!

Race Day #4 - CU Short Track Mountain Bike

Short race, short post. Pretty easy formula. Every Wednesday there's a short track mountain bike race in Boulder. And by short, I mean it only lasts 20 minutes. What it lacks in time it makes up for in pain. Brant talked me into going up so we left, got registered, and pre-rode the course a handful of times, which proved to be invaluable.

We raced Class C and for 5:40 on a Wednesday night, there were 30 guys that showed up and made it a good crowd. My hole shots typically suck. Or at least they did during cyclocross season and I'm working on improving that (and my handling abilities). Something worked. I wasn't in the lead, but I was in about 10th from the start. Not too many places to pass made it frustrating at times so you had to make each chance count. After two laps I got in a good rhythm and had picked off a few people. Coming into the last lap I wasn't sure what position I was in and tried to pass a guy but was denied. So instead of going harder, I went smarter. It's an odd occurrence, yes, but I do have my moments. I slowed on an upcoming corner that swung us out wide, and it allowed me to cut through closer and get in front. I bridged to the group of three I saw ahead and rode with them. Once I looked around I realized..........holy shit, this was the lead group! I tried everything I could to pass but have to give credit to the guys that were riding since they were simply stronger. With the finish line in sight I rolled through in fourth place and was very happy with that result. Hopefully it's a good indicator for things to come for CX season. And since I got something like 75 points for the series, it also means I should probably go try and get some more on the next few Wednesdays if I can.

Okay, so I lied. Maybe it wasn't that short of a post.

Race Day #3 - Battle of the Bear

So technically race day #3 happened about a month ago on 5.8.10. And my very good reason for not having posted about it since then is, well......, I'm lazy. Makes sense, right? Good.

Pdoo decided to come down and play official race photographer for the YOA crew which was being represented by Brant, Adam, Matt, and me. Since Brant had a cold he was all pepped up on goofballs and couldn't see straight, which led to him crashing a few times and not having the race he wanted. And in true, tell the ending before the story type fashion, Matty rode well (until he came unclipped from his pedals and racked his boys on the top tube) and got 2nd. Adam was strong as usual for a 9th place finish and I was 2'27" behind him for 12th. All of this in the M30-39 AG of the Sport division (20 miles).

Aside from the morning being pretty crisp and not knowing how to dress, the race unfolded as expected. I rode pretty clean and had a good start. In fact, I actually led the race for a bit. Too bad that 'bit' was only for a quarter mile out of the hole shot and then people passed me as we crested the hill. There weren't any tricks to this course other than not getting stuck behind people, and that's exactly what happened. First through some winding singletrack, and then catching up to some of the groups in front of us. The latter happened as we were doing a big climb and instead of being able to use this area as a strength and work my way up, I was stuck soft-pedaling and actually recovering. On a climb. It sucked. In fact, it happened both times, but both times I found the same spot to get around a handful of people that had been staying with me.

The race was really about timing when and where you could make a jump on people so they'd get stuck behind someone slower. Sometimes it worked, other times notsomuch. Regardless, when I came around the last turn to the straight away there were 4 of us together and I was able to power down and beat them to the line. A top 10 would have been nice but I can't complain about 12th either. It was only the second mountain bike race I've done and still early in the season.

Next up is some short track races and then we'll see what else makes its way on to my schedule.
Making my way through the first lap:

Getting ready for the final sprint:

Guess which of the four wasn't happy with his performance (hint: it's not a trick question):

Waiting for someone to bring me a beer:

Race Day #2 - Lookout Mountain

Second race in two weeks and it was time to get off the dirt and on to the road for the Lookout Mountain Hill Climb. It's held annually and is basically about as much as you can suffer on a bike. I say that often, and I'm sure it will be repeated again, but it's an all out effort up Lookout Mountain which is 4.25 miles and gains 1200 feet of elevation. If it makes any difference, Buffalo Bill's grave is at the top. I can tell you that it makes no difference at all because it doesn't help you take in any more oxygen which is the only thing you're thinking about!



I got to the race and it was perfect weather. About 50 degrees and sunny with only a small wind. I hopped on the trainer for a 30-minute warm-up and then Brant and I went to the start line. We were at the back and when the gun went off it was a mess of people trying to get clipped in. Once that cleared out, I was able to move up and ride with the lead group for about the first mile. My legs felt good and I was surprised I was able to hang on. Of course, this race is notorious for sandbaggers and it was just a matter of time before the group split. That time happened about a mile in and when the leaders laid it down, it separated the contenders from the pretenders. I have to say that a lot of the contenders don't belong racing in Cat 4 but that's a different post.



I got spit out the back but wasn't alone. Different packs came and went and I did a decent amount of pulling along the way, grabbing drafts for the brief amount of time (and benefit) as I passed people. Close to the top there's a series of switchbacks and I was in a group of four that I needed to split from. I geared down, hopped out of the saddle and surged through, blowing open the group, and almost blowing the contents of my stomach over the front of my handlebars. I didn't have much capacity at that point to go even more hypoxic than I was! One of the guys caught me and he was clearly a stronger rider so no problem with that. I was able to follow him to another group though, and it was near the top. Knowing the course was helpful since as I was passing another guy, I was concerned he'd sit in and then swing around me at the finish after taking advantage of my draft. So when I knew a false flat was coming up, I shifted to the big ring and was ready to take advantage of it before him which paid off. I lowered my head and sprinted as hard as I could to the finish, only to follow it up with barely having enough energy left to get off my bike and cough violently from the effort. It was well worth it though since when I looked at my time it was 23:09 with average watts of 277. I was super stoked since last year when I did it my time was 25:39 and average watts of 261. Chopping off 2:30 was HUGE and it made my day. Brant did great too and came in at 26:47 (a personal best) despite having a head cold.



After the race we had a beer, lunch, and then off to a party for a friend's birthday/housewarming/Kentucky Derby. A beer or two, a couple red bull/vodkas, and of course mint julep were taken down. I was much smarter about my consumption this year though, since last year left me as a puddle that wrapped around the toilet courtesy of Maker's Mark's mint julep flavored bourbon. One or two? Good. Ten? Uhhh, not so good. I only had one this time. And since it was the Derby, the seersucker got to come out for a showing:



My strategy of drinking less paid off since I felt pretty good when I woke up today so I called Brant and we tried to beat the weather by heading out to Lair of the Bear for a mountain bike ride. Crisp air, fun and flowey singletrack, and minimal crowds made the ride a huge success. It's about as much fun as you can have on the bike and we stopped a few times to enjoy it. No pics, but lots of fun. Now, though, after basically being gone for two days I have two dogs (one with her head on my arm right now) with lots of energy that need to be walked so it's out the door for us!