Road State Champs etc.
After reading "road racing for dummies" this past week, I made a trip to Woodland to participate in the Utah Road Championships. I still have to race Cat 3, since our regional USCF official thinks that that's where a Pro mountainbiker and Pro cyclocrosser should race. I would have much rather been worked over in the Cat 1-2 race, but I had a good time anyway.
The race was fun, I was able to build up a lead after the climb up Wolf Creek Pass, only to ride for the next 20 miles or so into a very strong headwind. So a dozen or so people caught up to me and I was riding in the group for a while. Then I put in a harder effort on the climb back, but wasn't quite able to get rid of everybody, so 3 people stayed with me and naturally I was sleeping during the sprint and finished 3rd.
The mountain bike season seems to be pretty much done, I will do the E 100 race next weekend and then get ready for the x season. It's that time of the year, I am so hoping for some bad weather for the x races, every single race this year I've done was in beautiful sunshiny weather. I love playing in the mud.
The race was fun, I was able to build up a lead after the climb up Wolf Creek Pass, only to ride for the next 20 miles or so into a very strong headwind. So a dozen or so people caught up to me and I was riding in the group for a while. Then I put in a harder effort on the climb back, but wasn't quite able to get rid of everybody, so 3 people stayed with me and naturally I was sleeping during the sprint and finished 3rd.
The mountain bike season seems to be pretty much done, I will do the E 100 race next weekend and then get ready for the x season. It's that time of the year, I am so hoping for some bad weather for the x races, every single race this year I've done was in beautiful sunshiny weather. I love playing in the mud.
nobody on the road, nobody on the beach....
Got back to mountain bike racing this past weekend in the Uintas for the final Intermountain Cup Race of the season. I was feeling fried all week from the past races, so I didn't do much riding the days before the race.
As I was driving up Mirror Lake Highway, a squirrel ran out in front of me and right under my car. I was just waiting for a crunching noise, but when I looked in the rear view mirrow, I saw one adrenalin pumped squirrel looking at me! What a rush that must have been. Must be like trying to cross the runway, with a departing plane coming at you. I don't think I'll try it, though.
The Evanston IMC race went well, I felt quite good and fresh, maybe a little tired from a late work night the day before. Bart set the pace from the start, Alex and myself were right on his wheel. Bart and Alex got about a 20 sec. lead on the long fire road climb on me, I was hauling ass to try to catch up to them on the downhill. I caught up to Bart, he flatted, and I wasn't too far off Alex. In the 2nd lap I started to feel better and was able to make up a few seconds on Alex, but couldn't quite catch him in the end. The whole time I was racing I had Don Hanley's "Boys of Summer" in my head, didn't bother me, though. I remember Blake saying once he had this annoying commercial stuck in his head during an entire race, I'd rather take Don Hanley.
Another 2nd place, a really fun race, too bad the I Cup Series is over for this year. Great organiztion of the race in Evanston, neutral feed with water bottles and cut up fruit and more drinks at the finish line. That makes every racer happy. Bart took first in the overall, I came in 2nd, 1-2 for Mona-Vie/Cannondale, can't complain about that. I wish I could have gone to the awards party later on in Evanston, free beer and pizza.....I always miss out on the good stuff. But I had to go to work and be nice to people in the restaurant.
BZ, Brandon and some other guys I talked to are going to Snowmass for the NORBA finals, a reliable source told me that the top 40 in the standings tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, we might see some local boys on the podium! I will do the road racing state champs in Francis instead. I bought "road racing for dummies" this past week and I even cleaned my bike. We'll see how it goes.
As I was driving up Mirror Lake Highway, a squirrel ran out in front of me and right under my car. I was just waiting for a crunching noise, but when I looked in the rear view mirrow, I saw one adrenalin pumped squirrel looking at me! What a rush that must have been. Must be like trying to cross the runway, with a departing plane coming at you. I don't think I'll try it, though.
The Evanston IMC race went well, I felt quite good and fresh, maybe a little tired from a late work night the day before. Bart set the pace from the start, Alex and myself were right on his wheel. Bart and Alex got about a 20 sec. lead on the long fire road climb on me, I was hauling ass to try to catch up to them on the downhill. I caught up to Bart, he flatted, and I wasn't too far off Alex. In the 2nd lap I started to feel better and was able to make up a few seconds on Alex, but couldn't quite catch him in the end. The whole time I was racing I had Don Hanley's "Boys of Summer" in my head, didn't bother me, though. I remember Blake saying once he had this annoying commercial stuck in his head during an entire race, I'd rather take Don Hanley.
Another 2nd place, a really fun race, too bad the I Cup Series is over for this year. Great organiztion of the race in Evanston, neutral feed with water bottles and cut up fruit and more drinks at the finish line. That makes every racer happy. Bart took first in the overall, I came in 2nd, 1-2 for Mona-Vie/Cannondale, can't complain about that. I wish I could have gone to the awards party later on in Evanston, free beer and pizza.....I always miss out on the good stuff. But I had to go to work and be nice to people in the restaurant.
BZ, Brandon and some other guys I talked to are going to Snowmass for the NORBA finals, a reliable source told me that the top 40 in the standings tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, we might see some local boys on the podium! I will do the road racing state champs in Francis instead. I bought "road racing for dummies" this past week and I even cleaned my bike. We'll see how it goes.
Road Racing
I wanted to go to Idaho to do a marathon xc race there, but since I had to work Friday and Saturday night I had to settle for a road race in Coalville. It was a 95 mile race, kind of an out-back-out-back course, it ended up good exercise. The roady scene sure is different than the mtn bike scene, seems like people are a little more uptight, just a little. I took a lot of crap for not having cleaned my bike in a while, I guess I rather ride my bike than clean it.
The race was funny, in a way, because as much as I enjoy road races, I always end up frying myself. Now I don't think of myself as stupid, but I have a hard time sittin in the pack and conserving energy and waiting for the right moment. I sit in the pack and my hr is 110, I might as well go for a walk. So I'm out there in the wind, chasing down breakaways etc. not really conserving much. Then I thought I'd do something halfway smart, when I saw 2 guys make a brakeaway and then one faded and came back. The 2nd guy looked pretty strong so I put in an effort to get up to him and thought maybe the 2 of us can do some damage. When I got to him the guy asked me for some water and I was happy to share since I thought he'd be the guy to work with. After I gave him some water he told me he was blown and he couldn't do anything. So I ended up working by myself for a while, but got caught. In the end I blew up pretty bad since for whatever reason they removed the neutral feed zone on the 2nd lap and all I had was about 2 bottles for a 4 hour race. All in all, I got what I wanted which was a good workout. Funny, how the dynamics work sometimes in a road race. Maybe next time I will "conserve" more energy.
The race was funny, in a way, because as much as I enjoy road races, I always end up frying myself. Now I don't think of myself as stupid, but I have a hard time sittin in the pack and conserving energy and waiting for the right moment. I sit in the pack and my hr is 110, I might as well go for a walk. So I'm out there in the wind, chasing down breakaways etc. not really conserving much. Then I thought I'd do something halfway smart, when I saw 2 guys make a brakeaway and then one faded and came back. The 2nd guy looked pretty strong so I put in an effort to get up to him and thought maybe the 2 of us can do some damage. When I got to him the guy asked me for some water and I was happy to share since I thought he'd be the guy to work with. After I gave him some water he told me he was blown and he couldn't do anything. So I ended up working by myself for a while, but got caught. In the end I blew up pretty bad since for whatever reason they removed the neutral feed zone on the 2nd lap and all I had was about 2 bottles for a 4 hour race. All in all, I got what I wanted which was a good workout. Funny, how the dynamics work sometimes in a road race. Maybe next time I will "conserve" more energy.
Breck 100
So I let myself talk into doing the Breck 100 this past weekend. I've never really ridden a bike for more than 5 hours, either mountain or road, so I really didn't know what to expect.
The race started at 6 am, WAY too early to even ride a bike, let alone start a 3000ft climb up to almost 13000 feet. I felt like breathing through a straw and the 50 hiki a bike sections really didn't improve my mood. Then after just 1 hour into the race I hit my derailleur on a rock and it ended up in my spokes. I somehow got it out and bent it back enough to continue riding. I lost my 4 easiest gears in the back and ended up riding like that for almost 7 hours. I was ready to give up, because the hard gears really took its toll on my on the steep climbs.
When I got back to the checkpoint, though, I saw I was only seconds behind 3rd. So
Grayson and Matt were working on my bike, changed my derailleur and cables etc and off I went for lap nr. 3. BIG thanks for their help, without them, I couldn't have finished the race. I lost a lot of time and ended up in 6th position after leaving the checkpoint. I really felt good, though, especially after the 8th hour and was able to pick up one guy ahead of me. Then, with just 3 miles to go I jammed my derailleur into the spokes again, this time so hard that I couldn't even get the wheel to move. So I started walking - pissed. After 10 min or so I figured I really had it with walking and was able to rip the derailleur right off and was able to get the wheel moving again. That way I could at least coast on the down hills. I ended up walking across the finish line, happy to finish.
I took me just over 10 1/2 hours, some serious chamois time. It was a great adventure and I think I 'll do the 100 miler in Park City, too. It was a whole new way of suffering and if it drained me physically it only made me stronger mentally. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
The race started at 6 am, WAY too early to even ride a bike, let alone start a 3000ft climb up to almost 13000 feet. I felt like breathing through a straw and the 50 hiki a bike sections really didn't improve my mood. Then after just 1 hour into the race I hit my derailleur on a rock and it ended up in my spokes. I somehow got it out and bent it back enough to continue riding. I lost my 4 easiest gears in the back and ended up riding like that for almost 7 hours. I was ready to give up, because the hard gears really took its toll on my on the steep climbs.
When I got back to the checkpoint, though, I saw I was only seconds behind 3rd. So
Grayson and Matt were working on my bike, changed my derailleur and cables etc and off I went for lap nr. 3. BIG thanks for their help, without them, I couldn't have finished the race. I lost a lot of time and ended up in 6th position after leaving the checkpoint. I really felt good, though, especially after the 8th hour and was able to pick up one guy ahead of me. Then, with just 3 miles to go I jammed my derailleur into the spokes again, this time so hard that I couldn't even get the wheel to move. So I started walking - pissed. After 10 min or so I figured I really had it with walking and was able to rip the derailleur right off and was able to get the wheel moving again. That way I could at least coast on the down hills. I ended up walking across the finish line, happy to finish.
I took me just over 10 1/2 hours, some serious chamois time. It was a great adventure and I think I 'll do the 100 miler in Park City, too. It was a whole new way of suffering and if it drained me physically it only made me stronger mentally. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
The monthly update
I guess I haven't been posting a lot lately, I've been kind of busy, plus running to the library to get onto a public computer to get online really sucks. That's also the reason why you haven't seen a single picture on my blog yet.
Did a few races since the Deer Valley NORBA, Solitude State Champs went ok, finished 3rd behind Alex G and Bart. Did the marathon race in Breckenridge, which was a ton of fun. I found out that I can do a 4 hour race and actually feel good doing it. I think I'll start doing more of those long races, they seem to fit my riding style. We also got our new Mona-Vie outfits, one green, one purple, I like them except I found out purple makes me look fat(or maybe I am). Check out Fox's website to see a picture of some of the Mona-Vie riders.
This past Saturday I went to Snowbird for the annual Mountain Bout. After a small technical mishap I was able to come from behind to finish 2nd behind Alex Grant, he really is on fire right now. Everybody seemed to be bitchy about the Snowbird course, but I have to say I kind of like it. I like the shorter loops and the DH was actually fun, I thought. Fast corners with some drifting action, what's wrong with that?
I was asking some guys after the race for some nutritional advice for the Breckenridge 100 which I'll be doing this weekend. I've never ridden a bike for more than 5 hours and am curious what I can eat during a 9-10 hour race. Maybe not so much what I can eat, but more what I can digest. I got some interesting info from Bart and Alex, see how it's going to work.
Bart, Jason and a bunch of other guys will be going to the Nationals this coming weekend, I am jelous that I can't go. I love the Mt. Snow course, certainly one of my favorites, too bad they won't let foreigners race at Nationals. Mt. Snow was the 1st mtb race I ever did, I remember lighting up a cigarette in the parking lot, I was still smoking back then.
The mountain bike season is almost done, I don't feel burned out at all. I guess my training has been kind of whacky this year, I still feel superfresh at least mentally. I am playing around with the thought of doing the X Terra in Ogden in August. I think the riding and running part wouldn't be a problem, the swim section might be a different story. I have no clue about the freestyle technique, maybe I'll just do the chest stroke, might be a little embarrassing, though. We'll see.
Did a few races since the Deer Valley NORBA, Solitude State Champs went ok, finished 3rd behind Alex G and Bart. Did the marathon race in Breckenridge, which was a ton of fun. I found out that I can do a 4 hour race and actually feel good doing it. I think I'll start doing more of those long races, they seem to fit my riding style. We also got our new Mona-Vie outfits, one green, one purple, I like them except I found out purple makes me look fat(or maybe I am). Check out Fox's website to see a picture of some of the Mona-Vie riders.
This past Saturday I went to Snowbird for the annual Mountain Bout. After a small technical mishap I was able to come from behind to finish 2nd behind Alex Grant, he really is on fire right now. Everybody seemed to be bitchy about the Snowbird course, but I have to say I kind of like it. I like the shorter loops and the DH was actually fun, I thought. Fast corners with some drifting action, what's wrong with that?
I was asking some guys after the race for some nutritional advice for the Breckenridge 100 which I'll be doing this weekend. I've never ridden a bike for more than 5 hours and am curious what I can eat during a 9-10 hour race. Maybe not so much what I can eat, but more what I can digest. I got some interesting info from Bart and Alex, see how it's going to work.
Bart, Jason and a bunch of other guys will be going to the Nationals this coming weekend, I am jelous that I can't go. I love the Mt. Snow course, certainly one of my favorites, too bad they won't let foreigners race at Nationals. Mt. Snow was the 1st mtb race I ever did, I remember lighting up a cigarette in the parking lot, I was still smoking back then.
The mountain bike season is almost done, I don't feel burned out at all. I guess my training has been kind of whacky this year, I still feel superfresh at least mentally. I am playing around with the thought of doing the X Terra in Ogden in August. I think the riding and running part wouldn't be a problem, the swim section might be a different story. I have no clue about the freestyle technique, maybe I'll just do the chest stroke, might be a little embarrassing, though. We'll see.
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