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Monday, March 9, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Wet and gritty
This was my first Oregon road race since I moved out here in August, I was super excited to get back into it. As much as I love cross and mountain biking, road racing is still a lot of fun.
In the OBRA series everything is a little different than what I was used to back in the Midwest. For starters you are issued two lycra numbers to last through-out the season, and you can preregister for all the races. This cuts down on a lot of annoying headaches associated with racing. But with biking being very popular out here, the fields are large and strong. The fields are broke down by Cat 1/2, Cat 3, Cat 4, Cat 5A, and Cat 5b, also a large number of master fields as well. I am registered for the Cat 4 series with my eyes on upgrading to Cat 3 this season.
Today’s race was stage 1 of a three part series called the Banana Belt. 44 miles around beautiful Hagg Lake (actually is beautiful) the course rolls up and down quite a bit (overall elevation gain of 750 ft). The Cat 4 field seemed to be around 100 riders for the day, all unfamiliar to me, except Andrew Utz. The weather was not-cooperative, it was raining the entire race and everyone was covered in grit and dirt from the road, it looked like we just finished a cross race.
My goals for the day were simple, don’t chase or attack anything. Sit in and finish with the pack. I was just trying to figure out my fitness level and get a feel for racing again. Also being so early in the season there was a lot of general uneasiness in the peloton; lots of dropped water bottles, a crash, general bumping, and the words “slowing” repeatedly. Road racing.
I was sticking to my plans well until the final 7 miles. A rider from Team BEER charged up a hill with another on his wheel, they gapped the field by a decent margin. When this happened I was sitting 5th wheel and decided to go after it, a man in a pumpkin-orange kit followed. We got up to the 2 man crew and joined in, we put on about 100 ft of distance between us and the peloton, it seemed like we could hold it. But some of the guys decided to sit-up and get reeled back in. I knew this was going to cost me; the biggest hill was near the finish.
Still sitting near the front and approaching a sketchy-downhill turn, I decided to jump into the lead, coast down the hill and take the turn fast. This time Andrew was sitting behind me, we flew out of the sketchy turn and put on a decent 50 ft gap, 3 miles left. A few other riders decided to join us in another attempt at a break. The other riders were total assholes or smarter than us. They just sat on our wheels and refused to pull. During this confusion/waste of time, the pack caught up. Screw it, might as well finish with the pack. Too bad I had burnt all my matches in the last 7 miles and bonked on the final hill leaving nothing for the finish.
Overall I felt great to be racing again, even in the cold, gritty, rain that was today. I learned who to stay away from in the pack and who to stick to. Andrew and I worked very well together; I think it is going to be a great season racing with him.
This was also the last race for my road bike; this is the first bike I had ever built up (wheels and all) and have been riding it for three great years. The new bike is a big upgrade and I am really excited for the next stage of the Banana Belt to test it out.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Basket-less
Friday night as I was riding around with the ShowersPass team a little chainring bolt fell off. I didn't know this happened....and then this happened
The chainring just crumpled instantly, a good sign to lay off the EPO. Luckily I was only 2.5 miles from the ShowersPass headquarters which had beer and pizza. Home is only another 1.5 miles from there. I decided to turn this scenario into chance to finally get my commuter stripped and re-powdercoated.
Monday morning I dropped it off at Brooker Enterprises and I should have the frame and fork back in less than two weeks with a fresh new powdercoat on it. I got really used to the baby blue color so I went with a really close match. I also am going to use this opportunity as time to rebuild it with some new parts and fix things that were in need of repair. Here is what is going to be new on it:
Monday morning I dropped it off at Brooker Enterprises and I should have the frame and fork back in less than two weeks with a fresh new powdercoat on it. I got really used to the baby blue color so I went with a really close match. I also am going to use this opportunity as time to rebuild it with some new parts and fix things that were in need of repair. Here is what is going to be new on it:
- New chainring obviously and this time I am going to put on a carbon chainguard for style
- New pedals, the ones that are on it now are have been broken for years
- New Ruckus Comp. brakes (really a first prototype)
- New bar tape instead of the oury grips
- New bottom bracket
- New SS chain
- Replace the basket with a portuer style rack
- New Ruckus Comp carbon fenders
- I am in debate of paying for a new set of commuter wheels as well...really wanting to do it to finish off the package
Monday, February 16, 2009
Limp arms and a smile
The past two weekends in a row I have put in over 100 miles each with some tough climbs on the road, I have also been trying to put on 100 miles or so during the week.
Yesterdays ride shook my arms into a spaghettificaion state (no black holes present). I got talked into riding 10 miles of fire trail (bumpy off-road) on my road bike. While rough on the body and the bike I loved it. I need to put my cross bike back together so I can do some fun rides on it. Every now and then I need to remember that bike riding is a lot of fun; all the base training miles have beaten my brain into mud.
Today was the lunch time lawyer ride, small group due to the holiday. I was feeling pretty good so I decided to have some fun.
First hot lap I sat 3rd wheel following a strong rider who was pushing it. I flashed Andrew a hand signal that I was going to pound it and that he should follow. I jumped hard and he followed perfectly. I pulled for a brief moment but it was enough to slingshot him into the lead finish.
The 2nd hot lap I was curious to see what would happen, so I attempted to pull the entire lap and just pound it out. I got a small gap on the group and held it for most of the lap, I knew they were reeling me in though. I tried to keep it going but I was spent and sat up. Not strong enough.
Still feeling fairly spry on the hill brutalizer I decided to pound into it and see what would happen. I held a large gap for awhile and then got caught by 2 guys that are really freakishly good climbers. They gapped me by a bit but then I started reeling them back in, not fast enough for the finish though.
Training rides are for dumb mistakes and trying/playing tactics. Today I figured out that I should sit in for a little more and then make a move towards the end more. I know this is obvious, but sometimes you just have to learn it the hard way.
Yesterdays ride shook my arms into a spaghettificaion state (no black holes present). I got talked into riding 10 miles of fire trail (bumpy off-road) on my road bike. While rough on the body and the bike I loved it. I need to put my cross bike back together so I can do some fun rides on it. Every now and then I need to remember that bike riding is a lot of fun; all the base training miles have beaten my brain into mud.
Today was the lunch time lawyer ride, small group due to the holiday. I was feeling pretty good so I decided to have some fun.
First hot lap I sat 3rd wheel following a strong rider who was pushing it. I flashed Andrew a hand signal that I was going to pound it and that he should follow. I jumped hard and he followed perfectly. I pulled for a brief moment but it was enough to slingshot him into the lead finish.
The 2nd hot lap I was curious to see what would happen, so I attempted to pull the entire lap and just pound it out. I got a small gap on the group and held it for most of the lap, I knew they were reeling me in though. I tried to keep it going but I was spent and sat up. Not strong enough.
Still feeling fairly spry on the hill brutalizer I decided to pound into it and see what would happen. I held a large gap for awhile and then got caught by 2 guys that are really freakishly good climbers. They gapped me by a bit but then I started reeling them back in, not fast enough for the finish though.
Training rides are for dumb mistakes and trying/playing tactics. Today I figured out that I should sit in for a little more and then make a move towards the end more. I know this is obvious, but sometimes you just have to learn it the hard way.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
A soild week
Really I should have wrote this yesterday on my rest day.
Right now I am watching cyclocross worlds, I wish I got to race on a course like that. Flat, fast, nice turns....sadly the organizers of the cross crusades intend to make every race a slug out between the riders and the pits of mud. I m not complaining at all, I just need to get a lot better at handling technical terrain.
I got in all my rides this week as planned and am no worse for wear. I am much further in training this year than I have ever been in my life. I feel in 2 more weeks I will be at my previous peak, which isn't much of peak but more of a gentle hill. This is making me really excited to start the racing season again. What I am not excited for is my road bike, it is in desperate need of a tune-up right now.
Currently I feel as though I might be on the verge of coming down with a cold. One of my roommates was sick this week, I tried to avoid it like the plague but who knows.
Right now I am watching cyclocross worlds, I wish I got to race on a course like that. Flat, fast, nice turns....sadly the organizers of the cross crusades intend to make every race a slug out between the riders and the pits of mud. I m not complaining at all, I just need to get a lot better at handling technical terrain.
I got in all my rides this week as planned and am no worse for wear. I am much further in training this year than I have ever been in my life. I feel in 2 more weeks I will be at my previous peak, which isn't much of peak but more of a gentle hill. This is making me really excited to start the racing season again. What I am not excited for is my road bike, it is in desperate need of a tune-up right now.
Currently I feel as though I might be on the verge of coming down with a cold. One of my roommates was sick this week, I tried to avoid it like the plague but who knows.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
schedule update
So to keep myself on schedule I resorted to extremes, that's right I made a training schedule wallpaper for my computer. That way I will always feel guilty about not riding.
Image best viewed when listening to this
Image best viewed when listening to this
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Lunch-time lawyer ride
Thursdays, the day when around 40 of Portlands finest lawyers, attorneys, rich guys, and masters go for a group hill ride from downtown.
This is the ride where you realize your bike is not worth enough, when some of them show up with their "B" bikes and it is a Pinarello. Interesting note a guy on a recumbent showed up.
It is about a 16 mile steep hill climb adventure with 45 mph winding descents through the west hills of Portland.
I am starting to feel good about hill climbing again, my 39:25 isn't very efficient for me, the new build will definitely have a compact crankset. Tomorrow is more base miles. Looking forward to the upcoming season.
Overall it is a fun time, everyone seems to string out up the hills and then regroup on the top. Some of these guys are fast and can drop the hammer. I usually finish about 3~5 on all the hill climbs, which is a good start for this early in the season considering I have a few more pounds to drop, a slow bike, and an endless amount of excuses on losing.
Side note: This is the Urban Dictionary definition of "dropping the hammer"
| dropping the hammer | ||
when sitting, you get up and fart on a persons head while they are watching tv, or playing a game, then you yell the name out | ||
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Training update 2
I have been putting on lots of base miles as of late. Around 200 miles a week
A good effort almost every day. When it is nice out I put on 30 miles of flat little-ring riding to Sauvie Island and back. Other days I have been riding the trainer in the basement for 45 minutes.
Overall I think I am over-exerting myself with training and commuting. The commuter miles lately have been the worst, from towing many larges pieces of wood in the wind, to lots of wind miles in general have really been taking a toll on my recovery. The commuter miles will lessen up real soon.
I started jumping on the Thursday lawyer ride, I forgot how much more interesting riding hills can be. It is also fun to be riding in a group again. This ride is probably more exertion than I need for training, but it is more of a mental exercise than physical right now.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Training update
I was using my roommates rollers for a week and I must say rollers are much better than a trainer. At first they were awkward to ride but they really honed in my balance in only a few sessions. The bad part with these is that the drum diameter is tiny, approximately 1 inch diameter, so they are really hard to spin.
Taking advantage of this freakish January weather I have been outside every morning putting in 25 miles. Right now I am feeling slightly tired, so I am going to take a day off and then hit it again. It feels good to be riding outside again and is making me really excited for the road season. As much as I love cyclocross and want to peak for the season, I am really drawn to criteriums and road races.
I am still trying to get the body back into training shape, drop a few pounds, and generally get back my snap.
I am dreaming about building up a new racing machine for the road season. The Bianchi is heavier than most, the wheels are heavy, and everything is incredibly flexy. Great for training on because it is soft and supple but there is a lot of power loss due to the flex.
Lusting over the new Dura-ace as gruppo, use my carbon tubulars, and build up a custom carbon frame.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Start of the off-season
Back in Portland and about to officially start up the off-season base miles.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Off Season Training
Now until January (I ll be in Wisconsin for 9 days and this will disrupt my training) I am getting back into shape and laying some base miles down. I am putting together a training schedule for the new year. Hiring a coach is on my mind right now, I think it will really help me attain my goals. Also I am going to document my riding more, with a brief synopsis everyday. My wonderful girlfriend is also going to encourage me as much as possible and help me keep on track to help reach my racing goals of being a good Cat 3 next season on the road, and a good Cat A for cyclocross.
Last night I finished rebuilding my road bike and today I took it out for a 3 hour ride. I forgot how much fun road bikes are. Originally I had intended it to be a shorter ride to adjust everything but just kept going and going. My bike is going to be a perfect off-season trainer for the upcoming road season. It is heavy (compared to road bikes), super flexy (lots of energy loss), and outfitted with fenders/lights/saddlebags, this will make my eventual new race bike seem that much faster.
USGP--Portland Cup
A few weeks off from racing since the Cross Crusade series ended. This was a nice break and I was trying to stay in shape and get ready for the off-season by running every day for 5 miles. This was mildly successful, usually each week I would get in 3~4 days a week. My bad.
Overall I was having a bad race, mechanical problems with the bike on various fronts. A course that I would normally do well on. A fun course that sent us through a moto-cross course with lots of fun burms and a roller coaster type track. Overall I was off, nothing was working right.
This was a race where I wanted to quit, I wasn't having fun and generally was annoyed life. I decided to stick it out and finished. Not a winning and not worth a lot of write-up.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Season in review
It is the end of the racing season for me once again, this is a time for review to see what I have accomplished this season (technically the US Grand Prix is coming up on December 6th/7th and I am racing it).
Originally my goals were to move to Cat 3 on the road.
Fail, but at least got some points on the board.
Start mountain biking.
Success and had fun doing it.
Survive Portland cyclocross and see where I fit in.
Success in my opinion. With a decent starting position I could usually work up to mid-20s or 30s out of 100 or so riders in the B category.
Super commuting
Success, my bike has full fenders, moustache bars, and a front basket now.
Overall I am happiest with my cyclocross season. This is my favorite style of racing and in my opinion where I excel, and one of the main reasons on why I moved to Portland.
Preliminary goals for next season:
Road
Actually move to Cat 3 in OBRA and compete occasionally during the road season.
Mountain
Compete in the short track series on my 29'er and have a lot of fun exploring Oregon wilderness and hopefully get a full suspension mountain bike.
Cyclocross
Be a top 20 A rider or better. This is my main goal for next season and my whole training purpose.
Commuting
Not get hit, live a car free life, and never wear an orange reflective vest or ankle straps.
Find a local like-minded team that I can join.
Originally my goals were to move to Cat 3 on the road.
Fail, but at least got some points on the board.
Start mountain biking.
Success and had fun doing it.
Survive Portland cyclocross and see where I fit in.
Success in my opinion. With a decent starting position I could usually work up to mid-20s or 30s out of 100 or so riders in the B category.
Super commuting
Success, my bike has full fenders, moustache bars, and a front basket now.
Overall I am happiest with my cyclocross season. This is my favorite style of racing and in my opinion where I excel, and one of the main reasons on why I moved to Portland.
Preliminary goals for next season:
Road
Actually move to Cat 3 in OBRA and compete occasionally during the road season.
Mountain
Compete in the short track series on my 29'er and have a lot of fun exploring Oregon wilderness and hopefully get a full suspension mountain bike.
Cyclocross
Be a top 20 A rider or better. This is my main goal for next season and my whole training purpose.
Commuting
Not get hit, live a car free life, and never wear an orange reflective vest or ankle straps.
Find a local like-minded team that I can join.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Cross Crusade 8 (State Championships Hillsboro)
The OBRA Cross Crusades championships, I have done all the races (except for one) this entire season, it has been a season of delicious oatmeal, hot apple cider, minor injuries, bad starts, and lots of mud. But I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.
This race yielded another bad lottery starting position (I will never gamble) and I was third from the last out, so that started me around 80th or so. The start was fast, but since I have been starting at the rear of every race I have been greatly improving my starting style. I am able to quickly pass 15~~20 riders before the first technical section. This is where it always gets complicated.
The first technical section was a “mystery” steaming wood chip pile section that was about 100ft long or so. With a wood chip burm going into it and another wood chip burm coming out of it. Being early into the race this yield into a 100 person pile-up. Like everyone else I dismounted and started running passed people until I snagged my rear wheel on some guy’s handlebars and I started dragging him. It took a second during this mayhem to unhook this dead weight and I was quickly back on the bike and riding off.
Overall it wasn’t an overly technical course, almost all the turns were rutted and slippery but compared to everything else that has been thrown at us this season it wasn’t a big deal. There was the standard 6-pack of barriers but with a straight and fast entry and exit.
The major hilariously technical section was the rodeo arena where we pretty much had to do a large u-turn around 100 yards long. I pre-rode this section three times to see if I could figure a way through it. The first time I rode and got about 40% in, when I hit a hidden hole that sucked my front wheel in up to my hub, I stopped instantly and almost fell. A quick mental note on the location and I tried it again. This time I avoided the hidden pit, but it was still next to impossible to ride. On my third attempt I tried constantly popping wheelies to keep my front wheel from being sucked in, this also put more weight on my back wheel yielding some more traction. This surprisingly worked fairly well and I was able to power through this ridiculous section.
After pre-riding this section my bike was beyond muddy as was my body. I had to go over to the wash area and clean everything off. Oregon is probably the only place where you get beyond dirty from pre-riding the course.
Overall it was a very fast paced race. I ended up finishing around 38th on the day, which is fairly mediocre, but considering my starting position I am still fairly happy with it.
While the Cross Crusades series is over that does not mean cyclocross has ended in Oregon at all. The US Grand Prix series will be in Portland at PIR in December. I am really looking forward to this race because all the fast boys/girls are coming to town to show off what they got. This was also one of my favorite courses so far this season and I am also looking forward to some first rate super fanning to happen. Ryan Trebon will be back and I am ready to yell at this fast fast stork of a man that has more seat tube than top-tube on his bike.
Also I just found this, Portland offers a bicycle racer specific yoga class…..interesting http://www.umakleppinger.com/bikeyoga.html
A Vanilla rider powering through the slop
The easier section of the rodeo arena.
A lot of people actually ran the whole length of it and it proved to be fairly successful. I opt to ride as much as possible because well I race bikes to not run.
Steaming wood chip section.
I think she has a smile on her face.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Cross Crusade 7 (PIR) SSCXWC
Now I have been bicycle racing for almost two years now and I was very unprepared for todays events. The magnitude of everything today was extremely off the charts and it has been the most fun I have ever had bike racing or super-fanning.
For starters it was Ruckus Components give-away day. One of the lucky recipients gave me a custom cowbell of epic proportions and the tastiest garlic mayonnaises french fries in existence. Also to boot for $3 you got a nice Cross Crusade pint glass. Which comes with UNLIMITED BEER ALL DAY. Yes UNLIMITED BEER ALL DAY. 21 kegs were demolished through-out the day.
My friend Alex has been in town and was interested in trying a cross race. He told me that he had been biking quite a bit. So I lent him Rita, my 29er mountain bike. Alex got the DFL award (dead fucking last) of the beginner category. He came back muddy and extremely tired and then proceeded to drink his share of beer (11 pints in total). Alex did a great job, he never quit and finished the race completely and had a great time and seems to be hooked now.
Having about 3 hours to kill before my race I got in a lot of good scouting and pre-riding in. It was very very very necessary. The course was muddy. Not wet spray in your face muddy like last week, but slow, sticky, energy sapping muddy. Some parts were so sticky that even on the flats it was near impossible to ride.
I don't know what it is, but apparently I suck at lotterys. My number was second to last today (started about 90th). Luckily the start was a decently long straight-away before it reached the first technical section. I dropped every hammer I was carrying and passed a large number of riders quickly working up to mid 60s.
The first technical section was insane. There was a tough muddy off camber uphill section which then kicked you down into a 6 inch deep sticky mudhole that basically grabbed onto you and took away every bit of momentum you were carrying. This was brutal sometimes I was able to punch it out of the hole and then attempt the next hill which was painfully muddy as well. It was really hit or miss if people could ride it or not. If you were able to stay on the bike and keep moving you would definitely pass people. But if you had to dismount at all, you were screwed. It was pretty much impossible to get riding again and you had to end up running a long ways before you could remount.
Part of this section also had a rutted muddy downhill section which put you in a water pit area about 30 ft long. This was almost a relief because your tires would get cleaned off a little, but shortly there after more energy sucking mud.
After this brutal hell hole of mud. You had a short section of crushed gravel which lead to a large concrete "barrier". This was a great place to super fan because various people were able to launch up it and jump it. Following the "barrier" there was a calm section of large swooping grass turns. A lot of riders were recovering here and going slower. This is when I would turn it up and pass a lot of guys.
For the B race, they decided to add more barriers and put in a small double barrier section along the grandstands. After this there was a few quick turns a short downhill and then a four pack of barriers up a muddy hill through a wind mill that would turn periodically. Following this set there was a very slippery off camber turn and then onto some more crushed gravel onwards to the second technical section.
A quick uphill and then a mud pit which would quickly wreck any plans of holding a line going into the hardest section of the day. A very very very steep dowhill section with a 180 degree turn at the bottom and then back up it. Imagine the steepest hill you know, run down it go 10 ft then try and run back up. Now do this when it is extremely rutted out and so muddy that you can hardly stay upright. This was the best place to super-fan because everyone was sliding down the hill hilariously. The uphill was way too steep to ride so some riders would just run the whole section. These got heckled. Others would try and coast to the bottom, sometimes successfully and other well lets just say they made it to the bottom. I slid down this hill on my side four out of nine times I attempted it. Luckily three of those were during warm-up laps. Once past this section there was a long twisty fast and muddy section and then the finish line.
Overall I felt great and raced fairly well. I passed over a hundred some riders and ended up 30th overall. My main personal victory is that I only got lapped ONCE by Ryan Trebon.
SIDE NOTE: They made a special qualifier for Ryan Trebon for him to race the SingleSpeed World Championships race. He had to win the regular SingleSpeed race and then must win the Mens A race on a SingleSpeed if was going to race in the last race. Three hours of brutal racing should tire him out and it kind of did. He very very easily won the first two races and then got third in the championship race. Also I heckled him to a hilarious degree every time he would come by.
Now that I was done racing it was time for some serious super-fanning with my new cowbell for the SSCXWC. I got a good number of beers in me first and then was ready. I really regret not doing this race. It looked like an amazing amount of fun. They were setting off smoke bombs on the course, had the windmill rotate faster, put out more barriers and turned on a large foam machine to make a foam wall. More than half the field was in costume of some sorts to some ridiculous degree. Tandems/burleys/eXtracycls/bmx it was all legal as long as it was singlespeed. My favorite of the day was one guy had nine 19 tooth cogs in the back and two 39 tooth chainrings in the front and full derailleurs. Now he could shift but it would always be the same gear. This race was amazing too watch, it was pure insanity.
EDIT: Bike weight before race 17.2 lbs. Bike weight after race 24.5 lbs. That is a lot of mud.
Cutest tandem couple ever. This guy from Canada got heckled a lot.
Who wears white shoes, white socks, and a white shirt to a muddy cross race? Oh wait Alex does.
Pink Spider Man attacking the foam.
Me running the concrete barrier.
Polka dot biking+Cowbell+leg warmers+rain boots = Portland Cyclocross
Foam wall part 2.
This area was hilarious to watch.
This guy and I went back and forth for the last two laps. He could bunny hop barriers and ride everything I couldn't but was slower on the straight aways. He beat me.
Alex attacking the barriers, shirt still clean.
Awesome drum group.
Painfully running towards the windmill.
This section was tricky.
This is the tricky downhill off camber and then run up section.
There was a sit up contest to decide to won this frame.
I am not sure exactly what this guy in PBR cans was.
Crowd shot.
This guy could jump the concrete barrier quite well.
SMOKE BOMB
For starters it was Ruckus Components give-away day. One of the lucky recipients gave me a custom cowbell of epic proportions and the tastiest garlic mayonnaises french fries in existence. Also to boot for $3 you got a nice Cross Crusade pint glass. Which comes with UNLIMITED BEER ALL DAY. Yes UNLIMITED BEER ALL DAY. 21 kegs were demolished through-out the day.
My friend Alex has been in town and was interested in trying a cross race. He told me that he had been biking quite a bit. So I lent him Rita, my 29er mountain bike. Alex got the DFL award (dead fucking last) of the beginner category. He came back muddy and extremely tired and then proceeded to drink his share of beer (11 pints in total). Alex did a great job, he never quit and finished the race completely and had a great time and seems to be hooked now.
Having about 3 hours to kill before my race I got in a lot of good scouting and pre-riding in. It was very very very necessary. The course was muddy. Not wet spray in your face muddy like last week, but slow, sticky, energy sapping muddy. Some parts were so sticky that even on the flats it was near impossible to ride.
I don't know what it is, but apparently I suck at lotterys. My number was second to last today (started about 90th). Luckily the start was a decently long straight-away before it reached the first technical section. I dropped every hammer I was carrying and passed a large number of riders quickly working up to mid 60s.
The first technical section was insane. There was a tough muddy off camber uphill section which then kicked you down into a 6 inch deep sticky mudhole that basically grabbed onto you and took away every bit of momentum you were carrying. This was brutal sometimes I was able to punch it out of the hole and then attempt the next hill which was painfully muddy as well. It was really hit or miss if people could ride it or not. If you were able to stay on the bike and keep moving you would definitely pass people. But if you had to dismount at all, you were screwed. It was pretty much impossible to get riding again and you had to end up running a long ways before you could remount.
Part of this section also had a rutted muddy downhill section which put you in a water pit area about 30 ft long. This was almost a relief because your tires would get cleaned off a little, but shortly there after more energy sucking mud.
After this brutal hell hole of mud. You had a short section of crushed gravel which lead to a large concrete "barrier". This was a great place to super fan because various people were able to launch up it and jump it. Following the "barrier" there was a calm section of large swooping grass turns. A lot of riders were recovering here and going slower. This is when I would turn it up and pass a lot of guys.
For the B race, they decided to add more barriers and put in a small double barrier section along the grandstands. After this there was a few quick turns a short downhill and then a four pack of barriers up a muddy hill through a wind mill that would turn periodically. Following this set there was a very slippery off camber turn and then onto some more crushed gravel onwards to the second technical section.
A quick uphill and then a mud pit which would quickly wreck any plans of holding a line going into the hardest section of the day. A very very very steep dowhill section with a 180 degree turn at the bottom and then back up it. Imagine the steepest hill you know, run down it go 10 ft then try and run back up. Now do this when it is extremely rutted out and so muddy that you can hardly stay upright. This was the best place to super-fan because everyone was sliding down the hill hilariously. The uphill was way too steep to ride so some riders would just run the whole section. These got heckled. Others would try and coast to the bottom, sometimes successfully and other well lets just say they made it to the bottom. I slid down this hill on my side four out of nine times I attempted it. Luckily three of those were during warm-up laps. Once past this section there was a long twisty fast and muddy section and then the finish line.
Overall I felt great and raced fairly well. I passed over a hundred some riders and ended up 30th overall. My main personal victory is that I only got lapped ONCE by Ryan Trebon.
SIDE NOTE: They made a special qualifier for Ryan Trebon for him to race the SingleSpeed World Championships race. He had to win the regular SingleSpeed race and then must win the Mens A race on a SingleSpeed if was going to race in the last race. Three hours of brutal racing should tire him out and it kind of did. He very very easily won the first two races and then got third in the championship race. Also I heckled him to a hilarious degree every time he would come by.
Now that I was done racing it was time for some serious super-fanning with my new cowbell for the SSCXWC. I got a good number of beers in me first and then was ready. I really regret not doing this race. It looked like an amazing amount of fun. They were setting off smoke bombs on the course, had the windmill rotate faster, put out more barriers and turned on a large foam machine to make a foam wall. More than half the field was in costume of some sorts to some ridiculous degree. Tandems/burleys/eXtracycls/bmx it was all legal as long as it was singlespeed. My favorite of the day was one guy had nine 19 tooth cogs in the back and two 39 tooth chainrings in the front and full derailleurs. Now he could shift but it would always be the same gear. This race was amazing too watch, it was pure insanity.
EDIT: Bike weight before race 17.2 lbs. Bike weight after race 24.5 lbs. That is a lot of mud.
Cutest tandem couple ever. This guy from Canada got heckled a lot.
Who wears white shoes, white socks, and a white shirt to a muddy cross race? Oh wait Alex does.
Pink Spider Man attacking the foam.
Me running the concrete barrier.
Polka dot biking+Cowbell+leg warmers+rain boots = Portland Cyclocross
Foam wall part 2.
This area was hilarious to watch.
This guy and I went back and forth for the last two laps. He could bunny hop barriers and ride everything I couldn't but was slower on the straight aways. He beat me.
Alex attacking the barriers, shirt still clean.
Awesome drum group.
Painfully running towards the windmill.
This section was tricky.
This is the tricky downhill off camber and then run up section.
There was a sit up contest to decide to won this frame.
I am not sure exactly what this guy in PBR cans was.
Crowd shot.
This guy could jump the concrete barrier quite well.
SMOKE BOMB
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Cross Crusade 6 (Barton Park)
Now this is cyclocross.
Try to explain to anyone why you would pay $22 to possibly injure yourself, break expensive components, get soaking wet, eat large volumes of mud, and stain everything you brought that day and they would certainly not understand unless they also raced cyclocross. Barton park is a race of what cross dreams are made of. It was impossible to look around at the some 1200 racers and spectators and not see a huge smile underneath layers of mud on the faces of everyone.
Best photographer at Cross Crusades, I highly suggest click through the slideshow.
http://pdxcross.com/2008/11/03/barton-park-photo-slideshow/
As the Mens B and Singlespeeders were lining up, the sky opened up and began to rain even more. As this happened the approaching sounds of sirens were heard. First an ambulance and then a firetruck and various police cars. Brad Ross explained that someone just got seriously injured (later found out that it was a broken jaw) on a very very treacherous off-camber/rocky/muddy/slippery/steep downhill section. The OBRA officials decided to quickly cut out this part of the course because someone had already broke their collarbone on this same section earlier in the day. Honestly I was relieved this part was really scary to ride and I mainly just held on for dear life and tried to keep my wheels underneath me.
The lottery system was once again my foe. My number was third from the end. Oh well today was more about having fun than racing at this point. The start was a fast pavement section that lead to a sweeping gravel road. This was one of two portions of the course that were moderately safe. All of the downhills had large smooth rocks on them (very very slippery) and there was mud and standing water on every section of the course.
According to UCI (cyclocross governing body) barriers must be a maximum of 18 inches in height unless they are natural barriers. In the Cross Crusades the word "natural" means large concrete walls much much taller than 18 inches. There were two sets of these "natural" Portland barriers.
It was hard to hold any sort of line while riding through this course. It was very easy to slide off track and quickly go out of bounds (I lost track of how many times I did this). Overall I was not on my A game at all. Clearly lacking techincal skills I was going fairly slowly and then kicking on the turbo boosters on anything that was moderately safe. I did alright to hang with a group of riders for the most of the day. Overall I was having too much fun too focus on going extremely fast (loser talk) and finished 68th out of 100 riders or so.
My victory is that I didn't fall and hurt myself or wreck anything. I also finished the day with a few beers, some complimentary hot apple cider from Chris King, and a bowl of the most delicious oatmeal from Bob's Red Mill. These two sponsors are at every race feeding and hydrating everyone for free.
The highlight of the day was watching everyone clean off themselves and their bikes in the biggest "cleanest" puddle. After the Womens A race, there were many ladies soaking wet and covered in mud cleaning off. I am sure many guys were dreaming of this moment all season.
It took me 45 minutes to clean my bike and 3 repeated loads of laundry to get my jersey clean.
Here is a video shot from the day, it shows all the hilarity that ensued from the steep hills and wet slippery conditions.
Try to explain to anyone why you would pay $22 to possibly injure yourself, break expensive components, get soaking wet, eat large volumes of mud, and stain everything you brought that day and they would certainly not understand unless they also raced cyclocross. Barton park is a race of what cross dreams are made of. It was impossible to look around at the some 1200 racers and spectators and not see a huge smile underneath layers of mud on the faces of everyone.
Best photographer at Cross Crusades, I highly suggest click through the slideshow.
http://pdxcross.com/2008/11/03/barton-park-photo-slideshow/
As the Mens B and Singlespeeders were lining up, the sky opened up and began to rain even more. As this happened the approaching sounds of sirens were heard. First an ambulance and then a firetruck and various police cars. Brad Ross explained that someone just got seriously injured (later found out that it was a broken jaw) on a very very treacherous off-camber/rocky/muddy/slippery/steep downhill section. The OBRA officials decided to quickly cut out this part of the course because someone had already broke their collarbone on this same section earlier in the day. Honestly I was relieved this part was really scary to ride and I mainly just held on for dear life and tried to keep my wheels underneath me.
The lottery system was once again my foe. My number was third from the end. Oh well today was more about having fun than racing at this point. The start was a fast pavement section that lead to a sweeping gravel road. This was one of two portions of the course that were moderately safe. All of the downhills had large smooth rocks on them (very very slippery) and there was mud and standing water on every section of the course.
According to UCI (cyclocross governing body) barriers must be a maximum of 18 inches in height unless they are natural barriers. In the Cross Crusades the word "natural" means large concrete walls much much taller than 18 inches. There were two sets of these "natural" Portland barriers.
It was hard to hold any sort of line while riding through this course. It was very easy to slide off track and quickly go out of bounds (I lost track of how many times I did this). Overall I was not on my A game at all. Clearly lacking techincal skills I was going fairly slowly and then kicking on the turbo boosters on anything that was moderately safe. I did alright to hang with a group of riders for the most of the day. Overall I was having too much fun too focus on going extremely fast (loser talk) and finished 68th out of 100 riders or so.
My victory is that I didn't fall and hurt myself or wreck anything. I also finished the day with a few beers, some complimentary hot apple cider from Chris King, and a bowl of the most delicious oatmeal from Bob's Red Mill. These two sponsors are at every race feeding and hydrating everyone for free.
The highlight of the day was watching everyone clean off themselves and their bikes in the biggest "cleanest" puddle. After the Womens A race, there were many ladies soaking wet and covered in mud cleaning off. I am sure many guys were dreaming of this moment all season.
It took me 45 minutes to clean my bike and 3 repeated loads of laundry to get my jersey clean.
Here is a video shot from the day, it shows all the hilarity that ensued from the steep hills and wet slippery conditions.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Cross Crusade 4 (Clatsop Fairgrounds)
This weekend was a double Halloween race weekend in Astoria, Oregon (coastal harbor town) at the Clatsop Fairgrounds.
Andrew wasn't able to race anymore due to an "accident" that his bike sustained, but was still kind enough to come along for the 2 hour drive. He brought his road bike to climb the Astoria Column, while I was racing around. It was supposed to be a 2 hour drive to Astoria. We successfully made it a 3 hour drive by attempting to get closer to Seattle.
Strange side note, the weather prediction for Oregon has been nothing but 65 degrees and beautiful. The closer we got to Seattle the more it clouded over and soon began to rain.
Since we took some extra time to get to the Astoria, I only had one hour before my race. My favorite part of racing in Oregon is that it literally takes one minute to register. I suited up and dropped my wheels in the pit and went off down the road to warm up a little. There was no way that I would be able to pre-ride the course at all since there were people racing back-to-back before my race.
Since my number was drawn last for the race at Rainer Highschool, this week I got the chance to line up first. I got lined up around 30th place or so behind the points leaders. The major downside was that I didn't know where I was going at all, this makes it incredibly hard to go really fast.
After the customary feat of strength (this week it was an egg toss) that is performed before every race to decide who goes first (Mens B vs Singlespeeds), the singlespeeders were off first. The B's were off a few minutes later. We were quickly led down a steep bumpy section that had lots of swoopy turns. These turns at first seemed really slow to me and I was taking them slow and getting passed. The bottom section then led into steep climb, which was very rideable until they put a barrier in the middle of it.
It is generally very difficult to remount your bike going up hill so I just ran it. This was the last time I ran it because I was getting passed here as well.
This hill kicked us into section that went like this
dark horse barn (100 ft)
180 degree turn
race between barns
180 degree turn
dark horse barn (100 ft)
180 degree turn
race between barns
180 degree turn
dark horse barn (100 ft)
180 degree turn
race between barns
180 degree turn
and finally out. All the turns going in and out of the barns were strangely wet and slick. Various people were sliding out here. This was one of my favorite sections of the course.
We were then kicked through the standard 6-pack of barriers. My barrier skills have really improved a lot and I have been passing many riders through them. I pass people not because I am a fast runner (which I am not) but due to the fact that I dismount at the absolute last second before going in. While everyone else is already running or in the middle of a dismount I am still pedaling into it.
The next section was a longer and steeper uphill bumpy climb. The first lap I wasn't very efficient in this section and just held my line. Everyone had little traction because of the bumps and were pedaling in the same fashion. Mashing down and then relaxing with each pedal stroke. I noticed this quickly and changed my own tactics.
I started saying "round round round" in my head. I was trying to apply power all the way around the stroke. This worked extremely well, this evened out my power transfer and soon on every lap thereafter I was able to always pass multiple people going up this section.
Following this hill there was a long bumpy downhill section that was super fast and fun. This course was so bumpy and fast that I actually gave myself blisters on the sides of my hands from holding my brifters (brake/shifters). FYI: I was wearing bike gloves as well.
A few large swoopy off camber turns, an awesome kicker for air and then another horse barn. This one was a large show barn, this was trickier to ride than it seems. Mainly because you were coming in from the outside sunshine and coming into a shadowed area of loose dirt/gravel/sand. It was amazing.
It took me about two laps to figure out the course completely. This is when I started taking every turn at full speed and hammering out of turn. I dominated the barns and hills. I started passing all the riders that took off in front of me. I felt fatigue during part of the race and this is mainly due to my lack of road miles right now. Overall I finished 25th out of 80 some riders.
This has been my best finish to date. This was a great race for many reasons. I was tactically paying attention to the course and the other riders going my speed, this helped immensely because I knew where to recover and each lap I knew what I had to improve on. I attribute a lot of this to my good starting position.
Usually the first two laps I am much too focused on passing all the slower riders to get up to a good position that once I get up there I don't have a good tactics base yet.
Awesome photo from http://www.cheryljwillson.com/gallery/v/album_010/IMG_8056.JPG.html
Andrew wasn't able to race anymore due to an "accident" that his bike sustained, but was still kind enough to come along for the 2 hour drive. He brought his road bike to climb the Astoria Column, while I was racing around. It was supposed to be a 2 hour drive to Astoria. We successfully made it a 3 hour drive by attempting to get closer to Seattle.
Strange side note, the weather prediction for Oregon has been nothing but 65 degrees and beautiful. The closer we got to Seattle the more it clouded over and soon began to rain.
Since we took some extra time to get to the Astoria, I only had one hour before my race. My favorite part of racing in Oregon is that it literally takes one minute to register. I suited up and dropped my wheels in the pit and went off down the road to warm up a little. There was no way that I would be able to pre-ride the course at all since there were people racing back-to-back before my race.
Since my number was drawn last for the race at Rainer Highschool, this week I got the chance to line up first. I got lined up around 30th place or so behind the points leaders. The major downside was that I didn't know where I was going at all, this makes it incredibly hard to go really fast.
After the customary feat of strength (this week it was an egg toss) that is performed before every race to decide who goes first (Mens B vs Singlespeeds), the singlespeeders were off first. The B's were off a few minutes later. We were quickly led down a steep bumpy section that had lots of swoopy turns. These turns at first seemed really slow to me and I was taking them slow and getting passed. The bottom section then led into steep climb, which was very rideable until they put a barrier in the middle of it.
It is generally very difficult to remount your bike going up hill so I just ran it. This was the last time I ran it because I was getting passed here as well.
This hill kicked us into section that went like this
dark horse barn (100 ft)
180 degree turn
race between barns
180 degree turn
dark horse barn (100 ft)
180 degree turn
race between barns
180 degree turn
dark horse barn (100 ft)
180 degree turn
race between barns
180 degree turn
and finally out. All the turns going in and out of the barns were strangely wet and slick. Various people were sliding out here. This was one of my favorite sections of the course.
We were then kicked through the standard 6-pack of barriers. My barrier skills have really improved a lot and I have been passing many riders through them. I pass people not because I am a fast runner (which I am not) but due to the fact that I dismount at the absolute last second before going in. While everyone else is already running or in the middle of a dismount I am still pedaling into it.
The next section was a longer and steeper uphill bumpy climb. The first lap I wasn't very efficient in this section and just held my line. Everyone had little traction because of the bumps and were pedaling in the same fashion. Mashing down and then relaxing with each pedal stroke. I noticed this quickly and changed my own tactics.
I started saying "round round round" in my head. I was trying to apply power all the way around the stroke. This worked extremely well, this evened out my power transfer and soon on every lap thereafter I was able to always pass multiple people going up this section.
Following this hill there was a long bumpy downhill section that was super fast and fun. This course was so bumpy and fast that I actually gave myself blisters on the sides of my hands from holding my brifters (brake/shifters). FYI: I was wearing bike gloves as well.
A few large swoopy off camber turns, an awesome kicker for air and then another horse barn. This one was a large show barn, this was trickier to ride than it seems. Mainly because you were coming in from the outside sunshine and coming into a shadowed area of loose dirt/gravel/sand. It was amazing.
It took me about two laps to figure out the course completely. This is when I started taking every turn at full speed and hammering out of turn. I dominated the barns and hills. I started passing all the riders that took off in front of me. I felt fatigue during part of the race and this is mainly due to my lack of road miles right now. Overall I finished 25th out of 80 some riders.
This has been my best finish to date. This was a great race for many reasons. I was tactically paying attention to the course and the other riders going my speed, this helped immensely because I knew where to recover and each lap I knew what I had to improve on. I attribute a lot of this to my good starting position.
Usually the first two laps I am much too focused on passing all the slower riders to get up to a good position that once I get up there I don't have a good tactics base yet.
Awesome photo from http://www.cheryljwillson.com/gallery/v/album_010/IMG_8056.JPG.html
 |
| People are strange in the cross crusades. From Cross Crusade 4 |
 |
| Between barns. From Cross Crusade 4 |
 |
| OH SNAP!!! This guy ran over a junior racer, strangely no one was hurt and all the wheels stayed true. From Cross Crusade 4 |
 |
| Uphill bump section. From Cross Crusade 4 |
 |
| One of the horse barns. From Cross Crusade 4 |
 |
| Part of the 6 pack. From Cross Crusade 4 |
 |
| Pit row. From Cross Crusade 4 |
 |
| Bumpy downhill section. From Cross Crusade 4 |
 |
| Absolute crusher, she finishes so much ahead of all the all the other A racers it is scary.From Cross Crusade 4 |
 |
| The single barrier in hte middle of the uphill. From Cross Crusade 4 |
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Cross Crusade 3 (Rainer High School)
With last week's suck fest far behind me. I woke up this morning once again really excited to be racing cyclocross. There is nothing I would rather be doing on race days....training is a different story.
Andrew and I left Portland around 7:30 am with a chilly, dampness in the air. It stayed with us until 1 in the afternoon. We got in a lap before the beginner race started. The course was a classic cyclocross course. About 6 ft wide fast grass, off camber turns, some wooded tree ruts, and then the uniqueness that is the Cross Crusades steps in. Most barrier sets around the country have two barriers in them. Portland has six barriers (called six packs). There is also a monster of a loose gravel uphill climb. Which was ridable for some, also a very popular spectator area.
With the increasing popularity of cyclocross (over 1300 riders once again), the officials decided to try something new with setting up the starting area. They devised a lottery system based off the last digit of yoru number. My number is 344. Number 4 was chosen last, this meant that I got to line up at the back of my field..........not awesome. But on the upside of being last means that you get to go home with a 6 pack of beer. There ended up being 102 riders in the category B race. I was tied for 102 place.
The race started and was a sprint fest. I was only able to move up 10 spots in the begining before it slowed down. This is where any ideas of winning or finishing well went out the shammy. There was absolutely no way to get through 3~4 riders on a 6ft wide track through the woods. I had to wait for the race to start stringing out.
I was very fatigued the entire race. My usual pop that I can kick out at points was gone. I was plodding through the course at what I thought was turtle's pace. I felt like racers were going by me constantly. Everytime I would come through the uphill I was dead tired. My body was never able to recover. It was extremely frusterating and I was very happy when I heard the bell signifying one more lap.
I assumed I got like 80th, but it turned out I actually got 45. Which is really surprising to me because I DO NOT remember passing 57 people at any point. I mean I know passed a few people. This actually lifted my spirits quite a bit. I know I could have done 100000 times better in this race. I m not sure what was holding me back besides starting in 102 place. One of these days I ll get a good start and drop the hammer or lay some pipe, insert whatever biking analogy you like.
EDIT: Lots of riders were being destroyed by the 6 pack. You could see with every barrier that their legs were not going as high. There was lots of epic summersaults/barrier smashing. Also there was a mountain biker in the C race that was determined to bunny hop them. Lap 1 he got over 2 barriers before endoing. Lap 2 he got over 3 barriers. On the last lap he made it over 5. Very very impressive none-the-less.
Disclaimer: I didn't take many photos today because the course was kind of hard to walk around and quite frankly I was tired.
Spectators viewing the 6 pack.
About to hit the 6 pack. Good form.
Hitting the first barrier.
This is actually a 3 ft kicker. I was waiting for one of the A riders to do something fun. I lost patience.
Loose dirt/gravel climb.
She finished 4th in the Women's A race and is also my CycloCrush, partially because she is an awesome rider and partially because she is on a really cute bike.
EDIT EDIT:: I keep forgetting to add stuff. A qucik background story. Last weekend at Wilsonsville a Team Beer member urinated outside and some stuffy old guy saw it and bitched on the forums about in a less than classy manner. About 3~4 people joined sides with the stuffy old guy. Team Beer in their infinite class rented out 3 special Honey Buckets (port o potties for you non-NW) and they had a concierge standing there all day with special amenities. Also posted on the doors of the Honey Buckets was a no user list of the stuffy old guys. Class. Quick interview here.
Andrew and I left Portland around 7:30 am with a chilly, dampness in the air. It stayed with us until 1 in the afternoon. We got in a lap before the beginner race started. The course was a classic cyclocross course. About 6 ft wide fast grass, off camber turns, some wooded tree ruts, and then the uniqueness that is the Cross Crusades steps in. Most barrier sets around the country have two barriers in them. Portland has six barriers (called six packs). There is also a monster of a loose gravel uphill climb. Which was ridable for some, also a very popular spectator area.
With the increasing popularity of cyclocross (over 1300 riders once again), the officials decided to try something new with setting up the starting area. They devised a lottery system based off the last digit of yoru number. My number is 344. Number 4 was chosen last, this meant that I got to line up at the back of my field..........not awesome. But on the upside of being last means that you get to go home with a 6 pack of beer. There ended up being 102 riders in the category B race. I was tied for 102 place.
The race started and was a sprint fest. I was only able to move up 10 spots in the begining before it slowed down. This is where any ideas of winning or finishing well went out the shammy. There was absolutely no way to get through 3~4 riders on a 6ft wide track through the woods. I had to wait for the race to start stringing out.
I was very fatigued the entire race. My usual pop that I can kick out at points was gone. I was plodding through the course at what I thought was turtle's pace. I felt like racers were going by me constantly. Everytime I would come through the uphill I was dead tired. My body was never able to recover. It was extremely frusterating and I was very happy when I heard the bell signifying one more lap.
I assumed I got like 80th, but it turned out I actually got 45. Which is really surprising to me because I DO NOT remember passing 57 people at any point. I mean I know passed a few people. This actually lifted my spirits quite a bit. I know I could have done 100000 times better in this race. I m not sure what was holding me back besides starting in 102 place. One of these days I ll get a good start and drop the hammer or lay some pipe, insert whatever biking analogy you like.
EDIT: Lots of riders were being destroyed by the 6 pack. You could see with every barrier that their legs were not going as high. There was lots of epic summersaults/barrier smashing. Also there was a mountain biker in the C race that was determined to bunny hop them. Lap 1 he got over 2 barriers before endoing. Lap 2 he got over 3 barriers. On the last lap he made it over 5. Very very impressive none-the-less.
Disclaimer: I didn't take many photos today because the course was kind of hard to walk around and quite frankly I was tired.
Spectators viewing the 6 pack.
About to hit the 6 pack. Good form.
Hitting the first barrier.
This is actually a 3 ft kicker. I was waiting for one of the A riders to do something fun. I lost patience.
Loose dirt/gravel climb.
She finished 4th in the Women's A race and is also my CycloCrush, partially because she is an awesome rider and partially because she is on a really cute bike.
EDIT EDIT:: I keep forgetting to add stuff. A qucik background story. Last weekend at Wilsonsville a Team Beer member urinated outside and some stuffy old guy saw it and bitched on the forums about in a less than classy manner. About 3~4 people joined sides with the stuffy old guy. Team Beer in their infinite class rented out 3 special Honey Buckets (port o potties for you non-NW) and they had a concierge standing there all day with special amenities. Also posted on the doors of the Honey Buckets was a no user list of the stuffy old guys. Class. Quick interview here.
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