L & L

Frozen Toed Season Opener Day 2: Rutgers Crit 2012

2012-03-04T20:19:00.004-05:00

The A field is definitely a pretty significant jump up from the B field. My plan for the crit was to try and conserve as much as possible, and try to avoid getting behind any big breaks in the field. Step one was to stage well, but then I blew that by completely missing my pedal, and utterly failing to clip in. A couple of attacks, 2 guys got away for a while, but eventually everything came back. I could move up on the back climb, but would invariably slip back on the descent. Several times I let gaps open, and had to find faster wheels to follow down the hill.

Two big changes from last year: not a points race, and the S/F was moved to the front straight, after the descent, not so good for me, it would make for a very fast sprint. There was a near collision at the start of the climb one lap, and things got a little pinched by the curb before that first turn, but mostly good racing.

With two to go, I knew I needed to at least try and move up, but got boxed in on the inside of the climb, and the final lap was so fast, it was all I could do to just hang on. Got behind some gaps on the descent, and finished at the back. At least I didn't flat, and managed to hang on for the duration of the 60 minutes.

Another big difference in the A field is the average cost of their bikes, holy crap. I looked around once and saw a Super Record 11 group, at least one electronic group, several power taps, and lots of expensive carbon fiber. The collective cost of the bikes in the A group must be quite staggering. I also noticed another guy with the same KCNC brakes (in black), don't see those too often.

May skip the crit next weekend, but I'll probably do the RR. Sort of surprised all the distances are so short, though.

Rutgers TT & Circuit Race 2012

2012-03-03T23:29:00.003-05:00

Apparently there is some very popular site by the same name as I used to call this blog. So much for me thinking I had a clever and original title, forgive my blogging faux pas. Anyway, no more attempts to be witty, I'll just call this "thing" L&L for now. Besides, maybe that will be harder to google, but probably not.

Road cycling season is finally underway, what better way to start then with a 2.2 mile TT. After moving up to collegiate As, I knew I'd get blown away in this event, nonetheless, I still wanted to see if I could go any faster then last year. It's hard to compare times, because they added a section at the top of the course, maybe I was few seconds faster, but not much.

The road race I was much more looking forward to. The dreary, drizzling rain from the morning was slowly fading out, and the dark clouds began to drift away. Almost on perfect cue, while we were all staged and minutes before the start, the sun broke out and we had blue skies for the rest of the day. I love it when that happens.

I was hoping to start off the 65 miles with a parade lap, but that didn't happen. There were some good attacks, and the field got really stretched out, but basically stuck together. The third lap felt particularly tough, for a while I was in a very delicate position, totally at my limit to just hang on. I looked up once and noticed several big buzzards circling around, with any extra effort, they'll be picking at my carcass for sure. Finally, two big groups got away, one with about 10, and another slightly smaller. Suddenly, the pace really relaxed. I think we all realized that the points were up the road. We still had a group of about 10, but we mostly just soft pedaled the 4th lap. A few of us tried to organize some basic rotation, but there was not a lot of motivation.

About halfway up the long straight climb on the 5th lap, I suddenly felt my front rim bottom out, and I was involuntarily out of the race. That first section of road had some really nasty potholes, and it definitely sent a bunch of people walking back with flats.

It was disappointing to flat out of the race, with only about 10 miles left, especially as I starting to feel much better again and recovered from lap 3. Just riding that group in to the finish would have put me in the top half of the field, but can't change what happened, and many others had the same problem.

Tomorrow is another day, and another race.

Sure worlds, but...

2012-01-31T21:31:00.002-05:00

Yes, Niels Albert is now the world champ, but I find this super impressive, and possibly even more motivating. 2011 was a good year, and I'm motivated for 2012, but I'm really riding for 2056.

Worlds, the final days

2012-01-23T19:20:00.011-05:00

Friday night we had an awesome dinner, the food was fantastic, and the bathroom trip was really wild. Seriously. Apparently that part of the building was merged with some type of "modern art" "in situ" exhibition. It was like the Guggenheim teleported into Louisville and the restaurant didn't get out of the way in time.

Walking down the hall way, you pass a projector that is displaying a live video of yourself on a wall. But superimposed on the screen are letters falling like snow flakes. The cool part is that you can catch the letters and interact with them. Somehow it detects the outlines of your body.

Then, in the bathroom itself there are video screens embedded in the mirror with videos of people's eyes watching you. Kind of bizarre. The urinals are actually one long waterfall, with a one way mirror behind it so you can see people through the wall, behind the water, walking down the hallway.

Anyway the food was good, and Louisville is a pretty cool city. The entire downtown section was connected by this elevated walkway that just plows straight through the buildings, and takes you over and above all the traffic and weather below.

It's a great way to get around by foot. Or, if you want to take the streets, there are free bicycles available to use. We think that they could be retrofitted with PowerTaps and Dugasts.

Everywhere you walk, there is more art.

Occupy Louisville:

Everytime I leaned over the balcony in our hotel, I got a sense of vertigo.

But a great view for breakfast.

The hotel room doubled as a pretty workable bike shop.

Just across the street from our hotel was the central "4th st live" part of town.

Down there was where the podium ceremony and SRAM after party was. There are two rainbow jerseys in this picture.

We met some of the Emmaus constituency, and proceeded to beat them in pool. I wasn't playing....

Masters Worlds Day 4, 35-39 Final

2012-01-16T13:48:00.013-05:00

Saturday afternoon was the final for Chris and Greg's race. We got to the course in the morning for some pre-riding, and I was prepared to be the pit man.

Unfortunately, what Greg really needed more then a pit man was a spare bike. The slightly above freezing temps resulted in a thick mud over the surface of the ruts that really stuck to the bikes. With only 2 to go, riding through the sand pit, his derailleur exploded, and he was forced to run.

Masters Worlds Day 3 - The Race

2012-01-15T10:07:00.014-05:00

Wow.

After a day of sloppy, deep, mud, the temperature just plummeted. By the time I picked up Chris and Greg from the airport, the temps were in the low 20s, and they remained there overnight. Chris called it correctly when he predicted that the the deep ruts were going to freeze solid. The locals didn't think it would freeze, but Chris was right.

If you sat down and planned it, I don't think it would have been possible to come up with a worse scheme for the worst possible course conditions.

We got to the course early for Chris and Greg's 9:30 am seeding race. They were in the first heat, and wanted to pre-ride the course. It was virtually un-rideable, and un-runnable. Pictures and photos don't do it justice. Deep muddy ruts were completely frozen solid over the entire length of the course, except for the paved start/finish straight.

The first thing we saw when we parked, was a rider getting to the top of the "green monster", getting off his bike, and sliding down the other side like a kids slide. The next guy did the same thing, the ramp was covered in a solid sheet of ice.

Course workers managed to de-ice the ramp, but there wasn't time to deal with the rest of the course. Coming up to start time, their heat was staging, and Chris and Greg were nowhere to be found. I finally ran down the parking lot and saw them climbing out of the car just as their heat started. They still had to navigate several sections of course just to get to the start, by the time the got to the line, the rest of the field had a 3 minute head start.

Chris ran most of the course. But even trying to run would tear up your ankles, because the ground was so extremely uneven. People were wrecking all over the place, the ruts were so deep that they would violently wrench your wheels out from under you and mercilessly slam you to the ground before you could even react. It sort of worked to zig-zag across the ruts, but even that was dangerous.

Greg managed to catch a few people, and pass them.

Just look at those ruts. Look at them. They're 33mm tire eating devils.

After their thrashing, we went back to the hotel and I got ready for my race. Because the field was so small (only 32 people competing in the 30-34 race), there were no seeding heats and we were randomly placed on the starting grid for the final race. I drew lucky number 32.

The last person to stage.

I got nervous at the tire check, because my Clement PDX clinchers mounted on Mavic Aksium and Mavic Kysrium Elite wheels DID NOT pass the tire check. Both officials agreed that they were too large, one guy muttered something about "It's those darn Clements again..." I got Chris' attention, thinking I would need a fast wheel change, and he was a good runner, but they just waved me through and told me to go anyway. Phew.

I always go through this short period of "What am I putting myself through??" before a cross race, and that was only more extreme before a world class UCI event.

Fortunately, before my race, the officials had move some course stakes over a few inches which provided a precious section of course that was actually rideable. Plus, they removed some parts to bring down the lap times. I just focused on riding the fast sections fast, and tried to ride the bad sections cleanly. For the course that Greg and Chris rode that morning, the racers weren't even tired, because it wasn't even possible to go fast. Now there was enough riding, that we had more of a cross race.

I kept listening to the announcers, it sounded like quite the battle at the front of the race, and I occasionally saw the leaders on other parts of the course. The Belgian Sven was up there, but two other Americans were really giving him a fight.

Apparently it snowed during the race, but I don't think I even noticed. Here I'm trying to find the few inches of rideable course.

Despite the bad ruts, it was actually a fun course, and I'm sure it would be AWESOME in the late fall, or at anytime that it isn't frozen solid. I wiped out several times pretty hard, twice doing an endo head over heals. With 2 to go, I went down really hard on my right side, and it really knocked the wind out of me. I had to limp for a few seconds, before I could even remount the bike, and that really took the steam out of me. I sort of just rode the last lap in after that. The winner (Sven) had a 45 minute race, but I was 7.5 minutes down which really felt like a long 54 minutes especially on the last lap. I would have been happy with 4 laps instead of 5.

But in the end, I was very happy with the race, the course had everything, and I couldn't have done any more out there. It was very satisfying to have been able to compete at the Masters World Championships, on a great course (despite extreme conditions), with some high level competition.

Video of the start.

CX Magazine coverage (with results and photos)

Facebook photos.

Masters Worlds Day 2

2012-01-12T15:00:00.004-05:00

Today my main plan was to check out the course, and do some pre-riding. Started with a huge breakfast on the top of the hotel, and then off to the park. It was raining off and on, and everything was soaked. The parking lot is a big mud pit, and there is currently a tractor employed full time pulling out vehicles from the mud.

I watched the start of one of the 40-44 seeding heats, with Bill Elliston. He had a good start, taking the hole shot, but someone took him out on the high speed, downhill mud after the paved starting straight. I then counted him at 11th, but he worked his way up to finish 7th.

Some parts of the back section are rideable, but it looks like a lot of running.

I did two laps, and then I was completely frozen. The flyover is much taller and harder then it looks in the photos and videos. Overall, it looks like a course where it will be very easy to waste energy, but hard to make up time. The straight mud sections are slow and thick, and the technical parts require good control. When I left, it was snowing. Straight to the shower.

The Clement PDX seemed like a very good tire option, good grip, and plenty of mud shedding.

Masters Worlds Day 1

2012-01-12T14:36:00.006-05:00

Short version because I'm at Panera bread:

Flight out of Allentown was delayed because there was a fuel leak, so we had to de-plane, and sent us down to Philadelphia. Arrived at the airport just in time to see my plane pull out of the gate, so had to wait a few hours until the next one.

First thing on arriving, was getting out to the course to see what it looked like. The park was shut down for the day, but walked around to just take a look. MUDDY!

There are basically two distinct parts to the course, some wide open, flat, straight parts, and then some really twisty, up-and-down technical sections. Everything was muddy.

Assembled the bikes, and called it a night.

Apparently, the proper way to say it is to just mumble.

Limestone Cross MAC 2011

2011-12-12T00:12:00.000-05:00

Last year I raced this less then a day after returning from Nepal. This year it was the final MAC event, and I thought my last race of the season. Unfortunately, I missed pre-reg by an hour, so no call-ups for me. I set out to see how far I could move up, but found my technical skills were lacking on the twisty, slippery course. The run-up was great fun though, I managed to ride it twice, with plenty of encouragement from the spectators whom had chosen an optimal location and were heavily "fueled" by some choice beverages.

The narrow bridge section was a bit unnerving. Here is David on the run-up.

Joe had a very good race and came in second to one who is arguably one of the series worst sandbaggers.

This guy has the whole thing on youtube.

Click these links for just the highlights:
Woody section First time down nearly crapped myself.
Into the run-up. It was rideable, but really helped to have a clear shot at it.
Bridge.

Phelps School 2011

2011-12-06T00:04:00.000-05:00

After a fairly poor race at Kutztown, I wanted to better at Phelps, no excuses. The race almost didn't happen, as the start was changed to way down the hill this year, and I booked it down there only getting there with seconds to spare. Ryan wasn't as lucky, he completely missed the start and had to jump in after we were long gone. I ran the Captain CX this time, and they worked well. Most of the course was dry, except for one really deep, thick part that we rode through twice. The mud was something unbelievable, really thick and dense. I'm sure you could build a pretty good house out of it. It layered up on the bike and probably doubled the weight. Removing it was a real challenge.

Plus, it gathered up reeds and grass, which acted like re-bar.

I rode what I felt was a good race until the last 10 minutes, when I pretty much started to fall apart. Willem caught and passed me, then Mike, then Joe at the very end. I was gone. Definitely lacking the fitness for 60 minutes.

But I liked the course, more then last year, I'll be back again.

Mt. Mitchell

2011-11-25T21:32:00.006-05:00

Last year, I left my car in the mid 40s, and the summit was at 20 F, not counting wind chill. I rather froze on the way down. This year, I was much better prepared, the weather was significantly warmer, and consequently there was much less suffering.

I rolled away from the car with temperatures in the upper 60s, and clear blue skies with a warm sun. I was carrying extra layers, more water, and about twice as many bars.

The 30 miles up to the top can be divided into three sections, the first has a little up and down and is quite sheltered by trees and ridges, so it is the warmest part. After crossing over to the other side of the ridge, the temperature drops, and the road is much more exposed to wind. This part is the long, grinder of a climb. A steady up and up. The last third has some descents, so it is easy to get chilled here. The last 5 miles feature some of the steepest sections on some switchbacks, and within 2 miles, you can see the ramp on the summit looming over head.

Instead of the frigid temps last year, today was only 48 at the summit, rather pleasant. After turning around from the summit, I wanted to be able to just descend back home, but there are still two climbs over the next 10 miles. Finally, with about 20 miles to go, the descent opens up and you can just fly down the switch twisty roads.

It took 2:45 to get to the top, 15 minutes of sight seeing, and then 1:45 to get back down.

Some great riding down here in North Carolina.

Kutztown Cross 2011

2011-11-20T23:19:00.005-05:00

If last week everything went perfectly, this week was the opposite. Hopefully, I learned a few things in the process. Although my bike stayed together, I pretty much fell apart, and I could tell instantly.

Right after the start, on the sweeping 180, my front tire was squirming out and I couldn't properly turn. I had taken a lackadaisical warm up off the course, and a tire pressure that felt ok at putzin' around speeds, was way under pressure at speed. (Later I checked, turned out it was only about 12 psi. Clearly, not enough for any tire.) I had to back off in the turns and realized that I was holding up the line behind me. Plus, I then attempted to hop the log on course, although it didn't look so difficult to do, my lack of skills just about put me over the top, "ass over tea-kettle". The course this year was super twisty, and I was totally washing out all over the place. I decided to pit and try my other wheels, as this arrangement was pretty much un-rideable, or rather, un-corner-able.

I had the Captain CX mounted tubeless on my pit wheels, and what a world of difference. Immediately, my confidence started returning, and I got focused on trying to catch back up as much as possible. The difference in cornering traction was astounding, and I gradually started to carry more speed into turns, feeling out the new limits of this tire arrangement. On the next lap, however, I came through a tight turn and BRRAAAPP washed out the front entirely. There was a hissing sound coming out of the front tire, some dirt and rocks had lodged into the tire bead opening the seal, and was letting the air out. I'm not sure if the burp triggered the wash-out, or vice-versa, but now I had a very flat front tire. This was now completely un-rideable. I half jogged, half coasted my way around the lap again to the pits, where I used a pump to inflate the Captain CX again. Fortunately, it held air, and I was back on course rolling on two wheels again.

But now, trying to focus on the race again was difficult, it didn't take long before the top 3 came through and blew right on by. Joe came up shortly afterward, lapped me as well, and asked what happened, all I could think to say was "nothing good...". My race ended some 100 meters after it started, so I just tried to work on finding some flow, and riding the twisty sections. I think that it would have been a pretty decent course, but I was mentally checked out and never gave it a fair shot.

Although not super technical, it would be a good course for those with good bike handling skills, and those are clearly cross skills I have room to improve on. Fortunately, the PA series have a range of course types, suiting all kinds of riders, Town Hall has got the St. Luke's Staircase (hill), Spring Mount is the power course, and apparently Kutztown is the swoopy: keep-turning-now-turn-the-other-way course. It takes all kinds to make a complete season.

Spring Mount Cyclocross 2011, Crossasaurus Awesome

2011-11-13T22:11:00.007-05:00

Two years ago I did the C race here, last year I raced the Bs (coming in 6th both times), so it seemed somewhat fitting to sign up for the A race this year. Fortunately, David granted me the Cat 2 upgrade last week, just in time to be able to sign up for the 1/2 Elite race.

I was a little nervous seeing the list of names on the pre-reg list stack up with some seriously fast people, and my originally very optimistic outlook regressed to not getting lapped too many times and try not to finish DFL.

The weather turned out to be ideal, partly cloudy, cool, but pleasant fall weather. We arrived in time to see Jeff ride to 10th place in a competitive Masters 35+ field, and then Jen take a very solid 4th place in the women's race, behind such powerhouses as Selene and others.

The Philly Ciclismo guys and gals always have a fun atmosphere, and this year was no different. Free food, plus a much improved course over last year, good work guys.

I had very little pre-race nerves, probably due to my much lowered expectations. I was playing head games and talking myself out of it before it had even begun. Surprisingly, I got one of the front row call ups (probably alphabetical), but there were only two rows in a relatively small field, so it didn't make much of a difference. Fortunately, as soon as the race begun I clicked out of mental mode, and into race mode. No room for intimidation.

As expected, the start was fast, and I slotted into a spot about in the middle. After things started to string out, I tried to move up as much as possible. Before the really wide open head wind sections, I wanted to try and get into a good position. I followed third place for most of that lap, and we continued to trade back and forth for most of the rest of the race. First place (Kincaid) was looong gone, but we could see second place dangling not too far ahead. I put in some extra efforts to try and reel in some ground, but he was still steadily pulling away. I felt really good for the first 40-45 minutes, but really suddenly, with about 2 laps to go, my legs started blocking up and I realized I was cooked. I lost his wheel after the sand section and just couldn't catch back on. It was a good gap back to 5th, so I just rode smoothly to finish out the race.

There can be a lot of head games in cross, so much of it is mental.

I ran about 20 psi in my tubulars, and could have even gone slightly lower in the front, but they felt pretty fast on the course. The Tracers clogged with mud quickly in those short sections, but it all flung off fast enough in the grass or gravel. Good, fast tires for the course.

Thanks to Craig Lebair for the photo.

The 60 minutes felt like a real shock after getting so used to only 45 minutes of race effort, ouch. That whole evening my body felt completely wrecked, I couldn't even eat for a couple of hours. I started to get the full color visual swirling precursors that sometimes precede a migraine, but fortunately it was a false alarm and after some unpleasantness, started to slowly recover. Two cups of emergency coffee may have helped as well, but it was still a few hours before I could eat any real solid food.

I'm definitely extremely satisfied with 4th place, certainly better then I expected.

Be sure to read Festa's account here.

Bear Creek cyclocross 2011 Day 2

2011-11-06T23:23:00.004-05:00

I believe that this will go down as one of my favorite cross racing weekends. A double header, less then 20 minutes from my house, in familiar "home" territory, with perfect fall cross weather, and good racing. The atmosphere was fun and friendly, with free beer and sausages.

After my bike carnage on day 1, I had many offers for replacement wheels and complete bikes for day 2. Having a catastrophic failure directly in front of the spectators probably helps, even Ryan was trying to offer me a bike during the race as he rode by to take the lead.

Thanks to Cutter's bike shop, after a quick repair Saturday night and a quick spin around the yard, I was ready and extra motivated for Sunday morning. The bonus hour of rest thanks to daylight savings was good for catching some extra sleep, but I think the best part was the weather felt significantly warmer.

After checking out the course and seeing some of the tires of the 'C' racers, I was glad to be on the Captain CX tires which have a more aggressive tread and shed mud well. The mud was even slicker then before, and the dense consistency was like a structural building material filling in the tread of many tires, turning them into slicks.

Now, with the course in reverse, we'd have a short straight section, before a 90 degree left turn, and then the off camber switch backs around the back of the baseball diamond. This we all expected to be messy in the start, and no one wanted unnecessary crashes.

Off the line I was third going around the first corner, but when we hit that mud section there was a large tangle of wheels, pedals, and legs. I saw someone's pedals going into my spokes, so just took my time to make sure I was completely clear before picking up the bike and running the rest. Thankfully, made it through cleanly, however I had lost a lot of places and was now sitting pretty far back. I moved up as I could, and after a lap I was back in the third spot. Ryan was in front of me, and Julian from Philadelphia Cyclocross School was riding away from the rest of us. Ryan had flatted, and was just trying to make it to the pits, unfortunately his spare bike was a single speed which was quite a disadvantage on the long straight sections of this course.

I then spent the next few laps trying to catch Julian, but it seemed like he was still getting farther ahead. There was a big collection of spectators by the barriers, along with the sausage grill and Bill on the microphone who was giving me time checks on each lap. For a while, he dangled at about 20 seconds, which looks pretty far off. For much of the course he was out of sight. Gale was chasing behind me in third, and I could see him working hard. Finally the time checks started coming down, 17 seconds, then 6, the spectators seemed to be getting into it, and it all helped as I was digging for extra motivation.

With two to go, he was in sight, and I changed from thinking that there was no way I could catch him, to suddenly thinking it might be possible. Basically with one to go, I caught him near the start finish line. I think that we both slowed up a bit at this point, as we each tried to decide what to do next. We traded the lead a few times in the last lap, I tried an acceleration up the hill to the switchbacks on the back side where it was dry and fast, but he followed me easily. But that did put me in front through the barriers which was probably the better place to be. At the top of the hill before the finishing straight there was a set of muddy switch backs that were really slick. I concentrated on not sliding out at all, which basically required creeping along at barely a crawl. Neither of us could get much traction, so nothing changed, and I hit the slightly downhill straight first. I tried to accelerate quickly, as I wanted to stay in front, but be ready to respond to his sprint. I could look down and watch his shadow, and when it looked like he was up out of the saddle and really starting to go, I clicked down and sprinted as hard as I could. My smallest cog was caked with mud as I hadn't used it before in the race, so the chain started jumping around, and he was starting to pull up alongside me, but the line came up quickly and I had just managed to hold him off. Definitely the tightest finish I've ever had in a cross race, and the most exciting.

I was completely knackered, sprinting after 45 minutes of hard cross racing left me with absolutely nothing. Julian was going really fast, we finished together with a full 2 minutes on the next finisher. Such a tight battle made for excellent racing, one in which every little dab or bobble could make the difference, coming down to less then a bike length.

I'm pretty sure we did one more lap then we did on Saturday, and the Captain CX tires worked really well. I easily picked up a couple of extra pounds worth of mud around the bottom bracket and stuck to the frame tubes of the bike. You could have built a solid house from that stuff, but the tires stayed mostly clear.

On day 1, I was trying to preserve my lead, and on day 2 I was trying to catch the leader. Both were very different experiences. I could definitely feel the pressure on day 1, as Ryan kept eating into my lead. On day 2, I could dig much deeper for motivation to chase. Neither spot is easy to be in, but when you're at your limit, a little extra motivation can make all the difference.

Definitely one of most fun cross weekends yet, I love the MAC races and will certainly do more, but it was a great opportunity to race in front of so many familiar faces close to home and soak in the fun vibes.

Bear Creek cyclocross 2011 Day 1

2011-11-06T20:51:00.004-05:00

Saturday was cold, so I warmed up with my full winter coat and kept it on right up to the start. Might as well be comfortable before 45 minutes of distinct discomfort. I had a nice front row start to a long, fast, straight, and slightly downhill starting section. The whistle blew and I took the hole shot leading up into the first muddy switchbacks. I bobbled and dabbed a foot, long enough for Jack to get by. I followed him through the fast downhill barriers, but he overcooked the sharp left-hander at the bottom and I managed to turn inside and get by.

From then on, without anyone in front of me to judge my efforts by, I just rode hard trying to extend my lead. On the switchbacks in the back section I could see Ryan just a couple of seconds behind me. Each lap I'd get slightly further ahead on the long straight sections, but then he'd gain on me in the really rocky and rooted part. Each lap he was steadily getting closer. I was starting to feel the pressure and make mistakes.

On the final lap, coming through the off-camber section, I made the 180 left up the hill and went a bit too wide, clipping the course stake. Wouldn't have been a problem, except it popped out of the ground, and the metal pointy end went into my rear spokes. Anthony Skorochod caught the sequence here. Three spoke nipples sheared off, and one spoke got neatly wrapped around my cassette. It took me a while to realize what was going on, untangle the spokes and try to tuck them out of the way around some of the remaining spokes. I could then at least ride, but the bike was making a horrible racket, and something was definitely still dragging as it was really hard to turn the pedals. Ryan was long gone, and now Jack was gaining quickly. Shortly after he passed me, my derailleur got sucked up into my cassette and exploded, so I shouldered the bike and ran the last section of the course, hanging on to third place.

Despite my ravenous cassette eating bike parts, it felt like a good race. I'm not convinced I could have held Ryan off, but it was a good battle.

Stoudt's brewing was there with free beers, as well as someone grilling up delicious spicy sausages. Not a bad way to spend some post race spectating.

Fortunately Cutter's had a SRAM rear derailleur as well as the derailleur hanger in stock, so the bike will be ready to go with my tubeless wheelset for day 2.

Snow Storm

2011-10-31T19:52:00.022-04:00

The prediction said "4-6" on snow for Saturday. Given the warm fall weather, it was hard to imagine that snow was on its way, especially since the trees still had most of their leaves. However, when we woke up and the world was white, we knew that it was really coming.

Pretty quickly, I canceled my plans to race Beacon, as the plows had gone by several times, and the snow was still accumulating on the roads quickly. Shortly after, around noon, there was a loud boom, the lights flickered, and the power went out.

We went for a walk, and soon saw the reason. A tree was down on top of one of the power lines. We got to the corner market just in time to grab a gallon of milk before they closed, because they were without electricity as well.

The snow showed no signs of letting up, and it was really accumulating quickly. The trees started to droop way over, and we constantly heard the CRACK and BOOM of branches and entire trees coming down. I shoveled the driveway three times. Each time, by the time I finished one side, the other already had a good thick layer on it. By dark, there was easily a full 12" on everything.

And the trees were really sagging.

So we worked on letters by candle light,

played Settles of Cattan,

made tea on the wood stove,

and cooked dinner on it.

Plus, many trips to the wood pile, and siphoning out the water from the basement because our sump pump was no longer running without electricity.

The wood stove put out good warmth, and we were very comfortable that night. We could still hear the sounds of tree branches coming down, and even some nice firework show. Apparently, when transformers blow, they light up the sky with an eerie green light.

The next morning was crystal clear with blue skies, but the trees were obviously over stressed.

More trees had come down during the night, including this one on our driveway.

Notice the car in the ditch:

Seidersville Rd was basically a single lane.

The warm sun was melting things quickly. As the snow came off, the extent of the damage became more apparent. The willow tree was just plain gone, and the other trees around were much shorter after losing their tops.

Overnight, the basement had accumulated quite a bit more water, so we had to siphon it again. This time, it involved me climbing out on the second floor balcony with a bucket water, pouring water into the open end while Becca held the other end open just long enough to get all the bubbles down. Then we lowered the hose end with a rope, carefully keeping it vertical. When Becca got it down in the basement, we were both glad when the water continued to drain out, another successful siphon.

After the HPCX race, I was anxious to get a hot shower, so we drove down to her parent's house. However, the next day (Monday) we needed to return in order to drain the basement again, among other things. All the usual roads around our house were impassable, but we managed to get through and back home. After cleaning out the fridge and packing some more things, we turned around to pull out of the drive way when two big trimming crews came down our road. I was glad to see them arrive, however, we were now completely blocked in.

We talked to some of the crew for a while, they told us how they were working long shifts, and the many other crews come from as far as Kentucky and Michigan to help out. They were kind enough to let us escape and we quickly slipped out.

HPCX 2011

2011-10-30T22:26:00.008-04:00

Wow, that was definitely the muddiest course I've ever ridden, it might have been the muddiest course I've ever seen. It made Nittany look like a couple of dinky mud puddles.

I was glad to get down for the race, after our Beacon plans were nixed by the incredible amount of snow we got on Saturday. We lost power around noon, and water shortly after that. We cooked on the wood stove and melted snow for water, and I shoveled the driveway three times. All afternoon and evening we heard the distant (and sometimes not so distant) BOOM and CRACK of branches and trees coming down. Today the two lane road by our house looks like singletrack. Plus our basement sump pump stopped without power, so every few hours we've been siphoning it out with a garden hose. But that's another story.

So getting down to HPCX was a welcome escape of sorts. The park itself looked quite beautiful, the leaves were still on the trees, and a fair bit of snow on the ground. But wow, the course was the biggest mess I've ever seen. I did part of a warm up lap, but bailed because my drivetrain was loading up with mud and starting to make bad noises.

Getting to start on the second row was a huge advantage. After a short pavement section, the course turned up into a muddy climbing section that would be a big mess during a crowded start. I got into the top 10 somewhere, and traded spots with the same group for a while. I was able to make up good time on the muddy climbs, usually by running, but lost it on the flats or more technical sections. Twice I wiped out pretty good, once on each side, just to spread out the mud evenly.

Finished 8th, good race, liked the mud more then expected. I rode the Captain CX tubeless, which seemed to do quite well. I could feel the rims hitting on some of the deeply rutted parts, but no problems.

Edit: check out Shippensburg's photos, they capture the mud quite well. The entire course was like that.

More photos here, from swanson22. Excellent photos, really shows the mud.

Also, check out the HPCX photos and videos from the cxmagazine.com website.

Cyclocross at Central Park of Morris County

2011-10-26T21:06:00.003-04:00

MAC weekends are great, some of the best racing, best courses, and top competition. But driving two+ hours each way, and racing both weekend days can be a bit tiring. So it was a nice change to get to a local race just across the border in New Jersey for a low-key event. Greg and I arrived in plenty of time; we had time to ride some laps, watch some races, and even grab a belgian style waffle. Wow, the speculaas spread was something incredible.

I was just sitting around, leisurely watching the A race, and felt like I could have just taken a nap right then and there. With no specific goals for a NJ race, I felt like this was just going to be for fun.

We lined up towards the back, but the start was so wide open, and the field relatively small, so there was plenty of room to move around in the start. I'm definitely not a fast starter, but followed Greg up the field for the first half of a lap. I moved up a few more spots in the open sections, and got to about the top 6-7 riders. It looked like one guy (Eric?) was off with a good margin over everyone else. Coming through the start/finish I moved past the group and started working on chasing down the leader.

The course was deceptively rough, it looked like a nice grassy course, but there were ruts, big roots, rocks, and it made for a much rougher course. After the practice lap, I dropped my pressure down to 23 in the front, 27 in the back, and that made a world of difference. This was a course where tubulars were a significant advantage.

About half way through the second lap, I caught the leader and followed him for a while. I didn't want to wait for a sprint at the end, so decided my best bet was to try to get ahead and stay there if I could. I put in a hard effort and didn't look back until a lap later. By then I had a good gap and just rode to maintain it.

In the end, it was myself, Jerry, and Eric.

But man, those Belgian style waffles were awesome.

Granogue, 2011

2011-10-16T22:33:00.008-04:00

I kept hearing good things about this race, so decided to sign up for both days this year. Glad I did, the first day was rough, but the second one went better. It's nice to have a day 2 for a chance to seek a better result.

The course was dry, fast, and hilly. The first day seemed especially technical, with some bad rock sections, gnarly roots, and plenty of twisting. The pre-reg list showed 128 in the 2/3/4 so I was glad to be staged on the 5th row, it could have been much worse. I managed to get into the top 20 somewhere, and was riding alright (with my usual technical troubles) when I rode straight into one of the white posts, taking me to a dead stop. My front wheel wouldn't turn and it took me a couple seconds to realize that my front brake was shoved underneath the rim, totally jamming it up. I managed to wrench it loose and get going again, but lost a bunch of places. The impact was so hard that it shattered my front shifter cable and left me in the small ring. No problem, but it took my a while to figure out why my front ring wasn't shifting. Strangely, my bar tape was completely shattered as well, it looked like it just exploded.

I didn't stick around to see the results, but in hindsight probably should have because I was scored as DNF. I definitely did finish 2 spots behind Joe and should have earned more MAC points, but it sounds like Marc is going to graciously fix it for me, at least for the MAC points.

Day 2 we didn't get stuck in traffic, and made it with plenty of time to pre-ride the course. It felt faster, and more "flowy", I liked it. Fourth row this time, I spent most of the race yo-yo-ing with a constantly changing group, first catching up, and then washing out, going down, and losing contact again. I'm pretty sure I fell more times then I successfully rode the swooping off-camber part at the top of the hill. I've really got to work on that. Some hecklers had picked me out as the guy who would always fall there, and deservedly point out the errors in my ways through that part of the course. Somehow I didn't learn from my mistakes...

Finished 13th by count of at least two different people, but scored again at 15th. Seems like there was an unusual amount of errors with getting the placings right this weekend.

The highlight of the weekend was after the race when someone approached me and said that they'd call me "Fignon" from now on, called me a spitting image. I hadn't noticed, but I'll take it. I am probably destined for his awesome hair.

Spiffy

2011-10-14T23:20:00.003-04:00

I've been riding the road bike around very infrequently, now that cross season is fully underway. But every time I noticed that the hood was torn, and although I got used to it, it still bothered me. Finally decided to swap it out for a new one. Much better. I think that bar tape used to be white, but it sure is hard to tell. Amazing what a damp terry cloth can do, wow. What a difference. It's the little things, feels like a new bike.

I bet it's faster.

Town Hall Cross 2011

2011-10-09T12:08:00.010-04:00

I had been looking forward to our second race ever since our first one, a year ago. Several days of actual sun and good weather made for a mostly dry course, with only a few patches of thick, rutted mud. The day of the race had absolutely fantastic weather, cool in the morning, bordering on hot later in the day, and lots of sun all day long. A welcome change from the consistent rain that has been drenching the east coast this year.

I was fourth here last year, and hoped to improve on that result. We had a larger field this year, but I benefited from a front row start in the B race (3/4). The start wasn't particularly fast, I think everyone realized that the first time up the climb would sort some things out. I settled into 3rd or 4th, moved up when someone rolled their tubular, and battled with second place for a few laps. I got past him a few times, but then promptly got sloppy and fell, losing the position. Tom was long gone and looked to have the win in the bag, but 2nd, 3rd, and 4th were still close together. We'd lose 4th place on the climb, but then by the time the barriers came around, he would have caught back up. On the final lap he got around me when I fell on the tight off camber turns on the back field, and I couldn't pass him before the finish line, so I rolled in for 4th again.

It was great to see such a large turnout all day long, and hear the positive comments about the course, as well as the obligatory complaints about the climb, it wouldn't be the Alpe d'Huez of cylocross without it. It seemed to have the right atmosphere for a good day of cross racing, some goofing off and fun, some serious racing, and a necessary dose of heckling.

Big thanks to St. Luke's, Cutter's, CycleOps, and all the volunteers that helped all day long.

I lined up again for the A race, with a small field of 1/2/3 riders. It was an honor lining up with some of the best of the Lehigh Valley, as well as nation & world in the case of Bobby Lea. I had no specific goals except to try and ride a better technical race then I had in the Bs (don't fall down), not blow up for an hour of racing, and try not to get lapped.

I was still pretty cooked from the B race, but managed to ride much smoother, stay up right, and not even get lapped. It is interesting to note the progression of my pain face during the day:

Early in the B race, still feeling composed and smooth.

Pain face developing on the switch backs of St. Luke's staircase.

Now turning into a sad monkey face...

And a grimace while I dump my gears after attempting to sprint for the end of the B race.

The A race started off well enough,

But then quickly regressed to an angry monkey face, and didn't get better from then on:

Thanks to Anthony Skorochod for the photos.

Update: Here is a very nice write up by Selene on Bicycling.com about the race.

WhirlyBird 2/3/4 2011

2011-09-25T23:28:00.002-04:00

My goal was to not have a mechanical, ride cleanly, and shoot for a top 25. With 88 pre-reg riders, and a starting number of 351, I'd be starting just in the back half of the field. Better then Charm City, this might be a shot at some MAC points.

I staged to the far left, and scooted around a few people in the start, but it was fast and I'm not a particularly fast starter. But after the first lap, the pace dropped off and I started to move up. I've been stutter stepping my remounts so I paid extra attention to them during the race. I think that the practice sessions during the week have helped a lot here, they aren't perfect, but they're definitely much better then they used to be.

With two to go, I started to get a little sloppy, and wiped out one one of the turns with roots. I let one spot go, and couldn't get it back. In the end, managed a ninth place which I was happy with. Now some MAC points, and no more staging at the back.

I liked the course, definitely wetter then last year with some more mud, but only one set of barriers.

Charm City 2011

2011-09-20T21:20:00.004-04:00

Wow, I did not realize how fast this race was going to fill up. I'm lucky to have been able to race on Sunday. A few weeks ago, when I finally got around to registering, Saturday was full, and Sunday had precisely one spot left.

Good: I got to race, not as good: I get to stage at the very back of the field. Every number was called up from 400 to 524, and wearing the final digits, I got to choose my place in the rear. My goal had gone from getting a top 25, to try and see how far I could move up.

Also, hope my wheels didn't collapse, or my new tubies roll off.

The course was fast and flowy, and I managed to scoot through a few large groups of people early in the race which definitely helped. I was definitely struggling on some of the more technical sections, especially the barriers, the sand, and clipping in after. Need to work on that more.

Thanks to Dennisbike.com for the photos.

With about two to go, I caught up to a NCVC and a Bicycle Therapy rider, we traded spots a couple of times, but I couldn't stay in front of them. I gave it one last shot in the final meters, but couldn't pass them. So final spot, 32nd.

I rimmed out hard on some of the curbs between the grass and pavement sections, fortunately no flats, and the tires felt like they had good traction in the twisty parts. First ride on the new wheels was definitely a success.

Next week, Whirly Bird.

Lehigh Mountain Top Classic 2011

2011-09-17T21:33:00.002-04:00

I've ridden a mountain bike exactly once, and the trips pedaling myself down suburban roads to middle school don't count. But since a MTB was offered to me (two actually), and the race was literally up the hill from our home, I couldn't dismiss the opportunity to try a new form of bike racing.

It was fun, but I spent most of the race in a continual state of falling down.

The Lehigh XC course has been described as "technical", apparently that means full of rocks, roots, steep climbs, and descents. Not really having any idea what I was doing, I lined up for the LeMans start of the "C" race. I started about in the middle as we funneled into the trail, I quickly realized that I was a terrible descender and technical rider. Not a huge surprise. But then I found out that there is quite a bit of class and etiquette in MTB racing, on the climbs after the first descent I found people very willing to let me pass if I was coming up behind them. I quickly learned to return the favor when I started holding people up on the technical or downhill sections.

Unfortunately, shortly after a Millersville rider let me go by, we came through an intersection that wasn't marked, I took a quick guess and headed downhill. By the time I came out on a road and saw the Penske truck for the downhill riders, I realized that I had definitely taken the wrong turn. Unfortunately, others had followed, probably assuming that a Lehigh rider should know the course. Sure showed them. It took a few minutes to climb back up to the intersection, and get going in the right direction.

I passed a few more people, but as soon as we hit rocks (which happens frequently if not constantly), I'd fall down a bunch. I became extremely difficult for me to get back on the bike, because there wasn't room to make half a pedal stroke before bouncing off the next rock. Eventually I started running large sections.

Anyway, it was a good time, and I've got some real bruises and bumps to complement the injuries from the wreck last week. Tomorrow will be interesting as my left arm has some limited range of motion.

Wheelbuild #3

2011-09-13T23:26:00.006-04:00

Tensioning and trueing went very smoothly, and was actually quite enjoyable. Cathartic, even.

Spoke nipples greased, threads treated, rim sanded, cleaned with alcohol, and now begins the layers of glue.

Should by ready by this weekend for Charm City, just in time as the Ksyrium Elites are out of commission.

Nittany Cross 2011

2011-09-13T14:26:00.011-04:00

Cross is finally here, and it is great to have Nittany Lion so close by to kick things off. David, Ron, and Roland started in the Cs, while Chris and Greg went for the Masters 35+ which looks super competitive this year. The field was totally stacked. Chris missed his start, but still managed to charge his way through most of it to land a top 30 spot.

Unlike the fast dust bowl that we raced last year, the recent rain made this course super muddy, with several big muddy sections, including one puddle that smelled suspiciously like sewage. I liked the course, though, more running then last year and not as fast, which suits me a bit better. My pre-reg put me about smack dab in the middle of the 2/3/4 B field, and I got a decent start.

By lap two I was moving up and was somewhere in the top 20 when my left pedal fell off. I half walked half jogged back to the pits and got it reattached. My own fault for not tightening it enough. After that, I was pretty much at the back, so just concentrated on seeing how far I could move back up in the remaining laps.

A fun race, but I was hoping to get a better result on Sunday, no excuses. I felt pretty good, and again staged right about smack dab in the middle of the field. The start was fast, like usual, but suddenly after about 100 meters there were bodies and bikes laying on the ground in front of me and I had no way to avoid them, next thing I knew there about 3 bikes piled on top of me. After untangling myself from the mess, I tried to jump back on to continue, but the rear wheel was going nowhere. It took me a second to realize that it was totally taco'd. Unfortunately, for another guy caught in the crash, his new carbon tubulars were totally trashed. So we did the reasonable thing and headed over the heckling corner and demanded beers.

It was awesome seeing Jeremy Powers in action, I didn't realize he was racing until I saw him on the course. Wow.

Next week is Charm City.

Wheelbuild #2

2011-09-10T10:15:00.001-04:00

Ooooh, purple nipples

Second set of spokes

Wheelbuild #1

2011-09-05T09:36:00.005-04:00

This cyclocross season I've decided to build up a tubular wheelset. Got a good price on a new pair of sensible Mavic Reflex rims, some used Shimano 600 hubs, and a pile of of double butted spokes from Cutter's.

I read a bunch about the various lacing patterns and different schools of thought regarding the tradeoffs between each one. I concluded that the best way to equalize spoke tension in the rear wheel is to have radial spokes on the drive side with 3-cross on the non-drive side. A hub should have no problems handling the torque from one side to the other flange. However, then there is problem of having only 8 trailing spokes to handle pedaling torque. So a better solution would be to go 3-cross on both sides, but have heavier gauge spokes on the drive side. My plan was to use XL 14 (2.0 - 1.5 - 2.0mm) spokes on the front and non-drive side, with DB 14 (2.0 - 1.7 - 2.0mm) on the drive side.

The middle section of the DB14 spokes has (1.7/1.5)^2 = 1.28 times as much cross section area, and according to Damon Rinard's spokecalc, with my hubs and rims, the drive side will have a tension ratio of 1.75 (drive/non-drive). So those two sets of different size spokes would help equalize the strain on each side of the wheel. However, even larger spokes on the drive side would be more appropriate.

Unequal tension is not the primary problem in a dished wheel. When the same size spokes are used, the consequence of unequal tension is unequal strain, so each set of spokes are loaded differently. Then one set has a disproportionally higher chance of breaking because the loading cycles will be more severe and they will fatigue faster. A wheel will be strongest and most reliable when the load is distributed most equally.

However, the XL14 spokes weren't available, so I'll do DB14 all the way around. So much for the math.

Spoke prep overnight.

Drive side half way laced.

Upgrades

2011-06-21T20:51:00.007-04:00

I officially got my Cat 3 upgrade today, and as someone with a tendency to over-analyze, I couldn't help but prepare this excessive post.

Here is a chart of my finishing position (yellow), points available (orange), points earned (green) and field size (in grey). [Only considering 4 or 4/5 races, no Masters results.]

After coming close to the points in 2009, I figured that in 2010, I'd be able to upgrade to Cat 3. My confidence was high.

But then 2010 came, and I finished far out of the upgrade points at every race, until my last RR at Tek Park gave me a glimmer of hope, maybe it would be possible in 2011.

Collegiate season was great, managed some top 10s in the Bs, the PSU Black Mo' RR course was climb-tastic, and I carried my Battenkill motivation through into the road season. I hit the Tek Park race overconfident, but then a surprise 3rd on the flat Smoketown Crit. Next weekend was a second at Oxford, and I knew it was close.

Yes, I did say it was excessive.

New Bethlehem Criterium 2011 race report

2011-06-19T13:11:00.009-04:00

(photos and videos coming...)

Because this race is so close to home, we usually get a good turnout from Lamprey. Frank did the morning Cat 5 race, netting a solid 3rd place, barely missing second by inches in the field sprint. The winner was gone solo.

In the Cat 4 race, we had Jeff, Roland, George, David, and myself. Jeff was interested in trying to make a break happen, and I would do what I could to help him out for as long as possible.

While warming up, Roland's BB came loose, and so he had to do an emergency bike switch with his wife's. Surprisingly, her bike actually fit him somewhat decently.

Good thing we had Roland back! For the first half of the race he did a bunch of work at the front, chasing down early moves. The field was pretty active, and there were constantly small groups trying to get away, but even more interest in chasing them all down. I waited until we were about half way through the race, hoping that the early activity would wear down the eagerness to chase somewhat, and people would start thinking about saving themselves for the finish. With 12 to go, there was a group of 2 that had been off the front for a few laps, but were now steadily drifting back to the field. Coming off the short hill from turn 3, I accelerated up the left side of the field where Jeff would be able to see me. Brandon came with us, and one other rider. I went hard for a short pull, hoping that I wasn't just dragging the field along, but not wanting to look back. With lots of attacks early in the race, and going right after a fast lap, seemed like good timing.

We caught and passed the group of 2 on the front straight, I looked back quickly to make sure we had a gap, and fortunately we were moving along pretty well. The fourth guy popped off pretty quickly, and then the three of us started a good rotation. I was glad to have Brandon up there as well, as he really helped out for a few laps. We kept the pace up, and had a pretty good rotation going, with Jeff doing the bulk of the work.

I finally popped off with about 6 laps left, leaving Jeff on his own. I drifted back into the field, and started recovering when POP, my real tire punctured before turn 4, with 4 laps left. Because the pit closed at 5 to go, I was officially out and DNF.

Jeff held on solo and took the win.

Back in the field, Roland was doing a great job controlling the field. David got a bee in his helmet, taking him out prematurely.

We finished over 5 minutes faster this year compared to last year for the same number of laps. That's more then 10% faster. Lots of attacks, and good racing.

New Bethlehem Criterium Cat 4 from Bikelink on Vimeo.

13:05 - "I like how Lamprey's kit has asset recovery..."

21:50 - Jeff has a drogue 'chute

25:35 - strong attack, group goes, and Jeff chases

26:50 - I go, not a clean break, but 4 of us get away

28:55 - Roland moves up to the front to patrol the field

30:10 - we have 12 seconds

33:20 - Roland on the front and Brandon comes back, we're just out of sight

38:00 - I drift back, fried

38:40 - Immediately flat, before I can reintegrate

44:10 - someone takes a solo flyer with 1.5 to go, gets a big gap quickly

46:06 - caught one lap later

46:40 - Breakaway bikes rider takes field sprint for 2nd with an awesome acceleration

Thanks to BikeLink for the video.

Always a fun race.

Mt. Nebo race report 2011

2011-06-12T13:12:00.007-04:00

I had some high expectations for this race, which means based on my record so far this season, I'd probably not do so well. It didn't help that at 5 am I wake up to thunderstorms, and this on the radar:

Despite leaving extra early for the race, and giving myself more then an hour and half, I missed my turn and almost ended up in Maryland before realizing my mistake. Just getting to the race became the challenge.

Fortunately made it just in time, plus the skies were clearing up a little, and the roads were dry.

The first time up the finishing climb, I went to the front to push the pace a little. I wanted to try and keep the tempo up, and hopefully get to the final climb in a smaller group.

The hills took their toll, and by the time we came around on lap 2, the front of the field was down to 10-12 riders.

The finish was to be decided in a drag race up the final climb. I realized very quickly that I wasn't going to be able to go with the leaders, and I needed to make sure that I didn't blow up before the top. Mostly, I really wanted the last two points I needed for a Cat 3 upgrade (which meant 6th or better), so I was counting spots and trying to hold my position. Not that it would have made much of a difference, I was at my limit.

Rolled across for 5th, I really like the Mt. Nebo course, it is challenging and fun.

Thanks to Julie Elliot for the photos.

Mount Joy Road Race 2011 3/4 #@*&$!

2011-06-04T15:24:00.010-04:00

Wow. That was a mess. No, that was worse. If you found this post because you did the race, then you know exactly what I'm trying to say.

It should have been a good race, we started off with all the right ingredients. Nice rolling course, 50+ entries in the 3/4 field, perfect weather, and several teams with good representation.

And it did start off well enough. We rolled off relatively slowly, there were a few solo moves that dangled off the front for a while, but no hard racing. I rotated through for one pull to keep things rolling, and found myself dangling off the front as well, not what I intended.

At one point the moto ref came up to us and told us that another field was 40 seconds behind us and we'd better get a move on. Shortly after that, a group went to the front and really started hammering it, the field was really strung out and it felt like the race was going to start splitting up. But right then, we get pulled over and stopped by the moto ref, we were going to have to let the Elite (or Masters?) field go by. As far as I could tell, we were all together at that point, except maybe one solo guy, but the moto ref was trying to send off small groups and everyone seemed confused. Some guys got really pissed and started swearing at the moto ref. I figured, no big deal, we'll probably all end up back together anyway, and maybe this would shake things up and spark some harder racing. Besides, I think we had another 3.5 laps to go at this point, plenty of race left to sort things out. We weren't helping the situation by riding like it was a parade. However, I don't think starting the Masters 45+ only 2 minutes after the 3/4 was good scheduling.

But then, on the next lap, we get advised that we would see 1 to go on our next time through the S/F. So we're coming around towards the end of the final lap, and the pace is ramping up, when we suddenly find ourselves mingling with a group of Elite (or Masters?) racers. Their race had really broken up, and there seemed to be several groups on the course. There was a lot of confusion, as they thought we had at least another lap to go, and it wasn't clear who should get out of who's way. As soon as they realized that we were (trying) to finish, they let us on through.

Then, the finish. I was sitting somewhere in about the top 10, in good position, on the left side of the field just inside the double yellow line. It was a good spot to be, as I knew I'd have a clear shot with my sprint as soon as the road opened up, and I decided the timing was right. However, as we crest the overpass, some F&M rider (not sure who, it wasn't Drew) swung left, yelling at me that we had the whole road and I should get out of his way. He locked bars with me and almost took both of us down. This was completely idiotic, if he was boxed in at that point, then he waited too long to get a good position. My positioning was intentional, I was riding a straight line, and his move was dangerous. This guy was really hot-headed and I talked to another racer that had him picked out as a flaky rider.

Anyway, now the sprint is starting in earnest, but we're coming up to the finish along side a pace car, and it was getting really crowded, and even more dangerous, very quickly. The finish was a blur, I was trying to steer clear of the pace car, other riders, and there were a lot of speed discrepancies between the pace car, some guys sprinting, and some guys sitting up because of the situation. I was actually braking as I came across the finish line. It was incredibly dangerous.

Normally a 10th place in a 3/4 would be a good result for me, but not today. Kudos to all those smart and level headed enough to skip out on the sprint. That was wise.

Brandon fared slightly worse, he ended up with a rear derailleur in his front wheel, shredding up 4 spokes and really messing up his wheel. Fortunately he stayed upright. I can't believe that there weren't any severe wrecks.

I don't mind not getting a good result, as long as the racing was good, meaning: fast and safe. But to have the race shortened, and then choas at the finish line, was very unsatisfying. I think that it would have better to neutralize us a second time, then to have us finish a lap early, and trying to sprint in a zoo.

I'm sure that the organizers and officials got more then an ear full from a field of unhappy 3/4 racers. From what a very level-headed Pure Energy rider told me, the officials were very apologetic. They blamed it on a miss-communication due to poor radios.

Oh well, Mt Nebo is next weekend, and that's a race that will break up.

**UPDATE: Found some pictures and a post that show what happened with a little more clarity.

See this post for a clear explanation of the sequence of events that led up to this finish.

And his excellent photos document the convergence of the 3 fields on the finish line simultaneously.

And another photographer got the finish from the other side of the road.

Oxford road race report, 2011

2011-05-23T16:55:00.006-04:00

It is good to have the road races back in Lancaster. I really liked Rich's series the first summer I raced in 2009. Fulton was my first Cat 4 race, and I did Oxford and Mt. Nebo as well. I was quite disappointed to hear they had lost their USACycling license for 2010. The courses were very good, the racing fun, the distances better (40 miles instead of the usual 25 for 4/5 race), and Lancaster county is just plain beautiful.

(Photos from 2009, as I haven't found any from 2011. Anyone know of any galleries?)

Two years ago, we got hit with a brief torrential downpour, and John Cutler soloed away for the win.

Oversized helmet? Check. Baggy Nashbar jersey? Check. Commuter pedals and walking shoes? Check.

It poured.

I dropped my chain on the last climb, couldn't chase back on, and finished 20th.

Fast forward 2 years to 2011. I wanted a good result here, but mostly I was looking forward to getting back to some good road racing. Especially after a week of solid rain, and when Saturday looked perfectly clear, I was just glad to be out in the sun again.

Roland and I left early to make the two hour trip down to Lancaster county for our race at 8:45 am. We made good time, and got there with plenty of time to get ready, and check out the finish.

The final turn certainly looked bad, it came after a slight down hill and was covered in loose gravel as the road transitioned to a fresh chipseal surface, the kind that chews up skin and flesh.

We rolled out with a neutral start and I settled into my usual spot at the back of the field. The six laps were relatively uneventful, a few break attempts, some chasing, and one guy managed to get away solo for a couple of laps. I took a few short rotations at the front to keep things moving, but mostly just tried to ride as efficiently as possible. Overall the field rode quite well.

We did spook a horse and buggy that came to the road from behind a tree line. The horse took off charging across the plowed field on the other side of the road, with the Amish guy bouncing all over the place, the buggy wheels locked up, and plowed dirt flying everywhere.

But 2011 was not the year for a solo victory here, in the last lap the gap was down to less then 30 seconds, but he was still dangling up the road. Some guys from NCVC (and a few others) did the work and pulled him in.

Coming to the final turn down the finishing straight, there was plenty of communication within the field, and it was apparent that nobody wanted to go down on that chip seal. We rolled around the corner smoothly, much to everyone's relief (I'm sure). The pace slowly ramped up, and I sat back about 7-10 spots, right where I wanted to be. Coming up to within sight of the finish line (300 meters?), I saw someone jump hard from my side and I managed to just barely grab his wheel. He was really flying, and when I was finally gapped, I looked behind me and the rest of the field was still pretty far back. Very satisfied, I sat up and rolled through in second.

Beautiful race, perfect weather, placing in the money, couldn't ask for much more then that. Kudos to NCVC for the chasing, and congrats to the winner, that was a mighty jump.

Smoketown Airport crit race report 2011

2011-05-15T22:49:00.006-04:00

Bike racing is a funny thing, I had high hopes for the hilly Tek Park Circuit race last week, but finished at the back of the field. This week at an airport-runway-flat criterium (at a whopping 135 lbs, that is not exactly a course that suits me), somehow pulled off a third place finish.

I almost didn't even do the race, it had been raining all night and morning, and the forecast looked like nothing but wet for the rest of the day. The last thing I wanted to do was a flat, rainy, crit with a tight 180 turn. My only plan was to stay out of trouble and if things got sketchy, call it a day.

Two years ago I doubled up here in the 5 and 4/5 race, in order to get in race #10 and upgrade to cat 4. I was 10th in the 5s, and 15th in the 4/5s (video), so I wanted to at least improve on that finish.

A couple of attacks, but in typical 4 fashion, everything was chased down right away and nothing even had a chance. About half way through the race, I was coming down the backstretch on the runway when I felt myself run over some rubble. It didn't feel like I flatted until I started rolling around the 180 degree turn, then I had that unmistakable wishy-washy feeling of my rear tire sliding out from under me. I exited the turn, and put up my hand to try and get over to the right side of the course, as soon as I was clear of the field, I jumped into the grass and booked it back to my car to grab a wheel. I had decided not to put my spare wheels in the pit, thinking that my chances of flatting were low, and if I did, I'd take that as an opportunity to bail from a rainy crit. Well, racing meant racing, and I wanted back in, so I took my free lap and the official helped me back in on the next time around.

The last lap I started moving up towards the front, trying to prepare for the final trip around the 180. With everyone getting anxious for the finish and fighting for position, that last corner had the potential to get very messy. We all bunched up on the approach like an accordion, I slipped around the very inside, and started accelerating. I saw a Philadelphia Ciclismo rider going hard and managed to get on his wheel which turned out to be the perfect place to be. He absolutely railed it down the entire length of the finishing straight and only one Breakaway bikes rider managed to get around for the win.

Positioning was so important for the finish, and I definitely got lucky in that department. Conserving efforts helped as well, I took a few turns at the front, but nothing more then just rotating through to help keep things flowing. For a wet crit that had the potential to get ugly, the 4/5 field handled it quite well, honestly better then I expected.

I had previously thought that my only chances for upgrading to cat 3 relied upon the hilly races, but managed to squeak out a couple more points.

Airplanes, free massages, free food and drinks, Smoketown is definitely a good race to get to, even if you don't like flat crits. Maybe especially if you don't like flat crits.

Tire Review, or How I Roll

2011-04-26T20:51:00.021-04:00

I'm a tinkerer, for better or worse, give me something mechanical and I'll mess with it until it is either marginally better, or totally FUBAR. (Also true with my interest in linux, but that is another story.)

Part of the fun of biking for me is tinkering with equipment, trying to do more with less (as is often the case for grad students), or even just seeing how small adjustments and changes in equipment effects riding. Some take it extremes, see this MTB to road conversion.

I enjoy trying out different tires when possible, while they make a drastic difference for cyclocross, there are still noticeable changes in handling, speed, cornering, and comfort for road. Here is a breakdown of the tires I've ridden on road, roughly in chronological order.

Vittoria Zaffiro (wire bead, 25mm) - I love Vittoria tires for the most part, but these might be the worst tires I've ever endured. To begin with, they were the most difficult tires I've ever mounted, the kind that will break your tire levers if you're not careful. Plus, they didn't roll particularly well and weren't super durable. If you can't afford more then $15 for tires, there are better options then these. Maybe the new version is better.

Continental Ultrasport (wire bead, 25mm) - A few bucks more then the Zaffiro, but a better tire. I commuted on these for a while, and had no major complaints. By no means a racing tire, but if you need something cheap to get around on, these will do just fine.

Hutchinson Fusion 2 (kevlar folding bead, 23mm) - My first suitable racing tire, and a huge leap up from the Zaffiro and Ultrasport. I've also ridden the Fusion 3 for a short while, but didn't notice any difference. I've seen these sell for as little as $20, and even at twice that price, they are a good bargain. They roll well, handle well, are generally a good tire for racing and training. The Fusion is probably the easiest tire I've ever installed. After more then two years of regular riding (several thousand miles), the rear is pretty much worn out, but the original front tire stills sees occasional use.

Vittoria Diamante (folding bead, 23mm) - One of my favorite tires for both training and racing, remarkably comfortable on a wide range of road conditions, and still feels fast. When these wear out, I'll probably seek to replace them.

Continental GP 4000 (black chili 25mm) - The most comfortable tire I've ever ridden, by a huge margin. This is my top choice for most of my riding and training. The only thing I don't like this tire for is racing crits, although the profile looks round, it sometimes feels like you're riding on a "corner" which is unnerving when leaning over in a pack at 30+ mph on the off camber section of the Thursday night crits before the final straight. A German magazine did some real world road testing, and these rated highest for wet road traction. They are long lasting, after 1000+ miles, the central seam is still visible on the front tire, and the rear is only slightly more worn. Traction is very good, and they still roll fast. These aren't cheap, but that's the price to pay for tires that do it all. I generally keep these mounted to my 32 spoke box section wheels at all times for a super plush ride, long miles are much more enjoyable that way. Good 25mm tires are underrated, everyone should try a pair.

Hutchinson Intensive (tubeless 25mm) - Relatively new to me so far, but they seem to be just about indestructible. They don't feel quite as fast as the above 3 tires, but it's hard to really tell without doing some testing. On the plus side, they feel like they'll last for nearly forever. I do wish that they were a bit wider, on my rims (Mavic Ksyrium Elites) they measure 23.1mm in width, some of the other 23mm tires are actually wider then this. See my video review here.

Specialized S-Works Turbo 23mm - Relatively new to me as well, but my first impression is that they are faaast. The rubber feels particularly sticky, the kind that if I turn the wheel while rolling it across the tiled kitchen floor, I get all kinds of screeeching noises. Thursday night crits and road races have gone very well with this tire, they feel very responsive but predictable in pack riding situations. Based on how soft the rubber feels, I suspect that they will wear quickly, but best crit tire yet.

FLATS: I've read all kinds of tire reviews in which the author complains about getting flats constantly, or in the first 10 miles. This baffles me, as I've had about probably at most 3-4 flats annually, and last year I rode over 3,000 miles. Most of my flats are a result of me getting lazy, not keeping my tire pressure up, and then pinch flatting. None of these tires have given me excessive flatting problems.

RAIN: If the road is wet, I don't push it, so I can't comment on wet traction.

ROTATING: Like the good Sheldon Brown recommends, never rotate your tires. Rather, when the rear is worn, toss it. Move the front to the rear, and buy a new one for the front. The front and rear wear at very different rates, and there is no use in throwing out a perfectly fine front tire. Also, the better of the two tires should always be in front.

PRESSURE: Like most things in life, more is not always better. Play with your inflation pressure, if the roads are rough, too much pressure can slow you down. Comfort is a factor as well.

Experiment, enjoy.

Easterns at PSU, Nittany Classic Black Mo' RR

2011-04-24T09:15:00.011-04:00

Wow, I missed out on the TTT and crit, but Penn State put on an awesome road race.

I was concerned about the forecast of 100% chance of rain, plus thunderstorms, that could make for a wet and miserable 64 miles.

We came from the east, so we got to preview the 5+ mile climb from the comfort of our car. As we ascended, we entered the clouds and the fog got so thick that the visibility was nearly nil. I crept along at 20 mph and we kept our eyes peeled for cyclists in the mist.

Tom on the climb in the fog. Sorry, I don't know who took these pictures, I think that they circulated from somewhere in facebook land.

Devin on his way to a 28th place finish in a huge C field, his last collegiate race.

Brandon, Eric, and I staged for the start of the B race, and after a short delay, we were off. Everyone seemed well aware of the long race ahead of us, not to mention the climbing, so we rolled off relatively chill. I sat at the back, and just took it easy until we came around to the base of the climb. There is a short "prelude" to the actual climb, not long or steep (about a mile at 3%), but it seemed like a good place to start moving towards the front.

On the first time up the main climb, I decided to just set a steady tempo, and see what happened. I wanted to keep a small group together, and keep good reserves for the next two trips up that climb.

By the time we crested the summit, we had somewhere around 10-12 guys, and I think a few more chased on in the following rollers. The first time check we got was something over a minute, but shortly after it came down to 30-40 seconds. There was some attempt to re-organize and start rotating, and we managed to do a respectable job. I wasn't too worried about more people chasing on, as we had 2 more trips up the climb, and that is where the race would be decided.

In between the climbs, it was just like a chill group ride, plugging along at a leisurely pace which was just fine with me. The second time up, I tried to ride as efficiently as possible, steady, and protected from the wind. I could feel the effects of two trips up the climb, but still felt very comfortable.

Coming into the "prelude" climb before the big one on the last lap, Pitt was the first to make an attack, but it got swarmed very quickly by the group. When we hit the switchbacks on the big one, Dickinson accelerated smoothly away, and Pitt went off in hard chase. I didn't want to blow up at the bottom of the hill, as that would be disastrous. I tried to keep a steady pace, and the U of Michigan rider was climbing right with me. We had a good tempo going, definitely making up time on the Pitt rider, however my legs were giving out, and I was starting to crack. The U Mich rider and I bumped wheels a couple of times, as we were both about at our limits. He was incredibly tenacious, and kept digging deeper. Finally we crested and decided to work together to try and keep up our progress on the Pitt rider. Dickinson was long gone, at this point.

We traded pulls on the rollers, but I was really cracking, my legs were blocking up. I lost U of Michigan's wheel, and he went on to chase down Pitt for second place. Shortly after, RIT came by charging hard. I jumped on his wheel and he led the entire way down the descent and around the final turn before the finishing straight.

I sat on his wheel like a true wheel sucker, and with short acceleration, passed him before the line. Later I found out that Yale was behind and chasing hard 6 seconds back, so that is probably why RIT was so willing to pull.

Kudos to the U Mich rider for battling his way to take second, and second in the crit on Sunday as well. That's an impressive combo. And RIT, taking 3rd in the crit (after 5th in the RR)!

Eric caught the two-up sprint on video.

The Lehigh Cycling blog entry.

A really great road race, probably the toughest course I've ever ridden, felt harder then Battenkill, can't wait to do it again.

Tubeless at Battenkill

2011-04-17T13:30:00.000-04:00

Worked out pretty well:

Battenkill 2011 race report

2011-04-11T20:47:00.009-04:00

After almost not signing up for Battenkill this year, I'm glad I changed my mind. I thought that I might have waited too long, based on how fast registration filled up last year, but when I looked at the pre-reg for the Masters 30+ and saw that 149/150 spots were filled, I figured that the very last slot was for me. So I had to take it.

In 2010, I logged over 500 miles for the month of March, and the first week of April was probably my best cycling condition of the entire year. This year, I barely hit 300 miles for the month of March, and my legs didn't feel like they were at the same level.

However, my main concern was navigating the course and climbs with a field of 150, that is a lot of people for a course with enforced yellow line rules, a covered bridge, and dirt climbs with few good lines. I decided to skip any warm up, and staged myself as far forward as possible, only a few rows back. Fortunately, I managed to save enough room to squeeze in Steve, Greg, Chris, and Jeff. I think that turned out to be a good move, as we could sit relatively chill up through the covered bridge and not worry about fighting our way past 100+ spots. Last year, sitting at the back of the field, the section right after the covered bridge was a really hard chase, with lots of gaps opening up. This year, it was much better up towards the front. Again, what a difference positioning makes.

We kept steadily shedding riders as they got dropped or flatted. I didn't remember the exact location of too many landmarks on the course, except for Meetinghouse Rd at mile 50-52. Last year, I went deep into the red trying to maintain contact, but then had very little left for the last 10 miles. This year, I let a gap open on the second part of Meetinghouse Rd, but didn't panic. After I crested the top, a small chase group came by quickly and I managed to jump on. One guy was doing almost all the work, and I had no legs to contribute. We got up to the lead group which looked like at most 30 riders at this point and reintegrated.

However, the next problem was a long, windy, paved downhill section. I kept letting gaps open, and as long as there were people behind me to come around and close it, I bubbled up to the rear until I finally popped off the back. At this point I knew I wouldn't be able to get back, my legs were done. On Stage Rd, I was joined by another rider and we worked together to roll in to the finish. I couldn't contribute much, but no one else got by.

Finished 25th out of 105 finishers, an improvement from last year, and a result I'm happy with in the Masters field.

The Intensive tubeless tires on the Kysrium Elites worked great. They aren't the fastest rolling tires around, but they're incredibly tough. I rimmed out hard in a pothole on a paved section (some of the paved roads were worse then the dirt) but no problems. I was worried that I might have bent the rim, but the only evidence was a bit of sealant that squirted out of the rim/tire joint. I could ride the bad sections and move up on the shoulders without any worry of flatting. I also was glad that I went with even lower gearing then last year, a 52x36 with a 11x28 is very low at the low end, and I don't think I used the 28, but it was a good option to have available.

Jeff had a great ride and finished 18th. A great weekend of racing. Chris had a good response to the guy complaining and moaning, the weather was perfect, the riding was great, and adds that up to an excellent weekend.

Philly Phyler day 2

2011-03-25T15:05:00.003-04:00

The good weather continued, and even got a bit better for the criterium on Sunday. Initially, I wasn't really looking forward to a short four corner crit, but it ended up being much more fun then I expected.

After sleeping in, I arrived at the race barely 20 minutes before the start, and got a quick warm up in.

As usual, I staged at the back of the field, and started off at the very back. After two laps, I realized that the accordian effect back there was brutal, and after braking through the turns, there was some fast accelerations afterwards. One guy was yelling at another for breaking in the turns, but in the middle and back of the field, that was the only way for everyone to get through safely. I decided to move up to the front, and found that the riding was way easier up there. In the top 5-10, I could take smooth lines through the turns, no need for braking, and maintain a steady speed on the exit.

It is the accelerations that wear you out, not the speed.

One guy was off the front, and I took a few turns pulling until I suddenly saw the pace car in front of us. I never saw him come back to the field, and afterwards I heard that he crashed out.

I focused on staying near the front on the final laps, and came through the final turn in 8th. At speed, I felt my rear wheel bouncing across some of the chop in the pavement, but no real issues.

The sprint for the win was close, with Colombia taking it.

I think I actually really like crits.

Philly Phlyer day 1

2011-03-21T23:41:00.008-04:00

I still can't believe the awesome weather we had for both days this weekend. Especially because this morning it snowed.

I headed down to Philly with 5 other Lehigh cyclists Saturday morning early for the TTT. Rob and Tom were doing the intro TTT, and Pat and I were doing the Bs. For never having ridden before as a pair, and for Pat's first collegiate race, we did pretty well. Our main goal was to keep rotating smoothly.

The circuit race was fun, I really like that course. Some long straight fast sections, some tighter sections with a roundabout near the finish, and a little hill at the turn around. Somewhere in the very beginning a rider got away, and it wasn't until after the race that I found out who it was. I asked around in the field, but it seems that no one else knew either. Turns out it was Aaron Snyder. At first I wasn't concerned, I figured that the long straight windy sections would bring back a solo effort, but after two laps when the gap had grown to almost a minute, some of us started trying to organize the chasing effort.

We never really got organized, we'd have a few good pulls, and then things would fall apart and the pace would slow again. I took a few turns at the front, mostly on the hill sections, but after 3 laps when it didn't look like we were going to bring him back, I decided to sit in more and wait until the end. There were a few more attacks, hoping to take advantage of an unorganized field, but nothing really got far.

Coming down the downhill after the S/F line, I found myself at the front leading the way past the hay bales. That was probably a good place to be as somewhere behind me I heard the sound of bikes and crunching hay bales. I'm not sure what happened, and I didn't look back.

Positioning for the finish was going to be tricky, there was a 90 degree right hand turn into a single lane climb with hay bales on the left, followed by a short false flat, and then the 3/4 of a roundabout into the finishing straight. Before the turn up the last hill, I found myself several rows back, and I was sure I'd get totally boxed in on the climb if I stayed there. I used a big effort to try and get near the front before the climb started, but it was probably too much of an effort too late. I had a decent position by the top, but then I lost a bunch of spots before the roundabout, and had nothing for any sprint at the end. I rolled in at the back of a relatively small group of a dozen or so. In hindsight, I would have been better off getting to the front sooner, but I don't know how I could have gotten any where without swarming the yellow line. It would have been worth hitting the wind on the straight section just to be in position for the climb without having to accelerate there.

Still, another good day of racing, and a crit to look forward to tomorrow. The rest of the day was spent hanging out in Philly with my friend Sheila, drinking tea, going to this crazy sculpture garden place, and eating awesome Ethiopian food.

Nepal video (part 1)

2011-03-16T21:24:00.003-04:00

So here is my very first attempt at video editing, any thoughts for improving would be appreciated.

March series

2011-03-13T20:24:00.002-04:00

After the cancellation of Stevens, it was time to quickly find another option for Sunday. Fortunately, just nearby is the March series by Lehighwheelmen.

Brandon and I headed over, I signed up for the A and B race, but unfortunately he had to do the cat 5 race because of his new license.

I rolled up to the B start behind Bob and recognized several national champions, track stars, former Olympians, and the like. I had to clarify that this was, indeed, the start of the B race. Yikes.

Somewhere in the middle of the race, a break was gone, but a sprint was coming up. I couldn't remember how many people were in the break, but I thought that there was a reasonable chance that there might be a point still left for the field. I went, but got passed before the line. So unless the break only had 2 people in it, no points for me. I really should pay more attention and have better general race awareness.

Similar thing happened in the A race, I'm following some guys wheel, and another guy comes around me and asks me what I'm waiting for. He obviously wanted me to pull through earlier. I look back and realize we're in a group of about 6-8 with a good gap behind us. The race is just shredding apart. So I start rotating through and trying to help out. We weren't flowing very smoothly, about half of us were trying to set up a rotating double pace line (probably the best option for the number we had), but others were taking longer hard pulls that strung us out single file. I'm guilty of trying to do both at different times. It was such a short course, that the double pace line was tough to keep rotating through the turns.

I have no idea how many groups were ahead of us, or behind us, all I know is that we got lapped twice by the leaders. Wow, they were flying.

But good racing, got to pay more attention, though.

Training -> Eating

2011-03-08T22:10:00.003-05:00

Great ride yesterday with Jeff and Greg. Did the Lehigh Valley tour of what's what of climbing with 5 stiff climbs, including Bougher Hill and Haupts Bridge. Each one has its own method for destroying legs.

Bougher Hill starts off steeply, and then just doesn't let up.

Then what I think might be the hardest climb I know of, Haupts Bridge Rd. It starts off steeply, and then towards the top you get this steep kick and then a deceptive leveling off, where you think it should be easier, but it isn't. It is just only 5%. By the end, I don't think I could have pedaled downhill.

After 50 miles or so, I was really looking forward to the burrito I knew was waiting for me at home.

Crit update

2011-03-08T21:29:00.002-05:00

So check out the finish photo from the crit on Saturday for the B race. Of particular note is the jean shorts guy in 2nd place.

Rutgers Scarlet Scurry Day #2

2011-03-06T18:04:00.011-05:00

Link for 2012 race.

More rain today, but this time it wasn't letting up. Brandon and I arrived in New Jersey ready for another day of racing. Devin had given us a car tarp, considering the rain, so I starting working on setting it up, while Brandon went off to warm up.

However, my attempts at raising the tarp did not go well. I had parked at a corner of the lot, near the grass, so I could stake down the tarp. The rain was really coming down, and a stiff wind was blowing off of the nearby lake. Every time I managed to get the tarp 90% up, a big gust would tear it back down. For about 20 minutes, I wrestled with stakes, poles, cords, and tarp in the wind and rain, but all I managed to do was coat the mess in a combination of motor oil in the parking lot, and duck poop from the grass. Somehow I had chosen a spot next to the Exxon Valdez of car lots, and the entire area was covered in piles of duck poop. Apparently, I was at the low end of the parking lot, and all the runoff was flowing around my car. Finally, when a gust picked up the entire mess and launched a tent stake across the lot into a parked car, I gave up and shoved the soaked, oily, stinky duck poop mess into a bag in the trunk of my car. Egh.

Brandon leading the chase in the splintered C race:

The course was tough, slightly under a mile, with a 3-4% grade on the back side. Nothing super steep, but after a dozen laps, it really starts to hurt. Brandon had a good race, earning points on every sprint lap, I believe. One really strong rider got a way and stayed away in the C race, and swept up most of the first place points.

Fortunately the rain let up for the B race, and the breeze wasn't too bad. Because of the points format, I think some guys decided to go all out for the first 2 sprint laps, they were very fast. Scoring at least one point was critical to placing ahead of the majority of the field, which probably wouldn't score. I sat back for these first ones, hoping that I could hang on and that the later sprint laps would be easier as the legs wore down. Maybe some of those that managed to get points on the first few laps, would not contest the later points.

I managed to get to the start of the climb in good position, one guy was a few seconds ahead of the field, so only 3-2-1 points were up for grabs. I got passed half way up, and then shortly after, another guy. I was charging pretty hard, and didn't have much more to give, but I was totally invested at this point. The difference between scoring, and not scoring, would have a big impact on placing because of the points system. Two guys were coming up fast, and I only barely managed to stay ahead at the line for a single point. After that I breathed a little easier, scoring that single point was important.

Only sprint point:

The last few laps were very tough. I didn't have much left, I was starting to get sloppy on the bike and pedaling squares. I started switching to the small ring and going high cadence which I think got me up a little more efficiently.

The single point was good enough for 9th overall, satisfied to make the top 10 again. Awesome race, tons of fun, and a good challenging course.

Best bike of the race: Really cool bright purple frame, every time he went by, I couldn't help but stare.

Best quote heard from the sidelines: You're riding Dura-Ace, you can get up that hill!

Now I'm spending the evening cleaning road grime out of the nooks and crannies of my bike. Shower time, the dirt gave me a bad looking uni-brow.

Rutgers Scarlet Scurry Day #1

2011-03-05T20:19:00.009-05:00

Link for 2012 race.

2011 road racing has officially begun with the first collegiate race of the year. I decided to jump into the Bs, as they are supposedly equivalent to 3/4 racing and that sounded like it would be good experience.

I was not super thrilled about getting up at 4 am in the cold and dark to drive out to New Jersey, especially when the weather was threatening to rain. When we got to the TT course, the roads were soaked and kept spitting more rain. But, in one of those miraculous events, just as the first riders were hitting the course, the clouds rolled out, and the warm sun dried the roads quickly.

From Lehigh, we had 3 car loads of people and bikes. A pretty good turnout I thought, but some other teams like F&M had 30+, spread throughout the categories.

Brandon on his way to 3rd in the C2 division:

A 2 mile flat TT is not exactly my forte, but I wanted to see what I could do. There is no way to get "comfortable" for that kind of effort, I was all over the bike, in the drops, on the hoods, in the "invisible aero bars", but it was really tough hitting a good consistent effort level. With a full aero cockpit, I've been able to hold 24+ mph for 10 miles, but struggled today at only 23.5 average over 2 miles. I think the aero stuff really does make a huge difference, plus I'm not quite where I was at the end of the season last year. I do like the fact that collegiate doesn't allow any aero equipment, it really levels the playing field. Good enough for 22 out of 41, and for this event, I'm happy with that.

Eric did some big turns at the front of the C2 crit and helped Brandon out for more points:

For the crit I started with moderate goals, work on positioning and sprinting, the two most important things for a flat four corner crit. The race started off pretty fast, and combined with the high winds that afternoon, finding shelter was crucial. I started off in the back, like usual, but the accordian affect there was brutal, I had to almost sprint out of every corner to stay in the field. Fortunately the front finishing straight was sheltered from wind by the stadium, and the downwind leg had a slight uphill which made moving up very easy. The road was wide, and I could get just about as far up in the field as I wanted. Riding in the top 10-15 was much smoother and easier then sitting at the back.

Early in the race, one rider got a relatively large gap solo off the front, and soon after we came through and the bell rang for an intermediate sprint. I had no intention of going for it, planning on just saving myself for the final sprint. But one by one, the riders in front of me pulled off to the escape the wind, and on the final turn I found myself 3-4 wheels back. What the heck, I have to go for it now, the positioning was perfect. I started accelerating and got past them relatively easily, I was moderately surprised, as I'm generally not a sprinter in any regard, whatsoever. It may have been a bit easier, as the solo guy was still gone and picked up the first place points, so there was less motivation in the field to scrap for 2nd place points.

Fortunately, the pace eased up after this, and I sat in for a while to recover. It was a short race, though, only 45 minutes, so nobody was waiting around and a fair number of attacks went constantly. First race, everyone wants to test their legs out. F&M was very active and constantly sending people off the front. Several others in the field seemed to be very worried about these solo moves, and kept trying to organize more chase effort. Considering the massive winds, I didn't think anyone had a ghost of a chance solo, so I did my personal duty and neatly followed wheels.

Patience, maybe I'm finally learning....

As expected, everything came together with 5 to go. The pace ramped up, and I concentrated on just trying to maintain a good position. I came into the final upwind stretch a little further back then I wanted, but I really wanted to stay sheltered for that stretch of the course. I felt really good coming out of the final turn, and started passing way on the right side, but everyone went wide, and I ran out of road between the field and the cones. I sat up too early, as I definitely think I had more sprint left. I think I probably managed top 10, but I haven't seen the results yet.

So a very satisfying race, the Collegiate Bs actually felt easier then most Cat 4 crits I've done. I think the course, with wind, and small hill really helped in that regard.

The weirdest part of the race was some guy, who for the last 3 laps of the race, kept yelling to everyone asking how many laps were left, and if it was time to sprint yet. Every time we came around, he apparently forgot to check the lap cards. Every time....

Oh, and the guy with the faded denim bike shorts. Those were, surreal.

Tomorrow is points race in the rain, this will be interesting.

Goals for 2011

2011-01-21T01:31:00.000-05:00

My favorite part of the "off season" is getting in lots of quality training, and thinking ahead to the next season. Here is how my season will break down in 2011.

1) Collegiate Cycling in the spring

2) Trans Rockies Run - Training for this will occupy the summer months, from April to August. The main purpose will be a fund raiser which I am still putting together the details for.

3) Cyclocross in the fall - After mainly running during the summer, I hope to hit the cyclocross season fresh and motivated.

Specific goals:

1) Some top 10 finishes in the B collegiate races. I hear that the B races are roughly equivalent to cat 3/4, so this will be challenging. In order to do this, I'm going to have to work on my positioning and field sprints, as I don't think that there are going to be many very hilly races. It should be good training and good practice.

2) Top 5 finish in the Pottsville City Cycle 17. Knowing this race a little better this year should help.

3) Top 3 finish in the Tek Park Criterium. This is a super hilly race, and should suit my strengths well.

4) More points in the Thursday night late race.

5) Earn points towards a Cat 2 upgrade in cyclocross.

6) Work on my TT, and average 25+ mph for the Route 29 10 mile TT.

In 2010, my training was very sporadic. My season goals were changing, and I had a teaching and class schedule that kept changing. With 2011, I hope to keep a more consistent training schedule, I won't be taking any more classes so I can devote time in the mornings for training.

Looking back on 2010

2011-01-20T01:16:00.000-05:00

Earlier last spring, I set some specific goals for myself in 2010. They were:

1) Upgrade to Cat 3 in the road - This was my main goal, and the only goal I didn't achieve. The hilly races that I was planning on using for points (Mt. Nebo, Oxford, Fulton) all lost their USA Cycling sanctioned status, so no upgrade points for those races. I think this will wait until 2012.

2) Stage race - Millersburg 3/4, the racing was hard, and I've got a way to go before I can hang with the 3s.

3) Improve TT - 8 miles in 20 min or less - I did this at one of the Route 29 TT, it was a 10 mile TT and I held over 24 mph.

4) Not get dropped before mile 10 in Battenkill Masters - This race went well, I hung with the field until the Meetinghouse Rd climb, by then the field was mostly shredded anyway.

5) Upgrade to Cat 3 cyclocross - Done.

6) Keep running - Only real running race was the SuperBowl 10k, which I'll do again next year.

7) Multisport - Took 2nd at the Vincentown Du which was my first multisport event, and it was a lot of fun. I plan on doing more of these.

Some of the biggest highlights were getting points in the Thursday night late race. This is a fast training criterium, and I was elated to get 1 point in a sprint early in the season, and 2 points on a solo effort.

Overall I'm satisfied with the way 2010 went. Road was a bit of a dissapointment, when most of my main road races were cancelled, I lost lost much of my training motivation. I started the cyclocross season highly motivated and training hard, but tapered out by the end. Next year I'll make cyclocross a season goal, and make sure I can get through the entire season.

Limestone Cross at the Kiln

2011-01-16T15:42:00.004-05:00

Less then 24 hours after returning from Nepal, I rolled up to the start of the Limestone Cross at the Kiln. I had been on a bike twice in the past 5 weeks, and the last time was over 2 weeks ago, but any chance to do a cross race was an opportunity to be seized. It was after midnight Nepal time, and I was still tired from our 30+ hour trip, so I had no real objectives other then to have fun, and get some exercise with light exposure to help readjust my circadian rhythms.

I have no idea where the race organizers got their call up list from, but staging at the back was fine with me, as I was far from finely tuned racing shape. The biggest perk of a local race is the amount of spectators that will come out and watch, several Lamprey Systems families were there.

The race started with the usual congestion in the middle of the pack, but with the muddy and snowy conditions, riders were sliding out all over and there were several crashes right in the first few turns. I saw one guy do an endo and flip over his front wheel. I managed to slip past most of the wreckage and work my way up from the back of the field.

The slippery conditions probably worked to my advantage, as there was more emphasis on bike handling then leg power (which I was distinctly lacking). By starting off conservatively, I could ride more efficiently towards the end of the race, hold better lines in the turns, and avoid the fatigue induced sloppiness that can put racers into the ground.

Greg had a good start, and by the time I came around after the first lap, I got word from the sidelines that Greg was in the lead. Unfortunately, he got taken out on the steep, wooded climb and somehow sheared off his front valve stem.

Check out the crash sequence in the background:

Unfortunately, this was the end of Greg's race as he hadn't brought his spare bike.

A group of hecklers had assembled themselves on the wooded climb and were taking advantage of the slow speeds to pummel racers with snow balls. It took them 3 laps before they were able to finally land one on me.

You can see Selene's snowball in mid flight.

I passed for 5th place as he was taking a beer hand up at the top of the run-up, but I was a long way off from the podium spots. The race paid down to the top 5, so I managed to get my entry fee covered. You can't go wrong with a cross race, I hope this trend of winter racing continues, it would be nicer to have a longer cross season.

Winter training has been kick-started.

Gotta love the snow man, great work by (L-R) Ashley, Sophia, Ella, and Maya:

Nepal (17) Airport

2011-01-12T04:14:00.003-05:00

Straight from the Tribhuvan Airport website of Kathmandu, Nepal, comes the following customs requirement:

1.3 Visitors are also allowed to carry one binocular, one camera, one movie camera, one video camera, one radio, one tape recorder, one by-cycle, one wrist watch, one set of fountain pen, one perambulator, 15 radio cassettes and 10 disk records into the country for personnel use, on the condition that they are declared and are to be taken back on return. Carrying narcotics, arms and ammunitions are strictly prohibited.

Nepal (16) Animals

2011-01-11T00:32:00.002-05:00

So here is a short post highlighting some of the animals that we've come across.

Goats:

Baby Goats:

Baby Chicks:

Donkeys:

Buffalos:

Nepal (15) Daily Routine

2011-01-10T23:36:00.006-05:00

Even though so many aspects of our daily life are completely different then what we're used to in the States, life has started to feel very normal here as we become integrated into daily activities in Tansen. Daily activities include shopping for food, meeting familiar faces, and taking care of things around the house.

Me: Chini cha? (Is there sugar?)

Store operator: Cha..... (There is...)

We've had dinner with a Nepali family at their house, where 8 of us gathered in one tiny room on a bed because their house is so small, and ate chicken which qualified as an exotic luxury based on their income. We've had dinner at a European's multi-room apartment flat with waffles, imported blueberries, and heat.

We've had our teeth cleaned at the dentist.

I've had my hair cut.

Some simple things are much more complicated (like washing the dishes). But some normally complicated things are much more simple.

Despite all these differences, it feels very comfortable, and there are definitely many things that I will greatly miss.

Nepal (14) Welcome back to Tansen

2011-01-09T09:36:00.000-05:00

Becca and I left Pokhara early one morning, and took the bus back to Tansen. The main highway doesn't go through the actual city, so when we got off the bus, we jumped on to the top of a jeep to drive us up to the city. The top of a jeep is a good place to sight see, and the air was as clear as I've ever seen. When we got to the main bus park and climbed down from the roof, we were met by a small entourage of somewhat official looking people. I had a hard time understanding what was going on, but fortunately Becca recognized one of them from the tourism board (Getup Palpa).

It turned out that we were being selected to be honored as the first tourists to Tansen of the year 2011 (Year of Tourism). Becca and I were whisked away, our backpack parked at the hotel, and when we got to the main field, the full greeting began.

We met parliament members, cabinet members, various officials, and got photographed and filmed by various journalists. By the end we were covered in marigold wreaths, scarves, and red tikka dust.

Nepal (13) MTB near Pokhara

2011-01-08T05:33:00.005-05:00

A few days later, Peter, Becca, and I returned to Pokhara to spend a few days there again before Peter and Anna returned to the States. We had one day planned for mountain biking.

The morning started off with what could have been utterly catastrophic. We rolled out of the hotel early in the morning on our way to the mountains. With the enthusiasm of getting back on a bike, Peter took off accelerating down the main road in Pokhara. Behind him, I could hear him clicking down through the cassette and he was moving faster then I could keep up with. Suddenly, it looked like he hit a land mine and launched into the air, flipping over 180 degrees and coming down hard on his head. The bike tumbled away and he rolled to a stop, fortunately he jumped right up and after shouting a few choice words, gathered the bike off of the road.

Immediately we noticed that the front wheel was very messed up, one broken spoke and several other bent ones. I don't think we realized the full extent of the damage until later, though. When we finally did examine his helmet, we realized that it was completely toast. The foam was so cracked and crushed, the internal plastic skeleton was showing like a broken femur sticking out of someone's leg. The overall shape of the helmet was slightly more kidney bean then oval, and the external plastic cover had buckled in a few spots. We're convinced he would be dead or a vegetable if he hadn't had his helmet on. I still can't believe how well he fared, considering the impact. His foot hurt for a while, and he had a mild headache, but that was about it.

His cleats were worn, and had come unclipped sending his right foot into the front wheel where it locked up against the fork.

Considering the possibility that he just suffered a mild (or maybe not so mild) concussion, we decided to take the ride easy. Actually, it would have been smarter to cancel the ride. Had he gotten any worse during the day, we would have been far away from any help, with no real roads, transportation, or any other people around.

That night, I woke him up every 2 hours to check his alertness and mental status, just to make sure that nothing developed. He seemed fine, so I think we are really lucky.

Here are some shots from the ride:

Nepal (12) Tansen Challenge

2011-01-07T10:58:00.002-05:00

So up the road from the hospital is a place called Shrinager Hill, and it is some hill.

There are some 500+ steps, and the goal of the Tansen Challenge is to make it up and down 3 times as fast as you can. The previous record was 14 some minutes, but after doing one up and down in training, I figured that record was just about untouchable. Not only was the run up brutal and steep, but coming down was tricky with some loose gravel and broken steps.

The race was fun and well organized, the kids did one up and down, and my Dad participated in the "geriatric" category.

I managed a 13:04 and won an awesome Norway t-shirt.

Even the goats climbed Shrinager:

Nepal (11) Daily shots around Tansen

2011-01-06T09:42:00.001-05:00

Here is just a short collection of a few shots from normal daily activities.

Soaking up the sun in the garden behind the house:

Around the kitchen:

Playing Salu:

The local grocer:

And I have no idea what this is:

Nepal (10) Dakha Cloth

2011-01-05T09:07:00.007-05:00

Back in Tansen, we had some time to explore the local area. One of the most impressive things I saw was the Dakha Cloth factory where everything is done by hand. Starting with spinning the threads, to spooling up the fabric, to weaving the entire thing together, the entire operation is done in the same manner that it has been since the first looms were designed and built.

A sample of the finished goods:

The most impressive part of all of this was the metal punchcards used to set the pattern. A spool feeds in the punched cards, which is "read" by the loom every weave cycle just like a computer. Depending on where the holes are, some strings pull up on the main weave lines, so when the weaver sends a shuttle with the correct color through the loom, the pattern and color are duplicated from the punched cards. I have some video that shows this process much better which I'll put together later.

Nepal (9) Trek, Day 4

2011-01-01T17:47:00.000-05:00

We weren't far from Nyapul, and the last bit was mostly flat along the river. This was a particularly wet valley, some of the water was diverted into the fields for irrigation.

Back in Pokhara, we rented boats for the evening and paddled around the lake for a while.

The bus trip back to Tansen was another hilly trip through the clouds.

Nepal (8) Trek, Day 3

2010-12-31T17:00:00.000-05:00

We had expected to spend some time in the hot springs that our map listed were right next to Gorrepani, but it turned out that no such hot springs existed. So after Peter and I returned from Poon Hill, we were back on the trail heading south towards Nyapul.

Our lunch spot turned out to have a rather nice view, we took our time and let our legs rest.

After lunch, our trail took a turn downwards, and we spent the next few hours descending on a steep and rocky trail.

Finally, our knees would have a chance to recover as we reached the bottom and hit some more "level" terrain (using that word loosely).

I think that my mom is smiling because the steps are finally mostly behind her.

Although we got close, we weren't going to make it back to Nyapul by dark, so we decided to stop and spend the night.

Where Peter found one of his long lost bretheren.

Nepal (7) Trek, Day 3 - Poon Hill

2010-12-30T20:32:00.001-05:00

Just one photo for now of Poon Hill. Although I took many, more photos would just dilute the impact.

That's the moon.

Nepal (6) Trek, Day 2

2010-12-30T12:54:00.010-05:00

The next morning we got up early, as the hike from Gandruk to Gorrepani would be difficult. The overall elevation gain was moderate, but there was a lot of rocky up and down in between.

We covered several diverse terrain types, including some old forest,

open vistas,

clouds,

and views of the mountains.

It was a long day of hiking, and after leaving at sunrise, we were just reaching our overnight destination at sunset.

Nepal (5) Trek, Day 1

2010-12-29T01:21:00.010-05:00

After a few days in Tansen, it was off to Pokhara for a trek in the Annapurna region. The road was twisty and mountainous, taking us through the clouds.

Our trek started off along the river (where it was mostly flat), but soon turned upwards.

As we hiked, the trail got steeper and the mountains got closer. I can't imagine what it was like to build these trails.

Finally we arrived in Gandruk, where we would spend the first night of our trek. If you want to use the toilet, you'll need to chase the chickens out first.

But the view from our room was quite nice.

It got quite cool when the sun went down, but a hot cup of tea and full meal felt great after a day of hiking.

We all slept quite well that night.

Nepal (4) Around my Parents house in Tansen

2010-12-28T09:29:00.005-05:00

A few shots from our first few days in Tansen.

Coming back down from Schrinager Hill.

In my parents house, the sunny reading corner.

The view from our table at breakfast. You can see the "White Lake" through the window, which is the cloud that fills in the valley down below.

Nepal (3) Tansen

2010-12-27T22:16:00.003-05:00

This is my parents house in Tansen, our "base camp" for the next few weeks:

Our first walk was up Schrinager Hill, which offers a nice view of the area, our new stomping grounds.

Nepal (2)

2010-12-27T09:30:00.008-05:00

After Kathmandu, we were off to Tansen on one of the rockiest and hilliest bus trips I've ever been on.

A flat tire didn't stop us,

Nor buses with sheep on the roof,

And we finally entered the Palpa district:

Nepal (1)

2010-12-25T23:33:00.007-05:00

Here are a few photos of Nepal so far...

The first day, Peter and I rented mountain bikes from Kathmandu and got up at 5 am before the sun had risen. We met up with 3 others and started heading out of the city in the pitch black dark. Riding through a foreign city at night was quite the first experience, the traffic seemed hectic and chaotic, but the drivers were very attentive and the traffic had much more flow to it. After a few minutes, I felt more comfortable with Kathmandu traffic than I do with some of the cranky commuters in Bethlehem at rush hour.

Soon we hit the edge of valley and started climbing up out of the city. We broke through the clouds as the sun was coming up.

We made one stop for "chia" before turning back down.

Awesomeness

2010-12-11T09:57:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow we leave for Nepal, that means today I'm going to post the most awesome thing I've seen on the internet in a while:

Enjoy.

Mt. Mitchell, attempt #2

2010-11-29T19:53:00.010-05:00

This time, the forecast looked great, and I was really gung-ho to actually get to the top of Mt. Mitchell this time. The weather started off in the high 40s, and with several layers I felt prepared for colder temperatures at the top. I didn't realize how much colder, however, and I wouldn't have minded bringing some of the layers I decided to leave in the car.

The climb up was beautiful, not a cloud in the sky and visibility seemed to be unlimited. The grade was steady and gradual, perfect for setting into a rhythm.

There were a few tunnels along the way, and only a handful of cars. I did see two other bikers coming down.

When I hit the first little short descent, I came around the back side of a ridge where it was hidden from direct sun light. That was my first little blast of COLD. Snow drifts along the side of the road and large icicles hanging from the rocks.

I was glad to get climbing again. The northern side of the ridges and peaks were covered in ice.

The last 4 miles really kicked up (about 8%) which was a real kick in the gut after 30+ miles of climbing already. That was definitely the hardest part, but I knew I was near the top, so that served as extra motivation. The final summit is hidden from view, and there were plenty of false peaks on the way, but finally I emerged onto a paved ramp to a look out platform on the very top. I actually didn't spend much more then a minute up there, the wind was blowing hard, and according to a thermometer it was 20 F, (about -7 C), plenty cold. I wanted to get moving again.

With the summit at 6684, and starting around 2100, that was a total of about 4500 feet of climbing in 3 hours. One more quick look around, and I was ready to get off the top of the mountain.

The descent was when I really started to get cold, it is nothing but mile after mile of descending, with a strong, cold wind blowing. Fortunately, despite the sun starting to set, the weather was getting continually warmer as I descended. What took 3 hours to climb, barely took an hour and a half to descend.

My water bottle froze up, so with only drinking a few ounces over 5 hours, I was mildly dehydrated. It took a day to get enough fluids back in.

A hot tea was the first order of business.

Mountains

2010-11-26T18:11:00.002-05:00

Something about seeing mountains in the distance, makes me want to go climb them.

I can't wait for Nepal....

Blue Ridge Parkway

2010-11-25T20:53:00.007-05:00

Besides cross races, and mountain biking, Asheville has the the Blue Ridge Parkway nearby which is an ideal place for road biking. I set out with the bold attempt to climb to Mt. Mitchell, which would be about 80 miles round trip. So I packed plenty of food:

I started off with arm and knee warmers, and it felt too warm for that. The sun was out, the skies were blue, and the climbing kept me plenty warm. The grade was never very steep, but long and steady so it was easy to settle into a comfortable rhythm.

I turned one switch back and felt my stomach turn when I saw a big, black cloud over the ridge. It didn't look good...

Literally one minute I was standing in the sun, and the next I watched as the shadow came across the range and hid the sun from view. Note the shadows from the direct sun.

I kept going, but very quickly the temperature dropped suddenly, the wind picked up, and the rain started. While the climbing was still comfortable, I knew the descent was going to be cold, so I decided the prudent thing to do was head back. A dry pair of clothes and a hot cup of tea sounded very appealing.

I made it about half way, maybe next time...

There is more to biking then road and cyclocross

2010-11-24T16:20:00.005-05:00

Say what? There is a whole world of cycling that I've never even been exposed to, until just recently.

Asheville, NC, is the perfect setting for mountain biking. Thanks to Travis for the bike and showing me some real mountain terrain. Awesome. I could really get into this.

NC Cyclocross

2010-11-23T17:18:00.004-05:00

As a bonus for the season end, I decided to jump into a race down in Hendersonville, North Carolina that was barely 30 minutes from where we were staying for Thanksgiving. What luck. There was also a double UCI race over the weekend, so the turnout was quite good.

Because UCI races don't allows Cat 2 to ride with the pros, they were combining them with the 3s for this weekend. As I had just submitted my 4 to 3 upgrade, this meant I was going to race in the 2/3 combined category. With no call ups, and no specific intentions other then to have fun, I staged at the very back and decided to see how far up I could move. I had a good start and was already making some passes on the first lap when I felt my front rim bottom out hard on some roots. No problem, I've done that before, and the tubeless combo always held up well.

However, as soon as I came to a sharp right hand off camber turn before the first steep ride-up, my front washed out as if I had hit an ice patch. My chain also dropped and it took me a while to get myself sorted out. I fumbled my way up the steep section, but my front tire was completely flat. I had a long way to go to get to the pits, and it meant running through the start-finish section. The announcer saw me running through and gave me a shout of encouragement through the PA.

Thankfully, Becca ran to the car, grabbed my pump for me, and delivered it to the pits. I tried to inflate the tire, but it wasn't holding air, so I withdrew. I made it about a lap and half, including the running.

On closer inspection, there is a small hole in the sidewall, I seem to have pinch flatted the tire itself. Maybe next year is the year for tubeless.

Carbon Cross Compact Crank Cracked....

2010-11-22T10:45:00.011-05:00

or: Weekend of the Giant Crank Arms.

So while cleaning my cross bike after a muddy night of Fifth St., I noticed that my pedal was loose, but it was tight... The threaded metal insert was coming lose from the carbon crank arms.

Crap.

Thankfully, an email to the team got a quick response from Roland offering me his compact road crank for the rest of the cross season. I took him up on his generous offer, and could now finish the rest of my races.

My brother Peter was up from Michigan that weekend, on his way out to Nepal. I asked him to guess how big the cranks were: "170mm? 175mm? 177.5? I have no idea..." 180mm. They felt strange just pedaling around, but as soon as I started racing, I didn't notice any difference at all.

I had two races that weekend, Phelps School on Saturday, and Kutztown Cross on Sunday.

On Saturday, I got a nice front row call up for the B (3/4) race. My start was good and I was sitting about 5-7 coming down the first fast descent. Around the bottom turn, the guy in front of me slid out and sent me in to the tape at the bottom of the hill. In 2 seconds I went from top 10 to dead last. I accelerated as quickly as I could, and hammered it hard for the next two, passing as much as I could. I worked my way back up to 6th place, but those two laps put me a little too far into the red. It didn't help that my cleats were popping out of my pedals, once on the steep ride-up, once just on a bumpy section of grass, and once for no good reason. I was a little too tired, and started to make mistakes, coming around with 2 to go, I slid out on a turn and got passed by the guy on my wheel. I lost contact with him and then got passed once more to finish in 8th.

Overall, a fun course, I liked the hill in there. Check out Chris's race report from Phelps.

Sunday was another dry, fast day. This whole season has missed out on the mud from last year. The B field was small, and I enjoyed another front row call up. Jeff went out hard from the gun and I followed him around the first few turns. I slid back another few positions and ended up trading spots a few times with a Cutter's rider. It took me a few laps to figure out a good rhythm and find good lines through some of the really tight twisty sections. I never did work out a good way around the trees and went down over those roots at least twice.

I ended up coming through in 5th, overall a good weekend of racing, and it looked like it would be the final wrap up of the cross season for me. Goals for next year include not falling down quite so much.

Chris also had a

But, there was to be one more race....

Spring Mount Race Report

2010-11-08T15:37:00.005-05:00

Last year this course was quite muddy, with a huge sloppy section of peanut butter mud that was a real leg wrecker. With that thought, and the memory of last weeks Fifth St Cross race (12+ hours straight of rain), I ran straight to Cutter's and bought a pair of Specialized Captain CX tires. It wasn't until much later that it dawned on me that the "2bliss" advertised on the tires wasn't 1bliss version 2.0, or a statement that these tires were going to make me extremely happy, but actually TUBELESS.

Cool, bonus. I had no idea.

So my mental confusion aside, and an extra pair of mud wheels just in case, I rode down with Greg and Roland to get there early for the "C" race. It was cooold, and the wind was really starting whipping up some frigid wind chill.

Greg decided to jump in the "C" race, so Lamprey Systems had a good showing with George, Roland, Greg, David, and Jeremy showing up. In usual Greg style, he took off from the gun and took the lead early. He was so far ahead of the next guys, that the announcer missed him on each lap, and called the guys behind him as the "leaders". Amy wasn't going to put up with that, so she straightened out the announcer for all of us. It looked like he was going to pull it off, but got passed right at the end by just a few bike lengths. Jeremy had a good race, pulling off a solid top 10 (7th?).

Although I had almost 3 hours to get ready for my race, I somehow managed to get to the line late, and barely got my call up position. Then, to top off my start, I had my number pinned on the wrong side. So I'm stripping off my jersey, trying to switch the number around, and dropping my pins into the rocks. Great.

Finally I was good to go (I think the officials waited for me, they didn't hide their surprise when I actually got the number on the correct that it was right side up). The start was fast and I came through the prologue loop somewhere between 10 and 15. After that it thinned out and I started moving up. I got up to the front with Joe and another strong rider. We had a great support crew cheering at the sand pit, so I decided to try and ride it, and actually got through. After the fast start, we settled down in the middle of the race and it didn't take long for us to grow to a group of 6 at the front. I wanted to try to keep the pace high so others wouldn't ride up to us, but the wind was absolutely killer and finding a wheel to sit behind was crucial, especially on the open back section.

Overall, I was happy with my riding, I was carrying good speed through the turns, my light weight was an asset here as I could take a tighter line with the same speed and make passes on the insides of the turns. I momentarily panicked as I burped a bunch of air out of my rear tire again, but calmed down when I realized it was holding, and as a bonus my bike felt even faster yet. I was bottoming out on the tree stumps, but the bike floated over the course and cornered great. What a difference. I probably finished with not much more then 20 psi.

I knew that if it came down to a sprint at the end with this group of 6, I wouldn't be able to really contest it, but trying some solo move at the end didn't seem prudent with the wind. Plus my right quad was cramping up and I didn't have much left by the time the last lap came around. In the end, I couldn't match the accelerations and rolled through for 6th.

But great racing; riding in the group helped with pacing, flow, and wind. Forty minutes never went by so quickly.

Philladelphia Ciclismo put on a great race, I liked the course much better then last year, and their food was awesome. The gusting winds blew the cheese off my chili, but it was still awesome.

Beacon Cross 2010

2010-11-01T20:44:00.006-04:00

This race was a last minute plan, hatched over a beer at the Wednesday night Halloween Fifth St Cross race (night of the G.O.A.T). Although I had missed pre-registration by barely an hour, I figured it was worth a shot to drive up with Greg and Chris and jump in the "C" race Saturday morning. The downside is no call-ups, but Beacon sounded like fun, and it's always worth going to a cross race.

The morning was cold, and I pre-rode the course in my fleece just to try to warm up. I tried to stage myself up towards the front, hoping that they might just do call ups for top 20 or something, and let me scrum in behind them, but no dice. They called up the numbers from 400 all the way back to to at least 480, and me with number 493 got to scrum in at the very back. There were a few guys behind me, but not many.

Fortunately the start was on a long, paved, slightly up hill straight and I managed to slip by a good number of people before the course narrowed into the woods. After that, it was a matter of finding openings and squeezing through any cracks I could find.

On the first time up the amphitheater, I totally screwed it up. There is a descent down the hill, then a sweeping left hand 180 degree left turn to the run back up the amphitheater section. Despite doing it well during the warm-up laps, I unclipped with my left foot and had to come to a complete stop at the bottom step, un-clip my other foot, clumsily climb off my bike, and then start the run up. Lost several spots doing that. Check out this dope:

About a lap and a half in, Chris tells me from the side that I'm up to 7th, coming into the "Amphitheater of Pain", I manage to make another pass on the run up, and the announcer is playing up the battle for the top 5 podium spots. He was doing a good job, much better then some of the race announcers you hear at these amateur races. The run sections were very good for me, the sand pit almost the maximum 90 meters long, (Greg said 89 meters) and I was able to consistently make up a spot or two there. On the final lap I got into 4th place and I could just barely catch Greg's yellow jersey through the woods, but coming up to the finish, he was still a ways ahead of me.

Our finishing order worked out great, Greg held on to his aggressive start for 3rd, good for more MAC series points. With me slotting in at 4th, that will help him against his closest rivals in the MAC series. He finished ahead of Alvarez and Lavelle, and my 4th bumps them down one more spot then they would have been if I hadn't raced.

Now I've got 9 points and 9 cross races, and it takes either 10 races or 10 points to upgrade to Cat 3. So either way, my next race should put me over the top.

The course was really fast, and had some good flow. The loose sand in the turns made picking a good line very important, but over all I liked it much more then I expected. It always seemed like there were plenty of places to pass, and I could move up pretty easily despite the high speeds.

Check out Festa's report on his win in the B race here.

Town Hall Cross Report

2010-10-30T18:50:00.005-04:00

Egad! It's been almost a month since the race, but it was a fantastic day of racing, and deserves its rightful place in the web logs.

After many months of hard planning, behind the scenes work by Chris, Greg, and others, the day of the race finally arrived. Thankfully, all of the hard work paid off and everything went very smoothly. The fantastic weather was definitely a huge bonus. Four weeks later, and we still hear people talking about that "brutal Town Hall" course. Keep up the chatter, we'll bring it back next year.

Besides being our first sponsored race, I was excited about the course because of the significant elevation change. This was pretty unique for a cross race, and should suit skinny people like myself.

The course was definitely tough, the steep climb broke up the race quickly, and we were all strung out. I sat in 4th place for most of the race, and was slowly closing in on 3rd. By the end I finished only 20 seconds behind him, and I think with one more lap I could have got it. I'm feeling more comfortable in the B races, and soon I'll be able to upgrade to Cat 3.

Genuinely one of the most fun courses I've ever ridden, next year should bring some even better competition. Watching the 'A' main race go was very impressive, Bill Elliston flatted just after the pit entrance, and had to ride the entire climb and descent on basically his rims. When he finally got a new bike, he was minutes behind the next rider. Watching him take off after the field was an amazing show of power and smooth handling. He worked his way all the way up to 3rd place.

After the race, I had a serious conversation with Dave about his future career as a heckler. I tried to convince him that if was going to take this seriously, he should quit bike racing to focus on heckling full time. One more beer and I could have convinced him.

Marten

Whirlybird cyclocross race report

2010-10-03T11:24:00.003-04:00

Last year I raced the "C" race, as my second cyclocross race, this year, I thought I'd try the B race. As a result of having no MAC series points, and waiting until late to register, I was seeded 8 rows back out of 12 rows in a large field of about 100 riders. I didn't have high expectations for the race, but decided to just try and race as hard as I could, and see where I ended up.

The start was a huge congested cluster of racers all trying to pass early, especially before the first time through the "Omega" thing. I was disappointed to see that the organizers had removed the "crop circle' thing from last year, it was a unique feature to this race. Going through the tight turns of the Omega was so congested that the inside line came to almost a complete stand still, and many people had to dismount. Finally we got through, but the lines were so spread out, the back of the field was far, far, away from the front.

Picture after the barriers.

The rocky section was sort of frightening, flying down at high speed, and hitting a boulder field while trying to turn and feeling the bike sliding all over the place. I definitely bottomed out several times HARD, but thankfully the tubeless arrangement held up. I think many of the DNF'ers were probably due to flats on some of these tough spots.

Rolled in at 43rd out of 74 finishers. Apparently, the winner of the race (bib #363) was staged on my same row (bib #360)! So no excuses....

Really looking forward to our home race the next week, the hill is going to be tough...

Concrete Crater 'Cross

2010-09-12T15:27:00.007-04:00

I have a different attitude about racing when it comes to 'cross. I know that it is just going to be fun trying to get around that course as fast as possible, but I still have enough of a competitive side that I want to get a good finish result. But that said, I've never had a bad cross race no matter how I finished.

Today I was going to try the "B" race for the first time, and I woke up to the sound of pouring rain. I expected the conditions to certainly be different then the dry, dusty, and dead grass we had yesterday. I really thought it would be worse then it actually turned out to be, the rain stopped, and the dry ground must have thirstily sucked up most of the rain, because there was only one muddy section on the entire course.

The fields today were much smaller then Nittany Lion yesterday, and I decided to stage towards the rear because I didn't want to get in the way of faster riders. I had it in my head that the "B" race would be faster by several magnitudes of order, while the start was quick, riding in the middle of the Bs wasn't much different then riding near the front of the Cs. I moved up slowly, I could see Greg and Chris towards the front, they looked like they were in good condition. Dave and David were cheering from the sidelines, and I think the encouragement helped with some extra motivation to keep trying to move up. I got up to Chris and he gave me a clean line to pass, and eventually I was sitting behind Joe, who I think was 3rd at that point. I was still feeling pretty good, but there were still 20 minutes of racing left, so I decided to just sit there for a while and stay smooth. We came around the sharp right hand turn with the uphill and I felt my rear tire slide out with a loud "BBRRRRPPPPP!!" I could keep riding it, but it felt very squishy and loose on the turns. On my next pass by David, I saw him standing there with Chris, and called out for them to grab a pump and take it to the pits. I thought I could give it a few shots of air, my main worry was that it might totally roll off at this point. I came around to the pits, and Chris was there with complete spare bike and pump, unfortunately I was riding SPD pedals, so they wouldn't work with his bike. As a spontaneous decision, I decided to try and just take his rear wheel, but my clumsy mid-race wheel change was pretty slow, although at least I could continue on with a tire I could trust. Plus, it was good to try a different tire, it really felt like his Mud2 was getting much better traction then my slightly worn Vittoria XGs. I tried to keep racing, but it was hard to get back into it mentally after dropping so far back. I worked my way up a few spots before the finishing lap. No idea where I ended up, but still a fun race.

Cross is finally here...

(Just pulled off the rear tire and and the sealant was totally dried up. It had been sitting in there for several hot summer months since May.)

Nittany Lion

2010-09-11T22:15:00.008-04:00

I've been looking forward to this race for a while, it's felt like cyclocross season for a while now, and I knew it would be fun to get back to those races again.

I lined up in the C race with Greg, Ron, Steve, Jeremy and Roland, and over 120 other racers. The field was huge and the start was very crowded. Without a call up, I sat about 1/4 back in the field. Right off the start, barely 50 meters into the race in the straight section was the first wreck, I managed to get around it, but there were quite a few people tangled up in it. Then on one of the tight twists around the trees, another racer went down and several others as well. It was tough trying to move up and navigate the course while the entire field was still so bunched up.

It didn't take long, by the end of the first lap, things were strung out and I could start passing people in small groups on the straight sections. My bike handling was greatly improved since last year, I could turn faster, get quicker lines, and the difference over the barriers was like night and day.

Another lap and I got to the front of the main field, in front of me was a large gap and maybe a dozen or so riders off in the distance. I could see Greg sitting in third wheel, he looked like he was riding very well. With a clean line through the course, I could make good time and managed to catch up with the leaders, the continual cheers from the squad certainly helped, I think I heard David 4-5 times each lap! One by one I moved up until I was in 6th place. I had a difficult time getting past the next rider, I'd get a clear shot through a turn, but he'd match my acceleration, and I wasn't able to get past cleanly. Finally we came to the barriers and I got past him with some good foot speed and a fast clip in. The little details really make a difference here. By then I had less then 1/2 a lap to try and catch the next guy. I came around the rocks at the end and felt like I had a lot of sprint left, I opened up and came within a second of passing him, but I'm happy with 5th place.

Greg had an excellent race and finished strong with 2nd place.

Thanks to Danica and David for the photos.

Let's do it again tomorrow.

Marten

Millersburg Stage Race Cat 3/4

2010-08-16T15:57:00.012-04:00

In the spirit of "more is less", here is my quick breakdown of the stage race, and links to others who have told the story much better then I could ever.

For an excellent read and a truly fine example of blogging, check out the bikerackheads.

Mike Festa.
I eat the world.
And the detailed report by GC winner Peter Warner.

It was fun doing a stage race with my brother, who was one of four Cat 3s in a field of 82 Pro/1/2/3 riders. (Although I raced the 3/4, 98 riders!)

Time Trial:

I had the aero cockpit setup on my road bike, and was planning on giving it my all, even though I knew it wouldn't net me any points against a strong 3/4 field. It was really exciting having your name, team, and hometown announced over the PA system before the 5 second beeps went off for the start. Probably got my adrenaline going too hard for the start. 77st out of 97, avg about 23.9 mph. My goal for next year will be to take off at least a minute of 10 mile TT time.

Criterium:

Video by Peter Warner
Helmet Cam by Ben Reynolds. Part 1 and Part 2 (see 10:20 for crash)

This was not a flat course, instead it was similar to the Tek Park Criterium, although not quite as steep or as long. The start was quick, and I spent most of the race clinging to the back on the descents, and moving up through dropped riders on the climbs. There was a crash that took out 3-4 guys on a tight 90 degree bend before the climb. The field responded by accelerating and I couldn't stay with them. I got pulled from the race about half way through, with 8 laps to go. Only 35 finished out of 98, there was that much attrition. Unfortunately pulled riders weren't placed, so no idea where I ended up. I'm credited with 36th, but only because the officials listed the dropped riders alphabetically. I'm a little disappointed that for the expense of a stage race, the pulled riders weren't placed properly.

The Pro/1/2/3 race was won by a solo escapee from the New Zealand Olympic Team.

Road Race:

Rain. It poured.

The course was actually a really nice 18 mile loop with some gentle rollers, but thankfully the rolling enclosure which allowed use of both lanes made for a good race, even with a massive field of almost 98 riders. The Amish cheering squad was great. I was feeling better on the second lap, but got so much road grime in my eyes that I couldn't see. Coming into the feed zone for the second time, I pulled off the back of the pack to try and get them cleared out, but the field did not let up on the pace and flew through the field zone. I chased for a few miles but my eyes were in a miserable condition and a hot cup of tea with dry clothes sounded so good that I turned around and pedaled back to town. After changing I heard about a massive crash that took out about half the field. See this report. I totally missed the helicopter.

In the end, a strong group of 5 got away, and a small field with many stragglers rolled through well after them.

I then watched the Pro/1/2/3 come through with one lap to go of their 90 miles. A small break had a big gap, followed by a group of about 20, and then I saw my brother pulling at the front of a third group of about 30. He looked good and was definitely putting in a lot of work. At one point, the New Zealand guy attacked solo from my brother's group, trying to chase up to the next group. My brother followed, but they were eventually brought back. In the end they managed to organize a good chase, and the entire field came back together for a big field sprint. He was sitting in a good position at the front, but some guy took a bad line through a turn and took out some of the leaders, including my brother. It definitely looked like he had a good shot at top 15, at least top 20. But fortunately he wasn't hurt, and neither was his bike.

Overall it was a fun experience getting my butt kicked with the Cat 3s. A well organized event, good volunteers, and strong competition. Maybe I'll do it again next year.

Pottsville City Cycle 17

2010-08-16T15:54:00.004-04:00

Another awesome race, good team representation and we worked together well winning the team competition. Thanks to Greg for pulling me up to the base of the last climb. Find his report here:

http://lampreysystems.com/team-lamprey-wins-pottsville-17-race-2-year-in-a-row/

Thanks to Deb Stevens for the following photos:

The kids were involved in a big way, look at all those little kits.

Roland always has a big grin on his bike! Seriously in every photo I've ever see of him, crits, cyclocross, wet, dry, muddy, sandy, whatever, he's lovin' it!

Tek Park Criterium

2010-07-25T17:58:00.005-04:00

This is definitely a race for the "must-do" list next year, what a great alternative to the common "four-corner crit". The course was a wide sweeping 1.33 mile loop with no tight turns and plenty of elevation gain (200 feet per lap). Sections of it approached 10% which would definitely shake up the race.

We had good team representation with Greg, Jeff, Bobby, and myself. The race started off pretty quickly and I took a few turns at the front hoping to keep the pace high. Jeff asked me how I was feeling, my legs were tired right then, but we decided to try and make a move in two more laps. Coming around to the hill again, I saw Greg and Jeff going strong off the front with one other rider right with them. I was sitting back in the field in not a good position, and I didn't think that I'd be able to get up to them without dragging the field along with me. I wouldn't have had the strength to bridge cleanly, besides, Greg and Jeff were flying. So instead I got to the front and decided to do the easy thing, just start soft pedaling.

The next few laps were tremendously fun. I knew that Greg and Jeff were strong enough to get a good gap, so I just sat on the front of the field. When someone would come up to the front and try to chase, I'd follow their wheel, wait for them to finish their pull, and then slow up again. It was incredibly disruptive to organizing a chase effort. After the hill where the course turns to face the wind, I could drop the pace down to a crawl, and usually no one would want to come around. Greg and Jeff got a lot of time quickly, and they were out of sight within half of a lap.

It may have looked like I was pulling, but this part of the race was slooooow. I felt completely recovered after a lap or two. A few laps later I noticed Greg watching from the curb, so only two guys up the road. I found out later he had been taking some monster pulls, and the heat was really getting to him.

I think I was causing some consternation behind me. After one guy in orange took a big hard pull, only to pull off and see the field slow to a crawl again, he said "XXXX I'm not doing all the chasing for the entire field!". We were getting time checks of 60 seconds, then 90 seconds, the gap was ballooning. The frustration eventually led to a flurry of big attacks, but no one got away.

A lap or two later, a rider from Pure Energy Cycling took a long hard steady pull, and when I looked back, we had a big clean separation from the field, so I talked to him and we decided to make a go of it. We worked really well together, I was feeling very good and rested at that point and could take us through the hill and windy section, and he was a fast descender, so we made a great pair. I think that there were about 5 laps left at this point. On the last one I charged up the last part of the hill, fearing that he would have a bigger kick then I, but I rolled through for 3rd without a challenge.

Jeff ended up taking the win over the Cutter's rider, as well as a prime along the way. It was really fun race, and we had some great teamwork.

Vincentown Duathlon

2010-07-13T22:03:00.006-04:00

If there ever was a good reason to get up at 4am (for a sporting event), this Duathlon qualifies. Signing up was a last minute decision on the day before the event. I had been wanting to try a duathlon, and the Vincentown Du seemed to be a good one to give it a shot.

The morning had forecasts for thunderstorms, and I left Bethlehem with spitting rain and bad looking clouds. Fortunately things started to look better once I got into New Jersey. There was a very dense fog, but as I got ready for the race, that lifted as well. It looked like we were going to have great weather.

I didn't really know how to prepare for the event, I was asking myself many questions like how do I warm up? How much can I eat on the bike and not cramp on the run? Where do I pin my number? The answer I got to this last question from an organizer was "Well, don't you have a race belt?" I had no idea what that was, so I pinned my number to the front of my suit. Shows how much I knew.

I lined up for the start and decided that my main goal was to stay within myself, and not overdo it on any of the sections. As soon as the gun went off I found myself running along in 2nd place, it felt fast, but I felt comfortable, so I just tried to stick to a steady pace. The first mile split was 5:40. Right before the transition one other guy passed me. I thought that maybe these would be two of the top competitors, but they were apparently in it for only a fast 2 mile, as their bike was 13.4 mph, and they finished in almost the last 2 places.

I lost track of the other duathletes after the first transition, which was just fine, as I was just focusing on running my own race. Our bike leg dumped out into the waves of triathletes that had finished their swims so it was hard to tell who was doing what race, and in which wave. I felt pretty good on the bike, and settled in the 24-25mph range. I held it in a comfortable range, as I knew that the 5k to come would be the real challenge of the race.

I came in to the second transition feeling alright, my legs were tired, but I had been pretty conservative so far. However, that second transition just about did me in. First of all, I had a hard time finding my spot, as the marker I used to find my bike the first time was now on my head (my helmet). I was looking for a pair of running shoes among piles of tri-paraphernalia. Finally I found my two shoes, and hung up the bike. Now things really started to fall apart, I took off both my cycling shoes, got my right running shoe on, and my right calf cramped down hard. I couldn't move my leg, and had to hobble around to find some posts to stretch against. After prying for a bit, I returned to the task of putting on shoes, but it didn't feel right at all. I finally realized that I had put my right biking shoe back on my left foot. That was so totally wrong I had to just stop and laugh. So I finally got two running shoes on the correct feet, and headed out for the 5k.

Wow, that was a tough 5k. My legs felt heavy, my heart rate was much higher then it usually was for that pace, and I felt like I was barely trodging along. No, that isn't a word, but that is what it felt like. I slowly picked up my rhythm, and my legs slowly wound themselves out, but I never felt like I had good foot speed. I just tried to maintain.

I came up to the finish without any extra kick, and crossed the line glad for a chance to really stretch. I spent the next 3 days trying to stretch my legs back out, and by day 4, they finally felt normal again.

Ryan had an awesome tri, taking top honors and posting the only time under one hour. I managed second over all in the du. I was only 25 seconds behind the winner, and I kept wondering where I could have found that extra 25 seconds. How much did I lose in the transition? How slow was my 5k? Those kinds of questions that are useless to ask after the race, but I couldn't help wondering.

A few days later when the full results were posted with time splits, I got some answers. Unfortunately a timing mat missed my first 2 mile split, but by working backwards, I figured that I had a 10:40 2-mile (but then my first mile split doesn't make any sense), T1 of about 0:45 to 1:00, and a bike of about 23.4 mph.

The notable thing was T2, mine was 1:12 and the winner had 0:47, that is a difference of exactly 25 seconds.

I'm still very happy with my result in the du, but seeing what I can work on to improve is definitely motivation for next time. I can also see where those seconds saved with aero gear on the bike can really help. I think I'll take my winnings and buy an aero helmet. I also want to get more running miles before my next du, and practice those transitions to the run, I think I can go faster then a 19:34.

Can't wait for the next one.

JBN Criterium (Just Be Natural)

2010-07-13T17:46:00.006-04:00

JBN Criterium Cat 4 from Bikelink on Vimeo.

Highlights:

5:00 first Lamprey sighting, moving up
7:00 more Lamprey riders moving up
9:40 I move up to the front
11:20 more butt shots
20:50 Roland and Greg come up
22:10 Jeff and I chatting
22:30 then Jeff goes
25:30 Greg
26:20 Getting together
27:20 together and towards the front
31:20 Greg follows up to Roland
34:15 Greg pulling the pack along
35:30 Note how much louder the wind noise gets when the cameraman pulls out of the side of the field and hits the full wind. Gives a relative sense for those who don't race how much more effort that takes.
36:15 I follow another guy when he goes off the front, but don't get anywhere
37:55 Jeff and Greg together
40:00 Me moving up, things are starting to get fast, looking for the rest of the guys
42:10 Two Bikeline/LWA move up quickly, and things string out for the bell lap
43:00 Cameraman is sitting behind eventual winner from F&M
43:15 I move up, hoping that it will somehow help Greg, Jeff, or Roland, but I'm not looking back. I'm probably too impatient and go too soon, it's that Pavlovian response from the bell lap. I think that I only manage to bring the camerman along. Things get rearranged on the backside hill and I slip back.
44:40 Jeff comes up to top 10 or so, is that Roland next to him?
45:30 F&M guy swings left to open up his sprint for the win
45:42 A Bikeline/LWA goes down at the finish line

Having spectators is great, you can definitely hear the "GO LAMPREY!" on every lap around!

As far as criteriums go, this was well ridden with smooth riding and generally good bike handling. Unfortunately one broken collar bone at the finish line, may have been a case of looking down instead of up during the final sprint.

It was a fast one as well. I recorded an average of 25.9 mph, which is I believe the fastest Cat 4 crit I've done, up there with the Thursday night crits. Having a wide open, smooth, and flowing course really helped, I'm sure.

Positioning is still the hardest part of criterium racing. That was fun, we're getting better as a group and figuring it out as we go.

Brief Race Report for Bob Rodale Fitness Park Criterium

2010-07-10T13:58:00.003-04:00

That was a battle, swords were drawn, and nunchucks flying. Kudos to Jeff for putting in a huge effort at the front with 2 laps left to go. Roland was up there right with him, and occasionally I was also, except I kept losing wheels on the turns. It was really tough to hold position, twice I was bumped into the grass.

Like most crits I've done so far, this race was really a battle of positioning. The pace was fast enough that no moves got very far off the front. But slow enough that the field was constantly bunched together. With half a lap left, I was in the top 10-15, but got swarmed coming down the riser and I couldn't move up again. I felt great, I had a ton of strength left in my legs, but alas, no where to go.

It seemed that the main challenge was a field of 66 riders bunched up on a narrow course. There are no long straight sections at the fitness park, and it isn't very wide. That meant that there were no good places to move up through the field and as a result there was a lot of diving into the insides of the turns, and consequent bunching.

Watching the Masters and Cat 3 races, they played out very differently. The field was strung out, breaks were going, gaps were forming, moves were being made. I think Cat 4 races would benefit greatly from some more attacking and driving the pace up to stretch things out. As long as I'm not going to be contesting the sprints anyway, might as well have some fun. Make a race of it.

No pictures of videos this week, boring post for posterity.

Marten

New Bethlehem Criterium

2010-06-24T09:41:00.010-04:00

New Bethleham Criterium: Cat 4 from Bikelink on Vimeo.

Highlights:
12:45 guy goes down (hard to tell what happens)

15:00 My move

16:15 Greg goes

21:40 back in the field

As much as I'm not a crit racer, (as a <140 lb "skinny guy", my element is anywhere the road is going up) I really enjoyed this crit. The roads are plenty wide, tons of room to maneuver and pass, plus the race is only a few miles from where I roll out of bed.

I crawled out at 8am to catch David, Jeff, and Frank in the Cat 5 race. The first time the pack rolled around, I saw David out in front with a several second gap. He looked very comfortable and sat near the front for most of the race. The first half I watched from turn 3, the small hill and false flat was taking its toll on the back part of the field. Riders were trickling off of the back constantly. It was here that 2 years ago I got dropped on my first ever road race in the Cat 5 field.

David had a good sprint at the end, good enough for 3rd in the Cat 5s. I'm sure if he had a better position coming into the final sprint, he would have placed even higher.

I still had 2-3 hours before my race, so I went back home to get breakfast and get ready. It was going to be a hot day, so hydrating would be important.

I rolled to the start with Greg and Roland. Greg usually does masters races, and I think he expected the Cat 4 field to be sketchy, dangerous, and slow. Last year, when Roland did the Masters 35+, he missed his clip in at the start and the field just rode away from him right from the gun.

There were no team plans, but we had a good cheering squad and were on our "home" course. My only goal was not to just sit in and wait for the field sprint which I usually can't contest anyway.

The pace felt pretty comfortable, both F&M and QCW had good team representation and did plenty of pace setting at the front. After the first few laps of sitting on the back, I moved up to the front around turn 3 and decided to push the pace. It wasn't intended as a solo attack, but when I looked back I was on my own. At that point I just decided to make a go of it, bury myself, and see how long it lasted.

I could hear the cheering section really going when I came around, and that was a little extra motivation. On the next lap, I saw Greg coming up, so I waited a bit and joined with him.

We rotated for a bit, and soon a third guy joined us. Unfortunately, at that point my efforts were catching up with me, and my pulls weren't enough to gain any more time. The three of us dangled off the front of the field for a while.

I slipped back into the field, and let myself recover for a bit. It was early enough in the race that I had plenty of time before thinking about the finish yet. Roland was still fresh, so I wanted to see if I could get him into position.

Greg moved us up, and for a while I followed him with Roland behind me. With 2 laps to go, I lost Greg's wheel and he went to the front to drive up the pace. On the last lap, I got separated from Roland so my leadout idea didn't come to fruition. I actually felt good at the finish, and moved up some spots, but I was coming from pretty far back so only just managed 18th. While not a big result, the race was a ton of fun, and I enjoyed helping to animate it a little. Check out the helmet cam video.

Can't wait until next year...

How not to prepare for a TT, or TTing to the start of your TT

2010-06-23T23:04:00.006-04:00

As much as I enjoy the intrinsic pleasures of a scenic bike ride, or a relaxing run, there is something that compels me race. I find satisfaction in pushing my body to its limits, and I'm thrilled to see that my limits are pliable. What goals once seems unobtainable, eventually are exceeded.

I did my first TT (time trial) tonight, and actually really enjoyed it. It felt like racing, I like to feel like I really went at my limit, and get all those good endorphins going.

Deciding to start putting on my aerobars at 4 pm with a start time of 6:28:30 in New Jersey was not good planning. I swapped out the road bars for bullhorns with aerobars which meant I needed new brake and shifter housing and cables, and a trip to the bike shop. At 5pm I was just starting to put on the bar tape and I didn't hit the road until 5:20. The TT was at least 50 minutes away in New Jersey, if I didn't hit traffic. Of course I not only hit traffic, but made a wrong turn and got mildly lost (usual course for me). I finally asked for directions and when I started seeing people warming up on TT bikes, I knew I was close, but it was after 6:20. I hadn't eaten anything, so I was trying to get down a power bar that turned into a gooey mess because of the 90+ degree weather. Not easy.

I saw a dozen riders lined up, some traffic cones, and an official with a clip board, so at least I knew where the starting line was. I pulled over and parked on the road, but I still had to register. I biked up to the start and asked the riders lined up where to register, and they sent me other way down the road. I finally got my number and I'm pinning it on while the guy tells me I have 2 minutes to make my start time. I book it back to the start line. I know the guy starting right after me, and he yells to get over and hurry up, because my 30 second man is about to go. I get in position with 40 seconds to spare!

He counts me down and pushes me off, but I've never even tried shifting yet, and the indexing on my bar end shifters is way out of adjustment, as I suspected it would probably be. I manage to get the rear shifter into friction mode, but I'm still in the small ring up front. I push the chain over but it drops and hangs around my crank. Somehow I managed to get it back on with a combination of careful pedaling, and sliding the derailleur over. My adrenaline is still going strong from just getting to the starting line, and by the time I first look at my computer, I'm ticking over 27, 28 mph. CRAP, waaay too fast. Over the next mile I manage to settle down to a good rhythm and tried to catch my 30 second man. I finally get past him at about the half way mark, and shortly after, I get passed as well.

Biking in the aero position was a very different experience. Instead of biking, it felt like I was piloting some machine. The sensation of speed was definitely heightened and I was captain of my carbon fiber craft.

I have no idea what I can sustain for a TT, so I'm just going with feel moment to moment. At mile 8.5, I start to crack, fortunately it is just a 10 mile TT, so only 1.5 to go. But it was a struggle and I was pretty cooked when I finally got across the line. My time was 24:46, for an average speed of 24.2 mph, and I'm happy with that. No warmup, shifting messed up, never ridden in a TT position, 32 spoke box section wheels, road helmet, and first timed effort.

And of course I got lost going back home as well.

But that was fun. I think I placed 4th in my age group (scored by age, not category), but there may have only been 4 riders between 30-35. One of my season goals was to do 8 miles in 20 minutes (24mph), and I thought I was a long way from hitting that one. My next goal is sub 24 minutes for 10 miles, cracking 25 mph.

Now I want an aero helmet.

Refocusing

2010-06-14T22:56:00.007-04:00

I went for a run the other day, and it felt good. Then I went on another run, and it felt very good.

2010 started off with some ambitious goals, featuring a Cat 3 upgrade as the main quest for 2010. Battenkill was a big event early in the season, and I trained hard hitting the weights aggressively in February and logging over 500 miles in March. I felt really good, it was the best cycling shape I've ever been in. In April I logged a century the week before Battenkill, felt good for the main event, and noticed my improvements in the Thursday Night Crits. It was a great start to 2010.

I still logged over 400 miles for April, but my training totally dropped off in May. It didn't help that I spent almost 2 week off the bike, sprawled out on my couch trying to get over some nasty flu type virus that completely knocked me out. Coming back after that was tough, and now with June half way over I want to pause and re-examine my season. It didn't help that my next big season goal, Mt. Nebo had lost sanctioned status with the USAC. I was interested in doing the race anyway, but felt that doing a 25 mile event with 90+ other Cat 4/5 riders was too perilous to my health. Those descents are fast and tight.

So now I want to step back, re-assess my goals for 2010, and regather some training motivation and focus. Given that my top races are no longer USAC sanctioned (all the good hilly ones!) the singular goal of upgrading to Cat 3 no longer seems to be in the picture. Rediscovering running will help to diversify my season goals, which I think will be important to maintaining my training motivation. Running provides an intrinsic enjoyment and doesn't require any specific goals.

This has been a good long break, probably mostly a mental recovery, but now I'm ready and excited to start some focused training again.

Here are some tentative plans. Cyclocross will remain a top goal for the year, and I want to add some running events, a stage race, a duathlon, and maybe some adventure races.

Thursday June 24 - Route 29 Time Trial

Sunday July 11 - Catfish Duathlon in Harrisburg

Sunday July 18 - Route 29 Time Trial

Saturday July 31 - Pottsville 17

August 14 & 15 - Tour de Millersburg Stage Race

Sunday September 5 - Robeson Township State Race

Saturday October 2 - Lamprey Systems Cyclocross

Sunday November 22 - Philadelphia half marathon

That's something to get excited about.

Tubeless for Cyclocross

2010-05-30T16:42:00.010-04:00

I had been wanting to try it for a while, so I finally got the Stan's NoTubes Cyclocross kit and gave it a try. My first thought was to try the conversion with one wheel from each wheelset and test them out to see which worked the best. I started with a Mavic Aksium wheel and a Vittoria XG Pro tire. With a liberal sudsing of soapy water, I got the combo to inflate with my floor pump. It helped to hold the tire in a certain way, I pulled the sidewalls apart as far as I could so the tread was laying flat and held it against the rim with my palm while I supported the wheel in my hand. Easier to do then to describe.

It worked so well I decided to skip even trying the Kysrium Elites or Mavic Reflex clinchers. Besides, I didn't really want to subject the Elites to cyclocross, and I had heard that OpenPro (similar to Reflex clincher) was a poor candidate for tubeless because of the deep center channel.

I then added sealant, and had both wheels converted within an hour. Over the next two days, I went on several rides while successively letting air out to lower the pressure. I started with 40 psi and got down to 20 psi in the front, and 25 psi in the rear with no signs of burping or air loss. Not much point in going lower, or I'll just be riding on the rims. So far so good!

Next, I need to find some fast, flat, grippy east coast grass to really put the side loads on, but I'm feeling confident that this will make a great racing combination so far. 20 psi in the front, and 25 psi in the rear is much lower then I could run with tubes, I can feel the difference as I float over rocks and roots instead of bouncing around.

It's only the end of May, and I'm getting excited for cyclocross season already.

This bike came with the usual chainrings for a compact crank on road (50/34) and the 50 was just about useless on most courses, at least for me. I swapped it for a TA Specialties Zephyr 9/10 sp 42 tooth outer ring (ramped and pinned, nice!) which is infinitely more useful on a cross course. I'm hoping I'll be able to ride it like a single chainring configuration, and not have to shift the front during a race.

I also switched the rear derailleur from Ultegra to Shimano XT (MTB) in order to accommodate the IRD 11-34 10sp cassette for Becca. It was very fortuitous that I grabbed the medium cage version ($5 at the Velodrome flea market) instead of the long cage version that I thought I would need. It turns out that because I changed the big chain ring from a 50 to a 42, that reduced the number of chain links that the rear derailleur needs to take up to a number that is within the capabilities of the medium cage.

Shimano long = 45T; medium = 33T

(42-34) + (34-11) = 31T

Perfect. Now I can leave the 11-34 on the bike with road wheels for Becca, and swap to the cyclocross wheels with a 12-25 and not have to worry about chainlengths or anything else.

The last thing that I did was to get rid of the front brake cable hanger that mounted with the spacers on the steerer tube. It was really close to the stem and put a sharp bend in the cable. Although the bike didn't have any brake shudder problems, the fork seemed like a better place for the cable hanger. (See Leonard Zinn on brake shudder)

Thanks to Cutters bike shop for drilling and tapping the Tektro hanger for a threaded cable stop.

The bike is ready, and I'm ready, when does cyclocross season start?

West Branch Classic race report

2010-05-26T10:52:00.005-04:00

Michigan is flat. I know, anyone could have told me that, I've lived there for years, I should know that. Still, it looked like West Branch might have enough climbing that it could play to my advantage (skinny-ass white guy).

The race started with some drizzling rain, but fortunately it cleared up quickly and soon the roads were dry. The course was 2 laps of 22 miles each, with a climb up through the finish. The rest was pretty flat with some small rollers. When we came around to the climb at the end of the first lap, the field strung out and I used that chance to move up in the field. I had been sitting at the very back (as usual) for the entire first lap. I got to the front and decided to try and push the pace to see if things would split up at all. I was riding next to BK from Leadout and there was one guy in black up ahead with a gap. As we neared the top, BK asked me if we had a gap. Even though the pace felt high, when I looked back, the entire field was still there looking comfortable.

As we crested, I slowed up and no one else was interested in pushing the pace either. In hindsight, that would have been a good spot to really keep the tempo hard. Anyone that did get gapped on the climb, had plenty of time to chase back on after.

The second lap was much like the first, I rolled around at the pack of the pack. As we neared the final climb, I tried to move up knowing that positioning has been my downfall before. We hit the real part of the climb and I was cooked, I completely faded and drifted in way at the back of the strung out field.

I was hoping for a better result, given that the course had an uphill finish. The race wasn't as hilly as I was hoping for, a skinny guy such as myself needs a lot more vertical feet to have an advantage. I definitely don't have the strength to put out the power and speed for a fast finish, even a fast finish on a hill. As a point of comparison, West Branch had 1100 feet of climbing per 22 mile lap, while Mt. Nebo had over 5000 feet of climbing per 9 mile lap. That works out to be about an average of 1% grade for West Branch, and over 10% for Mt. Nebo.

So while I would have liked a better result, I have to remind myself that May has been a real off month for training. I spent the better part of 2 weeks sprawled out on the couch ill, and my riding has been spotty for the entire month. This is a good chance to take a look at the season, pick some new goals, and get excited about racing again.

Farmersville RR

2010-04-27T21:30:00.005-04:00

Three days later and I'm still trying to make up my mind about what I thought of the Farmersville Road Race.

I signed up for the 4 race hoping for some "rolling hills" and an "uphill" finish. Well, the course turned out to be quite flat and the unphill finish wasn't more then a slight riser in the last 300 meters.

Counter to my usual tendencies, I staged right at the front and decided that I'd work on keeping a good position. Right from the whistle some guy took off and got about a maximum of 45 seconds on the first lap. I took a few pulls at the front and felt pretty comfortable. After we caught him, I drifted towards the rear of the pack.

At one point we were really strung out and gaps started opening up so I put in a big effort to move up, soon we came around with 2 laps to go and I picked up the pace on the finishing stretch to get back to the front. That worked well, but it was hard to stay there, by the time we came back around with 1 to go, I was back at the rear of the group again. I tried moving back up, but everyone else had the same idea and I couldn't get anywhere. The last lap got pretty quick and by the time we hit the final kilometer guys were holding their spots pretty firmly and I couldn't get anywhere. We came around the final turn and sprints opened up with me starting at the back of the group. I rolled through in the very back, to finish 27th out of 51.

I had been secretly hoping for a good result, last year I had several finishes in the top 10-15 of Cat 4 races and I figured that I was much stronger this year. But it was not to be, my legs felt good, but they couldn't get me anywhere. It was really a race of positioning and that showed me that I have much to learn in that area.

That said, fighting for positions on a narrow country road with chicanes, doglegs, and rough gutters just isn't my ideal type of racing.

It's a good thing it was such a beautiful day for riding in Lancaster county.

I sat down by the finish after the race to just relax, soak in the beautiful day, enjoy the peace and quiet, and watch the Cat 5 and 2/3 races go.

I'll be looking for hillier races in the future, something that breaks up the field a little. However, this race makes me think that a Cat 3 upgrade is going to be very difficult this season. Up until recently, that goal had been a major motivation for training hard this season. I'm beginning to think that I'll take a shift in my racing goals for the season, maybe bring in some more running, find some duathlons, and try some adventure races. If the road races go well, and I get some upgrade points, that's great. If not, I'll still be having fun.

Nah, who am I kidding, I really want to get some good result in Cat 4 this season! It's time to do some real training, re-motivate myself, and pick up some races to really focus on.

One of the three ways to get to Cat 3 is earn 20 points in a 12 month period. That's going to take a lot of racing.

Marten

Tour of the Battenkill Race report

2010-04-11T19:24:00.028-04:00

Well that was fun.

We drove up Friday early afternoon to beat traffic and get to the hotel in Saratoga Springs, NY at a good time. But before we could leave, we had to have some car issues looked at. I don't think that the mechanic quite knew what he was doing, after a few tactful suggestions, we decided to just move on.

So a little behind schedule which meant that David couldn't get to pre-registration, so he'd have an extra early morning on Saturday. We ate well on the way up, plenty of good food packed! Becca's post marathon cookies were a big hit.

We made it just on time to check in to the hotel and scoot over to meet the rest of the team for dinner.

After that we were all ready to go straight to bed. David had to get up at 6am to get registered and make his start time at 9:25 am. It was freezing in the morning, literally only a few degrees above, but with a vicious wind chill. I tried to sleep in a bit, but I was too wound up with pre-race nerves and was wide awake by 8 am. I barely managed to get my french toast breakfast down, then it was time for final preparations.

The thing with biking is that it has too many accessories and paraphernalia. Layering clothes for the weather, arm warmers, knee warmers, which gloves? bottles, food, drink mixes or water? gells, shots, or bars? Spare wheels, bag of tools, etc etc...

We drove out to Cambridge and I was glad to see that the weather was coming up through the forties and there was even a hint of sun once in a while. Steve called to say that it was frickin' freezing, and the wind chill was brutal. Alright, maybe I'll add a base layer.

Most of us were racing, but Becca and Amy did a fantastic job with support. After we rolled out, they headed out to the second feed zone with all the kids, bottles for everyone. I'm trying to imagine watching those kids, keeping an eye out for the groups of racers coming through, and trying to get the right bottles to the right people. Not an easy task! Plus, they were looking for 4 of us in the Masters 30+, 1 in Women Cat 4 35+, 1 in Women Cat 4, and 1 in the Cat 4 Men.

David was still racing by the time we rolled out, so I didn't get to hear his story until we were finished.

We started with almost 50 degree weather, but the wind was quite chilly. I was actually surprised how slow the first part of the race was, but as soon as we hit the first real climb, we were definitely going. I saw Greg and Jeff still sitting in good position, but on the paved climb between the feed zones, the pack split and the field took the opportunity to try and separate for good. Greg was caught out, but after a hard chase, he got back on. After that we slowed way down for the next several miles.

Becca's bottle hand off was perfect, I heard her yelling and got over to the side of the road just in time to scoop up my bottle.

I hit a max of 48.3 mph down the dirt descent, but most of the dirt sections were pretty smooth and were very rideable with a smooth line.

My moment of "oh crap" came after the climb to Meetinghouse Rd. I looked up and saw two walls of dirt road and the field was really laying down the hammer. I hung on for the first climb, but a small gap opened up on the second part of the climb and I couldn't make up the deficit despite burying myself. I looked up and saw a group of 30-40 descending after the yellow Mavic tent and I knew I was popped off. I jumped into a small group of 3 others who were chasing hard, but I was too cooked to stay in the rotation. I slowed up and got on a larger group that were working pretty well together and rotated through until the final dirt climb. Everything completely split up at that point, but I followed 3 guys up and over the top. For some reason, I decided to try and get around the front guy on a descent and that extra effort put me a little too much into the red, for a little too long, and then I lost contact with them. They rode off and I soloed in the last few miles. The finishing miles were flat, and I felt alright, but my legs had no extra strength left.

So I rolled in 37th out of 84 finishers. Not bad for my first Masters race, so I'm happy with that.

It was a beautiful course, after the first few kilometers I relaxed enough to start looking around and enjoy the race. The route was smooth and it was great fun to come barreling into these towns and have all traffic stopped for the field. Greenwich even had a big cheering section going.

Definitely a fun race, for some reason I let the idea of a Masters race get to me and spent the morning far more nervous then I should have been. The roads were actually in really good condition, the Masters pack was very smooth, and it was just a really well run race.

There is no way to not be in a great mood after a race like that.

What worked:

Specialized bottle cages - Nothing is coming loose from those grips
Continental GP 4000 25mm - Good traction and a good ride, no flats
12-27 cassette - Crucial, I could sit and spin while maintaining traction on the dirt climbs while passing guys trying to mash a taller gear and just slipping around
Bring a spare tube - If you do flat, it's a long way home

Jen got second and earned herself a podium spot!

Ah, this is going to be a good season...

Other Battenkill Masters 30+ race reports [1]

Greg's Garmin File.

Battenkill Prep

2010-04-06T21:01:00.002-04:00

So Battenkill is less then a week away.

Do I feel ready? I don't think it is ever possible to really feel ready for a race like this, but I've done what I could. I wanted to have at least 500 miles for the month of March, and I logged 510. Much of it was just good base miles, plus some great training like the Monkey Knife Fight, the Derby, some intense intervals with Dave and David, and some fast and hard group rides with the team. I even put in a solid century last Saturday with some hill riding in the morning with Jeff who is super strong.

Now the week before the race is the time to taper, I hope some pep returns to my legs, they've felt quite tired this past week. Today's ride was a relatively easy hour with Dave and David, including some moderate hill efforts to shake out the legs and make sure they don't forget what tougher efforts are like. From now on it will be resting, with a spinning ride or two to keep my legs limber.

I'm expecting the Masters 30+ race to be ridiculously fast, and I'll need to ride smartly in order to hang on as long as possible. I think it will be important to be in a good position for the climbs, and well protected for the fast sections. The descents will probably be the hardest, and I predict that when I pop, it'll be on the way down.

This should be fun.