Monday, June 2nd was a rest day after The Subaru Cup.
Tuesday I did 3 hours in the hot hot heat and pretty well cooked myself.
Wednesday I did hill sprints on Burke road a topped out at 42.5 MPH on my new Bontrager Classics training wheels. Those things are nice, but noticeably heavier than the RLs. The wider rim profile made my 23s feel wider and a little softer.
Thursday I went to Jim's trails for 2 hours to test my new Bontrager XR-1 team issue tires. I slid out on a few sandy corners with the low-profile lugs, and actually nailed my right leg with the bars once. My legs were tired, and my back even got sore. Once I was done, I decided Friday needed to be a rest day. It was a long, hot week of training.
Saturday: more MTB riding in the heat.
Friday, June 26, 2009
The Subaru Cup: fail, win, fail. Part 3: short track shortcomings
After winning the Super-D, I had a snack and waited for short track to start. I changed into a clean kit, got my Super-D medal, and watched the cat 1 guys race.
When Comp got to the start line, the clouds rolled in and it started raining. Also, the temperature dropped. I got a preferred start from my Super-D finish and was 4th or 5th to the hole-shot.
With the rain, my tires, my spent legs, and a few loose turns on the course, I had a hard time sitting in with the in crowd. Each lap I'd slide out and then have to chase back on, resulting in hard efforts when I needed them least. Unable to respond to the other riders' attacks, I quickly fell back into the pack, and finished mid-pack.
On the weekend, I learned a lot, grabbed a medal and nailed 4th in the omnium. It was a good weekend, but I was completely spent by the end.
When Comp got to the start line, the clouds rolled in and it started raining. Also, the temperature dropped. I got a preferred start from my Super-D finish and was 4th or 5th to the hole-shot.
With the rain, my tires, my spent legs, and a few loose turns on the course, I had a hard time sitting in with the in crowd. Each lap I'd slide out and then have to chase back on, resulting in hard efforts when I needed them least. Unable to respond to the other riders' attacks, I quickly fell back into the pack, and finished mid-pack.
On the weekend, I learned a lot, grabbed a medal and nailed 4th in the omnium. It was a good weekend, but I was completely spent by the end.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The Subaru Cup: fail, win, fail. Part 2: Super-D redemption
Sunday morning I woke up in Madison and drove the 1.5 hours back to Mt. Morris. My legs only felt a bit tired; most of my concern was regarding my stomach. Those Accel Gels were still fighting through something in my digestive tract.
I did two practice runs, one of them with Jesse Bell, the other guy in Comp who I know can destroy the technical sections. It was going to be a hole-shot kind of race, where the first one into the woods would probably take it. There was only room at the bottom for passing.
We lined up our bikes at the start, in a grid of 3 x 5, and walked down a small incline for a le-mans style start. I hate running. So does everyone else in my start wave. The usual 19-29 age group suspects were there, as well as a few freeride goons who had no clue what the were doing. They didn't know the rules and they didn't know why we had to run. I was slightly concerned by their ignorance.
Don called "GOOOO!" and it was on.
I was probably mid-pack in arriving at the bikes, and 4th going into the woods. Here is where preriding and helping with course setup came in handy. The idiot on the freeride bike who had never raced before blew the first corner and headed for a different trail some 40 feet off in the woods. The other guys in front of me followed him.
I didn't even give them a WTF. I just hammered and kept my hands off the brakes. I think the guys behind me hesitated because I was the only one who didn't blow the corner. I never looked back: just listened for anyone coming up on me. My legs didn't hurt, my lungs didn't burn: I was just completely focused and read every turn.
I was, as they say, in the zone. I took every corner outside-inside-outside. I floated over rock gardens, cleared logs in smooth jumps. Toward the end of the lower singletrack, before you head past the wakeboarding area, I heard Ryan Carlson coming up behind me, but as soon as we got into the open I laid it all out.
From the prerides I knew that no matter how smoked my legs were I could sprint that last section into the woods, through the rocks and back out on adrenaline alone. And trust me, I had plenty of it.
Coming out of the woods the final time, I threw it into the big ring and kept the pressure on. Across the line, I looked back and couldn't see Ryan, so I threw a hand up and gave myself a cheer.
Winning felt great. So did standing on the podium. Even though Jesse Bell beat me in the overall, he wasn't in my heat so I got the 1st place medal. With some better training under my legs and perhaps some better nutrition, I knew that I could compete.
Next up: Short track, unexpected rain, and what it feels like when you leave it all on the super-D course.
I did two practice runs, one of them with Jesse Bell, the other guy in Comp who I know can destroy the technical sections. It was going to be a hole-shot kind of race, where the first one into the woods would probably take it. There was only room at the bottom for passing.
We lined up our bikes at the start, in a grid of 3 x 5, and walked down a small incline for a le-mans style start. I hate running. So does everyone else in my start wave. The usual 19-29 age group suspects were there, as well as a few freeride goons who had no clue what the were doing. They didn't know the rules and they didn't know why we had to run. I was slightly concerned by their ignorance.
Don called "GOOOO!" and it was on.
I was probably mid-pack in arriving at the bikes, and 4th going into the woods. Here is where preriding and helping with course setup came in handy. The idiot on the freeride bike who had never raced before blew the first corner and headed for a different trail some 40 feet off in the woods. The other guys in front of me followed him.
I didn't even give them a WTF. I just hammered and kept my hands off the brakes. I think the guys behind me hesitated because I was the only one who didn't blow the corner. I never looked back: just listened for anyone coming up on me. My legs didn't hurt, my lungs didn't burn: I was just completely focused and read every turn.
I was, as they say, in the zone. I took every corner outside-inside-outside. I floated over rock gardens, cleared logs in smooth jumps. Toward the end of the lower singletrack, before you head past the wakeboarding area, I heard Ryan Carlson coming up behind me, but as soon as we got into the open I laid it all out.
From the prerides I knew that no matter how smoked my legs were I could sprint that last section into the woods, through the rocks and back out on adrenaline alone. And trust me, I had plenty of it.
Coming out of the woods the final time, I threw it into the big ring and kept the pressure on. Across the line, I looked back and couldn't see Ryan, so I threw a hand up and gave myself a cheer.
Winning felt great. So did standing on the podium. Even though Jesse Bell beat me in the overall, he wasn't in my heat so I got the 1st place medal. With some better training under my legs and perhaps some better nutrition, I knew that I could compete.
Next up: Short track, unexpected rain, and what it feels like when you leave it all on the super-D course.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
The Subaru Cup: fail, win, fail. Part 1: Mayor of Bonktown
This last weekend was my first A-Priority race of the season: The Subaru Cup. Held at Mt. Morris, just north of Wautoma, The Subaru Cup is Wisconsin's big race weekend with Cross-country, short track, Super-D, and Downhill. I participated in the Stage race, which included Saturday's XC, and Sunday's Super D and short track.
I'll say this again later on, but this was the coolest race I've ever participated in. The course was unique (as in I've never raced something quite like it), the course was quite challenging, and the entire event was super fun and put on amazingly well.
Part 1 of my post regarding this race will cover the cross country. In short, it was a train wreck for me. I hope this is my worst result of the year. I got 44th of 67 finishers (81 starting). A few things contributed to this:
In my training I haven't gotten the really long miles in for the last two weeks. The longest I've ridden was probably 2.5 or 3 hours. Also, the weather was in the 80s and I went through the chills after lap two. My body body couldn't get acclimated.
Probably the biggest thing that got me was my Accel Gel: it must have spoiled or gotten frozen or heated up too much, as the consistency was abnormal. Usually Accel Gel is thinner than other brands and pretty easy to take in on hot days, but this new case was thicker than Gu and had a granulated texture. It gave me little to no energy, and made me feel sick after I took the second one. I think I went through five bottles of Accelerade in four 4.5-mile laps.
I owe a big thanks to Gehling, The Cannon, and Bitches for keeping me hydrated through my 1 hour, 41-minute bonk ride. I also want to thank Liz Braun for being a mom and checking in on me after the race.
After lap two my goal changed from winning (which was a pre-seaosn goal of mine) to simply finishing. My head was swimming, I had the chills, and my legs were just not going. It took a lot of focus to keep the pedals turning. When I crossed the finish line I went to the Keanu, halucinated that the ceiling was moving, drank a few bottles of water, and took a three hour nap. Not my best moment.
After nap time, I jumped in and helped Lex and her crew with race support for a bit during the Citizen race, and then rode a four-wheeler up to the top of the hill and did Super-D setup with The Don, his brother, and some of the full-time Subi-Cup volunteers. Those were some cool kids, and they deserve big ups for making this event what it was.
After Super-D course setup, I drove back to Madison, showered, and slept for ten hours. In the morning I felt okay. I'd had about a gallon of water and Accelerade before going to bed, and hadn't had to pee all night.
With some rest, time to compose myself, and an internal pep-talk, I returned to Mt. Morris with one thing in mind: Super-D. I am not as fit or fast as most of the Comp men, but I can do one thing better than almost all of them: descend technical, twisty singletrack.
That's enough writing for now; It's time to train.
Up next: The Subaru Cup: fail, win, fail. Part 2: Super-D Redemption.
I'll say this again later on, but this was the coolest race I've ever participated in. The course was unique (as in I've never raced something quite like it), the course was quite challenging, and the entire event was super fun and put on amazingly well.
Part 1 of my post regarding this race will cover the cross country. In short, it was a train wreck for me. I hope this is my worst result of the year. I got 44th of 67 finishers (81 starting). A few things contributed to this:
In my training I haven't gotten the really long miles in for the last two weeks. The longest I've ridden was probably 2.5 or 3 hours. Also, the weather was in the 80s and I went through the chills after lap two. My body body couldn't get acclimated.
Probably the biggest thing that got me was my Accel Gel: it must have spoiled or gotten frozen or heated up too much, as the consistency was abnormal. Usually Accel Gel is thinner than other brands and pretty easy to take in on hot days, but this new case was thicker than Gu and had a granulated texture. It gave me little to no energy, and made me feel sick after I took the second one. I think I went through five bottles of Accelerade in four 4.5-mile laps.
I owe a big thanks to Gehling, The Cannon, and Bitches for keeping me hydrated through my 1 hour, 41-minute bonk ride. I also want to thank Liz Braun for being a mom and checking in on me after the race.
After lap two my goal changed from winning (which was a pre-seaosn goal of mine) to simply finishing. My head was swimming, I had the chills, and my legs were just not going. It took a lot of focus to keep the pedals turning. When I crossed the finish line I went to the Keanu, halucinated that the ceiling was moving, drank a few bottles of water, and took a three hour nap. Not my best moment.
After nap time, I jumped in and helped Lex and her crew with race support for a bit during the Citizen race, and then rode a four-wheeler up to the top of the hill and did Super-D setup with The Don, his brother, and some of the full-time Subi-Cup volunteers. Those were some cool kids, and they deserve big ups for making this event what it was.
After Super-D course setup, I drove back to Madison, showered, and slept for ten hours. In the morning I felt okay. I'd had about a gallon of water and Accelerade before going to bed, and hadn't had to pee all night.
With some rest, time to compose myself, and an internal pep-talk, I returned to Mt. Morris with one thing in mind: Super-D. I am not as fit or fast as most of the Comp men, but I can do one thing better than almost all of them: descend technical, twisty singletrack.
That's enough writing for now; It's time to train.
Up next: The Subaru Cup: fail, win, fail. Part 2: Super-D Redemption.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
A bad week, a great week, one more week.
The week after Rhinelander was a tough one. Work got super busy and the boss and his wife had their second child (which is awesome). However, that means that I have to pick up the slack while he's gone, which makes training a little hard.
At first I was scrambling to keep everything scheduled and covered and wasn't getting on the bike. Then I hit a nice groove around Thursday and it prettymuch came down to this:
-get office stuff done before the store opens
-work a day on the salesfloor
-ride whenever you're not at work.
So last week's training wasn't very hard, but I kept at it. Taking Friday and Saturday off wasn't my first choice, but I've been doing great so far for week 2.
Sunday: Easy ride, one hour at endurance pace to get the legs open and get out that aching feeling.
Monday: Hill sprints on Observatory Drive. I felt great and absolutely destroyed my legs. I tried different sprint tactics, like holding a slower acceleration longer, or making a second jump, and found that I can jump and slow down and jump again and again pretty well. I also tried really hard to carry my speed over the top of the climb, as that is an area of weakness right now.
Tuesday: Practice crit. I rode to the crit, raced, and rode home. I felt awesome, covered a bunch of attacks, pulled in a few people, got 3rd in a pree, was 5th wheel with two laps to go, felt awesome, was right where I wanted to be, then PING! PONG PONG PONG. Broken spoke. I pulled out with a lap and a half left. I was really frustrated, but tried to not let it get to me.
Yeah, I'm still kinda pissed.
Wednesday I went on an endurance ride at Jim's and my legs felt tired. Monday and Tuesday were intense, and it showed in my riding. I couldn't sprint up hills as fast, but I was pinning it on the descents. Then I bent my derailleur and noticed my freehub body wasn't engaging. Time for a new rear der and a new rear wheel.
DANG!
It's been a frustrating week technically, but a great one in terms fo my training. I'm doing the kind of riding I need to do for next weekend's Subaru Cup.
At first I was scrambling to keep everything scheduled and covered and wasn't getting on the bike. Then I hit a nice groove around Thursday and it prettymuch came down to this:
-get office stuff done before the store opens
-work a day on the salesfloor
-ride whenever you're not at work.
So last week's training wasn't very hard, but I kept at it. Taking Friday and Saturday off wasn't my first choice, but I've been doing great so far for week 2.
Sunday: Easy ride, one hour at endurance pace to get the legs open and get out that aching feeling.
Monday: Hill sprints on Observatory Drive. I felt great and absolutely destroyed my legs. I tried different sprint tactics, like holding a slower acceleration longer, or making a second jump, and found that I can jump and slow down and jump again and again pretty well. I also tried really hard to carry my speed over the top of the climb, as that is an area of weakness right now.
Tuesday: Practice crit. I rode to the crit, raced, and rode home. I felt awesome, covered a bunch of attacks, pulled in a few people, got 3rd in a pree, was 5th wheel with two laps to go, felt awesome, was right where I wanted to be, then PING! PONG PONG PONG. Broken spoke. I pulled out with a lap and a half left. I was really frustrated, but tried to not let it get to me.
Yeah, I'm still kinda pissed.
Wednesday I went on an endurance ride at Jim's and my legs felt tired. Monday and Tuesday were intense, and it showed in my riding. I couldn't sprint up hills as fast, but I was pinning it on the descents. Then I bent my derailleur and noticed my freehub body wasn't engaging. Time for a new rear der and a new rear wheel.
DANG!
It's been a frustrating week technically, but a great one in terms fo my training. I'm doing the kind of riding I need to do for next weekend's Subaru Cup.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Race #2: Camp Tesomas, Rhinelander.
Preface: I did 40 miles on the road bike Friday with our favorite customers and prerode the racecourse Saturday with Gehling.
Race #2 of WORS: Camp Tesomas, Rhinelander.
2x11 mile laps.
3 water stations, one hand-up from Bitches, 3 Accel Gels.
Bike Setup: Fisher Procaliber, stock. Fox RP23 Propedal setting 1, factory setup up front, 4 clicks from in on rebound and light on the propedal.
30PSI in the tires.
Rhinelander goes like this: Lots of wide open dirt roads, lots of wide open double track, and then some brutal singletrack, some double track, more brutal singletrack, dirt roads. 11 miles.
I had a shitty start position, and got caught behind some slow guys for the first few corners, so I was chasing from the gun. I caught what I thought was the lead group just before the first doubletrack, and hopped on.
The real lead group were the guys who were fast in both the open stuff and the technical stuff. The group I was behind was only fast in the open stuff. So I had to chill.
Then I started racing smarter, and more aggressively. I'd pass any chance I got in the singletrack. It didn't matter if I felt good or not; if the guy (or lady) ahead of me wasn't ripping my legs off, I went for his.
Toward the end of the first lap I got to the front of these singletrack slow-pokes, and got a gap before the doubletrack. After pushing hard to get the gap I looked back and saw nobody in sight, but knew they'd be coming for me. There was also nobody ahead of me. I knew I hadn't caught Brian Braun yet, so I found myself in no-man's land: no visible carrot to chase, and just my own legs as a pacer.
So I grabbed the big ring, tucked, spun and breathed. I was cookin on the road as I went through the lap and actually felt pretty well recovered from getting the gap. Right before diving in to the doubletrack, three guys with huge legs came powering through and I hopped on to draft for the last little open section. I felt awesome when we hit the technical stuff, and when things got really gnarly, they started splitting up. I passed the first guy when the started to drop, and caught the second on a small climb.
(side note: Gehling commented during the preride that my climbing was poppy, but I didn't do so hot a job maintaining it over the top, so if I was going to attack and try to gap people, I'd better go early on climbs.)
So that's what I did to guy #2, and I blew him out of the water. At the top of the climb it opened up a bit, so I set in behind hammerhorse #3 and let him pull me around. I told him we had dropped his homies and he should punch it. He pulled me up to the next group of people and I came around him just before the last nasty singletrack section.
I didn't feel so hot during this race. My legs and lungs were taxed earlier than normal and I haven't been training as much as I'd like between Iola and now. However, I was racing so much more intelligently than I did at Iola that I still did pretty well.
On the final open sections I just drilled it and buried myself, passing at least 10 more riders. I got nipped right at the finish line, but I still felt like I raced with my brain.
4th in my age group, 14th of 78 finishers in Comp. Today marks the first of my goal of 5 top 5 finishes. I made a big improvement over Iola, not just in my placing, but also in how in what Martin Whitely calls "race craft." I was smart, I was aggressive, and I knew when I could recover and when I had to push.
I now have a month off before my next XC race, which is one of my primary goal races for the season. It's time to put on some serious miles.
Race #2 of WORS: Camp Tesomas, Rhinelander.
2x11 mile laps.
3 water stations, one hand-up from Bitches, 3 Accel Gels.
Bike Setup: Fisher Procaliber, stock. Fox RP23 Propedal setting 1, factory setup up front, 4 clicks from in on rebound and light on the propedal.
30PSI in the tires.
Rhinelander goes like this: Lots of wide open dirt roads, lots of wide open double track, and then some brutal singletrack, some double track, more brutal singletrack, dirt roads. 11 miles.
I had a shitty start position, and got caught behind some slow guys for the first few corners, so I was chasing from the gun. I caught what I thought was the lead group just before the first doubletrack, and hopped on.
The real lead group were the guys who were fast in both the open stuff and the technical stuff. The group I was behind was only fast in the open stuff. So I had to chill.
Then I started racing smarter, and more aggressively. I'd pass any chance I got in the singletrack. It didn't matter if I felt good or not; if the guy (or lady) ahead of me wasn't ripping my legs off, I went for his.
Toward the end of the first lap I got to the front of these singletrack slow-pokes, and got a gap before the doubletrack. After pushing hard to get the gap I looked back and saw nobody in sight, but knew they'd be coming for me. There was also nobody ahead of me. I knew I hadn't caught Brian Braun yet, so I found myself in no-man's land: no visible carrot to chase, and just my own legs as a pacer.
So I grabbed the big ring, tucked, spun and breathed. I was cookin on the road as I went through the lap and actually felt pretty well recovered from getting the gap. Right before diving in to the doubletrack, three guys with huge legs came powering through and I hopped on to draft for the last little open section. I felt awesome when we hit the technical stuff, and when things got really gnarly, they started splitting up. I passed the first guy when the started to drop, and caught the second on a small climb.
(side note: Gehling commented during the preride that my climbing was poppy, but I didn't do so hot a job maintaining it over the top, so if I was going to attack and try to gap people, I'd better go early on climbs.)
So that's what I did to guy #2, and I blew him out of the water. At the top of the climb it opened up a bit, so I set in behind hammerhorse #3 and let him pull me around. I told him we had dropped his homies and he should punch it. He pulled me up to the next group of people and I came around him just before the last nasty singletrack section.
I didn't feel so hot during this race. My legs and lungs were taxed earlier than normal and I haven't been training as much as I'd like between Iola and now. However, I was racing so much more intelligently than I did at Iola that I still did pretty well.
On the final open sections I just drilled it and buried myself, passing at least 10 more riders. I got nipped right at the finish line, but I still felt like I raced with my brain.
4th in my age group, 14th of 78 finishers in Comp. Today marks the first of my goal of 5 top 5 finishes. I made a big improvement over Iola, not just in my placing, but also in how in what Martin Whitely calls "race craft." I was smart, I was aggressive, and I knew when I could recover and when I had to push.
I now have a month off before my next XC race, which is one of my primary goal races for the season. It's time to put on some serious miles.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Memorial day, Tuesday, trying to get back on schedule, stress
Memorial Day showcased the best TBSOM has to offer. We hit up Jim's trails with Pete, Shaw, Jake, MOD, Mary, Bryce, Abbie (or is it Abby?), Dan Coppola and myself. One big lap, including the new sections, and then chicken barbecue.
Tuesday I drove over to the practice crit but apparently it was canceled, as there was nobody there. I then drove home and tried to ride but hit such a mental roadblock that I turned around and went home ten minutes in.
I couldn't get my heart rate up, couldn't focus, couldn't go hard. It was "le disappointing."
Wednesday was rainy and cold and windy and generally the day was shit, so I only rode for an hour. But I made it count. I warmed up for 10 minutes and then hammered for 40 minutes. And I mean balls-out pain-face, hardest-sustainable-effort kind of riding.
There was lightening, otherwise I would have gone longer. This is hardening the fuck up.
Tuesday I drove over to the practice crit but apparently it was canceled, as there was nobody there. I then drove home and tried to ride but hit such a mental roadblock that I turned around and went home ten minutes in.
I couldn't get my heart rate up, couldn't focus, couldn't go hard. It was "le disappointing."
Wednesday was rainy and cold and windy and generally the day was shit, so I only rode for an hour. But I made it count. I warmed up for 10 minutes and then hammered for 40 minutes. And I mean balls-out pain-face, hardest-sustainable-effort kind of riding.
There was lightening, otherwise I would have gone longer. This is hardening the fuck up.
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