Thursday, May 31, 2012

BC Bike Race Base Week

After the nasty head cold last week I had to take it easy both Saturday and Sunday of the holiday weekend.  Finally on Monday I was able to get the bike riding going despite some nasty remains from the cold in my sinuses.  Now I have 3 days down and 4 to go.





Saturday, May 26, 2012

Sagebrush Safari and Sick Week

Well the Sagebrush Safari was a tough day - 3hrs 30min at 100 degrees and 176 ave heart rate takes a toll! Despite a really steady race and leaving it all out there near the end, I was only able to come away with 3rd after Sho-Air riders Eric Bostrom and Brendon Davids had a great day and went 1-2. After 4 weekends in a row with 3hr races I just wasn't fresh enough to ride with those guys. Still the course has some really fun trails and I had a great time racing with a solid chase group throughout the day. It was awesome to ride with my friend Ryan Clark and even have to sprint him at the end for 3rd.   Thanks to Dave McElwaine for covering the event and some of the photos.

I was already planning to rest a few days after the race and then jump into a big training block to start prepping for the BC Bike Race which is only 5 weeks away now. Then I woke up in the middle of the night Tuesday with a sore throat. After avoiding it for a week I got the nasty cold that Beth had for over a week. And here I am - typing on a computer instead of training this morning. My patience is being tested a little, but I'm confident that some rest and good foods will get me right where I need to be before the weekend is over - healthy and training hard.





Saturday, May 19, 2012

Why not

 First, the Catalina Grand Fondo was a really great event!  It was so cool to ride hard and enjoy some awesome terrain that you would otherwise never have the chance to see.  We cruised through a buffalo herd early on, rode an awesome ridgeline hiking trail above Little Harbor, and finished with awesome views of the pacific while descending 2,000ft to Avalon Harbor and a finish line at the beach...  Sharing that with 600 other riders was awesome.  Keep an eye out for the event next year because it will sell out fast.   Oh yeah, the promoters put up some prize money too and a few of us were gunning for it.  After riding with a solid group of 4-5 for the first half I was able to ride away and do the 2nd 25 miles solo and come across the line first!

The week since has been a blur even though I only rode twice - 1 hour each.  I guess work kept me busy, but I my time outside the office was pretty chill.  In the end my much needed rest week went well.  I don't always do that well during rest weeks because after a lot of training and racing my body will pretty much shut down and it takes a while to get back into the swing of things with riding.  I felt great today though, so much so that I decided to go for it and race the CA Series / USA Cycling Endurance Series race outside of San Diego tomorrow - the Sagebrush Safari...  It's a cool, old school, 25mi cross country loop.  The endurance categories get to do 2 laps so I'm looking at 50 miles and 7,000ft of climbing.  Tinker and the other top SoCal riders are all sure to be there and the forecast is for 90 degree temps so it will be a tough day on the bike.  Any of us who get to race bikes truly are blessed though.  One of my goals this summer is to remind myself of that daily.  I always want to be thankful for my great health and the opportunities I have to ride in beautiful places.  Wish me luck!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Catalina Grand Fondo

The first Catalina Grand Fondo was a beautiful weekend and great 50 mile "ride".   Yes I was first across the line.  Thank you to Scott and Pam for their hospitality on the Loonacy and thank you to the Team Big Bear / US Cup crew for an awesome event!  Full report to follow...

 The Loonacy - home for the weekend

Friday spin above Avalon 

Mountain bikers taking over the town 

Avalon harbor 

A nice spot for registration 

Avalon from above 

 The pier

Endless ocean views from above...

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Idyllwild Challenge

Going through a great day feeling frustrated.  It's not the attitude I want to live with, but that is where high expectations sometimes lead.  And that's how things went Saturday in Idyllwild.  

It was a beautiful day and I rode great on my absolute favorite race course.  Zach Valdez and Tinker simply rode stronger than me though and were out of sight from the first 20min of the race.  I've ridden well at Idyllwild and been on the podium several times before.  But this year it was my own expectations that put me in a position to only be happy if I won.  Of course there is nothing wrong with being competitive, but relying on results for satisfaction is not why I ride and I lost focus of why I truly love riding last week.  My prayer this week is that I get my focus back to riding simply to make the most of the gifts God gave me - always being thankful and joyful along the way.  

Like I said, Idyllwild actually was a great day, thank you to my facebook friends for the photos!




Friday, May 4, 2012

Progression

It might not be that obvious to observers, but many of the athletes in cross country racing are taking the sport to new levels every single season.  Sure, it's usually the same familiar faces at the top of the results lists, but I'm telling you these guys are getting better every year.

There's evidence from the front of the pro field to the back.   Take the very top riders at the World Cup level.  The most obvious example of their level of fitness is the several riders that made the transition to the Pro Tour road scene in Europe and are a big success.  Cadel, Ryder, Fugalsang, etc.

For me personally it's really clear that the level of competition to be in the top 20 at National level races is getting tougher ever year.   Many of my training numbers continue to improve slightly year over year, but my results at the nationals have basically leveled off as the other racers also get faster.

The biggest example of progression in xc racing was the Whiskey 50 last weekend.  I rode it less seriously in 2010, but still left everything out there by the end of the day and finished in 3:32.  This year I was blessed with a good day and rode at a different level to come across the line in a super fast 3:10.  In 2010 that would have by a win with 6min gap, in 2011 I would have been 3rd, but this is 2012 and I was 23rd place!  Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the course has stayed the same year to year and...

2010
3:17 - winning time
3:32 - 11th

2011
3:05 - winning time
3:10 - would have been good for 3rd

2012
2:54 winning time
3:10 finish - good for 23rd

12 riders who finished top 20 in 2011 raced again in 2012.  All of them but 1 went faster.  6 of them finished worst even though they went faster!

Brady went 9 minutes faster but finsihed 7 places worse.
Peter Glassford went 4 minutes faster but finished 14 places worse.  
Collin Cares went the same time but finished 21st instead of 2nd.

That's some fast bike racing!  To me it's awesome to see the sport I love pushed to new levels.  God made the human body the most amazing engine on the planet and I'm a huge fan of people that dedicate themselves to a lifestyle of fine tuning that engine.  Long live endurance athletes.

Whiskey 50

 25 miler start

 Police escort

 Ryan checking in with the Fam after a great ride

 Happy with my ride- but 23rd place?  Dang there's a lot of fast guys out there

 Bike racers takingover Whiskey row in Prescott

Start of the crit Fri night, I didn't have much fun in that one.