The state of professional road cycling is about as bad as it could possibly get. What a messed up culture that sport has. It's sad because racing bikes over beautiful mountain passes throughout the world is a very cool thing. It's even more sad because a lot of people are messing their lives up chasing things that don't last anyway.
I don't know if cycling will be better or worse because of the anti-Lance movement. I don't know if the right thing to do would be to leave him alone because he does so much for cancer. I don't know if lesser bans for riders that volunteer information about doping is better or worse than giving them lifetime bans and possibly keeping them from coming forward at all.
What I do know is most of the top American road racers of the last decade have hugely disappointed the American bike racing community. They chose results, popularity, and money over being true athletes, real role models, and simply doing what's right. They also chose to lie all along the way. Sure some people don't care that they doped because everyone else was doing it and it made for some good racing. But that path they chose really does matter, because it was wrong. Just because everyone else is taking things home from the office supply cabinet doesn't make it right for you to do it too.
It's too bad the guys at the top of the sport have tarnished it so badly. Cycling is such an amazing sport - testing the limits of the body while getting to check out some really cool terrain. I have met so many good people through riding and am frustrated for all of us that enjoy cycling for the love of the sport. In the end I feel sorry for the guys in the news right now because the things that motivated them are short lived anyway. Popularity will fade and money will get spent. In the end all of us are left with our character and our relationships. We have to look up to people for who they are and not just what they do.
- live, work and race to your full potential
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Marathon Champs
It's been 3 days since the race and I barely have enough energy to stay in front of the computer for more than a few minutes at a time. An epic 5.5 hour race in the mud, 24 hour travel day, and stomach virus take a pretty big toll on the body.
In a lot of ways my trip to France to race the Marathon World Championships was years in the making. But I was ready to take advantage of the opportunity. I was in great shape, had a relaxing week leading up to the race, and had my mind in the right place. And then it rained.
In reality, I think there had been a few rainy weeks leading up to the race. And it was just a drizzly Saturday night that put things over the top on race day. From the gun I was covered in mud spray as 100 riders in front of me flew down the dirt road, splashing from puddle to puddle. There was pretty much no visibility, and no slowing down. Luckily we hit the first climb of the day about 10 minutes into the race and things settled in a little bit at that point. I found my rhythm and started passing some guys. Then at the top of the climb we hit the first REALLY muddy trails and the day was simply crazy from then on.
It didn't take long to get to some un-rideable trails. There were sections that were too slick. There were sections where the mud was too sticky and brought wheels to a complete stop. There were sections I rode pretty much blind because of all the spray blasting up into my face. And of course there were mud bogs through cow pastures where there was no trail. About 2 hours into the day I was going really fast on a downhill muddy grass field and the next thing I knew I was on my back sliding head first for a good 50 feet. That wasn't the only time I fell.
I know the top endurance racers have world class fitness and I know how fast they can climb, but their skill and overall pace in the really tough mud sections is simply amazing. (They also have some impresive support with pressure washers, new sunglasses, etc in every tech zone). As the day went on more and more of the tough mud sections started getting the better of me. Once momentum is lost, moving forward at a good speed gets exponentially harder. Instead of clearing a 2-3 minute section of trail, there were times I had a small mistake, then had to push my bike, then my tires clogged with mud, then I had to stop to pull some of the mud free, and I would lose 2-3 extra minutes in that short section of trail.
At the end of the day I gave everything I had out there. I'm proud of my performance and finishing 73rd out of 146 starters. But it wasn't a day where my effort translated into my fastest riding. There were times the conditions got the best of me, times trouble with my bike held me back, and my pacing was a little off causing me to simply fade in the last hour and lose at least a dozen positions. Coming away from the highest level race I've ever done without my best performance leaves a little something to be desired. But just making it to a World Championship while balancing a normal everyday life is something I am super happy about and thankful for. I truly believe that letting the Lord guide my riding and my life the last couple years has led me to live out the purposes I was meant for. Whether His plan for me involves another Worlds or not, I am a happy man!
In a lot of ways my trip to France to race the Marathon World Championships was years in the making. But I was ready to take advantage of the opportunity. I was in great shape, had a relaxing week leading up to the race, and had my mind in the right place. And then it rained.
In reality, I think there had been a few rainy weeks leading up to the race. And it was just a drizzly Saturday night that put things over the top on race day. From the gun I was covered in mud spray as 100 riders in front of me flew down the dirt road, splashing from puddle to puddle. There was pretty much no visibility, and no slowing down. Luckily we hit the first climb of the day about 10 minutes into the race and things settled in a little bit at that point. I found my rhythm and started passing some guys. Then at the top of the climb we hit the first REALLY muddy trails and the day was simply crazy from then on.
It didn't take long to get to some un-rideable trails. There were sections that were too slick. There were sections where the mud was too sticky and brought wheels to a complete stop. There were sections I rode pretty much blind because of all the spray blasting up into my face. And of course there were mud bogs through cow pastures where there was no trail. About 2 hours into the day I was going really fast on a downhill muddy grass field and the next thing I knew I was on my back sliding head first for a good 50 feet. That wasn't the only time I fell.
I know the top endurance racers have world class fitness and I know how fast they can climb, but their skill and overall pace in the really tough mud sections is simply amazing. (They also have some impresive support with pressure washers, new sunglasses, etc in every tech zone). As the day went on more and more of the tough mud sections started getting the better of me. Once momentum is lost, moving forward at a good speed gets exponentially harder. Instead of clearing a 2-3 minute section of trail, there were times I had a small mistake, then had to push my bike, then my tires clogged with mud, then I had to stop to pull some of the mud free, and I would lose 2-3 extra minutes in that short section of trail.
At the end of the day I gave everything I had out there. I'm proud of my performance and finishing 73rd out of 146 starters. But it wasn't a day where my effort translated into my fastest riding. There were times the conditions got the best of me, times trouble with my bike held me back, and my pacing was a little off causing me to simply fade in the last hour and lose at least a dozen positions. Coming away from the highest level race I've ever done without my best performance leaves a little something to be desired. But just making it to a World Championship while balancing a normal everyday life is something I am super happy about and thankful for. I truly believe that letting the Lord guide my riding and my life the last couple years has led me to live out the purposes I was meant for. Whether His plan for me involves another Worlds or not, I am a happy man!
Everyone clean at the start
Some fast Germans
Dirty
Friday, October 5, 2012
Ornans - Championships du Monde du VTT
Worlds START LIST and PREVIEW
Ornans is a pretty typical French small town with a little bit of art influence and emphasis on their river, which is known for it’s trout. Of course they also have a big mountain bike race that they’ve been hosting annually since 1999. Noah and I made it here Wednesday afternoon and pretty easily found our apartment. The owner Caroline is a great host and we really lucked out with the nicest apartment in town, even if it is a little small.
After a mandatory trip to the grocery store and a ham and cheese sandwich, it was time to unpack the bags and get ready for a ride. Of course we’re on the 3rd floor of a 200 year old building and the last set of wood stairs are more like a ladder than a staircase.
Anyway, we easily found the course and headed
out for a few kilometers of flat gravel path.
After those few Ks the easy European roadie course comes to an end. From there the course turns into lots of
rocky jeep road climbing, a few real muddy trails in the woods, and of course
some prerequisite cow pasture crossings.
It’s tough terrain and anywhere the course isn’t rocky it is really soft
and slow going. It took 3 solid hours to
go about 25 miles of the 52 mile course.
Probably only 5 of the 25 miles were actual mountain bike “trails” by US
standards, but the riding is still plenty hard.
There is some pretty cool scenery to take in as the course winds it’s
way up one side of the Loue valley and then works it’s way back on the
other. 1,000ft rock cliffs looking over
the green valley and small French towns makes for a pretty cool backdrop.
Thursday was raining all day so I just
chilled and rested up. Today was an easy ride on the 15k of the course which had some roads, cow pastures (with cows and fresh manure) and some fairly cool trail sections. It's pretty different from the terrain at home, but it's still pedaling and I feel good about Sunday. It will be a tough day on the bike for sure, and the variety of the course suits me a lot better than some of the more road oriented marathon courses in Europe. Tomorrow the real
excitement begins with another ride, registration, team managers meeting, and a
couple thousand amateur riders getting to town.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Travel and Rest
It's a long day flying to Switzerland. After a 4am wake-up call, freeway detours in LA, stop in NY, and about 24 hours of traveling later we arrived in Lauterbrunnen with our bags and bikes intact. Pretty much no sleep on the flights made for a rough afternoon, but I was able to sleep a pretty solid 10 hours during the night and day 2 has been great so far. 45 degrees and overcast is a big change from the 100 degree ride I did last Sunday, but the Swiss country side is as beautiful and green as ever. I'm enjoying everything being pretty much the exact opposite of SoCal right now. Cool instead of warm, green instead of brown, empty roads instead of traffic, and a slow pace of life instead of a rush.
Today's training ride was supposed to be 3 hours endurance pace with a few minutes at threshold to stay safe. Things looked a little unsure in the cloud socked in valley we started in, but changed a lot when we got 3,500ft higher. We made it through the clouds for an almost unreal view of the Eiger and surrounding mountains! My legs felt good and after a restful afternoon it will be a similar routine for tomorrow. I miss my girls, but life is good!
Today's training ride was supposed to be 3 hours endurance pace with a few minutes at threshold to stay safe. Things looked a little unsure in the cloud socked in valley we started in, but changed a lot when we got 3,500ft higher. We made it through the clouds for an almost unreal view of the Eiger and surrounding mountains! My legs felt good and after a restful afternoon it will be a similar routine for tomorrow. I miss my girls, but life is good!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)