Dana's Page

Training Week in Photos

2012-01-26T09:54:00.000-08:00

40 hours of work plus 20 hours of riding makes for a crazy week, but I actually enjoy it. Last week and this week have been the exact same routine: Monday sleep in. Tue, Wed, Thur are all 5:30 wake up calls for 2hr 30min rides before work. A couple nights I commuted home and Friday will be a 1hr easy ride and 30min core work out. Saturday is 4hrs on the bike and Sunday 6hrs. Base!

10 Things You Didn't Know About Pro Cycling

2012-01-21T09:40:00.000-08:00

10 Things You Didn't Know About Pro Cycling (by Training Peaks CEO)

Team Sky vs. Dana Weber
How a privateer cross country racer stacks up versus riders on a Pro Tour road team (besides the fact that I spent 45 hours at work this week)

The riders eat meals at separate tables from the team staff. This allows the riders to decompress a bit in a "pressure-free" environment and give them some space from the ever watchful coaches and directors.
DANA - Semi-pro status - I don't have team staff. My meal times do allow me to decompress from other daily pressures in life.
Riding bikes is hard work and some things are just taken care of for you, like laundry. Riders put their clothes in a mesh bag and leave it in front of their hotel door, to be picked up in the evening after the team takes care of the washing and drying.
DANA - pro status - I have to admit my awesome wife does most of my laundry
Bike mechanics wash and prep bikes every day, and spend much of the day during training camps building other bikes for use later in the season. Imagine keeping track of every rider's unique position, while they are constantly experimenting with new equipment and such. It takes a LOT of effort to keep everything sorted.
DANA - amateur status - I wash my own bikes and certainly don't have time to do it everyday.
Each rider has 3-6 bikes. They use 1-2 for training, 1-2 for time-trials, and 1-2 for road racing. Did you catch that? They ride a different bike for racing than for training.
DANA - amateur status - I have 1 have a great mountain bike to race / train on and 1 road bike to train on.
During a training ride, they will often stop at the top or bottom of a big climb to change clothes when it is cold or wet. They might put on a dry jersey, or put on an additional thermal jacket for a long descent.
DANA - pro status - I wear layers on cold morning rides and remove my jacket for climbs WITHOUT stopping
A team "director" is the racing manager, a "coach" is the training manager. Responsibility for the riders' welfare and condition changes hands during the season between these two.
DANA - amateur - i don't have a director or coach
Follow vehicles are used for every training ride, even on easy recovery days. One, for protection and supplies, and two, so riders literally know where to go. European roads can be confusing! Also, if a rider flats during a ride, the group doesn't stop, the wheel is replaced and the rider is motorpaced back up to the group.
DANA - amateur status - I do not have a follow car
During a ride, the riders have a choice of drinking either water, or "mix" (Gatorade), typically designated on the bottle by an "x". Team Sky has special bottles with different color nipples: blue for water and orange for Gatorade.
DANA - pro status - I carry two water bottles while training, one with water and one with Cytomax
During training rides, each rider will maintain their own effort when doing climbs, to maximize individual performance. This also takes into account the different racing schedules of the various riders.
DANA - pro status - I always ride my own pace when training with others
Riders are commonly put in two groups, "classics" and "stage" riders - namely, those that excel at the super hard one-day classics races, and those that excel at either winning or supporting the team leader during the long 7-21 day stage racing season (Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana).
DANA - I race mountain bikes!

BMC Four Stroke

2012-01-13T13:10:00.000-08:00

My new race bike is here and it's the nicest bike I've ever had the pleasure of riding. Pro Bike Supply put together an awesome build for me and everything about this bike is fast! Check it out

There is a BMC demo in the works for South Orange County at the end of this month. Details soon!

2012-01-06T21:06:00.000-08:00

This week has been all work and just a couple routine rides for me. My biggest accomplishment was doing my core workout Thursday evening even though I was starving and tired after a solid mountain bike ride in the morning and working all day. I don't know why these things sounded good at the time but i scarfed down some mango, ham, and pretzels and just started doing my crunches. Only a minute into it my energy came around and 15 minutes later I had done a solid workout...

Something a little more exciting is the Olympic Marathon Trials next weekend. If you're a Ryan Hall fan there's a fundraiser for the Steps Foundation - only $12 to donate!

Holiday is Over

2012-01-02T19:10:00.000-08:00

After a great visit to Texas and some much needed time away from work & riding, the last few days have been time to get back to business. It's rare that I have multiple days off from work and am not going to a race. So I took full advantage and was able to get in a really good endurance block.

The first couple days were great. The New Years group ride was not as fun as years past though. There were just too many stop lights and too much energy spent trying to avoid running into others in the 100 plus rider group. A lot of it was probably my attitude, and for whatever reason I was just focused on getting in the miles and not enjoying myself along the way. I was totally beat afterwards and wasn't sure how the mountain bike ride would go today. It was a gorgeous day though and within minutes I was feeling really good and having fun. My focus was back where it should be, enjoying the trails and thankful to have the amazing health that allows me to do what I love. Guess it's back to work too!

Thur: 4hr mountain bike with 4,500ft climbing
Fri: 4hr road ride, Santa Ana Trail
Sat: 45min swim, 15min core workout, 1hr hike with Beth
Sun: 5hr road, New Years Day century
Mon: 5hr mountain bike, 100k with 6,000ft climbing

Christmas was awesome!

2011-12-31T08:30:00.000-08:00

So thankful for time with family over Christmas! Now it's back to riding (and some work...)

Saddleback!

2011-12-19T19:25:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning at 7am it was time to meet Tim Z and head for the peak...

Saddleback is 5500ft and we live at 200

The photos on the roads were taken while RIDING to the trails

Looking down on the OC from 3/4 of the way up

A little ice near the top

The views (and descent down holy jim) make it all worthwhile

Check it on Garmin - 60mi and 7,000ft of climbing

Now back to work! Holiday mode will be here soon enough.

Friday Night

2011-12-17T08:29:00.000-08:00

The start of my ride, Friday night, 5:30pm. It was a long week in the real world and I still had 11hrs of ride time to get in by Sunday. Don't let anything stop you!

This is week 4 of my first block of base training. I've been logging 15hrs per week of almost all endurance pace riding. I have been mixing it up only in terms of doing some cadence work, and lot of mountain biking. About 1 ride per week I'll do some random intensity and go hard a few times, usually on the mountain bike since it's more fun. I would still be open to some cross training this time of year, but just don't really have time to drive to a pool or gym, so riding it is. I have been sticking to a core workout routine twice per week that has already made me feel stronger on the mountain bike. It's only about 20min, but a lot of planks, crunches, push-ups, etc that I just do at home.

Now it's Saturday morning and I only have 9.5hrs to ride today and tomorrow. I better get back on it!

After this week it will be time for a rest week and our Texas visit for the holidays. I feel like I need the rest week mostly because of work, not so much because I'm getting fatigued from the first weeks of riding base... It all adds up though, stress is stress, and it's time for some rest. There will be a time to push harder in training, but now it's still time to be patient and take thing slowly.

It's Official!

2011-12-11T07:28:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to announce that I will be riding for Pro Bike Supply in 2012! Check them out at http://www.probikesupply.com/, or on FACEBOOK, or in person in NEWPORT BEACH!

Both the website and shop in Newport are run locally by some great guys. Mention that I sent you and they will definitely get you taken care of!

Here we go!

2011-12-03T08:33:00.000-08:00

Give thanks always!

2011-12-03T08:14:00.000-08:00

Beth and I had a pretty awesome staycation over the Thanksgiving weekend. I kicked off my training for 2012, still got plenty of rest, and had a great time visiting with friends. Man i'm blessed!

In the Moment...

2011-11-18T16:15:00.000-08:00

This year I had somewhat of a breakthrough with racing in the "moment". It's similar to being in the "zone" but achievable a lot more consistently...

Almost every serious athlete, and most recreational athletes are familiar with being in the zone in their given sport. I think it's a lot smaller percentage of athletes that have truly experienced it though. Being in the zone by most expert's definitions, is being in a state of peak physical and mental performance, resulting in a breakthrough performance, usually with very little mental effort. Performing better than ever, while feeling like it's easy... So truly performing in the zone would be the times that any of us have blown away our previous best results, and having felt good while doing it. I can count the times of done that in 15 years of racing on one hand.

Racing "in the moment" on the other hand can be reached a lot more often, and regardless of fitness level. It does take a shift in thinking, maybe even some "mental training" if you want to call it that. The idea is to literally focus on what you're doing in the moment. Think less about the pre-conceived result your shooting for, less about how far you have to go, even minimize the mental noise telling yourself how you feel... Instead think about your leg turnover, your breathing, focus more on the trail and your bodies natural reaction to the terrain...

This stuff almost sounds silly. And I'm not saying to completely ignore the competition around you, or to avoid thinking about pacing / how far there is to go. But simply think less, let your body do what it is capable of at that moment in time, and you will perform closer to your potential.

Like my sister Kathleen said back in our junior days - just be like a big dumb horse. Race horses are fast and i bet they don't think about much when going down the home stretch.

Or like Ryan Hall suggests - give yourself a little grace. Don't beat yourself up about the little things and simply enjoy doing what God made you to do.

Stuff

2011-11-12T17:23:00.000-08:00

I've been doing some things besides working...

Santa Ana River Trail

2011-11-06T07:36:00.000-08:00

Friday was the first "winter storm" of the season in Socal. It was nothing more than an inch of rain most places and a few inches of snow in the mountains. That few inches of snow made for some pretty epic riding on the SART though. Riding the snow is actually a lot of fun when it's a nice day and you're with friends! By the time we had done about 4 hours of it I was beat. It takes a lot of energy to power through the snow!

Time off?

2011-10-31T18:39:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot of time off the bike the last couple weeks, but it's just left me spending more time in front of one of these.

Beth in the surfwagon! Yesterday was a high quality Sunday - trail run and surf with beth , followed by nap and ended with small group study with friends.

I don't know how to surf though... couldn't even catch the 2-3 footers. Still fun!

Off season...

2011-10-22T17:02:00.000-07:00

It's been kind of tough taking a break from riding! I'm not dying to ride, but my energy and moods go through a pretty good funk when I stop riding for a couple weeks. I'm finally coming around and feeling good again, but it's amazing how much rest the body wants after a season of racing. Once my body starts to rest, it wants more and I'm more tired and hungry then weeks when I'm training.

Anyway, it's all good and I have 2 weeks before the time change to really enjoy a few good sunset rides and beach hikes. I'm lucky to have some pretty cool single track within a few minutes ride of home and I plan to start taking better advantage of that during the off season.

Let the mountains sing together for joy (ps98:8) - see you on the trails!

Thank you!

2011-10-12T10:15:00.000-07:00

Today I just have to say thank you! It's been a great year for me. Busy, but great. First and foremost thank you to the Lord Jesus for his grace, my health, family, friends, and opportunities. Athletes tend to be hard on themselves and end up taking their basic health for granted. I'm truly blessed and need to do a better job reminding myself of that.

Thank you to my amazing wife Beth for your love and support behind everything I do. I don't think Beth has ever, not even once, discouraged one of my bike racing plans once I had my mind set. And I have a lot of bike racing plans! Thank you to my awesome family and friends for all of your encouragement. And thank you to Trek, Jax Bicycle Center, Cytosport, Clif Bar, and Schwalbe for your support.

California State Championships

2011-10-04T19:17:00.000-07:00

1hr 45min at a 185 heart rate and 99.9 degrees was a good effort to end the year! Saturday was a really fun 7 minute Super D and I was able to take the win by just a few seconds over Ben Bostrom. On Sunday it was Ben who held me off by a few seconds...

I welcomed the heat going into the day, hoping it to use it to my advantage. When it's 100 degrees and the course is completely exposed to the sun, a little pacing, and extra cooling can go a long ways. Ben and Sid opened a gap on the main climb of the first lap and I already wasn't feeling that great due to the heat, but knew I just had to rely on my own pacing and be patient. Beth was awesome in the feedzone as always and kept me cool and hydrated. The plan seemed to be working as I caught Sid and Ben going into the second lap. Then they opened a gap again on the main climb. Then I came back up to Sid again going into the third and final lap. But this time Ben held his gap and opened it up even more on the climb. There wasn't much chance of me catching him in the last 15 minutes of racing after he had been stronger all day, but I kept my head down and effort up. In the end I brought him back into sight and the gap to 7 seconds, but that was everything I had! It was straight to the snow cone stand and into the pool for me! I didn't get the win but it was a great effort and fun weekend with friends to end the season.

I'm so grateful for the year that Beth and I have had. Last night I realized it was 15 years ago that I did my first mountain bike race, I've been racing for half of my life!! The love won't die!

Fall is Here!

2011-10-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

Fall is here! Finally SoCal will start turning a little more beautiful again. This afternoon I'm off to pre-ride the xc course and race the super d for my last race of the year - the CA State Championships. Seasons are changing!

I though my breakfast today was just awesome so I took a picture, sometimes i'm a dork!

Work

2011-09-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

Work. That is pretty much my story this week and last. Life is good though and I'm looking forward to my last workout this evening and my last big effort on the bike this Sunday at the State Champs in Temecula!

Marathon Nationals

2011-09-21T19:41:00.000-07:00

I had an amazing ride in Bend. My goal was simply to ride in the moment that day and pour out every bit of energy I had into my riding. Of course I knew if I was able to do that I might also be looking at a top 10 at a national championship. It was a good day to have a good ride!

After a mellow cruise out of town on the highway the race blew apart as soon as we hit dirt for the first time. The entire course was super dusty and went back and forth between some single track and double track in the early miles before hitting the middle of the course which was mostly fast, twisting single track. I was honored to trade some pulls with Dave Weins for about an hour or so early on before chasing and eventually working with Ben Bostrom throughout the middle of the race. We were in 10th - 15th place most of the way and I was riding well and having a good time. Once we went through the last feed zone I knew it was time to start digging, and I upped the pace as much as possible as the trails started going gradually downhill back towards town. I was thinking about how much I love riding fast and really enjoyed pushing myself to try and catch the next guy up the trail. In the end I worked myself to the limit and actually caught a few guys, putting me up to 7th place on the day!

I have to admit I've been struggling a bit since then! Instead of training today, I decided I was better off with rest day #4 after being tired and hungry pretty much the entire day at work... not too mention the sugar cravings and moodiness! Recovering can definitely be harder than training

Garmin

Results

Anyone have photos?!

Marathon Nationals

2011-09-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

It's so nice to be resting up in Oregon! Mon - Wed were way too busy at work and wore me out a little more than I would like going into a big race. I did get in the one good ride I was looking for during the week on Tue evening though. Wednesday was 10 hours at work, followed by packing for some early morning travel Thur morning...

Since then, things have been really chill in Bend, which is exactly what I needed. It doesn't even feel like a race weekend yet, but that will change late this morning when we head out for some pre-riding and registration! 9am tomorrow is 50 miles of reportedly dry, fast trails, with only about 4,000ft of climbing total. I'm just looking forward to putting in one last long effort for the season and seeing where that puts me at the finish

Vacation's Over!

2011-09-09T12:45:00.000-07:00

Returning home from vacation always means a lot of catching up to do. Returning home from a 3 week vacation... actually wasn't that bad. Despite a cold last week and being really busy at work, things are good! It helps a lot to be training less this time of year. Tuesday was the only workday that I did a workout this week and it was a tough day. At work by 7:30, worked pretty much straight through to 5, then on the bike from my office, and not home until 7:45 (a lot more worn out then 12 hours earlier when I left). Not too big of a deal one day week, but it was tiring, and I'm not sure how I was doing those days back to back earlier in the year.

Of course I was riding for a reason and the season isn't over just yet... This weekend I'm in for the Racers and Chasers 100mi race in San Diego (tomorrow actually) and after some prayer, I decided to take a chance at Marathon Nationals in Bend on the 17th!! 100mi mountain bike races have become a lot more popular lately, but I really had no desire to do one, until I saw Racers and Chasers making one happen. They promote some really good races in SoCal and the course has "only" 10,000ft of climbing so it's not too much of a beast. The hope is that I don't work my body over too bad and bounce back for a strong ride in Bend the next week. Marathon Nationals is half the distance at 50 miles, but will be raced at a lot higher intensity. I was pretty unsure about going to Bend while busy at work and only a week after the 100 miler I had already committed to. But I'm taking a bit of a step in faith and we'll see what happens.

We'll leave this with a pretty strong verse for the day “I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love ….” Romans 8:38-39

Swiss Bike Trophy Bern

2011-09-02T14:02:00.000-07:00

So I thought it would be cool to ride the Swiss Bike Trophy a few days after the Grand Raid... for the most part it was cool. The Swiss Bike Trophy was a 1 hour race, in the evening, on mountain bikes, around the Swiss Capitol building in Bern, on 1.6k of streets and sidewalks, with man made obstacles. Not exactly a normal mountain bike race.

Bern was awesome though, it was definitely the coolest large city I've been to in Europe with a sweet river running through town and people on bicycles everywhere.

The race venue was an awesome scene with lots of spectators, a jumbo screen showing the race, music, food and beer tent. The women's race was fun to watch and then a nasty thunderstorm rolled in for the start of the men's race. The first lap was a literal traffic jam for the second half of the field and riding around in the dark and rain, jumping off slippery wood ramps was only fun for about 3 or 4 laps. That's how long it took until I got lapped so it was all good! It wasn't much of a race for me, but a super cool event!

Grand Raid

2011-08-31T07:43:00.000-07:00

There were 2 reasons I chose to go after the Grand Raid this summer: any endurance race through the Swiss Alps has to be pretty cool, and it was a qualifier for the 2012 marathon world championships. I originally planned to do a UCI race in Austria the weekend of the Grand Raid, because the Grand Raid looked too long... 125k with 15,000ft of climbing and a winning time of 7:10 in 2010. I've never even ridden my mountain bike that long, let alone raced that long. But when I saw the Grand Raid was on the calendar as a qualifier for the 2012 marathon worlds I had a change of heart. It was a good choice!

The Wednesday before the race I got an idea how cool the race would be when Beth and I went out to preview the middle part of the course. Permanent course markers on all of the trails and roads, amazing views down into the Sion Valley and later views of the glaciers above Evolene, and a few sections of actual single track! The course is a super cool point to point starting in the famous ski town (and tour de france mountain top finish) of Verbier. From there it's up over a pass, down into the town of Nendaz, and a repeating of several more passes and cool Swiss mountain towns. Each town had a feed zone on the main street and the feeds are fully stocked with bottles, gels, and food hand ups for all riders.

Race morning dawned with perfect weather and a short 10min warm-up was all that was needed with the long day ahead. From the gun I felt pretty good, but paced myself a little slower than the week before at Eiger Bike. I was still riding in the top third of the 100 elite riders at the top of the first 3,000ft climb and rolled pretty comfortably with a small group of riders from there... A lot goes through the mind during such a long race, but I've really found some joy in trying to just be in the moment and that was my focus for the next several hours. Not thinking about anything and simply riding in the moment...

A few hours of mountain roads and trails later I made my way down into Evolene for my second and last feed from Beth. I was riding just inside the top 30 and feeling good, but knew the biggest climb was still ahead. The section that looked scariest on the profile was also the section I didn't pre-ride. A climb from 4,000 up to 9,000ft which included at least a little bit of hike of bike at the top... By now I was a catching a lot of riders doing the shorter version (they start at other towns midway along the long course and go to the same finish) but the other Elites were pretty well spread out. I got back in the moment and ground out some 10-12% jeep road climbing for I don't know how long, probably a full hour. I passed one guy and one guy passed me. Then at some point we were getting above the tree line and came around a bend to see one of the craziest sights I've ever seen in a race. Way up on a barren ridge ahead there was a line of riders that looked like little ants from where I was, all walking straight up the slope. A couple minutes later I rolled to the bottom of the ridge and the road we were on ended, with only a hiking trail going on. It was a very long 30 minutes of pushing my bike up the rocky scree before making it to a huge cheering crowd at the top. I have no idea how all the swiss families and fans got out there to the middle of nowhere, but they were on the 9,000ft pass cheering us on.

From there I knew there was a 15k descent to look forward to. The top 20, which would qualify for worlds, was out of grasp. But I was loving the moment, my legs still worked, and I pushed as hard as I could on the descent. The bottom half turned into some fairly technical trail and I was able to blow by a couple elite riders before dropping into the finish where thousands of riders and friends were cheering everyone in. It was super cool and felt amazing to finish such an amazing day on the bike. I was blessed that day and definitely felt it.

Only later that evening when Beth and I made it to out hotel was I able to pull up the full results. Turns out I was riding a couple spots further up in the field than I thought and the guys I passed on the last downhill actually put me into 20th overall on the day. The dream of going to worlds is alive and well!

RESULTS

GARMIN

Grand Raid

2011-08-23T00:51:00.000-07:00

That was a tough day! http://services.datasport.com/2011/mtb/GrandRaid/RANG091.HTM

Still recovering, more detailed report soon!

Grand Raid Pre-Ride

2011-08-23T00:48:00.000-07:00

Pre-ride last Wednesday...

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107654947

Eiger Bike Challenge

2011-08-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

The proper rewards are not simply tacked on to the activity for which they are given, but are the activity itself in consummation. –CS Lewis

My race result at the Eiger Bike Challenge is not what I was hoping for. My journey getting to such a tough endurance race in the middle of the Swiss Alps was everything I was hoping for and more. The 2 months or so leading up to my current Europe trip have been a challenge in themselves. I pushed myself as far as I ever have at work, in training / resting, and in planning. Most importantly I didn’t forget my faith and that I need the grace of God to get through every single day. Of course everything wasn’t perfect and there were plenty of stressful days. A week of relaxing with Beth in beautiful Lauterbrunnen at the base of the mighty Jungfrau Peak made it all worthwhile though.

Then it was time to race the Eiger Bike. At 7am the gun went off and the next 60 minutes were spent ascending a 3,000 foot paved climb, heart rate pegged at 180 to stay with the 3rd group of elite riders on the road. A few of the top marathon racers in the world were on hand and were already putting minutes on the rest of the elite riders. The next hour and a half weren’t much different with some very fast descents, several thousand more feet of climbing, and heart rate running only a couple beats lower. Half way through there was finally enough of an off road descent for me to pass a few riders when a random rock badly cut my rear tire and I flatted. I had to cover the cut inside the tire for the spare tube to even work so it was a slow change and quite a few riders came by.

Once I did get going again the result I was hoping for was suddenly out of grasp. Then my legs started cramping. We were doing some long descending before going out onto the last third of the course (another 3,000ft climb) and the rolling terrain was wrecking my legs. Every time at the end of a downhill when I needed to start pedaling my quads would try to lock up. I was able to ride through the cramps but had to start backing off my pace quite a bit and start settling for just finishing the race. The last 2 hours were long! In the end I was 37th overall out of about 200 riders that did the long course, and about 1,000 total mountain bikers at the Eiger Bike.

It wasn’t my best physical performance, but I feel totally blessed to have finished.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107654979

Eiger Bike Pre-Ride

2011-08-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

Our first few days in Switzerland have been amazing! Yesterday we went to Grindewald and I pre-rode some of the course for the Eiger Bike Challenge. Finding my way around was tough because there are so many paths through the mountains here. The views were some of the most amazing I've ever seen while riding. The trails were, uh, not trails, but steep little roads for the most part. They're tough enough to make a decent mountain course though, especially with the afformentioned views.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/105584329

The Swiss (and people that visit here) are really cool and definitely love the mountains. The hikers, local farmers, base jumpers, and cows aren't affraid to enjoy the crazy terrain God created here. It hasn't been bad on my mountain bike either.

Training Block

2011-08-06T21:39:00.000-07:00

The work is done and tomorrow morning Beth and I are off to Switzerland! I'm so thankful to be able to make this trip and looking forward to some vacation time, and of course some big races - The Eiger Bike Challenge and The Grand Raid!

After racing Downieville and Nationals I took a rest week and then did a big 11 training block focusing on endurance rides both weekends with lots of climbing. I also raced Over the Hump twice for some intensity. In the end I logged about 30 hours and 35,000ft of climbing. I followed that up with 3 days of 45min recovery spins, then a pretty tough 3.5hrs with a solid hour of tempo climbing today. Now it's time to travel, a couple more easy days, big ride Wednesday, couple more easy days, and then it's go time at the Eiger!

Next Up - Eiger Bike!

2011-07-30T17:03:00.000-07:00

Biggest race in August? Leadville?? How about the Eiger Bike Challenge...

August 14th... wish me luck!

Back to Busy

2011-07-30T16:59:00.000-07:00

Wow time flies! 2 really busy weeks in the books since racing in Idaho and now only a week before we take off for Europe! Work has been crazy and I initially rested for a week after Idaho, then jumped into some crazy endurance rides.

Last weekend I was good for 4 hrs and 6hrs with about 13,000ft of climbing between the two. Somehow I followed that up with a good ride at the Over the Hump race on Tuesday, but I think I've been a little fried since. Today's training on baldy was good in the sense that I got a lot of climbing in and my legs felt good. But I blew up pretty good in the heat and my heart rate went sky high for the whole second half of the ride (like 175 at endurance level power...)

Anyway, another long day tomorrow (on the mountain bike) and then some rest to let the body adapt to the big rides... life is good!

A little more from Idaho

2011-07-18T17:15:00.000-07:00

Sun Valley was beautiful and the town did a great job in hosting Nationals this year!

The cross country race went well for me and I pulled off a solid top 30 on a pretty tough course. All the talk about the pro race focused on the steepness of the climb, and that really is where the race took shape. It was steep enough that everyone was riding their smallest gear and the race was more about riding my own pace then racing the guys that were around me. I was able to ride steady 6 lap times all within 1 minute of each other and slowly work my way up through a field of about 75 guys. Not once in the race did I know what place I was in and that was actually nice for a change. I just rode the best I could in the moment and when I rolled across the finish line I was happy with the effort I left out on the course.

In the end I decided not to ride the super d or short track. The late registration fees were ridiculous, I was happy with my xc, and also wanted to do a fun ride with friends on Sunday. We found a beautiful loop north of town and had a great ride to wrap up the weekend. Now it's back to business for me with what will surely be a crazy week at work. Thanks for reading!

Thankful for a good day on the bike yesterday!

2011-07-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/99634184

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/us-cross-country-national-championships-cn/elite-men-cross-country/results

Idaho

2011-07-15T14:03:00.000-07:00

What a crazy few days since Downieville. Things are busy at my office right now with some pretty big transitions going on and there is a lot of work waiting for me after any vacation day I take. Mon, tue, and wed were kind of a blur trying to get caught up, while also trying to get some sort of rest in the evenings. Wed I finally got things as caught up as possible at work around 5:30 and headed out for my only decent ride for the week. Thur morning it was off to the airport and when I finally made it to Boise and hit the open road for Sun Valley it was a pretty big sigh if relief. Now I have 3 full days hanging out in a cool mountain town with only a little bike ride to focus on!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/us-cross-country-national-championships-cn

Downieville Classic

2011-07-14T11:19:00.000-07:00

Downieville was once again one of the funnest races of the year. It's a tough 10 hour drive from SoCal but spending the weekend in a cabin on the river and riding some amazing trails makes it more than worthwhile. The races are tough though! The courses are serious mountain bike trails and there's a lot of fast guys. After not doing any racing for about 2 months I got off to a good start on the 3,000 ft climb in the cross country. Nearing the top I was in about 7th with the top 3-6 still in sight when my shifter just stopped working. The next half of the race was a pretty tough go with only 2 gears to work with but I still finished 16th. I put in a good run in the downhill but didn't quite get the result I was hoping for and ended up 17th... One of my goals in racing this year is to seek satisfaction from how I perform regardless of the results that play out. But it's easier said then done and even though I rode well and enjoyed the moment during my run - it turned to disappointment when I saw the result. Even without the races I was hoping for, Downieville was a great weekend spent with my awesome wife and good friends.

Here we go - race time!

2011-07-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

Well I'm blessed to have an amzing 2 months of racing ahead of me. I'm back to feeling healthy & strong, and so far have been able to keep things moving in the right direction at work. July and August will be crazy, but I can't wait!

July 9-10 Downieville Classic all mountain world championship! Several thousand mountain bikers will take over the small mountain town of Downieville for some serious racing and serious fun. DVILLE

July 16-17 National Championships the nations best will contest cross country, super d, and short track titles in Sun Valley Idaho NATS

Aug 14 Eiger Bike Challenge one of Europe’s top marathon’s at the foot of the famous Eiger in Switzerland. UCI cat 2 for elite racers and over 1,000 amateur racers EIGER BIKE

Aug 20 Grand Raid Verbier one of the toughest marathon races in the world - 77 miles with 15,000ft of vertical climbing!! UCI Cat 1 for elite racers and upwards of 3,000 amteur racers! GRAND RAID

Aug 25 Swiss Bike Trohpy one of a kind 8pm UCI1 cross country race in a downtown park in the Capitol of Switzerland! Featuring many of the top World Cup racers from throughout Europe. SWISS BIKE

Aug 28 Racers Bike Cup Muttenz final race of the Swiss National series and final tune up cross country race (UCI1) for all of the top World Cup racers including before the following weekend’s World Championships RACERS CUP

Sept 17 Marathon National Championships Bend Oregon - the nations top racers will take on 50 plus miles of amazing mountain single track with a National Champion jersey waiting for the winner. Amateur turnout will be huge! NATS

Oct 2 – California State Championships Vail Lake - bragging rights are on the line for all Socal racers at this race which also serves as the final US Cup Series race of the year US CUP

Nice rides

2011-07-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

Well the cold I started to come down with a week and a half ago drug out into a pretty good sinus infection. That meant no hard riding last weekend, but I did get in a decent mountain ride and 2 good road rides during the week. I'm back to feeling good again and put in these solid rides as my last big workouts before Downieville and Nationals...

Intensity - climbing repeats on Pelican Hill - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/96326792

Long threshold climb up Harding with Joplin - Luge descent - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/96615446

Training Days

2011-06-21T19:38:00.000-07:00

Man I've been busy! Life has been good though. I did pass up the final 3 rounds of the CA State Series but riding has actually been going really well. I'm training hard and excited for a big summer of racing to come. The ironic thing is I'm writing this post about my training after waking up with a cold this morning. Instead of racing at the Over The Hump weeknight series (which is happening as I type) I'm chilling at home. It's all good though. After a 2 week block of base at the end of May I've already done another 2 week block of really solid training with some tough tempo rides and raced 2 rounds of OTH. Now after a little more unplanned rest I'll be ready to do my final 2 week build before Downieville and Nats. It's time for a couple tough interval sessions and then I should be ready to go.

I've been riding for so many years and am still amazed to learn new things about training, and what works for my body. Focusing on 2 weeks of training on a time recently (compared to 3 weeks at a time in the past) seems to be a lot better fit for me with the stresses of work and everything else going on. I guess I truly like training too, because I've been riding hard for several weeks in a row without any racing and have been really enjoying it. It's all about the process, making the most of my gifts, and enjoying some time with God.

Here's a couple random shots - see you at the races soon!

off camber!

Saturday group ride

Solo tempo workout!

Over the Hump (well Tuesday) Training Race

2011-06-06T20:59:00.000-07:00

The Over the Hump race last night was another great turnout and an awesome training ride. Thanks to Jax Bicycle Center for last night's prizes.

The Good Life

2011-06-05T14:59:00.000-07:00

Family, friends, working, riding - life is good!

Hanging with Beth after the local Memorial Day 5k

Fat foot after my bee sting early in the week

Mmmm muscle milk

Dee and Grammy!

Recovery time!

Endurance Block

2011-05-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

3.5hr mountain ride to old camp last evening

5hr road ride first thing this morning

= Time to rest!

Training Days

2011-05-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

Back in the routine of training again... After a week off the bike I jumped right back into things this past week and went to work getting my base built up again. Went 3 days in a row with 3 hour rides after work. A 3 hour ride at endurance pace is normally not that significant of an effort for me, but doing it after work, after some time off the bike, made for a pretty good training block. My legs felt great but I definitely needed to eat more than I normally would on that kind of effort. The energy stores have already come around back to normal since the start of the week though.

For me there seems to be a few keys to riding well in the afternoon after a long day at work: Getting enough sleep the night before is pretty obvious.
The next is getting some sort of actual rest at lunch so the after lunch sleepiness doesn't linger all the way into the 5pm ride time. This is the one I don't do a very good job of even though I know from experience that even laying down for only 10min with my eyes closed makes me feel a lot better through the afternoon.
The last key is getting the afternoon snack right. For a couple hour ride it needs to be a few hundred calories, including fat, protein & a majority of carbs. I actually do best with 2 snacks - one a couple hours after lunch and another about 45min before I ride. The second snack leaves my blood sugar in a better place starting the ride compared to going through the entire afternoon with only one snack. Finally a little caffeine also helps a lot.

After making it through the work week pretty well I was lucky enough to have a really chill weekend. Even after a couple tough rides I'm feeling pretty rested. Even though the Tour of CA was right in my backyard, I decided to stay home, get in a better quality ride, get some things done around the house, and finish the day less worn out. Sometimes it's best to say no, even to some good things.

Sat: 7 Sisters I don't have a GPS file but saw this one for the same route on Strava - by Manny Prado

Sun: Cooks - Harding - Santiago Peak - Holy Jim - back to Cooks
pedaled the road section too (no shuttle)

2011-05-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

Beth's bday!

Yogurt!

Lunch of champions

Joy after a long day at work

Time Away

2011-05-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a good week off the bike! Last Saturday after riding the L'Etape (ride on the Mt Baldy stage of the upcoming Tour of CA) I started my off week cold turkey. Sunday and Monday I went through the expected funk, hungry and tired most of the time, both days. I've come around pretty good since then with some really productive days and even a little bit of rest. Recovery is definitely the biggest challenge with working full time and competing seriously at an endurance sport. Being a busy body by nature doesn't make things any easier...

The second part of this week has also been a good chance for me to start thinking about the second half of the racing season. For the first time in a few years, I went through the spring not knowing exactly what goals I would go after in the summer and fall. I've been praying consistently for some direction and really want to make sure I'm staying on the path that God has planned for me. I have both a really good job, and really great racing opportunities in front of me, and there just isn't time or energy to do everything I would like to. I know God has a plan for me though, if I am just patient and persistent enough in waiting for the vision to be fulfilled. Hab 2:3...

Today I finally have a weekend day without riding and I'm loving it. It's not very often that I have a day without work OR training. It's also Beth's birthday so we get to head out to a nice dinner with some friends. Thankful!

2011-05-07T14:27:00.001-07:00

Congrats to my mtb friends nate w in 2nd, sean d in 3rd and tinker 4th!

2011-05-07T14:25:00.001-07:00

Made it to baldy around 9th today, felt good but not great. Awesome route!

L'etape - Tour of California Stage to Mt Baldy

2011-05-06T16:32:00.000-07:00

Why not decide to ride this tomorrow with 2,000 other crazies!? Same route as stage 7 of the Tour of California in 2 weeks...

Luckily I'll be rolling with some other SoCal mountain bikers to make the most out of what looks like a really tough ride! 11,000ft plus in climbing!

http://www.letapeducalifornia.com/

Mellow Johnny ProXCT

2011-05-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

I love going back to Texas to race! The weather is usually challenging, but I really enjoy the technical courses.

Going into Mellow Johnny's I thought it may be my last National Series race, possibly for good. My work and riding balance has been more challenging and stressful on me this year, and my Bonelli / Fontana / Sea Otter results weren't worth what I was putting myself through to get them. I wasn't ready to quit, I know I have a lot of great racing still in me. But I really needed to break away from being a slave to my results, and find a better daily balance. And things changed some in the last couple of weeks. After a mediocre Sea Otter I did my best (and am still working) to focus on having joy and experiencing God on all of my training rides, and everyday, rather than only having joy if my performance is good. I then went to Tx to enjoy the experience, visit family, and put in one great effort before a couple weeks rest. I came away with 10th, matching my best ever National result!! And this time was by far the closest I have ever come to a podium finish - which was only 54 seconds ahead... With that how can I be done with the nationals?

Results on Cyclingnews

Talking with Dee after the race!

2011-04-30T14:40:00.001-07:00

10th place at mellow johny pro xct! Thank you to my texas friends for cheering! Thankful for today!

Crazy

2011-04-24T12:58:00.000-07:00

Wow, things have been a little too busy the last couple of weeks. 9 straight hours a day at work leaves me a little burned out on the computer so not too many updates here...

Easter weekend has been great though. Beth and I finally had some time to rest and recharge a little.

Sea Otter was a fun weekend for me with another good race, but once again, not nearly what I was hoping for. My fitness is as good as ever right now, but busy weeks have kept me from being 100% fresh at a lot of the races this spring. Plus the competition has just been super fast at the nationals this year. At Sea Otter the start on the Laguna Seca car track is the most sketchy start of the year and this time was no exception with a couple big crashes that I narrowly missed. I was stuck mid pack going into the bottleneck leaving the car track and 8 laps later I was 39th out of about 120 starters. I'm all for short, spectator friendly courses, if they involve some decent mountain bike trails, but the pro course at Sea Otter really doesn't have any...

Monday I was able to check out the live tv coverage of the Boston marathon and see Ryan Hall make history. He lead the entire first half in what turned out to be the fastest marathon in history (2:03) and finished 4th with a new American Record (2:04 and change)!! 4:46 miles - amazing stuff!! I'm also really proud of Beth for raising over $1,000 for the Hall Steps Foundation, finishing Boston under 4hrs (her 3rd ever marathon). I was also a little jealous of the post race dinner with the other Steps fundraisers and Ryan himself...

A few really busy days of work later and Thursday evening I set my own PR on a local 6 mile climb - the Santiago Truck trail. Maybe I'll have something special for the Mellow Johhny national next week before taking a few week break in May...

Happy Easter!

Otter

2011-04-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

Well I don't have any good photos from the expo or the xc race... but had some awesome rides on the day before and the day after the pro xc

2011-04-16T17:41:00.001-07:00

8 laps at otter today for about 40th interesting emotions to be top half in the biggest race in the US and not satisfied still thankful for today

Vision Quest

2011-04-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

Wow, Saturday was a cool day! It's taken me until Wednesday morning to get my normal routine back though. I left a lot out there at the Vision Quest (which is what made it such a cool day for me). After struggling at the Bonelli and Fontana Nationals I was truly just looking to have a day where I rode the best I possibly could on that given day.

So when the lead group rode away from me 40 minutes into the 5+ hour Vision Quest, I remembered the advice Beth gave me the night before and simply rode in the moment. I took in an amazing sunrise, railed the Motorway descent, and the next thing I knew I was cruising up the 3,700 ft main climb of the day to Santiago Peak well ahead of my personal best time from previous years! Oh, I was also back up to 2nd place in the race and got to ride with Tinker briefly near the peak. That was pretty cool in itself!

Then the rest of my adventure began when Tinker and I passed Manny Prado (previous VQ winner, and race leader up to that point) on the side of the road fixing a flat. A couple minutes after that Tinker let me by on the Holy Jim descent and I quickly went to work building up my lead over the amazing, 30 plus minute, single track descent. Mountain biking doesn't get much better than what I was experiencing during that downhill, and I was taking it all in. The other thing that was starting to happen at the same time though, were some pretty severe cramps creeping into my legs. At the bottom of Holy Jim there are several creek crossings where riders have to hop off and run over the boulders and it seemed like each of those crossings caused a different muscle in my legs to completely seize. I knew my only hope was to push directly through it and get back to pedaling as soon as possible, so that's what I did time and time again.

The next 45 minutes were aided by some coke from the feedzone and knowing I was leading, but I was sure Tinker and Manny were somewhere not far behind, doing what they do best, up the final climb of West Horse Thief. It took a lot longer than I expected, but Tinker eventually caught me near the top of West Horse Thief and I let him go by, without lifting my pace even the slightest to try and follow. I wanted to, but my body simply didn't have the extra effort left. I also knew we only had about 10 minutes of rolling fire road before the final technical descent of the day down the Trabuco trail. If we both rode similar to our descents of Holy Jim I knew I would catch Tinker again before the bottom. But as soon as I rolled into the downhill it was my turn with a flat tire and my chances of getting back into the lead were over. That was the first time I really switched from riding in the moment to just wanting to finish... About 20 minutes later I made it in for 2nd place a good 15 minutes faster than my personal best time from 2 years earlier.

3 days later and the stories are still flowing from everyone out there that day. For me the Vision Quest truly is one of the coolest and toughest mountain bike events of the year. Thanks go to God for my abilities and opportunities, and Beth for being such an amazing wife! Also a really big thank you to the Warrior's Society for making this event happen and for all they do in maintaining the local trails!

MTB RACE NEWS ARTICLE

FINISHING TIMES

TINKER'S WRITE UP

2011-04-02T12:14:00.001-07:00

Vq in personal best of 514 for 2nd a couple min behind tinker! Flat tires for about everybody

VQ Preview

2011-03-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

Had a great ride on about 1/2 of the VQ COURSE yesterday afternoon. Taking a little time off work and riding in the middle of the day is so much fun! The strangest part was the number of people I saw out there hiking and riding, what do these people do? As far as the trails go the climbs are as hard as ever and Holy Jim / Trabuco are in great shape right now. The 5:30am start on Saturday is going to hurt though! Anyway, I'm feeling good and really looking forward to it!

What's next?

2011-03-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

Another busy week in the books. I was rested and ready for the ProXCT in Fontana, or so I thought. Even when the gun went off I was feeling good and moving up on the first lap. But things kind of plateaued from there. I worked as hard as I could throughout the race, but stopped making up ground a couple laps in, and truly wasn't riding as well as I know I can. It's really dissapointing to come up short at both of the hometown nationals this spring. Especially because my training at the start of the year was better than ever. I'm really not sure why I was off at Bonelli and now Fontana. I've looked for some guidance and know that "many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." So I'm resting at home instead of racing the short track this afternoon and leaving what's in store for me next in God's hands. I really can't complain, life is tough sometimes, but still great!

What cold

2011-03-19T20:57:00.000-07:00

After the busy Bonelli weekend I went right into a really frustrating day of work Monday, followed by getting sick Tuesday night... The next 3 days were spent only working and sleeping, leaving me pretty anxious to try and ride today. As soon as I got into the mountains life was good, and despite still having some cold symptoms I knocked off both of these routes in just under 4 hrs. BLACKSTAR and MAPLE SPRINGS

After my post ride nap I felt absolutely terrible, only to feel completely fine now. Hopefully I'm ready for more tomorrow...

Bonelli through the lens of Stephen Kozowyk

2011-03-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

Check out Stephen's fine work here - http://stephenkozowykphotography.blogspot.com/

Whoa Nellie Bonelli

2011-03-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

Wow, that was a tough weekend. The first race of the National Series is in the books. I felt good going into things, liked the tough course, and just didn't have it in the XC...

After a long winter of training and a decent week leading up to the race it was super disappointing to come up short on the big day. I was so frustrated with things I definitely wasn't excited to do the Super D or short track. But all I could do was have some faith and try again. The "super d" was basically a 7 minute time trial in which I rode a lot more respectably to end up 14th. Sunday afternoon was the last race of the weekend - a super fast short track where I managed an 18th place. I finally felt really good in this one and only missed out on racing with the front group for a top 10 after a couple tactical mistakes and getting caught behind a couple crashes. It was a pretty aggressive race and was actually fun!! No photos, but here are the race reports:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/us-pro-xct-1-bonelli-park-2

Follow all that up with a frustrating Monday at work... and I need some rest

Last weekend's rides...

2011-03-11T20:13:00.000-08:00

Saturday

Sunday

Wow - time for the nationals!!

2011-03-11T12:33:00.000-08:00

Who needs rest when you can be at work instead?? It's Friday at 12:30pm, time to go home, get the bike, and see what the deal is at this Bonelli Park bike race!!

Things have been busy since Sagebrush, but I've kept a decent balance and the legs should be good for the first round of the USA Cycling Pro XC Series taking place tomorrow. CYCLING NEWS RACE PREVIEW

The only thing left to do is get focused make sure I have the right motivation going into the race. Wish me luck!

Sagebrush Fun!

2011-02-28T08:45:00.000-08:00

CYCLINGNEWS REPORT

Well that was a muddy one! 1 mile of road, 3 freezing cold hub deep creek crossings, 1 mile of "singletrack" and 3 miles of muddy jeep roads. Repeat 5 times while lapping about 200 beginner to expert races...

I wish conditions were good enough to hit the real trails of the original course, but we had some killer racing anyway! I got myself to the front of the race early on, but didn't quite have the power to hang with Trek Canada rider Adam Morka. In the end it was a solid Trek 1-2 at the US Cup opener with Adam taking the win, while I was able to ride away from the chase group for 2nd.

Right now I'm really thankful for great health and good fitness this early in the year!

Rest? Race?

2011-02-25T16:49:00.000-08:00

Work has been busy all week... After solid training rides Wed and Thur morning and 10 hours in the office as a "rest" day today, it's time to go into hibernation as my final preparation for the Sagebrush Safari.

Hibernating like a bear should be good prep for a race site that is predicted to have several inches of snow the night before the race right?! SNOW FORECAST!

I was on the podium last year, why no mention with Cyclingnews?
sagebrush-safari-kicks-off-kenda-cup-west-series

2011 Season Preview!

2011-02-19T17:11:00.000-08:00

Sometimes (ok, most of the time) working a full time job and being competitive in an endurance sport is really hard. Of course there are all kinds of reasons why endurance junkies always want more and are never satisfied - so we keep going.

For me though, the challenge and motivation has become more and more clear as time goes on. Out of the countless rides and hundreds of races I've done there have been a few moments where I was truly feeling great, powering along almost effortless, and railing sections of trail near perfectly. But I've never once thought "This is it, this is the best I can ever ride!" We can always get better. I don't know when I'll be staisfied with what I've done in racing. In a lot of ways I'm already satisfied, and in some ways I never will be. Most important I'm still finding ways to get better and truly loving the journey.

This year I have the advantage of the biggest races of the spring taking place close to home. From there my summer plans are still a work in progress. See you at the races!

Feb 27: CA State Series - Sagebrush Safari

March 12: ProXCT / Triple Crown Bonelli Park – San Dimas
March 26: ProXCT / Triple Crown Fontana City National – Fontana

Apr 2: Warrior's Society Vision Quest!
April 16: ProXCT Sea Otter Classic – Monterey
April 30: ProXCT Mellow Johnny’s Classic – Austin, Tx

June 4-5: US Triple Crown - Santa Ynez (Triple Crown)
June 25: ProXCT Subaru Cup - Mt Morris, WI

July 9-10: Downieville!
July 16-17: NATIONALS - Sub Valley, ID

July 31: Canada Cup - Panorama Mountain Resort
Aug 7-9: Trans Rockies TR3
Sept 17: Marathon Champs – Bend OR
Oct 1: CA State Champs - San Dimas

World Bicycle Relief - Thank you!

2011-02-14T19:39:00.000-08:00

A very big thank you to those that donated through my WBR fundraising page last fall! I learned that asking for donations to a far away cause is pretty difficult! But thanks to a lot of generous people we were still able to get several bikes donated and truly effect the lives of some children.

WBR always has some cool new fundraisers happenings and updates on their progress with various projects... check em out at http://www.worldbicyclerelief.org/ or http://www.facebook.com/worldbicyclerelief?v=wall

2011 Fuel

2011-02-10T08:20:00.000-08:00

The 2011 Fuel is here!

Praise!!

2011-02-09T19:30:00.000-08:00

All thanks and praise go to God for another 3 weeks of good rides and great health in the midst of busy times at work!

It's crazy how fast the winter has flown by for me, but things have definitely been good. Beth has kept me eating well; friends have made a lot of my endurance rides fun; and a busy job is a good one to have these days. Most important - I'm trying to rely more on faith and God to guide me through it all...

I wrapped up a solid week of training with a 5hr mountain bike ride on Saturday, and the Como group ride on Sunday. The group ride didn't feel good, but I was able to make the front group and do my fair share of work all the way through.

Finally enjoying some of SoCal's benefits while the rest of the country is freezing. Hanging with Beth in Laguna is way better than watching the Super Bowl.

Racers and Chasers Balboa Park

2011-02-02T17:47:00.000-08:00

Wednesday evening on my 3rd week of a training block and I'm feeling it! Tired and hungry! I think it's still a good tired though. The ride home from work is only 20 minutes, but it's never easy after a 2.5hr ride at 6am followed by an 8-9hr day at work. I need to get in a core workout, but have run into trouble finding the time or energy for that the last couple weeks.

We had an awesome weekend here in SoCal and Racers and Chasers put on a cool little race in Balboa Park San Diego on Saturday. The San Diego Velodrome is, well ghetto, but Balboa Park is otherwise pretty awesome and literally within a few miles of downtown San Diego. The hour and fifteen minute race was exactly the workout I needed and it's nice to start the season with a win. I followed that up with a solo century Sunday - I guess the training is getting a little serious! Time to spin home for some much needed dinner and prep for tomorrow mornings mtn ride.

Another week in the life

2011-01-25T16:19:00.000-08:00

Laguna's amazing this time of year

I work a fair amount

The good stuff

Cars are lame

My wife is awesome...

The Grind

2011-01-19T17:09:00.000-08:00

A training day in the real world:

I don't like to refer to the "real world" too often because we all determine our own lifestyle, but a training day in the "real world" does not involve an 11am start, a 2 hour visit to the bike shop, a coffee and pastry stop, or golf in the afternoon.

I'm not sure what blogs you're looking at while bored at work, but that is the kind of day most of them will be describing. For a solid 95 percent of us that like racing bikes though, a training day is more along the lines of this:

5:30am - Alarm goes off. It's obviously early and still dark out making it pretty hard to wake up. Breakfast is rushed because the sooner we're out the door the better "ride time" we can get in.

6:15am - Out the door. Still a little dark and cold but at least traffic is light for a little while. A couple hours of peace on the bike.

8:30am - Arrive at work. Change into clothes stashed in the office the day before. Pound a hopefully healthy snack.

11:00am - Tired and hungry, this is a tough hour to push through before lunch.

12:00 - Lunch, and if lucky, a few minutes shut eye on the office floor.

1:00pm - Back to work for another 4+ hours.

4:00pm - Tired and hungry again! Trouble staying focused.

5:30pm - Short ride home in a bunch of traffic.

6:00pm - Time to make some dinner and crash on the couch. A precious couple hours of rest before prepping the stuff for the next mornings ride and hopping into bed early.

Of course, any one of us with a job and the health to race bikes is living a pretty blessed life! A little longer nap time at lunch would go a long way though...

Hanging in there

2011-01-15T18:25:00.000-08:00

Today was a tough one on the trails. After a couple hours of great riding in the Santa Ana's my good friend Ryan had a bad crash coming down the Motorway trail. Broken scapula, broken bone next to left eye, 16 stitches, and jaw being wired shut tomorrow... I feel terrible for him just writing it. I get so comfortable on the mountain bike I sometimes forget the chances we're often taking. One little mistake, which is all that happened today, can have big consequences. Knowing Ryan he'll turn this experience into something positive with time, but it has to be super frustrating right now.

Stay safe out there!

Photo update

2011-01-08T17:53:00.000-08:00

20 hours on the bike this week = good times! San Juan last Sunday and lots of time at work and on the road bike ever since. It was beautiful this week and I'm feeling healthy and strong so the year is off to a great start.

San Juan - words can't describe the fun!

Typical scene at cocktail rock

Typical me at 6am

steep hills

Awesome sunrises

Being productive

Home sweet home!

Holidays over!

2011-01-04T05:55:00.000-08:00

It's 5:30am, time to down some breakfast and ride. I'm trying to log some big hours this week while also getting back into the work routine. Should be fun! Here are a few photos from our trip to Texas over the holidays.

Oh yeah!

2010-12-23T19:40:00.000-08:00

Another week has flown by. It's tough to be positive when you're in the moment, but being really busy at work is mostly a good thing. I'm thankful to have a good job at a great company. The other news of the week was the flooded streets around here and spending a couple of my morning rides on the trainer. I only got in HALF the ride time I would have been able to if I was outside, but it seemed like TWICE as long. Both days I downed 2 bottles of water in 1 hour, and felt like I needed more if I could have stomached it - that's a lot of sweat!

A little fried from computers right now, so no more typing for me. It's vacation time with family in the Texas hill country!

A few more glimpses of the week

Last chance to donate!

2010-12-19T14:40:00.000-08:00

Another crazy week at work and now a very rainy weekend is forcing me to take some much needed extra rest before my new training block starts. Riding in the rain I can handle when I need to. Riding in the early morning dark is no problem. But riding in the rain AND the early morning dark is a bit too much and I'll have to come up with something alterntative for tomorrow morning...

In other news World Bicycle Relief was featured in Barron's Magazine "Top 25 Givers" Article. It's a pretty big deal to be mentioned in the same article as the Bill Gates Foundation. "At last count, 71,416 of Day's bikes were on the roads and byways of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tanzania, helping 702,080 individuals."

This week is the last chance to donate to my fundraising site - http://grassroots.kintera.org/active/pro

50 - 16

2010-12-13T12:47:00.000-08:00

Another busy work week is in the books. Now we only have 2 weeks to go before the holidays! It feels good to wrap-up my first training block during a busy time at work. I've logged 3 consistent weeks of 45-50 hours worked and 16 hours ridden. Most importantly I've had a lot of fun on the bike.

The 3 week block wrapped up yesterday afternoon on Saddleback peak. First we had to get to the peak and that ended up being a 2 hour, 4,000 foot climb in the 80 degree December heat. Then at 3:12pm the alarm clock rang and the next 40 minutes was awesome downhill ripping to Cooks Corner. My 178 average heart rate for a 40 minute downhill means the effort was ON the whole way down (including the few small climbs out). The Downieville Classic DH is the only other course / effort I've done that compares. Good times!

The rest of my week looks like this...

The view to my left 40-50 hours a week

And this is the drawer that keeps me going!

Busy Days

2010-12-05T16:00:00.000-08:00

Time flies when you're having fun - or when you're really busy at work. I just finished the Roger's Cup group ride / race and my legs are DONE. I did a great 5.5hr mountain bike ride to Santiago Peak yesterday and had an awesome descent down Joplin, Old Camp, and the Luge. It was an perfect way to start the weekend after a long week at work. Today I decided to hit the Como Street group ride for my a couple short, hard efforts and otherwise spin easy... Only once we were rolling I realized it was the Roger's Cup, which means a bigger group, faster group, longer route, and more pain for my legs. I think the exact same thing happened last year and I ended up on the Roger's Cup without knowing then also. I (barely) made it up Live Oak, over Cooks climb and through Santiago Canyon with big front group. No sprinting for me though.

Last weekends ride above Laguna!

Ryan Hall Interview

2010-11-27T20:53:00.000-08:00

http://www.cornwallchurch.com/Media/SermonArchives/LifeisaMarathon/RyanHallInterview.aspx

Check out minute 32-38 for some pretty great insight on racing (or doing anything) with FAITH!

1 Thes 5:18

2010-11-25T18:30:00.000-08:00

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ"

Long Days

2010-11-18T07:19:00.000-08:00

There isn't much exciting to report here. The last couple of weeks have been pretty dedicated to real world activities, which just aren't that interesting to write about. We did go to the second showing of Race to the Sky last week and it was SOLD OUT. I guess that's a good thing for mountain biking. My interest level in doing Leadville is still at about a 1 out of 10. Seeing the La Ruta stage 1 coverage yesterday was really interesting though and my interest level on that one has made it up to about a 5. There's something intriguing when guys who race mountain bikes all year, repeatedly say this race is the hardest thing they've ever done... Well I went running for 30 minutes last night and that was pretty hard. I'm thinking about doing a mile for time, it shouldn't be too hard to get a PR since I've only run a mile for time once since high school.

Sunday was a beautiful all day ride and Beth finished her first century! I actually think we did 105mi and after being calm all day, the only wind we had was a headwind for the last hour, making the finish pretty tough. Did I mention it was a beautiful day? Overall we had a great time and it looked something like this:

Zion

2010-11-08T18:40:00.000-08:00

Things have been good lately. Work has been challenging, but I've been having some really good times also. This past week was my last chance to do anything outside after work for the year, so I squeezed in 2 amazing sunset rides during the week. Then I followed that up with a World Access for the Blind fundraising ride, run on the beach, and the san juan trial over the weekend. Sure there was a big cross race going on in LA, but I don't feel like I missed out at all. The previous weekened was our trip to Zion and we had an awesome time in an amazing place with Kath, Matt, Dee and Brett.

Over the last couple weeks I've been spending a lot of time thinking about what I want my focus to be next year - which races - and WHY. The purpose and motivation behind my racing goals is more important than the goals themselves, so it's healthy to spend some time thinking those things through.

It's also nice to just get away from the race scene for a couple months and enjoy some other things in life - like Zion!

October

2010-10-25T18:55:00.000-07:00

It's been nothing but more work and a couple chill weekends here. Fighting (actually resting) a tough cold at the moment so I can be 100 percent for our long weekend to Zion coming up in a couple days here. Only 1 ride in the past week has me anxious for some mountain biking, but that will have until after the Zion trip. The photos pretty much cover what we've been up to...

A solid 40hrs with this view

Countless bars, this is a good one!

Top of the world - my 1 ride for the week

View on the way home - more of this to come with the time change

Beth and her snacks

Beth's friend Brenda's work on display in Laguna

Our Halloween runner

Off week

2010-10-20T16:32:00.000-07:00

Off week from the blog - logging too much computer time as it is

World Bicycle Relief

2010-10-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to give a few dollars if you can. If you give $20 right now instead of getting dinner out tonight it will go a lot further than you think in creating opportunities for someone in Africa.

http://www.profundraiser.blogspot.com/

Tri

2010-10-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

Beth had a really good day and took a solid win for her age group at the OC Triathlon Sunday! It's a tough (hilly) international distance race and the course really shows who has it and who doesn't. It was fun spectating for a change, especially T1 where hardly anybody knows how to get on their bike smoothly. Beth is the type who trains all the time and only races occasionally, so it's especially cool to see her have a good result. It's also good to realize that it's possible to just enjoy training and being fit even if you don't race often! That's a little hard to understand for us cyclists, but probably a lot healthier lifestyle then feeling a need to race all the time.

Things are staying busy at work and I'm up to about 2 1/2 weeks off the bike. I was hoping to get some fun mtb rides in this week, but somehow strained my hamstring pretty bad over the weekend. I don't even know what caused it. Only about 3 weeks until time changes and then I'm not sure when I'll be able to ride during the week.

At least I have a good one planned for Saturday... If you're in the area come join us from the Quail Hill trail head at 8. We'll hit a pretty cool route though Laguna Coast Wilderness and El Moro to the coast and back in about 25 miles and 3500 feet of climbing. Tacos and beer to follow at Sharkeys...

Off season in the real world

2010-10-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

Well the off season is a great break from training and racing, but the reality is that those of us with jobs in the real world end up staying almost as busy as we were in the main part of the season. Now is the time to get caught up on stuff that was put off because I was too busy riding on the weekends to do them earlier in the year. First on the list is fixing up our 2000 Rodeo so we can get another 10 years out of it. The cool thing with commuting to work half of the time, and using our other car for all our trips, is that I put less than 5,000 miles on it per year.

Working is the main thing taking up some extra energy the last few weeks. My racing wound down just in time for things to get really busy at work... The non-profit fundraising world is seasonal and for 3/4 of the year works pretty well around the race season. The busy time for fundraising events is the late spring (the 1/4 that's not so great for racing trips) and in the fall.

This week I finally took a full week completely off the bike and didn't feel too worthless because of it. Over the weekend I actually enjoyed sitting on the couch while thinking about all the cross racers out there about to take off on another hour of discomfort. Let the good times begin!

Summer is finally here!

2010-09-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

It was 100+ degrees in SoCal this weekend which turned out to be a good thing for me today - more on that in a second. This week was spent focused on work, but I was able to get my Remedy up and running again for a sweet Thursday evening ride on some of the more infamous trails nearby. Saturday the weather turned hot (100) and after a fun mountain bike ride through El Moro in the morning the ocean looked so inviting I went straight down to the beach after my ride and jumped in. 60 degrees = awesome!

My "rest" and lack of structured training actually had me out of whack and kind of in a funk the last couple weeks. This week I was finally coming around and feeling good with the lack of riding. I knew I still have some fitness in me though and decided to give it a go at the first race of the SoCal Prestige cross series this afternoon out by Irvine Lake. My second row start was no problem with the mountain bike since I could take whatever lines I wanted to get around people. After moving up to the top 5 Sid rolled away from us and I decided to pace myself with the heat and just cruise with the chase group. It worked out well and with 2 to go I rode away ffrom everyone else fairly easily and actually brought Sid back to only 10 seconds at the finish. Not bad on the mountain bike. Next weekend brings a big cross race here in SoCal with back to back UCI races. With some momentum going and good prize money on the line - I'm still going to call it a season and get out on Beths surfboard instead!! Next weekend you can find me at the beach

Beth is out on the ocean tonight supporting our friend Ray in his Catalina Channel attempt - check out his fundraiser - http://www.clubdustfundraiser.blogspot.com/

Tarantula

My Remedy is back in action on it's natural terrain

Beth in Laguna!

2011 Pro XCT Schedule

2010-09-22T19:11:00.000-07:00

No excuses for someone living in SoCal who started racing in Texas... Anyone out there want to support me racing these plus the East Coast World Cups and Nationals in Idaho next season??

2011 USA Cycling Pro Cross Country Mountain Bike Tour:

March 12: US Cup Triple Crown Bonelli Park – San Dimas, Calif.
March 26: US Cup Triple Crown Fontana City National – Fontana, Calif.
April 16: Sea Otter Classic – Monterey, Calif.
April 30: Mellow Johnny’s Classic – Dripping Springs, Texas
June 18: Sand Creek Intl. – Colorado Springs, Colo.
June 25: Subaru Cup – Mt. Morris, Wisc.
July 24: Missoula, Montana XC – Missoula, Mt.

Cross?

2010-09-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you need a positive result to end the season on, even if that means riding a local cross race on the full suspension bike to get it done... I was able to do just that at the Urban Cyclocross in Palos Verdes on Sunday, good times! Now back to work for me.

Wrap -Up

2010-09-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

Doesn't look like I was too excited on the podium at Bonelli. Somehow I finished 4th despite quitting the race at the end of the first lap. I worked really hard (and carefully) to get some good fitness going just for this race and was determined to give Sid a run for it. I was rested and motivated. I even made it around the first lap with the front group and wasn't physically blown, but mentally something wasn't there. I sat up and watched my last goal for the season ride away from me. But I couldn't decide where I should pull off the course so I kept pedaling. I wasn't racing but I also wasn't stopping, and a few weird laps later I finished the thing.

So no big celebrations for me going into the off season. I still consider myself fortunate, lucky, and blessed to have experienced the great year I had racing bikes. Now I just need to figure out how to relax and enjoy some time away from it.

US Cup Finals 2009

2010-09-10T12:32:00.000-07:00

This is what I looked like after the US Cup finals at Bonelli Park last September. I'm ready for a better day to end the season this time around...

Laguna Beach Labor Day

2010-09-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

The lawn bowling was getting serious

Winding up and winding down

2010-09-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

Things have been slowly getting busier at work for me the last couple of weeks. The spring and fall are the big seasons for fundraising events and things double compared to Dec/Jan or the summer months. This week ended up being a little tough. Luckily I needed to back away from my riding anyway. Last weekend was the end of a 3 week training block and now it's time to rest up and see what I have to give at the State Championship.

Tuesday was the last Over the Hump race and a good test for me at the end of all the training. My day didn't go as smoothly as I hoped though and I was feeling tired by the time we got out there to warm-up at 5pm. It was a nice evening though and a ton of people made it out (like 400 racers)... Of course Sid, Tinker, and a handful of fast locals were there so I would really have to race for it. Everyone was being a little tactical on the first half which wise fine since I was still waking up and starting to feel good. Sid attacked and dropped us pretty fast and then not long after that a lapper crashed right in front of me blocking the trail and letting the others from the chase group get a pretty good gap.. So I rode tempo for the 3rd and 4th laps and still finished 4th. It was a pretty fun evening and I was glad to be able to go fairly fast.

Cholla

2010-08-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was my interval day for the week and I ventured out to Aliso to get the job done. It was still 90+ degrees at 6 in the evening, but the trails have more shade (and obviously less cars) than any of the road riding around here so Aliso ended up being a good choice.

A couple fun trails before making my way to Cholla

Expedition size camelbaks are the norm, but I have no idea what these guys fill them with

The downhill, Cholla repeats are all about the climb

Ouch

A more interesting trail on the way home...

I managed a pretty good workout with 6 repeats, all between 3:21 and 3:27. After some more mountain biking this evening and a big tempo ride Saturday I should be ready for a couple end of season races!

Also worth seeing - 2011 models from Trek - http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/

And don't forget to support my fundraiser for WBR - http://profundraiser.blogspot.com/

Pelican Hill Intervals...

2010-08-19T10:22:00.000-07:00

So my typical key workouts are 1hr - 1:15 tempo sessions, 5min climbing repeats, and group rides for top end intensity, and I hit the VO2 intervals much less often. The short hard efforts are not my strength so I've been trying to train that a little more this year. The workouts look something like this:

This workout is on Pelican Hill in Newport, I punch it up the first part of the climb for about 1:20 around 430 watts, then it's 3min easy with a small hill, and punch it up the rest of the climb in about 3:10 around 380 watts, with a 3:20 easy downhill to complete the loop...

On the first one I just go hard and it feels good, then there is some lactate in the legs for all the others and I get pretty anaerobic. Last night was 90+ degrees and the air quality must have been bad because I had a really tough time after the 3rd one with a stomach cramp then asthma like breathing after the 4th one. My hear rate was a few beats higher then normal throughout with the heat, but overall it was a solid workout.

40 / 20

2010-08-17T07:51:00.000-07:00

Busy week here, actually put about 44 and 17 hours. That's a lot considering we also went to Mexico for the day Saturday ( http://www.clubdust.org/ ). So it's no wonder I haven't had time or energy to do anything else. After today things may be back to a little better routine at work which will be nice. My 17 hours on the bike last week actually felt pretty good. I did zero intensity and will bring that back later this week. The state championship is really the only race left where I want to put in a great ride. I have a feeling I'll either go super good or no good at all. Then my "summer" will begin, can't wait!

40 Hours a Week to the Start Line of a World Cup

2010-08-10T13:15:00.000-07:00

Riding and racing mountain bikes has been a big part of my life for the past 12 years now. Over the last 2-3 years I’ve dedicated myself more than ever in search of my full potential on the bike. At the same time my job at a growing company has been going well and moving forward at the same pace. There’s been countless times I’ve thought about the need to choose one or the other to truly be my best. But there are also plenty of times where balancing both is actually what seems to make me better. Either way one of my primary goals for 2010 was to race a World Cup for the experience of seeing the highest level of racing first hand. Ideally it would be a World Cup in Europe, which would have the most competitive fields…

From base training in November all the way through the races I’ll do later this month my schedule has been pretty much the same. At least 8 hours a day in the office, then riding, eating, and sleeping – very little excitement during the week. Actually I don’t think much about my routines because I’m so used to them, but Beth and I sometimes joke that I’m an old man in a young man’s body. I even pack clothes and snacks the night before and go to bed at the same time each night so everything is ready for work and my ride the next day…

Anyway, after racing well through the spring my June consisted of a solid block of training, little racing, some extra time at work and lots of errands and planning for the trip. A lot goes into prepping for a race trip somewhere you’ve never been: planning time off work: supplies from snacks to spare derailleur hangers: random things like a trunk rack for the car since there’s no way my bike and bike box will fit inside: figuring out how to get it all packed: and the list goes on from there.

Probably the 2 most interesting challenges once in Europe were finding good food and finding our way around on the crazy roads. There was definitely good food, but it was challenging knowing exactly what we were ordering sometimes. There are very few grocery stores, with smaller markets much more common. Not a big deal when you’re just on vacation, but more challenging when trying to eat familiar foods before the race (and they are closed in the middle of the day). The mountain roads are the next craziest thing in Europe and our adventures included regular gas put in our diesel car, hitting another car in a parking lot and hitting a fence mid switchback.

Beyond all the planning and adjust was the racing itself. The world cup courses put most everything else I’ve raced on this year to shame. Champery had some super technical sections to start with and the really muddy conditions made almost the entire course tough to ride. Mid pre-ride I actually broke my derailleur hanger and snapped the derailleur itself in half when mud forced the derailleur into my rear wheel. Not good. Standing in the mud on the other side of the world with a broken bike and no idea who might be able to help me with the parts I thought my World Cups might be over before they started. A little prayer and a lot of help from Shimano did have me ready to go for the next day though.

The race in Champery had 175 riders and a start lap that was 2/3 of the normal 16-18 minute lap. Lining up in position 167 was essentially the last row out of many rows. I held my own with the aggressiveness of everyone in the back of the field fighting for position. It's a much different race back there, sprinting anytime the course opened up at all, and coming to several dead stops as we went back into the woods. We ran close to 1/2 of the entire first lap... Everyone knew they wouldn't be in the whole race and weren't afraid to go hard. We were putting in big efforts but losing time rather than gaining it. The 2nd and 3rd laps turned into more of a mountain bike race, a really tough one. I ended up 134 out of 175 starters, with a bike in one piece, and ready for more.

For the next weekend in Val di Sole my goal was to fight for positions and not just race for the experience of being in the race. I knew a top 100 was possible. Through the start loop I felt I had made a couple good moves and passed a handful of guys, only to look back and see only 3-4 riders behind me. Not good. From there I really did put my head down and go hard, but a solid result was not meant to be. The course was in good condition, but I was feeling less than 100% fresh as soon as the first lap and that meant I wouldn't be able to do anything special on the short, super steep climbs. Even so I was at least able to move up a few spots higher than my starting position and finish 3 of the 6 laps. Mixed feelings definitely followed at the finish... disappointment for clearly not riding my best at the biggest race I've ever been to... but also joy and thankfulness for being able to take part and for the entire journey that led me there!

Mtnbikeaddict.com

2010-08-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

Another site to spend time on instead of getting work done - http://mtnbikeaddict.com/?p=365

France

2010-08-06T06:51:00.000-07:00

Nice

Old town Nice

Villefranche

Steets of Villefranche

Mont Blanc