Racing racing racing...

Oh man, I'm now in my third week of traveling up to Washington for various bike races.  The results are mixed.  I'm writing this section of this blog just after Stage 1 of the Capital Stage race.

Mutual of Enumclaw 

Well, I thought I'd do a little better than I did.  I drove up Saturday morning after getting very little amounts of sleep.  My time trial wasn't very good.  I got 42nd.  Meh.  I went to a dinner with my Seattle teammate Bart and had the works (scramble, hashbrowns and toast), but then was still hungry so I had some blueberry pancakes too.  Then I took a nap.

In the crit I hung on and finished with the pack at 29th place.  I then went back to the house of the gracious Rian and April Barta where I proceeded to sleep for 11 hours.  I didn't wear my compression tights which was a mistake cause my legs didn't feel good the next day.  I got dropped on the climb on lap 1, 2, 4 and 5.  Lap 3 I hung with the field.  I caught back on on laps 1, 2 and 4, but was on my own after lap 5.  The weather was bad but not miserable.  My shoe was falling apart with the sole tearing off from the rest of the shoe.  I still finished in 30th place out of 62 in that race and ended up 31st overall.

Why such low results after the previous weekends?  Canadians.  That's why.

Ski to Sea

Brent really twisted my arm into doing this by sending me a total of 2 emails trying to recruit me.  I was a bit wishy washy about it, but decided to go for it.  I took the Bolt Bus up and had a leisurely time in Kenmore/Seattle.  I went on an easy ride where I got stung by a bee for the first time ever on a bike ride.  I met up with GP and watched the Champions League Final which was a great game.

I was getting as prepped as possible for the race the night before and didn't socialize as much as the others.  Got some decent sleep and was off the next morning.  We didn't have the strongest legs prior to me, so I began as the 313th rider to start the road race course.  It took me wayyy too long to fasten my timing chip to my wrist.  Gotta remain stopped for that next time.  It was rainy.  My newly purchased TT helmet with a visor was fantastic for the conditions.  I was oblivious to the rain up on top except for the occasional loud drop.



That helped me maintain a very aero position throughout.  I passed so many people and only 1 person was able to hang on to my draft.  My goal was to get top 10 and under 90 minutes which I accomplished with a 5th place 1:28:50 time.  By the time I finished, our team was 99th so I must have passed 214 other racers.  I showed all those other guys what was up, but I somehow don't think they really cared.






Capital Stage Race

I woke up at 8:15am on Saturday at my Great Aunt's house in Olympia and went upstairs. MJ asked me when my race was and I was like "10:13am... oh crap, I better get going." I had Ian Mensher ahead of me for my 30 second guy and I didn't see him when I finished, so yeah. After all this I went to a fancy cute breakfast place and ordered my now usual two plates. There's something deceiving about these large plates small portions places as I suspect that somehow they pack the same amount of calories into the food. Anyways, I really need to take a nap now.

Righto, off to the crit and I managed to win a $50 prime!  Probably spent too much effort chasing down breaks and I ended up in the second finishing group and lost 9 seconds.  Still tho, way better than last year.  Some other things about the crit worth noting:  Trevor Spahr is hardcore for finishing the race with the field after racing 53 minutes after crashing hard just 7 minutes in.  David Richter gave us Oregon riders the burn of the century in his post-race winner interview as follows:

Erik (promoter):  "So David, there were a lot of people rooting for Stephen Bradford and someone bet me a dollar that he'd win."
David Richter:  "haha, yeah well I was going to wear my Oregon State Criterium Championship Jersey... but no yeah, this is a great race..."

Post by Catherine Leigh Cooper Photography.

In the road race I attempted to mix things up and not just wait for mile 65 and those three hills.  I got myself into a breakaway at mile 60 and tried fairly hard to stay away.  Unfortunately, it was just a two person breakaway and the KR army made sure we weren't out of their sight.  We got caught going up the final hill and it turned out to be just like last year.  Small gaps opened up.  Colin Gibson closed one up by doing a super-aero tuck.  Then a bunch of others closed the gap so it was about 30 of us for the finish.  Colby laid down an impressive move at about 700m to go and gapped everyone except Dan Harm and Ian Baldwin.  I was 15th on the day and 19th GC.  Maybe one of these days I'll get a podium in a Washington state p12 race.

Post by Catherine Leigh Cooper Photography.

Walla Walla '14

Short and sweet recap.

Friday we drove out with Jeremy, Cristian and we brought along Zak Kovalcik too.  Bart from Seattle joined me in the P/1/2s.  Unfortunately the organizers and flaggers miscommunicated such that they had to cancel the stage.  I was very much looking forward to hanging on for dear life, but we only did a lap instead.  Oh well.

I had a very nice rest at the vacation rental we booked.  And I had a good warmup and TT.  I broke 20 minutes for the first time.

In the crit I did not do the best.  I spent most of the race tailgunning which I realized is especially hard to do at Walla Walla since you're playing catch-up way more than if you just stayed towards the front.  I guess any crit really.  I got pulled with about 5 laps to go.

For dinner we all went out and I actually drank a beer.  I would've abstained, but after seeing how Zak spent the previous evening going to a frat party and still getting top 10 in the crit, I decided maybe 1 beer was ok.

Sunday was the road race and my goal was to survive since I got dropped last year.  I only really ever had trouble on the Kellogg Hollow Rd climb where eventually the last lap the contenders all got away.  I made it in with the peleton and was satisfied with that result.  Still got some fitness to build up, but I'm getting there.

Here is the selection at the finish:

And the rest:

Jeremy from our Cat 3 squad managed to get in a 4 person break that put enough time to earn him 2nd GC. Had he gotten 3rd in the sprint he would've won it. So close! 'til next time.

I have actually been racing

This whole having lots of teammates thing is a big adjustment for me let me tell ya.  I have gone from receiving maybe two emails a week related to my team racing to perhaps an average of 5 per day.  I've gone from having no teammates racing with me at most races to racing with 9 or more other teammates at some races.

It's a little different.  People are a little different and I don't think I'm really known to have lots of charisma and bonding, yet I do have a lot of passion for racing and sometimes, perhaps often times find myself not having the same approach to training and racing as other people do.  However, I really hope to continue and experience a year on a big team to really have a good feel for what that is like.  And also to develop my social skills so that perhaps I become slightly more charismatic and able to get along with more people than not.  

For whatever reason, competition brings out a whole different side of me which is quite different from my otherwise quiet demeanor in most situations.  And I think that dichotomy throws off - perhaps puts off - some or perhaps a lot of people.  I've been writing on this blog for 4 years now, but I've been holding my tongue or rather not publishing a few critiquing blog posts and flustered emails.  I know I've been inspired by one of my favorite bike racing bloggers, PruDog who I would say is not one to hold back on his blog posts.  There's something about communicating on the internet that just leads to writing things you may never say in person to someone (or maybe I don't know him well enough).

So without further ado, race reports:

The Dirty #1

Oddly enough, I was feeling really good for this race.  Last year I was getting dropped in my first few races.  When all was said and done, I was not the most happiest joyful person in the world to learn that with 33% of the field being our team, our team's best result was 8th.  The next day I sent a very detailed email explaining what went wrong and what could be improved.  Some didn't like it, some did, most didn't, I really don't know, but I now am encouraged to not send emails like that.

Sequim/Mason Lake #1

Sequim's rain shadow just couldn't hold it for those last 2 laps.  HSP kicked everyone's butt.  They had also had at least 10 teammates, but got 1st, 2nd, 5th and 8th.  Slightly better results, but with all due respect former pro's and very motivated racers.  I didn't do well in the field sprint because I still don't have the field sprinting technique down.

Mason Lake was all right and I found myself sitting in more often than usual.  I'm still deciding whether that is a good or bad thing.  I'm leaning towards bad, I think PruDog would agree.  It came to a field sprint again and again I didn't do well.

Oh, an important thing to note - while Brant and I were up in Washington getting our asses handed to us by HSP, the rest of our Oregon contingent pulled out the W in the 123 race at the Dirty #2.  Guess they showed me who knew something about bike racing, or were they proving something after receiving that very detailed email?  One thing is for sure, Dean attacked a lot.

Sequim/Mason Lake #2

My girlfriend Laurel came up with me which was awfully nice of her.  I felt like I had a little bit of a governor on my upper end fitness, but I hung in there.  My crash avoidance skills were pretty good as 2 crashes happened right in front of me.  The first crash was on the 3rd lap and I was able to avoid that and catch on easily.  The 2nd crash was at 400 to go and somehow I ended up standing upright without a scratch on the new bike in the middle of maybe a dozen other riders on the ground.  I had to step over at least 3 people to get out of that.

Over at Mason Lake, I was prepared for the worst as the radar looked like about 3/4 of an inch of rain was about to dump on us as we started (it didn't).  I wore my rain jacket as my jersey which Bedford astutely noted for it's excellent parachute-like quality with my race numbers.  The amount of pros at the race had me sort of starstruck (I get giddy inside when Morgan Schmitt remembers my name).

My move of the race was at the end of lap 1 when I figured I might as well get this party started by doing a break and waiting for the inevitable pro bridging up to me.  Sure enough Steve Fisher came along with a HSP rider in tow, but then we were caught just before the first hill after corner 1.  I got dropped, but I caught back on.  I got dropped numerous other times that following lap and then I got dropped for good on lap 3.  I made it my goal to complete 5 laps without getting lapped by the Cat 3 breakaway group.

I'm still running through all the factors that caused this embarrassing situation.  I think it had less to do with the parachute-like outfit and my top candidates are not getting my new bike fit after it being built, not having my carbon wheels, having a spoke about to fall out of the front wheel I did have, too many blueberries for dinner the previous evening, and a sleep debt of approximately 1,000 hours over these past 4 years of racing.  But I'm just writing it off as a bad day like I had last year at Heiser Farms where I got lapped.  At Mason Lake I didn't get lapped by about 7 minutes when Rathe came by and did a victory salute consisting of making his race number as visible as possible from under his rain jacket.

done, publish, try to sleep, bye.

Mt Hood 2013

Welp, the supposedly final Mt Hood Cycling Classic is over. Also, it's getting increasingly easier to find pictures of myself racing now that I'm in the Pro-1-2 field.

As mentioned before I was on the fence about whether or not to do this race, but once I learned that it will be the last ever and with the consistent urging of my coach I gave in and signed up.  I'm glad I did.

Columbia Hills

Drove out there and was not really expecting the race to start like it did which was going from the gun.  We were going at full steam the entire first lap.  I was getting cramps because I hadn't warmed up at all.  I was just trying to hang on.  A few times up the hill I'd fall back to some chase groups and then fight with the others against the wind to catch up again.  By the downhills I'd be in the pack again.

There always seemed to be some kind of break up the road with some kind of Cal Giant contingent although not necessarily initiated by Cal Giant.  And then Hagens did us all a favor by making sure all those breaks didn't stay too far up the road.  That was def the toughest road race I had done so far this year.  I placed 51st in the main group (out of 111 starters) which was all I was hoping for.  In fact I was very excited when I finally saw the break continue to the finish on our 5th lap from the chase group because I was out of food and water.

Scenic Gorge Time Trial

It was a bit harder to figure out how fast I ought to go this year because unlike last year there was much less wind so the times would be faster.  I was going to shoot for sub-50, but hoping for around 45.  I think I coulda gone up Rowena just a little harder and also rode the final trail section with a little more intensity.  I only got passed by one person who ended up getting somewhere in the top 10 (Adrien from Garmin-Chipotle) so that was fine with me.  I ended up with 46:04 which again was good enough for 51st place (out of 105 starters).

Hood River Crit

In this race I knew that my goal was to hang out with the lead group for the long 75 minute crit.  I tried with very poor skill to get a good starting point by being ready to get on the course immediately after the women were done, but so was every single other rider and at the start line instead of corner 1 where I was.  So I went around and did a lap and lined up at the back.  Crap.

Well, the crit went well for me and I managed to move up to about halfway up the field after 10 minutes or so.  Then I managed to cut between two riders who had crashed on the corkscrew and quickly catch back up to the lead group.  Shortly thereafter I was at the back of the field and knew my fate was sealed for a pack finish.  The pace was fairly hot the duration of the race and I really couldn't tell you much about what was going on at the front except that I heard Steve Fisher's name being called out a bunch and I may have caught a glimpse of Cal Giant at the front a few times.

The last few laps the pace kicked up a notch, but I was able to hang on all the way to the same time finish, so I was very happy.  That's only the second time I've not been pulled from a crit this year and it was also in the toughest field I've rode with yet so that's great for me.  I ended up 60th (out of 101 starters).

Three Four Summits

I don't have many pictures for this one since I knew I was definitely going to get dropped on one of these climbs.  Sure enough, on the first climb I was just so slightly off the back and was going to count on my descending skills to catch up, but was getting passed on the descents.  I was able to catch back on shortly after the descent was over, but figured this was probably it.  Next time we hit the steeps all I remember is seeing a blur of Cal Giant red charging up the hill and that was that.  I descended down with two other people and we all climbed the next one together.  At the top I was feeling good and rode off on my own.  Eventually one of the other riders (another Evan) caught up to me and dropped me on the descent.  Then it was up the final hill and I was hoping I wasn't too far behind that I'd get the time cut.

I got passed by the masters field shortly after I got a beer from the Illegal Feed Zone (might be the last time I can get a beer from them at this race, so I figured I'd celebrate).  When I got to the turn-off to the ski area I saw all the contenders Cal Giant riders coming back down so I figured I wasn't massively far behind.  At the end I wasn't far back at all and actually was only 29:45 back (lol, not many races where you can be happy with that result).  My final result was 53rd on the day out of 93 starters and 66 total racers that crossed the finish line for a GC finish of 49th place.  Not bad.








And after that race I was super tired for numerous days.  Hopefully this family vacation will give me time to rest a bit without losing fitness.

Finally some rest

Finally some rest!  Sheesh, that was 4 weekends of racing in a row.  Time for a recap.

Mutual of Enumclaw

Logistics

Rented a zipcar and headed up Friday night.  Was hosted by the Barta's!  I knew Rian back from my Tacoma Bike days and he graciously let me crash in his guest bedroom in Puyallup.  His wife cooked up some delicious rice and chicken for dinner and the kids behaved very well.  Thanks again Barta family!

I also got to see the other lone Guinness Cycling Team rider that ever does stage races in the Northwest: Todd Gallaher.  We had lunch at the best Thai restaurant in Enumclaw.  He gave some inspiring words of wisdom as always.  Here is a gem of his regarding the Canadians:

Time Trial

Well, I still haven't mastered the time trial, but keep improving.  My coach wanted me to break 13, but I ended up at 13:30 which was good enough for 25th/82.  It was also a bit faster than last year's time of 14:32.  Next year I guess I'll hit 12:30.

Crit

That had to have been the fastest crit I have ever done.  Right away I was nearly slipping down and sprinting out of every single corner just to keep up.  Especially after all the crashes.

Ultimately, I got pulled with about 18 minutes left.  That kinda sucked, but man it was a fast frickin race.  And I've got numbers to back up my claim!  That there is an average speed of 29.5 mph for an 8 corner crit.  Ridiculous.

After the race, I found out why I was nearly slipping out of each turn.  Time for some new tires - first time I've had to replace tubies due to wear.

Road Race

Strategy: hold on for as long as possible.  And I did so by making sure I was very close to the front before each climb.  The last three times up the climb I got dropped, but since I was sinking through the field it wasn't so bad and I managed to catch up each time.  On the 2nd to last lap I actually attempted a breakaway/bridge attempt on the road right before the climb.  As I was off the front I was kind of telling myself: "you're going to regret this".  And I sure did as they caught me right at the base of the climb.  That was about it really for me in this race.  The Canadians really showed us who was boss.

A big thanks to Amara at Wheels in Focus for all of the pictures!

PIR

As you may have noticed in all the Enumclaw pics, it didn't rain at any of the stages.  Therefore, when it was the first legitimate downpour of the year at PIR I thought I had better put in my crappy weather racing time.  There might have been 20 total 1/2/3 riders there.  My strategy was attack until there were so few people left that I'd have a good chance of getting top 5 if not a solo win.  Unfortunately it came down to 7 or so of us on the final lap.  Beardsley won as always, followed by Bedford and I shoulda gotten 3rd, but wasn't smart enough of a sprinter so I tied my all-time best result at PIR of 4th.  Yay?

Ski to Sea

Friday I took the Bolt Bus up to Seattle.  First time in a while taking a bus and it sure has its plusses of being able to take my TT bike (no disassembly required), 2 more wheels and my big red suitcase nonstop to Seattle all for about $25.  It doesn't beat the nice legroom and ability to walk around on Amtrak Cascades, but that isn't really worth $59 to me.

I have done Ski to Sea perhaps 3 times before, but I always used to do the XC Ski leg on a team organized by my frat bro's high school friend David Couvrette.  I stayed up at David Couvrette's place on Friday night and did an awesome TT ride from Kenmore to Golden Gardens to my sister's place and then outrunning a rain cloud down Lake City Way in the bus lane back to Kenmore.  Was great to be back in Seattle.

But we all headed north the next day.  Typically the Couvrettes put together a mix of very competitive athletes and some people of the kind who just came back from a 10 month trip to Asia and Africa with very little exercise and haven't skied in like years, but are going to do the XC Ski leg.  This year I was one of the big time hitters on the team and I was going to pre-ride the whole 42 mile course while our XC skier taught himself how to skate ski that day (chuckle chuckle chuckle).

The pre-ride was rainy, but I felt good about the course if not slightly sketched out by taking all those downhill corners at 40 mph without pedaling in the rain.  The weather forecast was somewhat optimistic for less rain the next day...  not!!

I had a brain malfunction and decided that I should not try to find some place dry to hangout since I had to leave my stuff for our runner to pickup at a certain spot.  I warmed up in my wool dress coat and fleece jacket and skinsuit.  By the time I was done warming up I was completely wet before the race even started.  Our runner came in and then I began passing every single rider on the road ahead of me.  It was so frickin cold at elevation, but it became somewhat tolerable as I descended.  I was really hoping to find someone to pace off of, but I was passing everyone very fast, I even passed a few pacelines.  I got right around the time I wanted of 1:30, but compared to all the other racer names I have heard of I was kind of at the bottom of that list.  Oh well, I'll take it.

PIR

A break got away from the big group and I was in it, but I didn't body check some Wooly Mammoth rider when he took Kyle Medlin's wheel from me, so I totally botched the sprint and ended up 10th overall.

Capitol Stage Race

Logistics

I was not feeling in the best mood going into this weekend.  I was mentally tired - both from a frustrating work project and racing again.  And then the night before I was going to glue the tire, but I didn't have the right valve extender.  Then the previous Zipcar user didn't return the Zipcar so I had to go get another one somewhere else.  And I had to do my bike workouts too which I didn't do very well I think.  I finally headed out at 9pm.

Luckily I had arranged to stay at my great aunt's place in Olympia which had an excellent guest bedroom.

TT 5k Sprint

I got in a pretty good warmup and felt good about my ride.  Comparing to 2011 when I last did the race I improved from 8:00 to 7:15.  Yeah, pretty good.  My Mom and Dad came over to watch me race, so of course, my Dad took tons of pictures:


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Crit

The crit was pretty close to a disaster for me.  Something was very wrong with my rear wheel.  It felt like it was rubbing on the brakes, but it totally wasn't.  I think something is wrong with the bearings.  I got pulled only 25 minutes in.

Road Race

In the morning, I knew I wasn't feeling very mentally well, so I tried to do something about it.  Fortunately for me, one of my most favorite TV shows SpongeBob SquarePants was playing on a channel that was doing "SpongeBob's best wins" showing all winning-themed SpongeBob shows.  That helped me put this whole bike racing thing in perspective and sent me off in a good mood to the race.

I had to be very careful to discipline myself to not do any stupid stuff since the 90 mile race doesn't really start until mile 65 when there are 3 decent sized hills that the peleton goes crazy on.  The rest is flat - basically.  A big break that I guess didn't have any HB guys in it got away at mile 9.  Then HB sat on the front keeping the pace good all the way until mile 65 just as expected. 

I hung on on the first two hillclimbs then attempted a few breakaways, but then I'm not quite sure what his tactics were, but Steve Fisher was always going on solo rampages so no solid break formed.  On the last hillclimb Max 'Missle' O'Neal went KOM hunting and got a good gap.  Colin Gibson made a good effort to bridge up and then I did as well with about 3 miles to go but then the field was led back up by HPC. 

For whatever reason I was doing ok with maneuvering thru the cluster of the field sprint and managed to get 13th out of 27ish in the field sprint which I think is fairly decent for me.

Rest Week!

Yep, a whole week off the bike!  I'm currently mulling over whether to do Mt Hood especially now that it has been announced that it's the last one ever... but $175 entry fee, I dunno.

Tour of Wishy Washiness

Well another edition of the Tour of Walla Walla is in the bag. This one was just good, not great.  I have typically done well at this race.  Last year I won the final stage and got 6th GC as a Cat 3.  And the year before that I was newly a Cat 3 and got 6th on the final stage.  This year would be tougher for sure since I'd be doing it as a Cat 2.

Waitsburg

This year it was 4 times up the hill. First time was neutral as always. The p12 field got the whole road which was pretty cool. On lap 2 I bridged up with Ian Mensher to a break which shortly thereafter got caught. I made sure I was towards the front before each time up the hill and managed to hold on. The final climb was just holding on as best I could, but I managed to get the time of the first group which was great.  My Mom and Dad came down and watched the stage and took a bunch of pictures.



The pack going up the hill.


At the finish, barely holding onto the back of the first group.


Chowing down on Mom's applesauce after the race.

TT

I had ridden my TT bike exactly once since Eugene back in August. And that one time was on the Thursday before the race. I had had it stored upside down in one of my bike lockers that wasn't under a garage so it got wet in there. When I pulled it out it had a spiderweb and spider crawling over the handlebars. Anyways, I had hoped to ride somewhere under 20 minutes but got 21:03. I may have gone out too hard, not quite sure.





Logistics

This year I departed from my usual arrangement of sharing half a bed with some random racer I just met that day and stayed at a host house where me and my carpool buddy got our own bedrooms.  That was nice.  My parents headed home, so I got no pics of the rest of the weekend for ya.


The Crit

This crit ranks as one of the scariest crits I know. I had a great start, except then I decided to chase Trevor Spahr I believe for a $60 prime still on the first lap where we both got caught on the backside. I think I did one more breakaway attempt and then I was done and in damage control mode. 30 minutes to go and I was anxiously looking at the clock to see it count down to 0. The final lap I had to sprint to stay up with the lead group which stretched nearly single file seemingly all the way to the final corner.  That night we went back to the host house and I stayed up way too late watching a Quentin Tarantino movie.

Kellogg Hollow

It was the final race and I had to try some kind of breakaway, it's just what I do.  I sat in except for positioning for the climbs.  On lap 2 I tried twice to get away and stayed off the front for a bit the second time I tried, but nobody joined me and that was that.  Then I got a little bit of a cramp and knew it was damage control time again.  On lap 3, Hagens Berman lined up and set a pace that dropped a lot of people including me.  I was in a decent sized chase group which got whittled down even further.  And that was that.

Post-race thoughts

Well, I ended up 37th GC out of 120ish riders.  On the one hand, that isn't such a bad result.  I was able to mainly stay with the lead group each race which is good.  On day one I bridged up to a break with Ian Mensher - the same Ian Mensher that utterly crushed me in the Time Trial at Wenatchee just 2 years ago.  Now I'm at that level, heck I even finshed a few groups ahead of Ian on the final stage.  Another cool thing was that my TT time would've been good enough for 2nd place in Cat 3.  But on the other hand I got dropped on the final day and was just barely hanging on in the rest of the races.  My TT time was wayyy back in the 1/2s.  So I dunno I kinda feel like pack fodder at times in the 1/2s but then again I'm hanging within the p12 pack.  Well, we'll see what happens next.

Oh I do know one thing, I'm feeling a little more disciplined now.  I started doing my core and stretching again which I have been not doing nearly enough at all.  And another thing, just this morning I looked at my speedplay cleats and noticed a screw was missing.  I had actually brought replacement cleats to Walla Walla, but if I had tried to replace them there, I would've been screwed since I didn't have the right length of screws for the replacements.  And one last final thought, I resolve to never ever watch a Quentin Tarantino movie again because it is the same worthless never-happens-in-real-life waste of time plot of an outcast vigilante who goes to fight some despicable nemesis but the vigilante has to kill at least 100 people in the process.  No value is added to my life by watching those movies.  No more.

Just racing around

Dirty Circles (last week):

Rode out there. Got there 2 hours before race. Sat outside and got very cold. Warmed up in Byron's car. Lining up. Shivering.

 

Race time! Cold! Only 20mph. Cold! Bored. Gap on the right. Attack! Caught. Attack again! Caught again. Hot spot coming up. Go way too early, but Byron is right behind me and he gets 2nd! Colby goes solo! Chase! Chase some more! Dead after final corner. Avoided nasty crash. Success?  

Heiser Farms

Zipcar it down there. Dirt and poop all over course. Gravel/dirt 1k from finish. Potholes everywhere. Follow Soraz for futile attack. Slip and nearly fall on corner. Dropped. Zone 2. Low zone 2. Too low. Contemplating being 'that guy' who complains about shitty course after getting shitty result. Getting lapped! Try to hang on. Dropped again. Probably my first DFL ever. Wait no! Once at a midnight greenlake race in February I was 3rd and DFL.

Hmm, I have a Zipcar and I'm low on Dave's Killer Bread. Sidetrip to Dave's Killer Breadquarters in Milwaukie. 9 loafs and 5 Sin-Dawgs. Back at Zipcar spot and unloaded with 2 minutes to spare.  

Dirty Circles:

 Ride out there again. Run into Justin & Jen who are also riding out there. Blue skies! Quaint farms. Munch down half a sin-dawg during the ride. RAIN! Blue skies! Alpacas. Run into Christina and Jeff! At the race.

Figured out why it's called dirty circles: cause you get your bike super dirty riding around in the sand parking lot. Lining up for race. Right behind Beardsley and Boursaw. Fall down while standing still. Can't clip out. Embarrassing. Goal for race: pack finish.

HPC going from the gun. I'm feeling good, not attacking. Watching a veloce rider guide Rosenberg around. Rosenberg's got a train for the hot spot. Get behind Rosenberg. Fend off Bedford for Rosenberg's wheel. Sprint with Rosenberg for 3rd? in hot spot.

Back in pack. Boursaw unleashes it into a break. Almost chase down break, but Bedford and Porcella are both there. No sense in dragging pack. Pack finish is my goal. Chase break gets away. Slinky-ing peleton. Time to go. Bridge up to Liberles and a junior. Culpepper tries to stay on. Culpepper and junior done. Liberles and I catch an Evolution and veloce rider. I think to myself I ought to know these guy's names, but I don't. Pack is close. Another HPC rider bridges up. Doing best attempts at echeloning. Can't catch chase break, but ahead of peleton for finish. Cat and Mouse. Peeps looking at each other at 180. Time to go. Drag HPCer behind me, 2nd from 2nd chase break. Success!

Update Update!

My hot spot sprint points helped bump me up into the top 10 (10th place)! Super stoked! Success indeed.

The Racing Has Begun

Fast! That was fast. I held on until the last lap and then was dropped after a almost-crash-acceleration. I managed to do a few attacks off the front, but the problem was after those attacks I settled into the back of the pack as opposed to close to the front.

Overall it was a great training race and I was very happy to see people I hadn't seen since August! Man it's been a while. For the record, Tim Smith wants to clarify that his team didn't extend me a pity-invite rather it was a you-would-be-a-great-addition-to-our-team invite. In last-minute logistics fashion I borrowed a friend's car (thanks again Elizabeth!) and drove on up in nice weather. And then I drove back with the reigning Track Team Pursuit and Track Omnium Nation Champion Zac Kovalcik who showed me an awesome eatery in Olympia.

It feels so great to be involved in bike racing where all kinds of people come together for the sake of friendly competition. Although I'm getting dropped I'm confident that I'll be able to compete later in the year, hopefully by Walla Walla. On a more lame note, I had a mini-breakdown in my training regime and my coach has instructed me to stop weightlifting so I have enough time to rest, no get important things done, like my taxes, NO - write blog posts!!! Ugggh, being an ultra-competitive racer is HAAARRRDDD.

Racing Like an Idiot

Stage 1 of the Baker City Cycling Classic seemed to start out as it did last year with a lot of action to see who would be the morons that would breakaway at mile 12 of the 72 mile race. I guess I just couldn't help myself, I was up there seeing what would happen and I saw that nobody was going after one of the original protagonists who was going hard on the front, so I bridged up. Some other guy followed me too and it was the three of us - these two Idaho guys and me.

I did expect us to build up a bit of a gap and it was 50 seconds, then 2 minutes then we got to the hill. We made up the hill with the pack nowhere to be seen, so this break had a really good chance of making it. Going down the hill we heard a report of 2:50 and we knew we had a great opportunity, but I knew those remaining hills that never seem to end were still ahead. When those hills came, I sat on the back almost the entire time barely holding on. Climbing up what seemed to be one of the final hills, the follow car came up and told us 1:15 and we got a bit worried but he said this was the very last hill. So I sort of foolishly attempted to pull, but my breakmates still set the pace. That last hill did not end around the next wind at all! It kept going and I got dropped at the next wind around the hill, but at this point we were still way ahead of the pack.

Luckily, the hills finally ended and I began descending and watching the other two guys ride away. I time trialed the best I could and got 1:14 behind the leaders and nearly 3 minutes ahead of the pack. All in all, I was rather stoked about getting 3rd place in my first p12 race.

Photo Credit: Vitek Siroky

Time Trial

Not much really to say with the time trial. I still haven't been able to get the TT bike setup and it just seems like I can't get to my upper z5 heart rate in a TT. At least my disc wheel didn't flat.

Photo Credit: Vitek Siroky

The Crit

In the Crit I missed the break. I saw Erik Slack go and then Liberles chasing after Slack and then I didn't see those guys again until they came up from behind after lapping the field. Nothing got organized and I was slightly confused and stupid going into the final sprint because the lap board definitely said one to go, but that was for the leaders, so I ended up sprinting all out on the 2nd lap and then had nothing on the actual final lap.

Photo Credit: Vitek Siroky

Mt. Dooley Tour d'Horn

I certainly regret the move I made on this final race. Initially I had thought I'd try to get in the very first idiotic break and hope to win the overall. However, I didn't think I was warmed up enough when that break went, so I didn't make it in that break. I tried to get away a few times and eventually did at mile 20 and nobody followed me. I worked alone until I caught a dropped Bob's rider. Then on the climb to the feed zone I dropped Bob's and the field caught me right at the feed zone.

I thought I could hang on, but after the attacks that Lang Reynolds and Erik Slack threw down, I just couldn't make it up the hill to the long downhill with anyone. I was dropped for good and was all alone. I pretty much didn't see another racer or a hint of a bike race except for the 2nd feed zone until the climb where I believe I saw Trevor Spahr waving at me from atop another switchback. I had ran completely out of food too once I hit the climb. By the time I got to the finish I was 26 minutes back.

After the race, I had some good conversation with Sam Krieg, one of my breakmates from day 1, who did think my move was crazy, but that it was good that I raced my bike. I dunno, I've heard this sentiment from a few others and do think that tactics are a part of racing your bike and that sometimes the best way to race your bike is to sit in. And that is something I do think I need to practice doing more often.

Photo Credit: Vitek Siroky

For the Record, Erik Slack is a Badass

Erik Slack winning Stage 1
Photo Credit: Vitek Siroky

Stage 1: Erik Slack starts out the day long break. At mile 50 in the race, his rear wheel is definitely wobbling out of true. He then proceeds to win the race. After the race, it becomes apparent that the reason his wheel is out of true is because a spoke is broken on his rear wheel.
Stage 2: OK, so the TT isn't Erik's thing, but he only loses a minute to the winner Sam Krieg.
Stage 3: Laps the field and then wins the sprint.
Stage 4: Pulls the field for almost the entire race. Counters all attacks and winds up 4th place at only 41 seconds back. He wins the overall a full 50 seconds ahead of Krieg and nearly 4 minutes ahead of 3rd place. Erik earned the overall jersey and if there were a sprinter's jersey or hillclimber's jersey he would have won those too.

More Idiocy at PIR

Yes, it all continues again at this Tuesday's PIR. I got in an early break with Klipper which was really good because he was yelling instructing me to sit in when the break got a little slow. That break got caught probably because Rapha didn't have anyone in it. Then Eddie got in a break and I started to get really ancy. When the pace sort of slowed for a bit, Klipper and Liberles launched off and I followed. Klipper couldn't handle it and wished me good luck. Eventually Liberles, a Theraputic guy and myself all made it up to the break.

Once I made it to the break, I think I was actually being smart through the next hot spot which I contested in a reasonable fashion against Bedford, Liberles and Eddie French. I got 4th in that hot spot, but then I started to act like an idiot. I attempted to breakaway right after that hot spot and Bedford was the only person to take me up on that while the rest of the break chased us down. Then I tried all these other attacks for reasons I can't quite explain now, except for the all out sprint with 3 laps to go where I seriously thought we were on the final lap. All the while, some other Team O and a Theraputic guy were riding away for the win from the break. On the final lap, wherever I was, it was a bad position and in the final 400 I tried to lead the last splinter of the break up which included Eddie, but that entire splinter passed me at the finish so I got dead last in that break.


I guess I'm at a point where I'm really strong, but really dumb not smart enough. Getting myself into breaks though is pretty much my only strategy thus far, but once it comes to actually sprinting I am way outclassed. In the last 3 successful breaks I've got myself into, I've gotten dead last in each of them. I need to wise up really quick and I am very happy to be surrounded by much smarter teammates who will hopefully guide me towards the path of enlightenment in all these upcoming crits.