Race Report: BASP #2 Sierra Point Night Race

Date: November 12, 2011
Category: 35+ A
Teammates: Murray (2nd)
Placing: 7th
Tires: Tufo Flexus Cubus 32c, 27r/26.5f
Data: 216w, 185/190HR avg/max, 40:53/10.0 mi http://app.strava.com/rides/2310062

Awesome Aerial Footage of the race course

Course (in daylight): http://vimeo.com/32094005

Every Dog has his day

Plowing my way through the corners, photo by Tom Feix

I don’t even know where to start the story of this race.  The whole day encapsulated why I love racing with the team; friendship, support, camaraderie, great beer, and family fun.  Not to mention, racing!

I arrived a few hours to support Jeromy in his first cross race (since I have been pushing him to try it for a year) and play parent to his daughter Skylar during Jeromy’s race.  I was rather unprepared for how “enthusiastically” we would be cheering ALL over the race course.  Bystanders were laughing as I was running after her, carrying her, or doing my best impression of a bucking bronco all over the racecourse.  It was a blast, and we cheered for all the PV riders in the B’s race.

Getting back to the tent, my mind was more focused on kicking back and having a beer than getting mentally amped for the race.  Sierra Point was memorable for all that sucked about it last year: brutally bumpy, flat, and long sections of road where I was trounced last year. Luckily, the will to not waste my entry fee was stronger than my will be to be lazy, so I got suited up.

Dressing in the dark was not part of my plan, so I was rooting around in the darkness for my skinsuit, gloves and other black warmup gear, in my black bag, in the dark.  Finally, with 20 minutes to go, I got my first warmup lap around the course and slid my way into the assembling field of riders, squeezing up the barricades to get as far up as possible.  I lined up next to Chad Rosser, a guy from SJBC that I had ridden behind last and soundly beaten me last weekend, so I hoped to stay glued to his wheel this time around.

Fortunately, my hard work at Candlestick paid off as they went for 3 rows of 6 for the call-ups, and my 14^thplace just squeaked me into the pre-race staging.  The lights

Hanging on to the chase group, photo by Tom Feix

were blazing and the nerves started firing, and we got the final countdown.  Blasting from the start I got a good clip-in and was able to squeeze past a few riders before the off-camber, curb-hop, high speed left hander that funnels into the bumpy sections of the course.  I had to stand through this whole section last year but thankfully the rain had softened it up a bit and it was not torturous.  The usual chaos ensued through the first few turns until we hit a plywood sheet that covers the transition from dirt to sidewalk and someone went down.  The wood had become moist as the sun went down, and it was not to be trifled with!  I was able to thread my way around a few people there and then we hit the road section I call the “dreaded drag strip.”  I should clarify—most riders I talk to look forward to this portion of the course: a set of 3 200m straight sections connected by 180 degree turns—but I find it absolutely horrid as the pure power riders just uncork a can of whoop ass on me and I struggle to not yield too many positions.

I know I got passed by a few guys, but was confident enough not to stay in the single file line and went up the side and braked later into the turn (thank you TRP CX-9s!) and would win a few places back.  Only to repeat the process two more times.

Meanwhile, as I was riding away in about 12^th position, Murray was tearing it up at the front and stayed there the rest of the race.  I really would not have performed as well as I did if it weren’t for him, as Bruce Hildebrand’s constant commentary and race updates on Murray duking it out for the race lead kept me totally distracted from whatever pain I was feeling in the field behind.

Briefly on the hunt for 6th place, but it was not to be, photo by Tom Feix

As the laps started to tick by, I found myself on the tail end of a group vying for 6^th-12^th positions.  Don Myrah and Eric Bustos and a few other guys I didn’t know.  I was on the tail end of the group, and this is when I finally knew I have matured as a cross racer—I sat in.  I just kept an eye on each rider in front of me, waiting for them to miss a line through a corner enabling me to pass.  I made a conscious effort not to over extend myself, and I found that even though each of these guys were stronger than I was, I was able to brake just a little bit later and less, and thus carry more speed into the corners.  It was a great feeling.

I can’t recall much else about the race.  I picked off several guys until it was just Don Myrah, myself and guy who I can’t say I ever saw, but heard his damn brakes squeaking around every corner.  Myrah is a just a monster, and he basically came out of every corner out of the saddle and full gas, and I really struggled to prevent a gap from opening.  When we hit the road section, we gapped the last guy and I just hung on for dear life.  With 2 to go, it was just us, and I started to look for a place to try and pass him.  I knew I stood little chance in a 2-up sprint, but I’d rather place 2^nd in that then let the guys behind us catch up.

I passed him a few times and defended a few advances where he tried to sneak through on my inside.  He succeeded in passing on the straight aways, and I tucked in right behind him waiting for my chance.  Unfortunately, he laid it out into one of the bumpy right hand turns and I was so close behind him I ended riding right over the top of him and endoing.  With both of us on the ground, we scrambled to get back up and riding as there was only half a lap left and our chasers were now breathing down our necks.  As I remounted my tire was hitting my brakes badly and my heart sank—my wheel looked to be bent up real nice, and my saddle had taken on a nasty tilt with the nose pointing up about 20 degrees.  Although the pit was just ahead, stopping would mean getting passed by too many people, so I just decided to keep riding it and suffer the consequences later.  Don passed me again coming into the barriers and ‘ol squeaky was back right behind us.

I passed him back one more time as he missed the line on the sharp right heading up into the hill section and somehow my wheel magically straightened itself out (I then realized that what had really happened was a partial separation of my tubular, but I decided not to think about that as I took the last several sharp turns!).  In the end I led the charge to the last corner and got passed

Sprint for 7th place, photo by Tom Feix

in the sprint by Myrah, but held everyone else off to get 7^th place.  Murray having long since finished ended up 2^nd and we both high-fived each other and the end.

This race was simply awesome because of all the cheering and support at all parts of the course.  I could only vaguely pick out voices (Paul, Ken, Clark, Tom and others) and I thank you all for your help during the race.  I may not have been able to take my eyes off the course for even a second to see you, but your cheers were immensely helpful especially on the long straight by the tents.  It was an awesome day for many PV riders, and I felt proud before, during and after to part of such a great group of people.

Tags: cycling, cyclocross, racing

Race Report: CCCX #6 Manzanita Park

Date: November 6, 2011
Category: 35+ B/35+ A
Teammates: None
Placing: 1^st, dead/last or both
Tires: Tufo Flexus Cubus 32c, 22.5f/22.5r
Data:
35B (181w, 184HR avg, 38:50/10.1 mi) http://app.strava.com/rides/2242663
35A (157w, 184HR avg, 50:16/12.3 mi) http://app.strava.com/rides/2242666

Crossing the line, photo by Gary Hudson

Yet another return to Manzanita Park for CCCX #6—this is my third time this season as I’ve missed all the other CCCX races.  Keith Defibre did another outstanding job on a new course.  The

weather was calling for rain and w

e arrived expecting mud and slop, but were pleasantly surprised by relatively dry conditions with some sections

of mud.  It had it all—steep run ups, infield twists and turns, uphills, downhills, and a healthy dose of suffering.   Having just glued up my new Tufo Cubus mud tires, I decided

to give them a ride even if they weren’t totally necessary.  This course wasn’t as technical as previous courses this season, but it required a constant foot on the gas and the course claimed many victims.

With little training in my legs and sore muscles from a foolhardy assault on Windy Hill yesterday afternoon, I shuffled my way to the front row of the start line determined to make the first 30 seconds up the hill count.  We started about half way up, and were

avoiding roots and chasing them down, photo copyright Steve Anderson

funneled into a 180 and then into a barrier with singletrack and a muddy run up—ie: tailor made for traffic congestion and mishaps.  I hit the first corner in the top 3 or 4, and cleaned the first two sections and passed two more riders.  I jumped hard and passed the lead rider by taking an alternative line and focused on putting power to the pedals.

I led everyone around the climb, descent and into the infield, and was passed just before we hit a series of 180 degree turns.  I’m still not strong enough to hold my own on the flat sections, so I made sure I put a lot of

Muddy rise, the Cubus tires stuck perfectly. Photo by Gary Hudson

pressure on the leader through the turns.  Sure enough he slid out around one of the corners, and I passed him back.

We completed lap one with him breathing over my shoulder through the start finish line sticking on me like a fly on feces.

He was there for quite a while through the second lap, but after a few technical sections I didn’t hear the sounds of

wheels cutting up the dirt behind me.  I started to catch the tail end of the B’s race ahead of me, so I had to weave my way through the chaos and avoid getting held up as the rest of the 35s field roared up behind me.  Thankfully, all the B’s gave me room to pass and I motored on.

Fast forward a few more laps and I found myself chasing the leaders of the Bs race.  They saw me and sprinted like crazy to hold me off and I finished a few seconds behind them, feeling pretty wasted and not particularly happy to be racing again in 10 minutes.

Remounting after the first barrier, photo by Gary Hudson

The As race could simply be summed up as “The Trouble with Doubles.”  The first jump up the hill elicited a silent scream from my legs that

sounded like a

gaggle of 10-year-old Justin Bieber fans.   That was simply a preview of things to come as I hung tight for about 2 laps, and then started losing ground on…you guessed it, the climbs and flats!  Still I felt reasonably good and maintained position around 10^th, but with 2 laps to go an atomic bomb incinerated all the strength left in my legs, and I struggled to put out even 150 watts on the climbs.   Going backwards isn ‘t really conducive to racing, and I watched helplessly and many 45+ riders caught and passed me.  I must have looked like roadkill because he offered me a waterbottle on the last ascent, and even said “take all of it if you want, man!”  In my head I replied “do you have anything else with something more potent, like perhaps cocaine?”  But that would have required energy, and I didn’t want to waste it.

John Kammeyer passed in the infield and I was m

ore than happy to slow his chasers down as I willed my rubber legs to turn the pedals over.  I made my legs a promise that I wouldn’t eat and more ice cream in 2011 if they would just deliver me to the line.  The final ascent to the start/finish felt like hitting Everest without oxygen, but I was treated to a killer duel between two 45+ guys that were killing it to the line.  It was a nice distraction from my own suffering.

Overall, while I didn’t perform physically as well as I would have liked, I rode a technically clean race and lost no time to bobbles.  While I wasn’t hopping the barricades like Mr. Coats, I executed a good race on dirt.

Thankfully, I was treated to the PV post-trackday BBQ and forgot all about the dismal finish.  More training is clearly needed!  Until next time!

Tags: cyclocross, racing

It would come in so handy now!  I’d get the blow by blow on the Superprestige races!  Oh well its still great to watch:

Ruddervoorde Oct-2011

Tags: cyclocross

Race Report: BASP #1 Candlestick Point

Date: October 23, 2011
Category: 35+ A
Teammates: Murray Swanson
Placing: 15th
Tires: Tufo Flexus Primus 32c, 23f/24r
Ride Data: Time: 43:20, Avg Power : 226w, Avg HR: 191 bpm, max 200
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/2083894

The Flying Dutchman: Remounting in the chaos of the first lap. Everyone but the leaders were forced off their bikes. Photo © Jam Foto

True confession: I was quite intimidated by this course and entertained thoughts of backing over my cross bike “accidentally” so I wouldn’t be able to contest it today.  I pre-rode the course with Jeromy yesterday and found it quickly reminded me of all that I’d love to never ride again—bumpy, bumpy and bumpy sections.  I have a special dislike of this particular type of terrain, as it tends to irritate my long-standing nerve issues, leaving me unable to sit for several days after a race.

Barrier 1: Board with a little uphill run with a quick remount before going back downhill. It was good for a few bruises on the leg. Photo © Jam Foto

That being said, the course was classic and quite challenging—there was no place to rest or recover, and I was pushed to the limits just trying to keep turning the pedals over.  Exhibit A: my HR data.  Out of the 43 some odd minutes, I spent only :48 seconds at a HR below 180 beats.  Even for me, this was an unusually hard effort, and its pretty clear my pre-season injuries have left me a bit deficient in the fitness department.  I had decided that this week I would really focus on staying upright and not making any mistakes—even if it meant going a little bit slower.

Mashing the gears on the long straight to the start finish line

The course had all the excellent elements that make it challenging—loose gravel, sand, high speed turns, low speed turns, little

power bumps and of course the brand new flyover which was really quite fun.  Pillarcitos came through with a great layout and though it didn’t favor me in particular, it certainly was a blast.

After the call ups the gridded us up and I was about 6 rows back, with about 2/3 of the field in front of me instead of behind.  In the back of my mind I was afraid this was one of those races that would be over before it started due to poor start placement, but I didn’t dwell on it and focused on getting a fast start and simply surviving the first several corners.

The field made a mad dash to the first gravel corner and the chaos was flowing all around me

Trying to gain the advantage before the gravel of the first turn

but fortunately paths of opportunity that kept presenting themselves.  I quickly capitalized on those small mishaps that inevitably occur in the first few minutes as riders are making a mad dash to pass and aren’t yet familiar with the intricacies of the race course.  Somehow by the halfway point the first lap, I could see the top 10 starting lineup of riders not too far ahead.  I passed a few more folks unfamiliar with the steep runup section from the pavement, and focused on staying upright and keeping the gas on.

The steep hill section caused quite a bit of chaos on the first laps

All I remember were some momentary incidents—hitting the wrong line up the steep hill a few times and receiving some friendly heckling and assistance from the crew there, missing a remount and sliding off the back of the saddle as a new means of body hair removal, and having the misfortune of looking down at my Garmin to see disheartening information like 9:18 (time elapsed) and HR 192.  I knew lasting another 30 minutes was going to be rough.  And sometime in that haze where the mind goes when it doesn’t want to listen to my body bitch, I heard Bruce yell out “4 laps to go!”  While hardly the bell lap, some part of me felt this was a reasonable and achievable distance, and that I could hang on.  With 2 to go, my legs had done their best, and every little uphill blip felt like it was sucking the life out of them.  Of course other guys were always coming up behind me, so I just kept pushing and focused on not making mistakes.

On the last lap, two Cal Giant guys had me in their sights, and were working hard to reel me in.  I wanted none of that and dug even deeper to try and hold them off.  Going into the last turn, one of them was close to me, and I had to try and outsprint him.  He nipped me at the line, and I only found out later it was the winner of the 45A race, so I didn’t lose any spots in my sprint.

Pen Velo support was all over the course today and the cheering and call outs were hugely helpful as I slogged my way through the start/finish, the run up and steep hill, as well as various other places.  Just seeing the jerseys helped me keep going, because there were moments if I had been offered a shortcut to get off the Sufferfest Express, I may have taken it.  But in the end it was the best I had, and it was good enough for 15^th, but more importantly I rode a technically clean race and minimized my fitness disadvantage by keeping any handling mistakes in check.  Overall, a good showing, which could be improved with some more hard riding.  These weeks of 50 miles and a few hours on the bike aren’t really helping!

Here’s a unique view of the race from an aerial camera

Thanks for reading!

Race Report: CCCX #4 Manzanita Park

Date: October 16, 2011
Category: 35+ A
Teammates: Ken G.
Placing: 19th
Tires: Tufo Flexus Primus 32c, 23f/25r
Data: 52:29, AVGs : 227w, 185 bpm,

After last weekend’s start to the season, I was eager to see how I could do in the As without racing immediately beforehand.  I was aiming for a top 10, but it didn’t work out that way.

Hopping the barricades

The course ran the opposite direction of last week’s course, and I immediately realized this direction was much more aerobic, on the gas the whole lap and that I was in trouble.  My one lap warmup revealed some interesting lines but I just did not get enough loops before the race begun.  After the start gun, I started yielding spaces right away on the climb, and at the top had my first touchdown with the dirt after some touched wheels.  While I didn’t lose too much time, I did notice that my front brake was rubbing and I was hypoxic and chasing down the lead group.

Heading down into the rest of the turns, I really struggled in the loose dirt of the baseball diamonds and repeatedly slipped my front wheel through the corners, especially on the left turns.  It was to be that way all day long—I just felt like I was fighting my bike and constantly finding the limits of my traction at inopportune times.  Before I finished the first lap, I hit the ground again, this time a bit harder and left

Trying to hold off Keith

some skin behind.  This just aggravated me though I was lighter as I shed skin and blood.  I decided I should atleast try and fix the front wheel rub, and gave up about 20 seconds before I even completed lap 1.  Mentally I was struggling to keep focused as I just didn’t feel good on the bike and had watched the top 20 riders now leave me behind.

Thankfully, I had a great cheering section and that kept my head in the game as I redlined myself through each of the next few laps.  Clark thankfully was there with a bottle of water, which is about the only thing that kept me going through the second half of the race.  I continued to lose confidence through the corners when I would lose traction and struggle some more.  For several laps, I kept trading places with two riders that would pass me on the climbs, and I would catch them on the technical turns and wait for them to take a bad line, or pass them on the downhill, only to have them pass me again on the climb.  We did this

Dry, fast dirt

about 5 times, until I finally crashed, yet again, going over the barriers.  My memory of it is somewhat vague, but the word “Joey” came up and I remember letting go of my bike as I soared over the second barrier, and my poor steed stayed behind.  I believe I hit my rear wheel going over the first one, or I stumbled in between, or who knows.  I simply crashed and never was able to close that gap.

The end of the race saw me getting caught by several 45+ riders and I just was completely unable to generate enough power to fight them off.  I was frustrated and aggravated but did my best to hold it all together and finish the day without breaking anything else.  Or my person.

In the end I crossed the line and knew that the next race I would have to concentrate on fitness and speed, but making sure that I don’t give up any time or places from crashing.  This was particularly challenging this time, as my HR was 185-190 but my power was dropping with each lap.  Being over my limits makes that handling-thing a bit more demanding, but honestly its what I love about cyclocross.  Next up BASP #1 at Candlestick.

All smiles before the gun goes off

Thanks for reading!

Menko

Tags: cycling, cyclocross, racing

Race Report: CCCX #3 Manzanita Park

Date: October 9, 2011
Category: 35+ B/35+ A
Teammates: Erik, Travis, Ray, Paul, Tom B.
Placing: 1st (B) 14th (A)
Tires: Tufo Flexus Primus 32c, 28f/30r
Data: (B): 41:52, AVGs: 207w, 179 bpm, 6:54 lap time
(A): 48:17, AVGs : 195w, 181 bpm, 6:51 lap time

Hitting the corner and trying to recover. Photo by Tim Westmore

This was my first cross weekend this season and I was totally excited to get out and ride. I have made some upgrades to my bike courtesy of several PV members who parted with their go-fast parts, and I was eager to put them to the test. I always love CCCX races because the courses are challenging and fun to ride and last year I had a great day in the rain at Manzanita so I was carrying some good karma into 2011.

The day was rife with challenges—a long registration line, pinning on multiple numbers at the same time, and worst of all an absence of TP in the bathroom (THANK YOU ERIK!). All this meant was I didn’t get much warmup, but did do a lap of the course to get familiar with it. But the Bs decided they wanted to line up 20 minutes early, and having seen the first section I knew to a rear start would make for a very tough race.

The course was interesting—the usual paved road hill start/finish, but they ran the next section through a variety of single track for the first section of the course, with a few off-camber turns and some loose dirt. Had the race been two days earlier in the rain and mud, it would have been a very challenging day on the bike. But after the initial single track, there were some short wide trail sections and a few more off-camber technical sections. Followed by a few ups and downs, a chainlink fence that I had a disagreement with (and lost), and a quick descent and a long flat section around the baseball fields. Finally, just near the end you hit the one and only dismount section right before you climb the paved road. I was thanking my lucky stars there was no hill run ups, as my achillies is still bothering me from a few months back.

Kicking up dust and searching for speed. Photo by Tim Westmore

The B’s race was mass chaos. We didn’t separate out before the single track turns, and I was immediately frustrated and impatient as we slowed to a crawl. All I could see was the guys ahead taking everything full speed and the rest of us falling behind. I took some risks and passed on the “non-trail” portions of the singletrack until a rather large rider decided he didn’t like me doing that, and closed the door on me and forced a slow-speed crash. This worked in my favor because it just pissed me off and made me even more determined to get around their slow arses and ride my own race. The whole rest of the lap was more of this, and I just did my best to pick off one or two riders through each corner or section. At the dismount, I just ran the entire section and passed through traffic with ease which was rather humorous. I was called out by a spectator telling a buddy “don’t let that guy do a run-around on you, get him!” All the more motivation for me, and it really helped that John K rode alongside me up the hill most of the laps.

Tackling the bump. Photo by Tim Westmore

On the second lap, I was still fighting traffic and had a collision with a fence-post in a left turn that was holding up a high chainlink fence. My front wheel slid out and I was falling and ran my shoulder right into it and went flying. Miraculously, I was still in one piece and hopped back up, but a nearby spectator was ready to call the paramedics. All I could think was “Joey’s OK” And damn was I pissed. So I just hammered put my head down and forgot all about the world.

At some point, I started catching all kinds of numbers, but I never saw any more 600 numbers. I thought there was a lead group ahead of me, but I never did see them. Turned out that somehow I had passed all of them despite my brief interactions with the ground. Bonus! Once again, I missed my podium and booty because I’m stupid and wanted to get more training in so I raced the A’s race immediately following. I think I have won 3 CX races and never once got the podium pic. It ain’t meant to be.

Fighting my way through the corners. Photo by Steve Woo

The A’s race was everything the B’s wasn’t. Fast right from the start, smooth and clean and uncongested. The leaders rode away from us right away and my legs just complained about how tired they were and I just responded by reminding them we had $10 on the line and couldn’t’ waste it. I don’t remember much about this race except for all the great call outs and support from Clark, Travis and others. I watched for new lines and different ways to ride the course, but was pretty much in a haze. With 2 laps to go, I desperately needed some calories and water but was too tired to call out for a handout. That’s racing and my bad for underestimating what I’d need. Regardless, I hung on and rode a good race, even if strength was fleeing my legs at a most alarming rate. In the end I finished and loved it. Welcome back cyclocross, oh I have missed you!

A big thanks to Keith DiFiebre and the whole CCCX crew for designing great courses and putting on a fun event.

Lessons learned: train on the tubulars a bit to get the sense of the traction in corners, I was afraid to damage the rims so I ran them too high. Try and be a little patient, even though it goes so against the grain.

Lessons re-learned: Never give up. Ever.

MJ

Tags: cycling, cyclocross, racing

Event: Santa Cruz Triathlon Relay (bike leg)

Date: 09.25.2011

Teammates: Team Not Related Johnsons (Camille Johnson,/swim, Jay Johnson,/run)

Time: 58:48

Distance: 24.5 mi

Weather: Sunny, overcast/ low 6os

Power: 222w/549 (Avg/Max)

HR: 178/183 (Avg/Max)

Avg speed: 25.0 mph

Gearing: 50-34, 11-23

Place: 1st Coed Relay/3rd All Relays 2:10 (Results: http://bit.ly/oy5Ma9)

First off—no I have not been body-snatched and replaced with a hill-avoiding flatlander diesel engine. Its still me! But last week before Folsom the owner of my borrowed Cervelo P3C TT bike invited my wife Cami and I to do a relay with him at the Santa Cruz Triathlon. I figured if the guy who owns the bike invites me to ride it in a relay and he’ll run, how can I say no? And truth be told, I sort of enjoyed the race against the clock at Folsom even though I was out-classed by my M123 competitors by a significant margin. But that was a short 11 mile TT—and this one was 25 miles. I was ready to see what I could do.

The Santa Cruz Triathlon course starts downtown, winds its way through the western edge of Santa Cruz by Long Marine Labs, then heads out on Highway 1 to Davenport, does a quick turn around and comes back. The course has a lot of little rollers, none super steep but definitely not flat, and the wind usually blows towards the North, making the return leg to town hard. I have many memories of hammering out with the UCSC club on Highway 1 only to turn around and limp home because of the wind.

My wife Cami rocked the swim and was only preceded by a few other relay swimmers, so I knew we were in good position. I honestly was worried I was going to give up quite a bit of time, as the dudes who were lined up in the relay gates looked more like Ross Tinline and Mark Slavonia than yours truly, and I knew that could be a problem for me! I strapped on the timing chip and proceeded to run about 1k uphill to where we were actually allowed to start pedaling our freaking bikes. It was silly but they didn’t want people to mount before a hill, derail their chains, etc. Luckily all that cross practice remounting with Clark a few weeks back translated to the TT bike, so I think I was the only guy with both feet off the ground doing the flying mount onto the TT bike. Adrenaline makes you do silly things sometimes.

My goal for the TT was to break it into 4 segments, and hold a nice steady tempo and ramp it up in the 3rd and 4th legs. But most importantly, I wanted to keep my starting wattage under control so I might just finish this thing without exploding. What I didn’t count on was the fact that relays started last, so I spent the entire thing passing bike after bike after bike and making sure I didn’t get taken out by someone randomly sitting up or swerving or by the traffic whizzing by on Hwy 1. The upside was I felt really fast passing all these people, and was forced to keep my eyes on the road ahead which helps with that aero helmet. But at some point I recognized that the dude wearing high tops riding a mountain bike might not really be in the same class as I was. But I took solace anyway

The ride is pretty boring, the wind wasn’t too strong, but at some point I was going about 35mph downhill and getting blown about which brought on some pucker factor, but I figured I couldn’t let my team down and forcibly relaxed my arms and shoulders and stayed in the TT position. Corners and turn arounds were the most scary as I was flying through them and felt like I was playing Frogger or something as I had to swerve around the other riders. But in my head, I was loving the challenge and it motivated me to go harder.

Playlist for the first 3 segments: Soul Asylum “Runaway Train”

Runaway train never going back Wrong way on a one way track 
Seems like I should be getting somewhere Somehow I’m neither here no thereLittle out of touch, little insane Just easier than dealing with the pain

Not the most motivational of tunes, but its what was sticking and I went with it. Then on the last segment, the Doors blasted their way in as I started to “Break on Through” for the last 5 miles. The mind is a funny thing when its blocking out the screaming pain in your legs. As I was approaching Santa Cruz, I ramped up to 250 watts, and immediately my pedal stroke felt forced and unsmooth. I kept imagining smooth circles and powered on.

The last part of the course winds through town and goes to a little turn around to extend the distance, and this was a major slow down as I had to navigate turns and other riders that were riding 2 and 3 wide on both sides of the single lane road. Thoughts of T boning or head-ons while in the bars flickered through my brain, but I told them to HTFU and go faster.

The final straight goes right above the boardwalk and back down the hill. I imagined I was in the TDF and carving the curves but instead of motoring across a finish line, you have to come to a stop, dismount and run down the same damn hill. I flew in, did a cross step through (hard to do on the TT bike with the damn bars in the way) and caused the volunteers to have a heart attack that I was going to crash. But no such luck. I cruised into the transition zone and apparently passed the other teams out on the course, because I was the first relay bike in. After dismounting I underestimated the weakness of my adductors and suddenly found myself squatting to take of my shoes and falling over because I couldn’t stand back up. It was quite graceless and undignified, but such is life.

True confession: I really enjoyed doing the TT. Its pure and painful, but also brings out the best in me. I can hardly walk or sit from the nerve pain, but I will be doing more TTs in the future.

Thanks for reading!

Strava segment: http://app.strava.com/segments/770746

Tags: bike, cycling, family, racing

Simply put the price from the pricelist in Euros: http://bit.ly/pvtires and your USD after discounts will appear. To place your order, fill out the spreadsheet at: http://bit.ly/pvtire2011

Tags: cycling

This weekend I had a chance to really shake out the new Specialized S-works SL3 that I bought recently at Bicycles Outback in Waco, TX. This is a great shop owned by a hometown friend of mine that used to race with me back in the early 90s. They even sent me a cool T-shirt and cycling hat along with the frameset.

Bicycles Outback in Waco, TX

This is my first “new” frame since coming back to cycling in 2009, and I’ve been riding a great ’03 Time VSX Pro that was on loan from my good buddy Esteban. It was time to get something that fit properly and this frame fell into my lap.

The SL3 certainly does impress with its look and feel. While it is a very lightweight frame, its amazingly responsive and just begs for you to stand on the pedals and go just a little bit harder up the hills. Downhill on GMR I could not believe how easily it carved up the corners; it was rock steady and every time I thought I would be pushing it too hard it simply dug in and allowed me to tighten my line at will. In contrast, the Time really had to be coaxed into corners, forcing you to really dive in and commit to the action. The SL3 in contrast leans over almost lazily as if anything you ask it to do is child’s play. I can’t wait to put it through it through some crits to really see how it flies, but so far I am truly impressed.

Matty pedals for a great cause!

This weekend I took time off from racing and instead helped my club, Peninsula Velo put on the Burlingame Criterium, and Ryan’s Ride, a memorial ride to raise money for cancer programs through the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I was really looking forward to this as Matty has been really excited to ride his bike, and begs me to wear my jersey and ride bikes with him. I can only describe it as feeling like a Super Hero to my son, and I’ve watched him mature into an understanding of cycling and competition to know that Daddy almost never wins, but he always gives it everything he has. He saw me struggle by myself last weekend as I crawled in behind the leaders and he said “Daddy you were going fast up that hill!” So I was ready to return the favor as he pedaled a lap of the course.

It was a beautiful day and I was an escort for the kids to make sure the all made it safely around the course. There was an endless sea of kids on a variety of bikes just having a blast. Matty had several friends there, and as his race got under way, he quickly wove his way through the rather disorganized sea of riders. If you’ve ever felt unsafe in a criterium because riders aren’t holding their lines, you’ve only grasped the tip of the iceberg with a sea of 7 and 8 year olds all swerving around, some looking forward, backwards and sideways as crowd cheers them on. Its a miracle more of them don’t plow into each other.

But Matty, true to his character, slammed it into his hardest gear and pedaled his heart out. He motored around the course and was beaten by one other kid who he just couldn’t catch. Daddy of course was right behind him encouraging him to pedal not because I cared whether he won or lost, but because I wanted him to enjoy the sport of it, and give it everything he had. When we finished he was breathing hard, but not that hard and said “I’m ready to do more Daddy!” I smiled and hope this is just the start of a long career of competition in sport for him.

A great way to end the weekend. One proud Daddy!

Tags: cycling, family, mattheus