Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Not quite high enough
This is my high point for my (low) altitude camp. About 9k before I ran out of rideable road.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Ok, I lied...
...I can post video.
My cleat was seriously loose; like almost ready to fall off loose. Seriously.
My cleat was seriously loose; like almost ready to fall off loose. Seriously.
(Low) altitude camp
We've been at "altitude" for a week now in preparation for the Breck Epic. I'm not sure it's going to be enough. On Saturday, I climbed for almost 3,000 feet until I hit too much snow to proceed, and I was still 600 feet below where I'll be sleeping in Breck. I dropped back down and rode up the ski hill road to meet the boys and Jess for a hike. About 4k in climbing, with big chunks of it over 15%, but I get the feeling there's much worse to come.
I have some helmet cam footage, but since my Mac is at home and I'm too stupid to figure out how to edit video on my work computer, I'll just have to share some random photos of the monkeys...
I have some helmet cam footage, but since my Mac is at home and I'm too stupid to figure out how to edit video on my work computer, I'll just have to share some random photos of the monkeys...
Thursday, June 25, 2009
20th Annual Idaho City Excellent Adventure
Last Saturday we started our summer road trip with the drive south to Boise before Sunday's mountain bike race up in Idaho City. I haven't raced the mountain bike since April, which might have contributed to an above average case of nerves and "that guy looks fast"-ness. The race begins with a mass start Le Mans, and then rolls for about 1.5 miles before funneling into a steep, rutted moto trail at the bottom of a ~4-mile climb. I figured the entrance to the moto trail could matter a bit, so I hoped to hit it near the front and then climb as best I could. Including the road at the bottom, the climb covered ~1200 feet in 6 miles. It was mostly gradual, but had some steep sections.
I set the bike up well for the Le Mans and got myself in the front row. I got on the bike pretty easily in 2nd. The road section was somewhat chaotic, but I stayed in decent position and hit the moto trail in 5th. I immediately passed the guy in front of me, then the next guy got stuck in a rut and went down. I got around him ok, but the two leaders had a 20m gap by that point that I couldn't close down. I chased as best I could for a few miles, but the gap stayed about the same. Then my brain played a trick on me and convinced me that I had gone off course. I got confused and slowed down for a minute and the guy behind me caught up and went by.
As it turns out, this was a good thing. He was much better at the steady climbs than I am, and I had to completely bury myself to hold his wheel. I doubt I would have climbed that well on my own. After 15 minutes, we caught the guy in 2nd (who had lost the leader) and the three of us road together for a while. I yoyo-ed a bit, and almost lost them when I nearly crashed while trying to take a drink. But I noticed that I was doing better on the steep climbs than they were, so at the next steep singletrack section, I went by both of them and got a bit of a gap. I had 5 miles to go at that point, and managed to keep it together to finished 2nd overall, about 5-10 seconds up on 3rd, who had ridden just behind me the final 5 miles of the race. The winner finished 60 seconds ahead of me. It turned out it was Zach Vestal, who was Trek/VW team manager and is now tech editor at Velonews.
But since I was "just" an Expert, I got no love for finishing 2nd overall. I hate to criticize race promoters, and I do this knowing that I sound like an ungrateful and whiny prima donna, but why does the fact that some guy pays $150 for a license make a difference in how you treat them? The "pro" podium got cash; I got a water bottle and pair of size small gloves. And he didn't mention that I was 2nd overall. Well, he did eventually after I corrected him for saying I was 4th overall. I don't need the money or even a nice prize, but a bit of respect wouldn't hurt.
Case in point: they issued a little press release after the race which you can find at this link -- Idaho City Results
The section that discusses the winner says: "Although a solid pack chased him the entire race, Vestal broke away early and decisively and cruised in over one minute ahead of Josh Oppenheimer." That's true, he was over one minute ahead of Josh Oppenheimer. But Josh was 5 seconds behind me. It's not enough to be fast I guess.
Ok, whining mode off. It was a great race, and I had a blast.
I set the bike up well for the Le Mans and got myself in the front row. I got on the bike pretty easily in 2nd. The road section was somewhat chaotic, but I stayed in decent position and hit the moto trail in 5th. I immediately passed the guy in front of me, then the next guy got stuck in a rut and went down. I got around him ok, but the two leaders had a 20m gap by that point that I couldn't close down. I chased as best I could for a few miles, but the gap stayed about the same. Then my brain played a trick on me and convinced me that I had gone off course. I got confused and slowed down for a minute and the guy behind me caught up and went by.
As it turns out, this was a good thing. He was much better at the steady climbs than I am, and I had to completely bury myself to hold his wheel. I doubt I would have climbed that well on my own. After 15 minutes, we caught the guy in 2nd (who had lost the leader) and the three of us road together for a while. I yoyo-ed a bit, and almost lost them when I nearly crashed while trying to take a drink. But I noticed that I was doing better on the steep climbs than they were, so at the next steep singletrack section, I went by both of them and got a bit of a gap. I had 5 miles to go at that point, and managed to keep it together to finished 2nd overall, about 5-10 seconds up on 3rd, who had ridden just behind me the final 5 miles of the race. The winner finished 60 seconds ahead of me. It turned out it was Zach Vestal, who was Trek/VW team manager and is now tech editor at Velonews.
But since I was "just" an Expert, I got no love for finishing 2nd overall. I hate to criticize race promoters, and I do this knowing that I sound like an ungrateful and whiny prima donna, but why does the fact that some guy pays $150 for a license make a difference in how you treat them? The "pro" podium got cash; I got a water bottle and pair of size small gloves. And he didn't mention that I was 2nd overall. Well, he did eventually after I corrected him for saying I was 4th overall. I don't need the money or even a nice prize, but a bit of respect wouldn't hurt.
Case in point: they issued a little press release after the race which you can find at this link -- Idaho City Results
The section that discusses the winner says: "Although a solid pack chased him the entire race, Vestal broke away early and decisively and cruised in over one minute ahead of Josh Oppenheimer." That's true, he was over one minute ahead of Josh Oppenheimer. But Josh was 5 seconds behind me. It's not enough to be fast I guess.
Ok, whining mode off. It was a great race, and I had a blast.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
North Contour
This is an old skid road that has been sitting unused for several decades. It's really fast, and has a few surprising turns that always catch me off guard. And there's one little rock drop that I always mess up; I usually roll out of it with my rear wheel somewhere up near my right ear.
I definitely need to find someone to ride in front of my for these videos, as you can't really tell what the terrain does with no one there.
And I do know that I'm a dork.
I definitely need to find someone to ride in front of my for these videos, as you can't really tell what the terrain does with no one there.
And I do know that I'm a dork.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
I got a new toy
I've been debating getting this toy for a long time, but the reasons not to always outweighed the reasons to. But the longer you ride, and the longer you live, the more you want to share your rides. So that's what I hope to be doing. You won't see anything very impressive. I'll mostly ride around the jumps and fall off the log rides. And I'm not much for music, so until I figure out a better mic system, it'll be a lot of wind noise and a few grunts.
I haven't figured out the best way to share them yet, and I'll work on the wind noise.
But these are my rides.
Deep V to Switchblade
Bottom of Headwaters
I haven't figured out the best way to share them yet, and I'll work on the wind noise.
But these are my rides.
Deep V to Switchblade
Bottom of Headwaters
Monday, June 8, 2009
Crit photos
Jess got some pretty good photos of the crit. Unfortunately, the one I most want to show turned out blurry as it was somewhat hurried (but I'll probably post it anyway).
The first photo is actually the finish of the first stage. You can just barely see my right shoe and shoulder behind the guy that's in second. I started too far back to do much more than this, but I was happy with how it went. I passed 5 or 6 people in the sprint, and just managed to get the guy on the far right at the end.
This is the infamous corner on the crit course. This actually isn't a great line, but it was hard to roll it cleanly if I didn't have a clean road.
Entering the corner. I probably wasted too much energy doing this, but I tried to hit it first whenever I was near the front. Unfortunately that meant some work into the wind at the top of the front stretch, but I had last year's crash etched sufficiently into my brain that I preferred that to trusting someone else's line. The only crash of the day happened behind me with 3 laps to go.
This is the top of the front stretch with one to go. I had about 30 meters at this point and took it as hard as I could. The position of my chain on rear cogs is an indication of how hard the wind was blowing, because it really isn't that steep of a climb.
Just after the finish. Cooked, but happy.
And finally, even though this is really blurry, I can't brag about my cornering skills without some proof. I'm still a cocky SoB, but every once in a while (ok, every once in a long while), there's a reason. Any time I hit the corner first, I could open up gaps like this without really pushing it too hard. Sometimes I'd give it down the back stretch, other times I'd sit up and wait, but mostly I was just having fun. You can't quite tell, but if you finished the turn too wide, it got really off camber and pinched right as you exited the turn. I was able to avoid that on every lap. Everyone behind me in this photo is exiting too wide and is going to have to brake before then can start accelerating again.
The first photo is actually the finish of the first stage. You can just barely see my right shoe and shoulder behind the guy that's in second. I started too far back to do much more than this, but I was happy with how it went. I passed 5 or 6 people in the sprint, and just managed to get the guy on the far right at the end.
This is the infamous corner on the crit course. This actually isn't a great line, but it was hard to roll it cleanly if I didn't have a clean road.
Entering the corner. I probably wasted too much energy doing this, but I tried to hit it first whenever I was near the front. Unfortunately that meant some work into the wind at the top of the front stretch, but I had last year's crash etched sufficiently into my brain that I preferred that to trusting someone else's line. The only crash of the day happened behind me with 3 laps to go.
This is the top of the front stretch with one to go. I had about 30 meters at this point and took it as hard as I could. The position of my chain on rear cogs is an indication of how hard the wind was blowing, because it really isn't that steep of a climb.
Just after the finish. Cooked, but happy.
And finally, even though this is really blurry, I can't brag about my cornering skills without some proof. I'm still a cocky SoB, but every once in a while (ok, every once in a long while), there's a reason. Any time I hit the corner first, I could open up gaps like this without really pushing it too hard. Sometimes I'd give it down the back stretch, other times I'd sit up and wait, but mostly I was just having fun. You can't quite tell, but if you finished the turn too wide, it got really off camber and pinched right as you exited the turn. I was able to avoid that on every lap. Everyone behind me in this photo is exiting too wide and is going to have to brake before then can start accelerating again.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
I feel better now
Last night I woke up at 12:30 or so and couldn't get back to sleep for another hour. By the time I got back to sleep, I had decided I was never going to race bikes again.
But I changed my mind today.
Last year at this crit, I got taken out with a few laps to go and busted up both bike and body. My goals for today were to have fun and stay in one piece. I did both. Before the race we had about 30 minutes with the course open. I felt after Thursday's race that I could corner better than anyone else in the field, so I used the 30 minutes to get the nasty corner wired, hoping I might find it useful. There was a storm drain very deep in the corner on the outside that marked what I figured was the best spot to initiate the turn. It was really deep, and somewhat uncomfortable, but the rest of the field generally apexed too early and had to brake late in the turn. If I hit the first part of the turn hard and made it all the way to the curb, I was able to exit with a lot of speed right as most everyone else was slowing down to avoid the hay bales. Any time I had a open line through the turn, I was able to make up time or open up gaps on the people behind me. I used it to initiate a couple of moves, and join a few others, but nothing stuck.
With 2 laps to go, I found myself near the front as we rode through the start/finish. I decided to roll to the front and see how it worked out. I got through the sketchy turn with about 5 meters and put my head down and went with it. No one chased, so I heard the bell with about a 30 meter gap. I survived the backstretch, but the field finally caught me just as I finished the last turn and started up the finish stretch. I rolled through with the group in 17th.
Jess took a photo of me yesterday at the end of my race and another one today. I'll post them up when we get home, but today's photo was a lot happier. I had a blast in the crit, rode my legs off, kept it upright, and proved to myself that I can enjoy riding my bike. And I clipped a pedal in a turn and rolled out of it clean with no worries, so that's always nice too.
But I changed my mind today.
Last year at this crit, I got taken out with a few laps to go and busted up both bike and body. My goals for today were to have fun and stay in one piece. I did both. Before the race we had about 30 minutes with the course open. I felt after Thursday's race that I could corner better than anyone else in the field, so I used the 30 minutes to get the nasty corner wired, hoping I might find it useful. There was a storm drain very deep in the corner on the outside that marked what I figured was the best spot to initiate the turn. It was really deep, and somewhat uncomfortable, but the rest of the field generally apexed too early and had to brake late in the turn. If I hit the first part of the turn hard and made it all the way to the curb, I was able to exit with a lot of speed right as most everyone else was slowing down to avoid the hay bales. Any time I had a open line through the turn, I was able to make up time or open up gaps on the people behind me. I used it to initiate a couple of moves, and join a few others, but nothing stuck.
With 2 laps to go, I found myself near the front as we rode through the start/finish. I decided to roll to the front and see how it worked out. I got through the sketchy turn with about 5 meters and put my head down and went with it. No one chased, so I heard the bell with about a 30 meter gap. I survived the backstretch, but the field finally caught me just as I finished the last turn and started up the finish stretch. I rolled through with the group in 17th.
Jess took a photo of me yesterday at the end of my race and another one today. I'll post them up when we get home, but today's photo was a lot happier. I had a blast in the crit, rode my legs off, kept it upright, and proved to myself that I can enjoy riding my bike. And I clipped a pedal in a turn and rolled out of it clean with no worries, so that's always nice too.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Like an egg
I used to think I was a relatively smart racer. And that I was something of a climber. Wrong on both. I felt great at the start of the race, but I wasted a ton of energy for no reason, and by mile 70 I realized I was done. Got popped with 6 miles to go, chased back on then got popped again. At least I dropped the three guys that wouldn't pull through for the 3 miles before the steep part of the climb. Came in somewhere between 15 and 20, and probably lost a top 10.
In my defense, most of my wasted energy was marking the guy that eventually got away and won. Were it not for the 20mph headwind, it might not have hurt so much.
My pre-race analysis was that my best chance to do well was the first stage. Turns out I was right.
In my defense, most of my wasted energy was marking the guy that eventually got away and won. Were it not for the 20mph headwind, it might not have hurt so much.
My pre-race analysis was that my best chance to do well was the first stage. Turns out I was right.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Scenic (and windy) Gorge TT
We woke up to steady 20mph winds today. I guess there's a reason this is the wind surfing capital of North America. Must be payback for the tailwind we had last year. I knew I'd lose a fair amount of time, but I was hoping to keep it under 2 minutes. I didn't quite get there. I finished in the top 10, but a ways back. The winner was about 2:50 up on me, although second place was over a minute behind him. The winner lost almost 2 minutes yesterday, so hopefully he isn't a threat tomorrow. I'm not feeling like I'll be much of a threat either, so I'm not sure it matters.
It was a fun TT, whatever the result. The guy starting in front of me didn't show, so I had a full minute to the next guy. I caught him about 4 miles in, before the first climb. He passed me and got about 10 seconds going up the climb, but I passed him again a few minutes later and never saw him again. Right after I passed him, the guy 30 seconds back came flying by me. I managed to stay about 10 seconds behind him until the last few miles when he opened it up a bit. I did catch 3 guys, so at least I made up a minute or so on a few of the guys that finished around me yesterday.
The wind was nuts. The course winds enough that we had quite a few sections with stiff cross winds. I tried to stay on the right side of the road to get some protection from the fence and trees, but any opening would send me halfway across the road. It's still about the coolest TT course I can imagine.
I did learn this year that you can get more aero when you don't care if you are having kids ever again. I got way up front and friendly with my saddle, and noticed a big difference.
GC isn't posted yet, but I'm hoping to still be in the top 10, within a couple of minutes of everyone. If I have a good day tomorrow, I can make up 2 minutes. Or I can lose 10.
It was a fun TT, whatever the result. The guy starting in front of me didn't show, so I had a full minute to the next guy. I caught him about 4 miles in, before the first climb. He passed me and got about 10 seconds going up the climb, but I passed him again a few minutes later and never saw him again. Right after I passed him, the guy 30 seconds back came flying by me. I managed to stay about 10 seconds behind him until the last few miles when he opened it up a bit. I did catch 3 guys, so at least I made up a minute or so on a few of the guys that finished around me yesterday.
The wind was nuts. The course winds enough that we had quite a few sections with stiff cross winds. I tried to stay on the right side of the road to get some protection from the fence and trees, but any opening would send me halfway across the road. It's still about the coolest TT course I can imagine.
I did learn this year that you can get more aero when you don't care if you are having kids ever again. I got way up front and friendly with my saddle, and noticed a big difference.
GC isn't posted yet, but I'm hoping to still be in the top 10, within a couple of minutes of everyone. If I have a good day tomorrow, I can make up 2 minutes. Or I can lose 10.
Cooper Spur -- Mt. Hood Day 1
Unlike last year, I came in here with expectations. Until I saw the other guys I was racing against. Then I returned to my old habits and convinced myself that I didn't have a chance. At least I had Tony to hang out with.
We started out hot on the mellow climb, but then when we hit the steeper sections at the top, the pace dropped off a lot. I was stuck in the pack and couldn't do anything about it. But of course, even after telling Brian 20 times not to do anything on the first lap (and telling myself the same), I squeezed out the side and went up the road. I got about 400m by the top with a guy on me wheel and decided to keep going. By the bottom of the hill, it was clear we weren't going anywhere, so I sat up.
Lap two I tried to get away twice, but nothing happened, so I decided I wasn't going to do anything until the end of the race.
Then we got hit by a thunderstorm. The temp dropped about 20 degrees, it started hailing a bit and raining really hard, and I got really cold. I decided I wouldn't do anything on the climb, but I had no intention of riding in the group on the decent. I got off the front of the group over the top and was able to ride the decent at the speed I wanted, which apparently was faster than anyone else wanted to. But I had no plans of going anywhere, so I sat up every time I got a gap.
Ok, last lap. I forgot to mention that there were three teams in the race with some numbers. We had a guy off the front for all of the third lap. We caught him with about 12k to go in the race. His teammate immediately attacked, and no one responded. Cutting to the chase, he soloed it and won by 18 seconds. A few guys made late attempts to bridge, but nothing happened. I hit the final climb in about 4th wheel, and a guy went to the front to set up his teammates. But they weren't there. He spend most of the first part of the climb turning around and yelling at them to move up, but they didn't do anything. It wasn't a big pace, but no one was coming by. I didn't want to hit the finish with 20 guys, so I gave it a shot. I got a bit of a gap with one guy, but no one pulled through. I went for 15 seconds more, but had done nothing but string it out, so I sat up.
So we hit the finish in a big group. Some jackass went around up the wrong side of the road, and I got boxed in a bit, so I started the sprint from about 8th wheel. I didn't have much, but neither did anyone else, and I was able to move up to 3rd in the field sprint and 4th overall. For some reason, they gave the entire group of 19 guys the same time, which is complete crap but there's nothing I can do about it. There were big gaps at the finish, but I think they were just lazy.
I learned today that Masters fields are really fast, but they are also crazy sketchy. It was the worst field I've ever raced in. I don't know what the hell they're thinking, but there is more nonsense than I've seen in any other race.
The craziest story of the day happened after my race. My friend Matt was in our field and got dropped fairly early. He's a really small guy, about 120 lbs with no body fat. We were sitting in the pasta feed about 33 minutes after I finished. He was shivering uncontrollably and could barely talk. Lucking his son was there, and I grabbed Matt and put him in there car and put a sleeping bag on him. 20 minutes later he was still crazy cold and shivering, but was talking more coherently. He finally recovered, but I don't know how he's doing now. I don't know how he finished, but he said he didn't want to quit.
TT today. Forecast is for 15 mph headwinds, chance of T-storms, gusts to 25. Not my thing.
We started out hot on the mellow climb, but then when we hit the steeper sections at the top, the pace dropped off a lot. I was stuck in the pack and couldn't do anything about it. But of course, even after telling Brian 20 times not to do anything on the first lap (and telling myself the same), I squeezed out the side and went up the road. I got about 400m by the top with a guy on me wheel and decided to keep going. By the bottom of the hill, it was clear we weren't going anywhere, so I sat up.
Lap two I tried to get away twice, but nothing happened, so I decided I wasn't going to do anything until the end of the race.
Then we got hit by a thunderstorm. The temp dropped about 20 degrees, it started hailing a bit and raining really hard, and I got really cold. I decided I wouldn't do anything on the climb, but I had no intention of riding in the group on the decent. I got off the front of the group over the top and was able to ride the decent at the speed I wanted, which apparently was faster than anyone else wanted to. But I had no plans of going anywhere, so I sat up every time I got a gap.
Ok, last lap. I forgot to mention that there were three teams in the race with some numbers. We had a guy off the front for all of the third lap. We caught him with about 12k to go in the race. His teammate immediately attacked, and no one responded. Cutting to the chase, he soloed it and won by 18 seconds. A few guys made late attempts to bridge, but nothing happened. I hit the final climb in about 4th wheel, and a guy went to the front to set up his teammates. But they weren't there. He spend most of the first part of the climb turning around and yelling at them to move up, but they didn't do anything. It wasn't a big pace, but no one was coming by. I didn't want to hit the finish with 20 guys, so I gave it a shot. I got a bit of a gap with one guy, but no one pulled through. I went for 15 seconds more, but had done nothing but string it out, so I sat up.
So we hit the finish in a big group. Some jackass went around up the wrong side of the road, and I got boxed in a bit, so I started the sprint from about 8th wheel. I didn't have much, but neither did anyone else, and I was able to move up to 3rd in the field sprint and 4th overall. For some reason, they gave the entire group of 19 guys the same time, which is complete crap but there's nothing I can do about it. There were big gaps at the finish, but I think they were just lazy.
I learned today that Masters fields are really fast, but they are also crazy sketchy. It was the worst field I've ever raced in. I don't know what the hell they're thinking, but there is more nonsense than I've seen in any other race.
The craziest story of the day happened after my race. My friend Matt was in our field and got dropped fairly early. He's a really small guy, about 120 lbs with no body fat. We were sitting in the pasta feed about 33 minutes after I finished. He was shivering uncontrollably and could barely talk. Lucking his son was there, and I grabbed Matt and put him in there car and put a sleeping bag on him. 20 minutes later he was still crazy cold and shivering, but was talking more coherently. He finally recovered, but I don't know how he's doing now. I don't know how he finished, but he said he didn't want to quit.
TT today. Forecast is for 15 mph headwinds, chance of T-storms, gusts to 25. Not my thing.
Monday, June 1, 2009
a bit of a lull
No races in the month of May. After racing every weekend in April, my plans all fell apart for this month. The one mountain bike race I wanted to do changed its date to conflict with graduation, and I ended up unwilling to spend $130 and three nights in a hotel for a three-race stage race against 8 other guys.
But I did get a ton of riding in. I don't think I've ever had that much time with good weather, an easy work schedule, and no racing to worry about. My biggest three-day block was over 14 hours with a bunch of intensity. And I napped a lot.
But June has more going on. Mt. Hood next week. Then state roads. Then finally another mountain bike race.
And then off to Breck.
(photos from a "work" trip to Montana last week. with my cell phone)
But I did get a ton of riding in. I don't think I've ever had that much time with good weather, an easy work schedule, and no racing to worry about. My biggest three-day block was over 14 hours with a bunch of intensity. And I napped a lot.
But June has more going on. Mt. Hood next week. Then state roads. Then finally another mountain bike race.
And then off to Breck.
(photos from a "work" trip to Montana last week. with my cell phone)
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