The Aggregate Cyclist

Building Blocks

2010-03-22T21:46:00.001-07:00

Blink and life leaps forward. It seems like just yesterday I was getting back from Tucson, filled with Vitamin D, a little color on my face, and a whole lot of miles in my legs in a short period of time.

The effects of the training camp were pretty evident right away, although it was my coach that noticed them first. Early March I got a note from him saying my 28 day power profile was equal to my all time bests. I felt strong on the team rides and in my training, but I hadn't yet "turned the pedals in anger" this season.

Banana Belt plans went slipping away when I had to work the weekend of the first event. From there after I just passed on the racing as the thought of riding around Hagg lake 5 then 6 times just didn't appeal to me. I'm happy to saw however the team got some great results out there, with Mitch Lee finally getting his first ever win in epic 60 mile breakaway fashion. You rule my friend.

Because I had to work that one weekend, I took a few days off this past week because the weather said "SUN". When its sunny and 60 in this part of the world, at this time of year, you take advantage of it.

Traci was still in the process of recovering from the "lung-crud" that popped up the week prior. During the time of her convalesces, I took care of the house, including the cooking. Because it takes me 2x the time to make something 1/2 as good as what she does, my riding sat on the back shelf with the exception of the weekends.

Knowing that I was going to have a few days of riding, I put the call out to the team and was rewarded by the excellent company of Dave Haag and Mike Kender for all three days of the mini-camp and a host of other folks who were able to make it out on the other days. Thursday we did Dave's special loop out of West Linn. Friday was the PV Classic Timber route, and Saturday the team did a recon ride down to the new Piece of Cake course. Sunday I just did an easy recovery spin. By the end of the weekend I clocked in just shy of 250 miles, all on my brand new Corsa Concept carbon clinchers.

Sandwiched between it all was a wedding, (congrats Scott and Tabitha!), a party / fashion show (thanks Veloforma!), and some quality time with my finally healthy wife.

The funny thing about the mini camp was how my body reacted on day three. Day three in Tucson was Mt. Lemmon, and that evening I ate and ate and ate and ate and was still hungry, and I barely had to take any insulin. In fact, I had to dial down my insulin because I was consistently drifting low! Day three in my mini camp was the same way. We did 70 miles with some hard efforts thrown in for kicks, and when we got home I had a sandwich, had an early dinner, then Salvo and I ate about 2 pizzas between us at the party. Again, barely any insulin usage.

Its pretty cool to see that my body reacts so well to exercise and especially multiple days of it in a row.

This week I'll take it easy at the start, with a slight ramp at the end to wake the body back up. Piece of Cake is six days away!

Tucson Day 4

2010-02-10T21:58:00.001-08:00

I slept horridly the night after Mount Lemon. I tossed and turned endlessly, getting up multiple times for water, the restroom, or to flush out my quickly congesting sinus.

I dragged my ass out of bed at 7 and walked into the living area of TCH. Owen asked right away how I was feeling. I'm pretty sure I replied "Nnnnnnngggh!" and went straight to the coffee. I had a fairly light breakfast, more coffee, and went back into our room for a long hot shower with the hopes that the hot water would help unclog my head.

Today Madera Canyon was on the radar. The crew loaded their bikes onto "Big Blue" to be shuttle down south to starting point of the ride. We get the opportunity to see "downtown" Tucson. Not terribly impressive.

A short 30 minute drive later we arrive at a small coffee shop where seemingly every Tucson police officer in a 10 mile radius was heading to, where we suit up for today's ride. We head almost due west out past some huge mining complexes. The road is a steady uphill grade, and after yesterdays effort and the start of the head cold, I really have no desire to ride hard or at the front.

I languish in the back for a while until Traci drops off the front of the pace and eases back into the group. It's been a long hard week for her, and we've had little time to ride together so I take the opportunity to pull in next to her and keep her company.

The wind relentlessly blows at us from the south. It isn't driving, but its a constant reminder that the trip up Madera Canyon is going to be into a headwind.

Gregg and local legend Mike Longmeier hand back with Traci and I as the group rolls along up the road. We shelter Traci from the wind as we snake our way through the desert. Traci mentioned she feels a bit dizzy as we hit a small climb so we ease off the pace. We roll up to the support van and she decides to call it a day.

I take off down the road and try to wake the body up with a hard effort. About 10 minutes later I hit the regroup point where we get some info about the descent into town and the turn off to the road leading up to the canyon.

The route to the canyon is an out and back, 13 miles one way. The road is heavily used by cyclists and a favorite among training rides in the area. A steady almost un-noticeable climb of 1-2% heads out for roughly 10.5 miles before the road kicks you in crotch the last 2.5 miles with an average pitch of 12%.

A split quickly forms on the trip out, with Paul, Mike, RC, Deanna and myself trying to keep on the wheel of Brendan and Jen from the TCH, who is just "riding tempo". A few half hearted attacks are made, but no one is able to stay away for too long. After about 15 wheels of running at threshold in a draft, my insulin pump starts beeping at me. I gratefully take the opportunity to pull out of the pace line and figure out what's up with my bionic pancreas.

"SENSOR ERROR". Ah, no big deal, was about time to change it out anyway. I take a second to shut the sensor off and look up the road. The group is about 50 feet ahead of me and I just don't have the legs to take another dig and close the distance. Russell and Deanna roll up behind me and we ride on together until Mr. Cree takes a Big Blue motor pace back up to the group ahead of us.

Cheater. I was very jealous.

Deanna and I ride along together, keeping the pace high, but steady. We eventually pick up Jen who backed off the silly pace that was being set by the boys up the road.

We leapfrog the van one more time as the road noticeable gets closer to the canyon. The grade is starting to kick up a bit and our small three person group splits up. I get a final water bottle from Traci's who is riding support shotgun in Big Blue. Owen informs us that he can't bring the van into the park due to a dumb ass park ranger who fined him $700 last year for having Hammer Nutrition stickers on the side of the van. Napoleon wannabe.

As I enter the final, steep, 3 miles of the ride, the United Healthcare pro team comes bombing down the hill the other way, their team car following behind. I wonder if they got fined.

A few of the riders wave and say hello in the short moment they were close by. I'm looking forward to the descent.

I climb on through the forest and past the small campsites and turnouts. A roadrunner strides out in front of me and crosses the road. I wanted it to go "meep meep", but I guess it wasn't in the mood. I pass a flock of wild turkeys hiding in the shade under one of the large tree's. I've never seen one before, and I'm fairly shocked to have seen on less than 25 miles from the US-Mexico border.

Eventually I hit the top of the climb, but not before one last knee shredding wall I'm forced to grind up. I reach the top and Paul snaps a photo of me doing my best "Ironclad Salute", complete with prerequisite gloves.

We hang for a bit while the rest of the riders roll in up that miserable last section. The sun is warm, and the views are actually pretty amazing once you get the chance to look at them. Owen rolls in on a borrowed bike, sans cycling shoes and with a big grin on his face. He's been fighting a cold all week and its good to see him feeling better.

Gregg comes into view a few minutes later, and the cheers of "Big Meat" echo off the surrounding rocks. We take a moment to get one final PV press photo with a stunning background.

We roll out, taking it easy the first few miles due to the rough pavement. Once we are clear of the forest the gloves come off and I get a chance to open up the legs. Russell punks Gregg at the van on the way down. Rumor has it he told Gregg to regroup then punched it as soon as Gregg stopped. Unfortunately for RC, Gregg and I are designed to go downhill, fast. Although he's got a good gap, its a matter of time before we reel him in. In the middle of the chase, I record a one minute effort at 400w doing 43mph. Fun times.

We eventually settle into a 4 person paceline, having towed the "waffer-thin" Paul along in our wake. We rip off the next 9 miles in just over 17 minutes, averaging close to 32mph in what has to be one of the best sections of road I've had the pleasure of riding. A few half hearted attacks happen in the last half mile, but for the most part the 4 of us roll into the finish together. The rest of the group isn't too far behind and we quickly pack Big Blue up for a stop at In'N'Out on the way home.

The night wraps up with an amazing Fiesta at TCH, which Kender, Sal, and Heidi join in on. The food is amazing, the wine, beer, and margaritas are wonderful, and Traci / Tina whip up a batch of homemade truffles for the gang to enjoy.

Unfortunately all good things come to an end sooner than we wish. Goodnights and Goodbyes are exchanged, and during the middle of the night a rainstorm moves in, washing away all chance of an easy spin the next morning. We spend Sunday relaxing at the house, having the last flight out of the day.

The gang at The Cycling House made this week special for those who had the chance to attend, and although this is just the first week of February, I'm pretty sure this will be one of the highlights of my year.

Thank you Owen, Andy, Sam, Brendan, and Jen for a wonderful week!

Tucson Day 3

2010-02-09T22:12:00.001-08:00

"Long ride w/ small climb."

Every night the whiteboard in the kitchen gets updated with the next days schedule, route, and a small sketch of the forecasted weather. For the second day in a row there is a big smiling sunshine in the upper right corner.

The crew gets up a bit earlier today, as our schedule departure from TCH is an hour earlier than the previous two days. Today is the day we tackle the "small climb" called Mount Lemon.

I've tired to get some advanced scouting info on this climb. I know its long.. really long. Something like 21 miles long, or 29 miles, depending on who you ask and where starting / stopping point is. It just goes on and on and on and on and up and up and up. Very rarely does it get over a 7 to 8% grade, and when it does its for a very short distance. It's miles of climb on a wide smooth road gaining over a mile in elevation. And we are climbing it today.

I've often said I'm not a huge fan of climbing. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it a few times in the past on this blog. But there is something different about this climb. It just has the feeling about it that it will grind down even the strongest of climbers, through the sheer length of the ordeal. I'm looking forward to it oddly enough.

The group rides out of TCH and towards the foot of the climb. We are meeting our friends today at the base. The snowbirds Sal and Heidi, and Mike Kender, all friends and teammates are staying across town. We roll into the final stop before the climb and they arrive minutes later. Warm greetings in warm sunshine. A full crew of gleaming silver, black and red PV kits and team Velo Vie bikes. It almost looks pro.

As a few final water bottles are topped off and photos are snapped before the climb, I look around for Traci. I don't see here anywhere and have a moment of panic. I ask out loud if anyone has seen her and was told she took off up the mountain. I know she's determined to get to the top and needs to ride her own pace.

The group rolls out, the shiny pod of white PV jerseys rides in a clump as we pass the "Mile 0" marker and the road slowly starts to point up. As we ride along, I can see the first switch back rise hundreds of feet above us to the right. A small figure on a bike can be seen spinning away up the road. I know its Traci as her infamous red bibs stand out against the brown desert landscape. I want to take a photo of the sight but know my camera phone won't pick out the small details at this distance.

The pack slowly starts to separate out. We all have to ride within our self on this one. Mike and I end up riding together. He's a much strong climber than I normally, but on this day he's fighting a cold and is under the weather. We enjoy each others company, and the stunning view of the valley.

It takes a good 10 to 15 minute to catch Traci. She's moving along at a good steady pace, breathing hard, but not labored. I tell her I love her and to stay strong. She wishes me the same as I spin away up the hill up towards Mike.

About mile 6 Mike starts to slow a bit, his cold and the elevation are bugging him. We are both riding in our zones now. That almost mechanical state where the body is working hard, but working for the long run. I slowly ride away from him.

After a quick stop at the support van around mile 7 to snag some more sunblock, I run into Russell who's coming downhill to check on people. He doubles back and rides up next to me all smiles. The others aren't too far up the road, but the majority of the climb is still ahead and I keep my pace steady. We ride along idly chatting and taking in the scenery. I sniff the air and smell skunk.

"Javelina?" I ask. They are often known as skunk-pigs because, well... the smell.

"Javelina!" Russell says with a crazy accent. We don't see them anywhere though.

Another mile up the road, Owen is stopped with the van. Sal and a few others are there having a snack and refilling bottles. Russell pulls off as I decide to keep heading up hill. A short distance later I see Paul at an overlook with a few others. I let them know the others aren't far down hill and continue to ride along.

I look over my shoulder and see they continue to wait. I want to stay warm and moving.

Mile 10 rolls by and we start heading into the forested area. The temperature drops noticeably, and I'm frequently zipping and unzipping my jersey to regulate my temp as I climb in and out of the shadows, wind, and sun.

I continue to climb, the occasional light grade or dip in the road allowing me to turn the big ring over and stretch my back and legs. I frequently look behind me waiting for that pack of climbers I know lurks below me to come into sight. The road is quiet save the occasional car that passes and the rhythmic sounds of my bike and breathing.

Mile 14 ticks by and I realize I'm over half way up this climb. Owen once again comes by and asks if I need anything. I'm running a bit low on water so we meet up at the next lookout point where I stop for a minute to tank up. Only Deanna is ahead of me, about 5 minutes up the road. I'd love to catch her, but know that isn't likely. My only goal now is to delay the catch from behind as long as I can.

I set out once again, working hard to keep the speed and wattage constant and my heart-rate at or below 160BPM. Mile 16 and Owen comes by once again. I ask for my vest, its getting chilly and I've been riding past snow for the last few miles. I find out we are going just beyond Palisades. A information sign coincidentally shows up and I see that's only 6 miles ahead. About 40 more minutes at my current pace. I get an update on Traci. She's riding with Tina and moving along steadily.

17 and 18 roll by and the occasional steeper sections pop up a bit more frequently. I actually get confused for a moment as I thought the previous mile post said 18 when I approached the one that actually said 18. Crap.

Owen swings by for the last time as he's getting ready to stage at the top. He says I look strong and I tell him I'm feeling pretty good. I hold up three fingers and ask about the mileage. He nods and drives up around the next bend.

I try to increase my pace a bit, wanting to finish strong. Unfortunately I'm someplace between 7000 and 8000 feet above sea level and have been climbing for the better part of two hours. The body complains and the heart rate climbs quickly. I settle back into the pace my body has run faithfully at and promise only to push it if I see the climbers approaching behind me. I may get caught, but if I do, I'll have something in the tank to hit them with!

19 rolls by, then 20. I pass the 8000 ft elevation sign and see notifications of the Palisades campground ahead. I nervously look over my shoulder for the climbers that aren't there. I keep expecting the hungry pack lurking just out of sight waiting to pounce like a pack of hungry wolves. Or maybe a herd of Javelina? I'm sure we probably smell pretty bad by now.

I roll through the turnoffs for the campground, keeping an eye out for the support van and Owen. About a quarter mile later I come around a corner and see the crown of the road. Owen and Deanna are there cheering, and I've got a big dumb dazed grin on my face.

20.8 miles in 2hr8m. I averaged about 240w for the duration of the climb, and about 10.5 mph. Burning close to 1500 calories during that time. I'm the first PV guy to summit today, and I'm feeling pretty good about that, even though I know in the back of my head the other stopped a bunch. Have to take those little victories where you can!

I get some fuel, check my blood sugar, and put on my warm clothes. About 15 minutes later Deanna and I start rolling down hill together. As we pass the Palisades we see the first of the rest of the group and cheer them on. In groups of one and two they come into view, and I keep hoping to see those bright red shorts come into view. About 5 minutes after I start the descent, and 2.5 miles down I round a corner and see my beautiful wife.

I slow and double back to ride with her for a few moments. She's laboring, but determined to get to the top. "How much farther is it?" she asks. I lie and say another mile and a half. She lets me know she's going to ride down with the van. I tell her I'm proud of her and that I love her and turn my bike back down hill.

I ride hard for the next few minutes and catch up to Deanna. We spend the next 40 minutes or so going down hill, taking our time. I'm freezing by the time I hit the base and my neck and arms are screaming.

We roll into the coffee shop regroup point and grab a snack. A short time later more people roll in in small groups. There are smiles all around. Mount Lemon has been squeezed.

We've got about 20 miles to ride back home and the pace is easy. We end up with a bit over 80 miles and 5 hours of saddle time on this day. An ice bath, massage, and big dinner cap of the evening.

I'm pretty sure I said more than once that I liked the climb more than the descent that evening. There isn't anything like that that I've done before. I wrote last year about redefining epic, and I certainly feel this ride qualified.

Tucson Day 2

2010-02-08T21:53:00.001-08:00

Forgive my delay. Well I doubt there really is anything to forgive, we traveled yesterday and most of the world was watching a football game or doing something that involved not watching a football game. We were traveling most of the day, and got home late last night. Was happy to sleep in my own bed for the first time in week.

Anyway, back to Tucson!

A bright yellow thing showed up in the sky early Thursday morning. I vaguely remember slathering stuff on my skin last year to protect myself from it, so that was the ritual to start out the day.

We rode from TCH to a location called Gates Pass, which was basically a notch in a Mnt range south west of Tucson. It's a pretty regular place for cyclists to head as its the gateway to the Western part of Saguaro National forest.

The ride out had us go through a good part of Tucson proper, which wasn't a lot of fun, but it did allow us to get in miles in the sun. Spirits were high as the temperatures allowed us to shed the vests about 40 minutes into the ride. A quick stop to change a flat tire and we hit a section of rollers below the run up to Gates Pass.

The eastern approach to Gates Pass is about 2.5 to 3 miles long. It's a steady climb with a few places that kicks up into a grade that makes you get out of the seat. I knew we had a lot of climbing the next few days so I was content to ride at my pace up the hill and watch the ultra light climbers run away from me.

Owen was at the top taking some great photos of everyone, and even managed to catch me smiling as I hit the summit. I had about 3 seconds to zip my jersey and check out the view before the road made a 90 degree left turn and dropped like a stone down the other side. Beautiful flat pavement with long sweeping turns and full visibility greeted me with open arms and it wasn't long before I found myself catching up to a truck that had passed me about a minute before I hit the summit. The drive waved me around on a straight-away and I yelled out my thanks as I tucked out of his draft and rocketed passed him.

The downhill gently transitioned into a long set of rollers, and I wasn't really sure where we regrouping so I eased up. About 5 minutes later I hit the stop sign at the end of the road and the lead climbers were there.

We regrouped and rolled out to the national forest area and the promise of some great roads to ride on. We heard the story of the wolf man, a legendary figure that is often seen riding around the Gates Pass area (not to be confused with the Gray Wolf, another Tucson legendary rider), in nothing more than cut off jean shorts and a hairy back.

We hit another long section of power rollers and the group splits as the pace picks up, favoring the power riders. We play cat and mouse for a few miles before we make a turn on to "Mile Wide Road", a straight and an arrow road with a slight down hill. A few of us sat up and relaxed before getting countered by Gregg with Dave in tow.

Not being one to let a sprinter go unchallenged, I took off in pursuit with Jeremy, Paul, and Deanna chasing behind me. Just as we caught Gregg who had sat up the tell-tale "fssssssssssst" of a flat came from behind me. Everyone, except Dave, sat up to see who was the lucky victim. Paul drew the lucky straw this time and Jeremy stopped with him, as the rest of us soft pedaled along for a minute.

By now Dave was a good 200m up the road and ride along without the acknowledgement that anything happened behind him. "What do you think, 1-2 minute effort?" I asked Gregg. He pondered a moment and said "yeah, looks about right." He jumped on my wheel and Deanna on his and I set off after Dave.

About 30 seconds later a car passed us, which would have been fairly un-noteworthy in most instances. I glanced down at my Powertap to check our speed, 35mph and holding steady. Looking back up the road the car lock up all 4 wheels and smoke pouring from the sides of the car.

"Holy Shit!" was all I could get out. I didn't see Dave. Gregg and I immediately started sprinting towards where we expected the worst. As we approached the rear of the car, we saw Dave picking himself and his bike up and limping to the side of the road. His entire side was ripped up from skidding across the ground, but he didn't look like he had gotten hit.

The lady in the car pulled to the side of the road, along with a City of Tucson truck that had been coming the other direction. Gregg immediately started checking on Dave while I talked with the motorists who had stopped at the scene. Cell phones came out and offers of help came from all the by standers.

"What happened?" I asked the lady in the car.

"He fell over in the middle of the road in front of me, he just lost control of his bike and crashed."

I thanked her for her attentiveness. She offered the use of her house, a half mile down the road. Owen arrived on scene and the rest of the riders caught up. Dave stiffly walked over to the bed of the truck and sat down. It was a bit of a surreal scene. From best we could piece together from Dave and the guys in the truck, Dave tried to look behind him over his left shoulder, turned his bars sharply and lost control of his bike and crashed.

The sheer luck of the situation was not lost on most of us, but apparently it was on Dave.

Owen took Dave and Deanna to the local hospital while the rest of us finished the ride, our spirits fairly subdued.

We finished our loop and made our way to the western climb up Gates Pass. The descent down the other side was long and fun and the rollers heading home were mostly down hill. Gregg and I took large pulls at the front of the line into the winds with the remainder of the group sitting safely in behind us. Russell yelled out "Big Meat at the front!"

Gregg had a new nickname. We christened it with bacon buffalo burgers that night at the house. Tina arrived at the house, and Dave returned to the house later that evening, battered, bruised, but remarkable in good condition for what had happened or could have potentially happened. The day ended on a happy note, and Lemons were in our future.

Tucson Day 1

2010-02-05T20:27:00.001-08:00

We woke up to mostly overcast skies. I donned the long sleeve jersey, knee warmers, vest, and shoe covers, and packed my second windbreaker in the support car. We knew this day was going to be hit or miss on the weather, and we all prepped for the worst.

We rolled out at 10 and headed east to Saguaro National Forest East. The trip there was filled with rolling hills. My legs felt very thick the first 10 minutes, so I gradually moved to the front and stayed there for the next 45 minutes. Eventually the steady pace worked out the kinks of travel and a restless nights sleep. Traci, Gregg, and Paul along with myself made up the contingent from PV that made the jaunt down to The Cycling House this year, along with our coach Russell Cree from Upper Echelon. It’s great riding with familiar steady wheels in unfamiliar territory.

We hit the first climb of the day and Paul and RC fly away with Jeremy, a super-strong Mountain Biker from NYC in close pursuit. These three will end up trading blows for the remainder of the trip.

The first climb separates the campers into two groups, with Gregg, Paul, RC, Jeremy and I joined by two Canadian triathletes, Deanna, and Dave. We ride a quick tempo up the hills for the next 10 minutes, no one wanting to expend a ton of energy on day one or really knowing how strong the others are. Salvo the snowbird makes a short appearance as he’s finishing up his ride. He looks fast and lean. We say our goodbyes as we approach the entrance to the park, knowing we’ll see him in a few days.

It starts raining.

Owen is there with the support van and rain capes get donned. We break into small groups of 4 so gain passage into the park, then amass a short distance down the road. The park is a one way loop of about 8 miles, filled with twists turns and short punchy rollers and one sustained climb on the backside. A rollercoaster track for bikes, lined with all sorts of nasty cacti waiting to eat you alive if you overshoot a corner. I curse the weather for being what it was that day.

We ride hard to get warmed back up, road spray flying from the bikes and wind blow rain pelting us. At least its 60. We hit the base of the climb and we are sheltered from the wind. The rain feels far less, and even non-existent in some places.

Cree, Jeremy, and Formiller along with one of the TCH riders Brendan spread their wings and fly up the incline. I stay with them a short bit before I settle myself into a tempo climb. We’ve got a lot of climbing over the next few days and I know I can’t burn myself out.

Deanna catches me about half way up the climb, and the two of us ride the rest of the climb together. She’s a solid rider with great engine for going uphill, which she’ll prove numerous times over the next few days.

We hit the regroup point and decide to do another lap. Paul, Jeremy, Brendan, Deanna and I head out a second time, pushing things a bit faster during the first section to get out of the rain. At the base of the climb Jeremy and Brendan take off with Deanna in hot pursuit. Paul and I decide to ride mellow to the top then hammer the rollers to catch back on to the trio out front, catching them right at the regroup.

The ride home is evil. Rain fails steadily and our progress is slowed by standing water in the bike lane in many areas and Dave’s cramping legs.

We finally get home where hot showers and hot food is waiting for us. I treat myself to a massage and a glass of wine.

Tomorrow we climb.

Tucson Day 0.5

2010-02-04T20:28:00.001-08:00

I’m snowbirding… even if it’s only a week. We got into Tucson on Tuesday afternoon, flight landed at 3:35 local time. Owen from The Cycling House picked us up and got us to home base by 4:45. A quick sandwich and kit change, and we are on our bikes by 5:15. We only have time for a short spin due to the rapidly approaching darkness, but it was good to stretch our legs.

The first thing I notice, after the nasty cacti wanting to impale my body and bike if I happen to drift off the road, is the elevation. Base camp for us is at ~2200 ft, which is 2000 ft higher than home. Every small roller has me breathing harder than I anticipate.

Dinner is ready shortly after we get home. Three different types of grilled salmon, all delicious. After dinner we have a quick pow-wow to set the schedule for the next day. Forecast calls for rain.

2009 Wrap-up

2009-12-30T15:40:00.001-08:00

Woah. Haven't been here in a long, long while.

In a strange mix of circumstances, life got busy all at once and when that happens the little, less important things have a tendency to fall off the plate. All about priorities right?

So why the sudden silence? Well, work for one thing. WW46 (that's the second week of November for all the non-Intel folks,) was the week that the almost year long software project I was the lead QA engineer for released. Unfortunately the release was on a weekend and overran what sounded to be an amazing PIR Cross Crusade event. I missed this race last year with my bum knee, and I really wanted to do it this year. Oh well.

What else got in the way? Well, about that same time I was handed the reigns of the Portland Velo Racing Team. Ty Lambert, after 3 years of being the DS for the team needed to step down and was confident enough to put one of the most successful powers in OBRA racing in my hands. It's a humbling experience in many ways, but mostly because of the sheer volume of things I took on in the space of a few weeks. Ty did an amazing job laying the foundation for our success and I can only hope to continue on with what he's done. I have some big plans that have been in motion for about a month now and I'm happy that things are going well.

So here I sit, on the eve of the eve of the decade. 10 years ago I was busting my ass getting ready for the Y2K rollover. 5 years ago I was hanging out with Traci and our best friend Irena, watching movies, shopping, and eating the amazing creations that two very talented cooks put together. Last year, I was sitting on the couch, probably icing my knee post-surgery and playing video games. So what did I do on the bike this year? We'll, lets take a look!

Season started December 29th, 2008, which was my first ride post surgery. It lasted a whole 35 minutes, and I averaged 35w and just a hair under 16mph. I remember how bad those first few pedal strokes hurt since the range of motion on the pedal stroke was more than the range of motion my knee had at the time.

The end of the season is a bit ambiguous. My last race was Krugers on the 22nd of November. It was pretty crazy and very very muddy. We'll call the last ride of the season this past Saturday, so December 26th 2009. Of the 363 days in my 2009 season, I have 205 PT files. Figure there were probably 20 or so rides I did on bikes that didn't have my PT attached to them, be it CX or track. I'm going to estimate that I rode 225 days this year. Crazy, but not uncommon in these parts.

WKO has me down for 6055 miles during that time frame. At one point I thought I had flipped 10k miles this season, but I just now realized I didn't reset my ODO on the PT at the start of the season. Oops! I'll estimate another 500 miles for the non PT rides and guess I logged about 6600 or so miles this season. Enough to cover the round trip between my home and our friend's Danny and Irena house in Stow, MA. Along the way I can dip down south in KS and swing through Abilene and get a Clif bar and a new water bottle from my friend Julie.

Total wattage in kJ recorded: 191154.

Total calories burnt: 45730, or approximately 228 pints of Guinness.

Total time in saddle: 14 days, 22 hours, 34 minutes, 52 seconds. No wonder my hips were sore more of the year! Average speed for the year was 17mph. Gotta love those recovery miles.

Weight at the start of the season was 192lbs, weight at the end was 186lbs. I floated around 185-187 most of the season.

Longest day in the saddle, 6hrs 41mim 41s, spanning 65 miles. This was the day of De Ronde Portlandia which had me climb two of the steepest climbs in the Portland area at approximately 26% grade and 28% grade. That's about a foot of elevation gain for every 3 feet you move forward.

Longest single ride was 103mi, which took place at the Vine Ride with some teammates. Was a good day on the road.

Highest mileage month was April with 833 miles. Hardest month from a TSS/mile rate was June, however April through August was all very intense from a TSS/mile standpoint, which is probably why I felt like crap at the start of September, which was my lowest month in terms of training.

Highest recorded HR was 189BPM on a random Saturday ride. However, I'm going to guess that my highest seasons HR was probably during the Kilo I raced at the track. Didn't have any measure for that event but it took me almost 10minutes to recover from that effort and I thought I was going to blackout at the end.

Highest recorded speed was 51.4mph. No clue what I was descending on that day. Fastest flatland sprint was 41mph out at PIR.

Mean Max Power: (Max historical wattage shown at any time.) Last season vs this season:

2008

Time	Wattage	w/kg
1s	1375	16.35
5s	1315	15.64
10s	1196	14.22
20s	928	11.04
30s	844	10.04
1m	640	7.61
5m	343	4.08
10m	314	3.73
60m	256	3.04
120m	216	2.57

2009

Time	Wattage	w/kg	Difference
1s	1472	17.41	97w
5s	1411	16.69	96w
10s	1257	14.87	61w
20s	1072	12.68	114w
30s	835	9.88	-9w
1m	605	7.61	-35w
5m	349	4.13	6w
10m	320	3.78	6w
60m	244	2.89	-12w
120m	220	2.60	4w

I increase what was already a pretty good top end. I felt very strong when sprinting this year. I figure next year I'll break the mythical 1500w barrier. My 1m wattage was probably higher this year than last since I was just stronger all around, but I didn't really ever have the need for a 1m burst other than my Kilo which wasn't tracked for power. I know I increased my FTP over the season as well. Last 20m effort I did was around 297w.

I had a few goals for 2009, with the biggest being "come back from knee surgery". In April, I won my first of three races this season (two out at PIR and one out at the track.) So I called that goal completed. I also wanted to get my upgrade to Cat 3, which happened in May.

I wanted to be successful against the 1/2/3 field out at PIR. I raced in that field 4 times with 2 DNF's (1 mechanical, 1 due to a crash that I was behind and helped with the aftermath of.) I took a 6th and a 4th in the other two finishes so I know I can hold my own in the sprints out there. Now if the rest of the field would just learn to race safely...

I wanted to do the TTT this year, and I did. The experience was fun, but painful as all hell. I sold my TT bike roughly 1 week later. I am not a TT rider by any means. If I have to do a TT in the future, I'll slap clip-on's to my road bike and call it good.

I wanted to be a stronger rider on the team, and I was. I will never ever be the strongest climber on the team, nor will I even remotely be considered a climber. I did however manager to hang on to every team ride this year, and often times I was an instigator on the road rather than pack fodder.

I wanted to race more on the velodrome this year. Unfortunately I didn't manage that. I only raced once this year, but I made it count by winning a state championship in the kilo.

I wanted to be competitive this year in Cross. I started the season in the Master C's. I finished 3 races in that group with 2 top 10 finishes, including 7th out of 190 at Alpenrose. That got me a call-up the rest of the season for Crusades! Rainer I was looking at another top 10 finish before I flatted. After that I upgraded to the Master B's and promptly started falling apart. Next season I look to come in a bit fresher and hope for a better showing. I'll probably also try to race more of the smaller races vs Crusades. They are just getting to big for their own good.

My 2010 goals are pretty simple. I want to gain more fitness, I want to get down to 175lbs by April, and I want to help the team become stronger. These goals are very obtainable and I look forward to taking the necessary strides to achieve them. I may toss in a stage race if I'm feeling frisky, but it would be solely to support one of the guys on the team.

2010 will probably provide is share of twists and turns and opportunities, and before we know it, we'll be talking about 2011!

Mixed weekend caps off a mixed season

2009-11-03T15:44:00.001-08:00

Astoria. For those outside of the racing community, this small coastal town in Northwest corner of Oregon may only be known as the filming location of the 80’s movie “The Goonies”, but for the last few years its hosted a 2 day sufferfest/party of Cyclecross racing at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds. Last year we had a great time and we were looking forward to this years event since the start of the CX season.

Unfortunately building something up in your mind often leads to letdown.

I took the day off on Friday to allow for plenty of time to clean the house and pack our stuff. Traci’s workday just got more and more hectic as it progressed, but we still managed to leave the house exactly at the time I wanted to. Her small-car Tetris packing ability never ceases to amaze me. In the end, the Mini was stuffed to the gills with 2 days worth of racing gear for both of us, our mud bin, beer, food, 1 spare wheel, and 15 costumes for the team. We both agreed that we were going to try and enjoy the weekend rather than race hardcore so the trainer / trainer wheel, and spare front wheel all stayed home.

A few of us booked reservations this year at a condo in downtown Astoria. Traci and I were the first to arrive at 4pm. The accommodations were beautiful albeit a bit cramped as 15 of us bunked down in a condo with beds for 8. (There were a few very sore housemates in the morning.)

Over the next few hours the rest of the folks staying started to show up, and the weather progressively got worse. Weather reports were continuously being updated on iPhones until at about 11pm a full blown storm was battering Astoria. Sustained 20-30mph winds with gusts of 50mph we recorded, and our small condo perched on one of Astoria’s many piers was taking the full brunt of it. The wind howled and whipped rain against the building. Gusts slammed nearby doors and rattled the windows. Every time I started to doze off another noise woke me up. Eventually around 1:30am, the storm blew through and I fell asleep.

The next morning our weary crew departed to the fairgrounds for Day 1 of racing. We hauled the first trip of our gear up from the parking lot to find someone had decided to pitch a quarter of their camping tent under one of the team shelters next to the course. No amount of polite asking, dirty looks, or obviously directed “who the fuck put their campsite in the middle of our tent?” like comments prompted them move their stuff. Srsly?

Since we arrived later that normal, race time crept up on me. Before I knew it, I was on a borrowed trainer, doing a half hearted warm up. Ok, I’ll admit really all I was doing was getting the embrocation on my back activated. The course was super muddy, similar to how WashCo was last week. Since the Fango’s had issues the previous week I decided to use Traci’s Bulldog front wheel and swap the rear cassette off my tubular to my Bulldog clincher so I would have better traction and not crash.. in theory.

The 8’s drew last position on Saturday which was good on a few levels. First I didn’t have to put any “I’m in the front so I should at least try and race hard” pressure on myself. Second, I got free beer for my effort. Third, I wouldn’t get in anybodies way as we went through the course. The whistle blew, and the race started. For the next 42 minutes I played “lets see how muddy I can get without actually crashing.” Answer, pretty muddy.

At the end of the race I was bummed about how I was feeling because Astoria was a course I probably could have done well at if I was at 100%. The climbs were hard, but not grinding like Rainer or Sherwood. The sloppy mud sections I could probably power through, if I would have been able to put power into the drive train consistently. At least I got some really good course recon that I was able to pass on to my friends and teammates who were racing later.

A couple hours sitting around in the cold / damp made my legs and back hurt and by the time we made our way back to the condo, I wasn’t a happy camper. A good hot shower, my SKINS and a nice beer did go a long way to improving my spirits though.

The group stayed in on Saturday night, choosing to have a big sit down dinner rather than going out on Halloween. Traci and I cooked dinner for the team, and by 9pm the number of folks nodding off in the family room equaled those awake. By 10 we were all in bed.

Sunday we awoke to a thin fog hanging over the shoreline. We ate and packed the cars and cleaned the condo for our departure. Sunday was a new day with a new race. Costumes where the theme and many of us decided to ride as “Guy Fawkes” aka “The V for Vendetta Guy”. It was a clever costume and had a great impact when there were a number of us all together. Next year however, no masks. :P

Today was about fun for me. I carried with me to the start line a bag of treats (candy) and tricks (plastic mice and skull rings and severed fingers). Also included in the bag was a hand-down of epic proportions. I had tipped Cap’n Dave off earlier to be ready for it. The whistle blew and I stayed with the front of the race until the first set of barriers.. where I promptly found Dave, pulled over and unzipped the bag. Inside was a 4 foot Skull and Spine Halloween beer funnel and a 22 of Rogue “Dead Guy” ale. The crowd erupted in cheers but sadly at this point no photos have surfaced of the hand-down.

I remounted my bike and sprinted off, quickly catching Javad and Mike who were waiting for me. The three of us rode easy together in identical costume’s getting a great deal of cheers from spectators. In the orchard I bit it on the off camber section and ran my bike to the next set of people, tossing out candy and prizes to those cheering. We rode on, over the barriers and up the road, next stop was going to be the OBRA tent.

My chain didn’t make it that far. With an audible snap and rattle of metal on pavement, my chain exploded into 3 pieces. I passed the bag off to Javad and Mike with the instructions to “carry on the mission”. I’m happy to report they did to the joy of the crowd.

I shoulder my crippled bike for the fourth time this season and set off at a run. Terry Camp saw me from the bridge and yelled down that she’d radio ahead to the Shimano pits to be ready for me. Through the Start / Finish I ran, barely able to see through my skewed mask. You know you’ve had a lot of mechanicals this season when Splinter actually singles you out.

Eventually I make it to the pits where the tech is waiting. Three minutes later I’m back in business rolling to the barriers for the second time. There are coffins now, and a pumpkin. I run through the barriers and b-line for the pumpkin where I jump on it and smash it to bits. More crowd cheering and I’m laughing along with them. The course is slick and slow through the stables and orchard, and I practice corning with a foot out of the pedals in these areas. It’s something I had never done and will be adding to my skill set next year hopefully.

The crowd continues to go nuts by the barriers, and I try to entertain them. Iron cross bike carries, dances on top of the coffins, its all in the name of fun.

My race ends early since I’m a lap down and in dead last. I roll directly to the bike wash. There isn’t a line, one of the few benefits of having a really bad race from a placing perspective.

I have a lot of time the remainder of the day and on the long drive home to reflect upon the weekend and the CX season as a whole. I had a lot of anticipation leading up to both, and in the end there was some moments of brilliance and delight in a series of unfortunate events, disappointments, and mishaps. It could be the reality of it all or it could be my tired attitude and sore body after a very long racing season. Time will tell.

Recovery and reflection this week. Plans are being made, goals being set, announcements are starting to leak out. Next season is right around the corner.

Where did this week go?

2009-10-29T20:57:00.001-07:00

It's Thursday night, a mere 16 hours before we head to Astoria and I'm just now getting to my write up of this last weekend. It's been a busy hectic week at work and when I get home I'm content to stretch and work the soreness out of my legs and lower back. My cross season will be over in a few days due to work, but this weekend should be a great way to put a wrap on things. But first, back to this past weekend.

Saturday we get up bright and early to head south down to Salem. The second event in the Willamette Valley Cross Series was held at the old Battle Creek golf course which was as cool as it sounds. The day was cool, but bright and sunny at the same time. The early morning damp fog and sog made for a chilly and messy pre-ride with the thick grass course creating mini moss monsters on people's bikes.

I had an 11am start time so after a few pre-ride laps it was time to get ready for my race. I got a good warm-up in, but my body was still feeling the effects of the Sherwood race the previous weekend. Mainly my lower back. Jeff B arrived right as I was finishing my warm-up and with him came my newly mounted rear tire. The Fango that flatted at Rainer had another, different flat at Sherwood which Stan's wonder-goo couldn't plug. Ah well.

I got to the line early enough to scout the first straightaway and corner. The previous races had carved some lines in the course and things were soggy, but not horrifically slick. The field is a good size, about 30 riders, so start position wasn't as crucial. I tucked into the back row on the left side and we were off a few moments later.

My start was good, much like its been all season. Going into the first turn I was sitting in 6th or 7th place, and maintained that position all the way to the first barriers. Unfortunately I tried to remount in the sand pit, failed and ended up duck walking my bike through traffic back to the next flat area. Lost contact with the front group and another few positions. Noob. :)

A small chase group formed behind, only a second or so off the first group. We stayed that way for the first lap and a half when my back started to tighten up on me. My pace dropped and soon I lost contact with the second chasing group. Ah well.

The course itself was deceptively hard. The wet grass smooth, but thick and soft. Riding on a wet sponge was the best way I can describe it. There was no place to recover on course. No small downhill to coast down, no flat section you could just spin through. I found myself flipping between front rings for the first time all season on a flat course. My back hurt too much to power the 46, but I was spinning out the 36. After two laps of toying with the gears, I mentally flipped off the "this hurts" and just rode the 46.

With a lap to go I really wanted to be done. I wanted to pull off the course and jump on the HPChiro table and have Seth and Laura beat my back until submission instead of it doing it to me. I took solace in the fact that I was maintaining distance to the riders behind me and steadily reeling in a trio of riders in front of me. I made it my goal to catch them before the lap was up and dug deep.

With half a lap to go I came to the first of the two bridge crossings each lap. These golf cart wide bridges spanned a small creek that ran through the middle of the course, and were slick with mud. I made sure to cross them cautiously, but in my desire to make the catch I put effort into the drivetrain too soon, spinning my rear tire and washing the bike out from under me.

I hit the deck of the bridge. Hard. Body and bike literally bouncing with the impact. I was fortunate enough to stay compact during the fall, landing on my shoulder, forearm, and hip all at the same time. (Yay for years of Karate and Hapkido!) I was more fortunate to land ON the bridge and not fall over the side. I was dazed by the impact and it took a moment for me to collect myself and get my bike and body out of the way of the riders bearing down on me. A dropped chain and bent brifter were all I could see as far as damage. Two riders pass me as I remount my bike and slowly get back to speed. The first few corners are hesitant as the body and mind replay what went wrong and anticipate the worst.

My chase begins a new, but now to try and regain lost spots. I make an aggressive pass on the inside of a 270 degree turn to pick one spot back up, but I'm unable to catch the other rider. I finish 19th.

While the race might not have gone the best, Seth was able to work on my back shortly after. The S-I joint is not happy. I'm thrilled to get the Hand Down (even if it was Budweiser) from Dave as he speeds through the first lap of his race, and Jose Sandoval is in the right place at the right time to capture it. Jeff B, Alex, and B-Rat crush the B race with Jeff and Alex taking first and third.

Unfortunately the day ends with a bit more trouble as Traci is forced to pull out of her race. Seth and Laura along with B squad show their true colors and help me take care of Traci while I get the car packed. We get home late and get the bikes cleaned off. 8pm and I'm exhausted. Fortunately the next race is 2 miles for our house.

Sunday is CC4 at Hillsboro Fairgrounds. We wake up later than normal and take our time getting ready. No hour drive to this venue! We load up the car and leave the house at 7:30, and roll into the parking lot at 7:38. My kind of commute!

Sal and Heidi get us a primo spot and we unload the car. The pre-ride is fun and I get to see the course for the first time as I was injured for this race last year. The sun is out, but a front is moving in. The temp drops by 10 degrees in the first hour we are there and it starts to drizzle on and off. Spirits are high.

PV turns out in force today, with the tent overflowing with racers and teammates here to watch the final Crusade race of Matt Couzens. Cuz is moving back to Denver soon and we picked this day to be his going away party. The wall of sound is deafening every time he rolls by the tent during his race, and he smiles through the pain reflects the joy of the sport and those that bear witness to it.

The time draws near for me to start my warm up and suddenly the PV tent is a flurry of activity. The 11:40 race has Mstr B's and 50+ racers, and with 7 racers in the Mstr B and 5 racers in the 50+ field we attract some attention. Jonathon Maus from BikePortland comes by and shoots a bunch of photo's for a great article about the event. He really has the pulse of the scene in PDX. I warm up easy, sore and tired from the previous day.

Eventually its time to race. We roll to the starting line and this race I was fortunate enough to get the third starting grid. I hope for a fast start and to hold on. The rain starts to fall lightly as the whistle blows. The front of the race accelerates away as the remaining riders file out of the chute. Such a difference from the previous days race.

Javad catches up to me quickly and tells me to latch on. The two of us ride together, the familiar comfort of riding on the road for the past 3 years transitioning quickly to the race. He picks out fast lines as I direct traffic and call out obstacles in the course. We steadily move up the field together, passing the team tent in tandem. The team cheers loudly urging us on. All through out the course members of PV are there, shooting photos and cheering like maniacs. I hear the booming voice of KRhea behind his massive camera lens, Dean and Barb Lee by the huge mud puddle, Tom with his dual cowbells and crazy grin pops up everywhere, Brad Sigler in the barn. We ride with wings.

Sasha catches us during the first half of lap 2 and the tandem becomes a trio. The aches and pains of yesterday are gone, filled with need to stay on Javad and Sasha's wheel. We fly towards the backside pit entrace for the second time when disaster strikes.

A racer from the Filth and Fury team moving up through the field suddenly crashes into me from behind on the right side, his front wheel doing its best to intimate the chariot race from Ben Hur on my right leg (see 6:30 in the clip). The rider managed to pull out of the collision, but in the process hooked my right arm and handlebars with his left arm and yanked the bike out from under me. I crashed hard on my left side again while he managed to stay upright and rode away.

The race as it was for me ended at that point. My teammates made it through the melee and continued on. My left brifter once again had been bent inward making braking difficult, not to mention the toll the spill had on my mental attitude. I was mad about being wrecked, and managed to crash once again in that same lap in some very slick mud. Battered and mentally beaten, I work on staying upright in the rapidly deteriorating course. I crash once more right in front of team tent at the "killer corner". At least there was a smile on my face then.

Four laps later, the race mercifully ends and I immediately head towards the bike wash.

My body and bike are filthy and my leg is bleeding freely. I'm angry. I'm also angry I wasn't able to ride angry. Traci offers to take my rig so I can get to the medical tent to have them look me over. Under the caked mud and congealed blood hides a 6" by 15" pattern of curved gouges and tireburn. My leg becomes photography fodder for a number of folks standing nearby. The scene is almost comical and quickly lifts my spirits. Beer awaits at the tents.

The day caps off beer, burgers, beer, a great race by Traci, and more beer. We scream our voices hoarse for Molly and Tina, and cheer wildly for all those putting it out there for the beauty of it all. A slice of heaven right in our back yard.

Bring on Astoria.

Meh.

2009-10-19T13:39:00.001-07:00

So I’ll state right up front that I was not a big fan of the Sherwood venue. The first part of this post is going to be a bit of a rant, so skip down if you don’t want to read it.

Just about everyone I’ve talked to today is battered and bruised, including those who didn’t go down. You are going to hurt after a cross race but today my hands feel like I repeated punched someone, and Dave Aldersabaes thinks it was him.

We arrived early, like normal, to help get our team’s tent setup. Upon arriving at the venue we were told the North parking lot will not be opened due to the conditions of the field, so we went down to the south lot where we were probably the 5th or 6th car there.

The course was no where near the south lot. In fact the course only popped near the north lot, which was opened after the south turned into a total fluster cluck of cars. (Hint, get people to organize parking if you don’t want that to happen. Don’t come through after the fact complaining at the people who are trying to get ready for your race.) Viewing was pretty limited to the starting area, and small on-course section after the starting area. By the end of the day our team’s tent stood near the Hammer Velo fortress and a fairly empty and quiet lot. Boo.

The course itself was.. meh. The elevation wasn’t really a problem, there was plenty of time to recover from the climbs. The problem was the course was about 90% single track. Yes, the course was 8 to 10 feet wide in most places, but it was really only ride worthy on the single track paths. Attempts to ride the non-track were met with bone jarring, bike breaking impacts. The gravel downhill section was filled with small fist size loose rocks. There was blackberry bramble hanging into the course in a number of locations. I saw a few people who looked like they had been slashed with razor blades, and Jeff B was picking thorns out of his arm when he finished.

Wheels were destroyed, chains busted, handlebars snapped, derailleurs ripped from bikes. The Shimano neutral support guy said he ran out of wheels almost every race and saw more busted bikes come in on this race then the others combined. Not a winner in my book.

Ok – I’m done ranting about the venue for this year.

I self upgraded to the Mstr B’s after enough goading from my friends and teammates. I’ve been a top 10 finisher of my of my races this season in the C’s and the ones I finished outside of the top 10 in I either started in the back (Blind date #2 / #4) or had a mechanical.

PV has a ton of guys in the Mstr B’s and Mstr 50+ so seeing all the other kits on course is a great deal of fun. I didn’t have big expectations for this race since A) it has climbing in it. B) I’m racing in a new, faster category and C) its not my style of course.

The pre-ride was muddy, and I seriously considered riding my Bulldog clinchers on the course rather than my Fango tubs. After some insistence from Jeff and Ben, I tossed the tubs on and went to the starting line. My new number (which can be worn right side up or up side down!) had me with a mid to back starting group. I had a pretty descent start, but 4 corners in the first 200m’s of the course makes it really hard for anyone to pass.

We had a new section of course to ride which was opened up starting at our race. It was an out and back winding route that went through the orchard. By the time I hit the 2 way section, the leaders were already on their way back. They were already 1m30s ahead of me after half a lap! I felt sorry for anyone who expected to contend today and had a bad call up number.

I rode my race the best I could. I used the power sections to pass people, the single track sections to recover since it was very risky to try and ride outside of them. I suffered up the climb, happy that I had my 36x28 to climb on. I wasn’t happy seeing the big black “3” on the lap counter after my second trip up that hill though.

My own little race formed with Jeff Harwood of Ironclad, a top notch sprinter that I rode with and against for most of the year. We traded positions for most of the second lap and the start of the third.

Murray caught me heading up the hill on the end of the second lap and I latched on to his wheel. Shortly there after my rear tire started to flat. Coincidence? I think not. Long time readers of this blog may remember that Murray ruthlessly ran me over at Rainer last year. I hefted my bike on to my shoulder at the start of the orchard, and ran / walked the next mile to the neutral pit. I got to see most of the field go by during that mile, and heard some very interesting remarks from some of the racers going by.

My favorite was “get out of the course” by a guy who tried passing me in the narrowest, most twisty part of the entire route. Uh, hi, I’m actually part of this race, and I can’t jump off the course when its taped up. You sir, are an idiot, and I can understand why people don’t think very highly of your team.

I eventually made it to the neutral pit after some very hairy sections of fast single track where I was fortunate enough to have some spectators letting me know when it was safe to run through. A quick wheel change and I was back riding with relatively fresh legs. I surged up the hill and was able to catch up with a couple of teammates whom I rode in with on that last lap.

The highlight of the day was probably watching the start of the women’s race, heckling our friends to make up for our lackluster performances. Heidi, Kristin, Beth, and Lindsay all felt the wrath of being friends with PV while the PV ladies, Ellen, Ally, Cindy, and Traci all put huge efforts out on course and were cheered wildly for. Afterwards the team rolled back to our fortress and fired up the grill. Slabs of meat and sodium rockets sizzled and beer was shared. The sun came out and we reminisced on the days events. I don’t think any of us watched the elites race. Kind of a shame.

All in all, I didn’t get much out of a race I wasn’t expecting much of. The Fango that flatted appeared to get a small staple in it, or possibly a two pronged thorn. The Stan’s that was in it didn’t seal it during the race or after as we were inspecting the damage, so it looks like a new tire is in the cards for me. I also feel I need to run my tubs with a bit more air pressure as every race I’ve run sub 35 PSI on I’ve had problems.

With four more Cross races this season on the horizon for me (boo work schedule). I’ll be doubling up the next two weekends. This coming weekend looks to be a bit more suited to my racing style, and Astoria… well that’s just a craziness of its own.

“Blind Dates are more fun when they end up having slick spots.”

2009-10-16T11:21:00.001-07:00

Credit goes to Joel “Burger! Burger! Burger!” Morrissette for that awesome quote.

Trio of race reports here. Cross season has kicked into full gear with the Blind Date series having its 3rd and 4th run at the Dairy the previous two Wednesday’s in addition to Cross Crusade #2 at Rainer High in Rainer Oregon this last Sunday.

The Blind Date events I’m treating as a super hard training exercise, and this week wasn’t an excuse. Blind Date #3 I started closer to the front than last weeks event, wanting to work on the hole shot and then run one lap on, one lap off intervals. Cow, Strader, and Jordan were again in the field with me and we all sorta half-joked to do the same sort of exercise.

The whistle blew and the race started, while I didn’t get around the 2 guys directly in front of me for the hole shot, I was up near the front and had a good few lines into those first few crucial corners. I’ve been doing a lot of my over/under intervals on loose gravel roads and this opening section of Blind Date felt like practice. As the lap progressed I picked off the few riders who got out of the gate in front of me, and finished the first lap in the top spot.

The race after that was supposed to be a set of intervals, but that competitive spirit took over for all of us. I battled hard with a few guys, trading 5th through 10th places as the race progressed. My main goal at this point was to keep Cow behind me, (specifically because he kept telling me to go faster. Ass!) He got in front of me at a couple places but had some bad luck with people crashing next to him or directly in front of him which allowed me to sneak by. The last lap I attacked hard out of a group of 4, making them chase me through the slower lapped traffic. Cow and I were neck and neck coming through the last set of barriers, but I got a better entrance line into the last corner allowing me to not-so-subtlety cut off his line. We finished right behind each other for 7th and 8th in the field and had a good laugh when it was all over. Jordan somehow managed to teleport in front of me in the last quarter meter to take 6th place, then turn invisible until I rolled passed him. Have to watch out for that guy! ;)

Cross Crusade #2 was the following Sunday (10/11). I was a bit worried about this event due to my sucktackular performance on this course last year. I consider this course a climbers course, and I sir, am not a climber! I was fortunate to get a call up due to my placement at Alpenrose and was in the front row for the very first time in my CX career. The power / speed work I did this year paid off and I was able to take the hole shot when the race started. I wanted to be the first person into the woods and down through the super nasty gravel corner where we had seen a ton of people go down in the earlier races.

My race progressed pretty much as expected. I flew past people in the flat, downhill, and technical sections, but lost ground on the pavement section of the climb. The course took a toll on a lot of bikes and I saw at least 3 of the guys who were ahead of me end up with a mechanical of some sort. I was managing to hold on to a top 10 finish until the last half of the last lap when my rear tub flatted just before the run up. Doh.

I managed to nurse the bike in the downhill section, then tossed it on the shoulder and ran the remainder of the course, including right passed the pit. “It’s the last lap, I’ll just run it in.” I said when I ran by. It’s only 400m I told myself.

Oh yeah, its all up hill. About half way up the hill I realized the folly of my decision. A 20 second wheel change would have saved me probably 3-4 minutes of race time and most likely preserve a top 20 finish. Rookie move. Lesson learned.

All in all, I was happy with how the race went. Rainer last year owned me, and this year I felt competitive. I plan on rolling with the Master B’s next week at Sherwood.

The last Blind Date was probably the most fun of all. Some hard bursts of rain through out the day had the potential to change the course conditions from the previous runs, and the cloud layer plus it being later in the year made the lighting conditions deteriorate fairly early.

Since I’m on a rest week, I started in the last row of racers and passed on the call up I was given. The whistle blew and I, along with the other hundred plus racers that didn’t have a clear line slowly moved into the first set of turns. As always I moo’d as we progressed along. By the time I got down to the parking lot switch backs, the leaders of the race were already heading the other way with open course in front of them. I spent the remainder of the opening lap riding through traffic at about 80% speed, and running over more than my fair share of cones in the process. I kid you not, I think I hit a cone in every corner that first lap.

By the time the first lap ended I was probably in the top half of the field. I worked on my handling in traffic and in the slick spots on course. Ran short intervals to pass people and used the course and people in it to slowly make my way through the field. I eventually got to the head of the huge midfield pack and had some open road ahead of me on the last few laps. The light faded quickly the last two laps and it was a struggle to avoid the ruts at high speed. I used the “aim and pray” strategy fairly effectively and made it through to the finish in one piece in a respectable 27th place. I was muddy, the bike was muddy, and my legs were on fire because I tossed embrocation on them thinking it was going to be colder, but it was smiles all around.

If you didn’t get a chance to race the Blind Date series this year, you missed out on a seriously fun time. The mid-week event fits in perfectly with recovery from your weekend races, and gives you the opportunity to work on skills or try new gear out in a “low stress” environment. With all the race focus on Crusades, I really hope people don’t overlook the fact that some great racing is happening elsewhere.

That wraps it up for this week. This Sunday is Sherwood, followed by two week ends of Saturday / Sunday racing!

Two scoops of Alpenrose goodness, and a side of fail

2009-10-06T15:23:00.001-07:00

We’ve got a trio of race reports here and we’ll start things off with the side of fail. Barlow. I’ve heard awesome things about this course, and it really looked tremendous. The legendary rail road tie steps, the bridge, the crazy descent leading down to it all. It’s a fast course, with some sections a powerful rider can open up a can of hurt on the field.

If you get to them.

I didn’t get a chance to pre-ride the course due to the distance from the house and the fact that they change the schedule up a bit to accommodate all the riders. No big deal. I got a lot of course recon time in the morning and felt pretty good about learning the lines quickly. My warm-up wasn’t the greatest, I had been fighting of some sinus crud the previous 24hrs and I just couldn’t get my HR up to where it needed to be. Ah well. Time to line up!

I didn’t get the greatest of starting spots, but I did line up on the edge, which was important. The lead ref was pretty adamant that you had to stay inside the cones once you crossed the Start Line but since the starting chute was so short and narrow, make due with what you had available. The whistle blew, I went outside the cones, around the slower riders and and ducked in before the line, putting myself in the top 10 before the first turn. Half the battle over.

This was the first opportunity to ride the new tubs and I was impressed with how quickly they spun up. I was not impressed however with how quickly the tire came off the front wheel. About 4 minutes after the start, I dove inside a rider making a wide corner and the front wheel rolled off the rim. Game over, thanks for paying $6.25 a minute to race.

Needless to say, after inspecting the rim and seeing that entirely not enough glue was used, the wheels went back to the shop were a very embarrassed and apologetic service manager re-did both wheels using a ton more glue free of charge.

On to Alpenrose!

This year an additional weekday series popped up last minute on the OBRA calendar. I was out of town for the first one, but after hearing the rave reviews I decided to take part in the mid-week race to get some more time on the CX bike. My training plan said “CX Practice” so I treated the race as a handing exercise by lining up in pretty much the back of the pack to see how far I could make it through before the end.

I’m going to guess I started about 100 riders deep in a field of 140 and ended up finishing 15th after 8 brutally fast and bumpy laps. I felt great and was really moving through the field effectively. Was only passed by one guy who flew past me on the run-up but paid the price for his effort about half a lap later and blew up. It was a total blast to race in the evening and gave me a lot of confidence going into the Cross Crusades series opener on Sunday.

After a few pre-ride laps on Saturday with the newly re-glued tubs, I got the tire pressure dialed in and felt confident I wasn’t going to roll a tire off this time. Sunday rolled around and we got to Alpenrose early to get a parking spot near our tent. Holy crap did that place get busy fast.

My race went really well. I was in the third column to be called up, which put me about 6 or 7 rows deep. I parked on the far right next to the curb so I could get water from Traci and chat with my family who came to watch the race. The whistle blew and other than slipping on the curb a bit, my start was pretty clean.

By the end of the first lap I was in the top 10, second lap I was sitting in the top 5 but at one point was in the top 3. A few of the fast riders I’ve been competing with this season caught me and steadily pulled away over lap 3 when I starting to get a bit of fatigue. I felt pretty slow in the technical sections but fast in the open areas, and from the gaps I opened or closed during those sections I know where to look to improve my future races.

The bell lap came a lot sooner than I expected and I was few seconds behind the 6th place guy and few seconds in front of the 8th place guy. No mans land isn’t a bad place to be in at times. I had a carrot in front of me and a bit of pressure behind me to keep me honest and working hard. I was slowly pulling the guy in front of me back but alas I ran out of race. 7th place out of 190 riders, good enough to score some points and get a call up for the remainder of the season.

I’m pretty happy with how things are going this season. PV has had some awesome showings this year so far and we are currently sitting in the top slot in the “Feudal War” team competition. We are getting some attrition in our women’s team, but the gals who have stuck around and the new ones who have joined are bunch of troopers and the guys bend over backwards to make sure they are ready to roll.

Personally, I’ve had some great results in my field with out being overwhelmingly dominant or getting shelled. I know there is a huge difference between the C’s and B’s, but I also know your starting slot will give you a big advantage over your competitors. Cross is a mix of fitness, skill, and sheer luck, with a lot of beer and cowbells tossed in.

It’s also a hell of a lot of fun. Just ask the 1493 people who raced on Sunday!

“Thanks for the wheel.”

2009-09-29T15:57:00.001-07:00

(Note: this post has nothing to do with the tire roll-off incident I had at Barlow, so if you are looking for a race report, sorry!) -m

In 2005, I worked in a very small building at our mammoth company. While this had a number of bad aspects, it was nice to know just about everybody that worked in the building. So when a group of guys around my age moved into the cubes around me, it wasn’t long before we got to know each other and found we had a lot of similar interests.

A few months later, another member of this group moved to Oregon. Shortly after he arrived, I noticed a lot of bike gear in his cube and stopped by to say hello. Jeremy introduced himself and we chatted for a while, talking mainly about cycling and what brought him to Oregon and parted with a “we should ride together some time.” Little did I know…

My first attempt to ride with him was a dismal failure. A combination of my (lack of) fitness, a lack of sleep due to some major blood sugar issues, and a horridly cold May day caused me to cut the planed 75mi RACC route short after just 15miles of riding with him. A second friend who joined us reported back that Jeremy effortlessly pulled him along for the remainder of the ride and it was all he could do to hold Jeremy’s wheel.

Jeremy, as it turns out had a few years of racing in him back in AZ and was somewhat of a fitness nut. (We used to joke that he ate “Cyborg Food” at lunch since he always had odd healthy snacks.) I on the other hand was just starting to get back into riding after a number of years of being out of the saddle and enjoyed Doritos. My fitness was coming back, but it obvious I wasn’t anywhere near the level where he was at. The good news though was that we had fun together and we continued to ride on Saturday PV rides throughout the summer when he could make it out.

At the end of 2006, the Portland Velo Race Team formed and I joined in on its inaugural season. I became more dedicated in my riding and rode frequently with the fledgling team. I was new to racing, and to race tactics and frequently asked Jeremy about things I saw or read. We swapped weekend ride stories when we couldn’t get together, and shared routes that we had found.

In April of 2007, a friendly rival team invited PV down for a “social ride” of the Monster Cookie Event in Salem. Ten of us, including Jeremy and I, traveled down to Salem for the event. It was clear from the start that this “social ride” had “hammerfest” written all over it. Jeremy towed my sorry ass back into the group on a number occasions, postponing my inevitable ejection from the speeding pack. When I finally cracked for good, he selflessly pulled out of the paceline and waited for me so I had someone to ride with the rest of the way in. It wouldn’t be the last time I limped home on his wheel.

Over the next two years we rode together frequently, my fitness improving by leaps and bounds due to dedicated training and racing until it got to the point where we were on about equal footing. On the bike friendship spilled over to surround our wives and another couple whom we spent a great deal of time together with. The six of us formed an extended family and enjoyed countless hours in each others company.

Unfortunately for us, Jeremy and Kimberly found a beautiful house in Arizona and will be leaving the land of liquid sunshine this coming weekend. We knew the day was approaching, but its always a shock when it arrives.

So this past Saturday, Jeremy and I rolled out one last time on a PV group ride. I had no intentions of going hard since I had a race the following day and when the pace heated up, I drifted off the back. And as it had happened so many times in the past, Jeremy waited for me and we rode together. We picked up another group along the way and traded attacks, laughing at the pain we joyously lobbed at each other. Ten miles from home we left the group and struck out on our own, determined to make it back before them. We traded pulls into a howling headwind, wordlessly knowing when to pull through. It was a fitting way to log the last miles of a great journey with a great friend.

So to Jeremy I say, “Thanks for the wheel.”

Cross(country)

2009-09-25T11:30:00.001-07:00

Been a whirlwind 3 weeks since I last updated. Pain on the Peak 2009 was a raging success with 20% more racers year over year, 100% less dust, and 100% more pain!

This years course was longer than last years by about a 500m and saw some great racing action. Big thanks to all of our sponsors and racers for coming out, and congratulations to Ryan Trebon and Sue Butler for their wins.

Unlike the 2008 edition of the race, I actually the opportunity to race! My first race of the 2009 cross season, first race on the new rig, and first cross race since the knee injury. I’m happy to report everything worked out fine, although I’ll need to do some tweaking on the bike to get a few final things dialed in. Hopefully I’ll have them all ready for this weekends Battle at Barlow!

My ultra-sexy wheels showed up last week, and Bryan over at Bike’'N’Hike in Hillsboro did a stellar job getting the Fango’s glued and mounted on them. Now I have a fast bike and fast wheels. Hope the engine doesn’t suck this year.

Training took a bit of a back seat the last two weeks as Traci and I traveled to the East Coast to visit a number of friends in the Boston area. We were graciously hosted by Irena and Danny, the same folks who we ventured to Miami to be part of their wedding in May. The trip was perfectly timed (with the exception that the Sox were away rather than home) and we packed a ton of fun into a short stay. Got the opportunity to see some amazing things at 38 Studios (what they are doing is going to explode minds. No, don’t ask me, I can’t tell you.) and meet some really great people. Didn’t see a ton of people cycling, but I hear that Mountain Biking is huge out there so they were probably all in trails.

I was lucky enough to get some pizza at Depot in Andover, which made my day. We don’t get pizza like that out here. Irena, Traci and I went apple picking and I probably ate a dozen apples while there. The ladies then made an amazing pie which vanished as soon as it entered 38 Studios.

The highlight of my trip (that I can talk about) was Sunday when I spent the day catching up with friends new and old. Danny, Irena, Traci and I met in Boston with Chris, Jay, and John for brunch. We ate and laughed and mostly made fun of Chris. The time sped by and we had to head out sooner than we would have liked. We then hit the Blue Man Group show, and Irena and I were pulled out of the audience before the show started and made fun of about 25 minutes later as “LATE ARRIVERS”. Irena hammed it up by hiding under her jacket.

After the show ended, we met with Jim and Dorothy. Jim and I were friend all through out grade school and into high school. He hosted my going away party when we moved out to Oregon and was one of the folks I really missed those first few years out here. We unfortunately drifted apart in the following years but thanks to the miracle of Facebook we were able to get back in touch. I hadn’t seen Jim in 17 years, but it was like yesterday when we got back together. Jim and Dorothy took us to a great place for dinner then another place for desert. We talked and caught up on old times and told stories that made us laugh. We parted ways late in the evening happy to have had the chance to see each other.

By the end of the trip I was craving some bike time, my legs hurt and were “twingey” which made for an entertaining flight back. Barlow should be entertaining this weekend. My ride yesterday I felt fresh, but ya never know how you’ll do after a layoff!

Pain is almost here….

2009-09-09T15:21:00.001-07:00

Just a few more days until the 2009 edition of Pain on the Peak. The team has been busy at work these past few months putting together an even better event than last year. With the lucky addition of rain this past weekend, the course should be significantly less dusty than it was last year as well!

A number of us spent Sunday morning last week up at the venue in a driving rain / wind storm to get the course cleaned up, parking area staked off, and make some new changes to the route the course will be taking this year. The fast downhill “aim and pray” entrance into the woods has been re-routed into a technical pair of corners to let racers scrub a bit of speed and enter the woods not directly facing the sun.

The course will clock out longer this year than last year, which means the “evil climb” will be visited less times than last year.

My new rig, a Velo Vie Versa 300, has been built up and I’ve been able to ride it a number of times this year. Dan Barnes of Velo Vie was kind enough to help me out in a pinch and sent me the paint test frame he had set aside for himself. The Versa 300 will be on the market soon, so I’m riding a one-of-a-kind rig! It’s a great bike, and I look forward to ~~crashing~~ racing it this season.

Off to CX practice at Alpenrose!

Crossroads

2009-08-18T15:50:00.001-07:00

Daylight hours quietly getting shorter…

Cloudy skies, cool temperatures, an extra blanket on the bed to fight off the morning chill…

The road season winding down, team rides become social endeavors rather then leg ripping suffer-fests…

Anticipation is in the air, an almost palpable feeling in the community. The closeness of the new season can be seen all around; the signs are everywhere if you know where to look.

“I’m not happy with how my body feels after running for the first time in months…”

“Let the debate begin: Tubes or Tubeless”

“Where is that link for home PVC barriers?”

“Jesus, my bike still smells like cow poop!”

Cross season is almost upon us. (Glee!)

Last Wednesday Traci came home after visiting Russell with a gaggle of bikes and not so subtlety told me “Russell said this frame fits best. Since tomorrow is the woman’s CX clinic with Tina, Russell said you should skip your workout and build up this frame for me.” Okay, she didn’t exactly say that, but it was pretty close.

I got home at 5:15, went inside to change my shirt and went back into the garage. Five and a half. hours later this beast was born.

Traci will be sporting a VeloForma Carbon Cross this year. This is the same make of frame I’ve ridden on the for the past two years and while I absolutely loved the ride quality of the bike, the frame geo just didn’t work out for me from a remount perspective. (I’ve got short legs!) VeloForma owner Mark Duff was kind enough to trade me down a frame size in the hopes that I didn’t fit between frame sizes, and unfortunately I did. Traci however, fits on this new frame perfectly.

She went out the next day and properly baptized it in the fields around Alpenrose at the clinic. The smile on her dusty face was worth the effort.

I’m currently sans cross-rig, but I’ve got a few lines on super sekrut weapons of mass distraction. I’ll hopefully have some news about that soon.

Here is some cross pr0n, complements of Pain on the Peak 2008. I still get goose bumps watching this.

Pain On The Peak from Burk Webb on Vimeo.

Now that we got you all excited for cross, Pain on the Peak 2009 is right around the corner. (September 12th to be exact.) Same location, slightly different course, most likely more pain. We’ve got some great prizes and vendors lined up this year. Official announcements will be up on the OBRA list in the coming days as we solidify final sponsors.

Stay tuned. :)

Baked or Broiled?

2009-08-03T10:02:00.001-07:00

I survived the heat wave of ‘09. How hot was it? Well, a few days the temps here in Portland were hotter than the were in Austin TX. My drive home from work out in Hillsboro was 106 on Monday, 108 on Tuesday, and 113 on Wednesday. 113? WTF? You know its hot when people on Facebook start complaining about the people complaining about the heat.

I’m not a huge fan of the heat, and exercising in that weather when your body isn’t used to it can be downright dangerous. Props to the officials who canceled racing events or had some other creative ways of dealing with the heat. Oddly enough, on Thursday when it was only 95 on the drive home we had the windows and sunroof open and no AC on. Its good to be a mammal!

I took an alternative path to beating the heat.. I rested. :) For 6 days my bike sat in the garage and I sat in my house sipping on Gin & Tonic or beer, and eating nachos in the AC. The weather had cooler temperatures coming late in the week, so I busted butt at work to get everything done early, and took Friday off. It was a great week.

The team sent a bunch of folks to Cascades last week, and they had a great time and brought back a lot of good stories. With Cascades and the State TT Championships done and Crit Championships just around the corner, the road racing season is coming to a close. Saturday rides become more mellow and training plans start to have threshold intervals in them again. That means cross is right around the corner!

Contrary to some of the rumors out there, Pain on the Peak 2009 is in fact happening, and will be at the same location as last year. Website and flyers are being built, sponsors are being finalized, and the course is being planned. As with most of the world, the finances are tight so prize packages might not be as good as last year, but we are working hard to make it as exciting of event as it was last year. Keep watch for more details!

Track Championships

2009-07-17T10:56:00.001-07:00

The OBRA Track Championships happened last weekend, and I guess I'm just now recovered enough to write about the sole race I did last Friday. ;)

A warm sunny day saw a good number of trackies head out to the velodrome to participate in the first of three days of track events. While Traci has been racing and training out their fairly frequently, I have yet to ride my track bike "in anger" this year.

We got to the track with plenty of time for a good warm up to chat with our friends who were also there. I tried to pick the brain of a few of the more experienced riders on race strategy since I had never raced the event on slate for the evening. The Kilo.. or sometimes known as the Kill-ometer from what I find out later.

Three and three quarters laps of pain from a dead stop. Too long to rely on solely your anaerobic system and too short to get into a good aerobic grove. There are a lot of theories on how to try and pace yourself but one piece of advice seems to be common. Get up to speed as fast as you can.

I get some solid accelerations in and a number of laps at three quarter speed and a few laps at (hopefully) full speed. Legs feel cruddy but I hope that its just pre-race nerves.

5:55 and racing is to start at 6. The air temp drops by 5 degrees in a matter of minutes and the skies to the south look dark. The first drops of rain hit my helmet as I'm on the front stretch and I see Luciano put the whistle to his mouth. Two quick blasts and riders on track start making their way down to the apron. Thirty seconds later a summer downpour hits the velodrome and racers and officials scurry under what little cover is available in the infield. It rains off and on for the next 15 minutes, touching off discussions on rescheduling races. My spirits, fairly low to start with, go in the toilet and I hope for a cancellation.

By 6:15 the rain has stopped and the sun comes back out. The track is soaked but because of its concrete material it has retained a lot of heat and begins drying quickly. Luciano breaks out a leaf blower and heads to turn 3 which is in the shade to dry out the sprinters lane. Good news is that for the TT events, you only need the sprinters lane dry since everyone rides in it. They expect the first riders to go off at 6:30.

Bob has graciously let me use his training track wheels to race on as they are far superior to the crap wheels on my crap bike. He also has a 15t cog on his wheel which will put me in the proper ratio to race this event in. As the women start their 500m TT event I get the wheels quickly swapped out and the chain at the right tension. Pausing for a short while to watch Traci race. She rides hard and strong and cuts a full 2 seconds off her PR. She's happy with the results and barely misses 3rd place.

The men's Kilo starts with my division going first. I'm slotted to roll out 6th and there are 13 people in my division. I head to the warm up track to roll around a bit. As the first rider finishes I head to the start area with the other riders. The air is quiet and a bit humid after the rain. Good conditions. I hang my bike on the available stand and do a final bit of stretching. Traci adjusts my insulin pump so its more secure and suddenly I'm on deck. A final swig of water and a few deep breaths and its time to mount up.

Mike Murray has my bike set up while I get clipped in. The rider ahead of me is churning away on his third lap. I'll be rolling out in under 30 seconds. I take deep breaths, trying to relax my body and not fight the holder behind me. I vaguely hear Dean yelling "why are you riding those wheels!?" I later find out he though I was Bob.

The rider head of me finishes and my heart rate kicks up. I hear "Rider Ready.." and I realize I haven't paid attention to how many beeps there were on starting tone and make a guess at 5. The first tone sound and I hear very softly behind me 4..3.. from Mike.

At 2 I take a deep breath. The final tone starts I surge hard out of the saddle with a large exhale, forcing the bike forward. I power through the pedals trying to keep my weight balanced and line straight. I hit the first corner and plant myself, noticing I haven't yet inhaled since the start.

The first lap is a blur. I concentrate on riding good corners and keeping my leg speed as high as possible, always trying to accelerate. I've opted for the "go out like hell and hang on" theory of Kilo riding, hoping that my history of successful long ranged sprints will serve me well. Second lap down and I'm still running a quick time.

I hit the line to start my third lap and my breathing is starting to get labored. My legs are still turning over be it not as fast as before. I loose time in the corners due to sloppy lines and push hard exiting them to hopefully counter my lack of handling.

Last lap starts. I'm sub one minute, but just barely. Last lap times make or break most kilos. Most riders in a division will have very similar lap times until the last lap where it all changes. I hear the PA stating I'm on pace for the first sub 1:20 time of the night and it spurs me on. Two corners left, my breathing is more like panting. I fight the bike for more speed on the final stretch wanting to give it everything I had. I hit the with a not so exaggerated gasp for air. I'm fairly certain the legendary Alpenrose Gorilla was on my back for the last half lap.

1:20.05, and it was the hardest 1:20.05 I've ever spent on my bike.

I ran a 21 second final lap, after running 19s/20s/20s first three laps. I hear the crowd cheering and the announcer stating it was the fastest time of the night so far.

I roll into the cool down track and it takes a good 5 minutes for my breathing and HR to come under control. Traci brings water by and I quickly go through the entire bottle.

Another 5 minutes go by and my time is still holding. There are 4 riders left and I finally get off my bike and head over to where my friends are in various stages of warm-ups. It's congratulations all around for a fast first Kilo. Bob also gives me crap for beating his PR on my first try.

With two riders remaining my time is holding, so the worst I can do is 3rd place. The second to last rider runs faster splits for the first 3 laps but fades on the final stretch to clock in a 1:20.90. The final rider turns a 1:22.

Holy crap, I won a State Championship.

Candi surprises me with a medal and a hug, and Traci captures the moment with me wearing the medal and a cheezy grin. Bob goes out a short bit later and rips the legs off of his field cutting a full 3 seconds off his PR in the process. He thanks me for the added motivation. I'm happy that my time would have been competitive in his field as well and know that with some added focus and a better bike I could hold my own there. Two more State Champs for PV. We celebrate with Beer and Cheeseburgers.

Happy Belated 4th :)

2009-07-08T11:24:00.001-07:00

Apparently I forgot to post my update last week during my office move so this will be fairly scatterbrained (more so than normal!)

Raced the Salem Fairview Circuit Race two Sundays ago. Hard course, good racing with the exception of the r-tard who full on hand-on-hip shoved another rider almost into my path on one of the climbs. Unfortunately because it wasn't done to me, I couldn't retaliate. ;)

Had an awesome "oh shit" moment on the last lap where I attacked coming off the hill into the final 2 90degree corners to stretch the field out. Leaned waaaay over, and felt the rear wheel start to chatter. Kept it upright and hammered for about a minute gapping the field before I happily blew up and soft peddled in for 32nd :)

Raced my first Short Track Mnt Bike event the next day. Was a hoot and I managed a 4th place finish in the ~~Sandbagger~~ Men's Cat 3 field. Was the first time on dirt since I blew my knee out at Barton and was very happy with my fitness.

Training this past week went really well. Had Friday off and hammered with the team that rode on a glorious morning. Threw down a new season high max wattage which was just shy of my all-time max wattage. The legs feel pretty good, but mentally, I just have no desire to race right now, especially out at PIR. A lot of it probably has to do with the continued stupidity being witnessed in the 1/2/3 fields with riders being shouldered into walls and off course in the final laps. The Mid-Summer Crit series starts up in a few weeks and its REALLY close to my house, but they split the Cat's so I'd be racing with the 1/2/3's again. Bleh.

In other random news, I moved offices for the first time in 7.5 years last week. I biked to work the first day in the new place and was displeased to see the lack of close bike parking. I was happy to find out that most everyone in the building who rides just puts their bike in their office, so I'll end up doing that when I ride in next.

Big plans for the next few days. Hope they come to fruition!

Happy Birthday, Blog

2009-06-25T11:18:00.001-07:00

Finally had a few minutes to sit down and update the good old blog, and realized it's birthday had come and gone. As a present, I'll make sure to actually update a few times this month rather than once. :)

Where to start, well... my wife got a gorgeous new Track Bike that the weather gods have not allowed her to race on Friday yet. Hopefully tomorrow will fix that.

PIR on Monday nights in the 1/2/3's have turned into a total clusterfuck of late and I have better things to do than be taken out by a sketchy-ass rider who isn't paying attention. Yes, I'm talking to the guy who put my teammate into the fucking concrete wall on the last lap of the 6/22 race. Thanks for not bothering to see if we were okay after! Ass. I DNF'd my last two races (one mechanical, the other the crash) so I figure its time to step back and relax and do something safer. ShortTrack maybe? :p

Speaking of mechanicals, huge thank you goes out to Mark Duff from VeloForma who light a knight in tight spandex came to the rescue and assisted with the fix of my front derailleur hanger on the VeloVie.

We've been cleaning out our garage, and recently sold Traci's old road bike to a good friend of ours, its her first "big girl bike" (her words) and she's absolutely in love with it.

We also recently parted ways with my 350z, which literally had been gathering dust over the past 2 years. (1700miles put on the car since Oct 07.. 2400miles put on my new VeloVie since March 1st of this year.) Ironically we owned the car for *exactly* 6 years, with the purchase and sale date being 6/20. With the TT bike being demo'd by Burke (dude, you back from the islands yet?) The garage looks spacious even with the Mini in it. Hmmmm we could possible fill it with...

A Tandem! Well, at least a borrowed one. Last Saturday Traci and I celebrated our 11th Wedding Anniversary. I was on the tail end of a rest week and I wanted to ride with her, so I borrowed a tandem from our good friends Dean and Barb and we rode with the 21's on the Saturday ride. I'm happy to report we are still married, and I have both my kidneys intact.

In non-biking related news, the 2009 edition of Bridgetown's "Stumptown Tart" will be released shortly. Last year this beer (a Marionberry infused Belgian) was my favorite beer of the summer. This year they went with a Yamhill sour cherry rather than Marionberries. I look forward to seeing it in the market soon. I'm also happy its just about the end of allergy season. After previously posting this season wasn't to bad, Murphy drop-kicked my sinus multiple times over the past few weeks.

Stay tuned for some exciting news about the upcoming months! I'll give you one hint. Cross.

One and done...

2009-06-01T10:49:00.001-07:00

For those in the cycling community, the TTT stands for "Team Time Trial", an event where a group of riders work as a team to through a set course as fast as possible.

For those in the cycling community who have actually done a TTT, I put forth that the definition should be known as "Team Torture Testing", where you push yourself as hard as you can without shelling your teammates, knowing that they will be doing the same to you in a matter of moments.

My team for this endeavor were Bigwood, King, and BRat. Basically PV Fast Twitch. Our goals were to finish together, ride smoothly as possible, and have the fastest final K of all teams (a joke).. and if possible have fun.

We had practiced a number of times as a group and got a good feel for each others riding style, and cornering abilities and are roughly the same strength so we felt we had a good chance of accomplishing what we set out for.

The day started at Longbottom's to load up the caravan, and relive stories of my attempt to kill the entire team on Saturday by spooking a cat that was sitting on the side of the road. We hit the road with a single stop in Albany for traditional pre-race cheeseburgers from McDonalds (seriously, we got cheeseburgers. It's sprinter food.)

We arrived at the ~~Allergy Factory~~ staging area got setup and started our warm ups a bit late. Our start time was 1 minute behind the real PV TT team, so with 8 people watching the clock we managed to get to the start line in time. My start was a humorous showing of "how not to clip into your pedal" which was unfortunately captured on film by Mary-Kay Babcock.

aaugh n00b!

After we got settled in, we started our motoring. I was slotted in behind BRat, which really started to hurt by Lap 3 when he was making monsterish pulls. Bob trailed behind me. I felt good on Lap 1.. 2 things started to hurt. 3 I questioned my sanity. Lap 4 we were all getting tired and our bike handling started to suffer.

I was probably the weakest rider of the group, but I can ride corners very well, so tried to time my pulls so I could pilot the team through one of the many corners that broke up the course then peel off. By the 4th lap, patterns started emerging in our riding styles. I found myself at the front in specific locations on almost every lap. Unfortunately that meant I got dumped off in the head wind coming back all the time!

We came in as a group, just a bit spaced a part. My hamstrings pretty much seized up about 200m after the finish line and I was barely able to get back to the finish line let alone ride a cool down with the team. My skin suit was crusted with salt.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon laughing with the other PV folks who were down there and trying not to cramp up in the increasing heat. The journey home had us swing through Carl Jr's, which Bob swears is the official sprinter recovery food, and was punctuated with sneezes, groans of soreness and lots of laughter.

It was a sadistic sort of fun, and a good way to finish my career in the world of Time Trialing. (Yes.. I'm done with TT's. Anyone want a bike?)

"What if?"

2009-05-19T15:11:00.001-07:00

Its Monday evening. Thirty minutes earlier we completed a 4 day, 6000 mile round trip from Portland to Seattle to Miami and back where we took part in the wonderful wedding of our best friend.

Stress of travel piled on top of the chaos of the weekend, lack of sleep, and not being able to catch up with our good friends regardless of the fact that we were sitting next to each other turned into a roller coast of emotions that finally got to me when I no longer had something to do.

I stood in the middle of our family room holding on to my wife, and there were tears streaming down my face.

I can't pinpoint the last time this happened. It may have been when I crumpled to the ground in pain when I tore my left ACL in '03. It might have been in '98 when an imbecile of a nurse dropped my just surgically repaired right leg off of the hospital bed. Tears of frustration and sorrow are something I don't shed often, and I don't know why.

I tend not to get too introspective. Could be because I'm content with what I have and where I am? Maybe because I'm resistant to change? It could be because I'm far more extroverted than introverted or normally think about how my actions impact others rather than myself.

Five years ago I had a pretty eye-opening conversation with Traci on our drive back from L.A. during the last leg of our sabbatical. A couple of good question were asked and ideas were presented that for a number of reasons I didn't decide to pursue. I've been asking "what if?" for a while. I may have been given a second chance this weekend, and I won't let it pass this time.

TACGBODAS!

2009-05-14T10:21:00.001-07:00

Cough. Sniffle. Sneeze.

No, you haven't contracted swine flu, it's allergy season! So far I've been pretty lucky with allergies this year, although the major grass pollen season hasn't hit full bore just yet. A lot of folks however are suffering from the increased tree pollen that is currently in the air.

Since I'm heading out of town for the next 5 days and won't be doing any riding, I figure now is a great time to entertain my 2 loyal readers with some re-posted content! So back by no ones request, I re-present for your reading pleasure, TACGBODAS or "The Aggregate Cyclist's Guide to Being Outside During Allergy Season".

Busy weekend to start a busy week!

2009-05-11T10:05:00.001-07:00

I got a rare chance to start my weekend early and took Friday off. Normally with the development schedule my team has Friday mornings are packed with a bunch of meetings and the afternoons are often spent catching up on stuff that happened in the morning...

Friday I got the chance to sleep a bit later than normal, kit up and ride to breakfast over at Longbottoms. I met up with the usual Friday morning group and got a good 2+ hour ride in that was a bit harder than I wanted to go, but still fun. After a few errands, Traci and I headed over to Alpenrose for the first Fast Twitch Friday of 2009. I'm a bit bummed that I wasn't ready for it as they were doing flying 200's, but I did get to cheer on my teammates Einar, Malcolm, and Bob along with capture Traci's first ever race at Alpenrose on video!

Saturday morning was picture perfect when we rolled out of the house for the club ride. A HUGE crowd turned out for the loop south to Holly Hill which the team ended up climbing twice for grins. I made sure to pace myself on the long climb since I know I'm never going to be a pure climber. The patience paid off later on when I had plenty in the tank for the smaller sprinter climbs that I was able to hit hard. Was a great day and a great route with an awesome group of folks. I capped it off with some steak and beer's with our good friends.

Sunday we went to the zoo in the morning, then did a nice 2.5 hour recovery ride. (Was funny that while at the zoo my legs and lower back really hurt from walking around on the concrete, but once I got on the bike I was fine. Pretty fascinating how your body adapts to different things.) Spent the rest of the afternoon and evening lounging at our friends house celebrating a birthday. I was super tired most of the afternoon and only started waking up around 9pm. Ah well!

Today I'll spend watching the weather reports and radar map. Planing on jumping into the 1/2/3 masters race tonight while Traci does the women's development racing class. The rest of the week is up in the air until Thursday when we leave for Seattle to fly to Miami for a wedding this coming weekend. I'll be off the bike for probably 5 days, which is the longest period of no-riding since my surgery. Fun times!

Monday morning update

2009-05-04T11:26:00.001-07:00

Hello blog. Had a crazy week at work last week, and it will continue to be this way for a couple weeks rolling into a software release for work and a wedding on the East coast in a few weekends. Sorry for neglecting you, but realize training has suffered a bit as well. Life pops up, ya know? It's probably good that it happened as we really needed to get the house cleaned up. (What are these boxes from? Christmas?!? How much laundry do we have to do?)

So, our house is cleaned up now. (The downstairs mess migrated upstairs.. I guess that's clean?) Clean enough for company! We had an awesome time with our closest friends yesterday, including an appearance by the Crazy Prospector Dance Team.

The "Monster Cookie Beatdown part Tres", took place last Sunday (4/2) and was crazy hard ride. 11 PV race team folks along with about 40 club members descended on the state capital grounds for this annual ride put on by the Salem Bike Club. The team left at 9am and rolled back into the finish around 12:40 with a quick stop in Champeog State Park at the half way point. The Black and Blue Pain Train rolled through the 63miles at roughly at 23mph average and called out "on your left" roughly 2145 times. Next year we think we might bring out the Cookie Wagon to run lead on the train. I will also not start the ride hung over.

April PIR wrapped up this past week, with B-Rat taking a very hard fought April series that unfortunately went sour in the final moments. A wreck in the final sprint took out Jeff Harwood from Ironclad along with Jeff B from PV and a couple other folks. Jeff Harwood was the leader on the road at the time of the crash and was riding really strong. Hope you are healing quick! I think I took 3rd overall for April. Not too shabby for only racing 3 races. This will probably be the last 3/4 race I do on Tuesdays for a bit, and just in time it seems. Apparently there was a second wreck in my race when someone's pannier rack hooked another riders handlebars and dragged them down. I mean seriously? I'm all for folks commuting out to PIR via bike and the fenders don't cause issues, but a pannier rack sticks out well beyond the arc of your wheel and just shouldn't be out there in the peloton.

In another "heal up quick" note, PV's own "Kromonster" suffered a compound clavicle, AC separation, and a pair of broken ribs along with a busted bike after saying hello to the side of a SUV. Alex unfortunately overcooking a corner on Newberry earlier this week. Anyone who's been down Newberry probably knows the corner being referred to. Fortunately Alex was able to make it to the First Friday party the next day. He's a machine.

My own bionic knee is feeling much better after a regimen of stretching and deep tissue massage on the hip flexor and peraformis muscle group. Rides on my road bike don't hurt that much anymore, and the diagnosis was further cemented by the amazing amount of discomfort when I was on the TT bike on Saturday. (The more aggressive position on the TT leads to more stress on the regions causing the knee issues.) I plan on ~~hanging on for dear life~~ racing the TTT this year with a few of the PV guys, so I'll be spending a lot of time stretching and adapting to the bike over the next couple weeks (hopefully!).

Monday afternoon musings...

2009-04-21T07:24:00.001-07:00

It is seriously gorgeous outside, and I'm glad I rode my bike into work today. The 4.5 mile ride home will be a nice way to cap off the day.
This weekend's riding had one serious beatdown of a ride book-ended by two lazy recovery days on the bike to total about 160mi of riding.
Allergy season is coming. Are you ready?
I finally was able to mix it up with the team on Timber Road during one slug-fests out there. Very happy!
It's stuffy and probably 77 in our office building right now.
Last week felt like a super hard week on the bike, but the overall stress of the workouts was not terribly high. Glad I've got a rest week this week.
PV continued with a very strong showing out at PIR and put me across the line first for the second week in a row. I <3 the team.
My wife has been under the weather for the past week and it hurts me to see her feel this way. I'd gladly take her place if I could.
Hubris is a bitch. My knee started acting up two days after I posted this. I'm still trying to sort out what's going on.
My "O.F." got together on Saturday for a joint birthday party for James and myself. Was great fun and they surprised me with an awesome gift. Silly details here!
I received an envelope in the mail on Friday from OBRA. Inside was a sticker that said "ROAD:CAT3" along with my other details. I'm now a very small fish in a very big pond filled with very fast fish. At least I can cross off one of my goals for this year though. :)
It was silent at 6:50am when I got into the office. Its now 3:36pm and again, it's silent. I'm going home.
For whatever reason, this didn't publish until Tuesday morning, but I'm not changing the title.

Comeback Complete!

2009-04-08T10:30:00.001-07:00

So last night, my journey back from my knee injury and subsequent surgery came to a close. Tuesday was the first day of racing at PIR, and PV came out in force for the Cat 3 / 4 race. Ty, Jeff, Flemming, Feig, Mitch Lee, B-Rat, Mitch Gold, Johnny, Kromonster and myself all lined up with 67 other racers to kick off the PIR season.

There were a few well represented groups out in the field tonight along with PV. Ironclad, Team O, and Three Rivers all had some significant numbers. Made for a painful night if you were flying solo as the average speed of the race was 26.5mph.

The race was a short one, being early season and still fighting for daylight. 10 Laps with a pair of hotspots. My legs felt poor during warm up, so I let Ty know I'd wait for the finish if necessary. The plan was to have Mitch attack early, and he did right from the gun drawing a mix of jeers and cheers from the field. Once it was brought back it was pretty steady racing for most of the night.

Few attacks got away free, and PV made sure to be represented in all of them. As with most early season races there were some tactical snafu's and learning experiences to be had.

When it came down to the last lap, the pack was still together and teams were starting to get organized for the field sprint. Ironclad and PV were controlling the front keeping the tempo high. I pack surfed a bit and latched on my lead out man Brian with 2k to go. The two of us hung to the left side of the field coming through the last corner and shot up the middle of the road on the final straight away. The field went right and were bunched up against the infield wall making it hard to move around.

Brian showed some impressive power as he launched the two of us away from the field to the 200m mark, dropping me off to take the win by a good gap. His lead out was so stellar that he hung on for second place after sounding like he was going to blow a lung in the final 200m.

I picked up my first win of the season, my first ever win in a 3/4 field, and my first win post surgery. It made for a good night at the Burrito Shack afterwards with the crew. I may not have had the best legs last night, but I had the best teammates.

A big thank you to Dr. Rask of Hillsboro Orthopedic, Dave McHenry of TAI, and Russell Cree of Upper Echelon for getting me back on the road.

-Side note and a bit of a soapbox. A pair of crashes during the sprints made for some dicey moments last night. One early on when some wheels got overlapped during a prime, which unfortunately happens. But another in the final sprint which sounded like it was mid pack? Sprinting for 20th is reckless. Attacking from mid pack probably won't do you any good. Take the opportunity to ride in safely with your fellow racers at the end of a nice evening. I do hope those involved in the wrecks heal up quickly!

Redefining Epic

2009-04-06T08:09:00.001-07:00

The word Epic gets tossed around a lot in the world of cycling. One can take a look at any of the cycling web publication, and quickly find a number of uses of the word describing a particular stage or one day event. But if everything is becoming epic, then what does that make those days which true are?

This past Saturday was my defining of Epic. De Ronde van Oeste Portlandia.... with my ride in to the start from Hillsboro, and the ride home from the finish. 85 miles, and it sounds like close to 8,000 feet of climbing. I was wrecked when it was all over, but happy to have completed such a massive undertaking.

I made it the entire way up Brynwood, although I had to restart once due to a guy stalling out in front of me. College I walked about 1/3 of. I slogged through the rest of the climbs with some teammates, shared the misery of every 15% incline that was tossed our way.

It was a beautiful day, and it was amazing to see so many cyclists doing this crazy event just because it's there, and its Portland.

Epic.

Love Thy Gloves

2009-04-03T21:49:00.001-07:00

Portland Velo was fortunate enough to first make friends with, then work a sponsorship with the cats over at Ironclad Performance Wear. You'll see a lot of us wearing their gloves and base layers our lounging after a race in one of the killer hoodies.

Ironclad makes some hardcore tough gear, and I was fortunate enough to be wearing a pair of gloves today when I had a momentary lapse of reason and pulled a totally boneheaded move.

My route today took me over a very small stretch of road which is basically gravel. Like many road cyclists, after clearing the gravel section, I gently pressed my glove hand on my front tire to shear off any stuck glass, rocks, or sand that may have stuck to my tire and caused a puncture down the road. After cleaning the front tire, I reached back to do my rear, a move I've done countless times over the years.... On my Felt.

My VeloVie has a much different frame, and the triangle of space that my Felt has allowing me to clean my tire does not exist on my VeloVie. In fact, the VeloVie has very little clearance at all and the wheel sits very close to the seat tube due to a cutout to allow wind flow around the back wheel.

There is about enough room between the tire and the seat tube to get a finger wedged in there. I tested it.

Your body reacts to pain and stressful situations very quickly. The moment my finger got stuck a rapid fire series of things happened in the next five to ten seconds. First, the impulse to pull my hand out and the realization that no, it was indeed stuck. Second, I could hear that my rear tire was locked and I was skidding, and losing speed rapidly. Third, pump the front break gently to scrub more speed but not lock up both tires. Forth, unclip both feet since I had no clue which side my balance was going to be on in the position I was in.

Once I managed to get stopped, I actually had to roll my bike backwards while pulling my hand had gotten wedged so deep. I couldn't feel a portion of my index finger and I wasn't looking forward to seeing the damage. Imagine my surprise when I saw that my gloves were still intact, and other then a minor rub mark completely unharmed.

I gently removed my glove and was shocked to only see a small pencil eraser sized gouge that was barely bleeding. Sure, the finger was stiff and bruised and hurt like hell, but it was intact and functioning, and the feeling was rapidly returning.

My rear tire is now trainer fodder, a 4 inch strip worn down to the fibrous Vectran belting, but it got me 10 miles over to Bike'N'Hike in downtown Hillsboro where the guys let me change out to a new tire right in the store. (Big thanks to Coleman and John for that.)

For the cost of a new tire, some Neosporin, a band-aid, and a crap load of pain, I was able to prove how bad ass Ironclad's gloves are.

I'm not at the hospital right now because of them.

Exploding Cake!

2009-03-30T14:02:00.001-07:00

I think Ironclad's blog said it best, "The men’s 4 accidentally tripped the 4 tons of TNT someone had placed in the field.." Kaboom is right. What started out as a controlled jaunt in the wind ended up in a all out echelon-or-die painfest.

The Cat4 PV crew had a whopping 3 guys in the field, which is sad considering its the largest group of racers we currently have. However, I can't complain too much since much of the team is resting up for the big stage race this coming weekend. Representing PV was myself, B-Rat, and Jeff B who was making his 2009 road race debut. Our plan was pretty simple, stay with the pack, and if possible control the end of the last lap with Brian hopefully giving me a lead out at the end. With only 3 people in a field of 40+ we had our work cut out for us. That was compounded by Brian taking a "leg stretcher" during the south leg of Lap 1, and rolling off the front. He sat out there for the next hour and 10 minutes all alone.

The fireworks really started in Lap2, with some of the Ironclad guys launching a attacks. The gloves came off for good at that point and for the next 10 miles Jeff and I were covering attack after attack, trying to let Brian stay away. Things worked well until a big attack came and a group of 7 guys got away. Unfortunately, neither Jeff nor I had the legs to get into that break and the chasers couldn't / wouldn't get organized to bring them in. The break eventually caught Brian and dropped him about 2 miles before the final lap.

The start of Lap 3 I was still in recovery mode and very grumpy about missing the break. That compounded with people complaining about not pulling through while gesturing wildly with their hands off the bars in a 20mph cross-wind resulted in a few choice words exchanged between myself and another rider. Heat of the moment exchanges in the middle of rides are never good, but the message was delivered and received and the group worked well together for the remainder of the lap even managing to pull back a few of the shelled riders from the break.

With a couple riders in Chase 1 obviously sitting in, I let Jeff know with a few miles left to do no more work. I sat in the back marking the biggest wheel sucker and jumped on him as soon as he made a move about 3k from the finish. He let up as soon as he realized I wasn't going anywhere and the group came together with 2k to go. A bit of cat and mouse later and I attacked at 1.5k and gapped the field with the hope to hold off until the finish. Unfortunately I came into the last corner poorly and lost a ton of speed right into the headwind on the final stretch. I popped with about 300m to go and the charging group swallowed me up. Jeff continued to race smart and was able to out kick most of the group for a top 10 finish. I soft peddled in a few seconds behind for 15th.

I know I missed out on a few opportunities (missing the winning break), and I didn't make the most of the ones that presented themselves (attacking too early at the finish). But considering the destruction of the remainder of the Cat4 field, I feel fortunate for where I placed.

Classic Spring Classic

2009-03-16T19:53:00.001-07:00

Ah, the Ides of March. A perfect time for a bike race! I wasn't even planning on racing any of the Banana Belt series, as I really dislike all the going up, but for some mysterious reason my training plan last Monday went from "Sunday = Group Ride" to "Sunday = BB3". I won't argue with the coach because he'll make me do more intervals.

So all week I watched the weather report slowly deteriorate down from chance of rain to chance of seriously crappy weather. Sunday arrives and lo and behold, the weather report was right for once. Driving rain, and 20-30 mph wind gusts.

They have social group rides in this shit in Belgium right?

So we pack up the car and I open the garage door and stare out into the rainstorm for a few seconds questioning my sanity. The insane part of my brain justifies that there will be less folks out there in the race and no one will want to ride super hard. The financial part of my brain says shut up, we've paid for the race so we are going. The logical part of my brain tries to protest and is gang tackled by the other two parts and beaten into submission.

We drive to Hagg Lake and get the parking lot, finding the team fairly quickly. For as much resources as we have as a group, we neglected to get a tent which means my warm-ups on this day will consist of sitting in the car with the heater on while slathering embrocation on my legs. Compound this with the fact that I'm trying to do this in the drivers seat of a Mini Cooper and, well it was pretty funny.

At 9:00 the team makes its final checks of numbers and equipment, and rolls up towards the starting area. The squad today consists of myself, Cuz, B-Rat, Ron, Paul, and Alex. We've all ridden together for a few seasons and know our roles well. As this is my first road race of the season and first road race post surgery, my goal for today is to stay with the pack as long as possible and try to soften folks up in the final lap if I'm still around. We'll see how it goes. I've only raced BB once before, as a 5, and I made it to the last lap at Lee hill before I was spit out the back. As a 4, we'll be doing one more lap. One more climb up Lee in anger. Joy.

The race begins and we roll out. The road around Hagg is grimy, wet, and has rivers of water running along it. Bodies are cold and stiff and people are having issues holding their lines. The general pack feel is tense, but the pace is fairly relaxed. Folks are racing conservatively early on and are just trying to get used to the road spray. I've learned my lessons from previous years and stay near the center line on the first major descent, out of the way of the major potholes that dot the pavement fault where I flatted out .8 of a mile into the race last year. The equipment that decides to fail on my this time is my glasses. They quickly fog up and become useless, so I'm forced to tuck them into my vest.

The PV crew tosses the first attack of the day on the very first lap, with BRat and Ron going off the front. Truth be told I think they were both just opening up their legs a bit and quickly sat up once they saw no one wanted to go with them. It's early, and both of them know there is plenty of racing left.

I try to race smart, always trying to move towards the front. My coaches words constantly echo in my head. "If you aren't moving up, you are being passed." I'm not the strongest of climbers, so I have to pay attention to course and where I sit in the pack. I move towards the front on the descents, letting my mass work its magic past the lighter climbers who then pass me on the uphills as I drift slowly back at my own tempo. Descents are painful due to the road spray in the eyes. People weave in and out of drafts.

Lap 2 things heat up a bit and my body still hasn't completely warmed up. The climb up Lee taxes me a bit and I'm worried that I might not hold out to finish my task. I make sure to hydrate and chomp down some shot blocks. Lemon-Lime and Grime. Sounds cool, doesn't taste that good. Paul mixes it up a few times with a couple attacks.

Lap 3 the pack seems to slow a bit, and in a few places the tempo seems like a casual team ride. The rain calms down and the sun actually peaks out at us a few times. Up Lee for the third time I find myself near the front on the descent. I pass by Ron and tell him I'm going to string it out a bit. On the final downhill into the finish I attack and open a gap quickly. I hear the bell for our final lap as someone cheers for me by name. I stay off the front until the top of the steep punchy climb after the starting park where the pack catches up to me. I'm breathing hard from the effort, but I notice some of those on the front are as well. Ducking into the pack once again, I hydrate up and cram down a few more shot blocks and try to recover for the last bit of racing. The pace has heated up a bit, but I hang in there, trying to calculate the best time to send off another flyer.

That time comes on the big descent before the damn. We crest the last hill and 3 guys go off the front hard, Cuz moves over for me and I bridge quickly and go straight over the top of them and hammer down hill. This was a risky attack as this corner is bad in dry conditions, and we are navigating over this rain / oil / dirt mix. Pumping my brakes a few times to get the crud off the wheels I finally brake hard while sitting up as far as I can in the drops. My windvest turns into a small air brake and I can smell my brake pads. I decide I've scrubbed enough speed and hit the apex of the corner as straight as I could, powering out of it out of the saddle and on to the damn. Down in the drops and into the full howling headwind, I glance back over my shoulder and see a sizable gap, the pack strung out in a very long line.

I know I'm running on borrowed time. I'm roughly 4 miles from the finish and I know from my training I can only hold this pace for roughly 4 minutes. I have oxygen deprived delusions of soloing to the finish, a brilliant tactical escape. I glance back again and see no organization on the front, but I'm now across the damn and the road is slowly starting to pitch up. I drop back down to threshold and take on some water, the pack eats up the distance quickly and I soon find myself trying to integrate back in. The final charge up Lee looms in my mind, less than a minute away.

I'm on the right side of the pack, and I know that if I'm close enough to the front I can probably get a good run on the down hill and maybe drift through the pack to stay in contact this one last time, but as the descent starts those in front of me start breaking and my plan goes all to hell. An attack comes from the left and the pace picks up. I climb out of the saddle as people shoot past me, the race accelerating with me out of matches. I crest the top about 5 seconds after the tail end of the pack with nothing left. For the second year, BB ends for me on the last assault of Lee. I did what I set out to do, and must now leave it in the hands of my teammates.

As I roll down hill, my good friend Joel comes up from behind. Joel had a rough day and was working for his teammates as well. Cramping and tired, the two of us soft pedal into the finish a minute or so behind the pack. I find out a short bit later that Ron got a great lead out from Paul and BRat, and was able to take it to the line. The team set out with a plan and was able to pull it off. I'll call that a successful day.

All in all, I'm happy with my performance. Under better conditions the race would have been faster, but I might have felt better. The lack of warm-up definitely hurt, but most of the field was in the same boat as I. The two flyers hurt, and I didn't leave myself enough time to recover before the last charge, but I think that without those attacks I could have stayed in the mix to the end. For not planning or expecting to do this race, I'll call it a success.

A Tale of Two Weekends

2009-03-02T15:46:00.001-08:00

I'm glad this is a rest week coming up, not because training is kicking my ass like it was just before my last rest week, but because I think I need about a week to recover from this weekend. This weekend can be broken into two different time frames. The daytime, and ironically enough, the night.

The weekend kicked off a bit early on Friday, as I was able to leave a bit early from work. Ron was kind enough to come by with his dremel-o-matic and assist me with the cutting of the steer tube on fork for the new Velo Vie. After a few quick minutes of math and conversions, we got the tube cut and the headset installed. Ron then said the magic words "Well, I've got a bit of time if you want to start hanging stuff on the bike?" Music to my ears. About an hour and a half later the bike was mostly done. Big thanks to Ron for the extra sets of hands and some nice tips on cable running.

I ate a late dinner and Traci and I got on our bikes for a evening recovery ride. Was the first spin on the VV, albeit on the trainer, but it gave me the opportunity to get the brifters setup where I wanted them, and check saddle position. A few minor tweaks and a couple double-check measurements vs. my Felt and it was time to get the bars wrapped. Traci has some awesome skills when it comes to wrapping bars. I think people who wrap bars well can also wrap presents well, and since I can't do either very well I leave this to the household expert and assist by holding the tape while the master works away. After the bars were wrapped, I spent a few very cold hours in the garage putting the final touches on the new bike, mainly inhaling GooGone fumes while working the sticker glue off my rear wheel. By the time I was done it was after midnight, 39 degree's in the garage and I had a very sore throat and hands from working with the stuff. But it was worth it! The bike was done and ready for its maiden road voyage the next day

Saturday I woke up with a low blood sugar. This is getting a bit more common as my training load has increased and my body gets used to having amilyn back in its system. I fuel up and fight off the sluggish feeling in time to head to team ride. The ride ended up being the hardest of the year so far and I was able to put in some very solid efforts. Was the first major climbing I've done this year, and I held my own on the climbs. The wind however was horrid. At one point the team was climbing Thompson Road and a gust blew down hill and literally sat everyone upright in their saddles.

I will also point out that Amit sent us up Logie Trail from the RT30 side, but decided not to climb due to a "lack of time." We hate you.

Saturday night we hit the PACE open house and it was a great time. Big thanks to Dave, Jeff, and Russell for hosting a great evening. By about 9:30 I was ready for bed, exhausted from the days ride. I actually had a few folks tell me the next day I looked exhausted.

Unfortunately sleep decided not to visit for very long. 3am both Traci and I got up and decided we needed to go downstairs to get water / snack. I woke up again at 6am with a cratering bloodsugar and had to get another snack. I finally got out of bed at 8am and I felt like, well basically I got no sleep. Our Sunday endurance ride was quiet and sluggish, and it wasn't until 75% of the way through the ride that I actually felt a bit away. We spent Sunday afternoon with our good friends and by 6:00 I was on the verge of falling asleep at their house. Once again, sleep didn't come to me last night either. I was up at 11:30, 2am, and 5. What the crap?

I think a lot of the sleep issues will be resolved with a bit of tinkering to my basal insulin levels, which I did this morning. Hopefully it will result in less late night lows which have been the norm for me on days were I have big workout efforts.

For now, I'll enjoy the rest week. :)

"Who's da Mastah?"

2009-02-25T10:14:00.001-08:00

Fun few days here recently. Saturday had a descent ride with some folks on the team, a good mix of easy and hard efforts to get the legs opened up for the Jack Frost Time Trial.

Note to those who decide to jump on the back of bridging efforts during training rides. You don't get smart rider points for wheel sucking up to the break and then refusing to pull through in the pace line. Training rides are where you do work.

Sunday we woke up to mostly dry roads and partially sunny skies. So much for the 70% chance of rain that was forecasted. Traci and I had packed the car the night before, so we were basically ready to go 30 minutes before we planned on leaving, and decided to just head out to Vancouver Lake. I'm glad we did! A pair of missed turns delayed us just a bit, but the parking facilities near the start line were limited at best. We lucked out and found a tiny parking spot that the Mini was able to wedge into which was close to where the team had setup.

I'm not a big TT rider to start with, and I'm still working hard to bring my threshold wattage up to where it was last season and beyond. As such, I went into the race having a few specific goals I wanted to achieve.

Pre-hydrated and warm-up effectively, including not wasting too much time between getting off the trainer to when my start was.
Maintain a stable blood sugar during warm up, race, and cool down.
Hold off the my teammates starting 1:30m, 2:00m, and 2:30m as long as possible.
Ride consistently at or above my current FTP, being careful to not spike the wattage at the start or at the turn around.
Cool down and refuel effectively.

Was happy that I was able to nail 4.5 out of 5 for the event! I started hydrating the night before and when I woke up. My warm-up was good and not rushed, and I got to the starting area 15 seconds before they called my name to get in line. Two minutes later I was rolling down the road for my first race of the season, a scant 61 days after my knee surgery. Score +1

My fuel intake / insulin mix was enough to keep my blood sugars stable during the time trial, which is difficult since they tend to drop during long aerobic efforts. I was very pleased with this. I also didn't spike after the race was over, again probably due to this being an aerobic event rather than finishing with a major anaerobic effort. Again, score +1

My teammates all caught me, with Johnny "The Rocket" Banks, who happened to be 2:30m behind me catching me about 30s after the turn around. I didn't expect to hold him off at all and was surprised that he caught me as fast as he did. He be strong. Rob started 1:30m behind me and caught me just outside of 1k to finish and George caught me with maybe 300m to go. Both finished about 10 seconds ahead of me. Score +.25

Wattage for the race was right at my FTP for my 5m, 10m, 20m, and 30m average, and my HR was right at my threshold. I basically rode exactly where I needed to be and had been training at. I would have liked to have shown an increase in my FTP between the last time I tested and this TT, but I didn't ride below FTP, nor did I ride too hard and die in the last mile. Score +.75

Cool down was good. I coasted for a while with Rob and immediately noticed that my hamstrings were starting to get very sore. Once I got spinning again the pain flushed out and I felt okay. Rob and I rode a few miles down the quiet road and back, then I went back to the team tent to change into warm clothes and get a small snack. Score +1

Legs didn't hurt at all that night, which was great because they really hurt now. Monday night was cross training, and I've started to integrate legwork into my routine since my knee has healed up and the stability muscles are strong again. A 45 minute core / leg workout with the kettle bell and a good foam roller session and I was tired.

Yesterday, I had my last PT session with Dave over at P.A.C.E and did more strength work. At the end, I was barely able to do the exercises since my legs were beat. I whined a bunch during the day to my other cycling buddies about the trainer workout I still had to do. Lindsay was kind enough to tell me to quit crying. She rules. :)

So I worked through the 2x20's at threshold and 3x4 VO2's with the help of Berry Gordy's "The Last Dragon", which is a great 80's flick. It's packed full of great lines like "Kiss My Converse!" and "Don't bug me, fix your face." along with music by Vanity and DeBarge! As a reward for my work, with a minute and thirty to go in my very last VO2 interval the FedEx truck rolled up to my house to deliver a long awaited box.

Can't wait to get her out on the road. Sho'nuff!

Beer needs us.

2009-02-23T13:44:00.001-08:00

I'm not one to get on a political podium because I find politics has a tend to label people and polarize them when its been proven time and time again that the best work is done when with folks with various viewpoints work together.

That being said, I'm going to get up on my small blog podium and ask readers to take a few minutes to contact their local Oregon Representatives to stop Oregon House Bill 2461.

There is plenty of details on the Bill and what you can do to stop it to be found here. Take 15 minutes of your day and write your Representatives, write the House Revenue Committee, sign the online Petition.

Some of the information found about the bill states that the tax is going to be on beer brewed in the State of Oregon, however a reply back from my local Representative Chuck Riley says otherwise:

I am very concerned about the impact a beer tax could have on the local beer industry, which is why I support exempting the products of small breweries that sell fewer than 125,000 barrels annually in Oregon. This excludes most Oregon breweries from the tax. Eighty-eight percent of the beer consumed in Oregon is produced outside of this state, and increasing malt beverage taxes on breweries that sell more than 125,000 barrels annually in Oregon would level the playing field so that small breweries can compete against higher volume, less-expensive beer. Only about five or ten cents per beer would be added to beer sold in Oregon by large breweries such as Anheuser-Busch and Coors.

I would like Oregon taxpayers to recoup some of the millions of dollars we spend each year on alcoholism-related illnesses, underage drinking, and drunk driving. Fetal alcohol syndrome continues to rise in children born to teen mothers, costing Oregon $12.4 million per year, and the cost of alcohol-related problems to cities and counties far exceeds what they receive from Oregon Liquor Control Commission revenue. Most beer tax revenue will go to cities and counties for law enforcement, with the remainder going to fund statewide addiction prevention programs, treatment facilities, drug court expansion, drug-free housing programs, and Oregon State Police.

I've already written him back asking for further clarification on the points of the bill because I'm unable to confirm or deny a number of items he's addressed. We'll see if I get a response back, or if this was just a form letter. 125K barrels is like a half a million kegs annually, so something makes me think he just pulled numbers out of.. well someplace. While I do agree substance abuse and prevention is an issue worthy of funding, I'd hedge a bet the vast majority of those binge drinking teen's we are trying to protect aren't dropping eight bucks on a six-pack of Oregon Microbrews when they can get a case of some macro-brewed crap for a few dollars more.

Anyway, our friend Beer needs us. Give it a hand!

Terms of Anti-Endearment

2009-02-17T13:08:00.001-08:00

A stiff neck, a knot the size of quarter between my shoulder blades, and sore hamstrings. All gifts from my lovely TT bike. I call it torture, my coach called it "adaptation". Regardless of what it's called, I've got less than a week to get used to it / over it, and put out a solid effort for Jack Frost Time Trial.

For some reason I thought the race was one more weekend out, you know the last Sunday in February. Oh, that's right... February only has 28 days. Dammit!

This weekend was brutal. I got an unexpected bonus day off on Friday as a reward for a very stressful release week we had, so I hit the Friday morning ride out of LB. It was cold and damp and windy, but not raining. The two hour effort felt like three, and my legs were still dead from Wednesday's PT session were Dave shredded the muscle fibers in my legs.

Saturday had a long group ride on the docket. We planned on doing 3 hours at tempo / endurance and ended up doing 4 hours with a lot of steady efforts. Normalized power for the entire ride was just baaarely below my threshold wattage range, so I was really happy but exhausted.

Sunday morning was pouring when we woke up. I jumped on the TT bike on the trainer to do some intervals and lasted 45 minutes. Boo. Later in the day the sun came out in all its glory, so we suited up again and went back out, again on my TT bike. I lasted about an hour which were broken into four distinct time blocks. I cursed the bike's existance, started planning my post to the team list about having it for sale, stopped in North Plains, and finally had a stretch where I felt strong riding it.

Its now Tuesday and I'm exhausted. I don't know if I'm fighting something off, or if the Symilin I'm taking is making me feel crappy. I know the stuff is working. Food doesn't seem appealing to me even at meal times or when I'm hungry. I guess that's good in some ways.

Rest Week Randomness

2009-02-10T14:32:00.001-08:00

I'm pretty sure a few days ago I rode for 3 hours in close to 60 degree weather. Although you wouldn't know it from the snow that's falling right now. I won't complain too much however since the weekend is going to be sunny again, and we had a gorgeous ride this past Saturday with the team. A few more months and us Portlanders can start complaining about the rain interrupting our Spring sun instead of the snow interrupting our Winter commute.

Training has been progressing along nicely. Last week was a rest week for me, and I spent about 95% of my in-saddle time in endurance and active recovery zones. I did my late winter / early spring maintenance to the Felt, changing out the BB (after getting the housing refaced), cassette, chain, and degunking all the other drivetrain parts with Simple Green and some elbow grease. This week I'm back to threshold intervals, building to the goal to hit Jack Frost TT in two Sundays for a hard effort, and make my 2009 road debut at Piece of Cake at the end of March. Need to get those 5 to 20min average power numbers up!

The team is gearing up for the 2009 season, with a small handful of the team spending the week in Arizona at a training camp. Check out Heidi Swift's blog for some awesome articles about the experience. We are already making plans for next year. The race season kicks off with Cherry Pie this Sunday. I really would love to join them on the road, but I know I wouldn't be much help right now. Unless a miracle occurs and we get our Team Edition Velo Vie rides this Friday, I'll probably contribute to the team by lending big Ron my Felt.

Last week I also started up a new medication to work in conjunction with my insulin pump. It's called Symilin, and its a lab created form of the hormone amylin. Type 1 diabetics don't make any insulin, but they also don't make a lot of amylin. Amylin tells your liver to stop putting sugar into the bloodstream, lets your brain know you've had food, and tells your stomach to digest stuff. Pretty important stuff! Not having amylin in your system basically means you have a huge appetite even though you've eaten, and your blood sugar will go up a lot due to the intake of food plus the liver not shutting "off" for a short period of time. I don't know how many times I've had a huge meal and still be hungry afterwards.

With the addition of the Symilin injections before the meal, I'm eating a lot less, and my post meal blood sugars are very stable taking half the insulin I was taking for each meal prior to starting Symilin. I'm still in the building phase of the medication, so I have to be very careful about getting super low blood sugars but so far so good!

A Gift of Long Shadows

2009-02-05T08:50:00.001-08:00

Yesterday marked the first after work ride of 2009. We are getting some unseasonable clear sky and warm temps this week, and it was about 60 when I ran home early to attend a meeting which I thought was going to run later than 4pm. As luck would have it, the meeting got out almost 40 minutes early, (a testament to how good the PM on my project is!)

Since Traci works from home most Wednesdays and her day had wrapped up already, we decided to do our workout today on the road. Clad in my team kit and windbreaker, but sans knee warmers, we rolled out to do a little over an hour at endurance wattage.

Once we got on the open road, it was hard not to smile. The sun hung low in the sky and warm on the skin, casting two long shadows across the road. A pair of tall riders clad in all black matching our pace and posture. It was a struggle to stick to the workout, to not leap out of the saddle and try to outrun our companions. Controlling the desire to stretch the legs under the waning rays of daylight, we turn back home happy to enjoy the gift.

Oh sweet rest, how I missed you.

2009-02-02T13:24:00.001-08:00

Today is the first day I've had off the bike in close to two weeks. A steady dose of Endurance, Tempo, and Threshold intervals have torn me up to the point where I am a ready to sit on the couch and be a sloth. Both my wife and I are fighting off the lingering crud that seems to impact most people in an office place this time of year which just seems to sap your energy. It took some goading from teammates to get out yesterday for a freaking recovery ride....

The good news is that all the work is paying off already. Knee recovery is doing very well and the muscles are getting stronger every day. My fitness is catching up to where it needs to be and I'm at least able to hang with the team on our rides the past few weeks. I hope to be back to where I was last year by mid May.

In non bike related news, holy cow what a game. My mom is from Pittsburgh and my dad went to University of Pitt for his Masters degree, so I grew up in a Steelers household. That coupled with living in the Boston area during the 80's and 90's where the Patriots were so bad the games were blacked out meant that Pitt was my favorite NFL team growing up. While I don't watch the NFL all that often, I still follow them and I was excited to see them win their 5th title a few years ago. (In an interesting twist of fate Dennis Dixon, the former QB from Oregon, was drafted by them this year so I paid them a bit more attention to see if he played.)

This game had all the makings of a historic clash. AZ was the first 9 win team to make it to the big game in years.. Warner having a resurgence.. the Steelers' defense doing what it does year in and year out. This was one year the game held my interest over the commercials! (Which I think were really bad this year.) The last 5 minutes of the game had my heart racing. I thought AZ had finally figured out the Steelers vaunted D and the Steelers offense had burnt its last match in the third quarter. But like sports have done so many times in the past, the greatest stage creates the greatest comebacks.

Help wanted!

2009-01-14T15:50:00.001-08:00

So on the off chance that someone is reading this who has experience with Metronics CGM's or experience with wireless devices, I'm going to post the following scenario.

I'm currently using a Metronics Paradigm Insulin Pump, and one of their continuous glucose monitor systems which wirelessly transmits data to the insulin pump every 5 minutes. I'm happy with the combination for my day to day activities, but to me it falls short in one crucial area.

When I'm on the bike, my pump is securely tucked away beneath multiple layers of clothes (typically attached to my HRM strap or the back of my bib shorts). If I want / need to see my current blood sugar, I have to stop and pull everything out to look at my pump, then put everything back in place. Not the most productive thing while trying to sit in the middle of a pack of riders.

What I would love is a secondary device, like a watch, where I could just see what the most recent number was. It doesn't have to do anything other than report the most recent data. That way I can tell if I need to eat something before my body starts to bonking (which is basically a low blood sugar) while I'm doing activities where its difficult to get to my pump.

Real time data is a huge improvement over what I had just 6 months ago, but as a numbers person it also makes me cringe. Data is just data unless you do something with it, and having it inaccessible when I need it the most is fairly frustrating.

Oddly enough it looks like Metronics competitor, Navigator, went with a slightly different route. Their CGM reports to a small handheld unit which doubles as a blood tester.

Coincidently enough, there is one guy in PV who has one of the Navigator systems, and another guy who just joined our race team who has the same system I have.

Ooops.

2009-01-13T10:24:00.001-08:00

The year is 13 days old, and I've apparently neglected my blog. Good reason though, I've been riding! My knee has been healing nicely, stitches were removed and flexibility is almost back to normal. Strength is another story entirely. I have to gain back about a 25% muscle loss on my left leg and shred a bunch of scar tissue.

Last Friday I had my first PT appointment with Dave McHenry of TAI over on NE MLK. I've had my share of PT the last 11 years, having to rehab back from two ACL surgeries. The thing that struck me about Dave was he didn't sugar coat things. I've worked with people who say things like "you may feel a bit of pressure" and then spike your pain-o-meter to 11. Dave, after doing the initial assessment of my knee and seeing the scar tissue buildup I have, said something to the extent of "Well, this is going to have to go and its going to hurt." No bullshit. I loved it.

I feel I rehab very well. I get angry. I vent the frustration into my sessions and push myself get to beyond where I was as quickly as possible. I like to hit things straight on, and having a physical therapist that thinks like I do works well for me.

My endurance on the bike is coming back pretty quickly. Last Saturday I took advantage of the decent weather (read: no rain) and rode with the race team. Put about 3 hours in the saddle that day and was able to mix it up a bit which felt nice. I inadvertently bypassed the two small climbing session that were on route after playing catchup due to a flat tire, which was probably a blessing in disguise. Coming out of the saddle is about the only thing that hurts now.

(Note to those who feel their worn summer racers can hold out for "one more outdoor ride". Don't speak of it out loud. If you do, you've cursed yourself.) The weather looks decent for the remainder of the week and into the weekend, so I expect to get out again this coming Saturday and Sunday. Until then, it will be on the trainer.

Four bits gets you time in the racks

2008-12-29T16:58:00.001-08:00

Every journey starts with the first step. Today I was given the green light to start riding again, with the caveat that I may have to taper back activities to balance pain management. Music to my ears.

So, at 3:35:07 pm PST on Monday December 29th, 2008, I started on my road back from injury and preparation for the 2009 season. The result was a massive 35 minute effort at 36 watts, with a HR of 85 BPM! EPIC!

I'd love to report that the ride was 100% pain free, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. My range of motion is still a bit limited due to the swelling, and those first dozen or so slow revolutions really didn't feel too happy when my knee was at the top of its pedal stroke. However, over time it became less and less uncomfortable and I was able to increase my cadence a bit.

It wasn't much, but it's the start.

(Kudos to those of you who make the connection with the title!)

76 hour check in

2008-12-26T22:06:00.001-08:00

My ass and the couch were like the roommate you don't really like the last 76 hours. You tolerate each other because you have no place better to be, but you'd really rather be someplace else. The good news is that I'm up and mobile now, and limping down the road to recovery.

My surgery was scheduled for a 2pm check-in on Tuesday, but at about 11:30 I got a call from the day-surgery group saying they had a few cancellations due to the weather and wanted to know if I could come in early. I told them we'd be there in 45minutes.

At 12:15 I give my name, DOB, and what procedure I was having done to the lady at the front desk. This information will be repeated probably a dozen times over the next hour and a half. The lady who takes all my medical information, the nurse who preps my knee, the nurse who does my IV, the nurse who wheels me into the pre-op room, my Orthoped, the OR nurse, the anesthesiologist.... I'm sure there are a few that I forgot.

I try to relax during the prep-process. Traci and I chat about what we'll do for dinner later tonight and wonder when my folks will be arriving. Finally they are ready for me in the OR. Traci walks with the gurney until we reach the waiting area. I give her a cheery "see you in a bit" and she smiles. We both have horrible poker faces.

The OR waiting area is cold. Much colder than the rest of the hospital. There is one other gentleman in the room with me, but he looks very much uncomfortable and sleepy. I pass the time by staring at the dots in the ceiling panel, then I remember I did the same exact thing the last time I was waiting for a knee surgery. My Orthoped comes and, does the final review of my chart and takes his pen and writes "YES" on my left knee. It itches.

After about 10 minutes, and a few visits from the other members of the surgical team, I'm wheeled into the OR. This room is even colder then the previous room. Fortunately they have a few warm blankets for me to be wrapped in when I move myself over to the table. The team moves efficiently getting me situated in place and they begin to strap my arms down and ......................

I wake up in the recovery room and the first though was "WTF died in my mouth." Anesthesia gasses have a horrid taste to them and heeding the advice of the anesthesiologist, I take some big breaths of air and cough out the remaining crud in my system. A women named Lisa, who supposedly had a fairly detailed conversation with about 10 minutes earlier, is there next to me.

The deep breaths of air are doing their thing to clear the fog from my head and body, and in no time I'm back in my room with Traci. My nurse asks me if I could stomach some juice and food, and comes back with some cranberry juice and a bite size muffin. This is the first food I've had in 18 hours and it vanishes in seconds. She comes back with a small menu and I order some hash browns, and a bagel with cream cheese.

While we wait I get the quick run down from Traci about the surgery. They weren't able to repair the meniscus due to the extent of the damage. "Tears within tears" was the phrase used. My guess is that this was due to the initial injury in 06 with the Barton Park injury on top of it. My food arrives and I dive in.

My orthoped arrives as I'm pushing the empty tray from in front of me. Happy, but still hungry. He shows me the before and after photos:

In the top photo, the white mass with the "F" on it is my femur (thighbone). You should be able to see the entire bottom of the bone in a knee that doesn't have an injury like this. It is obstructed by my meniscus, which had torn up, flipped over on itself and became caught behind the femur. The two lines are pointing to two additional tears within the main tear. Hence, no repair. The second photo shows my ACL, which was surgically replaced in January of '03. The weird looking blob on the left was a tissue mass (it is not a tumah!) that grew that wasn't causing an issues, but didn't need to be there, so it too was removed.

The end result was this:

This is basically the same photo as the first, just shot a bit more to the inside of the knee to see where the meniscus was removed and how the tear went under the femur.

So with that news I was given a small list of PT exercises to do, and some instructions on what to take when, and how much. I see him again on Monday for my follow up.

This surgery was relatively minor compared to my two ACL reconstructions. I've been hobbling around without a crutch since the first day and I'm already allowed to take the compression legging off. I'm just happy its finally over and hope to be doing some light spinning by the first of the year. :)

Before the knife.

2008-12-22T13:39:00.001-08:00

Mother nature is funny. After not having much in the way of snow in the greater PDX area for a number of years, we get a bunch pooped on us all at once. Ah well.

Traci and I have spent much of the past week hanging at the house, cleaning and prepping for the holiday, and shoveling snow off our driveway. We haven't gone out much because we didn't need to and I'd rather not drive if I didn't have to.

This morning however, I had to drive. I was to have my pre-op surgery appointment with my Orthoped at 8:30. So at 7am I get up and look outside.. its snowing.. again.

We get in the car and make the short trip into downtown Hillsboro. The roads are mostly empty and what vehicles that are out there have chains and are mainly trucks. We feel out of place in the Mini without chains. At 8am we get to the doctors park and there isn't anyone in the parking lot and the building looks dark. We circle the block a few times (getting stuck once in the process but managing to get out with the help of a few bystanders.) Calls to the office go unanswered so we head home.

Once home, it takes us 30 minutes to get the car back into the garage. I don't plan on going back out today. I finally get in touch with the doctors office and was informed that yes, there were people there at 8am and if I didn't come in for the pre-op, I couldn't go in for surgery tomorrow.

Wow, nice ultimatum.

So back out into the snow I go, but this time on foot. It takes me about 40 minutes to walk the 3 miles. Its cold and quiet and really fairly peaceful.

I meet with my surgeon and went over his findings in the MRI. The circled areas in the first photo are the left side meniscus in my left knee. The distinct dark triangles are the meniscus which is in good condition.

This second photo is the right side of my left knee. Notice the circle on the left. The triangle doesn't have a distinct point to it. He called it "blunted". The circle on the right shows more issues. The dark slop (my words) on the left side of the triangle is what he identified as the part that should be attached to the right side, which has folded over on itself. He believes this injury will be a good candidate for a repair rather then a removal of the torn area. I had figured this was coming, but the confirmation from him was still a big blow.

I talked with him about recovery and rehab and I was happy to hear the "8 weeks non weight bearing" wasn't going to be the case. Bed rest for 3 days and no twisting, jumping, running, or deep knee bends for at least 3 months. Unfortunately cycling is also out of the picture with the exception of light gears and no-resistance spinning until March, so my 2009 road season is shot it seems.

I think that hurts more than the injury.

Year in review, provided early by inability to ride any more this season.

2008-12-04T15:50:00.001-08:00

So my racing season technically ended at Barlow when I blew out my knee. Since that time, I've been on the bike a few times just doing easy rides in preparation for my surgery that was supposed to be on the 11th. Well yesterday morning I received a phone call from my Orthopedic surgeon. Seems they did a "second review" of my MRI films and discovered what's called a "bucket handle tear" of the meniscus. In addition to that, I've got fragments floating around in the joint. This is a bit more serious than the previously diagnosed injury and requires a more involved surgery which needs an assistant. As a result, my surgery has been moved to the 23rd. In addition, because I've got debris floating around the Doctor put the kibosh on being on the bike.

So, yesterday officially put the end to my 2008 season! Instead of jumping on the trainer for a light spin while my wife busted ass in her workout, I pulled up my WKO+ data and mulled over my season.

Season started Jan 29th, 2008 and ended December 2nd, 2008

3690 Miles logged in WKO. Figuring in rides that I did without my PT, I'm going to estimate I rode about 4200 miles this year.

Total wattage in kJ recorded: 120816 or 34kWh which is about enough to power my entire house for 3 days.

Total time in the saddle: 9 days 38 minutes, 48 seconds. As a bonus, most of it I got to spend with my wonderful wife and teammates.

Weight at start of season, 190lbs. Weight at end of season 186lbs. Average riding weight during season 184lbs. Low of season 179lbs (amazing what 11 hours in the saddle in 105 degree heat will do to you the next day.)

Longest day in saddle: 9.5 hours spanning 115 miles (also high single day mileage for the year.) Was a very odd day as we were doing Ride Marshalling for the Portland LIVESTRONG Challenge. The first 85 or so miles we averaged close to 19mph, but we ended up escorting a few struggling riders in the last portion of the ride which took a really long time. To add to it, the temp hit close to 105 in the afternoon. Even drinking 2 bottles an hour I was dehydrated the next day.

I burnt off about 28,856 calories riding this year, or 53.4 Big Mac's. Since I don't think I could eat one, we can go in pints of Guinness which is much more appropriate for my blog. At approximately 200 calories a pint, I burnt off enough calories for 144.2 pints!

Highest mileage month for me was June, however the hardest month for me in terms of TSS/mile was actually February. I'll hedge a bet this was due to a large amount of indoor interval training during the month and still building my fitness.

Highest recorded HR was 190BPM which was right after a massive attack at PIR where I averaged 640 watts for a minute.

Highest recorded speed was 51.2 mph, which was on the descent off of Bald Peak Road during the LIVESTRONG Challenge.

From a power curve standpoint I made some very good strides in some areas and highlighted the weakness I'll probably be working on next year:

Mean Max Power: (Max historical wattage shown at any time. First set of numbers was taken as of Feb 20th, 2008. Second set taken yesterday.)

Time	Wattage	w/kg
1s	1039	12.36
5s	873	10.38
10s	714	8.49
20s	534	6.35
30s	460	5.47
1m	391	4.65
5m	289	3.44
10m	256	3.04
60m	211	2.51
120m	198	2.35
			Difference
1s	1375	16.35	336w
5s	1315	15.64	442w
10s	1196	14.22	482w
20s	928	11.04	394w
30s	844	10.04	384w
1m	640	7.61	249w
5m	343	4.08	54w
10m	314	3.73	58w
60m	256	3.04	45w
120m	216	2.57	18w

Pretty easy to see that I saw my biggest improvements in my top-end. I was both able to make "hotter burning machines" (higher total power output) but longer ones as well.

I set out this year with very few specific goals, but a number of general ones. Here is a quick review:

"Steady weight" below 180 during the season - FAIL! I defined steady weight as the number your weight fluxuates around over time. For me it was 184, so I didn't hit the goal but I was definitely lighter this year than I was in years past and I felt better climbing this year.

Race more - WIN! I did 2 road and 2 cross races in '07. This year I did 14 road races (including my first TT and Crit), 1 track race, and 8 cross events.

Upgrade to Cat4 - WIN! I received my upgrade in April after taking 7th in Piece of Cake and added to my wins at PIR in '07.

Progress towards Cat3 - WIN! After I upgraded, I had a very good April and May out at PIR and an okay crit at Sunset. Hopefully I'll be on the bike to race some of the "Spring Classics".

Dairy Creek team ride and not get dropped - WIN! This road always seems to kick my ass when we ride it with the team. A few times this year I was with the group when we hit the end and was even able to mix it up once or twice.

Participate in TTT - FAIL! Second year running. I will be in it this year (pending knee).

Participate in time trials - EPIC FAIL! I did one… ONE.

Race at Velodrome - FAIL! I did one mass start race this year and it scared the shit out of me.

Be competitive in Men's C's at Cross - Meh - I'll give this one 50%. I missed out on two races during crusades that would have fit me very well (PIR/Hillsboro) and I was in the top 10 at Barlow before I f'd myself up. Alpenrose I was one place out of the points, one Kermesse I took 4th and the other I crashed out of after flatting both tires. I think with a bit more preparation in August and September (i.e. not trying to plan a cross race in 34 days) I'll be much better off next year and will be able to move up into the B's.

Have fun - WIN! I enjoyed racing this year and made some really good friends that I look forward to racing with and against next year if all goes well.

All in all, it was a good year for the bike and I. I learned a lot on the bike, growing as a rider, racer, and teammate. I learned a lot about the bike, thanks to the patience of teammate who was very generous with his time, and I'm now able to do most of my mechanical adjustments and rebuilds at home. Finally, I got to witness first hand the inner workings of organizing, promoting, and running a race which I hope to be able to leverage again in 2009.

Surgery Scheduled...

2008-11-20T15:14:00.001-08:00

... finally. I guess one of the drawbacks of seeing a top rated orthopedic surgeon is that, well he's a top rated orthopedic surgeon and takes a while to get into his schedule.

So, on 12/11 I head into the hospital to have the meniscus in my left knee cleaned out. It's an outpatient surgery, and recovery is 3 days bed rest then 1 to 4 weeks of light duty based on my swelling and pain tolerance. Almost 6 and a half weeks after Barton I'll finally be on my road to recovery. It was almost 7 and a half weeks...

I originally scheduled the surgery for 12/18. You see, 12/11 also happens to be my wife's birthday. Every year we've been married, we've taken her birthday off, gone to Noah's bagels for breakfast and then done a bunch of Christmas shopping. It's a fun tradition, and I hesitated to break it or make her birthday crappy by being in a hospital.

When I told her I selected the 18th over the 11th, her reply was "get it done sooner." I think she's tired of me being a gimp around the house. ;)

I want to ride my bicycle...

2008-11-17T15:25:00.001-08:00

Ha, ha! Now you have that song stuck in your head.

Friday, I had a really bad day. My knee was really achy all night so I didn't sleep very well. As a result, I was grumpy and tired. After running a quick errand before lunch, I went to Longbottoms to grab lunch and ran into the PV crew who was just returning from a glorious Friday morning ride. I ate my lunch and listened to their banter. I was mad at my knee.

The weather was more than you could ask for this time of year. Sunny, crisp, cool, little to no breeze. It's the type of weather that makes you don wool arm and leg warmers with your kit, and maybe pack a light wind vest.

It reminded me much of my youth and the cycling I did in the North East.

I grew up in Andover, Massachusetts. The school system was such that upon entering your freshman year in High School, you knew half your graduating class for 2 years, a quarter of it for 8 and a good chuck of it since you were pre-school. Add into it the mix of a huge youth soccer program and friendships were formed at a very early age. One such friendship was formed with a pair whom I just recently got back in touch with through the magic of this new fangled "internets" and Facebook.

Jim and I became friends through soccer, which his dad and my dad co-coached youth teams together for years and formed a friendship. Brian and Jim were classmates and friends from school, and eventually Brian and I became friends through Jim and a variety of other activities. Through much of our grade school and middle school years, the three of us hung out frequently on weekends and in arranged after school get together's. As we grew older, the introduction to one key thing added a whole new dimension to the adventures we could have. Transportation!

The bike was the first mode of transportation the three of us would consistently have access too. No longer would we need to wait for a parent to get home in order to go to one or another's house. Many a autumn or spring afternoon or entire summer day would be spent on our bikes riding where ever our legs took us. No hill was too steep, no road too busy for us to travel on, no distance was too far to ride (as long as it was in town limits). We rode hard and fast, and traded nuggets of cycling wisdom learned from watching the TDF on Wide World of Sports during July.

Jim: "Guys, we should ride in a peloton."

Brian and I: "What's that?"

Jim: "It's when you ride in a group and the people up front do the work and the rest don't have to!"

Brian and I: "Sweet! We can do that with the three of us!"

Ah, the naiveté of youth.

We'd watch American Flyer to the point where we'd recite dialog during our rides pretending to launch attacks too early or sprinting away from dogs, all of whom were named "Eddy". I clearly remember my first experience with a "lead out train" ending in a narrowly avoided disaster. I can still see Jim flying through the air after high siding his bike, walking away with nothing more than skinned hands and knees. (We learned that day that when you corner at high speeds you want your inside pedal up.)

Brian and I undertook one of the most memorable events of my life together. In the spring of 1990, we participated in the "Commonwealth Classic" which was a 2-day 150mile bike tour to benefit the American Diabetes Association (pretty ironic that 5 years later I was diagnosed with Type 1 eh?). Brian and I were the two youngest participants and finished with the lead group of ten riders on the second day. It was on that ride that I learned pace line skills, and how to point out debris in the road. Simple lessons for skills that I take for granted these days. The people we grouped up with were impressed with our strength and eagerness, but admonished us on our safety. I remember being called out for pulling out of a pace line and not looking back to see if there was traffic coming from behind. Again, the naiveté of youth.

It was many of these memories that drew me to cycling in my youth, and drew me back for good in the recent years. It was with those fond memories that I geared up Saturday morning and tested the knee out. I'm happy to report the knee was okay with letting me ride, and the body was happy to have the opportunity. I went slow on the flats, and glacial up small rises in the road, but I felt better on the bike than off. What mattered the most was I was riding my bike, the sun was warm, and the air crisp and cool.

I had a smile on my face the rest of the weekend.

Wednesday Random Collection

2008-11-12T10:22:00.001-08:00

MRI 11am tomorrow, with Orthoped follow-up next Wednesday. So in roughly one week I should know the full extent of the injury, when I can get in for surgery, and when rehab can start. My left quad and hamstring have visibly atrophied.

PIR had to be some of the most fun I've had in a long, long time. Kudos to all of the SSWC riders, especially any of them who enjoyed our beer at the off camber run down / up at the far east side of the course. I really missed being able to race.

The cold Traci and I had is going away. Last night was the first non-NyQuil night in a few days.

This granny smith apple I'm eating is very good.

Sunset Cycles / CycleOne gets a big public thank you arranging use of the fitting I won back in August at the Sunset Crit. I hope to be back next year!

I finally got my NAS speaking to my PS3. Go go streaming movies! Now I just have to convince someone to come over to my house and help me run at CAT5E cable in the crawl space since I'm not that mobile. I have beer!

Beer transition! The '07 "Top Sail" Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Porter I cracked open at PIR has to be one of the very best beers I've ever had. The Abyss was also very good, but I don't know if its worth the supposed $40 it is currently selling for on eBay. I also heard the 2006 Rogue Russian Imperial in its monolithic gray ceramic swing-top was also very good. I think Sal, Amit, and Cuz drank the vast majority of it. ;)

Medical update...

2008-11-07T12:29:00.001-08:00

Few bits of news on the medical front. Got back from the orthopedic surgeon. No damage to the bones and he doesn't think there is any damage to my ACL or MCL in my knee, which is good. He does however, feel there is a fairly significant tear in my medial meniscus due to decent amount of swelling I still have 5 days post injury.

So, MRI is next on the docket... I wanted that to be first on the docket, but insurance being insurance I have to jump through hoops to get what I need. Paperwork must be filed and fumbled over before I can get the MRI, then the follow-up appointment to find out what is wrong and figure out what to do about it.

bleh... I just want to start rehab now. I miss being active and its only been 5 days.

On another note, about 10 minutes ago I connected my "Guardian Real-Time Continues Glucose Monitor". As a number of you know, I'm a type 1 diabetic, which means my body can't produce insulin to turn food into glucose so my body can, well .. live. I wear an insulin pump, which can often be witnessed when I'm on my bike. (It's the bulge on my lower back that people mistake for a radio.)

The insulin pump was the first major step for me in the control of my diabetes, as it allowed me to quickly and easily adjust my insulin intake based off of my activity load. Before the pump, I'd almost always crash a few hours after a long ride. Now, it can set back the background insulin levels during my ride and have no issues.

The best thing a diabetic can do is have control of their blood sugars. For a normal person, their blood sugars run between 90 and 100. A diabetics will range all over the place depending on their control what they've had to eat, how stressed they are, if they are sick, if they are being physically active... Hopefully you get the picture. For the vast majority of diabetics, 4-6 times a day we stick our fingers and test our blood with these small devices. We can't do anything without them... until recently.

The real time monitor I know wear tests my blood sugars every 5 minutes. Two hundred and forty four times a day. In addition, it wirelessly transmits the data to my insulin pump, tracks it, and alerts me if my blood sugar is below or above set thresholds or if its noticing a rapid upwards or downwards trend.

Bicycling Magazine last month had a great article on Team Type 1, which is a domestic cycling team. Many of the guys on the team have Type 1 diabetes, and every member of the team rides with a CGM. They've found that with the information on the body's blood sugar, they can accurate track and predict when riders need fuel and when they need to eat to maintain top performance. The team doctor went on to say that he expects in the next 5-10 years a CGM will be the training tool for competitive cyclists.

I look forward to seeing the data, making adjustments to my training and diet, and flat out living better now that I have my CGM.

Barton, thy name is CARNAGE

2008-11-02T19:47:00.001-08:00

I was excited for today's race. I had heard mythical stories of the battleground known as Barton Park. Legend states it was one of the most brutal courses of the season... fast and technically challenging due to its potential for soupy mud and loose packed gravel.

Loose packed gravel? MY KRYPTONITE! ...*gurgle*.

Truthfully, I was looking forward to the race. The forecast called for rain to hit the area all weekend, and sure enough at 9pm last night it was raining so hard outside I thought the washing machine was running longer than normal. The only other muddy race this season was Alpenrose, and I had scored my best result of the year there.

The car is packed and ready to go the night before. We roll out and arrive at Barton Park just before 7:45 with Greg right behind us. The heart and soul of PVCX, Sal and Heidi, are there already unloading their truck.

We make quick work of the 2 team tents and bike stands. Our newest teammate Daryl sets up the changing tent, and my friend from college Nick shows up to participate in his very first bike race ever. Yeah... I'm that type of friend. "Dude, you should total come race Barton Park! It's close to your house!"

We sign in and I get to see that my 2 weeks of back of the pack starting have paid off with a first line draw. Things are lining up for a good race.

We pre-ride, and I talk with Nick about the different things to think about. He's laughing and having a great time, excited for the race. Traci shoots off in front of us and we see her minutes later off her bike. She took a spill in the mogul section and bleeding from a few scrapes and scratches. We give her a few moments to collect herself and we proceed on, waiting to see what Barton throws at us next.

We arrive near the finish before a crazy off camber descent followed by a massive run-up. I have a spring in my step as crest the top and remount, noting the short distance before the finish. Around the hairpin and... you've got to be kidding me. The biggest drop I've seen in a cross race is staring me in the face. I ride through it tentatively, overshooting the exit of the corner and riding up a small portion of the gravel bank. I'll definitely have to figure that out to do well today.

We arrive at the team tent and get Nick setup to go. I want to go see him start, but I'm not yet dress for my race. Traci heads up with him and I methodically begin my pre-race routine. 15 minutes later the first Beginner racers come down the off camber descent. We cheer for Glen has he comes past, smiles and all. A short bit later Nick comes through and shouts to us that he totally ate it at the bottom of the huge drop. He proceeded to get up, take a bow and get back on his bike. Nick in a nutshell. The sky clears and the sun comes out. We laugh as Heidi is grumpy, wanting it to pour.

Our race lines up, and I slide in next to Murray from TV and introduce myself to Matt from Team S&M about 3 rows deep on the right side. Matt and I rode together for a good portion of the costume race, and he was the only person who accepted a fish stick from me willingly.

The whistle blows and I get a good jump, slotting myself in the top 5 right away. The riders ahead of me are good bike handlers and strong riders. We quickly start putting distance into the field and by the time we get to the pavement section through the RV parking we've distanced a good portion of the field. I stay in the top 5 through the first lap, finding good lines over the majority of the course.

My strategy is simple since my fitness isn't where it needs to be in order to stay competitive... Hang on as long as you can and minimize mistakes. Crush the run-up's.

Half way through lap 2 on rider has opened a gap on my group and a pair of riders has caught us from the back. The group rides as a long chain through the back gravel track and over the pavement. I use the time to recover. The mogul section inevitably spreads the group out every lap as the first riders into the section slow the ones trailing them. I try to make a move before we get to that section, but everyone seems to have the same idea. I back off allowing the others to fight for lines and slow incase I have to dismount quickly. The lack of aggression puts me at the back of the chasing group of 7 but keeps my heart rate in check. I hope it pays dividends later.

Lap 3 and 4 play out mostly the same, and other than hitting every single yellow cone on the off camber descent on Lap 3, I'm riding well. I'm caught by a few strong riders from behind, but make up some places from riders in front of me who are tiring. Every pass by the team tent is met with a huge cheer. Dave from Ironclad is keeping tabs on my place, calling it out as I pass their tent.

The race is going well coming into the bell lap. I make a move during the run up and pass a pair of guys on the inside. Disaster strikes as I try to remount. I miss my saddle, the bike out of position as my leg swings over. I try to catch my balance and just as my weight loads onto my foot, my knee buckles.

I hear a crunch.

I feel a pop.

Pain shoots through my body.

I cry out.

A spectator gasps to my right.

The crowd seems to grow quiet in my world. I don't hear the announcer, the ringing of the final lap bell has gone mute.

I limp step a few times, and manage to get mounted. I can barely bend my knee making it difficult to clip in. I wobbly cross the finish line trying not to take out the two riders who I had just passed going wide through the corner. I'm still not clipped in and the descent is coming up much quicker than my glacial speed should possibly allow.

I finally feel the cleat engage mere meters before the drop. I barely make it down the hill upright. I crawl past the team tent, another rider passes me. The pedals don't want to turn over. I ride the next sections slowly, happy for the gap I had worked for. I'm dreading the incline section before the concrete barrier.

I approach it slow, another pair of riders pass me both muscling up over the hill out of the saddle. I can barely twist my leg to unclip, limp-stepping up the hill. I remount and ride the short distance to the concrete.

"You wreck?" Murray rolls up next to me as we approach the wall.

"Twisted my knee..." I say as we hit the barrier together. He gets over quickly and is off. I step down cautiously making sure to land on my right leg and carefully remount. I use the flat fast sections to minimize the damage. Keeping the others in site. It works for a while until the first technical right hand corner. Instinct has me trying to put weight on the outside pedal, my knee veto's the idea violently causing my rear wheel to fishtail. Another rider passes me.

We hit the pavement section for the last time and a small group of riders are just in front of me. I latch on to the back of them and try to stay close through the camp grounds. A quick glance back shows a huge gap before the next riders. My race is now in front of me.

We hit the gravel before the moguls. I downshift to the small ring for the first time all day hoping to be able to spin over the bumps. "PAIN IS ONLY TEMPORARY" I hear Bob from Tireless Velo yell at me as I make my way through the trees. I can only imagine the look on my face spurred the comment. I hope he got a photo.

I exit the moguls having lost precious momentum and witness a large gap in front of me. I can hear a rider behind me coming through the moguls. I was much slower than I had hoped.

I try and power my way through the soup around the bridge with one leg, my front tire acting more like a plow than a wheel at times. The off camber run up is horrifically painful.

The final ride on the ridge is in desperation. I ride in the drops, right leg pulling and pushing with the grudgingly moving in useless circles. I roll through the off camber descent and look towards the Beast in front of me. The Beast has left me wounded and crippled, knowing that I have to challenge it once more to be done. The crowd lining the hill is in a frenzy, urging rider after rider to slay the Beast of Barton.

I dismount and shoulder my bike, digging in for the last surge. I look for solid footholds for my left foot, and drive hard off my right. Over and over I repeat the dance, gaining moment, gaining speed. I hear friends and teammates urging me on. With a final lunge I crest the hill and see a group of riders just in front of me. I forgo the remount and half limp, half sprint to the right, twisting my body to avoid a swerving rider.

I catch every one of them and stumble across the line. I barely making it to the sideline before I lean heavily on my bike. My knee has seized up and I can't put any weight on it.

Murray and some other finishers are there. I quickly explain what happened and ask for the medic. Bonnie is at my side helping me to the ground a moment later.

The examination is quick and relatively painless. Knee injuries are not new to me, having replaced ACL's in both knees. I suspect I have re-injured a previous cartilage tear which made me give up volleyball in '06.

Bonnie would get little rest on this day of carnage. Our team would work with her to triage a rider who took a serious header on the off camber descent. A bit later I hear Kenji went down with a broken collarbone. Another of our teammates Sierra goes down on her first or second lap with what ends up being a broken collarbone. Bonnie wasn't even able to complete her examination of her right away as she was summoned to the bottom of the huge hill due to another major crash.

Traci decided to forgo the race and I think he decision was a good one. She will be able to do battle next week at PIR and the week after at Hillsboro. My future is up in the air right now. Rest, ice, compression, elevation, and Advil will be my mantra for the foreseeable future.

Thursday Random Bits, Bytes, Bites, and Beer

2008-10-30T19:38:00.001-07:00

I sit in front of my home computer, the drone of multiple hard drives moving my DVD collection to my new Terabyte NAS.

<Homer>Mmmmm streaming digital media.</Homer>

If all works well, I should be able to see the NAS from our PS3, and play all my old non HD media through it. Added bonus, its all in IPod format.. woot!

Sitting next to my computer is a glass of Bridgeport Big Brews "Raven Mad" Imperial Porter which I believe was released this week. This is another in Bridgeport's line of beers which included HopCzar and my favorite Summer beer this year, Stumptown Tart. The Raven Mad Imperial is another in a line of beers that was aged in bourbon barrels. I'm not sure if this is a new trend or not as I have a few different beers in in my stash that are bourbon barrel aged, but I'm definitely digging the subtle vanilla and caramel flavors that mellow out the coffee flavor you often get from a Porter. I'll probably pick up a few more bottles of this and bring it to PIR or Hillsboro Crusade. As an added bonus, the label is in 3D featuring a screaming face and a dark raven... just in time for Halloween!

Last weekend at Astoria saw the delivery of the two bottles of Black Butte XX that I had aging since June when it was released. XX was released to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Deschutes Brewery. The beer was aged in whiskey barrels and had additional coffee and cocoa nibs which gave it a flavor very distinct from the traditional BB Porter. While I didn't care for it, the team enjoyed it immensely. Rumor has it Sal hoarded the second bottle while muttering "my precious..." although he could have been saying "my pressure..." and talking about his tire setup.

Speaking of Astoria, I forgot a shout out to the folks over at Tireless Velo. These cats are always seem to have a hotdog or burger for me when I come by to say hello. For all I know they could be the ones that fall on the ground, but damn they be tasty. Huge thanks to their crew and their generosity.

Slotting in at #123043 in the top 1 Billion reasons why my wife kicks ass, the following story... We were over at New Seasons after work to pick up a few things for dinner, and I see this pile of onions with a sign sticking out of them. I point them out to Traci, and her instant reply is "Itsa Mario!" is a perfectly mimicked Nintendo voice. Not only did she correctly identify the reference I was shooting for (which is cool because she's only be following racing for the past year or so) she tied in her inner gamer geek. She rides, she races, she's a bad ass, and she's a gamer geek. WIN.

This was too damn cool the pass up. I love the irony that the original cast of the Budweiser "Wassap" video's come back and make a pro-Obama spot. (If you've been in a cave for a while, Cindy McCain's money came from Anheuser Busch.)

You voted yet? No? Go do it Slacktard...

Astoria 2 Day Spectacular

2008-10-29T09:02:00.001-07:00

What a weekend! The races for me this week took a backseat to the all out team comradery PV was showing during the weekend. Highlights of the weekend included:

Friday evening get together at the Cannery Cafe for some really good food, and a purple monkey.
Stopping by Molly's pad, walking upstairs saying "I think the door is up here" only to walk directly into their living room.
Having a horrific race on Saturday, then drinking a lot of beer.
Having a great race on Sunday, despite being in full costume.
Super long wait for food / drink at Rogue due to how slammed they were.
Britt Millard sacrificing her race to help a fallen racer from Team O, and Team O giving her serious shout-outs for the help. Class acts all around.
Watching the 22oz fridge at Rogue turn into a self service bar.
Sal's bread run.
Traci's Hash run.. complete with shots of Ouzo.
Heidi's bottomless bag of Stone Russian Imperials.
Bigwheel ride's with Sal.
Couzens getting TOTALLY SCREWED.
Two words: "Fishstick Grenade".
Kenji's pink foaming giggle juice.
Brad Ross actually turning down a free beer I tried to give him at the end of the A race on Sunday.

As Traci and I drove home via route 30, we both had big grins on our faces. We might not have raced the best races of the season, but I don't think we could have planned a more entertaining weekend.

Barton should be interesting. :)

Rainer

2008-10-21T22:31:00.001-07:00

I've had a couple days to recoup from Rainer. Lets just say, I don't climb well to start with, and this course had a ton of vertical in it. Add too it a bit of under the weather feeling on Saturday and an overall lack of training, and Sunday turns into a 45 minute session in trying not to barf a lung.

Race started out okay. B-Rat and Jeff Henderson were both in my cat this week again. The new start gate system worked pretty well and it was refreshing not have to show up the start line 30 minutes early. My number was mid pack and due to the course layout I was top 30 by the time we started heading downhill. My hole shots this year have been decent and I caught up to Brian when we got to the team tent. The two of us worked to pick folks off during the next half of the lap. Brian unfortunately dumped on the left hand corner entering the woods (the one with the blackberries) and I was lucky enough to get around the carnage.

Approaching "The Hill" I saw the lead riders just starting to crest the top when I hit the transition at the bottom. Slower traffic was in the right line so I attempted to move left and had my front tire suddenly go out from under me. My nemesis loose gravel strikes again! I hit the deck fairly hard, and take the brunt of the impact on my right knee. My race for the front ended there.

To add insult to injury, Murray from Tireless Velo was following my line and attempted to run me over in my moment of vulnerability. We don't have any video footage, but I'm pretty sure he was cackling gleefully as it happened. I actually have a distinct tire tread abrasion / bruise on my right hip from the assault.

The crash and collision took the wind out of my sails, and I hoofed it up the hill as there wasn't any way I'd be able to mount and get moving again where I was. I saw B-Rat and Jeff pass me shortly after I got back on the bike. Murray was lucky enough to recover from the crash (I think he went down too) and caught back up to me at the end of the first lap. We caught back up after the finish and had a good laugh over the incident.

The next 4 laps were pretty much hell. Nicely summed up in this photo by Heidi Swift. My legs hurt, my lungs hurt, my knee was bleeding and starting to swell. You know, all the types of things that make cross great.

I coast across the finish line and hear Candi cheer me on from the OBRA table. Its awesome to hear people do that even when you are far far out of the placing... especially when you are suffering.

A short stop at the medical tent to clean out the wound, a change of clothes, a waffle, and some coffee round out the morning.

The afternoon I get to spend as a raving lunatic screaming my lungs out for the rest of my friends. What a way to spend a Sunday. :)

File this under "W"

2008-10-16T10:22:00.001-07:00

As in "WTF?" Monday, Traci and I were at Freddy's to do some grocery shopping. We went through the beer isle to see if they had any of the Blue Moon Pumpkin Harvest Ale she's been wanting to try. As we walked past the collection of beer's we normally wouldn't bother looking at, Traci stopped in horror said something to the extent of "Dear Lord no...."

I'm sorry, but who in their right minds would mix beer and clam infused tomato juice. I mean, for starters, who decided that clam infused tomato juice would be a great drink to bottle and sell in the first place? I guess its possible that it tastes good, but there is also the possibility that NASCAR is fun to watch.

Ironically enough while I was waiting to take a photo of the monstrosity a pair of guys, one of whom had a NASCAR jacket were perusing the beer section. He walked away with the "Bud Light" version. It has salt AND lime flavor!

I'm fairly bias when it comes to this topic though. I'm very allergic to shellfish, and I refuse to drink any beer that crappy. I guess if I had to drink Budweizer though, I'd go for this one. The anaphylactic shock my system would go into from the shellfish would put me out of my misery pretty quickly.

Reality on the grounds of Insanity, Pain in HD

2008-10-13T09:36:00.001-07:00

I'll let you decide which one is more real!

Yesterday was Crusade #2 and a brand new course down in WIllsonville. The event was held in a subdivision that is being built up on the grounds of the old state mental hospital.

The course seemed more like a short track mountain bike course than a cross course. A single run up, a trio of barriers, but beyond that the course was 100% rideable once you got out of traffic. Course was super technical as well. I'm happy that it didn't rain as the dirt section would have been almost impossible to navigate if wet.

The course was brutal to tires. I think I saw more people with flats in this race than I saw at Krugers, PotP, and Alpenrose combined. The one-two combination of bumpy terrain and very very hard surfaces complete with broken chunks of concrete and bits of metal everywhere (yes, there were pieces of flashing on the course during warm) beat the tar out of people and equipment alike.

The event was huge just like last week. My field had 145 people who finished in it this week opposed to 121 last week. Results for me were not as good this week, although I felt great the first lap and a half. I need to not go out and do 50miles on my fixie the day before.

Mounts and dismounts felt good, so good I ripped my jeans during warmup. Bike handling was a bit sketchy with all the loose gravel sections. I don't like loose gravel. Loose gravel and I have a bad history. This race was a serious gut check for a lot of people it seemed. Anyone who made it to the finish should be complemented on their insanity, and anyone who had to go to the medical tent to pick gravel out of their hip is a stronger person than I.

At the end of the day, a lot of us got a hard as hell workout and a few cuts and bruises to show for it. Afterwards we ate some great food and drank a lot of beer.

Speaking of beer, the homebrews were a big hit. Sal said the Purple Haze was like "drinking cake". Kenji was the recipient of the other bottle of Purple Haze and went giggling off into the women's field with his bottle spewing pink foam everywhere. When next I saw him he was channeling his inner Mr. Roboto in a killer Super Relax kit. Heidi went from the running machine to chilling in the tub after taking on pretty much an entire bottle of my Russian Imperial.

Last update on PotP until next year most likely.

Burk Webb from Portland Velo came out to Pain on the Peak last month and filmed this masterpiece. The video below just doesn't do justice to Burk's creation and filming ability. I get goose bumps every time I watch this in HD.

Pain On The Peak from Burk Webb on Vimeo.

Huge thanks to Burk for the surprise. Beer for you!

Something's wrong. Something's amiss.

2008-10-09T16:20:00.001-07:00

A silly line from one of my all time favorite movies. Kudos to those of you who correctly identify it (shouldn't be too hard to find out if you are any good with a search engine.) Anyway.. the tag line for this blog is "Bikes, Beer, Bedlam"... I've been pretty heavy on the bikes and bedlam portion since my first post back in May, but really light on the beer (but not lite/light beer). With the Cross season underway, its time to talk about what I feel is one of the four corners of Cross. (The others being Mud, Cowbells, and Insanity.) That's right... its time to talk beer!

This time of year is truly a boon for beer lovers in the PacNW. Many of the local micro breweries in the area are putting out "Oktoberfest" or fall seasonal beers in addition to some extra special Fresh Hop beers that came out about 3 to 4 weeks ago.

For me, this is the time of year where my personal tastes shift away from lighter summer beers like IPA's and Hefs and more towards the monster dark beers that were released earlier in the year and have had the opportunity to bottle age for the past 4-6 months. But that doesn't mean the only beers I'm drinking are porters and stouts!

The first homebrew I took possession of this year was a co-creation between myself and my co-worker James. This beer was based off of the McMenamin's "Ruby" recipe, however instead of the traditional raspberries, we went with Oregon Marion Berries! We made a 5 gallon batch and used a whopping 10lbs of berries for the flavor. My hands were stained for 2 days after making this beer!

The beer sat in the ferment for 2 weeks then went to the bottles on 8/11/08. No pectin or additional sugars were added, and we didn't filter the beer. The result was a very tart, hazy beer that tasted remarkably like Bridgeport Big Brew's "Stumptown Tart". OG was 1.055 with a final of 1.020, giving us a ABV of 4.67%. Definitely less potent than Stumptown Tart which weighed in at around 8.5%, but still nice to drink. Very limited supplies will be found at the PV tent during the upcoming Cross races for sample for friends of the Aggregate Cyclist. Membership has its privileges.

The second homebrew I took possession of was actually the first beer I worked on this year. I made reference to it back in June, although it was brewed on Memorial Day weekend. This beer was a co-creation between myself a good friend of mine Todd. Todd is the biggest reason I've gotten into some really good beers over the year and where my budding interest in homebrew comes from. We made two 5 gallon batches in one day, both taking about 2.5 hours to complete. Much beer was drank to create this beer. Thus the circle of beer. Here is the skinny on this fat beer.

Russian #1
Brewed: May 25 2008
Bottled: Oct 5th 2008
Original Gravity: 1.112
Final Gravity: 1.034
Grains: Roasted Barley Chocolate Malt, Carafa
Hops: Chinook, Northern Brewer, Golding
Yeast: White Labs WPL001 - California Ale
ABV: 10.6%
IBU: 33
Cal per serving (22oz): 702

Russian #2
Brewed: May 25 2008
Bottled: Oct 5th 2008
Original Gravity: 1.116
Final Gravity: 1.036
Grains: Roasted Barley Chocolate Malt, Carafa
Hops: Chinook, Northern Brewer, Golding
Yeast: White Labs WPL001 - California Ale
ABV: 10.9%
IBU: 31
Cal per serving (22oz): 728

At 728 Calories per bottle, its the perfect recovery drink for that hard Cross effort!

I haven't had enough side by side to distinguish any difference between the two batches. I assume that if there is, it will be fairly subtle and quickly crushed by the ABV. What I did notice that its a very, very complex beer, with good grain, coffee and chocolate flavors. But unlike many other stouts that I've had in the past, this one has a bit of bitterness to it from the hops still. It should be interesting to see if this mellows out over the upcoming weeks. This beer will make its debut this weekend at the PV tent and will be put up against old faithful, AKA Stone's Russian Imperial...

At the tail end of Cross season last year, I happened to find out that Heidipants over at The Everyday Athlete is totally in love with this stuff. I gladly shared the last few bottles I thought I had with at the following races.

Then this April, one glorious afternoon I turn the corner at New Seasons and see a freaking stack of cases on the corner.. and they were on sale. I'm sure New Season's had a run on Russian Imperial over the next few days as Heidi and I probably purchased close to a dozen cases of this beer between the two of us. At around 10.5% ABV for this year's batch, and a historically high acceptance among people I drink beer with, I have high hopes that my creation stacks up well with Stone's long running brew.

I have a few other special beer's I've been saving.. and I'll make sure to review them when they see the light of day. In the meantime, I'll let you drool over this lineup...

I have a lot of beer at my house.

In closing, a beer tip and two quick outs... Tip: if you get a chance to hit a McMenamins soon, their Seasonal Scarecrow ESB is pretty damn good. Nice flavorful grain mixture with the aftertaste like eating a nice soft pretzel. mmmm... liquid pretzel.

A huge huge thanks to both James and Todd for their guidance, enthusiasm and equipment space for the two homebrews, in addition to the awesome beers you have shared over the past 2 years.

A kick in the cross

2008-10-07T14:57:00.001-07:00

Unless you were locked away someplace, you probably know that Sunday was the first event of the Cross Crusade series taking place up at the Alpenrose Dairy here in Portland. The turnout was nothing short of epic, with close to 1300 riders doing battle on course condition that changed a huge amount over 24hrs. I've spent so much time reading the accounts of others that I neglected to post my own!

My weekend started Saturday morning with the maiden voyage of my new Redline 9-2-5 fixie winter bike. There are a few things I need to tweak on it, like getting a shorter stem with a bit of a drop, and a smaller rear cog, but overall I'm pleased with the new investment. It should provide good training and reduced wear and tear on my Felt.

After a quick bite to eat, Traci and I loaded up the car with the cross rigs and went to the Dairy to get our numbers and do some pre-course scouting. We met a few of our teammates there, got our numbers and jumped on the bikes. The first few laps were a bit chaotic as the course wasn't 100% setup, but after a short bit the course became more and more clear to us. We did a bit more scouting and felt very comfortable with how things were going to play out the next morning.

We drive home, pack the Mini with most of what we'll need and layout the things that don't get packed for a quick departure the next morning. I crawl into bed and fall asleep listening to the rain falling on our glass patio table-top outside.

The morning comes earlier than I'd like, and it takes me a while to get moving. By the time I get food into me, Traci is already dressed and packing the day's needed snacks. The weather report has completely changed over the last 12 hours and the partly sunny skies that were forecasted turn into periodic rain. Perfect Cross weather.

Eventually I get geared up, we get the car packed quickly and leave for Alpenrose. Our timing is divine as 10 PV folks arrive in the space of 5 minutes. The second 20x10 is erected next to the first giving us the PV Palace. Trainers drop down under the front tent on the course while chairs, coolers, and gear end up in the back. Kender and Sal dub this the "Mullet Configuration". Business up front, party in the back.

Once we get settled, I gear up for one last course checkout, mainly to see the section on the north side of the velodrome. I'm happy for the additional barrier placed before the run-up to the velodrome ring. It will force everyone off their bike and I won't have to deal with people attempting to ride it in front of me and crashing. After a quick stop at the Ironclad tent to say hello and get some air for rear tire I make my way back to the tent and start my warm-up.

About 15 minutes into my warm-up I see a familiar face up on the road. My buddy from HS and college, Josh Hanselman from Team 343 spots me after I yell to him and come to find out we are both riding in the same division today. Good times!

With about 20mins to go, I test the blood sugar (woo dialed in), eat a ShotBlok, and make my way up to the start gate with Josh, Jeff and B-Rat. We run into Joel from Team O and the 5 of us park ourselves about 5 rows deep on the left edge of the start chute. After announcements I take a last swing of water from Traci, hand her my coat and clip in.

The whistle blows and almost immediately there is a wreck in the first row directly in front of me. Two Yakima riders tangle up and one goes down, I navigate through the carnage and manage to see a broken steertube in the mix. I feel for the guy. After flatting during the 25mph "neutral roll out" in my first race of the season, and flatting during the hole shot of the first Krugers, I know how frustrating it is to pay $25 to race for under a minute.

My start is pretty decent considering the wreck. I'm in the top 30 going into the first two corners, and have a great line entering the gravel. I make up a huge chunk of ground on the first decent riding the right line instead of following the herd on the left side. I see Jeff out in front about 30m from me. My plan was to work for him as much as possible since he was in contention for an up-cat. His hole shot put him in a great position so the amount of work I can do is limited right off the get go. I stick on the tail end of the chasing pack for a good portion of the race, losing ground in the meadow out-and-back, but gaining it in all the technical sections.

I keep track of Jeff ahead of me and yell for him every time our paths cross on the switch backs, making the mental note that he's putting distance in me every lap. The only person I let past me without a fight is Ron.

My sole wreck of the day comes on lap 4 in the hairpin before the velodrome run up and it was fairly unspectacular. I entered the corner too early and fall on my left side, even thought I had my left foot out of the pedal. The impact knocked my left brake hood askew making rear breaking fairly difficult for the remainder of the race.

My race becomes one of survival at this point. There are some stronger riders behind me and I see Josh moving up in the pack, joyfully taunting me every time we switchback on each other. He gets within 5m of me a few times on the last lap before he bites it going into a corner and looses ground. My fight becomes solely to keep those behind me at bay as the traffic in front of me is out of reach.

A guy in a full Nike kit on a mountain bike and I battle it out the last half lap with the two of us swapping position half a dozen times between the our teams tent and the finish. I pass him before the rock barrier and dismount and hear him bunny-bash-hop over the rocks. He passes me as I remount and I chase him into the winding turns before the run-up. He's more controlled into the corners but I'm faster out of them. The final pass happens on the run up when I channel my inner mountain goat and sprint past him on the inside. I ride the corner entering the velodrome cautiously as the wood is slick with mud now. I get some breathing room on the final set of barriers and ride hard through the finish. The post race euphoria quickly sets in.

I make it back to the tent, get cleaned off and swap roles with Traci, playing domestique for teammates who earlier helped me out. Traci puts her game face on, ear buds in, and gets lost in her pre-race thoughts. The role reversal takes over the tent at one point. The ladies lined up 5 across on the trainers in their kits, with the men hovering around grabbing water bottles and fixing numbers.

Nervous excitement fills me as I get to watch Traci race her first full blow Cross race. She starts well and rides strong through the course, finishing mid field and scoring some beer in the process. I'm hoarse by the time she's finished. The remainder of the afternoon is a haze of packing, cleaning, and attempting to stay awake past 9pm. I'm beat, and its just week #1...

My better half...

2008-10-01T13:20:00.001-07:00

My wife amazes me. She surprises me with her resiliency, creativity, and chew iron spit nails toughness while managing to be the most graceful and beautiful person I've ever met. I've often joked that we were bound to be married after I bested her in unarmed combat.

She's a tough woman... I knew this going into our relationship back in high school. She had the well earned reputation of beating up the boys who teased her because of her bad temper and red hair. One of her favorite stories involved her drilling a guy in the solar plexus before an assembly leaving him wheezing quietly in a corner for the next hour. My favorite memory involved her being on the receiving end of a cheap clothesline tackle in a boys v. girls football game resulting in her getting up with a split lip, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and saying "nice hit" while walking back to the huddle. Of course, she laid the the guy out on the next play.

This year is her first year racing cross, a sport known for its ability to chew up the strongest of road riders and turn them into mid pack participants. It takes strength, skill, the willingness to eat it and bike handling skills to avoid doing so in order to be successful and competitive.

At the tail end of last season we purchased her CX bike, a sleek black Origin8 FoxTrot. For 8 months it sat in the garage waiting patiently for the air to get crisp and the daylight hours to get shorter. For the mud and rain and grime and cowbells. August it finally got its call up. Krugers and the Alpenrose CX clinics were the time for the two of them to bond with another hidden partner of the cross season... the ground.

Nothing can really prep you for that first inevitable crash, or the myriad of scrapes, cuts, and colors that your body ends up displaying in the days after training or racing. It's part of the package to go along with the cowbells, beer, and wool socks. Try as you might, you inevitably lose some of that new to the sport eagerness and confidence after those nasty tumbles.

I know she's hurting and questioning her abilities, frustrated that it isn't coming naturally. I remind her that there isn't anything natural about jumping off a bike, hopping over barriers and jumping back on. I remind her we all crash. I remind her we all hurt. It's the competitor in her, and I'd rather her have those doubts and work to conquer them than be someone who has no desire to excel.

My wife, as have almost all cross riders, has wrecked countless times in the past few weeks. Sunday she took a tumble into a briar patch that had us picking stickers out of her kit for five minutes and admiring the goose egg that was forming on her hip. Her comment? "That's going to be a sweet bruise..."

How can you not love that?

Pain on the Peak Wrap

2008-09-18T16:01:00.001-07:00

Wow, it's over. The biggest single point of focus of my life for the past 39 days is over and done with. I'm still working on a few small odd's and ends, but for all intents and purposes I'm finding that I have a lot more free time in my day right now.

If 40 days ago you had told me "you will be organizing the first cross event of the season", I probably would have laughed at you. Scratch that... I know I would have laughed at you. But for some strange reason that is exactly what ended up happening after speaking with Roger over at Sunset Cycles after his criterium.

But mark my words, the event only happened due to a lot of folks, especially my teammates, stepping up and saying "what do you need me to do" then executing on it.

To my Volunteers (and if I missed any of you, I'm sorry!):

Alex Gonzalez - I'm sorry you got stuck down in no-man's land most of the morning. Thanks for being a trooper and helping set the tone for those coming into the venue.

Sasha “Give me something I can throw at my mom” Lacey – I’m glad you were able to make it out despite the family being in town!

Site admins Carlo Delumpa and Martin Obando - Thank you for dealing with my "I need it done NOW" attitude late at night. I owe you big time.

Greg "Dr Tooth" Hartman - One of the first to jump onboard the sponsorship wagon. Thank you so so much for your support and work with the neighbors of Whitmore. You are the total team player!

Heidipants - You said it best.. I'm f'ing nuts. I'll get you next time my pretty, and your little bike too! I’m so glad your schedule worked so you could attend the event and race!

Javad "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay" Simenson - Course engineer extraordinaire! The sound of the chainsaw struck fear into the hearts and minds of the competitors, and a few OBRA staff. ;)

Matt “The Human Bean” James – You were with us in spirit. Thank you so much for your sponsorship.

B-Rat - Crashing doesn't hurt as much in CX! You were there for all the work details, and on board from day one. Thank you for taking the time to learn how to score at Krugers so we had more manpower at the start / finish. Please let Sokhemry know the snacks she provided for us were TO DIE FOR. :)

Dave "I'm a ninja" Leahy - AMAZING photography down in the woods. I seriously didn't know you were around until Ty told me. Big thanks for offering your services!

Jason and Jody - Dawn to dusk you guys where on top of things! Jody, thank you so much for working the reg both all day long. Jason, you had the brutal job of being out at the corner in the afternoon after being out in the field all morning… ouch. Thanks for being a trooper!

Jeff “Only You Can Prevent Venue Fires” Henderson - thank you for owning probably the most worrisome job we had listed and taking it to heart. Fire was truly a huge danger up there and I'm glad we didn't any issues.

David Elder - I had no clue you were going to be here until you showed up. Thank you for coming when Traci called. Your sign run made a huge difference in the morning when we found people were heading the wrong way.

Todd “Stiffarm” Rosier – I appreciate all of your advice and feedback about the course in the days leading up to it.. even if you did shove me into the bushes (we have it on film!)

Sherry “I AM NOT A STALKER” Schwenderlauf - The ray of sunshine in the bowl of dust. My morning venue greeter with the cheerful attitude setting the tone for the day. Thank you so much for all of your help. Next year you race foo-sho!

Dan "Straight-Bar" Dittmer - Dominating performance in the first cross race this year! Big thanks for spelling the folks at the venue entrance in the afternoon and pitching in where ever we needed help!

Brion Barnett- I'm glad you were able to make it out! Hope you didn't get too much sun over the course of the day as we had you out in the field. Turns out you were parked on top of a yellow jackets nest originally ;)

Chris "WTF did I get myself into" Johnston - How's that for an introduction as to how PV does things? You haven't even worn the PV colors in anger yet, but jumped right in and helped out with learning how to score at Krugers, and ran with the clipboard most of the day at PotP. Welcome to the team!

John "Mr. Diplomat" Ohnstad - Thank you so much for talking with the neighbors on the road and being great ambassador for PV and Cycling. I could have used two of you!

Steve “Doombringer” Brown - I’m only going to call you that now because you are going to wreck the competition this year. As always, you bring the support in ways I couldn’t even consider asking for. Thank you for being such a supporter of Portland Velo.

Jeff “Please shoot me” Ballantine - We had you running everywhere over the course of the day, and you decided to race. How's that for cross training? :p

Ron “Mr Coffee” Babcock – Ron, I bet the folks at Krugers were wishing you had raced on Saturday rather than busting Fire Duty all day. Thank you for working with Matt J to pick up the coffee in the morning. I seriously needed it!

Linda "Queen of the Clipboard" Jellison - My ~~Slave Driver~~.. er I mean Volunteer Coordinator. Another who has yet to turn the pedals in anger for PV, but willing to dedicate so much time and effort into the event making it the success that it was. The press release got us a lot of hits and publicity, and was a brilliant idea.

Mike “Anyone have some sunscreen” Snelson - How long did you spend out in that parking field? Another person with fairly unglamorous jobs that did them without complaint. Thank you!

Russ Sperin – I’m surprised you came back for more after doing the pre-ride on Wednesday, but I’m so glad you did. Thank you for all your help with course setup and your willingness to come out whenever we had a work day.

Amit "The Zohan" Kobrowski - I hate you for talking to Roger about this.... okay I don't hate you. I appreciate you coming to me through out the day asking "anything need done?" I don't think there was a single time that I had nothing for you.

Sean Thielen – More people with boring jobs! I hope you didn’t regret making the decision to race last minute. Thank you for coming out!

Matt "Give me that, it belongs to OBRA" Couzens - My equipment monkey! Very rarely does a first time race happen w/o something being lost. Everything we signed out was brought back and checked in. Thank you for your diligence and help with course setup / teardown.

Course Guru Greg Magnus.. I could *not* have done this without you. Thank you for all your help on the Friday prior to the event. Would have been a lonely and unproductive morning. I hope you finally got Mason clean. ;)

Bob Bigwood – Quietly helping behind the scenes. Thanks again for the help with the PVC piping and an ear that I could vent to.

Paul “King of all things Registration” Formiller - You planned and smooth lined something that could have been a total clusterf*ck. Thank you for running the show with that and getting all of the registration type stuff owned and printed out.

Jeremy Schultz - I don't know how many times I came by saying "10 more minutes till we can get you a sub". Thanks for holding down the registration / money duties for almost the entire day.

Mitch Lee - Quick changes from Mr. "I feel bad I can't make it" to "Dude, I'm here for you what do you need?" to "I'm going to go pwn the Master B's field." You seemed to be everywhere at once filling in where we needed people. I'm starting to think the key to your success is that you are actually identical quadruplets.

Ty “DS” Lambert – Ty, you put this group of amazing, dynamic, and helpful people together, and let them become complete lunatics. Thank you for putting faith in me and the team to get this done, and running with your photography idea.

Mike “Breaker Breaker” Kender – Your humorous nature knows no bounds. Don't. Ever. Change.

Doc Johnson - I'm sorry your race didn't go well.. You probably wore yourself out on Friday making that sweet course change. "BIG JOHNSON'S BEND" will forever be part of PotP lore, as will the fact that your equipment and work tools are spread out over 10 PV members houses. :p

Marc Altman - Out of the box thinking leads to an out of this world trophy. Thank you for owning this and running with it!

Alex Kroman - Hopefully you weren't on the receiving end of the fury generated by my non-stop requests to Kristin. I appreciate your willingness to help out with the web stuff when we were struggling to get traction on it!

Rob “Dude I’m Here” King – Like an ace closer from the bullpen, the fresh body near the end of day were super helpful to have.

Print and Graphic Mastah Sal Bondi – Layout and design of our publicity, investigating and scheduling printing, course design, course setup, course teardown, promotions, and raced… you had your fingers in everything. Thank you for your very valuable time!

Graphic Goddess and Webmistress Kristin Wille - You had sketches and strawmen and mockups done in a blink of an eye. Your logo design captured the heart and soul of the event and we received so many comments about how professional our web site looked. You were the person who was the unfortunate recipient of the most "hey, I thought of one more thing" emails. Holy crap I can't believe you are still talking to me.

Traci- my partner in crime for life and queen of all things I wasn't working on. You made this race the success it was.

To all the racers, and spectators. Thank you so much for coming and making the event a truly epic way to kick of the 2008 CX season.

Time for me to actually get on the bike and ride....

Labors of Love

2008-09-01T18:22:00.001-07:00

September already... the time where the air has just a bit of a chill to it in the mornings and evenings and occasionally you catch that whiff of the Fall season on a light breeze. September is a month of changes. Back to school for some, baseball shifts to college football for others. For cyclists we start making choices between the long fingered gloves, embrocation, and arm/knee warmers... We debate if we are over or underdressed, to hit the road, or bust out the CX bike.

This Labor Day weekend, I actually rode 3 days in a row for the first time in almost a month. I've been so stupidly busy with Pain on the Peak that most of the other things I love doing have fallen by the wayside. At least according to my TrainingPeaks Performance Mgmt Chart I had a good taper!

Saturday was a club ride, and the first time I had been on my bike since the wreck the previous week. The team decided to head a different direction from the club and make a final jaunt out to Timber for the season. This is one of our favorite routes and always has a good deal of fireworks going off during the course of the ride. I felt just okay, and did my best to hang with the team. Unfortunately during the climb up Route 6 after Cedar Canyon, someone mentioned my rear tire looked a bit squishy. Sure enough, I was starting to get a flat. Ultra thin piece of wire had worked its way into the tire and had nicked the tube. To add insult to injury, I tube I grabbed that morning to restock my saddle bag was of the short stem variety and couldn't made it through the rim.

Fortunately, one of the other guys who had dropped off the pace earlier rolled up and had a patch kit. While I was able to get the tire inflated, I'm always hesitant about riding on a patched tube so I decided to turn back and try and meet up with Traci's group. I lucked out once again and caught them at the start of Dairy Creek, and rolled back into town with them.

That afternoon we ran to Performance and bought a ton of tubes for both road and CX, along with some Hutchinson Bulldog CX tires that I've been lusting for and unable to find anywhere. They had 6, and I ended up buying 4 of them. I also replaced my saddle bag after getting made fun of for having duct tape holding together my old one.

Sunday, I went up to Leif Erikson with Ron to do a bit of a recovery / CX ride. It was a good opportunity to break in new tires, in addition to checking the seat position / fit of the new saddle I put on. I also wanted some hours on the CX bike to build more confidence in how it handled after my wreck. This was my first time on the trail and I can understand why its a big hit with CX riders. Ron took it easy on me and even made sure to flat at the very end of the ride when I stopped to say hi to a few Ironclad/PSU guys at the trailhead. To make it that much more of an authentic CX ride, it rained on us.

This morning was my introduction to the Monday Morning Vertical Reality ride, which has been a PV staple ride for years. The ride leaves out of the Grand Central baking in Multnomah Village at 9am and does about 35 miles with ~3500 feet of climbing in it. I've always wanted to do this ride, but my schedule just never allows for it. I was a bit concerned on how the legs would do on the third day of riding, but I felt surprisingly good and hung with the lead group for the duration of the ride, which had Springer and a couple of strong dudes from Tireless Velo in it. Considering I'm not much of a climber, I'll take this as a moral victory. Traci was also out on this morning with us and had a wonderful ride with Doug and Mitch Gold. Big kudos to those two for hanging out with her and giving her a ton of encouragement as she comes back from the knee issues she dealt with this season.

>>--CX UPDATE-->

The CX chariot is doing well. The new tires work like a champ and my set of KORE brakes should be arriving at Veloce this week. I'll get those setup and my bar's re-wrapped and I should be good to go for the next Farm Crit at Krugers. I'm debating switching over to an Ultegra setup rather than the SRAM Rival one I'm on, but I'm not sold either way yet.

I swapped out the saddle I had for a Fizik Arion TT saddle I had laying around on a whim. Sometimes whim's end up being strokes of genius! The TT saddle has a lot more padding at the nose which made for a much more comfortable ride.

Picked up a pair of Ironclad's IMPACT gloves from Dave of Team Ironclad. If you are looking for a new set of CX gloves, go get these now. They eat up vibration like a fat kid eats cake. BikeTiresDirect is running a special on them right now. (Glad to see those guys up and running again after the fire.)

The CX body (me) is doing okay. The road rash and bruises have mostly healed up and the stitches come out tomorrow, but I have some definite issues with the right shoulder. I can't lift things with an overhand grip, which engages the muscles of front and top of the shoulder, very effectively. After speaking with a few of the doctors in the club, I might have a minor shoulder separation or potentially damage to my rotator cuff. Suck. Since I have an appointment tomorrow to get the stitches removed, I'll see what they have to say.

The CX race, is progressing along well. The team has been absolutely busting their asses on top of the work they already do for a living to get this done for the CX community. Promotional material is going out to all the local shops and being posted where lots of cycling eyeballs will see it. We've been beating down doors and picked up a few new prize sponsors which will be announced later this week, and will be adding a Women's Masters 40+ category into the mix as well. We did our second venue walk through last week and started with the "macro adjustments" to the course. This adjustments were made courtesy of a bulldozer. Yes a bulldozer. No I'm not lying, I have proof. We took a number of video's of the venue so if you'd like to see what's in store for you, check em out! There is also a really cheezy MS paint hacked venue map here.

Lastly, to cap off this labor day weekend, we'll talk about beer. I have two homebrews in the works. One is called "Purple Haze" which is a Marion Berry ale, not to be confused with McMenamins beer of the same name which uses boysenberry, or a raspberry wheat ale done by Abita. It's been bottled and should be ready to drink by end of September. (I should mention that McMenamins Purple Haze is available right now for a short period of time.) My Russian Imperial was given two thumbs up by the guys over at Main Street Brewing and will be bottled soon. Depending on the bottle tactic my friend Todd wants to use, it may be ready to go very soon or need some bottle aging time. I can hardly wait!

owie...

2008-08-26T23:00:00.001-07:00

I raced a few cross events last season and had my share of spills. I've managed to topple on my road bike a few times as well, almost always a slow speeds and in really embarrassing ways. Like on the very first ride I did with clip pedals. I started in too low of a gear, got no forward momentum going up hill while managing to hook the back of my chamois on the nose of my seat almost pulling my bike shorts off while falling over next to a school bus filled with kids coming home from school.

Yeah that was a good one.

Anyway, nothing really to write home about crash wise until this weekend. A number of us PV folks decided to go out and race at Krugers to get prepped for cross season with a bit of Kermesse action. The course was fast and hard. Hard as in pee blood and liquefy your organs hard. I managed to survive a bunch of warm up laps only to flat my rear tire during the hole shot. Joy. A "quick change" (fail) of rear tire only put me a good 2 minutes off the back of the pack and far out of contention, so I decided after some convincing from my teammates to get back out and do the work and get the practice in.

So for 4 laps I rode by myself, trying to remember the lines I took that were good and avoid the ones that made me question why got back on the bike after my mechanical. I managed to catch a few folks after a bit and I felt like I was turning decent lap times. I used the laps as more of a mental check list of things I needed to do to my Veloforma CX1 before the season kicked into high gear... shorter stem, re-wrap handle bars, tighten down left shifter assembly, lower seat.. *BAM* .. remove seat from colon... check out some new brakes..

I eventually was passed by the trio of leaders from the B's who started about a minute ahead of us, just before I finished lap 4. I traveled through the S/F to begin lap 5 and lined myself up cut the apex of the first right turn.

Some accidents happen in slow motion, others happen so quick you don't know what hit you. One moment you are riding along, and the next the bike is out from under you and you are trying to carve a trench in the ground with your chin.

I laid face ground in the dirt and did a system reboot. Legs.. check.. hands.. check.. teeth.. check.. didn't hear any cracks on impact.. face hurts a lot but I can move. Off in the distance I hear "dude, you need to get out of the way, there are racers coming." I'm dimly aware of the comment, and some part of my brain wants to tell him that the racers should be able to see a prone guy on the ground in pain and go around him, but I do my best to push myself up on my hands and knees.

Blood is running down on the rocks and dirt below me. The guy who called out the warning is now off going to get the medic. Another nice gal who saw me wipe out has come to the corner and picked up my bike. She grimaces when she sees me. I take off my helmet and my glasses, neither of which end up being damaged. The nice gal and I walk back up course towards the medic who's on her way towards us.

I get to know Bonnie pretty well over the next few minutes, even if I forget her name the first time she tells me. (I'm horrible with names to start with.) She goes over the standard questions to check for concussions and I'm able to answer them all. I see Traci heading towards me with a "what did you do to yourself" look on her face. Bonnie informs me I'm going to need some stitches on my chin, and probably should get a tetanus shot as well. The other PV boys come by and check in on me before they head over to the start of their race. They make fun of my face. Bonnie finishes cleaning me up, puts some steri-strips on the wound, and finally wraps some cling bandage around my head to hold it in place.

It's the next hot thing in headwear don't you think?

The remainder of the day was spent waiting at the ER to get the stitches and tetanus shot rather than drinking beer with the team. Oh well. The team did very well taking home a trio of category wins. Grats to Paul (Mstr C), Ron (Mstr A), and Kristin (Women's B).

Pain on the Peak is coming along well. Everyone is pulling some serious hours to get this thing rolling for the OBRA CX community, so come out and enjoy what's going to be an amazing event. Luciano Bailey will be the VOICE OF PAIN for the event. :)

Pre-registration is open for those who want to save a few bucks. The updated web site will be online shortly once the code has been pushed. We've also got a number of announcements coming over the next few days. Starting off with a bang, KEEN Footware has ponied up a free pair of shoes for all category winners, plus five additional pairs to raffle off at the end of the day. That's twenty pairs of shoes in all! How cool is that?

Pain is coming.....

2008-08-21T10:53:00.001-07:00

Been a bit quiet here the past few weeks, but it's for a good reason. (No, the blog troll didn't eat me.)

http://portlandvelo.net/painonthepeak/default.aspx - Warning its a strawman website

Pre registration is up at:

https://www.signmeup.com/site/reg/register.aspx?fid=3G2V9K7

Right now we are in the very accelerated process of getting Pain on the Peak going. There is a huge amount of behind the scenes work being done and by the time the event rolls around I'm sure many of us are going to be completely fried, but it will be so worth it.

Venue negotiations, planning, sponsorship negotiations, permits, vendors, prizes, logistics, promotion, omg crazy.

I'm eternally thankful for the crew that's jumped headfirst into it. There is no way this could be pulled off with out you guys.

So far, the only pain being inflicted is the masochistic variety. We are beating ourselves up to get this pulled off for the CX community. We want to make the logistics around this race as amazing as the venue will be.

Look for some video's to be linked here in the upcoming weeks showing the final preps on the course!

Questions or interesting in vendor space? Contact paincx@portlandvelo.net

On the racing side, my road race season was capped off with my first Criterium race over at Sunset Criterium. I stayed upright, and took a very tactical 13th after blowing myself up to win a $250 Wobble Naught fitting prime prize. I'm looking forward to CX.. Krugers followed by the CCX Clinics and then the start of the weekend CX season at PAIN AT THE PEAK!

Isn't there an old saying...

2008-08-06T11:16:00.001-07:00

... something about returning to what you are familiar with to re-center yourself or revisit past success? Last night was definitely one of those moments for me. After spending the weekend indulging in far too much boozy goodness, I stepped on the scale in the Monday morning having gained close to 5 lbs over the weekend. Now I know weight shifts a lot over the course of days, but this wasn't one of those trends in my mind. This was a sign to not let myself fall back into the weight bracket that I had worked so hard to get out of earlier this season.

I knew some of my teammates were planning to head out to PIR for the Masters 4/5 race in the evening and I was a bit torn on heading out there myself. In this day and age of high gas prices, I do what I can to minimize the amount of driving I do, especially for things that I don't consider totally necessary. PIR is one of those things that I don't consider necessary. It's on the other side of Portland through rush hour traffic to participate. But I really wanted to get some hard efforts in under my belt to start the week out on the right foot. I ran home at lunch and got everything together to leave as soon as work was done.

I get home a bit late due to a last minute Doctors appointment, and I see our car already loaded with my bike sitting on top. Traci rules. I eat a snack, get dressed and we are on the road in twenty minutes. Traffic reports some slowing on I-5, but nothing major. Go go iPhone GPS. I do my best to stay relaxed as we settle in for the drive. I've raced out here almost 10 times this season, but I still get pre-race jitters.

We arrive fairly quickly and park in the shade. Paul, Couzens and Alex are already here and Marc pulls in not 5 minutes later. I see a lot of familiar faces during warm-up as well. Larry and Drew from 343, Ken from Skyline, big Mike from Three Rivers, Dave from Ironclad, and Steve from Team Oregon are all in the field tonight. There are also a lot of unattached riders as well. Those are the folks you really have to watch. Last thing I want is to hit the tarmac due to sketchy riding.

The big topic of the warm-up is the wind. We are running counter-clockwise tonight, so the backstretch is into the headwind the majority of the time. We notice quickly that riding up against the wall provides some shelter. My legs feel tight during the warm-up, and the hot lap we do as a team puts me in a bit of stress. Too much beer I tell you.

The start of the race plays out much like most other PIR races. A few who are feeling their oats shoot off the front and are quickly reeled back in. I spend the first few laps dodging the sketchy wheels that will hopefully fade into the back of the pack as the ride progresses. We hope to get Alex or Couzens off on a break at some point but with the wind being as strong as it is, it will be a big effort for whoever is out front. The first hotspot comes and 343 leads a train up the right side, I stay calm and watch things unfold, hoping to launch Alex on a break if a few others go once we bunch back up. No luck this time around. The pack closes up fairly quick as we head into the wind.

The second hotspot bell goes off and things are a bit less organized this time around. Two distinct groups form heading down to the line. I grab Ken Lee's wheel on the left side as he accelerates towards the front of the pack. As if almost in slow motion, a gap opens in the center of the field and I break for daylight. I get about 5 bike lengths on the peloton and coast through the line (hands on the bars, fuck you very much) to win some swag. First time in a long while that I feel some of my prior acceleration available when I called upon it.

Somewhere along the next few laps a 2 man break gets off the front and gets a good gap. It wasn't until someone mentioned we'd be racing for 3rd did I realize it had happened. (I blame the beer for my lack of attention. You can't prove otherwise!) The PV crew did a lot of work for the next few laps to try and bring them in, but no one wanted to help out. I did my best to marshal others to the cause, barking out orders and evening trying to goad the other well represented teams into participating in the chase. I ended up dragging the eventual winner to within 50m of the break, allowing him to bridge up. Unfortunately the two of us were off the front of the peloton, dooming me no mans land with no legs. I sit up and wait for the pack to return.

The remaining laps are filled with half hearted pursuit. No one wants to help out and the break continues to sit 200m off the front of us, and now there are three of them. I get away again with 2 others to find ourselves out in no mans land once again. I sit up and get the rest of the team organized so we could get Alex free for the pack sprint. The backstretch gets all clustered up again and we are moving really slow. 343 finally moves to the front and we integrate in with them. Couzens and Alex are behind me, with a 343 guy in front of me and the two big sprinters from 343 behind them. We kick the speed up to stretch out the peloton. I'm yelling at the guy in front to keep it moving as we come through the last corner but he starts to fade and pulls to the right. I hit the apex of the corner and drop the hammer for the last time, hoping to spring our group free and get Alex a clean set of wheels.

After 5 seconds I don't see any shadows below my wheels. The sun's low in the sky and at our back... there should be long shadows... I look over my shoulder and see a huge gap. Crap. I had ridden off the front of the field and no one was coming around Couzens and Alex. I pressed on hoping to open my advantage from this stupidly far distance. The cells in my body burning the leftover Stumptown Tart that I had so glutinously consumed the day before. My lungs and legs seared. I looked down at my HRM and was running close to 105% of my season's max.

And then it happened.. a clear moment in the anaerobic pain induced haze when I looked up and saw the finish line 200m ahead. I wanted to sit up and pack it in. I reached for the gear shift to ease the pain in my legs and actually went to a bigger gear. In that instant, the frustration of chasing and failing time and time again turned into "if the rest of you are content to race for 4th, I'll make sure you finish at least 5th." Ten more seconds of effort, ten more seconds of pain will guarantee that I finish ahead of the pack and give me a small nugget of satisfaction for the night.

The race ends and we all roll back to the registration area. Mike thanks me for the bridge to the break then apologizes to his break mates for piping them in the final sprint. Alex, Couzens, and Larry from 343 comes over and congratulates me on my finish. Friendly recounts of the night are flowing all around. Due to hotspots I end up tied for 4th with a guy who was in the break, so I take 5th anyway. ;) Such is the life of masters racing.

Traci helps me pack up as I chat with some of my competitors. In fact she packs up almost all my gear. I feel bad, but I'm so thankful of how incredibly supportive she is when I'm racing.

The drove home is fun and we are both in a good mood considering its after 8pm and we haven't had dinner yet. We stop at Freddies for some chocolate milk. Sometimes its good to go visit an old stomping ground to let the familiarity of it all allow you to let it all hang out and see what you can do.

Century Recap

2008-07-28T15:33:00.001-07:00

You couldn't have asked for a nicer day for the third annual Portland Velo Club Century! Never one for shying away from the norm, this years event had a number of brand new twists and sponsors that made it the best event that PV has pulled off to date.

Early Saturday morning saw a small team scurrying to get things setup for the early start time. As if on cue, the first riders start to arrive for registration once we have everything in place.

Numbers get pinned on, and maps handed out. Big John gives us some final ride information and we are on the road shortly after 7:30. This year I'm hoping to enjoy the ride rather than suffer the second half like I did last year. A number of the race team have pledged to the "Bagel Sandwich Treaty" (BST) that was formed a few weeks back, to ride sane today... we'll see how long it stays in place. We head out of FG into the cool temps of the morning. The climb up Cedar Canyon into the sunlight at the top of the hill makes for a good warm up.

Things stay fairly social up into Hagg Lake, where the entrance climb separates those riding hard and those content to ride in the Groupetto. Unfortunately I'm sitting someplace between with a handful of other riders. We crest the climb and decide to make some harder efforts for the next few minutes. Rob, Jeremy, Javad, Matt C and I trade small pulls, towing along a group for the ride. About half way around the lake we turn the corner and see a number of bike on the ground and people milling around. Not good. A small touch of wheels lead to a few of the race team members hitting the deck. Mike A is on the ground a bit slumped over. Jamie and I check him over gingerly, making sure not to disturb any hidden injuries. His helmet has a good crack in it, but it did its job. Jamie finishes his assessment and we all agree SAG wagon is necessary. At least it isn't a call to 911.

None of us have cell reception in the area, so Mitch Lee heads one way with a group and I the other with Russ Patterson, phone numbers ready to be dialed as soon as we have a signal. We make it all the way down to the guard station and use the phone there to get in touch with Jimmy who happens to be less than 10 minutes away. I notify the groups heading back that the wagon is on the way and roll on to catch the rest of group.

We hit Gaston to a rousing chorus of cheers from the folks stationed there. Food is eaten and the crash is discussed. Mike Kender decides he wants to be like the rapper Nelly and band-aids a penny under his eye. (Rumor has it he got stung coming into Gaston, but we all think he want to look cool.) The faster group decides to hit the road, and two members of the BST defect and go with them. Their membership cards have been ripped up and the remaining members decide to shun them whenever we can. Sal calls out for the formation of the Groupetto, and a good size group of us head out of Gaston and head south. We ride in a nice double paceline through roads with no car traffic. The tempo is quick, but not strenuous with the leaders taking long pulls before moving to the back to relax. Marc Mazzacco and I are lucky enough to set the pace up the gradual Laughlin Road climb. Many of us make note to come out this way again for more riding soon.

We get into Carlton to behold the beautiful grounds of Canas Feast a quick top off of snacks (mmmm gummy bear) we hit the road once again. The century loop was a mixed bag. Our group was buzzed constantly by unfriendly cars and tormented by local yokels who decided to change the direction of route markers. However once we got to Dopp Road we enjoyed the peace and quiet until Jeff B had the unfortunate luck to wrap a random wire around his cassette a number of times and ripped a gash in his shorts and his leg. Ouch.

Sal and I spend the early part of the Calkins road climb trying to discover the mystery behind the sudden large quantity of bee's we star running into. He decides to blame it on a pair of llama standing under a tree. Oddly enough, once we pass the llamas the bees are no longer an issue.

After the climbs on Calkins our group slowly regroups on North Valley before we head back down Kuenhe. We see Sherry and Sierra motoring along the other way and cheer loudly for them. We get strung out on Kuehne due to differeing climbing speeds and a lot of car/bike traffic. Javad, Sal and Kender get far up the road before we are able to pass some slower traffic. I break clear and wait until our crew bridges up to me before doing my best Stuart O'Grady impersonation and bridge up to Javad. I crack just as we catch him, which happens to be just as he catches Sal and Kender. I peel off and dangle on the back of the paceline until we get back into Carlton.

At our second stop in Carlton, I drop my bike off with the gang from Veloce. The BB sounds like there is a duck in it. I figure its shot, but they are optimistic that something can be done with it. At the food table we were treated to some delicious pasta salad and bread. Carlo hands me a half glass of a wonderful Rose wine that we were able to sample. So delicious!

The traitors to the BST are back at the reststop looking a bit haggard from their jaunt up to McGuire Dam. They wish to rejoin us, to bask in the glory of the Groupetto. We tell them to get bent and suffer with the group they ditched us for. No love for the traitors! I check in with the pit crew after wolfing down my pasta and my ride has new life! My oh-so-wonderful FSA BB had come loose on one side (to the point where it could be moved by hand.) Some additional lock-tite and some lube had things running silky smooth. We fuel up for the final 25 or so miles. Someone jokes that we can be into Maggie's in an hour.

It was almost prophetic though, the next hour and 10 minutes roll by quickly and with a bit of pain. A steady diet of flatland diesel engines eat up the miles and cut through the headwind that decided to blown down from the north. Kristin and Heidi, the two hardwomen of the Groupetto help spell the men on the front and allow them to regroup for the final push into town. With two miles to go we cross 47 into Forest Grove and tell Sal to shut it down, he nods in agreement and our happy pack cuts through the back streets back up to Maggie's (but not before I snatch the KOM jersey from a napping Kender on the final climb of the day!)

We make the final turn into Maggie's, and the party is going full tilt. Our crew scoffs at the idea of parking the bikes and literally rides through the crowd directly to the beverages calling out "BEEEEEER" along the way. I grab a pint of IPA and take a slug before passing it along to my brothers and sisters in arms. A shared toast to the shared work of the Groupetto!

We change and make our way back to the event to full our empty stomachs with amazing food from Maggie's and our hearts and minds with the stories of the day. We are happy to hear that Mike is okay and doesn't require any surgery from his crash. Cheers go up for each group of finishers as we cap off a wonderful day with wonderful people. We cringe when Carlo starts singing disco songs. :)

If you had told me the day after the LAF event that PV would be turning around and putting the final touches on our club century in under a month, I would have called you crazy. However that is exactly what a small dedicated group of individuals ended up pulling off. We took some risks and went big... new sponsors, a new route, and new riding areas most were not familiar with. We had our share of bumps and bruises and missed turns along the way, but at the end of the day PV put on a pretty damn good party, and the mistakes made will just make next years event that much more solid.

A big thank you goes out to all organizers, volunteers, participants, and especially our amazing century sponsors. Three cheers for Veloce, Canas Feast, Maggie's, and Madison's!

Fear the Fixie Freak and other random stuff...

2008-07-18T15:35:00.001-07:00

bikes....

Quick post before we kick off the weekend! Last night I was seriously humbled by Bigwood on his Fixie climbing Pumpkin Ridge. Churning his 66inch gear, Bob probably beat me to the top by 45s or so on a windy-as-hell climb. The flat section of the climb in the middle was horrific due to the wind.

The saving grace to the ride was that I put out more power than my last climb up it, and was only ~30 seconds off my PR. Without the wind and a bit better pacing at the start I might have set another PR for the season.

Was also funny watching Bob spin back down the 6.5 mile descent. I think his shorts caught fire a few times. :)

The TDF this year has been interesting to say the least. I'm glad Ricco was shown the door. I thought the boy needed to grow up and gain some respect for other riders before taken more seriously. I mean, who the hell gives themselves their own nickname? I hope the Alps bust the race open and Vander Velde makes a run for yellow.

beer...

Hoping to work some beer magic next week with a co-worker. If all goes well, we'll be making a Marionberry Ale which should be ready to rip mid to late September. Mmmm beer. Speaking of beer, Stone released their 12th Anniversary beer. This year it's a Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. I plan on cracking one open tonight to try out.

My other brewing mentor Todd, reports that the CCX Imperial we kicked off Memorial Day weekend is blurping along nicely in the primary. If it's anything like the batch he made earlier this year, it should be a nice kick in the head.

bedlam...

Like millions of other sheep, I got an iPhone the week.. weee! I'm pretty damn impressed with the thing so far. Pandora.com has a free application which allows you to stream music over Edge/3G/WiFi. Was pretty cool being on the top of Pumpkin Ridge getting tunes while we waited for the rest of the group.

Step back to ride forward?

2008-07-14T21:01:00.001-07:00

Rest is supposed to make you feel better. It allows for muscle to heal, wounds to repair themselves, the spirit replenish. Last week I took as a rest week and took a step back. I had noticed looking over my TrainingPeaks data that I was running a very high Acute Training Load, and my Training Stress Score was at its lowest point this season. The last week of June and first week of July had seen a good 400+ miles roll by with a number of high intensity workouts mixed into the fold. I did no hard rides during the past week with the hopes that the rest would allow me to hit that next level I'm searching for.

The off week was actually more difficult that I imagined. My body felt restless, and my spirits raised by the coverage of the Tour. I wanted to ride. I was looking forward to the weekend.

Saturday the club route took us up one of the nasty small climbs in the foothills of Bald Peak, a road known as Unger or Iowa Hill depending on which side of the road you decide to go up. I decided to take the Hammer & Nails group out on this day, which should lead to an entertaining ride.

I was happy to see that a number of new riders had joined the usual crew of PV racers and weekend hammerheads, the number possibly buoyed by a stern reminder I gave to the club about sandbagging in slower ride groups. Unfortunately newcomers means unpredictable riding, the first ten or so miles were much harder than they needed to be. A constant series of surges and braking to compensate for poor paceline work.

The beauty of the H&N group is that it eventually becomes self sorting. The weaker riders, or those with poor performing rides tends to drift off the back over the first half of the ride, a series of dropped chains, flat tires, and "bio-mechanical" failures. It sounds harsh, but its designed to be difficult to elevate the performance of those who try and ride with the group, and it works.

I remember the first time I finished with the H&N group last year. I celebrated by shaving my legs for the first time.

Unger road loomed ahead of me, a two stage climb that can seriously work over those who are unfamiliar with the climb, and just puts the screws to everyone else. The first time I went up the climb, I remember seeing a faster group ahead of me on the second stage and watching some members of the group tacking back and forth across the road to maintain their forward momentum. On this day I was with the lead group of 10 or so riders at the base of the climb and immediately knew I was in trouble. My legs just wouldn't turn over and my cardio system couldn't handle the stress. With a bit of dismay I watched as the crew rolled away from me up the hill. "This is Hammer & Nails, we don't wait." I hear the words I spoke minutes before echoed ironically in my ears amid the pounding of my heart. I relegated myself to grinding up the two sections of Unger, the blazing sun my only companion.

I eventually crested the beast and started the decent. A sharp impact at the corner of my lip reminds me to be wary of the not so friendly bees that have stung more than a few cyclists on this stretch of road. I took a bee to the tongue two years ago and it's not a event I'd like to repeat.

On the descent Russ Patterson and Greg Magnus bridge up to me as I pull out the queue sheet, confirming that most of the group went the wrong way. The three of us make the turn on Nursery Road and see Carlo and his father on the side of the road cameras in hand.

Greg and I decide to ham it up and engage in a mock sprint at a not so blazing speed. The two of us are out of the saddle, our tongues hanging out like madmen. I'm sure it will make for a pretty picture. Greg's father Ron joins up with a short bit later and we make our way to Blooming Fern road and discover its been completely resurfaced. I'm concerned as it will make an already fast decent down to Spring Fern Hill road even faster.

We reach the bottom and stop to wait for the rest of the group, acting like sentries and watching for cars that could cause serious issues for anyone with bad brakes. Fortunately the club members are familiar with the road and exercise caution coming into the intersection. The final members of my group arrive and we depart for Forest Grove and Maggie's.

Maggie's Buns is a small off the wall bakery in the heart of downtown Forest Grove, and one of the clubs awesome sponsors. If you've never had one of her famous cinnamon buns, you haven't done yourself justice! "Best Buns in Town" isn't just a catchy phrase. Maggie mans the water faucet and the two off us top of close to forty riders water bottles in no time at all. I can't wait for our upcoming century that she is catering.

I retrieve my bike from the limited shade and see the swarm of cyclists that have gathered upon the small store. I call out that the H&N's group is rolling out and head on our way back into Longbottoms. A half mile down the road I glance back and the original two dozen that left at the start of the ride has swollen to close to fifty riders. I formulate an evil plan. The pace is causal heading out of town, allowing us time to warm our legs back up after the elongated stop. As we approach the HWY 47 crossing, I ask Ron Babcock to park himself at the front of the line and ramp the speed to the mid twenties when we get across the road.

The group is so large that a natural split occurs at the crossing. "Play time's over folks!" I call out. I hear Ben Johnson cheer with approval from behind me. Ron obliges by dropping the hammer, with Ben coming up to lend a hand. The group strings out into a long line as we cruise through the fields of overripe strawberries. Another intersection splits the group further again, Sean and I find ourselves on the wrong side of a gap and work hard to close it around the traffic circles of Verbort. A small Toyota pickup truck causes us to loose ground right as we were within striking distance. Frustrated, we sit up and wait for more riders to join us before making another dig at the leading group. We eventually catch them on the run up to Long Road.

Things cool down until we hit Hornecker. I try to lead Bob out for a sprint but go too early for what limited strength my legs had left. The remainder of the ride is thankfully low key.

Short term pain for long term performance? I hope that's what this rest leads to.

4x4ftw!

2008-07-10T13:20:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, it's time for a recovery week. This week my riding has consisted of commuting to and from work, a massive 9 miles a day. My legs actually feel heavy when I get on the bike right now, so I'm hoping the light cycling load will be helpful. I'll find out on Saturday when I go for some climbs with the team.

The light workload doesn't mean I'm not staying active however! Any training regiment needs to be varied in my opinion, so I've supplemented my cycling with a weight program. I believe it's important to have strong stabilization muscles to maintain form, and prevent injury. So at the start of this year during my first training phase, I spent at least two workouts a week in the gym doing a high rep-low weight lifting regiment.

From past experience, I've found I'm the type of person who can gain muscle mass by simply walking past a weight rack. Oddly enough that wasn't something that very evident to me until a number of years after I was diagnosed as being diabetic. My endocrinologist stated it probably has something to do with extra insulin I sometimes have in my system and went on to state that insulin is often abused by body builders and other athletes as a performance enhancing drug. (Anyone want a hit off my insulin pump?)

As a result, I've found I have to be super careful when doing any sort of lifting program to not add bulk when increasing strength. I'll have to admit its hard for me to go to the gym and complete sets of 30 reps with a really light weight. Part of me knows that I can lift far more weight than what I'm currently working with. I guess in some strange way it's an exercise in mental discipline.

However strength work doesn't need to be done with free weights or machines! This weeks strength routine I've named "4X4ftw". A deceptively simple series of 4 different exercises done in a circuit 4 times. As an added bonus, when you are done it feels like you've been beaten with a 4x4! (I seriously wanted to barf last night.) Doesn't that sound like fun? Here is what made up the 4x4ftw circuit.

one leg squats: I actually do these on the stairs as it gives you the ability to dip low. This is your basic squat with one leg. It works your quad/hamstrings, gluets, and calf muscles. While you squat down, keep your core muscles tight to help with balance. I tend to also do a knee lift with the leg I'm holding up to further emphasize the contraction of the core muscles. It's like a standing crunch! 15 reps per leg then immediately on to...
planks: this is a ground based exercise, so having a yoga mat or something similar is helpful. Start in the push-up position, then drop your upper body so you are resting on your forearms. Here is a video demonstrating the exercise. Engage the core muscles to hold your body as stiff as a "plank of wood". Don't let your back round up, or sag down! I try to hold the plank position for a minute. It's harder than it sounds. Once done, stretch the lower back, abs via whatever yoga pose you like, but don't take too long. One of the purposes of doing something in a circuit is to keep your heart rate elevated. Next up...
jump squats: crouch low, loading the leg muscles with your body weight, then jump upwards using your legs and arms to propel you skyward. When landing, absorb your descent with your legs again. This is a standard plyometrics based exercise. You don't have to jump to your max on every attempt, but do make sure you start and end each rep at your crouch or "loaded" position. 15 reps then on to...
decline push ups: there are a lot of variations of this exercise, but I put my feet up on one of those inflatable exercise balls, but you can use the stairs, a bench, or the edge of a couch to prop up your legs. I personally like the exercise ball as I've found propping the legs up on an object that moves requires your core, lower back, and gluets to constantly shift and adjust making the push up more difficult. As with most of these exercises, keep the core tight! 20 reps.

Once I finished a circuit, I move directly into the start of the next one. You'll find that the the jump squats will elevate your heart rate, making the push-ups much harder then expected. I normally take a short 2 minute break between the second and third circuit in order to hydrate. A circuit will take me about 5 to 6 minutes, allowing me to complete the workout routine in 25-40 minutes depending on my pace. The best part is all of this can be done at home, so its great if you need to shoe-horn a workout in.

The addition of strength and flexibility work into my routine has definitely paid off this year, and I'd strong suggest it to anyone looking to improve their performance.

Things that explode...

2008-07-06T23:02:00.001-07:00

Volcanos
Fireworks
Valverde
My legs...

Hope everyone had a good 4th of July weekend! The fireworks here started early as the Portland Velo race team met in downtown on the 3rd for the "It's on like Donkey Kong with Volcano's" ride. The Thursday night team ride is in its infancy, however leading into a holiday weekend there was a huge showing. Unfortunately, our instigator decided to totally bail on us and not show up until we finished.

All was not lost however! Mike Kender lead us on a truly epic journey that climbed the three local Portland volcano's. Almost 20 of PV's racers met in historic Ladd's Addition on the east side. It was definitely a sight to behold as only three riders decided to not sport the PV colors. (Let Couzens, Magnus, and Burke be shunned until they buy us beer!) First on the list to conquer was Mount Tabor, home of the circuit race and a stage in this years Mount Hood Cycling Classic. Second on the list was Rocky Butte, and finally Council Crest. The route took us through every major neighborhood in Portland, and we were constantly stared at in amazement. I guess it's not often that a ton of cyclists roll down 42nd. It was awesome to hang out with some team mates I haven't seen in a while and have a nice social ride to kick off the weekend.

Highlight of the evening for me had to be getting stopped on the Hawthorn has a sail boat when through, as the blues fest was in full tilt on the waterfront. The small gang that was heading back to Palio's at Ladds was treated to some great music while we waited. Huge props to Kristin, Sherry, and my lovely wife Traci who was out on her first team ride ever, for hanging with the boys for the evening. Roughly 35miles with 2500 feet of climbing!

Upon our return to Palio's, the evil Heidi decided to show her face. All was forgiven when she suggested Hopworks for a late dinner and some beer. Heidi, Sal, Javad, Kender, Alex, and Sherry joined Traci and I in "The Vault" for a few pints and some good food.

We got home late, and the next morning was the PV "Firecracker" ride. Ty, our "Director Sportif" had decided to create a secret course that would take us roughly 60 miles through unknown territory. The only things we know going into this ride is that it was going to be fast, and winners of the hotspots were getting free beer! Roughly 40 riders from PV, Team Rose City, and Clint from Bicycle Attorney met at the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse early on the 4th to launch some fireworks of our own. The ride took us up Thompson to Skyline, where Magnus took the first hotspot of the day. We descended down Old CP Road to Phillips then up to Jackson Quarry where Ron Babcock took the K.O.M at the top of the climb. Ron again took the third hotspot leading into Roy, barely nipping me at the line. Clint took the hotspot at the Clapshaw summit, and I was able to thin the herd down to Springer, B-Rat, and Ty on Hillside. Springer played his cards right and took the prime there, barely edging out Ty who I lead out. The final hotspot of the day was won by Ron again, out kicking Springer and I on Hornecker Road. Ron was the big winner on the road, but since he doesn't drink beer, he was automatically DQ'd from the competition! Huzzah!

The gang returned back to CPR and met up with some of the club members who went out a bit after us for some good times. Big thanks to Ty for organizing the ride and providing the liquid bread during the afterparty. This was easily one of the hardest rides I had been on this year. 40 or so folks started, and roughly 20 rolled back into the Roadhouse.

Saturday morning brought the best time of the year for any cycling fan. TOUR TIME! I got out of bed earlier than I normally do on a Saturday to catch portions of the prologue. I was more than a bit confused when I turned on the TV and saw a peleton of riders chasing down a break. (I'll be the first to admit I haven't scoped any of this years stages.) It wasn't long until good old Paul Sherwin mentioned that it was the first time in the thirty years he's been working with the tour that they didn't have the prologue. I guess the ASO didn't want Cancellara in yellow the first day?

Watching the final run up to the finish was amazing. I thought Kirchen was going to take the stage, he seemed to attack at just the right moment and had a huge lead from the overhead view, but then out of the pack shot this crazy orange, yellow, and red bullet and Phil Liggett starts screaming "Valverde! Valverde!". I wish I had that type of acceleration!

Saturday's club ride was a fairly quiet one. A lot of the race team had put in their hard efforts the day before and the old and overcast weather had chased away a good number of riders. I made a gametime decision and took the club a different route than we originally planned, much to the dismay of Russ Patterson who was planning on meeting us halfway up Thompson (sorry Russ!). Instead of the Rose Garden, we decided to visit the rainforest known as Dairy Creek.

I rolled out with the first group of the day, intent on enjoying a nice tempo ride. As always, things got a bit spirited towards the end of Dairy Creek, but nothing like the leg shredding from the day before. On the way back down we broke up into two smaller groups and worked rotating paceline skills. It was a bit harry with a few riders new to the technique, but we made it down in one piece. Remember, be predictable and smooth. Don't force any accelerations. After Dairy Creek we decided to take on a few more miles and had fun playing with a new comer to our rides who had earned a less then savory impression with some of the race team during other non PV rides. General consensus seems to be that sucking wheel on a tempo climb up a hill only to attack the last few meters for "the win" is only good form if you weigh over 200 lbs. This dude did not qualify! BAD FORM.

Today was a day for recovery. The 4th consecutive day that I had been on my bike for an extended period of time. My body definitely felt it even just rolling over to Longbottoms to meet up with the group. Fortunately the ride was very mellow and I was able to just spin for a few hours to loosen up the legs. Probably a bit longer than I should have been out for a recovery ride, but the company was good, even if they were making fun of my circa 1986 Team Lemond tour Winner jersey by Puma. High point of my ride was trying to punk Bob at the Cornelius city limit sign via a sneaky sprint. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, the sign is less than 100m north of the intersection of Golf Course Road and Lafolette. (Use the Google Street , which rocks by the way, to see the sign!) The two of us were laughing so hard that we nearly fell off our bikes.

We got back in, had our lunch and parted ways. Once I got home I pulled up all of my stats for the past few weeks. I'm currently sitting at both a season high Chronic Training Load, and Acute Training Load. Basically, it means my body is more tired now than it has been all season as far as the amount of work I've done short term (a few days), and the amount of work I've done long term (a few weeks / months). No wonder I'm tired! While I'm not yet suffering from over training, if I were to keep up this intensity it would probably burn me out in fairly soon.

I'm pleased with how the season is going so far and I'm looking forward to a few races in August, with maybe a race this coming Friday at the Velodrome (if I get my bike ready in time!) Hopefully the easy week I have planned, mainly commuting with a bit of tempo work mid-week, will help with some recovery. Now I just have to make sure the Tour doesn't get me all hyped up!

An epic post for an epic weekend...

2008-07-02T15:55:00.001-07:00

I apologize in advance for the overkill of detail, length and slew of grammatical errors that will be in this post... So many memories were made this weekend and its hard not to share.

This past weekend was the 4th Annual LIVESTRONG Challenge here in Stumptown. I decided ahead of time to take the 3 days leading up to the weekend and the Monday after the weekend off so I could attend to the things I needed to and not be burnt out for the event. As it was, I spent much of the days leading up to the event prepping a trio of bikes and attending to last minute details, requests, and meetings. By the time 5:00am Sunday rolled around, I was flat out exhausted. Having Monday available to relax looks like a stroke of pure genius in hindsight.

I started my event weekend on Wednesday morning with a double dose of riding. First a 9am club ride out of Longbottoms, followed by the 11:30 Rose City / iBike ride that meets on the corner of Sewell and Evergreen. Day ended with 70 miles, 4 major climbs, and me with a serious case of stomach cramps from not having enough food in my system. I was also having issues with my rear derailleur which made climbing fun to say the least. I spent the rest of the evening prepping the house for our guests to arrive on Thursday.

Thursday morning I attended the final All Agency meeting for the event. Law enforcement officers, medical personal, and LAF volunteers went over the organizational plan and last minute course details for the event. That afternoon our guests arrived and we spent time catching up and fitting Brad to a bike we had borrowed from a teammate in the evening. This will be the second year that Brad has come up to participate in the event, and this year he brought the heat from Arizona to go with our humidity. Fun times.

Friday morning Brad and I joined the PV club ride out of Longbottoms. It was a shakedown ride for Brad as he was getting used to his loaner. The TREK OCR he was riding was a standard 53/39 crankset with a 12-25 rear cassette. His bike at home is a triple. We laugh a bit nervously as we discuss "the climb" on Sunday's ride while on the road. I point out areas where we are going to be riding as he gets the feel of the bike. The pace floats between 17 and 21 mph and he hangs on no problem. He's trained much more for this ride and looks strong. We hit the only climb of the Friday ride and I tell him to ride his own pace. The ride always regroups at the base of Blooming Fern. I move to the front and ride with Ty and a new comer named Ray. In months past I've never been able to hang with Ty while climbing. I'm happy to be at least holding his wheel although noting I'm breathing a lot harder than him. He mocks my long sleeved baselayer that covers my UV sensitive arms. I tell him I'm channeling my inner David Millar. My rear derailleur is still chattering while I'm climbing and the new bottom bracket I had installed days before is grinding already. Note to readers, Ultegra BB + FSA SLK crankset = fail.

The regroup happens and Brad is the last one down. Climbing in the bigger gear than he's used to has strained his calves causing them to cramp. We roll back with the shorter group and make plans to hit a bike store to get a 12-27 cassette. That evening we install the new cassette, change out Traci's worn tires, and think we diagnose the cause of my poor shifting when I pull a frayed shifter cable out of the housing on my shift lever. I have enough time to fix everything, chow down a quick dinner, then run off to meet with my Ride Marshal team before the final LAF walk through meeting before the event.

The Ride Marshal meeting was something special. Every single person showed up on time and was ready to go. Although we are all volunteers at this event, the level of professionalism displayed by the PV crew was very evident. We went through the final schedule and ride groups, and I got the opportunity to hand out the special PV dogtags we had made for the occasion. Each rider and rest stop volunteer from PV had a callsign assigned to them. Like real fighter pilot callsigns, some are jokes and light hearted jabs at the recipient, while others are simply a pairing of a person to an available cool sounding name. The effort seemed to be appreciated and I had a fun time working on it with Linda. The team meeting ends in time for me to grab a beer with Carlo and Mike before the walk through starts. I make a number of last minute notes and question to address before getting the tubes and signing out the radios we'll be using. I roll into the house at 9pm, fire off some mails and crash before 10.

Saturday's club ride was a quiet affair for me. The weather was expected to be hot and the ride leaves a few minutes ahead of schedule causing some riders to scramble out of Longbottoms. I make a note to hold riders to at least the start time to avoid this in the future. I volunteered to take out the last group today, knowing that I'd be on the road for a long period of time. My group had a number of riders who were with PV for the first time today, so I was happy to make sure they had a good experience with the club. I spent much of the ride with the new folks and hoping to leave a lasting impression on them.

I arrive back at Longbottom's in time to check in with a few folks. I mentioned to Bob the issues I was having with the rear derailleur. He took a look at things and noticed that my rear cassette was pretty chewed up. Another rookie mistake on my part. At least I had all the tools needed to fix it. A final trip to the shop for a new cassette and chain and the problem was gone. After reviewing things it looked like I had about 2400 miles on that cassette since January, so it was about time to change it out. Saturday night is spent organizing things for the early departure on Sunday. I roll into bed around 10pm and sleep fitfully all night. 4:45am comes quickly.

The day I've been working on for 6 months has finally arrived. Brad, Traci, and I eat breakfast quietly as the sun rises and change into our gear. The weather report shows a slightly cooler day than Saturday, with highs getting into the 90's only after 3pm. Martin comes by the house at 5:45 sharp and we load Traci's bike on his car. The four of us head to the Nike campus as the sun breaks over Skyline.

At 6:45 a small army of PV riders decked out in the 5 generations of club and race team jerseys we've had meets outside of the Tiger Wood Center. I pass out last minute supplies and remind people to take care of each other in addition to the riders on course. As I wrap up, Roger Mast from the LAF comes by and thanks us, telling us we've set the standard for Riding Marshals that will be hard to match. There is a look of pride on the faces of the crew present. At 7:00am we head down to the staging area. A gang of black, blue, white, and red, each draped with a neon yellow marshal sash. We pause to say hi to other riders we know and ham it up for a large group picture.

My riding group for the day consists of Matt "Kiss'n" Couzens, Bryan "Meatball" Molloseau, and Jeremy "Jester" Schultz. We are joined at the line by Scott Springer who was able to help out last minute. We move from the staging area to the start line and watch the festivities.

At promptly 7:30, we are released. The sound of cleats on pedals fills the air as hundreds of cyclists shoot out of the gates many hoping to catch, and maybe ride with Lance. This is the most dangerous time of the ride. I cringe watching riders fill the road which thankfully is closed to car traffic. Washington County Motorcycles leapfrog the front group, stopping traffic at all intersections. Somehow a few miles in one of them dumps into a ditch, but no one is hurt and everyone is back on there way quickly.

My team works hard, trying to herd the cyclists to the right side of the road. We've exited the closed part of the course and cars are now on the road intermixed with cyclists. Some people heed our requests to double up and ride to the right as we make our way through the crowd in front of us. Up the road I see a lone rider riding beyond the double yellow line trying to get near the front of the pack. We shake our heads in disgust and hope a car doesn't come around the blind bend.

The first rest stop comes and goes. No one in the front group stops. A few miles down the road the course splits and the century riders are to go straight. Lance throws them a curve and makes the turn, taking the police escort with him. Shows over folks, time to pay attention to the road.

Eventually our group of five rides in a familiar cluster. We chat with the riders on the road, making sure they hydrate and all is well with them. The miles tick by and the outline of Bald Peak grows closer. A fire truck passes us going the other way, siren and lights blaring. I scan the radio channels but hear nothing, hoping the incident was not cycling related. The climbing starts in the foothills of Bald Peak, a road called Mountain Home, which is a favorite among the PV climbers. It's my first time climbing from this direction and I can see its appeal. Jeremy and I ride with a gal with a WCCC leaders jersey on up the climb. "I'm more a flatlander" she admits, but continues to grind up the hill as we pull away from her. We pass dozens of riders on the ascent. Some already pulled off into the limited shade in the area. We check with each cyclist as we pass, and all say they are okay. I silently wonder how many matches had been burnt chasing Lance.

We arrive at the rest stop and tanked up. Food and hydration are the keys to the day. I learn that a cyclist went down hard behind us and was taken away by the EMT's. Fortunately he crashed not 500 meters from a stationed emergency unit. A group of riders thanks Springer for pointing out a bad rut in the road on the descent. I radio into the command center to see if we can get it marked. Couzens makes a new friend giving up his spare water bottle to a rider who lost his after hitting a bump in the road.

Once again we rolled out, setting an easy pace up the hill and down the twisting descents that followed. These roads are Springer's playground and he picks clean and safe lines through the corners. The climb was coming.

We inevitably turned back towards Bald Peak, looming some 1400 feet above us. The sun was up and it was starting to warm. Each of us picked our own climbing pace and toiled up the hill, calling out support to each rider we passed. Eventually we string out and I could see only Jeremy ahead of me, each of us lost in the personal hell that a 16% grade inflicts on the body. My heavy breathing and rhythmic tick of my gears is the only sounds for minutes until I'm deafened by chatter over my radio. Volume needed to hear while riding at 20mph is much more than what is needed to hear at 6mph. I fumble with the volume and eventually turn it down.

The worth part of the climb passes and we make the turn on to Bald Peak road itself. A 6 to 8% grade climb feels easy compared to 14%-16%. My legs eventually recover and I pull myself up to Jeremy. Springer and Couzens are just up the road. We finally make it to rest stop 2 and are startled to learn that we are close to the first people up top. Bald Peak and the heat took a heavy toll on the riders in front of us leaving the previous stop.

We spend some time at the top of the climb, cheering on the riders making their way into the park and joking with Dominick the Mechanical coordinator. He passed us on the climb and asks what took us so long. The WCCC rider pulls in to the park with a big grin on her face. She's informed by the rest stop staff that she's the first female to make it to the top and gets a big hand from the riders around her. It's the little victories that make life what it is.

The descent off Bald Peak fast, punctuated with laughter as Springer pays tribute to a fellow club member. The five of us scream down the road brushing near 50mph. The descent was almost worth the climb. Once on the flats the strength of the group becomes evident. We pick up riders along course and soon are towing a dozen folks along the country roads. Dominick passes us again on his scooter and waves. We make it into the next rest stop a quick 25 minutes after leaving Bald Peak and stop for a taco.

Springer turns off at this point and heads back to his domain. We thank him for the help in the hills. The next rest stop is 15 miles out with the first 8 being pancake flat before entering the roads around Hagg Lake. Dominick yet again passes us as we are on road. Jeremy suggests that he moto-pace us to the next stop. We make good time and hit the rest stop shortly after noon and the pirates greet us by shooting off their muskets. Yes... the ride had pirates.

We leave the rest stop at 12:30 and make the turn off the dam about fifteen minutes later. I look up the road to the left and see a number cyclists still making their way up the first hill. On the ride out of the park we pass by three more cyclists on their way in. "Those folks are the last on the century course" I remark to others. We catch riders on Old HWY 47 and cheer them on. They pass us a short bit later when Couzens flats after hitting a ninja pothole. Its the only tire change we have that day. We pick up a handful of riders on the flats once again.

We make a unanimous decision to by-pass rest stop 7 and head directly to 8 where PV has set up shop. As we approach the rest stop all our companions save a couple from Seattle pull off. The male comments they know a good thing when they see one. Dominick waves as well roll by and we yell to him that he's slacking.

Be it by the familiar roads or the knowledge that we were almost done, the four of us ramp up the pace taking long smooth pulls at well over 20mph. On Susbauer road we all start to look puzzled as heavy rain drops randomly hit us. The sky above us is hazy, but not cloudy. Dominick comes past us for the final time and we laugh about the rain. At 1:50 we arrive in North Plains to a swarm of cheering club members. Our new friends from Seattle thank us for the tow in. Ice baths and a spray hose are a welcome sight. The next hour and a half are spent swapping stories with our other club mates and staying cool.

Brad calls from the Nike campus. Leg cramps prevented him from doing the entire 100 mile ride, but he finished with 84 and climbed Bald Peak. His progress from a year ago is staggering.

As the afternoon progresses we begin to get reports trickling in on the number of riders still out on course. The numbers trickle down until just a handful of riders are between the last two rest stops. Tired but determined riders roll into North Plains, the final oasis before their destination. Our marshal teams mobilize for the final task, to make sure all riders who want to make it in, get in.

Teams of two and three introduce themselves to these folks, and group by group they leave North Plains. Jeremy and I mount up and ride with a participant named Travis was was sagged in from the previous leg with mild heat exhaustion. The cooling temperature and rest has lifted his spirits and he's decided to finish the ride. The miles slowly tick by as we are trailed by a SAG van and an EMT vehicle. I make idle conversation with Travis, riding just behind him. He shares that he's riding for his mom who lost her battle with cancer recently. The pain is evident in his voice and how he's holding himself on his bike. 8 miles to go, then 5, then 3. Travis's spirit begins to pick up as does his speed.

We turn on to 158th and I see a rider on the side of the road with one of the motorcycle units. I leave Travis with Jeremy and check in with them. The rider had felt a bit dizzy and got a can of coke from the support cycle. The sugar was exactly what he needed. John Ohnstad, the Portland Mentor is riding sweep and arrives on scene as the rider mounts his bike.

An errant timed traffic light cuts John and I off from the rider we were escorting, and we laugh as he continues up the road. Each subsequent traffic light we miss as he doesn't and soon he's out of sight. We ride through the finish together in a shower of yellow pedals and fan faire. The volunteers at the finish look tired, but their enthusiasm is genuine. I run into Travis on the way into the Village and I congratulate him on finishing. He thanks us for the support and we part ways.

My marshal team has done its job, and many of them have made their way home. The Village is being broken down and I'm too tired mentally to look for food or the free beer that was available somewhere. Seven plus hours in the saddle and 3400 calories later, I leave my sash and radio with Linda and call it a day. As Traci and I make our way to our car the gal from Seattle stops and thanks us once again. She's showered and changed into comfortable clothes, and I try not to envy her. The drive home is quiet, and I try not to doze off. We unpack and Kirsten and Brad have dinner well under control by the time I'm out of the shower. The remainder of the evening is relaxing as we crack open some beer and eat, reliving moments of the day between the bites of pasta and chicken.

By 9:30 we are all ready for bed. The day was the result of months of planning and coordination by a small group of folks to let a big group of folks help make a difference in the fight against a disease that impacts millions. I am immensely proud to have been part of that team.

Gesundheit!

2008-06-23T10:50:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned last week, its allergy season here in the Pacific Northwest. The time of year where all plants decide at once that it's time to reproduce and dump their genetic material in the air for everyone to enjoy. Being outdoors this time of year its tough, especially if you are participating in an aerobic activity. The pollen clings to your skin and invades your body which in turn produces a seemingly never ending quantity of goo from your nose.

Growing up in the Northeast, I truly didn't know what "hayfever" was until I moved here in '92, and I really didn't understand how bad it would be until my freshman year in college down in Eugene. Allergies were so bad that year that the campus health center ran out of allergy medication by mid May. I spent much of that spring indoors trying not to suffocate on my own snot. Good times.

Since that time I've been able to arm myself through a variety new world drugs, old world remedies, and trial and error to combat the assault on my body. So without further ado, I present to you "The Aggregate Cyclist's Guide to Being Outside During Allergy Season", or TACGBODAS for short.

Figure out what you are allergic too.

Some people go to allergists to do this. Personally I went by the "see what pollen was high on days I couldn't breath" method. Pollen.com is a good resource for pollen forecasts and to see how much it sucks to be where live. Ryegrass and I don't get along.

Habitually take your allergy medication starting a few weeks before your "allergy season" begins.

Many allergy medications work by suppressing the histamine system in your body and take time for them to build up to peak effectiveness. Some people react different to different allergy medications. I stumbled upon Alavert a few years ago and it works very well for me. It's also over the counter and can be found in bulk at Costco. (Score!)

Get a nasal spray to use at night before bed.

A nasal spray like FloNase or Nasonex can help open up airways at night and allow you to sleep better. These are prescription drugs so talk with your doctor before allergy season starts.

Carry Benadryl or a generic equivalent.

I keep a few tabs of Benadryl in my saddle pack after breaking out in hives on my legs after one ride. The little pink pills rule for shutting down a allergic reaction quickly and can be helpful if you get stung by a bee while out on a ride. Since it has a tendency to make you sleepy, I don't suggest using it as your primary allergy med.

Wash your hands and face frequently, and especially after being outside.

Pollen is sticky and will cling to your body after being outside for any period of time. If you get pollen on your hands then rub your nose or eyes, instant snot!

Shower at night before bed, even if its just a quick rinse off.

Clean the allergens off your body before you go to bed. This will allow you to breath easier at night.

Change your pillowcases frequently.

Your head sits on this all night. Keep it allergen free!

Bathe your pets more frequently.

Outdoor pets are notorious pollen collectors. If Fido or Fluffy is an outdoor pet and you like the play with them, be prepared to suffer. If you don't like bathing your pet, adhere to TACGBODAS rule #1 after touching your pets. Don't let them sleep on you either.

Get a "neti-pot" and learn to love it.

This is my number one weapon against sinus gunk. A co-worker suggested it a few years ago to help combat the onset sinus infections, and I use it now during allergy season as well. Some people can't get past cleaning out their sinus in the privacy of their own bathroom. Get over it. It's a lot better then having snot run down your face in public and carrying collection of used tissues with you.

Take local bee pollen and / or local honey.

Another gem from my co-worker. The theory is that in taking bee pollen and honey, you introduce the allergens into your system at a low level and over time your system builds up a tolerance to it. The key to this is that it has to be local bee pollen or honey. Local bee's frequent the local flowers, trees, and grasses. Best bet to get this would be at your local farmers market. (They key to this is the word local.) This is one that I haven't had much luck with, but I've heard others swear by it.

Stay hydrated.

This is a good practice in general, but I listed it here for good measure. Antihistamines and especially decongestants dry you out. A runny nose dries you out. The warmer temperatures that cause the plants to release pollen dries you out. Drink water, ~~avoid alcohol~~.

Don't rub your eyes

They may itch now, but rubbing them will only make it worse. Flush your eyes with cool water, or put eye drops in to help reduce the irritation.

I hope a few of these nuggets of knowledge will help you during this time of year. It's entirely too nice to stay indoors.

Plains, Trains, and lack of Automobiles

2008-06-18T15:36:00.001-07:00

...lack of Automobiles

While we are still in the grips of what most people in the area are calling "June-uary", the past week has actually seen blue sky, sun and temperatures usually found in mid May. We all tell ourselves that summer is almost here and with it will bring more typical weather, but that remains to be witnessed.

The lack of rain did however allow me to commute by bike to work a few days last week. Traci and I normally carpool in during the rainy weather (read: 75% of the year) as we work a half mile from each other. From a gas saving standpoint, having only one of us commute in by bike doesn't make much sense, so its either both of us or none of us on the days we are both in the office. However, on days when we normally would have the need to take two cars and the sun is out, I can hop on my bike!

My commute is short. So short that in years past I've said it wasn't worth riding in due to the amount of time it would take to get ready, ride in, park the bike, shower, change, and get to my desk. However with a bit of a paradigm shift on my part, I've made it a much more doable and causal thing. No longer do I don the lycra and ride at mach 1 to get the office. I've taken a more simplistic approach. I dress in what I'm going to wear to work that day, get on my bike and just ride in. The only "gear" I wear is my helmet, shoes, and occasionally my gloves. I've stashed a pair of sandals in my office to change into once there.

I'm lucky enough to work in an office where wearing shorts is commonplace during the nice weather. On days where it's a bit chilly in the morning I pull over a pair of Castelli bike messenger knickers which while baggy, cover my war-torn knees and keep out the wind. My ride in is tame. Recovery pace at maximum. The goal is to get to work safely, not sweaty.

So far its been a successful endeavor. So much so that I've even been able to swing through my favorite coffee shop in the morning to get my usual iced-Americano. (Which conveniently fits into my seat-tube water bottle holder.) I arrive at the office and wheel my bike into my cube. Technically I shouldn't as its a "fire hazard" for morons who decide to stand in the corner of my office during a fire. Our building has no security guards.

My paradigm shift is not unique. I've seen a large number of people on the road the past few weeks on bikes, wearing what you'd see at work. I hope that the people driving by see us and think "Hey, I could do that too."

Plains, Trains...

When I got home last night, I was in a fairly low energy state for some reason. I wanted and needed to go out for a ride, but had little motivation to do so. Upon walking through the door into the house, I steeled my resolve and starting picking out clothes to change into. I'd ride my bread and butter 25mi loop, and I'd go hard. I wanted to set a new fast time for the route, to break last years 1h14m30s finish.

As I dressed, I mentally thought out the course. I needed to ride quickly, but not stress myself for the first few miles to get my legs warmed up. Cornelius Shefflin Road is always busy this time of day. Ride extra cautious for that quarter mile and recover a bit. The wind will be howling out past Roy. Make sure to come to a complete stop in North Plains or Barney Fife may come after you. I top off the tires, and walk out of the garage. It's 4:40 and I tell Traci I should be home no later than 6:00. No more than an hour and twenty minutes of pain. I'm shooting for closer to a hour and ten.

I stick to my plan for those first few miles. Small chain-ring, high cadence. The wind isn't too bad, probably due to the cloud cover that has lingered most of the day. At the turn to Leisy Road, I get into the drops and shift to the big ring. My heart-rate is stable and the legs don't feel half that bad. I ride through row after row of blueberry plants hint at a delicious summer to come. The blueberry field gives way to wide open plains of ryegrass. A small gust of wind blows across the field stirring up an evil tan cloud in its wake...

I happen to reside in a beautiful area that has a backwards river. (The Willamette River (will-AM-it) is one of a handful of rivers in North America that run North rather than South.) The river valley and surrounding areas are lush and fertile and wonderful for growing all sorts of things that produce ungodly quantities of pollen this time of year. "Spring colds" are common among the inhabitants. Symptoms usually include coughing, wheezing, itchy eyes, itchy skin, runny nose, congestion, snot, hives, and the desire to claw ones eyeballs out after extended exposure to outside air. This coupled with the valley's inhabitants desperate desire to be outside after 9 months of rain causes a fairly volatile mixture. After living for 15 years in this area, I've created a multi layered approach to combat the assault on my system. (Which I promise to post later this week.)

I push my way through the histamine minefield, keeping my HR below anaerobic threshold and eventually approach Roy. Roy is a tiny farming town, dominated by a community school and church. It also has a set of train tracks that runs through it in which I've never seen a train on in the fifteen years I've been riding in this area. Imagine my surprise as I crest a small rise in the road and see a logging car train rumbling down the tracks. I coast down to the intersection and stop behind the car waiting there. The sun has broken through the clouds and is hot on the black arm warmers I wore. I take the opportunity to strip them off and stuff them into my jersey pocket. I take a long pull from my water bottle and check the time. It's only eight past five. I've covered just shy of ten miles in twenty-seven minutes. I look to the west and see the last few cars of the train round the bend. The delay was short.

I settle back into my rhythm in the drops, working different gearing-cadence combination on this long flat to find the balance between fast and sustainable. I start to notice that I put out a higher wattage at a higher cadence and smaller gear versus pushing my bigger gears. Out of Roy and towards the glider park I ride. There are few cars on these roads and those you do see are plenty used to the cyclists in the area. Mountaindale road goes by in a blur, a combination of the pace of the ride and the pollen mines my eyes have detonated.

I grumpily pass a pair of cyclists on West Union. They are riding two abreast and make no efforts to move over as I call out my approach. I know they know I'm there. I've been watching them look in their mirrors for the past quarter mile. It gives me some satisfaction as I see them quickly shrink in the distance behind me. The irritation is replaced by the deep ache in my legs the last half mile of West Union. It's a false flat, and the wind has turned into my face. I pass by the school at the corner, the unofficial milepost 20 of my route.

The wonderful thing about teammates is you inevitably run into them on the road. I pass Russ P. going the other way on Helvetia. He's been off the bike for a bit nursing a back injury. We shout to each other upon recognition. Its good to see him riding again. Helvetia becomes Shute, and the stretch of road vanish under my wheels. I turn down the homestretch on Evergreen. I push hard, the small tailwind and familiar road picking up my pace. I concentrate on my HR numbers, looking for the exact moment where my breathing goes into anaerobic. 167 seems to be the magic number.

I cruise into my neighborhood, treating the winding corners like how I'd treat a criterium race, bike leaning over in the corners and body out of the saddle. I hit the garage door opener as I pass the house and circle around to cool down. The clock reads 5:53.

After dinner, I pull down the ride numbers. Total time was 1h13m, but I was stuck in Roy for a few minutes due to the train. Moving time was shy of 1h9m for an average speed of 21.8mph. New PR. While I didn't set a new FTP or 20minute max wattage, I did achieve a new max wattage for everything from 21min to 1h 13m. My strengths don't play to these long sustained efforts, but I know by working at them I can hope to improve my overall performance.

My mood however, increased dramatically.

The Numbers Game

2008-06-16T14:38:00.001-07:00

33 is my race age. It's a no-man's land of age in OBRA. I qualify for Masters sometimes, but not others. 10 is the number of years I've been married as of this coming Friday. 11 is the number of years I've been at the company were I work. A full third of my life. Woah.

180lbs is my weight goal for this year. It will be a 15lbs decrease from where I was last year and a substantial decrease from where I was two years ago. 1970 is the net number of calories I can theoretically eat on a daily basis and not gain weight. While it doesn't always prove true, its a goal to shoot for.

265 was my Functional Threshold Power the last time I tested it. I bet it's probably higher now, but I haven't yet had a test prove that to me.

13 is the number of years I've had a broken pancreas. 2 is the number of years I've had a "bionic replacement". 15carbs:1unit of insulin is the ratio I live by. (Literally.)

1.114 and 1.116 were the Original Gravity (adjusted) for the first and second 5 gallon batches of beer I brewed. When the beer is ready, it should be floating around 10.5 percent alcohol by volume. 100 is the percentage of said beer I plan to share with my teammates during cross season.