Mt Hood Cycling Classic - NOW or never!

Quick note for the folks who are interested in doing the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic. Sign up today! If there are not at least 30 ladies signed up by Wednesday, May 19th, the women's field will be canceled. The Cat 3 Men and Cat 4 Men should also sign up ASAP. Sportsbase will ask for a USAC license number- don't worry about it if you do not have one (these are OBRA fields). Type in XXXXX.

http://www.mthoodcyclingclassic.com/

People also need to sign up for the TTT as soon as possible if you plan on racing it. There needs to be at least 150 racers committed by Thursday or the event will be canceled too.

http://www.willamettevalleycycling.com/team_time_trial/team_time_trial.html

Cherry Pie... mine had a few pits

First race of the season is a new beginning and full of hope, and a grand melange - a mix of delight, expectations, experiment, eye-opener, shock, frustration, and joy. Yesterday's Cherry Pie Race, a circuit of 26 miles, done once or twice if you have the early season legs.

The tandem race at 10AM was great. The rain had paused, the temp was creeping upwards and it was just great to be back on the bike and especially great to be back on "Stealth", the black Calfee tandem, with Hammer (my stoker John Hatfield). It had been four months since we had boarded Stealth for a flight - it was set to fly - we were a bit rusty and raw. Not enough new year miles, but hell, worth a shot. Right out of the parking lot Hammer was talk'n podium. It was either the ten years difference in our age or the jet lag, but I was a wee bit less optimistic. But heck, one lap, 26 miles, let's hang and see what happens.

Local tandem racing is a blast, doesn't have the same aggressive edge as the solo events. Maybe it's the duel rider thing, maybe it's just wheeling those bigger rigs around, not sure, but while it's no less competitive in the final K it's a lot friendlier.

Half way through we have settled on the four teams that were likely to share the final hill to the finish line - and that's where we made our second mistake - we didn't know the "little" hill at the finish line - lesson #1: always, always, go look at the finish before the race. On to Lesson #2: don't chase down all the breaks by the strongest team, or if you do, make a deal with them and stay away.

Results, respectable 4th. Add Lesson #3: one day come to a tandem race with some practice time on the bike and some miles in the legs, we might just be surprised how good we could be; Stealth deserves to take first.

Packed Peloton in the Cat 3s
POP! off the back before ya begin. Four weeks away took it's toll. I thought, or was drifting in some mysterious state of illusion, that after the morning tandem race I had something left. Was I fully recovered from the morning tandem race? Not really, I knew it, but hell, just something, anything, that's all I was asking for. I tried to be realistic and philosophical. I saw this like pros, the boys of July, racing the Ronde van Vlaanderen, early season training, some hard racing miles; when the course loops around, if I'm off the back or searching for that suit case of courage, then I'd take the smart left turn, a mile after the first time through the finish line, instead of an ego driven right turn for another 25 miles, and head for the parking lot, call it a day, and be proud I raced twice and got in those good miles.

Well, we weren't even through the first set of little rollers when it was crystal clear my "suit case of courage" was still going around and around on the luggage belt at PDX. And about 2 miles later I was starting to think about putting in a lost suit case claim - where the hell did the energy go? Go? It went to India and back with no, none, nada, bit of workout in four weeks. I didn't need to be wearing my new team kit for the first time, I need a Superman kit, including cape!
New Team Results
As for the boys on the new team - it was a decent day out with some top ten results: Echelon Racing Team (still a bit blue in the ZteaM kits) came to race - Scott (Browning) managed to take 9th out of a crazy jammed Cat 3 field, nearly 100) and John (Browning) and Karsten (Hagen) were tactically plugged in making the winning break for 2nd and 7th respectively in the Pro 1-2s - great job 'old guys'! Matt (Slater) slipped in 7th in the Masters 40+. And lady luck was not smiling on Mike in the Masters - despite being in the winning break and flat robbed him of a chance as the closed on the finish. All the Cheery Pie results.

Sublimity Circuit Race next Saturday and Jack Frost TT on Sunday - hopefully legs and lungs will be back in this time zone!

Tyler in Town

Dec. 19th - 5 to 7 p.m.

Pro Racer Tyler Farrar of Team Garmin-Transitions will be at River City Bicycles for a meet-and-greet, Saturday, December 19. We have plans to receive him with pomp and style, and can promise the event won't be boring.

Admission is $5, with all proceeds going to OBRA. Register at orbike.com for your seat.

For more information, call River City Bicycles at 503-233-5973.

Racing Season One: Lessons Learned

Unceremoniously, with my getting sick and having to cancel the Everest Challenge, my official first season of road racing has concluded. Successful? Ya, I learned, that was the goal. And maybe I just can't stomach the idea of climbing on the rollers come December with an "L" on my forehead all winter.

As promised, I will share the lessons I have learned, think I've learned and should have learned with any and all who care to read this. My hope is that if you are sitting there reading this and keep trying to convince yourself that you are not going to race, and then watching all those World Cycling DVDs of the TdF over the winter, while spinning your brains out on the trainer, inspires you to give the race-thing a go, that some of the following will help jump start you past where I began.

First, you can't start too early in the season racing. Somewhere in about February there is a road race - called Chilly Willy, or Frozen Feet, or Crappy-Weather-Challenge, what ever it is, go do it. The sooner you start getting the feel for racing the better your experience come summer. As a friend said, "your experience, or as we veteran racers say, your racing age" yes, your "racing age", (and that doesn't have a 'Cat' in front of it) is like any age, it only gets older with time. In this case more time means more fun - so get going as soon as you can.

Second, get a good base. This has never been a big issue for me because I always rode long winter miles, but I see now that it paid even greater dividends this year. That became especially clear when, for whatever reason, my training was truncated or halted all together; those schlogging through the rain and cold centuries of January and February gave the legs something to fall back on.

Third, commit to the core. Yes, I mean don't be half-ass about this, but I'm actually referring to your other core. Over last winter I started yoga, a style called Vinyasa, which focuses on the core and breathing. I'll admit despite how much I enjoyed the workouts and being in a class of a dozen or more sweating women once a week I wasn't committed enough. This winter, minimum three per week.

Fourth, diet. Gotta learn how and when to eat what the body/goal needs - and that changes through the season. What I did in February isn't what my body needs in June. More reading and asking questions about nutrition - I'll share what I learn here.

Fifth, learn to ride slow. My friends Scott and Hilary kept chirping at me on this one, and they were right, I need to learn how and when to back off the gas. Like so many club riders, when we get together we love to torture one another - every stop sign warning sign is a sprint point and every hill a KOM. Those are great, they are fun, but they are also pretty much a thing of the winter base miles - not the weeks leading up to a race. Learn to hammer hard AND rest day rolls. (see Sixth)

Sixth, fast and quick aren't the same. Sounds pretty "oh, duh" but it's harder to translate in to race reality than you think. My overall road speed increased significantly this year and I'm also a pretty strong climber, but I repeatedly found myself in Phil's words, "A bit of bother" when the boys up front would hit the gas. What I suffered from was burst quickness to respond and then recover. Next year I need to do more 'blocks' that concentrate on increasing my ability to hammer hard in short sustainable bursts, recover, and prepare for the next one. It will also stregthen my confidence in not getting dropped.

Seventh, shaving the legs. Just do it!

Ninth, buy a silly helmet. Regardless what your significant other says, if you are going to ride TTs, go buy the silly pointy helmet - it makes two differences, 1) you are faster, 2) you believe you are faster. In addition, removable arrows and a jersey that fits your body (race cut). Now, if you have some extra euros score deep-dish wheels or a rear disc-wheel to seal the deal. If you are low on euros check these out - my new purchase for next season arrow wheel covers from Wheelbuilder.com At $89.95 they are an inexpensive and functional solution for someone who only needs them 2-5 times a year.

Tenth, sign-in and take neutral wheels. After your first couple of races these will both seem such newbee oh duhs, but ya gotta get there first. Twice this year I forgot to sign-in at the start of races (thank you very kind and patient OBRA officials - you all deserve awards for what we put you through!), mostly because my mind was too freaked about the upcoming stage - especially my first crit...AHHHH!

The other thing is neutral wheels. Leave the repair bag at home, by the time you repair a flat you might as well head home. Even your worst second hand wheels will do the job. So what to do with them? This was a total mystery to me. In my races there were two scenarios, 1) Your wheels in the neutral support vehical, and 2) Pooled group wheel support. The first is your own wheels - one front, one rear. Tagging them is critical so the volunteer can quickly grab them and get you going again. There are different methods for IDing them as your wheels, but the best I found was the little bulk food tags from the grocery store (see photo above). These are perfect to write on with a sharpie marker and actually stay clipped to the spoke, but are quick to remove. Next are your wheels donated to a neutral pool for that race to support anyone in need of them. This was done by lottery in my stage races - and really depends on you giving up your wheels for the stage. In that case your initials on the tire sidewall will ID them for retreval after the stage.

Eleventh, eating on the fly. This was a really hard one, and one that took a while to sort out. Even downing a simple GU in the pack is a trick. This is another reason to get in a few early season races, they usually aren't as crowded or intense, and give you ample opportunity to practice. In case you haven't seen this done, it's also a good trick to slip one or two GU-type packets under the seam of your shorts, just above the knee; easy to reach when crowded in a group. The other trick is to tear energy bar packages half open before the race, the fact that so many of these packages can be used to boot a tire tells you how tough they can be to open, especially in a crowded fast moving peloton.

Twelfth, there's a water bottle for everyone. Don't panic approaching a feed zone. Feed zones became my nemesis this past season. I could make a list of mistakes just there - mistakes that cost me good finishes and mistakes that just plain cost me finishing at all. Especially when it is hot the primal fear of not getting that water bottle does something very strange to people, especially amateur cyclists. My suggestion is two-fold, 1) Get a friend, a child, a partner, your dog, what ever, and go practice grabbing a bottle while you whiz by them at 25 mph. Oh ya, think it's a no brainer? Give it a go, ITS NOT EASY. Now imagine 50 other guys simultaneously trying to do the same and then someone up front hits the gas. Trust me, it's worth a few practice runs in the street in front of your house. 2) Have someone crew for you in those feed zones - it puts your mind at ease that you will indeed get your bottle, its YOUR bottle, your crew can stand after the chaos so you can pass the nut cases and get on with life; it's also really great to see a friendly face, especially if it's pouring rain, you have been snorting wet road grime for the past 20 miles trying to stay on the lead group, and then you see someone who cares you are doing this, they're standing in the rain WITH you and saying, go for it! Ya know what, you do!

And finally... Lucky Thirteenth, pick a goal a race. This was one of the best things I did this season. Regardless the race I targeted one thing I wanted to improve on, sometimes I got lucky and improved on two, but target one. One race I just practiced eating (review #11 above), another race I practiced "moving up", another chasing the break, or learning to find a steady front riding wheel you can trust to follow (remember you won't know most of these guys and how they ride), and one race I decided to push myself into the "red" and see where I might blow up. This final one is hardest to do, since none of us want to fail, but there is no other way to find what YOUR limit is unless you push it.

I'm sure there is a ton of crap I forgot - forgot to say and forgot to learn, but hopefully the above will help someone. Most of all, just go for it - Bon Chance, Bon Courage!

Cascade Cycling Classic - It's Hot!

My daily rides are tapering as I get ready to head over the mountains for this weekend's Cascade Cycling Classic stage race. The OBRA version of the race starts Friday with a 71 miles point-to-point up to Mt Bachelor. The big guns have already hit the roads and battling it out in the this the 30th anniversary edition

The line up in the Pro men's and women's field is impressive with the likes of Chris Baldwin and Rory Sutherland (OUCH-Maxxis), Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell), former Europros Victor Hugo Pena, Oscar Seville and Francisco Mancebo (Rock Racing) and over on the women's side Alison Powers (Team Type 1). If you are in Bend over on Saturday check out the crit downtown later that afternoon - should be plenty crazy with such huge fields.

Follow the CCC via
Oregon Cycling Action and Velonews

If I'm alive to comment I'll be posting my thoughts (and maybe a photo or two) here each night.

Epic "reduced" to mountain sprint for GC

Last night at Barley Brown's today's Stage 4 was all the talk - nearly 102 miles with the final 8 miles to the summit of Dooley Mt. - "epic" for all us wannabes. Last year riders dropped in 95 degree heat and dehydration... I was so pumped for this!

The pouring rain that greeted us at dawn (see previous post) finally delayed the start and forced OBRA officials to wisely shorten the stage to a neutral start out of Baker City, a 30+ mph "warm up" to the base of Dooley Mt. up the backside (12 miles or so) and then the attacks launched up the climb and cold married wet to make the race for the summit and "epic" uphill TT!

With the GC up for grabs Z-Team and Hutch were hammering on the front and Scott Powell and I were make the best of a shattering peleton. Pedal turn by pedal turn guys were dropping off and back. Then the surge - and the wheel in front of me gaps off - damn it! Out of the saddle I sprint around him and grab the fleeting six (two others, Zimbelman one of them) were just up the road distancing themselves from the chase. I felt like I was breathing just to save my life - just not enough warm up for these 'ol legs! Finally I buried myself into a rythym and then another surge. I spun faster to just catch on with a kilometer and a half to go and then Scott hit the gas one more time trying to make his break - I lost the wheels and chased the front group to the line with one other guy. We shared wheels for a K and then we gapped.

Damn that was incredibly hard!! Results have not been posted but I think I was top ten on the stage - and that should have moved me up on GC into the top 20 - season goal accomplished!! (okay - goal number one). Thanks for your help Scott! Update later tonight.