Winter Update, Part II: Quit While You’re Ahead

First race of the season: dry course, sunny, 75 degrees, I came in first in the Cat 1 35-44 category. That’s it. The pinnacle of my cycling career, it can’t get any better than that.

So yeah, I’ve been doing some training. Back in December I didn’t intend to be training this hard. After ‘cross ended I was feeling pretty done with racing and training for awhile. That, and overstretched finances lead me to stop working with my coach, Adnan Kadir. I took up watching Battlestar Galactica, drinking lots of beer and just an occasional run here or there, but that was no fun, turns out it hurts, so I didn’t do that much. Just ski. And drink. And watch Battlestar. Until one night drinking a few beers at Ira Ryan’s shop, a few of us started reminiscing about last year’s Cream Puff 100. Next thing I know I wake up in the morning to this in my inbox:

You are registered for the 2009 CCP.
Eventually you will see your name on the official site as a registered racer.
I'm looking forward to seeing each of you this July.

Oh Crap. Stupid beer and good memories. Since then I have been spending my weekends riding my Mt bike in the rain at Scapoose and Forest Park, gotta get those miles in.

Which brings me to this weekend. For the third year in a row, the first weekend of April has brought the double header of the Ronde de Oeste Portlandia (Tour of West Portland) on Saturday and the Horning’s Hustle Mt Bike Race at the local Jam Band, Hippydom of Horning’s Hideout about an hour from town.

The Ronde is an un-official ride ‘organized’ by Brad Ross (Cross Crusade fame). The ride is based on the Tour of Flanders, one of road racing’s most prestigious Spring classics. Every year, on the Saturday before the Tour of Flanders, part of the course is open for the amateurs and public to experience part of the famous race. And from what I gather it is quite the event. Brad wanted to do something similar in Portland, hence the Ronde. He made up a route in the west hills that has some of the hardest climbs around. He appropriately marks the course with the Lion of Flanders. So on Saturday morning, around 600 people met up to do the ride. It was pretty amazing to just witness such a large group riding out Highway 30 to the start of the first climb, up Saltzman Rd. I can only imagine what the poor drivers on Highway 30 were thinking at the time. Overall it is just an amazing event, if you can even call it an event. It truly is an unorganized ride, no registration, waivers, fees, permits, support, nothing but the spray painted markers to mark the way, some other crazy cyclists to ride with, and the occasional house that has some water (or beer) at the end of the driveway. Overall it’s a 47 mile course, with 5400’ of climbing. So it is no picnic by any means.


(Margi climbing College Ave, pic by Dave Roth)

Being a glutton for punishment, I reluctantly decided to also do the Mt Bike race on Sunday. I must have fried some brain cells on Saturday, as I decided that the Mt Bike race would be even better if I took the light rail to the end of the line in Hillsboro, then do the hour ride up to the race on my Mt Bike. I did the same thing last year, and it sucked. Somehow that lesson didn’t quite set in. On the bright side, I was warmed up by the time I got to the race. Long story short, it was a 4-lap, 20 mile race. And it hurt, after one lap my legs were on the edge of cramping. I had no idea how I was going to finish. I kept waiting for the masses to catch and pass me, but they never came. I guess the early season and heat had us all feeling it. Somehow, when it was all said and done I came in first for the 35-44, and fourth overall in the Cat 1. Not bad. This year they were having a special award for the riders who did both the Ronde and had the best finish in the Mt Bike race. I figured being in first I had it. Nope. Carl Dekker, the overall and pro winner, did both as well, and beat me by about 30 mins in the Mt Bike race, ouch.

Three days later and I am feeling mostly recovered from the weekend. Overall, I feel pretty good about my form right now. It has been a bit different this year. As I mentioned, I haven’t been working with Adnan, and have been trying to apply what I learned from him over the past couple seasons and develop my own training plan. If money wasn’t an issue, I would definitely continue to work with him, and I have been fortunate that he has been so awesome to continue to give me some advice and guidance. And if things work out, I hope to have him back in my corner for ‘Cross season. If you have ever thought about working with a coach, I definitely recommend it. Give Adnan a call, he will hook you up. Unless of course you race in my category, in which case, I recommend drinking some more beer and watching Battlestar Galactica.

Winter Update (part I)

Now that the time has changed and I’ve somewhat adjusted to getting up even an hour earlier, I guess it is time to come out of hibernation. That and my mom has been asking me to update this blog and post some photos from the trips.

I have had a pretty good winter so far. After taking a few weeks off and just lounging around after the end of the ‘cross season, Margi and I went on a great ski trip up to Canada. As a Christmas gift to each other, we had 4 nights/5 days at the SOL Mountain Lodge in the Monashee Mountains in Central BC. It was definitely the most posh backcountry ski trip either of us had been on. It started with an incredible Helicopter ride in to the lodge (my first), and was followed by 5 days of hilarity thanks to a bunch of wacky Canadians. Even with temps dropping near -20 F (that's not a typo) we had a great time, and got in some really good skiing. Some photos.












After Christmas I headed off to the Wallowas and Halfway Oregon for a Level II avalanche safety course. It was great course, got to learn a lot and get in some good skiing in beautiful terrain. And as a bonus, one of the instructors was Allen O’Bannon, co-author of Allen and Mike’s Really Cool Telemark Tips. Sadly though, Allen wasn’t even on Telemark gear, he was (gasp) on Dynafits!

That trip was followed by six weeks of unusually cold and dry weather. The lack of new snow forced me back on the bike. Luckily we had planned yet another trip, this one to a yurt in the Smokey Mountains in Central Idaho. It was a reunion trip of sorts, with myself Margi and our friends Beth, Ryan, Ben and Celia (of Wild Heart Cycling) and their friend Matt. All of us, except Matt, had gone on a trip together to the Wallowas 3 years ago, hence the reunion theme. It was a great trip. We got lucky with the weather, as the that pesky high pressure that was responsible for the previous dry weather was starting to budge allowing some storms to make their way from N. Cali up to Idaho. We had several dumps of 4-6” with around a foot total during the trip. Enough to make for some great skiing but not so much that the avy conditions got out of hand. Even if the snow hadn’t been good, the company would have easily made up for it. Had lots of laughs, and got in a lot of skiing, close to 9 hours each day. Even got to name a few new ski runs: Socks on Fire (in honor of Ben’s sock that fell on the stove at 2am and stunk the hell out of the place) and Yum-Yum, Ha-Ha (after the newest backcountry game). One added bonus of the trip is that our friend Ryan is also a professional photographer, so we got some great photo documentation from the trip. Check ‘em out here. And if you’re getting married, or know someone who is, you should check him out, he does great work and is a great guy. I took a few shots, so did Margi, and Matt.

On the way home from Idaho we made an impulsive stop at the Anthony Lakes ski area. A classic local ski hill with one 900’ foot lift. Even though it was a Friday, the 9” of fresh snow meant the place was packed, with a full parking lot. Ok, so that really meant there were 30 cars there. Pretty funny. One of the best parts of Anthony lakes is that they let you buy a one ride ticket for $6. Since we had all our backcountry gear with us, we went for the one-ride ticket, rode up and headed out of bounds for some fresh turns. Extra double bonus? It was a bluebird day and we had a professional photographer. Yup, photoshoot day. Overall a pretty sweet trip, the sign pretty much sums it up:

(The Obama admin should look into Haines for some economic recovery)

Now that the winter trips are over, we’re balancing time on the bike with some time taking advantage of the late winter dumps we have been getting these past few weeks. And just enjoying some time at home.

The End Has Come

Monday Morning: Woke up with a hang-over,mud crusted eyes, dirty cross bike in the garage and a sense of freedom mixed with a lack of purpose. Ah yes, the end of Cross season.

This weekend was the last two races of the year for me. The USGP of cyclocross was in town for two days of racing out at PIR. These races, being part of a national series, attract some of the best riders in the country, so it is a good measure of where you stack up. Being December in Portland, it normally means ridiculously muddy courses. Well, Saturday was not the typical December day in Portland. It was a sunny dry day, and with the exception of a big puddle and some nasty thick drying cement like mud in the moto-cross section of the course along with a couple slick corners, it was a pretty straight-forward, yet really fun course. The short and sweet version of my race begins with a horrible start, followed by some hard work all the way to a group of four fighting for 3-6th place. One guy got away with just over a lap to go to take 3rd, and I fought it out with Erik Schultz for 4/5th. In a sprint finish Erik took me by inches. I got Schultzed. Again.

Sunday turned out to be a cloudy day. The course was slightly different with a reroute into a lot more mud in the motorcorss section. Most of it that nasty thick stuff. So bad that I managed to snap my derailleur hanger on my first warm-up lap. Not a good sign. Thanks to some awesome help from Mark Madson at the Kona tent I was quickly hooked up with a new hanger and my race bike was working again. While we were getting ready for the race I said to Brian, who was in town from Kentucky for the races, that it would be perfect if it started raining right as our race started. Sure enough about 15 mins before our race it stared to rain, and continued for a good part of the race. It is amazing how a little bit of rain can change a course from pretty fast grass and tacky mud to an ice rink. As for my race, I had a better start than Saturday, going into the first run-up in 5th place or so. Turns out that was the closest to first I would get all day. Apparently not riding in too many wet courses this year meant I forgot how to race on slick courses. For two laps I struggled to keep my bike upright. I’d make a mistake, loose a bunch of spots, start to make some up and then repeat the process all over. I took one good spill that had me sliding twenty feet on my butt. Dropped my chain, and was passed by what felt like 10 guys. After two laps I remembered to just take it easy in the corners and put all my effort into the straights. That’s when I finally started to make some progress, eventually coming across the finish in 10th place. A very respectable finish to the season.

That all explains the muddy bike and crusty eyelids. As for the hang-over, well it should be obvious that if you haven’t been drinking much for the past three months, then drink three bottles and four pints with no dinner after a race, chances are you’re gonna be pretty drunk. And I was last night. And still was when I woke-up Monday morning. Haven’t felt this miserable in a long time. Yes, serves me right, but I was expecting to eat some food at the awards party but all they had was the meat variety, so I decided to make up the extra calories in alcohol. Needless to say I had a good time at the party. I won a pair of Mavic Mt Bike shoes in the raffle (I never win those things), and I got some SWAG for finishing 2nd overall in the Master A’s. It was also nice to be nominated for best blog post. I didn’t win, but whoever nominated me, thanks!

Now all we need is some snow in the Mountains because ski season has un-officially begun.

Kruger’s Crossing

Sunday was the 10th straight weekend of racing, and race number 12 for the season. It sure feels like it has been a long season. This race was out on Sauvie’s Island, so it was close enough to ride out there. Since it was a non-series race, myself, and a few other usual Master A guys all lined up in the regular open A field, aka the really fast guys. Only, as I mentioned, it not being a series race and the 10th weekend of the season, the field was not as deep as a Cross Crusade race. That’s not to say it wasn’t as fast, or at
least it sure didn’t feel any slower.

I lined up in the second row and had a decent start. After a lap or two I settled into a group with Ryan Weaver, Jeff Bannik and Matt Wills. We spent several laps together, while I stupidly spent a lot of time on the front, although I eventually pulled away. I even managed to momentarily get on the wheel of the next rider, but as soon as I got there he turned on the afterburners, and I just couldn’t hang on and blew-up. That allowed Ryan Weaver, on a single speed no less, to take advantage and close back up to me, and then right past me with two laps to go. I was helpless to do anything about it. I dangled there for a lap then fought vainly to get him back on the last lap but just ran out of time and energy. I came across in 9th. Not bad, I was hoping for a top ten, so I can live with it. Just always seems like Weaver finds a way to beat me. One of these days Weaver…one of these days.

I have one free weekend coming up then finish the season with a double race weekend at the Portland Cup, the USGP finale. Always a fun way to end the season.

Hope to see you out there racin’ or cheerin’

State Championships

Finally! I had been trying for this all season long, and it couldn't have been better. Not only was it a race where all the top guys were there and avoided any major mechanicals (as far as I know), it was a neck and neck battle to the final hundred yards. On top of it all, it was the series finale' and the Oregon State (more precisely OBRA) Championships. It also came at a perfect time for me.

With all of the mishaps (colliding with Butler), bad luck (being sick, broken derailleur)and mistakes (hitting the barriers, loose shifter)I was feeling a bit down about my season and feeling like I had lost some of my excitement for cross. I really wasn't even motivated to race on Sunday. The course looked kind of boring; real flat, soft yet bumpy grass, and a livestock corral of nasty mud/manure. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?. But I was there, and I had already paid for the series, plus I had to try to beat Tre to defend my third place series standing.

After a half-hearted warm-up I was off to the line-up. Once I was standing there, I decided I should focus, and thought "what the hell, let's see what we can do". I got off to a good start, somewhere around 3rd going into the first turn. Most of the race is a blurr, but I took the lead for a while having no idea who or what was still behind me. At one point Jeff Bannik, a strong rider who had been racing in the A's, came around me, which was impressive as he was lined up in the back of the field. Once he got on the front, the pace really picked up, shattering the large group at the front, and leaving Tim Butler, me, John McCaffrey and Erik Schultz (maybe Tre was still there?) with him. We kept up for several laps trading off at the front. Slowly, Tim, Jeff and myself opened a gap on Erik and John. The three of us continued to battle, each trying to attack, but unable to shake the others. With two laps to go, I managed a gap in the mud section as we tried to ride through some A riders. I decided this was my chance and I gave it all I could to try to open a lead. No Dice, Tim was able to get back to me near the end of the lap. As he took the lead I remember hearing that voice in my head try to give up, saying, no, more like pleading, to 'just hold off Bannik for second'. Luckily I ignored the pleading and followed Tim's wheel. I caught back on to him as we passed the pits for the second time in the lap. This was a stretch that I felt strong on every lap, and I decided then that if I was with Tim when we came through on the final lap, this is where I was going to make my move, if I could get around him, it would be tough for him to get back in front until we hit the mud corral, and even there, passing would be tough. I might have a chance.

As we passed the finish line for the final lap, I heard the announcer say that Bannik had dropped back a bit, so it seemed like it would come down to Tim and me. As the final lap progressed I tried to get around a few times, but Tim always managed to counter and hold the lead, while at the same time Bannik seemed to be closing. Finally we were approaching the pits for the last time, I carried as much speed as I could through the preceding corner, got out of the saddle and gave it all I had to get past Tim, and hold him off to the next corner. As I came into the corral Margi was at the entrance cheering me on, Tim was on my wheel, with the race on the line. It was like the showdown at the OK Corral. I hit the mud thinking “don’t ‘f this up, just keep pedaling’. Out of the corner of my mind I thought I may have heard Tim bobble, and did I hear someone yell to Tim to run? No time to think, just pedal. I got through the hole in the first puddle, caught the inside line, and had to pedal through 10 feet of very thick mud. As I hit the thick mud it was a grind and I almost came to complete stop, I could hear Tim’s footsteps behind me, and I gave it all I had, I pushed through the last few feet of thick mud and into the easier going puddle. Then like a man posessed, fearing Tim would pass me, I pedaled as hard as I could the whole way to the line, Victory!

Tim came in a few seconds later followed by Bannik, John McCaffrey and Erik Schultz. One hell of a race. Had to be one of the most enjoyable and exciting races of my short career. While Barton was a similar back and forth to the finish race, that seemed to be a cat and mouse sit and wait type if race. This race felt more like 60 minutes of constant battling. And of course, battling it out with Tim made it even better. And hats off to him as well, he was just as congratulatory afterwards as
anyone. I am sure he wanted the win as much as anyone, but you wouldn’t know it after the race. Thanks Tim. And congratulations on the Series win.

With the victory, and double points for theseries final, it looks like I may have moved into second palce for the Cross Crusade series. But most importantly I'll get the all important call-up for the USGP races in December.

Double the Pain, Double the Fun

ed. note: I wrote most of this a week ago and never got around to posting, so here it is, a little late...

My personal crusade to finally get a victory at a Cross Crusade Race continued this past Sunday at the Portland International Raceway. For those of you familiar with the locale, the race took place outside the race track at the site of the 2003 Cyclocross Nationals. I’ve raced here twice before and really liked the course.

The weather leading up to the weekend was good cross weather, nice and rainy. Race day itself was relatively dry, but being that PIR is located on what used to be a huge wetland associated with the Columbia River floodplain, it doesn’t take much rain to saturate the place, and it stays wet for awhile. The result was some sections of really thick peanut butter like mud, and lots of good slick off-camber riding.

Being the same day as the Single Speed Cyclocross Word Championships (SSXCWC) it was quite a bit rowdier than the normal ‘cross race, which is anything but normal.
For some really stupid reason I had signed up for the SSCXWC in addition to my normal race. This meant I would race two races back to back. Yeah, like I said stupid.

With all the excitement, we got there early and had plenty of time to hang out and take in the scene. One thing I couldn’t help but notice before the race was how many broken rear derailleurs I was seeing. My friend Ken Pace, celebrating his 40th birthday, broke his in the Master C race. It was all I could do to not think about it, and hope I wouldn’t suffer a similar fate.

Race 1:
After a seemingly long time, it was finally time to race. Once again I feel the need to apologize to anyone lined up behind me as I managed to screw up my start again. Lately I have been having problems finding my pedals, and yesterday I think I figured it out. A few weeks ago, in response to some back issues, I had a bike fit, and moved my seat forward significantly (about 4cm), the result is no more back pain, and maybe some more power, but with that I think I am missing my pedals. Now that I am more forward I keep overshooting my pedals, not just in the starts, but after many remounts as well. At least I figured it out, so now I just need to spend time practicing.

Anyway, back to racing. I muffed the start was around 15th, Mr. Butler was once again at the front driving the pace, and I was convinced he and a couple others were about to ride away off the front, leaving me stuck behind 10 or so other riders and out of the race. However, a half a lap later I surprisingly found myself in second place sitting on Butler’s wheel. As the laps went on Tim and I slowly pulled away from the rest of the field, while at the same time I was slipping further from Tim. Then with about 3-4 laps to go while riding through the thick peanut butter mud, my pedals came to a dead stop. I instantly knew what happened, my derailleur had snapped off! The most embarrassing part was my behavior right afterward. I cussed up a storm and even threw my bike. If anyone that saw my outburst reads this, I apologize for being a twit. You should have heckled the hell out of me for that, I deserved it.

Shortly after my outburst, I realized that no Master A’s had gone by, and I wasn’t too far from the pits, only a couple hundred yards. I could still salvage some series points if I hustled. I was about halfway there when Tre Hendricks and John McCaffrey passed, and as I entered the pits Erik Schultz passed. Now since I was planning on racing the SSCXWC after my race, my pit bike was set-up as a single speed. The gearing was enough to keep anyone else from catching me, but not enough for me to be able to make up any ground on Schultz, resulting in yet another 5th place finish. That’s my 3rd time finishing 5th this year.

Race 2:
After finishing the Master Race, I collected my dead soldier of a geared bike from the pit and went to line up on the Single Speed. At least I knew it working ok. For those of you unfamiliar with Single Speed racing, it is as much a spectacle, if not more, than actual racing. Single Speed racing likes to think of itself as the James Dean of the cycling world. A bit of a rebel that likes to make a parody of normal racing. To where taking it serious and actually competing is frowned upon by many. To that end, a soap sud machine and giant putt-putt like windmill were added as additional obstacles to the course.

While there would be a handful of guys off the front actually racing for first, the remaining 200 or so participants would be doing nothing but riding for fun, myself included. Even if I hadn't raced already, I wouldn't be able to keep up with the winners, so this was nothing more than a time to have fun. The start was pure pandemonium. We started lined up side by side, 200 wide. It felt like a scene from Braveheart, with a pack wild maniacs charging for the hole shot. It was just crazy, but a blast. Although after about 30 mins, it started to become a more torturous than not, at that point I had been going for an hour and a half, and I was a bit tired of barriers and run-ups. Luckily I got some beer hand-ups to ease the pain and help me finish the race, coming in around 26th.

While I didn't get the victory I have been searching for, and suffered yet another mechanical/mishap, I had a blast, although I think next year I might stick to spectating the SSCXWC. Then again, maybe not.

Barton Park

The weather forecasters got it right for once and we were rewarded with a nice wet day of Cyclocross. It was the annual return to Barton Park, a misleading name as most of the race takes place at the County’s gravel quarry, next to the park. And as you’d expect, there was no shortage of rock. And while there was a good amount of mud, it was more if the gritty, eat your shift housing alive, kind of mud, as opposed to the stick to everything make your bike weigh a ton variety. Either way, it made for an enjoyable ride for some. Unfortunately it was really mean to some others. I think it was at the end of the B/SS race that somebody crashed real hard on an off-camber decent, requiring an ambulance trip, and a change in the course to keep the lawyers at bay. This took out the tricky off-camber and the long run-up afterwards, replacing it with a flat section and another big concrete barrier. The course was also mean to Margi, who crashed hard and wisely dropped out. She has a pretty nasty abdominal bruise. Hopefully she’ll heal quick, or is it quickly…no quick…no quickly….let's just say get well soon.

As for me, I am pleased to say that I didn’t have any mechanicals, flats, loose bolts, slipping breaks or any other of the myriad of maladies that seem to follow me like hippies on tour with the Dead (knock on wood). The course, similar to last year, was a pretty flat and fast course, and before the race I was predicting that the race would become a duel of group riding tactics. With several long flat stretches, any advantage someone could get in the technical parts, could be easily brought back by a couple of chasing riders. That being the case, I felt it was going to be important to be near the front to jump with an early break. Unfortunately I had a bad start, going from the front row to 15th or so. I frantically moved back up to the top 5. Got caught behind a little slip on a slippery slope, losing a little (see the 1’06” mark in the video below). This had me riding fast, fighting back to the front just as Tre made a break. Good timing for me, as I had the momentum to catch up to him quickly and we were able to separate from the pack, with Erik Schultz bridging up to us a half lap later. We opened a pretty sizable gap from the next group behind us, and it quickly became clear it was a battle for 1-2-3, something like a game of 5 card stud, it would be a matter of playing your cards right. To be honest I know less about this type of racing strategy than I do about poker, which is to say absolutely nothing. This is only my 5th year racing cross, and I have only raced MTBs for 4 years. I don’t do the road thing. For this reason, I just don’t get it. So now I find myself racing with 2 other guys and I am trying to figure out how I am going to not finish 3rd, while trying to remember my history of mechanicals on this course and realize I should be glad if I can keep it together and finish 3rd. For the next few laps, every once in awhile one of us would attack, and the others would respond, while alternately accusing the others of doing too much wheel sucking. Then with 3 laps to go, as we got mixed up with a rider from the A field, Tre attacked on a stretch where we couldn’t immediately get around the A rider. Once we got around him, I realized Tre’s lead didn’t seem to be growing too much, so I worked on closing the gap without putting in too much of an effort to kill myself. I guess Tre started losing air in his rear tire (that’s what you get for riding Tufos) and we were able to close the gap within a lap. Sometime later as we were all taking it a bit easy, another A rider caught us from behind, I jumped his wheel then attacked. Tre, with his bad tire couldn’t respond, and Erik and I opened a gap. Now it looked like I wasn’t gonna get 3rd! So, how not to finish 2nd…. Good question. I tried to go too early on the road by going around Erik as he sat on someone else’s wheel. He was able to respond, then went around me on a section I rode a little slower, giving him a small 20 foot gap with a half lap to go. I worked to close the gap, but just couldn’t get the job done and came across for 2nd. Yes, I have every reason to be psyched, unfortunately I am left with a good case of racers remorse, a “what if I had….” feeling, where I sit here and rerun the race in my head like an episode of Twin Peaks, trying to make some sense of it, to figure out what I should have done to pull out the win.

Like I said, I know next to nothing about strategy in these things, but I think it is safe to say, it is more of a fine art, than a science. Too bad I suck at art.

Here’s video from yesterday’s race, you can see me at the 1’05" and 1’36” mark.


Links to a couple photos and if you buy one I’ll autograph it for you :)
Over the barrier:


Into the finish