West Alpine

I'm going to update the blog in reverse order. I did a bunch of cal cup races, and finished off my season with the Everest Challenge, which actually went pretty well for me.

Today was the 2nd race in the low-key hill climb series up W. Alpine. Despite its low-key start time, I still dragged myself out of bed feeling pretty miserable around 7:30 this morning. But wait - you say - that's way after your normal wake-up time. Well, it's a weekend, and I want to sleep in. I got to the Russian Ridge parking lot a little late, descended in the bitter cold, signed in and used the bathroom about five times. I think the cold does that to me.

The race went from Pescadero and W. Alpine to the peak of W. Alpine, which was a bit before Russian Ridge. My plan was to sit in on the two flat-ish sections. From the honk of the horn, it started surprisingly easy, but I was way back. I could see a bunch of the contenders rolling off the front, so I bridged up on the flat, never quite making it to Tim Clark. Once we turned past the bridge, the pack exploded, and I started reeling folks in. I tried to work with some guys across the flats, but no one really wanted to come around, so I just kept the hammer down. On the second to last corner, Geoff from Bike Trip came around me briefly and I attacked hard, holding it off for second place. Not bad considering how little riding I've been doing. My computer said it was an average of 288 W, so I'm definitely off my form from June. But hey, it's only October; I can't complain.

I finally got to meet Dennis from Bike Trip today - that team is full of great guys. That's something that could be said about a lot of teams around here once you get to know them.

Heat Training

In preparation for the Challenge RR, I tried a TT up Sierra road today in the heat. The thermometer at Piedmont HS said it was 91 F at the start, but I tried to put out my normal power. That failed miserably. I felt completely zapped at the top of the hill and was over 1:30 off pace. I felt like throwing in the towel on what's left of the season. Google scholar came to the rescue though. This article says that going from 73 F to 91 F was enough to drop power output by 6.5% on average for the Australian National team. That's almost exactly how far off I was today, so I feel a lot better, but also a lot more like a dork for looking up this stuff. It even says that for the first 10 minutes, the power output was similar between the trials. That's pretty much what I experienced. It felt like a meltdown right around 11 minutes. Their conclusion has me thinking I should be dumping a lot more water over my body to aid in cooling during hot races as well.

I should probably write some race reports, but I really lack motivation to do really well for myself recently. I'm looking forward to a few more races and the low-key hillclimb series throughout the autumn though.

Peaked

I'm starting to think I hit a peak right after Pescadero. Everything was falling in place, I was pushing good amounts of power and didn't seem to fatigue. Then I kept going, and going, and going until I eventually dug myself in a hole. I still feel pretty good on the bike, but it's kind of muted compared to what I was feeling a month ago. For now, I'm hoping to back off a bit in training, race a bit more and enjoy the end of the season without completely burning out.

Now that I look back on things, it was a lack of rest that got to me. I look at my training log and I trained hard for six weeks. At about week four, things went downhill, but I just didn't listen. Next time I hope I know what to look for. Now, I've somehow injured my hamstring and hope to just limp through the cal cup. Wish me luck!

Henry Coe State Park

Recently, I've been dismayed by the attitude shown towards mountain bikers by the local open space folks. It's really hard to enjoy a ride or the outdoors when you don't know if ranger rick is out there to ticket you. I've even been out on rides and greeted rangers only to be sneered at in return. Henry Coe is unlike any of these local rides. It's remote and extremely challenging, both technically and physically. What surprised me even more was the warm welcome I got from the ranger at the headquarters. He kept going on about the amazing riding and how much I was going to enjoy the ride that I was afraid that I was going to run out of sunlight. He actually addressed this by saying that they never close, and riding by moonlight is wonderful within the park. Try to do this in any local park and you literally get points on your license, and if you're speeding (they have radar guns) even more dings and money out of the pocket.



Anyway, the ride was incredible. I went down the Middle Ridge Trail and was pleasantly surprised with techy bits that, gasp, I had to get behind the saddle on. This doesn't even happen in Skegg's! Mucho steep climbing followed, then another descent into China Hole. The climb out is actually a good way to end the day, because it's not technical and rolls really well. I was rolling so well, in fact, that I nearly smacked into a mountain lion! I turned a corner on the climb and was about 15 yards in front of me. He jumped around in a circle, raised his huge tail and went running off into the woods. Needless to say, I think we were both freaked out a bit. For the next mile, I let out a periodic scream to let the beast know I was there, then climbed into the sunset back to the car. I have never seen a cougar outside of a zoo, so this was a pleasant surprise, though I would have preferred more distance between us as I contemplated how I should make myself look bigger in lycra.



It was really cold at the end of the ride, which is incredibly unusual for this part of the state in July. I shivered as I put my bike away in the car, but before, I grabbed one photo of myself.



Although the total climbing amount wasn't huge, it sure did a number on my legs. If you look closely at that chart, there are a few section with >20% grades. At one point, I saw 35% for ~20-30 seconds. Ouch. Great anaerobic workout, and a lot of fun in between the sets.

Sierra Passes

Climbing in the Sierra Nevada is amazing, at least for California. I haven't ever climbed in Europe, but that looks even better. For now, the Sierras are going to have to pass as a climbing mecca. The whole trip was really relaxing and well worth the time. I stayed at the J Marklee and had trouble getting to sleep the first night due to the complete silence of the place. We got to eat pasta at a small villa on a really Germanesque hillside while watching the sunset and grilled Salmon for an outside dinner the third night. Breakfasts were hearty, too much so for my fragile stomach, so I suffered on the early climbs each day, but did really enjoy the food.

The first day, we climbed Ebbetts pass and the Pacific Grade. The latter climb is short but sweet, with stairsteps, switchbacks and great views of the valley. The descent past Alpine Lake was fun, then I turned around and did everything in reverse.



The next day was Monitor Pass and a shuttle over to Sonora Pass from the east side. This climb is brutally steep at the bottom and end, but fairly easy in between. It's also beautiful and goes past a bunch of gurgling streams and through conifer forests. It smells totally different up there; here in the Bay there's a distinct lack of smell, like it has been scrubbed of everything organic. Up in the Sierras, the I swear you can smell the rocks as well as all of the different plants. The descent off of Sonora is definitely fun, but something you have to be very alert for since the curves are all on the steepest parts of the road.



The last day, we rode to Blue Lakes along a beautiful stretch of new pavement. Finally, I rode up to Carson Pass. That's something I've done before on the Death Ride, and this time was no more fun that last. It's heavily traveled, and the views pale in comparison to the other passes over the weekend.

All in all, I think I rode around 200 miles and feel completely rejuvenated. Now that I'm back at sea level, I feel stronger than ever, too. Maybe I'll go ahead and race this weekend!

The folks that went on this trip were a fairly diverse mix of people, though we were all engineers/lawyers/doctors. It's hard to get people to climb this much, but these guys and gals just attacked everything like it was something they did everyday, then at night the conversation was always animated and interesting. The company really put the final touches to make the weekend special.

Vacation

I'm taking a long weekend for a vacation this week. I think it's my first real vacation since our honeymoon in 2003. Of course, because I'm a geek, I'll be going bike riding almost exclusively. The plan is to ride a bunch of Sierra passes, including Ebbetts, Monitor, and Sonora. I'm doing it to reboot, enjoy the scenery and spend some quality time out on some quality roads. The last time I was in the area was 2006, when a friend picked up road cycling and got me back into it. We decided to do the Death Ride. I didn't really train for it except for doing a bunch of hard rides with folks in Santa Barbara and climbing to Santa Ynez peak several times a week. I was also coming off my first road racing season, 'cause you know, the first thing most people do when they buy a bike is decide to race it.

I did alright, but only recently realized that the cramps on the last climb were due to the energy drink I was using. Too bad, because it seems to work well otherwise. That day ended up with a giant hailstorm, but by that time I was fed and dressed and well off the bike. Most were not as lucky but they persevered to make it through all five passes. I danced around in the mud cheering the thousands who poured by to get to the finish; it was definitely a good time, but frankly, something I'm not likely to do again due to the sheer number of people there.

I've learned a lot since then. Nutrition-wise, it's simple for me. HEED and gel. That's it. Anything else is asking for trouble. I am often hungry physically, but I seem to have enough energy to keep going strong with this on-the-bike diet. I wish I could eat burgers and tri-tip like I saw my companions do on one particularly fast ride from SB to Figueroa and back, but I have trouble digesting that stuff when I'm not at LT. Such is the life of a weenie. I also strangely never care about climbing amounts anymore. Sometimes it's interesting, but in general I either am going up or coming down, so it's not as important as it used to be for me. That ride is still the longest ride I've ever done (I think) but I don't go out for distance anymore, now it's time and effort. Minor changes, but it helps in some way when you don't track those kinds of numbers. Of course now it's all TSS and CTL, but it's kind of a passing interest unless I'm trying to peak.

So, here's to vacation, and here's to climbing for climbing's sake.

Time Trialing

Supposedly, as a former MTB guy, I'm supposed to be good at TTs. At least that's what I've been told. Well, I don't mind suffering, but I don't put out the power necessary to be a stellar TT rider. I use a frankenbike - just my road bike with cheap aerobars and a flipped around seatpost. It's probably not UCI legal, but good enough for a training ride and definitely does the job for a cancer benefit ride. Beat the Clock puts on a great ride for a great cause, so I gave it a go this weekend. I was late to my start, but they were kind enough to let me slot in three minutes later. They really do aim to please! I was going to be chased by Justin Lucke, so my goal was to just not get passed, which I can say never happened. Obligatory graph for those of you that said I lack graphs:



Anyway, it felt good, so I probably could go faster next time. I always wonder what good TT gear would get me, but for my one TT a year, it's really not worth dropping the cash to get that stuff. It was already hot at the finish, and I'm going to head out to the mountains to try to do a cooler mountain bike ride without melting.

Upgrade

I went ahead and got my upgrade. Now I have a lot to learn and re-learn about racing with a team. Hopefully I can make useful contributions. This upgrade came a lot soon than expected, especially considering how I got injured twice this spring. A summary of my cat 4 "career":

2006: Everest Challenge
2007:
Challenge RR 9/26
Everest Challenge DNS first day, 9th second
2008:
Cantua Creek 6/~45
Pine Flat ~15/70 (mechanical)
Copperopolis RR 26/70 (still feeling sore after getting whacked by a car.)
Orosi RR 3/~30
Panoche Pass RR 8/45
Mt Hamilton RR 3/75
Pescadero RR 1/70

Pescadero RR

I was less than enthused going into this race. I haven't been training that hard, and my knee has been hurting, and there's smoke in the air, etcetera, etcetera. I guess I whine a lot. It looks like my kind of course, finishing on a kicker of a hill that's about eight minutes long. My wife volunteered to take my place as a course marshal so I could race, so I had to follow through (my other job of placing prime signs went to those more well-suited, so I ended up bringing pylons to to the finish area.) We rolled out in the fog, and quickly passed the first sprint prime. We went pretty hard on the climbs, but harder on the descents! No breaks really rolled away, but we kept the pace fairly high.

The first time up Haskin's, we rode hard, but well within my limits. On the second lap I started to wake up, and started to plan for the finish. I had kept track of landmarks and time from finish on the first lap, thinking I wanted a 1-2 minute attack to stick right at the end. Both Roaring Mouse and Squadra were keeping the race active, but it seemed that Squadra had three strong guys that led the pace up the last climb. One of them attacked near the feed, but they seemed to bring back their own guy. After the 180, they attacked several times and I followed wheels, trying to stay around 3rd place. Peter from Action Sports came around and really started to drill it, finally putting me in pain. I attacked with a minute to go right when I sensed some fading, opened a gap, and held off the charge for the win! I rolled across the line, and right to the portapotty while the marshals were trying to get us all to run downhill. I had tried to visualize my attack all week, and I executed it just the way I wanted to. Felt great to win that way, especially among such a strong field.

I now have more than enough to upgrade to cat 3, but might stick around for a while. Have to make some decisions coming up...

Sierra Road

Sierra road rises out of East San Jose on barren grass covered hills. It's steep in spots, often hot, and has the distinct smell of cows from the close-by grazing lands. I often see beat-up cars pulled over on the side of the road, waiting for what, nobody knows. Glass covers most of the switchbacks. I love this climb. I use it to set dorky power records, and the view down the bay from the top is incredible. Sometime I'll bring a camera to show it. It's also quite a bit like a Santa Barbara climb, in that it's exposed and really doesn't go anywhere, so there's little traffic on the climb and screaming descent.

I have had this irrelevant goal to hit 300W average on this climb (it's about 25-30 minutes long, depending on your pace,) and I finally eked it out today, just a day after the two month anniversary of gouging my knee cap out on a set of rocks. A month ago I was wheezing on hour long 'tempo' rides. It sucked. I rode it much more aggressively than I use to, attacking the steep portions and backing off a bit in between. Normally I just hold a constant power, but I've got to say the 'new' way is a lot more fun. So, for you other bike geeks out there 300W isn't much. What can I say, I'm small, like 60 kg small.

El Corte de Madera

One of the things I try to avoid is burn-out. I think cyclists in particular are prone to this, perhaps due to the repetitive motions involved. I try to break up the monotony with, of course, more cycling, but in the dirt. I started life as a mountain biker. I used to ride summers away at Upton State Forest with my friend Tony as we'd discuss what to build next in the basement: trebuchet, remote control hydroplane, etc... I stopped for a bit in early college, then realized I needed something to balance my life and got myself a new mountain bike. This time I really got into it and even took up racing, much to the chagrin of my GPA. I moved to California for its fine educational instituitions and mountain biking, noting that Santa Barbara had four thousand foot climbs right in its backyard. My MTB has remained a balance since then. Sure, road gave me a ton of fitness, but MTB invented it.

This weekend I went to Skeggs Point, aka El Corte de Madera. One thing I really dislike about the bay is the necessity to drive 30 minutes to ride a bike. The other is the speed limits on trails. I can climb faster than the speed limits on some trails, give me a break. Anyway, drive aside, I had the park to myself and the dense fog in the redwoods. It was beautiful. Sloppy at top, it dried out as I lost elevation along Fir and Resolution trails, remembering how to handle a bike in the dirt and slalom around trees. While reading a map, another rider came across the trail, so I followed him down South Leaf, a new trail for me. It was awesome ridge line riding with enough techy to keep it interesting. I kind of miss the death defying technical riding of the SB front side, but this was enjoyable for my lycra wearing butt these days. A long, beautiful climb lead me to Steam Donkey, which I rode up and down, savoring the huge bursts of power it took to climb the rock gardens and the flow of the descent. Next up was Manzanita trail, which had enough sandstone to almost remind me of SB, but all was over soon as I climbed back to the car. NorCal parks are small, except for Coe. It was a great reminder of how fun a mountain bike can be, and left me energized for the week. This kind of ride makes a bike feel like a logical extension of your being, while a road bike always feels like a tool to me. Hopefully I'll get out there more this summer.

One thing that always strikes me about racing out here versus riding is the difference in terrain. They'd never put a race on at a place like Skeggs, where I climbed over 3500' in less than 15 miles. Most races seem like dirt crits to me, and expensive ones at that. East coast racing seemed better about mixing up the terrain, but that probably has something to do with land usage rights. I never saw speed limit signs out there.

Bike

A couple of months ago I was hit by a car while riding with my team. Actually, three of us were. Anyway, I had to get a new bike. For me, this is a horrible thing to do. I bond to bikes in a way no one should to material goods. I really wanted another Giant, but they are incredibly expensive. Then, I saw a great deal at Competitive Cyclist for a Ridley Excalibur with Rival for under $2k. Being the fan of SRAM that I am, I snapped it up with the idea that I'd strip it for the frame and put the Rival stuff on my Ti bike to use in crits. Like I'll ever race a crit again... It took awhile to get it in my hands, but it's a very good bike for the money. It's not incredibly light or nuanced, but it's a solid handling, great bike that feels better to ride than my Litespeed in almost any situation save high-speed descents. It weighs in at around 16.5 - 17 lbs, which is definitely good enough for me. Without further ado:

Blog.

So I'm trying this blog thing. I'm not a good writer; I'm an engineer dammit, so you're just going to have to deal. Actually, this is more of a personal race/training/other log for my reference, but because I have no shame I'll slap it up on the web. I ride as much as possible, both mountain and road, so hopefully something semi-coherent will come of this. Maybe I'll shame you all with my massive power numbers from my little-man sprints (think you can take on 1000W, huh? can ya?) or diameter of my quads or guns, both of which probably sit squarely in the mean of 10-year-old boys, or share grisly photos of crashes. Who knows? It'll be like LOST, but even less exciting.

Mt Hamilton Road Race

I came out to this race wanting to put in work that earned a good result, instead of watching the race unfold by sitting 10th wheel all the time. I figured if I can cut my teeth at the front and still get a good result I can prove to myself that I'm strong enough to hang. Anyway, that's the theory at least.

I rolled up to the school at 8:20 after some gasto, er, problems from some Mexican food the night before, so got my stuff on and rolled to the line in time for the start. The climb up Hamilton wasn't too bad, especially with Dave Rossow driving the pace in the drops for the first part! Farther up, I could hear the labored breath of the group so went to the front to drive the pace harder and whittle it down for the descent. At the top, I gunned it for the KOM, but didn't realize one guy had slipped away when I wasn't paying attention, so the chase was on. Oh yeah, that sprint for KOM made me feel godly, until I realized it was like 'winning' the charity ride.

Mark and Dave C. drilled the descent, really beyond my comfort zone after so many recent visits to the ER, but I held on. Grab a feed, then try to get organized. Unfortunately some of my group take the 'sit in and don't do any work' mantra too seriously and kept sitting up when they got to the front. One of 'em got a good result in the end, so I suppose it works, but it's still annoying. That's racing I suppose. After the junction, we see our guy off the front and absolutely drill it, with Mark and Zteam Robert and I pushing the pace harder than any climb before it to try to shed more of the pack and grab the man OTF. We caught the valiant breakaway, then started the long descent into the valley. Here, some of the paceline deadwood thankfully stayed out of the way and a real rotation started until we hit the bottom with about 1 km to go. A bit of cat and mouse, then it's on at 200m. I jump with the others, trying to unleash my little man fury, and get passed at the line for 3rd followed closely by Mark in 4th spot. I really like the hard races; starting to realize I don't like the 50 mile promenade followed by a huge sprint races and will try to stick to windy or hilly stuff. Without many summer road races, I'm going to reboot again and gun it for the cal cup while doing a few mtb races to keep it fun.

Hamilton was an awesome race. I keep an internal ranking, and it's definitely in the top 3. OK, so I've only done 6 USAC races, so it's not hard to get there now, but it seems like a great race and it's definitely echoed in the number of SB folks I saw out there that made the 5 hour trip..

5 points to go to Cat 3. Now that I've mastered grabbing water bottles in a feed without dropping 3 first, I can say I'm more than ready.