Capital Stage Race 2012: Stage 1 Recap

As I mentioned yesterday, today IS the day I drink a tall boy and reminisce on our epic weekend of racing. However, it's been eating me up that 170mi of "racing" is epic to us (CAT 3's), even if PRO-Tour riders do this crap in a single stage or racing. That fact has sunk in and all I can think about now is how much more (or specific) I need to train to be ready for CAT 2 pain. Aside from that truth we all store in the dark, untapped places of our minds, I maintain that a North Western stage race, such as Capital SR, is still worthy of an internet race report where we can all relate on some level of suffering - I know for a fact, that this weekend wasn't a cake-walk for any of you punks. Furthermore, I get to celebrate (with another swig of this fine Rainier 24oz) a year since I last reported on this new-comer stage race. So I present to you... the paragraphs you've all been waiting for:

STAGE 1 RR
Friday 6/15/2012
Sunny, 73*F, 3:20pm
61.5mi, Cat 3, 35th place of 49 starters (2:23.41 - 6sec back)
Avg Speed- 24.8mph, Max Speed- 43.1mph

After a pleasant ride down into Elma, WA with teammate, Dan Doran, we kitted up and huddled up with the rest of the CAT 3 Hit Squad to try and organize a plan. Basically Thorsten, myself, and John McAllister where the 3 of 5 that felt pretty good. Joel and Dan were still in recovery mode from training/injury setbacks. As we lined up waiting for the official to give us the typical run-down of today's stage, I made it a point to size up the competition (yes, you guys) and see how many bodies each team had working for them. After much judgment, I concluded that Apex Racing had the strongest presence, with 5 bodies. Also, I knew Olympic Orthopedic Assoc., Fischer Plumber, and Starbucks Cycling would be on the hunt to put their sprinters on the podium. Luckily with a weekend profile like Capital's, there would be enough climbing to fuck up their programs :) If you haven't yet noticed, I haven't learned to sprint well yet but capitalize largely on long hills and time trials. Weird combo.

So get the whistle and begin our 61.5 mile joy ride, and wouldn't you know, I begin feeling like shit the second we respond to the first attack made by who knows who. All I know is that I'm freaking out that I just paid $114 to show up to a race that I'm bonking at in the first 20 miles. Fuck. Oh wait. I usually just drink a bottle of wine the night before a race, but last night... I had a beer. Funny how that works. After numerous attempts at being aggressive and failing miserably, I figured I should hide my weakness from the competition before they found out I was bluffing. I made sure to eat the Bonk Breaker, 6 medjoul dates, and banana I brought with before the last lap so I could be somewhat useful. By the time our CAT 3 peloton had reeled back the 100th attack, it became apparent to us all that this showdown was going to end in a bunch sprint. HSP assembled within the pack to agree on Plan B (since a breakaway was obviously out of the question).

PLAN B: Lead Thorsten (our 16yr old sprinting monster) out for the win.

The only thing wrong with this plan, is that we have never practiced (as a team) assembling a "lead-out train" so when and how hard to push it was going to be a gamble. Apex took control of the leadout at 5k. I weaseled my way to the front to make sure Dan and I could be apart of the action, knowing full well that Thorsten would find his way to our wheels. I found rubbing shoulders with Travis Biechele and Jason Cemanski (sandbagger Apex punks that already have their CAT 2 upgrade) on the front a tad earlier than I would have liked to. Wait - let me elaborate on this interesting situation of "sandbagging:"

[There are select riders in the CAT 3 field that have already earned the points to upgrade into the horrible pain and suffering that is CAT 2. They are purposefully staying in the 3's to help their teammates earn the necessary points so that they all may commit suicide together. Cute. Sucks for everyone else though when you have 4 Kamikaze racers in a fleet of 5 working against you.]

1K to Go
So we round this 90 degree corner for the 6th time on this rolling 10mi course, which dumps us onto a small climb into a false flat (basically uphill the whole time) before we see the 1K sign. Unfortunately, I'm gassed out after the climb, thus rendering me no use to Thorsten for the leadout. I'm counting on Dan and John to be the strong dudes on the front for him as I sit 10 wheels back and watch it all go down. I can see 200m up ahead as the road starts to dip down a bit. The pace jumps and everyone picks their wheel. Luckily our boy is experienced enough to have found the proper wheel for a close victory - but ALAS! The devious Tony Blazejack (SCCA/Starbucks Cycling) has snuck around everyone and made the early jump! Everyone fears the early jump, but it does contain the element of surprise, which typically yields victories. Crap. Tony for the win by a bike-length. Luckily, Thorsten comes around his victims for a 6th place finish. Lesson learned. Lead-out train starts at 1k. Ooops.


Hooligans R-L: Jordan Rasmussen (Garage Racing), Thorsten Askervold (HSP), Don't know that guy, Me (head poking out), and stage winner Tony Blazejack (Starbucks Cycling)


These jerks driving the Pain Train, yet again R-L: Mustache Koops & Bryan Urakawa (Fischer Plumber), Francis Atkinson (Starbucks Cycling), and Travis "Tough" Biechele (Apex Racing) I'm trademarking the "Tough".


This one makes me happy, mostly because I'm sick of Bryan killing everyone in the sprint. Here, you can see him getting gapped out by Tony. Ah yes, sweet justice.

One day, when I grow up and learn to sprint, I'll give you a taste of your own medicine, Bryan ;) Tune in tomorrow when I finish off the recap of Stage 2 and 3, where the race really began.


Photo Credit to the great ReedKJ.SmugMug.com

Pre-Capital Stage Race Recap

It's very likely that I will be inspired to write-up a full recap of this weekend's stage racing experience: Pictures will probably be uploaded (Reed, I'm looking at you) and it will be day 2 of off-the-bike-feet-up-recovery. We all know that means beer to my right, laptop on my lap, and purring cats on my left - How can one not be inspired to "blog" in such relaxed ecstasy?

In the mean time, I wanted to give you (mostly NW CAT3 racers, I assume) a rough idea of the brutality we went though this weekend so you can have something to feel good about until I remind you how badly I can still out-climb you sad suckers ;)

Stage 1 Road Race - 2h:25m:40s, 60.3mi, 24.8mph avg YIKES (my avg HR was 168 if that gives you an idea of how badly I was hurting, and I topped out at 193bpm)
Stage 2 Time Trial - 7m:46s, 3.6mi, 28.7mph avg
Stage 3 Criterium - 40m:12s, 17mi, 24.3mph avg (again, my avg HR was about 174bpm)
Stage 4 Road Race - 4h:12m:50s, 88.8mi, 21mph avg (I was solo most of this race, I'm sure the rest of you had a much higher avg)
That's a total of 169.7 miles (7h:43m:46s) of RACING, not riding at a reasonable pace, in THREE DAYS. Daaaaaang.

It was a pleasure racing this weekend with all of you fine folks. Considering how relentless the pace was all three days, I'd say we did a pretty fantastic job at keeping it safe. Shout outs to Tony Blazejack (Starbucks Cycling/SCCA) for crushing the sprint on stage one, Todd Baumeister (Apex Racing Team) for showing all of us what a REAL time trial effort looks like, Thorsten Askervold (HSP/ Herriott Sports Performance) for being a 16 year old that can still out-sprint us all in any crit, Richard Machhein (Local Ride Racing) for finishing off everyone in the 90mi Queen Stage late-breakaway, Warren McAndrew (Fischer Plumber Cycling Team) for snagging the overall GC win, and of course ALL YOU FUCKERS THAT BUSTED YOUR ASS TO CHASE ME AND THAT PROCITY KID DOWN at the beginning of Stage 4.

Rest up. Drink up. Cheers.

Ballard Twilight Criterium: Recap

June 2nd, 2012 - 6:30pm
Cat 3 Men - 50 minutes - 1k 4-corner mixed brick and asphalt course on a light uphill in the heart of historic Ballard.
Avg Speed - 24.7mph
Max Speed - 32.5mph
19th of 43 starters

With the weather being fussy days prior to Seattle's biggest bike race, The Ballard Twilight Crit, I knew the field would be at an astonishing low. To be frank, most people wouldn't want to race a 4-corner crit on gnarly brick roads in the rain - or damp ground for that matter. In all honesty, I consulted teammates who are former PRO's about racing if rain showed.

"Race. Do everything you can to be prepare for the rain...tyre pressure/selection/etc. Race at the front from the gun. Don't try risky shit. Race smart. Kill it." - David "Rocket" Richter

I pre-registered for the crit and wanted to race it regardless of rain, snow and/or apocalypse, but many experienced folk told me wet brick is a great way to ruin your season. Screw that. Besides, I made a Facebook event so all my friends could see what my obsession with this crazy bicycle racing thing is all about. Seems difficult to look tough not racing when the rain shows up, IN SEATTLE.

The Morning of
Ugh, 8am? I can still taste all that wine. Gross. Back to bed.

The Afternoon of
12:30, close enough. I kit up, throw a 25c Continental tyre on my rear wheel for a little drag racing status and begin my spin around the city for a proper warm-up. In my personal experience, it's important to ride a few hours before a crit so the body is 100% ready for battle. Anyone who loves or hates to race crits can attest that, yes, crit racing is battle. It's fast as fuck from start to finish, and you've got a few centimeters for personal space for an hour. Need I remind you, the more popular the race, the bigger the prize purse. This purse is usually dispersed throughout the race in random laps called primes ("preemes"), where the first person to cross the finish line on the designated lap gets paid X-amount of $$. In the big leagues, we all know the biggest payout (outside of winning) is always with a lap or 2 to go. What a great way to fuck up everyones plans of crossing the line first. I love it.

The Race
I met up with good friend, Nate Pitts (Gregg's Cycles - Trek,) for the tail-end of my warm up as we chatted about our plans for our 50 minutes of pain. Did I mention that this was going to be my first CAT 3 race? He kept me sane with constant reminders that these guys are just CAT 4's that won a few races, no big deal. I knew I was going to do my thing and be on the attack as often as possible. I mean, I couldn't let down my old competitors that I've raced with before they upgraded.

MISSION: Attack, attack, attack. Keep pace hot at all costs. Stay in the front. Win.



Ambitious, I know. But lets just say that not 2 laps after that gun went off. I was on a MISSION. I'm confident in saying that this was my best performance of any crit I've ever done (minus Tacoma 2011). I dont think I dipped further than 7 wheels back until 4 to go. Ouch. I know Nate is a strong rider (CAT 2 - Track) so I tried my best to work with him on this popular occasion. When he took flyers, I didn't chase. When he was reeled in, I jumped. If I saw him pulling on the front for a bit, I'd come join to share the work load. The idea being, we're all friends until 1 to go so lets tire everyone out until then. One's odds increase as opponents lose hope.

More often than not, I found myself off or on the front most of the race. Sometimes I felt dumb for doing so much work, but mostly, I just felt like I was instigating a potentially winning move. If I was a threat to everyone for all the prime$ , they'd have to chase. If they didn't, then I could solo victory. Eventually I look forward to my teammates replicating Ted Schwartz and I's old "shake and bake" maneuver in these crit situations:

He sits in while I'm on the attack, and once I'm reeled in, he attacks. While he's off the front, I sit in and wait to attack when they reel him in. This shit works like clockwork. And I miss it.

At Ballard, I only had Dan Doran (whom I'd never met or raced with) and Thorsten Askervold (CAT 2 - Track, 16, raced 4 or 5 times with). Fortunately, my boys also stayed up front for all 50 minutes. Unfortunately, I felt like I was the only one animating the race. After just losing each prime that came up, I decided to sit in with 5 to go. The only problem with this technique is that I wasn't a threat to anyone and they could all rest for the sprint. That's the last thing I wanted. I sat on Pitts' wheel with 2 to go thinking he would know how to maneuver through this mess so I could strike with 1 to go. Ooops, too late, someone jumped as I was 15 wheels back or so, the pace roared to catch him. And wouldn't you know - some CAT 2 track kid counter-attacked and nobody could close the gap before his crossed the line first. Too bad it wasn't Thor, since an HSP victory would have been appropriate for such prime positioning.

I will say, that I definitely needed the recovery towards the end, but foolishly allowed myself to be overwhelmed with the exponentially growing number of spectators. My friends seemed to be at every corner, it's Jessica's (my fiance) 29th birthday AND she's at the start/finish with all of her friends. So much pressure, and yet I can't even use that as an excuse because none of this prioritized in front of "MOVE UP". I simply assumed everyone was so weak, that I'd be able to get into sprint position. Nope. They wanted it just as badly as I. Surprise, surprise.

My good friends at GO MEANS GO did a sweet little write up on their spectating experience with photos included!

Professional photography:
-Dennis Crane
-Amara Edwards

Recap: Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race

For those of you that were wondering what happened in CAT4 world of Washington Stage Bicycle Association (Racing) a couple weekends ago, I bring you... the scoop. The Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race arrived yet again with a time trial and criterium Saturday May 19th and a gnarly road race on Sunday May 20th. We all lucked out with perfect racing weather for Stage 1 and 2, not so much for Stage 3 on Sunday. It was 70 degrees and sunny one day, and 42 degrees windy and pissing rain the next.

S1: Individual Time Trial (8:17am) - A fast, 6.5 mile U-shaped course that goes around Mt. Peak. The course is basically flat with one out-of-the-saddle roller and three technical turns.

S2: Criterium (3:30pm) - 30minutes long. This 0.92 mile figure-eight course is on downtown Enumclaw streets. The course is flat and smooth with one technical turn just before the finish. The course provides great viewing for spectators.

S3: Road Race (9:30am) - 44miles. Start/Finish is the same as the previous day's criterium. The course follows the time trial route backwards to the base of Mud Mt. Dam Rd. for a 3k climb followed by a fast descent down SR410.

Warm Up
Every morning I had to wake up and ride from Ballard to my teammate Doug's house at the Old Rainier Brewery on Airport Way. This meant that I had to practice necessity. Since I was making a 7.5 mile ride just to get to him, I had to carefully decide what was worthy enough for my messenger bag. Anyone who's done a stage race before or any race for that matter, can appreciate that challenge. Here was the checklist:

- kit
-shoes
-helmet
-lots of food (pre/during/post-ride)
-thermos of coffee
-extra waterbottles
-sandals
-cap, gloves, arm warmers (just in case)
-chamois cream
-spare clothes
-towel

I just wore my "spare clothes" for the ride there so my kit wouldn't get sweaty. That ain't PRO. This situation ended up working out quite well for me now that I was getting in a 30 minute warm up spin before we got to Enumclaw (hour-fifteen drive). I was averaging an hour and a half warm-up before each stage, this never happens.

Time Trial
Doug was kind enough to lend me his Cervelo TT bike for the stage since I was going off 30 minutes after him. In a time trial, equipment is 60% of the game. I have an aero helmet, so with a rear Hed disc wheel, a Hed 3 front wheel and reasonable position on his frame (that just so happens to fit me perfectly without any major adjustments) all I had to do was try and hold my target power wattage output (320w) then let the bulls out on the last 200m. Five days prior, I rode the bike with the power meter so I knew what I would be capable of going into Stage 1. We also pre-rode the TT course right when we got to Enumclaw to eliminate any surprises.

After Doug's race, he rolled over to the start, I hopped on and took off a couple minutes later. We were gambling a little bit with this bike swap idea since the finish line is a mile from the start. Being that the roads are freshly paved, it's far too easy to crush it when you start out since youre flying with what seems like no effort. I just tried to hold ideal position and peak at my power output and not stray too far from 320 watts. As noted before, I've only ridden this bike once before so consistency was challenging to say the least. I just felt I was pushing watts all over the place, but atleast keeping it lower than my target so I'd have plenty of juice at the halfway mark. Around 5k, I caught my 30 second guy, then with 1k left in the race I caught my 1 minute and 1:30 guys. Around the last corner at 200m I dropped the gears and tried to slam over 500 watts for a strong finish.

A couple hours later the results were in: I was .05 of a second behind 1st place, John Alving of Apex Racing. He's known for killing the time trials, so this was a big morale booster for me. He joked that I must have tilted my head once to lose .06 of a second. Not bad for being completely inexperienced and on a bike that isn't mine.

Criterium
After napping, eating and lounging around downtown Enumclaw for 6 hours, Doug and I decided to ride the following day's road race course. This was especially nice so we'd be fully primed for the crit and know what to expect for Stage 3. I only needed 6 points to upgrade from the CAT4's to the 3's so a win (awarded 7pts in a crit) was in my sights. I didn't really have any General Classification (GC) aspirations outside of the upgrade. Each stage is timed and accumulated to form the GC from 1st place (lowest time) to last (longest time). Click HERE to get a better understanding.

Before the start of the race, the announcer did "call-ups" where he announces the top 3 GC leaders and they get so come to the front of the starting line for the best spot. Felt pretty rad. Next thing you knew, the gun is fired and the race is on. Even with my perfect starting position, I managed to fuck it all up and fail to clip in until the first corner. From 1st to last, just like that. I sat in until the 3rd corner and did my thing. Attack attack attack. I drove the pace for the first couple laps then sat in the front waiting for time bonus primes. When they announced the next lap winner would get a time bonus of 3 seconds Doug miraculously showed up infront of me for a lead out to secure me that prize. That's teamwork right there. I rounded (technical) corner 8 and sprinted for the line - BOOOM, minus 3 seconds is mine! I just have to finish the crit ahead of John (not a crit racer) and I'll be the leader. I sat in with 10 more minutes left in the race, noticing that the lap cards were out and the timer was off. The announcer wasn't saying much, but would occasionally mention primes left. I assumed the cards represented how many more prizes they were giving away. Wrong. 3-2-1 to go! Shit, I was mid-pack when I realized the race was almost over then almost got crashed out by a junior going into corner 4 of the figrure-8. I still wasn't sure if it was actually 1 lap to go (being that there were 10 more minutes left in the 30 minute race) but tried to move up just in case. As I rounded the last corner I saw the lead group sprint and throw victory arms up. There it was, the officials fucked up and cut our race short and I was caught sleeping. Luckily, I was still the leader of the race, but not luckily I had to work for my upgrade on the road race (6pts awarded for 4th place). Even with a pack finish like that people were congratulating me for racing smart. Haha, little did they know I was clueless. Doug and I packed up and drove home where I got ready for work and cooked until the dinner rush was over then ran home and crashed for the big day.

Road Race - Queen Stage
Rain. Cold. Wind. Great. We all lucked out with plenty of beautiful weather for the previous stages, but today would be a day for the hardman. The only thing the shit conditions really changed was the final kilometer of the race. After turning onto a roughly 3k straight-away of decent pavement there's a 90 degree left hand turn we'll make onto the final 200m of the race, or the sprint spot. Mind you this 200m stretch of road is NOT decent pavement. Doug and I warmed up on that backstretch of road so we could become acquainted with the situation. After spinning up and down the road a few times I decided I would/should have more than enough time to position myself so I could be 1st coming around that last corner. It was important to me to accomplish this for a couple of reasons:

a) it's wet and slick out there, someone WILL crash on that corner.
b) my legs felt fresh and I was feeling confident with my TT results to be "the lead out guy"

9:30 had arrived with much anticipation. A quick warning about the rules of the road from the race official and we were on our way. Everything was pretty mellow as we all waited for this proclaimed "monster climb" (7mi into the 15mi lap). I fancy myself a pretty good climber, so I wasn't intimidated by anyone in the group, just more anxious to shell out the weak so the real race could start. Finally we get to the base of Mud Mountain and the attacks begin. I knew this kids couldn't hold this kind of pace to the top so I remained steady in my accelerations from mid-pack to work my way up to top 5. Of course 2k into it, everyone starts popping and what looks like a decent selection is made. Theres a gap about 30 feet ahead of me to the 10 leaders so I accelerate my pace ever so slightly and bridge up without dragging anyone with me. With 300m left in the climb 5 of the leaders can't hold on and fall back so I weave through and join what I anticipated to be a breakaway.

Unfortunately these guys are cooked when we reach the summit and begin our 5k descent. We probably only shelled 15 guys off the back of the main field and the other small groups were able to rejoin on this rainy-head-wind ride to the bottom where we do it all over again 3 more times. Halfway through this descent there's a mild roller where this unattached sprinter looking bloke takes a flyer. This is the CAT4's and we're going downhill at 45mph, so obviously nobody chases him. He manages to get 45sec up the road by the time we start lap 2. Still not worried. In fact, I don't care if he finishes just before us, I just need a 4th place to upgrade out of Amateur Hour. He eventually disappears and holds about 1:10 on the field. I figured we'd catch him on the climb so I just did my thing and hung out with the guys that wanted to go fast uphill. To my surprise his gap started growing a little bit as the race went on. By the time we started our final lap he was 1:25 up the road and hardly anyone knew there was someone soloing away. Here's my favorite part: when a roadside race official would call out the time gap "One minute ahead!" and we'd see a (dropped) rider from a race hardly 20sec ahead of us, they'd all say "we got him, there he is"... See what I mean by Amateur Hour? This is the kind of rookie behavior that brought John Alving (2nd GC) to the front of the race with me where we worked together to chase this lone ranger. I'm ahead of John by 3.05 sec and 3rd place by 9 sec. Winner of the stage gets -10sec, 2nd -6sec and 3rd -3sec. You know there's something wrong when the GC leaders are organizing the chase, let alone, are the only ones strong enough to maintain a chase pace.
Example: John said he lost the GC at Tour of Walla Walla because nobody chased a solo rider that gapped the field just outside of his overall lead time. Just before the Mud Mt climb on the final lap, the gap was 1:10 again. So we agreed to bust our ass to duke it out like gentleman the old fashioned way and say fuck everyone else. We were racing eachother now. We took long hard pulls up and down Mud Mt, mostly just the two of us while everyone else nipped at our heels. By the time we reached the base and rolled into the final technical kilometers I noticed John was cooked. Some guys tried a couple moves to split the field up before that long straight-away so I made sure to cover them and secure 3rd wheel.
2k TO GO
The pace was roughly 25mph, 2 abreast as we all kept that corner up ahead in our sights. Behind me I heard the derailleurs clicking to each riders desired gearing and the chatter dissipated to nothing but the sound of wet rubber tyres railing across the pavement. If you've ever done a road race, you know that silent-eerie-adrenaline-pumping anticipation that I'm trying to put into words. Everyone in our lead group had busted their ass in this freezing cold crap race, conserved when they could and burnt matches at appropriate times to be in this final selection where we light up the road with every last drop of juice in our tank. I've raced enough to know that the pace is 60% of what it could be. I know they're all waiting for someone to react to. I want it more than they do, and I sure as hell know I want 1st wheel coming into this corner more than they do. The 1K to go sign is quickly approaching, and somehow I'm as tranquil as can be. 200m until the 1K sign, then 300m until the corner where dreams are made - GO - I come around the guy infront of me and sprint for the line full throttle. Yes, I'm sprinting for the line with just under 1.5K to go. I know I can out time trial anyone here and now I'm leading the train out into the corner. YES I'm first wheel into the corner and "OH FUCK-SHIT-AHHHHH" huge crash RIGHT behind me. I don't even want to look back and see if it was 2nd wheel or further I just get out of the saddle and hammer it out. I didn't realize until 50m that Morgan Simon (Apex Racing) and Peter Streit (Second Ascent) weren't affected by the wipe-out and started coming around me. I gave it everything I had with a final bike throw into the finish line but finished 3rd in the sprint by tyre lengths - OH SO CLOSE. However, Mark Fry, the solo rider finished 45sec infront of us so that put me in 4th place for the stage (hello CAT3 upgrade) and kissed my GC lead goodbye since he was 20 sec behind me in the TT.

With a finish like that, I decided that I really don't mind being the leadout guy. It's safer and it makes you a beast if no one cam come around you. They barely beat me to the line. We all shook hands and congratulated eachother (the best we could in broken English when your brain lacks the oxygen). This was a fantastic stage race. I'm thankful people like Erik Anderson and South Sound Velo dedicate their time to providing us with challenging events.

Next up: Capital Stage Race, June 15-17.

Volunteer Park Criterium: Race Report

4/7/2012 8:40am
Cat 4 Men, 40 minutes, D-shaped 1k circuit with 50' of climbing per lap, copious amounts of moss on the back stretch - Ooooooooooh.
Avg Speed 23.3 mph
Max Speed 40.5 mph
8th place of 61

This race recap will be short and sweet. It's only a 40 minute race and my brain was without oxygen most of the time. So it's a little hazy.

I was pretty stoked on this crit in general; the course suits me, it's local, it's fast. With 50 feet of climbing per lap, which includes the uphill finish, I felt I could win this race. The plan was to race aggressively (shake and bake with Chris), ignore the primes and attack for the win with 2 to go.

At the very start of the race I dropped my chain and unclipped and almost ate shit  without even turning the pedal all the way around. The announcer JUST warned us not to embarrass ourselves in front of him or he'd give us a heckling. This was because there were multiple crashes at the start/finish of the Cat 5 race just before us. I embarrassed myself and had to try and catch back on.

After the first 5 minutes the pace slowed down a bit so Chis and I took turns attacking halfway up the climb until one of us was caught. This is also when I ran over a reflector turtle and my water bottle popped out of its cage. FUCKING 5 MINUTES IN, NO MORE WATER. On the 3rd round he actually got away, and stayed away for 3 or 4 laps. Just before he was swallowed up he lapped a couple dropped riders at the start/finish and snagged a prime. The announcer wasn't paying attention and awarded it to someone in the front of the field thinking Chris was a said dropped rider. Oh well. We stayed near the front of group to make sure nobody tried to get away. The only moves that went off where the ones that typically do when that bell rings for another enticing prime. I was so focused on reading my body and the race I hardly noticed prime laps or how many laps to go there were to go. Sometimes I think we all get like this during the intensity of a criterium, that is until "5 to go." This is when you wake the fuck up and get in line.

When 5 laps to go arrived I had learned that there were a handful of guys just sitting in the whole race making sure they were fresh for the sprint. Along with the campers were their allies making sure nobody got away. I decided that there was no way I was gonna pull a Tacoma Twilight move and win this with 2 to go. So I sat 5th wheel and didn't let anyone in. It turns out I only need a lap or so to (almost) completely recover. I felt surprisingly strong by the time the final lap arrived.

Last Lap
I moved up one more spot to 4th wheel since coming out of the last corner in prime position makes all the difference. I felt fresh and started the climb in a perfect gear with a perfect spin. All I could think about was how stoked I was that I'm going to win. I could easily come around these guys and snag it before everyone finished coming out of the corner. SO FRESH. YES. Then everything went the opposite direction. We come flying around the corner into the false flat finishing 200m and my lead out train pops and spreads. They start falling apart out of position forming this perfect little box around me. Go around left, I get the curb. Go around right, we all crash. FUCK. I let them veer left out of the turn when I knew perfectly well, everyone wins this race staying to the right! just before a gap opened infront of me to the right so I could come around, here comes Tony Blazejack (SCCA/Starbucks) and the rest of the fucking field are well up to speed. All I can do now is throttle it out as hard as I can and try to squeeze the top 7 (point only awarded 7 deep in crits). I proceed to cross the finish line with 1/2 a tank left. Whack Attack. 8th place.

Most people finish a race with excuses. Almost always. I'd like to finish this short recap with a little responsibility to my actions. I knew better, yet stayed on the doomed train anyways. Call it the heat of the moment, poor planning, etc. But in the end, it's my own damn fault.

Here is a set I picked out from the ever talented ReedKJ.SmugMug.com she makes me look fast and I am thankful. One of these days, when I have extra dollars, I'll have to donate to show my appreciation.

Independence Valley Road Race Classic - Race Report

3/24/2012 9:30am
Cat 4 Men, 41 miles, 2 laps of rolling country roads with 2 major climbs
Avg Speed 25.5 mph
Max Speed 50.5 mph
8th place of 66

IVRR is becoming a true 'hardman' spring classic race of the Pacific Northwest. The long steep climbs definitely separate the billy goats from the boys. Then you have the rollers that fill one valley between the climbs and open windy farmland in the other valley. It's an all around tough course.

Fortunately I learned a lesson after year's race. My teammate, Jake Langdon, and I chased the 6-man breakaway (included one of our guys, Ted Schwartz) that formed immediately after the first climb, for nearly the entire race. Ted 3rd place and 6 minutes later Jake and I rolled in for 7th & 8th. Although this was an impressive effort for all of us, had we warmed up before the race, the three of us could have controlled the break. Instead, Jake and I were dropped with a handful of other poor souls that we eventually rode away from ourselves.

8:05am - Warm Up
My HSP teammate, Chris Carter, drove us to the race and got us there with almost an hour and a half to warm up and get situated. Score. We set up our trainers next to the truck, kitted up, and sipped on coffee and killed a bottle of water as we spun it out. I've never warmed up on the trainer before a race before; I don't know if that makes me an idiot or what. It was supposed to get into the mid-50's and you could feel it coming too, so I backed down on my embro application a little and got away with ARMWARMERS - woohoo! Finally a spring race where you can see the sun, feel it, and not have to wear everything you own to stay warm/dry enough to make it to the finish line.

9:20am - Line it up!
The official calls us up to the line, gives us the schpeel. As he is telling us we get the whole road at 1k to go instead of 200m, race organizer, Erik O Anderson, calls me out for not having a WSBA # yet. He then proceeds to make me feel like an ass for talking shit on his newest project, Capital Stage Race. Ooops. Who knew the internet was pubic? Or that people even read my blog for that matter? I couldn't tell if I should be flattered or embarrassed. I was a little of both. He wanted to kick me in the shin, regardless.

9:29am - Race
As we follow the lead car for neutral roll-out onto the race course, I find myself riding next to a familiar face, Nick Koops (Fischer Plumber Cycling, formerly ByrneInvent), and we get to chatting. We are talking about training, the course, and how we may or may not fare this gorgeous morning. I-shit-you-not, less than 10seconds after I compliment his Madfiber wheels, he hits a pothole, endos and eats major shit right next to me. His face hit my shoes, it was so close.

The car honks for the race to get under way, I had to forget about what just happened and start focusing on the climb that awaited us less than 2 miles up the road. I moved up to mid-pack and before I knew it, there we were. Boy was I glad I warmed up, I felt like a million bucks and just whizzed my way to the front group. It's fair to say nobody really expected what happened next, the entire field blew up and a selection was immediately made. I saw the fast guys in the lead group ahead of me so I began to bridge a seemingly small gap. This gap wasn't truly bridged until well after the decent because SOMEONE (Francis Atkinson SCCA/Starbucks Cycling) made it a point to "tear the legs off" anyone who tried to hold on. I sat on his wheel and look over my shoulder to find there were only 20 of us in the race now.

The Selection
With 20 of us working together I knew this was the move (crushing the first climb) that was going to win the race. Crazy. We had enough horsepower to split this group in half on the 2nd climb seeing as we had Garret, Paul and Martin (Audi), Francis and Jeff (SCCA), Todd (Stanley) then HSP boys Chris Carter and yours truly. These are all guys that usually make the break or instigate them on any given weekend, plus there has to be a couple new faces that wanted it bad enough to hang on.

We round the turn after miles of pacelining on open rolling farmland and begin the ascent we've all been anticipating. It's not that this climb is particularly gnarly, but that it's the last thing you want to deal with after driving the pace up and down rollers at threshold. Welcome to bicycle racing. I was mid pack starting the climb, and since there were only around 20 of us, it was pretty easy to just pull off to the left and pass anyone who was falling behind. It was then I saw the true beastmode strength of my teammate, Chris, as he motored up this hill effortlessly and almost dropped the whole group. WTF? I didn't know he was the Billy Goat King, sorry guys. By the time we finished our 50.5mph descent I noticed yet again the group had been split. There were now only 11 of us, woohoo.

Pain Cave
I often hear cyclists talk about the "Pain Cave", but as a frequent visitor myself, I know most of them don't know what it's like to really enter that dark place. I'm confident that our group of 11 went there atleast 4 or 5 different times as we finished out this last lap. I say this because no matter what moves were made we all finished the race together. Ouch. As we took turns pulling, well by we I mean everyone except the guy on Olympic Orthopaedic, the thought on everyones mind was in anticipation as to who would drive the train up that first hill again. These moments are probably my favorite aspects of racing, when friends become enemies. We all worked so hard to get away and stay away, but on this last lap, it's all about shaking off a few more people (to increase your odds at finishing well) then working together again with whoever survived.

To properly 'cut to the chase,' I will say that we all tried to shake eachother multiple times and all failed.  However, there was this moment on the final climb when Chris attacked but nobody could possibly hold his wheel, so he just soloed up to the top and down the climb. He was caught by us before we got to the bottom. If a couple people could have caught him, that could have been it. The true hadman of the day was Francis. He drove the pace of our group almost the whole time, then in the final 5k decideds to counter attack after Garrett and I have our fun. This guy proceeds to just time trial away from all of us. We let him dangle out there, but not so much because it's a tactical decision, but more because none of us want to kill ourselves just to catch him. We are getting close to 2k, so we unanimously decide to chase. It sucks but we caught that SOB. Uh oh, there's the 1k sign! We get the whole road, whose gonna lead it out? I don't care I'm sitting 3rd wheel. Crap everyone just slowed down and now I'm leading the sprint. Fine, full gas and I'm hoping nobody has the legs to come around. But they all do. 150m and everyone jumps around me and it's just a battle to catch a draft then BOOM Jeff Reed (SCCA) takes the win, compliments to his teammate Francis. I finished right behind Paul for 8th place - 2 points YAY!

I wanted 1st pretty badly, but I made the mistake of working a little too much though out the race and not sitting further back in the final lead up to the sprint. Not to mention, it was a really fucking hard race and we went fast the whole time, so I'm not sure I'd have the legs to deliver in the end anyways.

Next week, one of my favorite races the Volunteer Park Criterium.

Gluten Free Energy Bar - Recipe

For athletes and hungry people alike, I present to you a completely modifiable energy bar recipe:

Ingredients:

-3/4c. Nut butter of your choice (tahini might be a new favorite for me)
-3/4c. Sweetener syrup (local honey, agave, brown rice syrup, etc)
-2 1/2c. Trail mix (should include an assortment of seeds, nuts, and lots of dried fruit... This is where you get to modify your proportions and have a little fun - I just added 1c. chopped dates to 1 1/2c. of trail mix that had raisins in it, ya dig?)
-4c. GLUTEN FREE brown rice crispie cereal (I used Kellog's GF Rice Crispies)
-1tsp. Kosher salt
-1tsp. Vanilla extract

Method:


1. Prepare a large baking pan (around 9" x 13") by coating with Earth Balance or some other cooking oil, to prevent your bars from sticking.

2. In a pretty large mixing bowl combine your nut/seed/dried fruit mix with the crispies. Mix well.

3. In a sauce pan, on low heat combine nut butter, sweetener syrup, salt and vanilla extract. Stir constantly and get it hot enough that you get some bubbles. Be very careful though, that much sugar on heat will scald pretty easily.

4. After your nutty syrup is warm and well combined, use a spatula and pour it into your mixing bowl - making sure to get everything coated.

5. Use the spatula to transfer and pack your energy bar mixture down into the baking pan. Get it nice and level and cool in the refrigerator for atleast 1 hour.

After it's completely cool and hardened use a butter knife to portion to your liking. Wrap in parchment paper, then in a sando baggy, place in your jersey pocket and go ride.