End of the season!

Its been a while since I have done any "blogging". I guess there are times you feel like doing it and other times you don't.

I spent most of my time in July down in Centralia with my family and my grandpa. He passed away on 7/07/10. RIP Oscar Lee Thompson. He battled Alzheimers for almost 10 years.

I raced Redmond Derby days July 10th and was hoping to get on the podium for my gramps. He always attended my soccer, football and baseball games growing up and was always the most vocal as most of my teammates from those times will remember. In the last 10 years he would also come to the race track when I was racing motorcycles. It was always great to have him and grandma there so I thought getting on the podium for him would be a good dedication. I was disappointed to say the least when I was only able to finish 8th. After the race I headed down to Centralia to be with the family and we had a Team Time Trial down in that area that Cycle U was going to do. We had 2 teams of 4. On my team was Chad, Jed, Andrew and myself. I felt like we had a super strong team and getting on the podium for this was a very good prospect. The course was flat and 32 miles with a turn around half way. We started hard and fast and leading up to the race we had practices every Wed night for about a month prior. So we felt pretty confident on doing well. The road was ok but the shoulder part of the road was very inconsistant. Sometimes there was a big 2 ft paved shoulder then in other areas there was no shoulder and even pieces of asphalt missing into the white line. We kinda reminded each other in our rotation to stay away from the shoulder. Just imagine 4 individuals at their limit riding within inches of each other trying to stay as aero as possible. You tend to move around a bit on the road and we got to about a mile away from the turn around when the carnage took place. Just as Chad was about to rotate off the front and move to the back he got to a piece of road where there was zero shoulder. His front tire got caught on the dirt area off of the pavement and couldn't get it to come back on the road. I was 3rd in line with Jed in front of me and Andrew behind me. It seemed like it took forever to happen but looking back it was only seconds for it to take place. Chad was never able to get back on the pavement and he went down with Jed riding right into him. At that point we were cruising at 27 mph. So Chad went down and Jed went over the top of him and shoulder planted in the pavement. I didn't really even consider my options and just went straight to the shoulder and ditch. I got hit by a bike or something in the left leg as I went by the bikes and bodies and then hit the ditch and flew over the bike into the sticker bushes. I landed on my back with my bike landing on top of me. I laid there for a few seconds to try and comprehend what just happened. Then I got up and saw bikes, bodies and blood all over the road with Jed holding his shoulder. When I saw Jed sitting there holding the same shoulder he dislocated earlier in the season at Walla Walla I was gutted. I knew he probably tore it up again or broke his collarbone. I went to him and helped him up and moved him over to the ditch where we all kinda piled on. Chad was busy trying to fix his finger that was just hanging there. Andrew was ok with some minor bumps and bruises like myself. The damage was Chad got stitches in his hand, road rash and tore his extender tendon on his finger. That is why it was hanging there and not able to straighten. Jed broke his collarbone in two or three places but either way he had surgery and got it plated. He is still recovering and not able to ride his bike. The drive home that night was tough for me. When you escape something like that unharmed you tend to wonder if it is worth the risk. However this is the risk you take. I enjoy riding my bike and wouldn't be myself if I couldn't.

LWV #1

The next set of races was the Lake Washington Velo series (LWV). The first race was in Skagit Valley. The course was flat but it was raining so that really made things interesting. When we started the rain had stopped for the most part but the course was pretty slick. I stayed near the front and actually took some big pulls the first lap. My plan was to try and get some points on the intermediate sprint and then try and be there for the finale as well. However coming around the corner right before the finish about 800 meters there is a tight right had corner with a slight drop in the middle of the corner. Every lap someone crashed in that corner. On the sprint lap 2 in front of me went down so I had to slow a little bit and that put enough of a gap in the front guys and I wasn't able to close them down. I was able to get 3rd in the sprint so I did get a couple points. Then on the last lap my cable broke for my rear derailer so I was stuck in my biggest gear. This made for a tough lap and then the finish I wasn't able to get my speed up enough to be there at the end for the final sprint. All things considered I did get some points and I wasn't taken out by anybody.

LWV #2

I did this whole series last year so I know the courses and the 2nd course was in Gig Harbor and is a great course. There is a little bit more room to move around on the road in the pack and there is a good size stair step hill before the finish. I am not a fan of the hill but it makes the course interesting and that much more challenging. We had a pretty strong group for this race and the plan was to try and get myself up for some sprint points and have Gabriel or Andrew go for the win. Those two both can climb really well so I knew this would be a good stage for them. Andrew finished 2nd in Washington State for BARR points so he is very strong. Coming around for the intermediate sprint I was well placed and was near the front when we got to the top of the hill. The problem was I went to early. I was in 4th place right before the 200 meter sign and had nothing left for my sprint so I sat up. I was totally gassed. Then on the last lap coming up the hill it felt like someone tied 10 pound weights to my legs. I went from the front immediately to the back. Andrew was near the front and was able to take home a top 10 position so that was good.

LWV #3

I did pretty well in this race last year and finished 4th. Picture below.

The goal this year was to do much better. I have been very close this year to getting on the podium but for whatever reason I miss the move or just get beat to the line. I would prefer to say I miss the move and its not my fitness that holds me back. We had another good strong team for this race and Chadicus was going to be my lead out man. Which is a great guy to have deliver you to the promise land. So far in, I must say this was the most nervous, sketchy and drama filled race I have ever been in but with no crashes which makes it that much stranger. There was a massive field of 90 Category 4/5's. We started at the front of the race and the roads over in Carnation are super small with no shoulder. You basically have the white line and dirt or blackberry bushes. I am sure you can picture 90 guys all crammed on to a very small 2 lane road with no shoulder all trying to move to the front. We had guys riding up on the outside in the dirt trying to move up. As we came around for the last lap I was probably in between 20th and 30 place. Chad came by and I got on his wheel but it was only for a moment as I got shuffled back a bit. Then coming into the last corner which is also about 800 meters from the line Chad shot right up to the top 5 on the inside of the corner. It was strange, it was like everyone went real wide for the corner and slowed up. Chad saw the opportunity and dove right in there. I almost got on his wheel but missed it again. He put the hammer down and strung the whole front group into a single file line. At this time I must have been in the top 20 so I had some work to do. Chad was still in the front of the group as I started closing the gap when 1st and 2nd place shot out of Chad's draft and started there sprint for the line. I turned it up and was able to get right behind them just as we got to the line. PODIUM. Finally!

I was mad that I missed Chad's wheel because I think I could have finished that lead out with a win, but atleast I was on the podium. Chad was able to finish 5th and he was coasting when he crossed the line.

Pacific Raceways is held on Tuesday nights and I was able to finish 4th last year in the overall series points. I missed several races this year and Chad was able to win several of the races so he was always in the top 3. When I came back and started racing again during the summer months I was there to support Chad. Last night we were able to secure Chad's 2nd place overall in the series. Actually we didn't do much on the last lap. We set the pace in the beginning in the rain but on the last lap the pace was so fast I wasn't able to move up to lead Chad out for the sprint. Dan, who was in 3rd overall and was down by 1 point had to beat Chad. The sprint came down to just Chad and Dan which seems fitting since they both have been battling all season. Chad beat Dan at the line. It was so close they had to go to the camera to see who won. What a way to finish the season. Hopefully we can get Dan to race with us next year!

So there it is. My 2nd season racing bicycles.

Joe Matava Memorial Crit (Burien)

Our race was pretty early Sunday morning. Thankfully the weather was cool and no rain but it was perfect race weather. We had Chadicus, Tim1 and myself. Shawn was there as support along with Coach Ed. Last year it felt like the race was really fast and I was caught out by a wreck with 2 laps to go and was never able to latch back on.

This year seemed much different. We got under way and the pace the first couple laps were fairly fast but the race calmed down alot in the middle and end part. Even when primes laps came up nobody seemed to really contest them much. I thought about it a couple times but decided to save myself for the end result. Chad and I spoke in the middle of the race about how slow it was. Second Descent went to the front and hammered it for several laps but they blew up towards the end of the race and it slowed down again. Kyle from Recycled Cycles did his usual and took off with 2 laps to go. I was in a bad position when he went and was hoping to go with him. We came around for the last lap and he had a small gap and I was able to move over to the inside coming around to the back straight. We were just about to catch him and I had a good pace going and decided to keep it and moved up right behind him but he was slowing so I moved over and made my attempt at the front and tried to set a high pace coming in to the last two turns. Through out the race you could pretty much peddle through the corners so I continued that but I was much farther to the inside than I was the whole race and just as I went through the middle of the corner my peddle hit and launched my rear tire over about half a foot. I kept peddling and hoped that scared the guys behind me enough to give me a little gap but it actually opened the door to the inside of the corner for the final run onto the start finish. I watched as 2 then 3 guys went by. I started my sprint a little late and was never able to get by 3rd place. We were neck and neck all the way to the line but I still missed out by about 6 inches at the line. Looking back at the data on my Polar and it showed a avg speed of 24.5 with a max of 35mph. So I guess it wasn't that slow as Chad and I thought. Maybe we are getting stronger my friend!

I tied my best result of 4th. I am getting closer and hopefully soon I can get on the podium in a sanctioned race.

Cascadia Criterium Series

Now that the series is over I wish we had another one starting. I missed the first race in Woodinville which was wet. I know because I was on my roof cleaning the gutters and putting in some new gutter guards. Looking back now I wish I would have raced it but what can you do. Next year I will race the whole series. It consists of several criterium races around the city with the finishing criterium ending in Tacoma. A Criterium is a short course that is very spectator friendly and pretty fun for the racers too with a bunch of people watching.

Woodinville:

Didn't race.


Fremont 5/30/10

The weather this year as most of you know has really been blah. Its seems like its been raining and 50 or so since Jan. The weather man said that the Sunday of the Fremont race was supposed to be sunny and 70. It would be nice to have that job. Getting your job wrong more than 25% of the time and still have a job would be pretty cool. The weather was better in the morning when we were racing than it was for the later races so I guess I shouldn't complain to much. The field was full with 75 entries. We set up the tent and trainers and warmed up for a bit then moved to the course to do some laps in anger before the start. Jed was trying out some new tires and seemed to be having some issues with them but was using them for the dry which at the moment it was. The course was 3 corners that consisted of a very tight 140 degree corner as the corner 1 then turn 2 was more open but had a change of pavement on the outside and turn 3 was fast and wide open. The race started and this was the first race back for me since coming home from Thailand May 11th. I was able to get in 10 days of good training in after being off the bike for 16 days. I was a little concerned how I would do but I felt really good the first half of the race. I stayed at the front 7 pretty much the whole race. Just past halfway it started sprinkling and turn 1 with the 140 degree turn was getting a bit slippery. I could feel my bike slide as we railed through it. The following lap I told Jed who also stayed at the front that the course was getting slippery. The following lap you could hear people crashing right behind us as we came out of the corner. I searched for Jed and found him behind me still so that made me feel better.

Then with 8 laps to go or so another crash happened behind me and I didn't see Jed anymore. Apparently he lost the front in turn 1 and re-opened several of his wounds he sustained in Walla Walla which just healed up. I was pretty gutted for Jed because he is a good bike racer and is strong but he has just had bad luck this year. The last 3 laps were super fast as a strong highschool kid that races for Recycled Cycles, Kyle went off the front and drilled it.

I didn't have a sprint left and finished in the group for 9th. My legs felt good the whole race but the last lap they said enough. The race was so fast that only 15 or so finished on the lead lap out of 75.

9th place



Seward Park 6/03/10

This race was on Thursday night which is the normal day for all Seward park races but the race for cat 4/5's was at 4:30. I left work at 3:30 in Fremont thinking I would have plenty of time to get to Seward. Wrong. It took me 45 minutes to get there which is kinda mind boggling but what can you do. I didn't leave early enough and showed up at 4:15 and they just announced that the 4/5 field was closed and sold out. I was about to get mad when I noticed Matt from Recycled Cycles next to me also on the waitlist. I had a good feeling at that point they weren't going to keep the series points leader out of the race. They didn't and thankfully allow 7 more of us to race for a total field of 83. It was going to be interesting for sure. The course route we were doing was the route I normally don't do to well at. I am not sure why but for some reason this year I haven't had to many good rides. The finishing line is after a hill and flattens out for about 500 meters and I am just about gassed by the time I get over the hill and 250 meters from the finish. The other route, the finish line is on top of the hill so I can hammer it up the hill and hit the finish line. Who knows. It could all be mental too. Anyways the race was going fine but we started in the very back of the group. A few guys couldn't get clipped in so it was a bit of avoiding bikes and bodies flapping around. Once we got going we had a pretty good team showing with Tim2, Shawn, and Chad. I think that was everybody. I stayed as close to the front as I could and just hung on. I thought I might have something at the end but was only able to finish 19th. Chad and Tim2 finished just in front of me and Shawn finished in the main pack.

19th place



Ballard Crit 6/05/10

Last year this race was somewhat of a crash fest. I was right behind two major crashes and the last one with about 4 laps to go shot me into a hay bale but I was able to stay on the bike. I told myself last year I wasn't going to race Ballard again. One year later here I am lining up again for Ballard. Its a good race with a good amount of spectators plus the Cascadia Crit Series has been awesome so far. They announced the top 10 and then we all moved up and the officials gave us the run down and then we were off. The course is the same as last year. The finish line is halfway up a false flat then there is a tight left had turn with a sinkhole right in the middle of the corner. Turn 1 drops down a block and then turn 2 puts you on Shilshole Ave. The back straight is fast and takes you down to turn 3 that has a man hole cover that has broken concrete around it and has a slight rise to it. Then half way to turn 4 it turns into brick all the way to the exit of turn 4 that puts you back on the start finish line.
Once again we had a full field of 75 racers. The race started out just fine and we had a good team with Shawn, myself, Greg and Tim2. Criteriums are pretty hard to have any team tactics but you always try to help your teammates out and we would see a team at the end of the race prove me wrong. About 5 laps into the race I was mid pack making my way towards the front when a guy dove to the inside to try and get the best line for turn 3. He lost the front and crashed collecting atleast 2 others. One guy snaked through the carnage only to get his handle bar caught in the caution tape around the outside of the course. He was stuck to the tape all the way to the fold up barricade that he smacked into and then shot the barricade into the middle of the course. I had someone leaning on me and it felt like grabbing at my side but I held my position and was able to swerve around the flying barricade. There was a bit of a gap to the front group of 30. I was able to close the gap in turn 3 and 4. I was following Tim2 through those corners a bit later in the race and one lap as we came out of turn 4 when you really start to peddle hard you could see his back wheel come completely off the pavement and move to the right. Watching Tim2 he didn't even miss a peddle stroke and just kept going. It was pretty cool. We were at the halfway point when we came around and a guy was laying in the middle of the straightaway. Which is pretty odd thing to see. We went around 2 more times before they completely stopped the race. A group of 30 were in the lead group then there was a chase group of 15 that they held behind us. After several stories about what happened it seems the crasher touched wheels with someone in front of him and just went down really hard on his head. I haven't heard how he is doing but they carted him away on a stretcher and he did give a wave to the crowd. They sent us off for the last 13 min of the race and it went fairly well. We all stayed together and shed some extra riders. With 2 or 3 laps to go Kyle from Recycled Cycles went on a flyer. We ended up bringing him back but the damage to the group was done. We were down to a group of 12.

I stayed in my position in the front group and when we brought Kyle back in the fold he decided he would hammer it again. This time he had his teammate and series leader directly on his wheel and we stayed with them around for the final lap but nobody was able to come around them and they finished 1-2. It was perfectly executed by Kyle and Matt of Recycled Cycles. I took 6th place. The rest of the team finished the crit or were pulled but considering the lead group was down to 12 that was some serious attrition.

6th Place



Boat Street Crit 6/06/10

I probably hung around the Ballard Crit to long after my race. We got dinner and had a few drinks with friends and then met more friends. I am sure you know where it goes from here. I set my alarm to get up and do this race just in case. I really wasn't planning on doing it earlier in the week but when I finished 6th at Ballard I figured I might as well. The alarm went off and I wasn't doing to well when I made it to the kitchen. I was really dehydrated and pissed off that I drank the night before but I had a good time so I got over it. I drank atleast 3 full water bottles before I even left the house. The race started at 8:40 Sunday morning so it was early. I grabbed the canapy since it was raining (surprise) and headed out. Shawn, Tim2, Brandon (First race) and Dale. We warmed up under the tent for a bit then decided we should just go and warm up in the rain on the course. The only course we have raced on that was truly flat was Fremont. This had a slight rise on the back straight on NE Pacific Ave and a down hill right turn that was pretty slick in the wet. Then flat to the finish on NE Boat St with a slight right then a short incline into another right. It actually was a fun little course except for the fast downhill right hand turn in the rain. We only had probably 30 racers show up that morning so it was real quite. Not much really went on in the race. I had a big moment in the downhill right hand turn on the 3rd lap which ruined me for the rest of the race. The rear tire slid out and I almost unclipped my right foot because I was pretty sure I was going down but the bike and I stayed upright. The bad part was that was the corner going on to the finish straight so every lap I was typically closing down little gaps in front of me that would open up because I was taking it easy in that corner. A couple laps after I had my slide a guy behind me crashed. That split the group up and we had again 10 or so guys in the front and then a chase group that was caught out by the crash. Most of the team was behind the crash so they were in the chase group. I stayed near the front and Matt the series leader from Recycled Cycles seemed to be doing alot of work at the front which I didn't mind at all. I didn't want to go for any prime laps for extra series points as I figured the end result would net me more points so I opted to save myself. Adam from Arrivee Endurance Sports and myself had a bit of a gap on the back straight and tried to make a bit of a go with it but by the time we came around to the finish straight they had closed the gap. On the last lap I positioned myself well in the top 8 or so. Adam took off just coming out of the last corner and I was a bit slower to react along with the few guys that were in front of me. I came around and began my sprint on the left of the group and was able to bike throw right at the line for 4th place. This ties my best result from last year. My results were getting better and I was confident for the finale in Tacoma.

4th Place



Tacoma Twilight Criterium 6/12/10

To say I was excited for this race would be a understatement. I think alot of racers were excited for this. They were having a brand new Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-SV be the pace car for the PRO 1-2 race later that night. I have been a Lambo fan since I was a kid with several posters on the wall in my room. Of course what kid didn't love the Lamborghini? I guess you loved it or the Ferarri.


This was the first time Tacoma would be hosting a bicycle race of this size. I beleive we had 400+ racers and the final number was over 3,000 spectators. Which is pretty good for a first time race. The course was your standard 4 corner crit. The finish line was on a slight downhill that got steeper the farther down Pacific Ave you went. Which made for a real fun and fast left hand turn onto 12th st. Then you take another left onto A St that gets you onto the back straight which is slightly uphill. I found some info that showed it at about 2-3% gradient. Not terribly bad but enough to keep you on the rivit. Then at the top the road makes a lazy left and then another left which was a wide open corner. As you come back onto the finish straight on the left they had a beer garden set up that already had several people in. See the map below.

I had attached the trailer and Chad and I drove down around noon. We got a great parking spot on the back straight. We set up the area and began warming up with Shawn, myself, Chad, Tim2(Farrel), Mark and Tim1. We headed out to the course after a few minutes on the trainer. It was pretty fast and man you could really take turn 1 wide open with no hands on the breaks.
They called out the top 10 in the series and with my latest finish's and the amount of guys that didn't show up at Boat St in the rain I moved up to 8th place in the series with Tim2 in 9th place.

With me being the highest placed on the series General Classification the goal was to have Chad (Chadicus) lead me or Tim2 out at the finish line. Whoever was there at the end Chadicus was the lead out man. We call him Chadicus because he reminds us of Sparticus better know as Fabian Cancellera. He has the same body type with big legs and a big strong engine with a good sprint. Perfect. The race got under way and Matt from Recycled took off with a Junior from Rad Racing for 2 laps. We brought them back and through out the race I stayed close to Chad near the front.


A few times we got seperated but I would get back behind him and yell Major. Thats our call sign letting your teammate know you are behind them. It stands for our sponsor, Major Taylor Project. Coming around the last corner and getting on the front straight about halfway through the race I reached down and got a drink from my water bottle to see a guy directly in front of me basically lean to the right and shoulder Tim2. Now I was not in the position to take any action with one hand on the bars and a bottle in my other hand. Everything went in slow motion from this point. I put my bottle in the cage some how as fast as I could while Tim2 and the other guy kept bumping each other right before they hit the pavement. Tim2's rear tire blew right before they got to the point of no return. I immediately went to the drops and grabbed a handful of brakes. I got to much front brake though and had the rear wheel in the air for a spit second. I was pretty close to eating pavement face first. I let off the brakes and got the rear tire back on the ground as the bodies slid to the right out of the way. The guy's bike that took Tim2 out wasn't moving as fast as I wanted and I had no where to go. I went light on the front end and rode right over the back of his wheel. My bike got a little loose but I was able to get it back under control and again couldn't believe what just happened on a straightaway. We were just past start finish so we were moving along pretty good around 25-28 mph. Kyle from Recycled rode up and said nice save. Another close call that shouldn't have happened. As we came back around for the next lap I was shocked to see Tim2 back out on his bike getting back in the main field. He has now earned the nickname of Tim "the beast" Farrel. He had blood all over his arms and legs with his kit ripped on his hip. What a warrior. He would later get stitches in his knee and his legs and arms had some good road rash. After that accident not much else happened. Mark went to the front and set the pace for a lap or so. Shawn, Chad and myself were together for a few laps then it was just Chad and I. The last lap comes around and we moveed up to the front 20. We had a tough time getting any further up and in turn 3 a group of 7 got a bit of a gap on the rest of us. Chadicus turned it on and we moved up to around 15th or so and kept that position until we got to the top of the hill.

By that time Chadicus was pretty well blown so I went around him and began my sprint down the hill. I was able to get a few guys before the line then again was able to throw the bike at the line to beat a guy for 9th place.

I was kinda mad that was the best I could muster after last weeks performance but Chad and I both didn't have much more we could have done. Maybe being at the front earlier but that also takes alot of effort so I was generally ok with 9th. After the race we were told the finishing camera was not working and several people were listed as DNF including me. I went to the finish line and said I finished in the top 10 only to be told, no you probably finished in 14th. Anyways long story short they placed me in 14th place and I really had no evidence that I finished higher than that. I got home that night and Tim1 who raced Masters later that day got a picture of me. Then a video also shows me clearly getting 9th. I sent both to the officials and we are waiting for the overall series points to be fixed as well as this race. Overall I am listed as 7th. Not bad for only doing 5 races. I can't wait for next year's Cascadia Crit Series.

Tacoma 9th
GC 7th

Photos from Tim1 and a couple from http://www.wheelsinfocus.com/

Thailand

I must say after The Tour of Walla Walla I was ready for a break. I did do Vance Creek Road Race on Sunday 4/25/10 and finished somewhere in the mid pack around 20th or so. Pretty similar to last years finishing position but I was tired and felt like a break from the bike was needed for sure. That following Tuesday Lindsay and I boarded a plane headed for Thailand. Her sister lives in Bangkok so we spent some time with her then went out to Campodia and did 3 days there touring Angkor Wat and Angkor Tom. Then we headed to Krobi and spent 5 days on the beach. Then flew back to Bangkok for another night before we headed back home. We did alot of flying but all in all it was one of the best experiences I have had.

Angkor Wat was amazing. These temples were built in the 9th and 10th century and the engineering and the amount of rock that was used to build these massive temples is mind blowing. I was very interested in hearing the history of it from our tour guide Chet and I wish that this stuff was taught more in school or atleast when I was in school. Cambodia also opened my eyes a bit and made me thankful that I live in the good ole USA. I wish we had the patience of these great people though. Same goes for Thai people too.
Anyways here are a few pictures to show off the great experience we had.








The detail was amazing especially since it was done in the 10th century



The Beach

Tour of Walla Walla 2010

I love Walla Walla. Although I don't like the amount of time it takes to drive their from Seattle but I really like the city and the weather. Lindsay and I headed over around 1pm on Friday. We had enough time to get in a nice 45 min ride from the Capri Motel with Adam from Arrivee Endurance Sports/uBrdo.

The clouds were doing some funny things but sure did look cool.


Time Trial

I did this stage race last year but didn't have any teammates with me so this year was great. We had a several team members this year which made it that much more enjoyable. The TT course is a big U shape with a hill right in the middle. The hill is where I lost the most time. I knew when I started the hill that I was going to have problems. I am not sure what happened to my legs but I couldn't get them to turn over fast enough and thought it would be better to stay in the aero position rather than get up out of the saddle. Once over the hill I set a good pace but I already knew I wouldn't be able to make up to much time.
2009 24.59 22nd (Category 5)
2010 24.07 45th (Category 4)

This was my focus race for my early season training so I was hoping for much better results and to start it in 45th, 3:03 behind the winner was tough. However to see my teammate, Jed Barden in 16th place was fantastic. He has been racing really well this year and it was exciting to have one of our teammates in the top 20. Back to the drawing board for me and the TT bike.

Downtown Walla Walla Criterium

We went back to the motel and I relaxed while Lindsay and Amy Harrington went to do some wine tasting. I put the legs up and watched some tv in and out of napping. The unfortunete thing was that our Crit course was going to be cut short because of a funeral taking place. Instead of the full 1.1 mile 8 corner course we were doing the .5 mile course with 6 corners for 25 minutes. We made sure we were their plenty of time ahead of the start so we could get our place at the front of the line of 85 starters. This was going to be fast.

I got away well and tucked in behind the lead group. During the start Jed got together with someone which isn't uncommon when you have that many guys trying to get clipped in and going. It was still a really fun course even though it was shortened. Everyone behaved well in the group with only a few bumping going on. I stayed up near the front and my plan was to try and get in the top 10 for the last lap in order to launch myself for the sprint. I wasn't able to get there and finished 16th.

Jed continued his race but was falling back pretty steady and couldn't figure out what was going on. Come to find out he broke a spoke on his bike at the start line. So he was pedaling with an out of true wheel that was grinding on his brakes for several laps. Shawn made the time cut on the crit so he was happy with that. Travis had some issues with his pedal and crank arm so he wasn't able to stay in touch with the pack. Mark rode a great race and finished with the group in the top 30.

Waitsburg Road Race
58 miles 4300ft of climbing

The major climb of this race is about 3k long or 1.8 miles and at the summit of the climb is the finish line. We had the neutral roll out at the bottom of the hill and they controlled the lead car at about 8 mph. As soon as we got to the top of the climb it was game on. Our team goal was to keep Jed close to the front and help him anyway possible. Jed was the teams best chance of having a good result with the finish being at the top of the climb. He climbs very well and does better on longer climbs so this was right up his alley.

As we came over the hill from the neutral roll out I could here a ting sound coming from my front tire. I put my hand on the tire to clean it off and sure enough I had something stuck in the front tire right in the middle. It appeared to be a tack or staple. The tire held air and I looked over to Shawn and asked him what I should do. He told me to just ride it as long as possible. Which looking back now that was a smart move. The start of the race was fast as it was mostly downhill. Matt from Recycled Cycles took off on a flyer and had a good size gap on the field for several miles. I kept thinking about possibly trying to bridge up to him but then kept thinking about my front tire. I made it 11 miles before it started to go soft. I thankfully was on the shoulder side of the road and was easily out of everyones way. I came to a stop and the follow car with the neutral wheel support was stopped and running up with a front wheel. We got it on in about 30 seconds and I was off. I chased for probably 5 miles before I was able to connect back on. It seemed like forever. The mental aspect of chasing solo was tiring. I kept fighting with myself as my legs were burning and my brain kept saying to stop, they are too far away. I resorted to actually yelling at myself out loud which was kinda strange but hey, it seemed to work. The last 50 yards before I connected back on the pack was the worse. You are so close but you can't stop, you have to push even harder to make sure you get back on. I rode up to Mark and he immediately moved over so he was on my right side and even let me hold onto him for a bit. Thats a teammate. I only had about 3 miles before the big hill and I knew I was going to be in trouble. I spent so much energy trying to connect back on. As we started climbing I started falling back. Thankfully Shawn and Mark were there. Shawn towed Mark and I up the hill. We were gapped off the back and you could see the peleton was splintered into 3 groups. We were in the last group of 5. Now it was time to go to work. All the team rides we did this winter practicing pace lines came in handy. One of the guys that was with us I don't think ever worked a paceline before but we were able to talk to him and get him sorted out. We could see the 2nd group but we just didn't seem to be closing the gap any. Just as we came around a corner the 2nd big hill on the course came into view. Uh oh. Boom. Mark blew up, Shawn blew up and it was just me chasing one of the guys from our group who gapped us on the climb. Damn, I was chasing solo, again! This sucked. I could just make out the group ahead of me and it appeared the whole peleton was back together again. I chased solo for several miles again and could see the one guy from our chase group reconnect. Then I came up to Jordan from SCCA/Starbucks who just got a flat changed. I slowed a little bit and waited for him to catch on. Jordan did alot of the work to get us back up to the group but I helped as much as I could. We connected back on and I moved up to the front to let Jed know I was back in the main group. I shoved as much food down as I could and just sat at the front of the race. Jed took a couple turns at the front attacking the field to see if he could get away. He came back and we were on the yellow line cruising along when someone started moving around and bumbing Jed and Jeff from SCCA/Starbucks. Next thing I know is Jed's in the air crashing down right in front of me doing about 30 mph. I grabbed my breaks and got sideways avoiding the bikes and bodies. I got hit in the leg by a body part but was able to stay upright. I knew Jed was going to be in bad shape. It kinda freaked me out a bit for several miles. He went down pretty hard. It wasn't a easy hit the pavement type of crash. I was pretty pissed as we were on the yellow line not doing anything and someone just lost concentration and caused an accident that included my teammate. The rest of the race was just a blur really. I knew I wasn't going to be anywhere near the front group on the climb so I just planned to pace myself up the hill.


I finished in 50th place, 3 minutes back from the winner. Overall in the GC I was
46th out of 100. The best thing ever was the orange slices, banana slices and water at the finish line!

Aftermath
Amy, Lindsay, and I waited around for about a hour before Shawn and Mark showed up. They come up to Jed still laying in the gravel shoulder in pain. Apparently they do not have cell service where we were so the follow car was unable to get a ambulance up there. They all hopped in the truck and took Jed to the hospital where they pass the ambulance on the way. From the information Shawn and Mark got it wasn't good. His shoulder was messed up and he had severe road rash. Imagine jumping out of a car in your underwear doing 30 mph. Not a good picture. We went to the emergency room and saw Jed who was actually in good spirits. He was able to get some pain meds and get his shoulder put back in. Which was dislocated. So far though the X-rays on his knee, hand and shoulder were ok. No signs of breaks. His shoulder might have had a hairline fracture but they weren't sure yet. Heal up soon Jed and we hope and need you back soon!

Volunteer Park Crit & Olympic View Road Race

In preperation for the coming Tour of Walla Walla I did a couple races back to back.

The first was Volunteer Park Criterium Saturda which was my first time attending. I really enjoyed the course. It had a fast descent down thru a corner and you carried most of your speed half way up the hill before coming to a false flat before the finish line. If anything the false flat seemed to be the hardest part for me. We raced for 40 minutes and it was fast. Shawn and I decided to hit the bathroom one last time before we lined up. As we came out, the line up had already begun and we were at the back. This seems to always happen and one of these days we will get it right and be the first in line. From the word go I was going to have to be on my "A" game to get through the pack to the front. I knew the pack was going to get completely shelled and those first few minutes were brutal. The course is hard to explain but after you go past the start finish line you make a quick left and then a semi circle right around the water tower and then a quick left and down the hill you go with it being a right hand sweeper. Anything with alot of fast corners or any corners for that matter I will take all day long over false flats and hills. Although I guess I have to take the good with the bad on the hill part. Anyways it was alot of fun making up spots on the corners and bombing down the hill. We had roughly 70 starters for this race. The last couple laps were hectic going up the hill section as the guys at the back of the group of 30 would catch up to the front really fast on the hill. This created alot of swerving and a few crashes happened. I was at the back of the group and almost was caught out a couple times. Thankfully I never hit the deck. We came around for the last lap and I knew I was totally spent and had nothing left. I hung on going up the hill then just kinda blew my whistle like Lindsay's tea pot does in the morning. The legs said enough and I just soft pedaled across the finish line about 15 seconds behind the winner. Jed did well to finish in the top 15. Out of over 70 starters we finished with 36 and I came in 34th. My heart rate date showed an average heart rate of 175 bpm. Which for me is pretty much pegged the whole race, my max is around 196 bpm.

On to Sunday. My alarm went off at 4 am. Yup 4 am. I got my stuff together and met up with Travis, Tim3 and Tina at Renton park and ride. We all piled into Travis' Land cruiser and off we were. The news had been warning everyone about the work they are doing on I-5 south so we thought it better to leave early. We arrived at a gas station to get some coffee and apparently this little stop was the place to be. Tim3 mixed it up with the locals that were in line. My normal coffee of choice is a double tall non-fat vanilla latte. Cost here in the city is almost $4, I think $3.90 to be exact. Coffee at this little window at the gas station was $2.87! Must be the small overhead for that price difference but I suspect its the reality of living in the city.

We arrived to some light rain and for some reason I couldn't get warm enough. Travis was the same and we layered up thinking it was 30 degrees out. I had hand warmers, toe warmers, 3 undershirts, my vest, leg warmers and two sets of arm warmers. That is alot of clothing. We were racing 54 miles of a 18 mile loop. Shawn and Tina did some recon on the course last weekend and came back with its a mix of Mason Lake and Tour de Dung in Sequim, rolling hills and mostly flat with chip seal. This course was alot of fun. The first lap was pretty chill until we got to the 90 degree downhill right turn. I moved up on the inside of the turn as everyone fanned out to the left to carry momentum into the right. After that it was a quick left, right then over a bridge then you were 3k from the finish line. This is where we had a group of 20 or 30 that split the group up. We probably could have completely stayed away but the guys at the front sat up a bit and the rest of the peleton caught back on. Which was ok because we were moving pretty good and it took alot of effort to catch back on. I think it was Matt from Recycled Cycles that took off the front on the next lap and stayed away for a bit. Its fun to get away for a bit until the pain sets in and then its not so much fun especially by yourself. We gobbled him up just before the biggest climb on the course. I was telling Shawn that we need to hold a "drinking and racing or racing and eating clinic". You really had to keep your focus because several guys were very swervy when drinking or trying to dig out some food. I am not the best rider by any means but I think I can do those things fairly well. Mark Taylor from SCCA/Starbucks was behind Shawn and I and told us after the race he thought this little conversation was pretty funny. Shawn and I were chatting it up and Shawn was crackin jokes when you hear the horrible sound of air seaping out of someones tire. We both looked at each other and Shawn said "you got a flat". I then looked at him and said, "no, you got a flat". Then at that moment Shawn disappeared to the back. Poor guy, two road races in a row. He was able to get a neutral wheel though and still finished. Good job. It was down to Travis and I. Several teams had big numbers like Recycled Cycles, Cucina Fresca, Bikesale.com, and Firstrate Morgage. We left the pace making to those teams and just hung on as long as possible. Travis did really well and we stayed close for most of the race. Once we got to the last climb which is about 2 miles from the finish the pace increased. I think this is where Travis said he went to the back of the group. I stayed close to the front for the downhill 90 degree right turn and moved up some more spots on the inside. Then I really hit the gas and so did Bikesale.com as they had 3 guys at the front setting the pace for the finish. As we got to the 1k to go sign I positioned myself behind a real fast guy, Phil Spencer of Lenova. I knew he would be a good wheel to follow. When we got to 200 meters I was out of the saddle sprinting but had to sit down because guys were moving to the left and not holding there line. I got back up out of the saddle and was able to come across the line in 6th place. Travis was able to finish with the pack. Bikesale.com had the numbers and controlled the race when it counted and won. That is how its done and congrats to them. Good job to our Cat 5 team with Tim3 finishing in the top 10 and Rhae finishing in the top 5 for the Womens Cat 1,2,3 race. Heal up fast Mario and we hope to see you back on the bike soon!!

Stay tuned for Walla Walla...

IVRR 2010

This is what Independence Valley Road Race looked like this time last year.

This year it was fantastic, mid 50's and sun. A huge relief compared to what we endured last year. Which by the way is still my #1 worse day ever on my bicycle. The race started on the wrong foot for sure. During the neutral roll out the lead car decided to take a quick left hand turn into some driveway. This almost caused some 60 racers to hit the deck. That was a little annoying that our lead car didn't know where they were going but kinda comical too. No harm no foul. The job for Shawn, John and myself was to keep Jed blocked out of the wind and put the hurt on the other teams. The first climb is 2 miles into the race with a 5% gradient and that broke things up a bit and I was able to get closer to the front where Jed was. Once we were on the flat section on the back side I moved right to the front and had Jed get on my wheel. I set a fairly hard pace and Jed had to tell me to slow down a couple times. I rotated out and let some other teams take some pulls. A couple Bikesale.com guys went to the front and got a gap on the field and I jumped up to the front again and brought them back. It was fun being the grunt and I was just hoping as my legs began to burn a couple times that it would pay off and make the field smaller. The 2nd climb really isn't much and only has a 2% gradient so we all stayed together. The race was going to be 2 laps with each lap being 20 miles. I hadn't seen any other teammates so I figured they were in the 2nd group and it was just Jed and I. Come to find out later Shawn flatted 5 miles into the race. Total bummer. The pace on the first lap was pretty fast and from what I heard after the race that 2nd group stayed fairly close for a little while but lost touch before the 2nd climb. I am not sure if my brain was not working but again I decided to go on a flyer. At the time I was thinking I would go hard before the climb in hopes of making the field chase me. I stood up and sprinted off the front and got a good gap then sat down and started pacing myself. A guy bridged up to me and tapped me on the back as he went by and said come on. I jumped on his wheel and we worked together and got a nice little lead on the main field. I was starting to tire pretty quickly. I sat up and told him I was done just as we came around the corner for the 1st climb. He actually gave me some encouraging words before I sat up so that was real nice of him. As soon as I saw the climb I knew I was done. At that point I cussed myself for going on a flyer. The main field went by me and was gone up and over the hill. I struggled up the hill and got to the descent and really tried my best to catch back up to as many guys as I could. I passed a few and then messed up on the right turn at the bottom of the hill and lost alot of momentum. I was confused as to what the volunteer was doing at the corner. I thought she was pointing at the car that was coming and that had stopped but she was actually pointing me in the direction I was supposed to go. Oops. I ate some food and recovered a bit then set out on setting a decent pace and catching as many as I could. I came in and finished 24th out of 50. Jed was able to finish in the top 15 but its hard to say what would have happened if I would have stayed with him the whole race. You know the "don't leave your wingman Mav" feeling. I hope the pain I suffered during the first lap caused some others pain as well.

I get a weekend off of racing which will be enjoyed with the wife and dogs camping somewhere away from the city, then busy again training for Walla Walla next month.

Pacific Raceway's Cycling Season Opener

Several of the teammates were a bit disappointed in how we performed at the first two races of the season at Tour de Dung-eness as a team. We talked and talked about how we can do better, but you just never know how it will turn out until you are actually in the moment.
Last year we did pretty well at PR towards the end of the season. We consistently had a Cycle U team member on the podium for several races in a row. This is where I found that I could sprint. The "plan" for the evening was to have a few guys try and get off the front. That is virtually impossible when they run the flat course at PR but it does create a higher pace which is good. Tim2 and Shawn took several monster pulls at the front and got away a few times for a couple minutes before the pack gobbled them up. After that we as a team stayed together for the most part and just sat in the pack and stayed out of trouble. The last lap came around and I stuck to the back of John Wendle's wheel and the blue train started to form. Tim2 started out at the front pulling hard then Travis came around and took his turn going around turn 9 on the outside of the pack. The plan was to take the pack on the outside of Turn 9 as everyone always dives to the inside of that corner and we can carry a little bit more speed on the outside and move right up the front. Travis was still pulling when Shawn came out of nowhere and went straight to the front and took over for Travis. Shawn took huge pulls and to this point we had the front of the race controlled with nobody able to get by. I was still stuck to John's wheel. He had a SCCA/Starbucks guy and an unattached racer in between him and Shawn at the front. Shawn finished his pull and then the sprint started a little earlier than I expected. The unattached guy took off and then the SCCA/Starbucks guy took off. I stayed on John's wheel and he began his sprint to stay with them. I stayed in the saddle for about 15 seconds more then took off around John. I probably waited to long but they took off pretty early and I thought they would blow up before the line. As I came around John the unattached was on my left and Brian/SCCA was to the right. I went by the unattached and moved over to get in Brian's slipstream. Brian is a pretty big guy compared to me so I was just getting into his draft when he took a peek behind him and saw me coming and moved to the left to break the draft. That was it as we came across the line. I slapped him on the back and told him that was the winning move and I took 2nd. The team did great and the lead out from John was great with him getting 4th place. It’s like being a proud parent almost. Everyone on the team had a job to do and everyone accomplished it well. Shawn, Tim2 and Travis did alot of work at the front through out the race and then were still there at the end to put in a serious effort. I am a bit disappointed I missed Brian's wheel to stay in his draft but lesson learned and 2nd is ok for now.

Tour de Dung # 2

The alarm started going off at 4:30 am Saturday morning. I decided to save some money and head to Sequim the morning of the race with a couple other teammates. I met Shawn and Tim at 5:30 at Shawn's place and we went down to catch the ferry at 6:10 am. Getting out of the car to see all the other cars on the boat, 90% had bikes on them. Then I proceeded to trip walking up the stairs, obviously still not awake yet. We arrived at the course at 7:30 and began to get set up.

All of this for a 50 mile bike race. If I was to tell some normal person who does not ride a bike they really would look at you like you were crazy. I'm happy to be apart of the craziness though.

Our plan for this race was pretty much the same as it was the week before. Get to the front on the last lap and lead out a sprint or try and get in a break away. We are getting better but we still missed our goal. The race started really fast and we were up to 24 mph before we really went more that 1k from the start. Apparently no neutral roll out this week. The first lap as usual was fast and a couple guys shot off the front trying to get in a break. I remember saying to myself "let them go" when the 3rd attempt at getting away went up the road. Of course it didn't happen and we all stood up and sprinted to a pace that would bring them back. Once again SCCA/Starbucks was up at the front the entire race with 2-4 guys bringing back everything that went up the road. Shawn was up there for the first 2 laps as well doing some work. We came around for the 2nd lap and just went over one of the small hills on the back side of the course and I was 10th wheel or so next to the center line and decided I would give it a go at getting away. I stood up and sprinted off the front of the group and held it for about a minute. I thought the motorcycle official would have stayed in front of me but I went right by him and just tried to keep a decent pace. The problem with my move where I did it was the course is straight and flat for several miles and I had to deal with the wind. I should have went about 3k from the next hill because shortly after that is a descent and a corner. I think that would have been a better place to try and get away. Atleast that is what I kept telling myself which didn't help my confidence much. I actually got a pretty good gap on the field and took a couple looks behind me and was really surprised by how far I got. I was waiting for someone to try and bridge up to me so we could work together but nobody did. After 10 minutes or so I decided I would sit back up and wait for everyone. The beginning of the 4th lap the whole Cycle U team got together mid pack as discussed prior to race and went to the front of the race and started to do some pulling. After a few minutes we all got seperated and that was it for us. Jed tried getting away a couple times during the last lap but kept getting pulled back by the group. We all tried again to get to the front but were never able to. Jed was our top finisher of 16th, I was 19th, Shawn was 23rd and everyone else was mid pack. SCCA/Starbucks once again dominated and won the race.

We did improve on a few things as a group and keep learning as a team which is important. Tuesday night races start again at Pacific Raceways so we will be there as a team practicing our team tactics.

Next race is Independence Valley Road Race. It snowed last year at this race which was an experience I never want to go through again.

Tour de Dung race 1

This is my first road race this year. I did this race last year as a category 5 and really enjoyed it. The roads are good and wide with a nice shoulder a few small hills to keep you honest but mostly a flat course. It is a 12 mile loop and we would be doing 4 laps for a total of 48 miles. Most of the team arrived Friday night and we met for dinner at what is now going to be our annual restuarant, Alder Wood Bistro.

We awoke to bright sunshine and beautiful views of the mountains around Sequim. I really like the area and the weather, as it’s mostly sunny. The teams plan for the category 4 race was to try and get someone in a break if one went and if not then to be there at the finish controlling the race. Unfortunately we weren't able to do either of those. We did get in a brief break as Jon went off the front for a short period of time. Getting away in the cat 4 field is pretty hard. We had a good squad at the race with Shawn, Travis, Mark, Jon, Chris and myself. I think we were a bit out gunned though as SCCA/Starbucks and Bikesale.com had a lot of numbers too.

The race kicked off at 10:05 and I was mid pack for the first lap. Just after we got done with the neutral roll out, I could hear the sounds of someone crashing behind me before we got to a turn. It turned out to be Travis who got bumped by another rider and then it was a domino effect that took him out with a bad front wheel. He was ok we would later find out but that hurt our game plan a bit as Travis has a good engine. The race went on and was fairly fast the first 2 laps and we had some wind to deal with as well but it wasn't too bad. The 3rd lap was pretty slow and I was moving around the peloton looking for our guys and telling them to get ready to move up. I was in a good position at one point and moved up on the right shoulder to 10th wheel or so. Now it was going to get hard.

It’s easy or fairly easy to stay mid pack but as soon as you get to the front it gets hard to stay as everyone wants to be in your spot. I moved up to 4th wheel at one point and the next thing I knew I was back 20 wheels or so. I could see the SCCA/Starbucks team had 2-3 guys up at the front the whole time along with Bikesale.com who had several as well. It was going to be hard to be there at the end with both of those teams. I faught to stay in the top ten going into the last 4 miles and figured I would get in on the SCCA/Starbucks train if I could as I know several of those guys and have raced real close with them most of last year. I had a guy in front of me from another team that kept moving left to right which made me real nervous as my front wheel kept touching is back tire. I moved over to the right a bit and got behind 2 SCCA guys and followed them through the 1k to go sign. Now the pace was hot and we were doing around 30 mph coming to the 200m sign where they open up both lanes of the road for the final sprint to the line. Someone on my right started the sprint and I followed as all I could see was yellow on both sides of me from Bikesale.com. The SCCA/Starbucks boys were still at the front and I was in the top 5 with about 100 meters to go but was getting pinched from both sides from guys not holding there lines. I decided to sit up as I wasn't going to fight with all of them and honestly didn't feel I had enough kick left in my sprint to make my way past all of them. Plus it was looking pretty dangerous and I had a feeling. That feeling could have been the reason I sat up and coasted to the line in 25th position. That feeling could also have been seeing the future of what might happen. Either way I am glad that feeling came up because as soon as I crossed the line it was carnage all over the road. It was an amazing thing to see happen right in front of me. Here is a picture right before it happened.

I am not a NASCAR fan at all but it reminded of the races when they have big crashes at the end. Imagine this, two guys to the left came together and went down and bounced off the road down in the ditch. Then 2 more in front of me came together and bikes were flying in the air. I moved over to the right to avoid them and one guy was sliding on the pavement and got hit by the guy in front of me who then shot over his handlebars. His bike reached out and grabbed my foot trying to get me to join the party. Thankfully the offer wasn't enough to get me on the ground. It shot me to the right down the 2ft ditch and into a field where I was able to ride it out like "cyclocross". Man what a crazy race and a crazy ending. Road race #1 done.

Lets see what Tour de Dung #2 brings.

Ice Breaker TT

Ouch!
I must say this time trial was much harder for me than the Frostbite TT last weekend. The course was the major factor in my struggles. It is a very twisty road and would be considered flat but does have some slight rises that made it difficult for me to maintain a steady speed and I was constantly shifting gears to keep my cadence up. It is a 10 mile course with 5 miles out with a turn around. My position on the bike still needs some work. I was moving around alot on the bike which was annoying when trying to get comfortable and in a rythm.

The place was packed full of racers and in my category 4/5 we had 111 starters. We had another great showing for Cycle University to with 18 racers. This was the last time trial I will do until I head to Walla Walla for the 2 day stage race in April. Hopefully by then I will be able to get my TT position fixed. The benefit of doing these races was huge though. I now know the course profile I prefer and also know I need more work on my position. My time was 24:39.7 good enough for 22nd out of 76 which was 2 minutes off of the winner. I am taking the positive approach to this as I feel I have atleast another minute in me if I can get myself sorted out on the bike. Plus I will have another month of fitness in my legs.


We will be rolling over to Sequim next weekend for the Tour de Dung race so stay tuned.

Frostbite Time Trial

This year I was able to get a spare bike from my dad who had his old Raleigh Grand Prix in the garage. I got the bike fitted to me by Ed@Cycle U to make sure it fit. Its a bit smaller of a frame than what I currently race on. Now I just need the speed to go with it. I have been taking it to my InCycle classes at the West Seattle Cycle U leading up to the race to get used to being in full aero while trying to put the power out. Ed Ewing has been great with helping me in class get the perfect fit. We are close but he thinks I could be a bit more forward, a work in progress.

The race was the Frostbite TT and is the first race of the year. Its located up in Everett on a flat course 9 miles total with a turn around point halfway. The weather couldn't have been better with clear sunny skies. This also helped sell out the race for a record of 300 racers. Everyone was a bit worried how it would go down but the organizers did a great job. Good work Footworks & IJM.org. Travis Dougan was able to start the season with the first start time.


Everyone looked really sharp in the new kits designed by Charlie Bartlett. Everyone on the team had very good times especially for the first race of the season. Rhae our Cat 1 Pro for the ladies destroyed her field with a time 1 minute faster than anyone else. She is pretty much pro.
My time was in the top 20 which I was kinda disappointed in, 19th just doesn't sound fun. I was hoping to be in the top ten but I guess I am close, I was 1 minute off of the time of 4th place. I lined up for my 9:21.30 start time with about 45 minutes of warming up. The holder has your seat while you clip into the pedals and the official counts down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and your off. I have spent alot of time this winter reading as much as I can in regards to your position on the bike and how to do a time trial start to finish. I quickly got up to my pace as fast as I could and settled into the "aero" position on the bike. There was a slight head/side wind on the way to the turn-around point. I read some information that said you should go as hard as you can into the wind and not take it easy. Everyone will be trying to make up time on the way back. This is where you should be able to make up time on your competitors who might be going easier into the head wind. I had to mess with my bike computer a bit to get my speed up on the screen so that was a mistake I should have had done prior to my start. Then in the first 2 minutes my heartrate monitor stopped working. This was distracting and I realized after my TT that the next TT I will either have tape over it or not wear it at all. When I raced motorcycles we put tape over our speedometers because you really don't want to know that your doing 110 mph dragging your knee through a corner with the bike trying to kick you off. Same basic logic for a time trial, you are going full gas for maybe 25 minutes and managing your calories or heartrate is nothing but a distraction. After that I settled in and tried maintaining my speed at about 23 mph and slowly started catching the person in front of me. I was able to pass the person right before the turn around point. I dove to the inside of the turn to make sure he knew I was there. Then came out of the turn and powered back up to speed. I could see another person a bit up the road. I settled in to a good rythm and planned on catching them before the finish. Leading up to the 1k to go sign I was close now to the guy in front of me. I moved over to go around him and shifted into my biggest gear and went for it. I was cruising at 28-30 mph. I had nothing left when I went across the finish line besides the snot and spit that had stuck to my face. I quickly wiped that off and soft pedaled for a bit to recover.
So I finished 19th out of 64 with a time of 21:49

Update on 2010!

Its been since September 2009 since my last writing or post or blog or whatever the term is for 2010. Let see here, I finished off the last post in Bremerton at the wet Blackberry Crit then later that month I did the High Pass Challenge again that climbs up to Mt St Helens with over 7500 feet of climbing and a total of 114 miles. I was one of the 112 out of 538 that finished in the Gold Standard (starting at 7am & finishing before 2pm), which I missed out on in 2008 so that was the goal going into it for 2009. Then after that I did nothing!!! I had my bachelar party which included playing paintball, go-carts and lots of drinking. Then I got married to my lovely wife on a 3 day cruise to Vancouver, Wa.

Then 2 weeks later we had another wedding or I guess its the reception so we could celebrate with everyone and I could really lock her down as my wife. Its been alot of fun and we are now planning our trip to Thailand for our honeymoon.

This year Cycle University Road Race Team is much stronger than it was last year. We have grown a little bit but I think the core have also gotten much stronger with a year under everyone's belt. All the new guys that have joined are serious about racing and they all have strong qualities. Our stongest guy on the team Rolly took a job in the Bay area so that kinda hurts having him leave the team like that for a job? Na we are glad he has a job and I am sure he will be kicking some arse down there in San Fran and he will be joining us on the weekends when he is in town. I am a Co-Captain of the team along with Shawn Harrington and Greg Snyder. We have been able to structure the team a bit more this year and Cycle U has really been 100% behind all of our ideas and are really supporting us so its going to be a awesome season.

My training this year has been much more consistent with Ed Ewing as my coach and doing InCycle at the West Seattle Cycle U. I really believe that the last half of last year I was much more fit and competitive because I had a coach. The season is almost upon us with the Frostbike Time Trial on 2/28. I borrowed, let say, a bike from my dad that he had and purchased time trial bars, brakes and shifters for it. Its not the most aerodynamic set up but it will be much better than the road bike. Plus I have the space helmet that Lindsay loves to go along with it. Then we hit the Sequim, Tour de Dung Series and Mason Lake Series in March.

Yesterday was our first real team ride at race pace. The goal was to get warmed up after 15-20 miles and then hammer it the last 20 miles or so. Of course the rain came and we were all soaked and muddy but it was alot of fun. The burn in the legs was welcomed with open arms.