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