High Pass Challenge

Thanks to Mike at Cascade bike club.

7500+ft of climbing. 113 miles.

90 degree heat.
4700 calories burned.
Started at 7:15am and finished at 1:55pm

Good day. I finished in time to get a gold medal.

Does bike hair get any better?



I'm horrible at self portraits as this photo confirms. Mt St Helens is not in the picture. Damn!

Ronde Ohop Kermesse

The word "Epic" sometimes gets used too often when describing certain things that one does.
Epic, based in the english dictionary lists as Poetry but I like these other definations better.
Define epic:
-an episode in the lives of men in which heroic deeds are performed or attempted
or
-of heroic or impressive proportions:

That is the best way to describe this race. Several of my friends did it last year and said it was the funnest race they have ever done. So I figured I would give it a try this year.
Fun yes but it was one of the hardest races I have ever done. Walla Walla earlier this year is still the hardest race I have done. The Ronde Ohop though is on a different level. I just don't think I was mentally prepared for how hard it was going to be. Gabe and I arrived nice and early. The weather was flat out beautiful with Mt Rainier in the background. For this race some used Cross bikes and others like myself used our road bikes. I put on 25c tires instead of the 23c I normally ride. The 25c are a bit taller so that helps with not getting pinch flats and hopefully adds a little bit more cusion.

We did a few laps on the dirt section of the course only for me to get stung by a bee. Great. This isn't starting out to well. Forgot how much those little bastards hurt.

The race was going to start with a 6 mile loop that we would do twice. Then on the second loop instead of going right we would go straight and head back to where the cars were parked. Once on that road (Mashel Loop) the real race would begin. We would do 10 laps of a loop that included 1 mile of paved road and a 1.25 miles of dirt. I figured the dirt road would just be easy dirt but there were head size boulders sticking out in some areas and the majority of the rocks were fist size. Lets not forget the 300 ft of climbing we had to do in the dirt section every lap.

The race started and as we come into town there is a nice little hill that for whatever reason I have a tough time with. There I was off the back already. I was able to get back on and immediately moved to the front quarter of the pack. We came around again for the last lap on the pavement and I went over the hill just fine. As we got closer to ending our lap and turning down the road where the dirt section was I saw a gap and moved right to the front. There were 4 of us up there putting in some serious work to stay there. I was 4th as we entered the dirt. An Apex guy missed the apex (Now thats funny) of the corner and almost took Jason his new teammate out (our ex teammate). That pushed Jason and myself to the outside of the corner and Andrew Eisner had a direct line into the corner to take the lead. Jason was able to get back around his teammate and chased Andrew down and formed the early break of 2. I hung in between 3rd and 9th for the first 4 laps. Our pack dwindled down every lap as we would drop guys in the dirt section. We were down to 4 guys when I lost the tow going up the hill in the dirt. My hands started to cramp from gripping the bars so hard. It was mentally really tough. I dropped back through the pack as guys began catching me. My legs were having a really tough time now in the dirt.
Everytime I came by start finish I never knew how many laps were left because I couldn't see the lap board as the official was standing in front of it. I came around and I could see Andrew running down the road with his bike. I thought that is strange he must have flatted and is running to the pit. Then he ran by the pit and kept going. Again I still couldn't see the lap board and had no idea this was the last lap. I heard someone yelling sprint as I coasted by Andrew and accross the line. I looked over and oh ya. There was the pit board that show 10 laps. That was it. Game over. Not that I could have done any better but I think I could have made a run at 7th or 8th. I got 9th and I am pretty happy with that. I said I probably won't do that race again but considering its been a few weeks it was a pretty awesome experience. My bike computer could be off a bit due to the taller tires but it said I averaged 20mph. Which is dang fast on the dirt.

A total bummer but Gabe crashed in the dirt section and fractured his pelvis. Click on the title and you can find some pictures from Bike Hugger and a small write up.

Bring on 2012.

Catching up on racing

Well the first race back after getting over MONO didn't go to plan. It was Redmond Derby Days where I finished 8th last year. I wasn't really fond of the course but it was a simple layout of 4 left hand corners and your basic square box. The downfall was all the road turtles that were on the road which made some people more squirly than normal as they tried to avoid them. Palm to face.

With 2 laps to go I decided it was time to move to the front. The plan was to work for Dale and I hung with him for as long as possible and then he told me to go ahead. I got up behind Chad as we started to make I move to the front. I think I was probably 6th wheel or so with Chad in front of me. Two guys were coming off the front on the left and they started to move over on Chad a little faster than I think he suspected. He made a quick move to the right and boom that was it. I was on the pavement. When racing criteriums it is very hard not to half wheel the guy in front of you. Which is what I was doing and when Chad moved over to the right, I had no time to do anything but do a head plant on the pavement. I was at the front of the race where we had a full field of 75. To say it was carnage after I hit the deck would be a little light on words.

I landed on my head and shoulder with my left arm trapped under me. So it took the brunt of the skin removal. We were cruising along at 25 mph so I hit pretty good.

The damage at first was my shoulder as I thought I had broken my collarbone. Then as I moved it around a bit I realized it wasn't broken but then it felt like my scaffoid was cracked. Helmet had a crack about 4 inches long. Then after I got up and moved around a bit I seemed ok besides the missing skin I had. I looked around me and there was bikes and bloody guys all over the place. I immediately felt bad because I was the first guy that went down.
After getting my wounds scrubbed out I went home. Popped some pain pills left over from my sinus surgery and grabbed a beer. Lindsay thought I was crazy when I jumped on my bike the next day! She has been the best nurse you could ask for. Sinus surgery, MONO, then changing bandages. Its been a hard year on me and especially on Lindsay.

Keller Rohrback Road Race:

This was a new race this year and was located down in Eatonville. It was a perfect morning for a bike race. Mt Rainier was in full view and the weather was perfect. This race is apart of the Northwest Summer Cup that includes Boston Harbor Circuit race and the intimidating Ronde Ohop. It listed it as a 11 mile circuit with a few punchy hills. We would do 3 laps. Once on the course I realized they lied to me. There was some pretty significant climbing. Everyone afterwards said the same thing so thankfully it just wasn't me and my non climbing legs. On the 2nd lap I almost got dropped on the hill coming into Eatonville. Thankfully I was able to latch back on and recover. There was a downhill section that was awesome. It was about 2 miles or so from the finish. The downhill was very long and straight for the most part but we took a right turn towards the bottom and then there was another right immediately following. I was in heaven. The 2nd lap I moved to the front and had a clear shot down the hill and coming into those two right handers. I came out of the last turn and checked behind me and I created a small gap. My plan was formed. With about a mile to go there was a medium sized hill and then once ontop of that you got the 1k to go sign with a flat finish. Last lap I move to the front right before the downhill and go for it. I hit the first corner and then the 2nd and almost put it in the ditch as I was going much faster than I had the previous laps. I noticed a guy closing the gap so we worked together for a bit then I tried to go again. I looked back and noticed the field coming with Apex and a couple ex teammates driving it. I sat up right before the climb and called it a day. I think I finished in the 20's or something. Great course and will do it again next year.

Lake Washington Velo #1:
I have done this race the last 3 years and every year something happens to my bike. The first year my shift cable broke during warm-up and I rode my buddies cross bike. The 2nd year my cable broke again on the last lap so I was stuck in my big gear. Then this year I flatted on the first lap and chased the rest of the race. Not sure I will do this race next year.

Boston Harbor Circuit Race:

I have never done this race before so I thought I would give it a go. We would be doing 6 laps of a 6 mile loop. The course was nice with rolling hills and one decent bump heading into the finishing straight. With 1 lap to go 2 guys got away and stayed away. The finish would be for 3rd place. I was in a good position going up the hill and to the surprise of my teammate Gabe I was right next to him. He yelled at me a few times about being surprised I was there which was kinda funny. He was on the yellow line and when we got the 200 meter sign and the whole road he was in perfect position. I was in the middle of the pack and tried to sprint 3 different times but had to sit up do to guys cracking in front of me. Gabe got 5th place and I took home 12th.

LWV #2 Gig Harbor:

This is a 4 mile circuit with 285 ft of climbing every lap. The major hill is right before the 1k to go. It is a 2 part hill which makes it even harder for myself. I really need to work on climbing! As did 2 years ago I went on a little break on the last lap. The plan was to get Sam and or Gabe near the front and then make other teams work to bring me back. I again went on a downhill with a fast right hand turn. Once I was through the turn I checked and had a sizeable gap. I pushed it a little to hard in the beginning of my attempted break and pretty much blew up big style a little bit further down the road. I waited for the pack to catch me and then tried staying at the front which didn't work and I drifted to the back of the pack right before the hill. I came in 4th from last. ha-ha. Not last.

Ronde Ohop:
It gets its own blog!

The Long Road back from Infectious Mononucleosis

I am pretty sure I was feeling the affects of Mono in late April but had no idea what was going on with my body. It takes 4-6 weeks once you are exposed to it before it really shows itself. Then it takes another 4-6 weeks on average to get back to normal. I did some racing in late April and early May. The Vance Creek Road race down in Elma; I got dropped on the first lap and was totally exhausted. Then I raced the Ravensdale race the first weekend of May in horrible conditions that included rain and hail. I finished this race in the pack and felt decent. Then the steady decline began. The emotional roller coast I went through was something I haven't experienced before. I worked for the next week not understanding what was up or down. I was practically in another world at work. Spacing out for hours just staring at nothing happened multiple days. Riding my bike was not even a thought.

After about a week of feeling like this I set a Dr Appt for the next week. I went in and explained my systems and had some X-ray's and some blood work done. We scheduled a stress test for 2 days later and then to go over my blood results. The stress test consisted of getting a whole bunch of wires stuck to your chest and then running on a treadmill. My target heart rate was around 185 bpm. Although my max on the bicycle is closer to 195. I can't recall the last time I ran on a treadmill and it had been about a year since I played soccer. Of course I didn't stretch and my groin started to bother me at the end of the test. They turn the speed up as well as increasing the incline every couple of minutes. It started to really hurt around the 15 min mark and the lady there kept trying to talk to me. Uh, can't you see I am pouring with sweat and my mouth is open and I am huffing and puffin? I still couldn't get my heart rate to the max but got it to 178 bpm just as my groin was screaming at me to stop or I will tear. Apparently, my time of 23 minutes or something was good and listed in the 1% category. After going over my test, he then grabbed my chart and said, "Oh yes, you have mono!! Then he couldn't believe I just produced this test at the level I did. I really didn't know what that meant but was happy to hear I had something wrong with me. At least now I knew, I'm not crazy. He then thought I was just getting over it due to my test results. I was actually just really getting into it because for the next 4 weeks I was in the dumps. I was off work for 2 weeks with 2 weeks of half days. I think I rode my bike 5 times during that period. Every time I felt good I would dive bomb the next day. I didn't have most of the symptoms but my biggest one was, Fatigue. It basically felt like I took sleeping pills and had to stay awake. Little men were hanging off my eyelids trying to pull them down. Going up and down the stairs was enough to wipe me out. Vacuuming the living room would send me to the couch for a 2 hour nap. Every day I woke up feeling ok and by 9 or 10 in the morning I would be toast. Take a nap for 2-3 hours then be up for dinner and back to bed at 8. This was my daily routine for almost 4 weeks. Then as I started to get over it and my energy started to increase my Spleen decided to swell. This is the first week my Spleen as not been swollen for 3 weeks. I'm not sure how I got the so called "kissing disease" but the doc said since I have never had it I could have got it just like any other cold. Thankfully Lindsay has had it so she didn't get it as they say once you have it you normally don't get it twice.

I am happy to say I am virtually back to 100%. I have also been going and getting IV work done which I feel has been helping a lot. My racing has obviously suffered but I did my first race on the 4th of July and finished 12th out of 58. Not bad but my sprint is still slow. I missed several great races that were on the calendar this year but not much I can do. I am just really happy to be back on my bike and have the energy to harass my wife! Hopefully I can gather up enough points before the end of the season to get my Category 3 upgrade. I am still doing the Tuesday night races with the 1,2,3's at Pacific Raceways and last night was the first time I was able to finish with the group since coming back in June.

Onward and upwards!!!

Tour of Walla Walla

All of the other races leading up to the Tour of Walla Walla were just training races. During the winter we establish a goal for the first half of the season with my coach, Ed Ewing. The Tour of Walla Walla has been a goal to do well at or have my performance peak for the last couple years. It generally is always warm over there and provides the first real sweat of the year. This year it felt like we got in the car, drove around western Washington for 4.5 hours and arrived back in Seattle where it was raining and cold. Gabe and I rode over together and got to Walla Walla early so we decided to drive the new road course. The course was switched from Friday’s race to Sunday’s race. It’s a double edged sword seeing the pain you will have to endure 2 days before the race. Its good to know where you are going and any sketchy areas but then again knowing what you will have to go through is not enjoyable either.

Time Trial:

My parents also came over for the weekend. They both enjoy the area and my dad likes wine and as you know Walla Walla is known for its wines. Lindsay missed the trip waiting for her sister to give birth to baby Ronin Shack who arrived Tues night 4/19. I have ridden the TT bike 5 times so far this year and I haven’t ridden it in anger or on the road and only twice with the new aero bars I put on it. All signs leading up to my disastrous TT. What is the saying, “practice makes perfect.” This year has been a year for me to forget all the little things that really matter. Then I thought only warming up for 30 minutes was also ok. This is another case in point of forgetting the little things. The TT is only 9.3 miles so my warm up should have been closer to 1 hour if not a little more. You are full gas from the start to the finish of the Time Trial. I lined up at the gate and felt good.

I took off and sprinted until I got up to my desired speed of about 24 mph and then I settled into my position. I felt good for the first ¼ mile but then I wasn’t able to get my heart rate below 180 bpm. I was practically maxed out. This was going to be a hard 9 miles. I got to the climb which is 3 miles into the TT and stood up to sprint only to whack my knees on my bars. So I sat back down and continued to climb at a snail pace. The lactic acid in my legs was building up and it made it hard to get any power into the pedals. Then I got a case of I can’t breath, my skin suit is too tight (which it isn’t). I unzipped it and felt better and when I got to the top I couldn’t get it to zip back up. Err. I messed with it for a bit and finally got it to zip up before heading down the hill. Then I had to deal with the head wind and some cross winds. My TT was slower than it was the first year I showed up and raced on my road bike with no aero equipment.
60th place out of 80 racers. I was devastated mentally.

Criterium:

As I said I was pretty down after the TT. I couldn’t figure it out. None of the things I mentioned above entered my mind. Lindsay texted me and told me to put my big boy panties on and focus on the crit. I decided I needed to do get angry and take it out in the crit. This course really suites my style as it has 8 corners and all are fairly fast and flat. The pavement is a bit sketchy with several areas with potholes and it’s pretty bumpy. The weather was ok with no rain but the wind was pretty bad on the back side of the course with a heavy head wind. We lined up all 78 of us. I was in the 2nd row and the pop gun sounded we were off. The first few laps were pretty uneventful. As soon as we got to the back side of the course everyone fanned out and nobody wanted to do any work with the head wind. I stayed near the front the majority of the race. I felt really good and couldn’t believe how I felt considering how I was 5 hours ago in the TT. I came up with a new name for some crazies that were in the pack. They are called wave riders. They move from one side of the peloton to the other to catch the fastest line/wave with out even looking. Almost taking out multiple racers in there wake. We had several of those in our race. With 3 laps to go I made sure I was in the front 10. We came around for lap 2 and it was a prime lap worth some bonus seconds for the overall GC. I sat 2nd wheel and decided I wasn’t going to contest it and save my sprint for the finish. As we came around for our last lap I got pushed back a little and had to make some moves on the outside of the last couple corners in order to move up. Finding the best wheel to follow in criteriums for the final sprint is difficult. Especially racing with a bunch of guys you aren’t familiar with. Several guys went with 500 meters to go and I stayed seated and just turned it up a bit. I was on the outside of the course when I came around the wheel I had been following. I realized then I should have gone sooner. I closed the gap considerably to the front 3 but I was still gaining speed when we got to the line. Then I see a photographer standing 15 ft past the finish line directly in front of me. I yelled at him to move and had to duck and lean on the guy to my right so I wouldn’t hit him. That was close. I came in 5th. All is right in the world now. My TT was a bust and I should stick with criterium racing.

Road Race:

We started at 8 am Sunday morning. It was cold but the sun was out so I was hopeful that it would warm up. Once again we lined up with I believe about 75 of us racing. This was a new course for us and the course Gabe and I drove on Friday. We were doing 2 laps with a total 64 miles with 4,000 ft of climbing. You were either climbing or going down hill. The course didn’t provide much for flat areas.

Long story short, I got dropped on the 3rd climb right after the tight downhill left hand turn. This is where the majority of the pack got separated. The climber group consisted of guys who weigh 135 lbs or so and love climbing. The 2nd group included a good mix of the same. Then I see Jason on our team who flatted in the first mile come speeding past me. What? This guy is probably 6ft tall and around 185-195 lbs. I tried to jump on his wheel only to be dropped off of his wheel. Oh well, I wished him well in my head and tried going up the climbs at my own pace. We formed a group of 20 or so. Then as we continued to climb and descend the group dwindled down to 6 of us. I came around the feed and water zone area to see my dad standing there with my bottle. I told him on the next lap I would be ready for it. I got dropped on the next climb and was riding all by myself into the wind. It was the most un-enjoyable thing I have ever done on the bike. I rode by myself for the next 10 miles and couldn't wait to see my dad at the feed zone with my new bottle of water.

He mentioned I was about 10 minutes behind the leaders. I didn't really care and just wanted to be done with this. I could hear my mom telling me to get up there. Thanks mom. It was really cold and the wind was gusting around 15 to 20 mph. With about 10 miles to go I turned around on one of the climbs to see a group of guys coming up. I sat up and waiting for them and saw some of the guys that were originally in our group. I happily jumped in out of the wind. We all rode together until the finish and I believe I came in 4th or 5th in the bunch sprint.
This was the hardest race I have ever done. I came in 41st out of 52 finishers. We had almost 30 guys who didn’t finish the race. It was really nice to have the folks there with me and helping out during the weekend. Everyone on the team mentioned how nice it was that they were there so that was cool. The funny thing is I moved all the way up to 45th in GC standings. That is one place higher than last year. Ha-ha.

Racing, Eating & Glycogen Depletion

The order of the title is really how it all works. If you race your bike you must eat to refuel. If you don't eat to refuel you get Glycogen Depletion and could very well black out. Which I have now experienced multiple times this year in races minus the black out part. Which I am happy about and I am sure my competitors are as well. Basically means a complete stoppage of work from the legs. I had a small taste of it at Independence Valley Road Race at the end of March. I hit the first climb on the last lap and my legs really stopped working. I ate and recovered and felt much better after I had been dropped by the leading group. I have also been racing with the big boys 1, 2, 3's at Pacific Raceways. The last time I raced at Pacific Raceways 2 weeks ago I had the same thing happen. My legs basically seized up and wouldn't work. Its a strange feeling when it happens and very frustrating at the same time. I got dropped that night 3 separate times and the 3rd time I just rode straight to my car and went home. Still not sure what was happening.

Then a good week of training and Volunteer Park criterium on Saturday and Olympic View Road Race on Sunday where I placed 6th last year. I arrived Saturday morning at the criterium with Shawn and did our warm up. As I was pulling up to the line for the start of the race I saw Gabe who just finished the Category 5 race. I pulled over to the side to see how his race was. As I unclipped my foot from my pedal the whole thing came off. So my left crank arm came off with my pedal. Gabe and I looked at each other and Gabe said, "Oh that's not good." So that was my Saturday race. I came home and got the bike to the West Seattle Cycle U and David and Catherine were there to assist and get it fixed. Its great having a shop that sponsors the team. You guys are the best!

I was really looking forward to Sunday's race. I felt good and really thought I could do well as it is fairly flat with a couple climbs and a very fast and technical last mile. We had a very strong team going. Chad, TravisB, Eric and myself in Category 4. That is a lot of horsepower...and then there I am. The smallest out of the 3. The weather was horrible. Low 40's and rain. Our goal was to try and split the field on the first lap on the 180 degree down hill corner 1 mile prior to the finish line. We were doing 4 laps totaling 54 miles. We tried really hard to get it split but we only had 6 or 7 guys that were willing to work and the others in the front group weren't really interested. The whole race felt like someone had taken a sprinkler and stuck it in your face. There was so much water on the road and it didn't stop raining the whole race. It was miserable. Then the last 2 laps my arms and hands started going numb. Great. I am cold, I can barely shift gears with out looking down at the gear lever to make sure my hands are actually working and little did I know I am about to implode on the last lap 2 miles from the finish. I was always in the front 15 of a field that started with 70 racers only to finish with 27. Chad was doing much of the work as most teams didn't seem to bother with doing any work. I felt ok coming into the last climb where we were about 2 miles to the finish. The goal was to get me to 200 meters and let me go for the Win. I stayed on Chad's wheel as we came to the climb and he told me to hang on. Sounds good I thought. I was getting excited as we were pretty close to turning it up a notch. As we started to climb I was dumbfounded by the fact i couldn't get my legs to continue to turn. Oh no not again, not now. I went from the front of the race to off the back. I tried standing up to go faster up the hill but felt like I would fall over so I sat back down. I dangled about 100ft off the back of the lead group totally gutted along with being very confused still unable to transfer any power from my legs to my pedals. I couldn't believe it. Why was this happening. I am training more this year than last year and my results are not close to where I was last year. So as I strolled in and weaved past a crash about 100 meters from the finish I rode up to Chad and Travis to see how they did. To my surprise TravisB WON and Chad got 2nd. Total change from being depressed to asking how it happened. Tell me. Cycle U got its first Win! This was great news and I immediately was relieved and happy. Chad is on a roll now with a podium in every race he has entered so far this year and TravisB showed he is a serious contendar.

I spent the entire ride home trying to figure out what was going on with my body and specifically my legs. Monday I emailed Custom Smoothie owners Kathy and Kris to find out if they knew what I was going through. Immediately they responded with "You are experiencing total Glycogen Depletion. You need more fuel, before the race and during the race." Then we started to analize what I ate before and during the race. Then the light bulbs start going off. I am not eating enough. They continued, "You need breakfast, then another 300 calories (wafffle and 2 gels?) right before the race, then another 200-300 calories (bloks or gels) mid race (30 mins in) to finish strong.
Hope this helps...remember that eating the night before really doesn't help the glycogen stores-it has to be pre race and replacing as your are depleting during high intensity. Fueling and eating are two different things-lesson learned the hard way. Bummer."
I went to Pacific Raceways last night to race with the 1, 2, 3's again. This time though instead of it being the flat course we were doing the escape route that included a little climb/hill. I was pretty worried that I would get dropped on the first lap since my confidence had taken a pretty big dent over the last couple weeks. I ate 2 gel shots and a bananna before the race and took 2 more gel shots with me for during the race. I felt great and during the race there was 1 lap I started to feel a little fatigued. I took out my gel shot and ate it and took down some water and that was it. I felt great again. This is amazing. The last lap I was up near the front and actually was able to follow a break to the bottom of the hill before the finish. At that point I sat up and cruised into the finish. Who would have ever thought eating could be so hard to do and how you could forget to do it. I was so happy after the race. I really have to say thanks to my wife, Lindsay, who I didn't listen to. You were right I need to eat more. Big thanks to Custom Smoothie for explaining how the body and muscles work and getting me to listen. Bring on Walla Walla.

Independence Valley Road Race

Well the weather on the way to Chehalis area was not looking pretty at all. I rode down with Gabe who was racing Cat 5's ten minutes after me so it worked out well for carpooling. Once we arrived we got the canopy set up and all our trainers. With about 45 minutes to spare I was all registered, dressed and on my bike. I think that was the fastest set up time I have done. It was nice for a change.
Chad and I were waiting mid pack for the race to start and Erik the race director had everyone move up before the start and then all of a sudden Chad and I looked at each other and somehow we ended up at the very back of the start. We had 71 starters for Cat 4's so it was a pretty big field and the rain had stopped so that was even better. The first few miles were pretty chill and going up the first climb was ok until we got to the downhill and everyone seemed to be pussy footin down. There was a gap that opened up so we had to weave our way through and then chase back on once we got to the flats. Just as we caught back on I reached down to grab my only water bottle and just as I grabbed it we hit a bump and it launched out of my hand. Dang. That really had me stressed out for a while. The 2nd climb seemed to be a easier than I remember it and we stayed together and we (cycleu) all seemed to be close to the front of the race. Erik was a great teammate and loaned me a water bottle. Thanks again Erik. Farestart (IJM thumbprint) went on a couple attacks and they seemed to be the only team that animated the race. Again the yellow and black team with a spot of blue had huge numbers and seemed to only take up space and not do much. The 2nd lap was going to be tough and I knew I had to be at the front coming up to the first climb. The last 2 years I have raced IVRR its been the 2nd lap on the first climb that has been the death of me. It seemed to be the same this year. Everyone came by me and I was having the hardest time getting my legs to turn over and they felt like they were about to explode. Once I got to the top of the climb the pack was all blown apart with several individuals by themselves. Once I got down to the flats there were 3 of us working together a bit but we were all pretty wiped out still. I struggled and then decided I should just pull my leg warmers down because it felt like they were cutting off a bit of circulation. Sure enough when I got them pulled down my legs felt immediately better. So I have some nice Specialized leg warmers for sale if anyone is interested, size is Medium. The pack of 3 grew to 8 then the next thing I knew when I rotated off the front we must of had close to 20. The 2nd climb I had a good rythem and seemed to pass everyone that was in front of me. On the down hill I patted my butt and told the guys behind me to sit on my wheel. We carved the downhill pretty good and continued to catch guys. I could see Erik in the group ahead of us. With about 5 miles to go we caught his group.My new goal now was to win the bunch sprint. I guessed we had about 30 now in our group so I was sure it was going to come to a sprint. We came around the corner and saw the 1k to go sign and then with about 800 meters to go we could see a car parked in our lane and 2 guys picking themselves up off the pavement. We all slowed when we came by them. I was still in the top 8 and we started ramping up for the finale. All the cars were gone and it was wide open again. I moved to 4th wheel behind a Olympic Orthopaedic guy with the red and black kits. He was a pretty big and strong looking guy so I stayed on his wheel until we hit the 200m sign. I went to the right of him and then launched my sprint. I won the sprint but finished 25th!

Glad to have Chad on the podium again as he finished 3rd! Although I finished 25th I was actually pretty happy with my fitness. I show on my Polar we had an average of 22 mph and a max of 48 mph.

Sequim #2 = Podium

This was the last race for the Tour de Dung(eness) up in Sequim. Once again we were treated with great weather. It did seem a little colder than it was the weekend before but it wasn't raining and the sun was out. Chad, Shawn and myself arrived and got all set up and ready to go with about 20 min to spare on the trainers. My dad came up with the trailer so we had a nice place to change in. Your awesome dad. We lined up 10 min early to make sure we made the start. This week it was a different race official and we didn't actually start until 3 min after our start time of 9:50. Go figure. The plan this week was the same as it was last week. Get Chad to the front of the race at the end for a possible lead out. The race was ok and the slinky effect was in full force. Slow down, speed up, on the brakes, on the gas. Pretty standard operating procedure. It makes it a bit more stressful for sure. We again were doing 4 laps for a total of 48 miles. The last lap is when it started to liven up a bit. We had 4 guys last year move over to a different team. It was nice to see them again and weird to see them in different kits but good to race with them. One of them took off on a flyer about 3 miles into the last lap. I jumped and bridged up to him and we had a group of 4 that rotated through a couple times. We had a little gap but I didn't want to do any more work because I knew it wouldn't stick. So I sat up and we got caught. I was a little nervous because when I bridged up to the break I was pinging on my heart rate montitor 192 bpm. In the past when I get that high it is normally during a sprint finish. Thankfully I was able to recover once back in the group. I sat in for the rest of the lap until we were about 2 miles away from the finish. At that point it was difficult to move to the front. Chad was always near the front so he was in a good position. When I closed the break down and we got caught I went to the back of the pack. It took some time to get up near the front and then when I did everyone was real nervous and you could feel the pack and how tense everyone was. I was up on the left near the yellow line and usually that line will open up as the pack speeds up. However, the pack really wasn't speeding up much. I was beginning to get frustrated and then a opening showed itself and I just stood up and sprinted to the front. Once I got there I realized we had another half mile to go and I was already on the front pulling the pack. So I decided the hell with it and shifted to a higher gear and started to ramp it up. Chad was behind me directing me where to move to in case someone tried going around us. I moved over to the yellow line again to give us the best position for the right hand corner coming up. I wanted to atleast get us to the corner in a good spot then try and sprint out of the corner to spread the field out some more. Just as we approached I stood up to give it some more gas but the legs told me I was out of gas. I sat back down just as we entered the corner and several guys came by. I stood and pedaled in hopes of seeing where Chad was up at the front. It was close and Chad got 2nd place but was literally inches from getting the win. This was a huge turn around for both of us compared to last week. Way to go Chad.

Now on to the Pacific Raceways Series on Tuesday nights in the Cat 1, 2, 3 field. Chad and I decided to move up to this field to gain more experience and much more fitness. We are only category 4's but we hope to hang with the big guns to help us upgrade to 3's. Then down to Independence Valley Road Race on Saturday.

First Race of the Season = FAIL

The title tells it all in 1 word. FAIL. Chad Sullivan and I headed over to my parents place Friday night which is over in Poulsbo about 3 miles from Hood Canal Bridge. This was to stay in the camper trailer and cut the wake up time Saturday morning by several hours. However, we didn't plan on it raining all night. The trailer is like a tin can when it rains so it echoed pretty good and neither of us slept much. We headed up to Sequim with the beautiful camper trailer in tow. The weather was horrible all the way up to Sequim and about 10 miles away it started to lighten up and a few minutes later the rain had almost stopped. This was pretty unbelievable. They say though that Sequim is in a little circle where it doesn't get a whole lot of rain. I have decided if I don't move to Eastern Washington for the weather then it will be Sequim. We arrived and guess what.



I love this place. Our race start was at 9:50 and we arrived around 7:45 so we had plenty of time to get all set up and get a good spot.

It was going to be Chad, myself, Jon C, Chris B, and Tim C racing. It was 9:45 and all the Cat 3's were lined up for their 9:45 start. We made our way over there and I decided to hit the porta potty one last time. Came back out and the whole area was empty and Chad was on the road telling me everyone had left? It was Chad, myself and Tim. It looked like Chris had taken off a few seconds before because we saw him down the road. Chad asked what time it was and I looked at my bike computer and it said 9:50:25. We didn't here any sort of announcement saying that the Cat 4 field was starting early or anything to that nature. We were told later that they left 3 minutes early. I checked 3 clocks after the race and all 3 were faster than my bike computer. So they could have left even earlier than that. I was really upset as you can imagine. Not only did I ruin my own race by not lining up 10 minutes early I also felt responsible for the other guys too. I am the Team Captain and this should not have happened but it did.
I hung on to Chad for a few miles and then felt like I was about to throw up so I slowed down. Chad chased the whole race. I came around for the first lap and was still dumbfounded. Tim C and I waited then decided to just soft pedal until the pack came by and we would jump back in the group. The race was super fast. We came by the start line the next lap and we were cruising at 30 mph. We hit that a few times around the 11 mile lap. I went to the front at one point and put in a big effort to help bring back a couple guys then went to the back for the rest of the race.

A VALUEABLE lesson was learned. Arrive 10 minutes early to every start because you never know if the race official is on bar time. Next week Tour de Dung #2 and you can bet we will be lined up 15 min early.

The long wet & grey winter

As you can see I changed my background to the way I feel its been since Oct. Rain. I guess it hasn't been so bad but these months really drag on and really make me dislike living on this side of the mountains. I would much prefer a snowy winter with sunshine and a nice hot summer. Instead of 40 degree weather and rain for 6 months. What can you do?

It is almost time to start the 2011 race season. A few things have really changed for my training. I started teaching InCycle @ West Seattle Cycle University. I teach back to back classes on Thursday nights which allows me to be on the bike for about 2.5 hours. If you don't know InCycle is the best indoor cycling program out there. Here are some highlights you won't find at any other indoor cycling class.
-Proven training program tailored to any level by wattage
-Coaches live for you every class
-Environment of motivation
-Accountability
-Inspiration and education in every class
Better than a Spinning Class because:
-Your bike - Your Fit - Wattage - Cycling Coaches - Video - Bike Shop - Experts - Inspirational environment - Repair - Education - Trackable Progress - Fun
You can get more information at,

www.cycleu.com

The road race team changed a little bit over the winter. We lost a couple guys to another team. Which happens I guess but it was a bummer to lose them. The benefit now is that we have some buddies on other teams which will help us in trying to initiate some break away's during races. We have also added a few folks to the team so thats been good. Shawn Harrington and I will be back as Team Captains for the Cat 4 team and hopefully we will be able to get some guys upgraded to Category 3 to help out our man Joel.

Our Team rides on Saturday's have been filled with alot of rain and a few technical issues. Here is Chad fixing his chain the first time it broke.



Come to find out he had a faulty Ultegra chain that had 13 broken links. Thankfully nobody got hurt when his chain broke.


Once again Custom Smoothie is helping the road team this year with all our smoothie needs. The Lean and Mean Lite HOT is probably the best thing EVER! If you haven't tried it you should.



My pants and shoe covers were black. I had to throw the shoe covers away after this ride. Pretty nasty.

The team is heading up to Sequim this Sunday to pre ride the race course in anticipation of the Tour de Dung #1 & #2 in March. Can't wait for the season to start. Its so close but so far away.