400000 Miles And Counting, Or a Life Behind Bars

Movement

2012-01-11T06:35:00.000-08:00

Today marks the end of the stagnant sunrise. Although the sunset has been pushed back about 20 minutes already, the sunrise continues to arrive later and later until it just sits at 6:53 a.m. for about a week. Tomorrow it will begin coming sooner and sooner. By the 25th I'll almost have enough light in the afternoon to switch my training schedule to take advantage of longer afternoons, which mean longer rides. Spring won't be far behind.

I've been training with a power meter now for two months. My coach has me working harder than I'd ever be working at this time of year, and probably harder already than I'd ever push myself in this systematic a fashion. I'm not going to bore you with an old guy's wattage numbers, but I will say they've improved remarkably in the two months I've been doing this. And I don't feel I'm over training in any way. Basically, two days a week I do threshold intervals; one five minute full throttle interval, and then two twenty minute intervals going about 90-95%. It's hard, but once I've opened up my legs with the first one, I just concentrate on keeping the wattage where it's supposed to be while maintaining as smooth a cadence as I can. I typically look for an uphill grade to do them on, it seems "easier" for me that way. My weekly mileage is about 250-260 miles, depending, with a long, climbing intensive Saturday ride. Everything is improving. Cadence, smoothness, the numbers, it's amazing. I never would have guessed it would make such a difference. Next week I'll head to St. George, Utah for three, possibly four days training with my club. It should be interesting to see how I fare with them this year, given the pre-season preparation I've been on. Nine months to Everest Challenge!

Some stats for 2011:

Miles for the year: 14,201 (22,864 KM)
Lifetime miles: 433,139 (697,193 KM)
Golf balls? That question will be answered (by one of you!) next post
Sun bonnets?

The Heart of Darkness

2011-12-12T15:05:00.000-08:00

The darkest time of the year, and despite the Solstice not being that far off, and the fact that for here, today is the earliest sundown of the year, there won't be any real relief, i.e., sunset after five o'clock, until nearly the end of January. Ugh. I hate this time of year. It's dark and cold in the morning when I ride and tomorrow it's supposed to rain and snow. Bah. Humbug.

Stats this year to date:
Miles: 13,479 miles (23,311 KM)
Daily average: 38.96 miles per day (62.7 KM)
In this lifetime: 432, 417 miles (conservatively). (696191 KM)

But the burning question is how many golf balls did I pick up over the course of the year?

Be safe, ride lots, and love every minute of it. That's an order!

Quarq!

2011-11-18T06:40:00.000-08:00

I decided to hire a coach for my attempt on Everest next year. I want to take an hour or more off my time (13:00:54) from this year's G.C. time. That's my goal. I'm not chasing USA Cycling points next year. I did that. Now I want to squeeze all I can from my elderly body while I can still squeeze anything from it. So, part of that required my buying a power meter. I bought a Quarq in the SRAM configuration in a compact crank. I really had to think about that for a long time. Compact? The only race I'd really need a compact crank with a power meter was Everest Challenge. Everything else I could use a standard 53-39 on (OK, I use compact cranks on Death Valley Road Stage Race(s) and the Mount Whitney Stage Race, but I wouldn't need a power meter to ride those races), but I felt using a power meter on the Everest Challenge could help me pace myself better, so I went with it. Today was the first day of receiving a "workout" by my coach, and it entailed some warm up intervals, and then a 20 minute all out push. I chose a gradual climb that would force me to ride hard all the way. I was not impressed with the numbers. Remember, I'm "out of shape" since I haven't ridden hard in any structured way since the end of the Everest Challenge. Yes, I'm on the bike daily, but I haven't ridden all that hard on purpose since then. I felt out of shape. It's November, for ...pete's sake! But I'm going to follow the rules now. Tomorrow is a steady ride, the next day has some hard efforts in it. I know I have some talent (finally, I've done what I needed to do to prove that to myself), and I train hard. Now, I need to train smart. I can't do this forever. So next year? I want it to go down well, so when I "retire" I can just ride and hike for fun.

Update:

I'm not going to shower you with numbers, but one side effect of this device is that it has shown me something interesting about my cadence. Back in the day I had a high cadence, and would check it from time to time with my watch while counting (the good old days). Over the past few years I can't really remember paying much attention to it. I've found that my cadence has slowed, number one, and two, when I watch the power meter, I can also see that it's inconsistent. So what I'm learning to do all over again is how to pedal in circles! It seems so elementary, yet I've let that smoothness slip away, and the numbers show it. So, this morning, I'm going to go out and practice pedaling in circles again. Later.

Birthdays and What All

2011-10-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

I turned 62 last weekend. It snuck up on me somehow, getting old.

My recent ranking by USA Cycling has in some way vindicated me; I always felt I had it in me, but was held back by my marriage and my own lack of confidence when I was young. I showed promise though, and even I with my own lack of self-confidence could see it; after all, I qualified for the 1980 Olympic Trials by placing in several Olympic Development road races that year. I was close, even with the ongoing battle with my ex-wife. All I needed were a few good national level results. I was heading to the National Championships held that year in Bisbee, Arizona on a hilly course. I had support team lined up, and some sponsorship money, but then my dad up and died unexpectedly. So, for twenty nine years I always wondered if I really had it. I think I did, and do. It didn’t come easily. I ride myself to the point of riding the line between near injury and over training. Some would say (Mr. Lemire) that it doesn’t mean anything, and in one way, he’s right. It’s not something that captures the imagination of the public at large. But it has my attention, so it has meaning for me. I took a talent and honed it as well as I could on my own, and by targeting certain races, and certain kinds of races, put myself in the position I wanted to be in, first. I was going for stage racing because I had come so close last year (2^nd), but in so doing, I also took first in road racing, an unexpected and welcome bonus.

Now that this has been accomplished, I’ve decided not to chase ranking points next year. Rather, I want to chase better results in certain races, and let the rest fall where it may. I’m going after the four Eastern Sierra races, Death Valley Road Stage Race (both spring and fall), Mount Whitney Stage Race, and the Everest Challenge (I’d like to take an hour off my GC time). I will likely ride other hill climb races, such as the Porcupine Hill Climb in Utah and the Mount Graham Hill Climb in Arizona. I’ll likely ride the Arizona State Road Championships as well, a long and grueling climbing course. I’m probably going to hire a coach and add a power meter to my training.

As for the rest of my life? I’ll continue to take photographs, hike in the desert in the winter, and become increasingly active politically (I’m a committed Marxist, by the way). I also plan to retire, hopefully, in 2014 and maybe move to Bishop, California, to be near the Sierras, which I’ve loved since I first went there in 1969.

It's Official!

2011-10-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

2011 Ranking Report for James Morehouse



YOUR ROAD RACE MASTER STANDINGS
1	Rank in your zip code (89135)
1	Rank in your state (NV)
1	Rank in your riding age (62)
1	Rank in 5 year age range (60-64)
1	Rank in 10 year age range (60-69)
2	Overall Rank


YOUR STAGE RACE MASTER STANDINGS
1	Rank in your zip code (89135)
1	Rank in your state (NV)
1	Rank in your riding age (62)
1	Rank in 5 year age range (60-64)
1	Rank in 10 year age range (60-69)
1	Overall Rank

Everest Challenge Revisited, Or It's Now the Off Season!

2011-10-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

These arrived in the mail yesterday and I had to go out and wear them today, taking only my second climb since Everest Challenge. For me, the off season officially began the moment I got off my bike at 10,150' of elevation, give or take, on White Mountain. I did something I haven't done, ever. I took four days completely off the bike, voluntarily. Since then I've cut back on miles, and I just ride to enjoy myself. Some times that means going fast and hard, and other times it means hardly going at all. In a couple of weeks I plan to take more time off the bike and go camping and hiking in the desert for three days. I'm looking forward to sitting out under the stars far from Las Vegas.

I'm thinking ahead to next season already, though. I think I'll make the center of my racing year the four mountain stage races in the Eastern Sierras. Probably no surprise there! I'm considering working with a coach to optimize my training for the 2012 Everest Challenge. In no real way was I prepared for what I did, but I have a sense of what I can do to improve significantly. I think with the level of fitness I went in to that race, with a different approach to riding it, I could knock off around thirty minutes; with the right training and build up, I'm planning a goal of improving by an hour over both days. I think I have it in me.

I'm officially number two in the U.S. in my five and ten year age group in stage racing, which won't even be ranked next year by the new ranking rules. My placing in the Everest Challenge would give me another 50 points, which would put me way out in front, but that hasn't happened yet. So far, it's still unranked. I wrote the USA Cycling person in charge of ranking, and am hoping this will be rectified. After all, I earned it, and it's the last time I'll have this chance to be number one.

And now a plug for Steve Barnes and Anti-Gravity Cycling, who puts on these races. I've now ridden a total of six of them over the course of last year and this year. Every time the level of support has been outstanding. Steve always has a great corps of volunteers who always manage to hand up effectively water, food, and anything else one might want while riding these grueling events. Steve is always friendly, funny, and on top of what has to be a big enterprise, i.e., managing the races, which will have riders spread out all over the Eastern Sierra, the pre-planning, meeting with officials and police, insurance, the USAC licenses, all of it. If you have a chance to enter one, you won't regret it. If you finish, you'll know you've done something awesome, and it will change you in ways you wouldn't expect. Well, they've changed me, so I guess I'm speaking for myself. But everyone else who has done the Everest Challenge knows what I mean. There's nothing quite like it.

Everest Challenge - 2011

2011-09-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

Now on the Monday after the race weekend, it's hard to find the words to describe what I and a few hundred other people just went through over the course of Saturday and Sunday's events. I will say this, however. In over 430,000 miles of cycling and years of competitive racing, there is nothing else like this anywhere until you start looking at events like RAAM or the Furnace Creek 508, or other super marathon kinds of events. So for me, the Everest Challenge was my introduction to the form of bicycle racing that is Hors Categorie.

I thought I knew about climbing prior to riding the Mt. Whitney Stage Race last year, my first Eastern Sierra event put on by Steve Barnes of Anti-Gravity Cycling. I went there with a 39x27 low gear thinking that surely would be low enough for the two days of climbing there with a total elevation gain of 12,850' over two days and discovered how completely wrong I was. I went out the next week and bought a compact crank with a low end of 34 teeth and went back at it at the first Death Valley Road Stage Race of two being held last year. This one was longer still, with more overall elevation gain: 13,400' over two days. OK, now the hook was being set. I returned again that fall for the 2nd edition of the DVRSR with even more climbing (unfortunately I can no longer find the flyer for that edition, but it was longer than the spring edition). This season rolled around and found me out at Mt. Whitney again, as well as the Spring edition of the DVRSR.

I had known about the Everest Challenge since 2009 when I returned to racing, and after doing the shorter events mentioned above, I feared this race like no other. The shorter Eastern Sierra races were so hard the thought of essentially doubling up on each stage was daunting, to say the least. Besides the obvious physical demands, I also had some personal drawbacks to training for such an event. First, I'm old (62 this October) and not the rider I was when I was young. Secondly, I've got a pair of chronic tissue damaged areas over my sit bones that tend to flare up in hot conditions, and yes, it's hot in Las Vegas in the summer. Thirdly I have issues with my left knee that flare up from time to time. I wanted to ride this race, but I kept looking for signs that I might be approaching "fit enough". They didn't come. Yes, I rode exceptionally well under difficult climbing conditions at Rist Canyon in August, but with only 66 miles and 6000' of climbing in the race, that just didn't come close to what I might expect at the EC on either day. I jumped in and signed up for it finally, fit or not, and committed myself to finishing it, or having it finish me. The two weeks before the race I began having saddle soreness again, and my left knee was thinking about whether or not it wanted to start causing me problems. I did several climbs on Mount Charleston and Mount Potosi, and then backed off gradually over those last two weeks. I went into the race, though, with a less than satisfactory body.

Stage 1:

Saturday started at five a.m. in the dark in Bishop, California. I was there with Lorraine and we crawled out of bed and made coffee, oatmeal, filled water bottles, and finally drove off in the pre-dawn dark to the start. It was chilly and I wore a wind vest and arm warmers at the start. It was still nearly dark and off we went at 6:30 a.m. Within the first three miles we were already on the first climb, a twenty mile climb up to South Lake. The climbing starts in Bishop at 4,140', but really doesn't become significant until Ed Powers Road at 4,650'. It then climbs 20.4 miles, average grade 6%, to the top of the parking lot at 9,835' (5,800' gain) above the pristine alpine South Lake and surroundings. While this is not the highest spot or most vertical gain, the last mile has three quarter-mile long sections around 15% grade and will certainly test your strength and endurance and desire to stay on the bike. Bottom half has extended sections of 8-9% grade, max grade 9%. I had decided to take the first climb fairly conservatively and "ease into" the race, not knowing what to expect. I took the majority of the climb with a small group of riders that got progressively smaller as we ascended. Off the front were several 55+ riders and two other 60+ riders, including the legendary Bill Tippets from San Diego who had unfortunately for me aged up this year. Bill is an EC regular and was inducted into the EC Hall of Fame at the Friday night pasta feed and mandatory meeting the night before. Going over the top first in my group I descended at speeds upwards of 48 mph for what seemed nearly endlessly, until near the bottom I was caught by a group containing three young women, a 65+ rider, and maybe three or four 55+ riders. The women drilled it to the start of the 2nd climb and I took full advantage of sitting in the draft. Upon starting the 2nd climb the women attacked us and made some headway. I didn't care, because once on the mountain, drafting was no longer an issue. By approximately one third of the way up I was alone between the three women and the rest of my fellow travelers and gradually picked the women off one by one until the turn around at 7420'. The course description goes like this: The climb up Pine Creek is a club favorite and climbs from 4,500' up to 7,420' in 8 miles, average grade 7% (max is 9%, extended sections of 8%). It began to rain near the turn around and although I could see blue sky, I could also see dark clouds forming over the towering peaks. I began my descent alone and from this point on soloed the entire rest of the race.

Coming off this descent there were maybe four or five miles of relatively flat terrain before starting the last climb up to Mosquito Flat. The road to Mosquito Flat at 10,250' is the highest paved road in the Sierra Nevada. The climb is 22 miles, average grade is 5%. Maximum grade lower half is 9%, upper half is 11%. There is 280' of descending along the way, bringing the total climbing to 6,048'. The first part follows the Lower Rock Creek Road and old 395 with a maximum gradient of around 11% (I know what it says in the course description above, but my Garmin tells me otherwise). At just over 5000' was the next aid station (there were already two before on the previous summits and one part way up the second climb) at the Paradise Fire Department. I had to pee since about mile ten and it was already mile 70 and I had no other choice but to stop, get off and take care of that piece of business, costing me probably about five minutes, give or take. Back up the road I went and near the top of this first part of the climb I began to be caught by the Pro 1/2 riders, and parts of both the 35 and 45+ fields. On 395 the weather began to take a turn for the worse and dark clouds were covering the mountains into which I still had 11 miles to climb and the wind was tearing down the face of the mountain into my face and the faces of all those attempting to climb those last 11 miles. This part of the race was pretty tough. The road is quite rough and uneven and the climb varies from moderate to steep with increasingly longer steep sections the higher one goes. The last couple of miles is quite steep and exceptionally narrow; in fact, it's barely wide enough for a car to pass through (yet they did, in large numbers). It was quite cold at the top, but the hot food served up by race volunteers was both superb and welcome. I learned I was probably third at this point, and after having a bite to eat, descended back down the eleven miles to Tom's Place where Lorraine was waiting for me. I had passed my friend Ray on the way down as he was still climbing, and he looked pretty grim. Not more than a few minutes after I nearly fell off my bike trying to unclip did Ray show up asking for a ride back down the mountain. He had started cramping up around mile 75 and made it to within maybe seven (hard) miles to the finish. What a shame to get so close. We packed him in and and down we went. Believe me, I have rarely felt this trashed after a race before. My first day came in at nearly 99 miles of hard riding.

Stage Two:

Five o'clock came all too early Sunday morning. I woke feeling as if I'd been flattened by a steam roller. Thankfully, I had coffee and ibuprofen with me! We had moved from Bishop to Big Pine, staying at the Big Pine Motel, where we've stayed now several times over the course of two seasons. It's a great place. Quiet, inexpensive, about two miles from the start of not only the second stage of the EC, but the first stage of all the DVRSRs, and the owners have always been good about allowing me a late check out.

Again we lined up in the pre-dawn dark and it was colder than the day before. I pulled on knee warmers along with arm warmers and the wind vest. It still was too cold at first. The first climb of the day began with only a couple of miles of lead in as we crossed 395 and headed to the base of the Glacier Lodge climb. The climb up Big Pine Canyon to the remnants of Glacier Lodge is almost exactly the same stats as le Alpe d'Huez, but with four thousand feet more base elevation. Starting elevation 3,940' finishing elevation 7,800'. The actual climb is 9 miles with an average grade of almost 8% (max is 11%, with extended portions of 9-10% ( 3,860' gain). Again a small group of 55+ riders and the two 60+ riders ahead of me headed up the road while I sat in the 2nd group composed mainly of the same riders I fell in with the day before. We kept up a good pace and I felt much better on this climb than I did last summer when I came up to do some training in the area. About two miles from the summit the grade finally relents some. I began looking for a porta pottie or a forest service outhouse, suffering from old man's bladder again. None to be found, so I descended back to Big Pine at a pretty good clip with minimal braking. The Glacier Lodge descent is one of the fastest descents in the continental U.S.

We had to pass by the start line at the intersection of 168 and Death Valley Road to begin the 2nd climb, which was up Death Valley Road to a height of 7050'. I took a moment and used one of the porta potties there and lost a few minutes and a couple of my companions. I continued riding with Dan Moser from Utah and we stayed together for about the first third of the climb when I gradually rode away from him. This climb was the "easiest" of the six, only being rated a Category 1 climb, while the others are all Hors Categorie. It's hard all the same, though. I refueled at the feed zone and descended back to the intersection of Death Valley Road and the 168, peeled off my knee warmers and wind vest and left them with Lorraine, and then began the nefarious White Mountain climb. The climb from the Owens River at 3,900' to the high point before Schulman Grove (the Ancient Bristlecone Pine forest) at 10,100' is a true leg breaker. The climb is 21 miles, average grade 6% (max in the lower half is 14%, max in the upper half 17%). There are dozens of 9-12% rollers in the bottom third. The last 3 miles averages 10%. There are some small descents along the way allowing for brief breathers. These bring the total climbing to 6,573'. It was hot on the lower slopes and with a mild tailwind, there wasn't any kind of breeze to help cool things off. I don't do well in hot weather and I was suffering through the lower part of this climb. By the time I hit the next feed zone at 6,000' I was toast. I took a moment to drink a bottle there on the spot and took on two more and headed on up the road. Over six thousand feet and the temperatures began to moderate some and I started counting the elevation gains. I felt if I could get above 7,000' I could probably do the whole ride. It was touch and go from between 3900' and 7000' though. Once through the one lane narrows the climb tapers off a bit before turning left onto White Mountain Road. Once the left hand turn has been made, there are 10 more miles of climbing and the last three miles average 10%. Within the first five miles of this last climb I finally caught and passed the last of my companions from the first climb that left me at the bottom of the 2nd climb (see above). In the interim I had been having issues with my saddle since the Death Valley Road climb. It was rattling and acting like it was loosening up. I'd had this problem before, and I was afraid the saddle was in the process of breaking. At about the 8000' mark I finally decided to check it out. The seat post clamp had been working itself loose. The 3T carbon seat post has been known to loosen up, and sure enough, it had to a considerable degree. Grr! I pulled an allen wrench out of my jersey pocket and tightened it up (today I used a torque wrench on it, and found that it was still too loose). Again, I lost precious time. The section from 8000' to the top is brutally hard with nary a spot to recover. The only positive thing that can be said about it is that the temperatures are cool and once you've taken the switch back that brings you above 9200' one gets a view of the Eastern Sierras and the Owens Valley that just has to be seen to be believed. At this point you are more than a mile above the Owens Valley, and just across from you are the Sierra Nevada Mountains whose peaks are even higher than the massive White Mountains that you are on. From here to the finish one can see the beginnings of the ancient Bristle Cone Forest that White Mountain is so famous for. The scenery is spectacular, which is a good thing, as any diversion from the pain of climbing this beast, the hardest climb of the six and the last one after racing nearly 160 miles and more than 28,000' of climbing so far, is welcome. Yet the switch backs continue, seemingly endlessly ahead of you and the road is either steep, or steeper still. You can't begin to understand the relief I knew I would soon feel when I crossed the 1000 meters to go mark. Six tenths of a mile. Would it ever end?

While doing this last climb I was swearing to myself that I wouldn't do this again. My rear is like hamburger today. I damaged myself to some extent by riding and completing this race. It was the hardest thing I've ever done physically. Will I do it again next year? Well, stay tuned.

Stage One: 3rd
Stage Two: 3rd
G.C. - 3rd

More when the official results are posted.

If Lorraine hadn't been there I don't know if I could have done it. Thanks, Rr, for being there!

Too Late For August

2011-09-17T17:17:00.000-07:00

By now I'd have already posted an August recap, but I've been so slammed at work I can barely see straight. So given that it's already half way through September, it would make better sense to report on what's happened, and more importantly, what foolishness I've gotten myself into. Although I fear this race, not from fear of the unknown, but rather, the known unknown (as our once intrepid Secretary of Defense might put it). I signed up and paid the money to enter the Everest Challenge, even though I'm in questionable condition and have various infirmities. I'm frightened that I have bitten off more than I can chew, and instead of chewing it, it will chew me. But that's the adventure. I don't know how it will turn out, and neither does it. So, the weekend after this coming I'll line up at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday the 24th of September and enter into a world of hurt.

So that's the foolishness I've gotten myself into. As for the past, well, you already know about the Rist Canyon Road Race.

I rode my usual Saturday ride up the Scenic Loop and out to Mt. Potosi for approximately 6,000' of climbing. It was the first day it felt like fall was coming to Las Vegas! The weather was beautiful. There were hundreds of cyclists out enjoying the weather.

Most popular "pro" team kit: Radio Shack
Second most popular "pro" team kit: LiquiGas
Third was Lampre

Hmm, there's no size requirements to wear these things. It's weird to see hugely fat men wearing pro kit. I'm just sayin'...

Stats to date (9/17/11)
August mileage: 1290
2011 mileage as of 9/16/11: 10,538
Lifetime: 429,547

Rist Canyon Road Race

2011-08-26T19:09:00.000-07:00

Slightly more than 70 riders lined up Sunday, August 21 for the Rist Canyon Road Race held in Fort Collins, Colorado. This was to be the UCI qualifier for the Masters' World Championships held in Liege, Belgium next month. All 50/55/60 and 65+ riders started together but were to be scored separately. This kind of arrangement always impacts everyone in unexpected ways, as the age categories over lap naturally during the course of the race. This race was no exception. Approximately ten miles or so into the race after having covered a short but fairly steep climb, Bingham Hill, we cruised through Bellvue, Colorado and began the nearly ten mile climb to the top of Rist Canyon.

The field started breaking up almost immediately, and I found myself winding my way through the dropped riders and finally reaching what was left of the main field, which had maybe 15-20 riders still in an intact group, and a handful further up the road, including former many time National Champion, Wayne Stetina. I had to ride this at my own pace, so I ended up riding right through this group and started picking off the stragglers in between Stetina and friends and the remains of the bunch. As I did this, I noticed Ed Chamberlin, who I raced with in Utah last month, and Rick Montgomery of Fort Collins. These were the only two other 60+ riders in the group; everyone else was well behind us at this point. I took a couple of hundred yards or so out of the bunch by the summit. The last 1000' of this climb has two very steep pitches that exceed a 20% gradient. As I described earlier, the summit is very narrow, razor like, really, and one begins descending at high speed immediately. I hit 54 mph over the first couple of miles. I appreciated descending alone here, as I could take my own line through the curves without needing to worry what anyone else was doing. The first sharp left hand turn came up with a cattle guard right after it, and I sailed through the turn. Fortunately, there were no loose cattle on the road as was the case on both Sunday and Tuesday when I pre-rode the course.

I was caught shortly after by one rider and we began working together for the next couple of miles, when we were caught by the bunch, which gradually grew again as it regrouped. The descent continued for several miles at very high speeds before we began to be hit by the increasingly longer and steeper rollers. About 30+ miles into the race we caught a group of dropped riders from the 45+ field and we unfortunately mixed in with them for awhile. Given that they were dropped from their own group, I didn't trust them not to let gaps open up, so I tried to maintain a position near the front. This was the right move to make, as we hit a longish uphill grade that shed riders off the back continuously.

There were supposed to be neutral feeds on the course, and my feeder was disallowed on the course. The bad news was that the race supplied feeders were untrained and only a handful of riders got anything at all. I wasn't one of them. Grr! Fortunately one who did generously shared part of his bottle of water with me.

After regaining the road to Horsetooth Reservoir, the course begins its sawtooth attack on our legs with five very steep climbs, one after the other, each followed by an extremely fast and sometimes technical descent. On each one of these the field continued to shrink as riders were shelled off the back. The 60+ field now consisted only of Ed and me, as Rick crashed out on that sharp left turn I mentioned above and ended tits up in a ditch. I don't think he was hurt, but he was out of the race.

After negotiating the five climbs, we only had one more major hill, the back side of Bingham Hill, a gentle roller, and a high speed dash downhill back to the finish line. The course was supposed to be completely closed here, but it wasn't. A car pulled out in front of us, and we narrowly avoided ploughing into the back of it. There were lapses in the race organization, let's say.

Coming into the finish we were told we'd take a lap around a couple of blocks leading to the finish. The road surface was in very bad shape, full of cracks, bad patches, bumps, pot holes, etc. I was glued to Ed Chamberlin's wheel and looking for the opportunity to come around him. He jumped early (later he told me he thought the finish was after that turn, but it was a couple of turns away yet), which surprised me, so I had to jump to catch him. Coming through that turn I got my front tire caught in a deep crack. I didn't go down, but it caused me to lose some momentum, to say the least. I lost four or five bike lengths here. I was again gaining on him on turn 4, but some fool was ringing a bell at the line, which has always meant one more lap! I thought great! I really can take it now, but no, that really was the finish line and I narrowly missed pulling ahead of him, so I took second. The other source of finish line confusion was that the race was consistently advertised as being 66.7 miles. At the finish I showed 65.5 miles on my Garmin. Several of us afterwards were scratching our heads over that one because when you consider the bell ringer and the fact that we were a mile short of the distance it made sense that we would have another go around before the real sprint... Grr. Still, it was a good race, and my best ride ever since I came back into this form of craziness. There were a small handful of riders ahead of us, two 55+ riders, including Wayne Stetina and a couple of 50+ riders. In my finishing group there were 7 50+ riders, one 55+ rider (third in his category), and Ed Chamberlin and myself in the 60+ field. So Ed and I beat all but two 55+ riders and the vast majority of the 50+ riders, and all of the 65+ riders as well. The two of us were likely in the top 12, give or take, of over 70 of the best Master's riders in the U.S. of all ages from fifty years up.

Left to right: Ken Louder, Ed Chamberlin, and yours truly.

Left to right: Yours truly, 2nd, Ed Chamberlin, 1st, Barry Messmer, 3rd

Full placings list here

Ken Louder of my team took first in the individual time trial on Friday, and he took fourth in the road race, so even though there were only two of us, FFKR/SportsbaseOnline.com took a first, a second, and a fourth in two races. It's a pleasure belonging to a club that takes all the top spots in every race they enter. While we were battling it out in Colorado, Dirk Crowley took the World's Stage Racing championship (Omnium) in Austria in front of the Worlds' Road Racing championships there.

On another note, the effort was so severe I managed to dislodge a chunk of vitreous humour in my left eye that is so bad my left eye looks like it has a giant squid swimming around in it. I saw my eye doctor and he said it wasn't anything to really worry about, but it is strikingly annoying. Every one gets eye floaters, but this is unbelievable. It looks a lot like this in my left field of vision:

Ride safe, and go red line yourself!

All pictures, with the exception of the giant squid, which I stole off the Internet somewhere, are courtesy of my daughter, Lindsay!

Greetings From Denver

2011-08-20T12:19:00.000-07:00

I've been at altitude since last Friday, August 12 while visiting my daughter in Denver, Colorado. I've ridden the Rist Canyon Road Race course twice since arriving (it's about 75 miles from where I am, so getting there more than that wasn't practical). It is a beast. The race will start in downtown Fort Collins and gradually gain elevation along with a few kicker hills before reaching Bellvue, where the main climb begins. It's a 9.8 mile climb up to just over 8000' at an average gradient of 6%. There are three steep pitches along the way with the second one at approximately 7450' being the worst: my Garmin showed several hundred yards at well over 20%. Ouch. The last one occurs just before the summit and kicks in at a sustained 12-16%. The summit is like a razor blade in that there is barely enough room for a small group of people to stand before careening down the other side. I hit 50.6 mph without any trouble on the first part of the descent. It levels briefly before a sharp left turn and picks back up at well over 40 mph down a long and winding road. The lower one goes, the more rolling the descent becomes, with a collection of narrow, tight turns before finally coming out near the base of Horsetooth Resevoir at Masonville, Colorado (more a named area than a town of any size). The road from there rolls with nary a spot to recover. When I rode it on Tuesday, they were resurfacing the road with fresh asphalt. It was like riding through molasses. Once the Masonville leg is over, the road pitches up steeply going over the first of five short but sharp climbs along the edge of the reservoir. These are really killer steep pitches and they follow one after another before one finally breaks free and descends back towards Bellvue. Don't think for a minute you're done with climbing, though. Bingham Hill has to be negotiated, and then there are still some rolling uphills before finally speeding downhill to the finish line back in downtown Fort Collins. All said and done, the race is 66.7 miles with over 6100' of climbing from a base altitude of 5000'. This isn't your normal "Masters Race"!

My wave of the race will consist of the 50/55/60/65 categories of riders, so the field is just over 50 (52 at the time of this writing), but only 12 of us are 60-64, so only three of us will qualify for the Worlds'.

The organization of the race so far has my scratching my head. I went to Boulder to pick up my race numbers on Thursday and I called ahead to make sure things were going to happen on time; the race web page was not working, with much of it not loading at all, and the links were broken. I was told that the distribution would start at 2:00 p.m. I took care of some other business in Boulder first and got there at 2:20. The numbers didn't actually arrive until nearly 4:30. I was not pleased. Fortunately, the location was a brewery, so I had a pint while waiting.... Since then I've been told that the one number given out goes on the left... and the right side. Since it can't be both places at once, I hesitate to pin the number on until I get there tomorrow. I fear that following vehicles and feeding will be chaotic, and I can't at this point tell if there actually will be a neutral feed as originally advertised. I have some feelings of foreboding here. Fortunately the weather will be mild, so I may be able to get by with the two bottles I normally carry along with a clif bar or two stuffed in my jersey. I'm not worried about wheels, because in my experience, if one flats, by the time the wheel vehicle gets to you the race is down the road and over. So I'm just carrying a tube, CO2, and a pair of levers (I decided to go light weight clinchers instead of tubulars because if I flatted they would be easier to repair and get back on the road with than tubulars and their mess with glue, etc.

Today I took my final tapering ride with my daughter. We rode about 30 miles, but at a very relaxed pace, which is just what I needed. I can't be more ready than I am at this point.

Monday, after the race, I'll drive 750 miles and then get up early Tuesday and return to work, where a real snake nest awaits me! School's back in session and everyone has computer issues already banging on my inbox door. Ah yes, now filling four positions by myself since the budget cuts, etc., makes for me a busy day. Wish me luck tomorrow.

July Recap and I Can't Believe It's August!

2011-08-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

As we all face that shining black hole that leads us to our ultimate end, one must ask one's self what is this all about? Cyclists, especially racing cyclists have to ask ourselves that leading question nearly every day when we face the early morning hours of training, the late afternoon into the dark evening hours training; cold, wind, rain, heat, and snow, and often lack of understanding or worse, the disapproval of nearly all of our relatives and loved ones. Really, why do we do this? The expense is leading us down to insolvency, and the hours on the bike come between those who claim to love us; yet we do it anyway. I often ask other racers why do we do this? I rarely get a coherent answer. I'm not sure it can be easily put into words. Is it important? Bike racing isn't something one "dabbles" in. One can't dabble in bike racing. It requires such a high level of fitness that defies the more modest demands of softball, golf, or bowling; well, it can't be imagined unless one actually engages in this endeavor. Meaningless? Of course, once can argue that existence itself is meaningless, but that's where existentialism comes into play. One must make meaning of one's own existence, and if meaning comes through the exercise of racing a bicycle, then meaning comes following closely behind. If you're reading this you must have at least some interest in bicycle racing. If you partake in it, or have at one time, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.

The summer is winding down and I'll be back to work running the computer systems again and tucking in my training around work hours in little more than a couple of weeks. I'm heading to Colorado at the end of this week to both visit my daughter and ride the Rist Canyon Road Race, which is this years UCI qualifier for the World Masters Championships in Liege. It's a 66.7 mile road race with 6100' feet of climbing, including a nine plus mile climb which tops out just shy of 8000'. I know a few of the guys riding this race, so it should be fun. I'll be out there over a week visiting and pre-riding the course. Then I'm back at it on the 24th, work, that is. But that Friday the 26th I'll head up to Big Pine for another go at the Death Valley Road Stage Race, which will feature the same two stages as the one held last May (minus the horrendous wind, I hope!). That will leave me with yet a few short weeks until the last race of the season, all things being equal, the Everest Challenge.

July was a tough month for me. I only had one race, in which I had my worst showing all year (8th). I was tired and approaching burn out from hard training, and the heat kicked in here in Las Vegas (it's been remarkably cooler this summer than usual) and with the monsoon moisture my chronic saddle sores reacted unfavorably to the new climatic conditions between my saddle and my nether regions. I decided to cut back to three hard days a week interspersed with ridiculously easy days last week and this week, and it's paid off. I'm feeling more rested now, and set a personal best on the Mt. Charleston loop I ride for long climbing practice. It's a 54.2 mile loop with just over 6000' of climbing over an 18.5 mile climb. It's a great ride. This time, however, it was hot (upper 80s at the start to 100 degrees at the finish), and quite windy. I still took over a minute off my previous best time, and I wasn't riding it with the intent of setting a best, I just wanted to get up and over the mountain. So I'm taking that as a good sign.

Here're the stats:
Number of golf balls retrieved: 9
Number of coyotes seen waiting at a cross walk for traffic to clear: 3 (they crossed one at a time and those who were across waited for the remaining coyotes to join them, and then off they went into the golf course to play with the bunnies)
Number of miles ridden: 1327 (2150 km)
Number of miles ridden as of 7/31/11 8610 (13,948 km)
Lifetime miles as of 7/31/11 427,559 (692,646 km)

Capitol Reef Classic - On the Shelf

2011-07-20T14:11:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Torrey, Utah on Thursday afternoon after a nearly five hour drive through the back country of southern Utah. Torrey sits at nearly 7,000' of elevation, approximately 4,000' higher than where I live. Although not severe, I can definitely feel the difference in the base altitudes and my heart rate is slightly higher just because there is less oxygen available in my blood stream. We're high there just sitting still.

I stayed at the Red Sands Hotel in Torrey, Utah. Unlike the Boulder View Inn where I spent one miserable night last year before changing motels, I was greeted warmly and enthusiastically and found that many other cyclists, including riding friends from Las Vegas, were also staying there. The place was new, clean, quiet, reasonably priced, and welcomed cyclists and their bicycles. It was such a refreshing change from the Boulder View, where I was greeted with suspicion and ultimately hostility because I was a cyclist there for the race, and was told I could hit the road if I didn't like their policies (no bikes in the room, no matter how spotless the machine was). The owners of the Boulder View were the rudest most uptight people I'd ever come across in all my years of travel with my bike(s).

The first stage was an individual time trial on a mostly flat to rolling course. My start time was at 9:45:30 a.m. and the temperature was in the 60s with nary a breath of wind. Although my time was 49 seconds faster than my time last year over the same course and similar weather conditions, I was only good enough for 8th this year (4th last year). This speaks to the higher level of competition and the tightness of the times speaks to the greater depth than last year. My team mates, Lorin Ronnow and Charles Palmer were first and second, respectively. Given that my chances of moving up in this field were slim, we decided that I would work to protect their lead in the coming two road stages. I would chase attacks, ride tempo, and attack as necessary. If any of these moves resulted in a break and it benefited me, great. Otherwise keeping certain other riders from gaining any advantage over Lorin and Charles was my goal.

Stage Two was a short but hilly 17 mile road race with a moderate climb and several sharp rollers before the finish. There was an attack by Steve Bernede from Southern California (the same Bernede who crossed the yellow line with impunity at the Poor College Kid's Road Race back in January. He was DQ'd for this) early in the stage, and Bill Pinkard from Las Vegas attempted to go with him. I went to the front and picked up the pace and we caught them not much more than a mile or so into their escape. When we hit the hill, I rode to the front and ultimately off the front, where I was left to dangle until nearly the top. I heard Lorin yell, "Go, go" and I could see the remains of the field surging and so I stood up and jumped on as we all went over the top. At this point we moved away from a strong head wind up the climb to a gusty cross wind. Bernede tried another escape and we let him dangle out there for awhile before reeling him back in. At this point we'd lost three riders from the group and we came to both a stalemate and a near stand still. The pace slowed considerably, as no one wanted to pull into all that wind. We were approaching a short down hill before an up slope that would bring us to the finishing straight. Lorin suggested I attack to stretch things out a bit. I did. And when they were about to catch me, I went again. Although this took the starch out of me, it had the desired effect of getting Lorin and Charles into position to take first and second again. Again, I took 8th a few seconds adrift of the others.

Stage Three was a 51 mile road race with only a minor amount of climbing, but with several sharp rollers. We headed out on the reverse direction of yesterday's stage, climbing the descents from the day before until we reached Torrey and turned west into a strong head wind. The FFKR/SportsBaseOnline team (mine) and Bountiful Mazda (who had our chief rival for a podium position) agreed to rotate and ride tempo at least until the feed zone nearly 32 miles into the race. A strong Colorado rider, Ed Chamberlin, who had no team mates with him, also was in on the rotation. Steve Bernede and Bill Pinkard steadfastly refused to do any work whatsoever. They merely sat on the back of the six of us who were taking our turn at the front and took full advantage of the wind break we provided them. A signal was made that I was to make an attack up the road at a location I knew of from riding the race last year. Interestingly enough, it was the same location I was given my chance to attempt to break away alone last year by the very team I was now riding for. When we made the left onto the road I gave it everything I had and we (the six of us) kept up the pressure for quite awhile. Unfortunately, the two barnacles managed to pull themselves back up to us and hang on. What we hadn't really thought out was how to finally break the two of them off for good. What I should have done then is gotten between them and the rest and soft pedaled until the danger of getting dropped outweighed their reluctance to pull into the wind. It's a tactic I've used before, but requires that I seriously could become a sacrificial lamb to accomplish it. As it turned out, they resisted all other attempts to dislodge them at all of our expense. Coming into a lengthy uphill grade that preceded a short downhill rush to the finish I attacked again. This brought Bernede and Pinkard to the front, where they counter attacked, as both were feeling fresh and perky after sitting on for the previous fifty miles. I was no longer of any use, as I was pretty well toast by then. Lorin manged to take first, but Bernede and Pinkard took second and third respectively, with Jerald Hunsaker (Bountiful Mazda) taking third, and Charles Palmer taking fourth. The GC classifications remained unchanged, however, and we kept first and second, and I was once again 8th. After the race there was much discussion of the tactics Bernede and Pinkard used. I actually like Bill and think he's a great guy and see him fairly often on training rides here in Las Vegas, and so I was disappointed he chose to go this way. I expected it from Bernede, though. In any case, they were not held in very high regard in Utah.

Overall, it was at once my worst performance of the year, and yet my TT improved from 23.8 mph to 25.7 mph and that has to count for something. I'm not sure what. Do I need to invest in a TT bike (I used my Cervelo Team Soloist with clip on TT bars again) and fancy helmet? It seems that in these non-mountain stage races the TT usually ends up determining the overall finishing places. I am at a definite disadvantage in that regard. On a more positive note, the USAC points for Mt. Whitney Stage Race were corrected and posted, and I'm now number two in the nation in my five and ten year age group and closing in on first. I have two more mountain stage races yet to do, and one of them, although hugely difficult, has an enormous number of points attached to it, the Everest Challenge. I've decided to go with it this year. I'm not getting younger, and the race isn't getting any easier, so I'd better do it now (or die trying).

My next race is a single day event, a road race in the Colorado mountains. It's the UCI qualifier for the Master's World Championships in Liege. It's nearly 67 miles long with over 6100' of climbing. I'm going because it will also give me a chance to visit my daughter, who I haven't seen in awhile. I'm doing this in lieu of the Arizona State Road Championships, which are being held on the same day. I regret missing that race because it not only is on the same Hillside course as last year (where I won the 60+ and took second overall in the combined fields), but the race length has been lengthened to a whopping 64 miles with even more climbing (now there's a state road championship!).

June Recap and Capitol Reef Classic Stage Race Coming Up

2011-07-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

Already the 8th of July and I'm finally feeling like my form is coming back after the disaster that was May and early June. The availability of races at this time in the season is quite limited; in fact, I only have three, possibly four races left on the calendar at all. Next weekend, actually Friday and Saturday of next week is the Capitol Reef Classic Stage Race in the Torrey, Utah area. None of the stages feature any sustained climbing, but it is a stage race, after all. The base elevation is quite high, however, with all three stages hovering in the plus/minus 7,000 foot range. Friday features an 8 mile individual time trial in the morning, then a hilly 17 mile road race in the afternoon. Saturday has a 52 mile road race. I was third there last year.

Mount Whitney Update:

As of 7/8/11 the results at USA Cycling don't show any ranking points for several individual riders, and several entire classes of riders, including mine (60+). I should have received 55 USA Cycling points in stage racing from this, which would put me in second place nationally, just shy of first. I've emailed the ranking/results director (Tom Mahoney), but he hasn't responded. I've also been in contact with the race director. I'm hoping that this will be cleared up soon. In the meantime, I'm unofficially 2nd in the United States in my ten year age category in stage racing, with two more stage races to go, including the daunting Everest Challenge in September.

June Stats:

Miles: 1345.5 (2181 km)
Miles for the year: 7283.2 (11,806 km)
Lifetime miles: 426,547 (563,469 km)
Race Results:
Mount Whitney Stage Race: 2nd, Stage 1
1st, Stage 2
2nd, G.C.

Mount Whitney Stage Race - Results

2011-06-23T18:21:00.000-07:00

Before the start of the first stage, two loops around the Alabama Hills, then upward and onward to Whitney Portal. I laugh at Whitney Portal! What a fool...

Finish line, Whitney Portal. Second, down by a minute and forty seconds.

All of the above photo credits go to Lorraine Wajda!

Finish of stage two, the daunting climb to Horseshoe Meadows at just under 10,000' of elevation. I took first by one full minute.

And now the story. It was already hot at 10:30 and we still hadn't started yet. For a variety of reasons the start was delayed and the temperatures were already in the mid to upper 80s. This year's stage was five miles of hard climbing longer than last year's, and included two loops through the Alabama Hills, which feature sharp, rolling climbs, a fast descent, and then the chance to do it again. On the climbing part the road had been resurfaced and was radiating heat like an oven. It was so hot the asphalt was softening under our tires. Our racing group included the 55+/60+/65+ fields as well as the women and juniors. I'm guessing at least 38 starters. The field this year was more than three times the size it was last year. In my combined group, there were 17 riders. Kim Bleth from Swami's enticed a few juniors to attack on the first lap and he was off, down the road. The notorious Herb Johnson, legendary climber (he's 67!) took off after them. At this point there was Kim and two or three juniors, then Herb, then me, then everyone else. This was not good. After coming out of the Alabama Hills there is a rolling down hill to Whitney Portal Road where we made a right and descended quickly back the the start of the loop again. I could see a group forming behind me, so I sat up and let them catch me. On the second time up the Alabama Hills climb the group narrowed itself down to Josef Lemire and an unknown, Jeff Golden. Jeff was still drilling it up the climb, so I let him do it, and took the occasional pull. As we returned to Whitney Portal Road, where the real climbing begins, Jeff was looking like he was having some difficulty. I myself was feeling a little dehydrated already and killed what was left in my water bottle, and picked up two fresh ones at the feed zone. We now turned left and began the 8 mile climb to Whitney Portal. The temperatures at this point were already in the 90s and I was feeling the heat. Mr. Lemire gradually rode away from me, but never got much more than a hundred yards on me, until we hit the first switch back. The last 5.5 miles of this climb are over 9% average, with a maximum gradient of 13%. About half way up the first switch back I started to crack and for a moment, unclipped and put my foot down, took a long drink, then headed back up hill. I probably didn't lose more than 40 or so seconds. Not long, but it came back to haunt me the next day. After that brief rest, I actually felt energized and continued up the slope, passing dropped riders from the first wave, and actually gaining back some of what I lost to Mr. Lemire. I took second, one minute and 42 seconds down. My time over this course was 2:15 over nearly 30 miles. Last year I did 2:10 over a slightly less than 25 mile course, so I rode five miles further uphill in five additional minutes. That has to count as an improvement, yet I had been concerned that I was less than 100%. Third place was over twelve minutes behind me, Steve Close. Following Steve were Mike Marotta, Leo Longo, and Bob Wright. Out of the more than 100 starters, at least seven didn't finish because of the heat and the severity of the climb. Even more failed to start the following day.

Stage Two: Horseshoe Meadows

Horseshoe Meadows is rated as the third most difficult climb in the continental United States after the Onion Valley Road. It is nearly as steep as the Onion Valley Road, but is much longer. The temperatures were a little cooler than the day before, but in place of heat was a strong wind out of the north. As the day before, we headed up into the Alabama Hills, but fortunately, we only went once, turned right on Horseshoe Meadows road to follow it down to where it Ts into Whitney Portal Road. We did a quick turn around, picked up water, and headed up the road to Horseshoe Meadows, 19 miles up the road. At the intersection the elevation is 4551'. At the point where we turned around I had left Mr. Lemire behind and had fallen in with a group of category 4 and 5 riders. We took advantage of the tail wind at this point and were drilling it up the road. The climb starts out like many in the Eastern Sierras, gentle at first, but increasingly steep as the climb progresses. At thirteen miles to go it never drops below 6%, and the last 12 miles hover around 8% with a maximum grade of 12%.

I thought I had it made when I reached the base of the first switch back, which is already at an elevation of 5532'. I looked behind me, and there was my nemisis, Mr. Lemire. He had apparently done what I had been doing, latching himself onto the wheels of the various cat 4 and cat 5 riders loose on the course, and had caught me. I began climbing the bottom switch back (you can see it in the photo above) at a good rate of speed, hoping that his catching me was a fluke (the first switch back is well over a mile long). We caught another rider about mid way up the second switch back, and since we were now climbing into a head wind, I tried to pull off and let Mr. Lemire or the other rider put their nose into the wind for awhile. This is where things broke down. Mr. Lemire looked at me and said, "I know when to be in front, and when to follow. This is following time." I gave him a look, and then proceeded up the mountain. Mr. Lemire wasn't content to let it go at that. He then proceeded to lecture me about bicycle racing, and that if I didn't like it, maybe I should choose another sport, blah, blah, blah. Grr. I then proceeded to surge, ride precariously near potholes, cracks in the pavement, boulders, whatever. If he was going to suck my wheel and refuse to work, then he'd better be paying attention. He held on like grim death. At about 7500' or so, I grew tired of his game and unclipped a moment, just long enough to zip up my jersey. I quickly caught his wheel and now I was following him. He clearly didn't like it. He began to slow (deliberately?). Was he tired, or just hoping I'd pull through and lead again. I knew that not far up the road there was an unexpected (if one hadn't ridden the course before) and very fast descent before the final pull up to the finish. I came through. I surged repeatedly. Each time he caught me, but it was taking longer and longer. I continued to surge. Finally, I snapped the tether and saw that I'd gapped him. I stood up and upshifted and started pushing it. I had a surge of adrenaline and I knew that the descent was coming up soon. When I hit it, I threw the bike into the 50x11 and flew down that descent, passing a car and another rider on the way. I no longer saw Mr. Lemire behind me and over the remaining two miles to the finish I nearly turned myself inside out. I took a full minute out of Mr. Lemire. It wasn't enough. He still had 42 seconds on me (about the time I lost recuperating on Mt. Whitney...ah, well). He came up to me afterwards and began to berate me, telling me I had an attitude problem, and that being competitive at 62 "doesn't mean shit", and all manner of other bad behavior. I had never said a word to him other than I didn't really want to talk to him.

Here are the full results.

Fun facts:

Stage One Timed Distance: 29.71 miles

Stage One Total Distance: 40.86 miles

Stage One Elevation Gain: 5836' (1778.8 meters)

Stage Two Timed Distance: 30.08 miles

Stage Two Elevation Gain: 7840' (2389.6 meters)

Stage Two Total Distance: 51.78 miles

Mount Whitney Stage Race

2011-06-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

I saw the saw bones today, had my knee x-rayed, and I'm good to go. I'm still going to have a specialist look at it, but I've returned to full training and fitness is returning. I rode Mount Potosi today and was just under two minutes slower than my best time over a nine mile climb, so I'm going to take that as a good sign. The Mount Whitney Stage Race is one of the two most important races in my season (as I already sat out the third most important, the District Championships because of my knee issue), and even though I won't be 100% for it, I'll be fit to ride it.

You can see how much the post had slipped. There are several ways to come up with the optimum seat post height, and that's beyond the scope of this blog, however, once you've found the optimum height, make it part of your weekly maintenance to check it! I could have had permanent damage from pushing on through the pain. Tendinitis leads to scarring of the tendons, damage to the cartilage, and other career ending problems. It's hard enough being old without doing one's self damage that can be avoided! So lesson learned.

May Re-Cap:

May was a bad month, overall here in Las Vegas. Cooler than normal temperatures (I'm not complaining; it hasn't broken triple digits yet even though it's already mid-June) were offset by windier than normal conditions, even for here in the spring. We had two to three wind advisories each week, which mean 20+ mph sustained winds and gusts to 40 or more. Wind was a fact of life in May, and it was objectionable in every way. I also was sick from allergies and suffered some knee pain which caused problems with both my racing and training schedule. On the political front, the Nevada governor tried exceptionally hard to dismantle public education in Nevada, and nearly succeeded. My job will still suffer to what is yet an unknown extent, so much of May was spent fighting the cuts, lobbying the state legislators, and worrying what was going to happen next. Would I end up living in a trailer park and eating cat food, or would I eke out another year employed?

May mileage: 1230.3 miles
May races:
Death Valley Road Stage Race: Stage 1: 1st
Stage 2: 2nd
GC: 1st
Number of rattlesnakes on the road: 1 (pink, too, believe it or not)
Number of golf balls retrieved: 6
Number of sun bonnets out walking: few and far between so far

Knee Pain!

2011-06-03T20:32:00.000-07:00

Instead of sitting in a motel room in Bakersfield, California, I'm sitting in my kitchen in Las Vegas, Nevada icing my knee. A week after the Death Valley Road Stage Race, my left knee started twinging more and more insistently. I had to back off on intensity while I figured out what was causing it. Sure, pushing big gears, speed work, extreme climbing, any of that could have done it. I started researching knee pain. Hmm. Pain in the front of the knee? Raise the seat post. So I did, sort of. A few silly millimeters. The pain persisted. Finally I whipped out a tape measure and low and behold, my saddle was nearly an inch too low! WTF? My guess is that it slowly slipped down into the seat tube over the course of a year (I didn't use a torque wrench to tighten the clamp... even though I own one... grrr), so I didn't really notice it in any conscious way. So, last weekend I began raising it, about a half centimeter at a time. I'm back to where it should be, and have had little or no pain three out of the last four days. Maybe I've escaped serious damage? I'm hoping so. In the meantime, I'm missing the Southern California/Southern Nevada Road Championships because of my neglect of a simple, yet seriously important thing: my saddle height. Back in the day, with steel frames and aluminum seat posts, once a saddle height was set, it didn't slip. Carbon fiber does, I guess, and that's one of the reasons to use a torque wrench. It will ensure that the clamp is really tight enough. Live and learn. I hope I recover sufficiently to race the Mt. Whitney Stage Race (another extreme climbing event) two weeks from now. Time is short.

In the meantime, I have some good leads on physical therapists (thank you Stephanie and Daniel), and yes, I'm going to get a new bike fit. It's been three years since my last (and that one was 34 years after my first one and only prior... some of us are too old school for school). I'd been thinking I should do this any way (get an appraisal of my position), but now it's imperative. So the lesson learned? Take nothing for granted.

Post Cards From the Edge

2011-05-24T15:10:00.000-07:00

The final pitch upward after two fifteen mile climbs.

Ray Cook finishing the first stage.

Now it's my turn.

Prepping for the 2nd stage. Note the mountains in the background. The Eastern Sierras are my favorite!

Before the race in full winter jacket.

Our destination.

Gary Shuey winning the GC in the 55+.

Thirty one degrees, light snow, and 25 mph winds!

Damn, it's cold!

I think they're trying to lift me up and toss me over the edge!

Left to right: Mike Crystal, 4th, Jim Morehouse, 1st, Leo Longo, 3rd. Not pictured: Glenn Baldwin, 2nd.

All photos courtesy of Lorraine Wajda

Death Valley Road Stage Race - Spring 2011

2011-05-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

This is the third edition of the DVRSR that I've ridden in the past two seasons, and it remains just as difficult as it ever was. There isn't a flat mile in the race anywhere. I arrived on Friday afternoon with Lorraine and met Bruce Steele, Kim Bleth, Gary Shuey and his girlfriend, and Leo Longo for dinner at Rossi's, the local Big Pine restaurant. Later Steve Barnes, the race promoter came by, and before we were done, another Las Vegas friend of mine, Ray Cook, showed up. While we were eating and discussing past and tomorrow's race(s), wind and rain came in. Not a good sign!

The morning dawned fairly clear and only a mild wind was evident, but the race wasn't to go off until 10:15. The hour by hour showed increasing wind through the morning, culminating in a high wind warning for the rest of the day and Sunday, as well. It came true. I think a total of 71 riders, give or take, lined up for the start. We decided on a mass start of all categories at once, and off we went. Within the first four miles of climb one up Death Valley Road the field began splitting up, with one group off the front, I was in the second group with Kim Bleth, Bob Wilcox, both 55+ riders. Gary Shuey was already up the road. Behind us was every one else, and that gap grew to the point where I couldn't even see the next group of riders behind us. Kim kept drilling the pace, so there were continual surges. I've been struggling with a cold/allergy problem for nearly two weeks and have been congested and hacking up crud. I could handle a steady pace, even a hard one, but the surging was killing me. At mile 8.8 I had one surge too many and slowly came off. I knew I was screwed because the wind was coming up and there was a nearly sixteen mile high speed descent coming up. Being in a group there makes a huge difference in both time and expenditure of energy, and I was now out on my own. I looked back and I saw a lone rider coming up. Before long I was over taken, and it was Ray Cook from Las Vegas. He was drilling it and I was able sit on for another couple of miles. We were close to overtaking a small group of juniors, and as we got closer, Ray grew impatient and jumped to try to catch them in one fell swoop. In doing so, I was off again! I was beginning to cramp up in my left hip area by this time, which further complicated my day. So, over the top at 7,700' of elevation. I grabbed a bottle of water and a gel at the feeding station, and down, down, down into a burning ring of fire... sorry. Down into the Eureka Valley I went, flying at 49 mph at times (others I spoke with hit speeds well over 50 mph) to bottom out at 3200' at the end of the pavement. A quick turn around, pick up some water, and back up I went. The climb back out is way worse than the first climb, being not only steeper, but longer overall. And this is where the wind really started playing a role. It came in gusts, stronger and stronger and mainly in the form of a head wind up 4500' of elevation gain over a nearly 16 mile long climb that is anything but gradual. The hardest part of it stays well above 8% with sections in the 10-15% range for several miles. Then it levels out somewhat to a more tolerable 4-5% before kicking up near 8% the last couple of miles before the finish. Add increasingly gusty and hard winds (in the low 20+ mile an hour range with gusts to over 40 miles an hour) made for a brutal ride. I caught Kim Bleth on the first steep part of the climb. After all his drilling on the first climb, he'd toasted himself and was having a bad patch where I caught and passed him. Next were Steve Bernede and Bob Wilcox, also 55+ riders. When I caught the two of them, Bob started working with me, but Steve came off. I could tell Bob was toasted by this time as well. My cramping had subsided and I was feeling much better by this time, so I ended up doing the work over the next steep section, and all through the milder 4-5% section. Just before we tilted up for the last few miles, Bob came off and I was on my own again. I finished first in the 60+ and 2nd amongst the 55+ crew, but my time of 3:19 was a full 11 minutes slower that I had done in October, and one minute slower than I had done in June of last year. It was a tough day on the bike.
I was followed in by Glenn Baldwin, Leo Longo, and Mike Crystal, all approximately 35 minutes down. Bruce Steele flatted and came in on a nearly flat tire!

Over night the wind howled constantly, waking me from time to time just to remind me how bad it was going to be going up the Onion Valley Road. The forecast called for winds in the mid 20s from the west (yes, a straight on head wind up the 2nd hardest climb in the continental U.S.) with gusts over 40, and a strong possibility of showers. It unfortunately was true. The temperature down in the valley was in the low 50s, but the wind was in good form and hitting 25 mph on average and gusting strongly. Up high it was snowing. We left Independence, California with the idea that the race may be shortened depending on the snow conditions up high. I was not feeling good and was still tired from the day before. Before we'd gone three miles a group was off the front, and I was in the second group, and everyone else was behind. Kim Bleth, Bob Wilcox, Gary Shuey, Glenn Baldwin, Ray Cook, Steve Bernede, and several other younger categories were in the group I was in. I could see that Kim was doing what he did yesterday, and the group was continually surging. As soon as a surge subsided into a steady pace, Kim would notch it up again. Grr! I held on as long as I could, but I couldn't get enough air into my lungs (this gunk I have has got to go!) and I gradually came off. This was the worst, because the pain I was suffering in the group was now multiplied several times and I had to beat my way through the wind on my own. The next two to three miles were among the worst I've ever experienced. I gripped my bars so tightly to pull myself up and through the wind the handlebar tape began to unwind! To make matters even worse, I could see that Glenn Baldwin managed to stay with that group through the worst of it. By the time we got on the switch backs I started recovering and kept Glenn and the group in sight; they were only a few minutes ahead of me up the road. Then people started coming off the back of that group, and I could see that Glenn had come off finally as well. I was able to gain on the stragglers now, but already I knew that the race had been shortened by three miles because of a snow storm higher on the mountain. Already there were flurries and the higher I went the more snow was in the air. About 1 KM from the new finish I caught and passed Steve Bernede, but no one else. Glenn took a minute and a half out of me for the second stage. Bob Wilcox made a remarkable recovery and took first in the 55+, Gary Shuey took 2nd, and Kim Bleth took third. Glenn came in about three and a half minutes behind them; I was next about five and a half minutes down. Behind me was Steve Bernede and shortly after came Pete Dufour. Mike Crystal took third in the 60+, and Leo Longo took fourth.

Believe me, I felt my age in this one.

Here are the full results for the 55+ field, and the 60+ field:

57 shuey gary Swamis 58 4 44197 Masters 55+ 3:06:01 1:08:26 4:14:27 1
54 Willcox Robert UCC 69952 Masters 55+ 3:21:25 1:08:09 4:29:34 2
56 Bernede Steve 126351 Masters 55+ 3:27:57 1:14:41 4:42:38 4
58 Bleth Kim Swami's 56 1 49191 Masters 55+ 3:28:28 1:08:42 4:37:10 3
59 Bell Ron Paramount Racing 55 5 269462 Masters 55+ 4:04:26 1:25:53 5:30:19 6
55 Dufour Peter 250331 Masters 55+ 4:11:44 1:15:49 5:27:33 5

63 Morehouse James FFKR Architects/Sportsbaseonline.com 62 4 283640 Masters 60+ 3:19:35 1:14:12 4:33:47 1
60 Baldwin Glenn NEXUS-GYMONE 62 2 45047 Masters 60+ 3:55:12 1:12:40 5:07:52 2
62 Longo Leo Southbay Wheelman 60 3 189814 Masters 60+ 3:55:39 1:35:07 5:30:46 3
61 crystal mike MetalMtn 62 3 8283 Masters 60+ 3:55:40 1:19:58 5:15:38 4
64 Steele Bruce South Bay Wheelmen 64 4 236498 Masters 60+ 4:18:42 dns

Here's a link to the full results for all categories: DVRSR

Badger Badger?

2011-05-10T20:02:00.000-07:00

They seem to be proliferating. What is their meaning? Have aliens come to earth to leave me cryptic messages? Despite the similarity of the two signs, they are different and face different directions (note the handlebars vs. the rear wheel). There are now a total of four of these within about a quarter mile.

DVRSR Update(s):

Last weekend was unusual. We've been suffering from one windy day after another, which only intensifies the discomfort from the unusually high pollen count, as the pollen becomes mixed with all manner of valley dust. Saturday is the day of my long training ride and normally includes two major climbs. I headed out shortly after seven a.m. with the usual group of bike thugs that meet at Starbucks. I found that my allergies were so bad that morning I could barely breathe. On the first climb, I fell off the pace, as I was having trouble breathing. It felt much like what I've heard people describe as asthma attacks. Ultimately, I went home early, having only put on 31 miles instead of the usual 70+. I thought I might be getting sick. I took some advice and bought a round of Mucinex, which is a high timed release dose of guafenesin. It cleared me out pretty quickly. I must have had a pound of pollen in my lungs! Although the congestion and discomfort have largely gone, the wind hasn't. Yesterday I was treated to strong, gusty winds, chilly temperatures (low 50s), and some scattered rain showers. I'm hoping today will mellow out some so I can go climb Mt. Potosi this afternoon after work. Originally I was thinking of doing the Mt. Charleston Loop, but that takes a lot out of me. Sunday would have been the day to do it, but we had high winds and I was still under the weather and decided to be cautious. Potosi has the advantage of being a long climb, but isn't nearly as long or as hard as Charleston, and given that the climbs coming up in this weekend's race will take every ounce of climbing energy that I possess.

Weather forecast for Big Pine:

Saturday: mid 70for a high in the valley, with WIND!

Sunday: mid 60s in the valley, and what was once a 60% chance of rain has been downgraded to 30% at the time of this writing.

I did in fact ride Mt. Potosi this evening. It's good to know I can put a 55 mile ride with 4200' of climbing into an after work ride now that the sun stays out longer!

Badger

2011-05-06T17:26:00.000-07:00

On the road while out riding this morning...

The Imminence of Death

2011-05-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

Valley Road Stage Race, May 14 and May 15 in the Eastern Sierras has led me to ramp up my climbing training. On top of the usual Scenic Loop climb in Red Rock Canyon, and the ever present Mt. Potosi, I've started riding the Mount Charleston loop. This climb is one of the top ten in the continental U. S. and includes approximately 6000' of climbing and descending over a 54 mile loop. I rode it again yesterday after work in near perfect weather conditions. After weeks of being sand blasted by the spring desert winds, the wind finally took a breath and stopped. I took 18 minutes off the time I rode it last a couple of weeks ago. For those not familiar with the climb, it entails approximately 14 miles of rolling gradually climbing terrain from Kyle Canyon to Lee Canyon. The climb itself begins at the intersection of Lee Canyon and the 95. From there it is straight uphill from approximately 3300' to 8400' over the course of nearly 17 miles. It is a killer climb. The climbs in the DVRSR are even more difficult, with two 15 mile climbs in the first stage, and one monster climb the second day. The second day takes one up the second hardest climb in the continental U.S., the notorious Onion Valley Road. What a race!

Lee Canyon

April Re-Cap:

Training Miles: 1289

Daily Average: 42.9

Average Weight: 148.9

Number of golf balls retrived from the road: 6

Number of deer I nearly ran into while climbing Charleston: 4

Number of burros hanging out on the road in Red Rock Canyon: 8

Number of coyotes waiting for traffic to clear before crossing the road: 1

Why did the coyote cross the road?

Training miles so far this year: 4825

Lifetime total: 423, 764 miles

Devil's Punch Bowl Road Race - 2011

2011-04-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

I spent the night at the Pearblossom Inn, the same place I stayed when I rode this race in 2009. It has the advantage of being cheap, quiet, clean, and within a couple of miles of the start of this hilly road race. This is the first year that there has been a 55/60+ combined category race, which is why I decided to ride it again. I've ridden on this course as long ago as the mid 80s, and it has never failed to cause me consternation. In 1987, give or take, I rode it as a Master's 35+. The field had Kenny Fuller, Skip Cutting, myself, and about 40 other riders whose names escape me now. I was still using a seven speed cluster, but 8 speed hubs and cassettes were already in common use. I remember putting a 13-23 seven speed thread on cluster and a 54x42 chainring combination. I thought (foolishly) that a 54x13 would be easily a big enough gear for the reputedly fast descent. I remember making it over the top of the first climb with the leaders, only to have them ride away from me on the descent. I was completely spun out in the 54x13 and they just gapped me. I had nearly caught them before the 90 degree right hand turn at the bottom when a car pulled out in front of me and came to a complete stop at the corner, effectively ending my chance of regaining the group. The rest of the ride was a gruelling solo effort where I occasionally caught and passed riders who had been shelled off the lead group, but I never saw them close up again, ever. The finish that year was especially brutal, because after four laps and well over 6000' of climbing, the finish was up yet another six miles of steep climbing that went all the way to the infamous Devil's Punchbowl itself. I finished a disappointing 11th. Fast forward to the present and I've ridden the course twice since 2009, once in a 50+ group (no 60+ category then, not even a 55+). I placed 16th, but was the 2nd place 60+ finisher. Not very satisfying. Last year I rode it with a bunch of 45 year olds, tough bike thugs all of them, into a 25 mph uphill headwind. Grr. I was 17th.

So, this year's story:

I got to the course around 7:30, signed in, pinned on my number and started warming up. It was about fifty degrees and so far the promised wind had not come up. My goal was to be completely warmed up so as to be ready for the hard push up the first climb. I was sure there would be a serious selection there. I had studied the list of pre-registered riders, and amongst the 17 60+ riders there was only one guy who might be a real threat, a rider from Central California, Mike Morotta. The 55+ field looked strong, with the UC Cyclery club (always a big threat to any SoCal race, especially in the criterium arena) dominating the entrants. When I got there I found that there were several walk ups, including Kenny World Champion Fuller. At the line there were approximately 40 riders ready to go. As I thought, the push came when the road tilted up, and it came fast. I was ready and made the bridge to the lead group, which consisted of myself, Kenny Fuller, Mike Morotta, and about five or six 55+ riders. Off the front was Kal Szkalak of UC Cyclery, and a guy no one knew, Robert Downs from Wisconsin. I was glad just to be in the lead group, and wasn't worried about those two. Especially since I knew Kal wasn't a climber (even though he is a killer sprinter and a threat at the end of any race). He made it over ahead of us only because he went from the gun and got a good enough gap to hold us off (it was such a cool move, I had to applaud it, it was so unexpected). We caught him on the back stretch and things settled down briefly, and a few of the dropped riders caught back on, including Mike Birditt. I was probably spending too much time at the front covering moves the UCC guys were making because I didn't want to get left behind. Kenny was near the front but I never saw him actually take a pull, which was a way smarter way to ride. But then, he could pull out an explosive jump to bridge a gap if it merited it, and I lack that so have to find other ways to stay in contention. The Wisconsin guy jumped off again and took Mark Huffman from... you guessed it... UC Cyclery with him and they built up a good lead going into the second lap. I thought it was someone else at the time. On the second time up the steep section the lead group fractured again, with six riders pulling away. I was late on the reaction and ended up in no man's land, just off the back of the newly formed lead group, but way out ahead of the rest. It was untenable. Two guys fell off on the second part of the climb (Steve Bernede and David Benner, I believe) and I briefly joined them, hoping they'd add something positive to the work load and together maybe we could rejoin. That was a mistake, as they were blown, and I lost time with them. I headed off on my own up the rest of the climb, now into a stiff head wind and I saw the remaining four crest the top and speed downhill out of sight. I thought to myself, now I'm in a pickle and have to be able to solo all the rest of the way back so I don't lose what place I now have, i.e., I was 7th on the road and 2nd in the 60+ field, as Mike Morotta came off when I jumped to attempt to bridge the gap. I went downhill as fast as I've ever gone, spinning out the 53x11 and then lowering myself to the top tube in a tuck. I thought I was going like a bat out of hell, but Mark Helvie from ... UC Cyclery caught me near the bottom (where did he come from?) and we worked together laying down some speed on the rolling terrain leading back to the start/finish line. I'd have to say we put some distance on anyone behind us, but we were too far back to catch the now six riders ahead of us, so we were riding for 7th place. Fortunately for me, it was a long, uphill finish into a head wind. After some initial parrying, I wound it up hoping Mark wouldn't be able to come around, and then stood up and punched it, upshifting as I went. I had to avoid some bozo on a mountain bike (WTF?) who rode across the road in front of me about 50 yards from the finish (there was no crowd control here, a major drawback to the organization of the race) and I squeezed between his fat bike and a car and managed to take 7th overall, and 2nd behind Kenny Fuller. Later, Kal Szkalak and Mike Birditt (another killer sprinter from SoCal) were sprinting for 9th and 10th in their category (55+) and Kal narrowly missed an oncoming car, which was driven by a rider looking for a parking place. The finish was chaotic and dangerous and I have to fault the organizers for having absolutely no crowd control worth mentioning along the stretch leading back uphill to the start/finish line. What was narrowly averted could have been a disastrous finish to the race by either myself or worse, for Kal. Also, on the high speed descent there are streets that feed out to the road we descend upon. In the past they've had course monitors there to stop traffic until descending riders have passed. Not this year. I narrowly avoided being a grill ornament on a car about to make a left hand turn onto the course. The car saw me and stopped, and I swerved, but still, where was the course monitor? Just not there at all. I was not pleased, and neither were several others that I spoke to after the race.

Final results:
1st: Robert Downs 55+
2nd: Kenny Fuller 60+
3rd: Michael Mueller 55+
4th: Mark Huffman 55+
5th: Steve Hensler 55+
6th: Robert Wilcox 55+
7th: Jim Morehouse 60+
8th: Mark Helvie 55+

For full results, see:

http://www.scnca.org/schedule2011.asp?event=Devils+Punchbowl+RR&rank=2

post script: Without having actually asked this question, in retrospect, Kenny Fuller had to be driving the last miles of this race, since, of the four riders chasing (ahead of me, and then me and Mark Helvie), Kenny was isolated with three (count them) UC Cyclery riders trying to slow things down. Kenny told me he (they???) caught Huffman and Downs on the last uphill straight before the finish. I'm sure Kenny had to be doing all the work from the split all the way to the finish, as surely the UC boys wouldn't be doing any work, given Huffman was out ahead. Kenny took second in that bunch, and he was all alone as far as team mates go. This is yet another remarkable finish by Ken Fuller (I knew him as Ken back in the day... only in recent years has he been called Kenny ... to my knowledge).

There is another story I have about Ken, back in the wild cat days of the "Como" Sunday ride. Maybe one day I'll tell it. It involved pot holes, two broken wheels, and a pair of great Marines.

March and April Update

2011-04-19T18:12:00.000-07:00

March miles: 1227
March Weight: 148.8
March Average Miles: 39.6
March Racing Results:
Tour del Sol: 4th GC

April (so far): 822
April Weight: 148.1
April Average Miles (again, so far): 822
Average Miles: 43.8
April Racing Results (so far):
Tour of the Depot: 2nd GC
Number of golf balls retrieved: 24 (there will be a quiz on this at the end of the year. Pay attention!)

Lifetime miles: 423, 203 ...give or take

Tour of the Depot - Revisited

2011-04-18T18:13:00.000-07:00

This video is of the Cat 3 men's race, which was on the road simultaneously with the race I was in, so you can get a good idea of what the conditions were like.

I'll post an update for March and now half of April shortly.

Tour of the Depot - Third Stage and a 420 mile drive home

2011-04-11T15:00:00.000-07:00

The day opened up with broken clouds and snow on the ground, but the streets were dry. It was a chilly 37 degrees at the start, but there was no wind to speak of at all. For some reason several riders failed to show up for the final stage, and I was moved up from fourth to second because of it. Our club had so many talented riders in it and we were out in force, so the race became, much more than yesterday, a club ride with others invited along. We took turns taking flyers off the front with the idea that as one was close to being caught, another would go. It sort of worked in that there were plenty of miscues, but then we aren't able to really train as a group since most of the club lives in the Salt Lake City area, and Vic and I live in Las Vegas. Still, it was instructive and I'd love to be able to really run this routine again. My entire racing career, with one brief exception, has been as a solo rider in the field, either because I had no team mates in the race at all, or because there simply wasn't anyone who could really assist me in a meaningful way. Riding with this team is a brand new experience for me, because we have tremendous depth and I am just one of them. There is a lot of shaking out going on yet. But I digress. The course was an trapezoidal shaped course with a sloping downhill into a 90 degree turn, a longish uphill grade through turn two and continued up to turn three, then it leveled briefly before two more right hand turns and back downhill again. The finish was on top just after turn three. We went for 20 miles and I wished it went for at least 40, as I felt like I was just getting good and warmed up and we only had a lap left to go! A couple of the 35+ guys took a flyer with one of my team mates going up the hill the last time. The team mate folded, but the two younger guys had the advantage of not being chased seriously right away because of our guy up the road. Bad move, because they took first and second. Dirk Cowley took third (and first in the 55+), Bill Pinckard from Las Vegas took 4th (and second in the 55+), I took 7th (and third in the 55+). When all the dust had settled, Velosport Racing (FFKR/SportsbaseOnline p/b Tour of Utah) took 1st, 5th, 7th and 8th overall, and 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the 55+ race. Dirk thought we should have done better.

I got a bump from this finish and am back in third place in the US Cycling national stage race rankings in my five and ten year age category.

Snow and More Coming-The Tour of the Depot

2011-04-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

Here's what I'm seeing out my hotel window at 7:33 a.m.

More to come.

It snowed the entire race. Hard, driving snow such that it was difficult to see at times. Enough wind to drive it painfully into our faces. There was a long uphill grade (couldn't really call it a climb, just several miles of 3% or so) about one third of the way in. I went to the front and stayed there. My team mate, Dirk Cowley, was off the front in a two man break. He was with a 35+ Master's B rider (we rode a combined field: 55+ and 35+ B), so I covered all the chase attempts. A couple of guys really drilled it up the grade, and we shed more than a few riders. I stayed at number two or three for much of the time, only dropping back a few when my other team mate, Lorin Ronnow, would take over. The two of us covered pretty much everything until the last turn with about four or five miles to go. We hit a downhill section and we drilled it into the wind. More than once I had to throw myself out into the wind to keep a front spot; I didn't want to get drowned in the sprint. As it turned out, it was a steep uphill sprint and I took it for all I was worth. There were a few ahead of me, but I believe top ten overall, maybe 7th or 8th in the combined fields. It was brutally cold and miserable. It's now thirty three outside and still snowing. I'm taking a hot bath... bye for now.

3:30 p.m.

The TT has been cancelled because of deteriorating conditions and the possibility of ice forming on the road. Grr. All suited up and no where to go!

Road Race Results: These are the combined field results. I've highlighted in bold the 55+ field, so Dirk was first, John Lauck was 2nd, Lorin Ronnow was third, I was fourth, Vic Meira was 5th, Ken Louder was sixth, and so on. So my club took first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth.

1. 851 7974 COWLEY Dirk FFKR/Sportsbaseonline p/b Tour of Utah MAS 55+ 2.15'54"
2. 810 244438 MORRISON Scott Independent MAS 35+ B 2.16'05" 11"
3. 809 339556 LARSON Eric Revolution Cafe Rio MAS 35+ B 2.17'07" 1'13"
4. 853 228846 LAUCK John Bountiful Mazda MAS 55+ 2.17'15" 1'21"
5. 850 264904 RONNOW Lorin FFKR Architects/SportsBaseOnline.com MAS 55+ 2.17'15" ...
6. 801 3363 BENSON Dave Utah Mt Biking MAS 35+ B 2.17'15" ...
7. 857 283640 MOREHOUSE James FFKR/Sportsbaseonline p/b Tour of Utah MAS 55+ 2.17'22" 1'28"
8. 806 326152 GOWSKI Bill Sonora Grill/Bicycle Center MAS 35+ B 2.17'22" ...
9. 818 1698 ANDERSON Keith Logan Race Club MAS 35+ B 2.17'26" 1'32"
10. 803 303618 BRUBAKER Joseph CONTENDER BICYCLES MAS 35+ B 2.17'26" ...
11. 856 280155 MIERA Vic FFKR/Sportsbaseonline p/b Tour of Utah MAS 55+ 2.17'26" ...
12. 854 179491 LOUDER Ken FFKR/Sportsbaseonline p/b Tour of Utah MAS 55+ 2.17'26" ...
13. 811 294175 PETERSEN Greg Sonora Grill/Bicycle Center MAS 35+ B 2.17'26" ...
14. 847 142960 HUNSAKER Jerald Bountiful Mazda MAS 55+ 2.20'06" 4'12"
15. 816 344188 THOMPSON David MAS 35+ B 2.24'42" 8'48"
16. 805 175833 FISHER Mark RMCC MAS 35+ B 2.24'55" 9'01"
17. 815 272884 STOKES Clark Canyon Bicycles Draper MAS 35+ B 2.25'55" 10'01"
18. 802 202151 BERCAW John Ski Utah Cycling Team MAS 35+ B 2.25'55" ...
19. 852 16081 HIBDON Dwight Velo Sports Racing MAS 55+ 2.26'06" 10'12"
20. 814 265715 SAURMAN David David Saurman MAS 35+ B 2.26'32" 10'38"
21. 819 165677 FESSENDEN Sean Canyon Bicycles -Draper MAS 35+ B 2.28'33" 12'39"
22. 859 291027 PINCKARD Bill Barry Lasko DDS.Paul Tracy.com MAS 55+ 2.29'35" 13'41"
23. 807 280609 HARDER Chris Fitzgerald's Bicycles MAS 35+ B 2.34'39" 18'45"
24. 813 51897 ROUNDY Guy MAS 35+ B 2.35'49" 19'55"
25. 804 223619 COLONNA Jim Infinite Cycles MAS 35+ B 2.36'29" 20'35"
26. 855 146521 MACDONALD Michael Bountiful Mazda MAS 55+ 2.42'02" 26'08"
27. 849 242162 STORRUD Shannon Porcupine Racing MAS 55+ 2.45'43" 29'49"
28. 820 295234 ADINARO James Porcupine Racing MAS 35+ B 3.03'36" 47'42"

Doesn't This Suck the Ragged Bone of Winter?

2011-04-08T18:08:00.000-07:00

I drove up to Tooele, Utah today. It snowed the entire trip, minus a few miles where it clearly had already snowed and was gearing up for another go at it. Two inches supposed to fall tonight, and more on the way tomorrow. There's not one, but two races tomorrow, a 49 mile road race, and a 9 mile time trial. Sunday may only be cold, but mostly dry. Grr.

More as the news breaks.

Waiting For the Results?

2011-04-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

Here I am still waiting for the weekend results, like it really matters. Here's how the weekend went down, more or less. I woke Saturday to high winds, the usual Mojave spring roaring winds that come through here day after day; the only question is not if it's windy, but how windy? I met up with only one other intrepid soul (Ray Cook) and we set out for the Loop. It was my original intention to ride up Mt. Potosi as well, but the wind was so severe that, given that I was signed up for an afternoon race, I called it quits after 53 miles out in it. That was still a pretty good effort, considering the race. Fast forward to the afternoon and the course is out in a wide open part of the valley and the wind was whipping the flags to ribbons. The course featured six turns. The first led to a slightly downhill section with a tailwind, then a left, shortly after a right, then another left. Along this stretch we face a strong crosswind that was still tail side. Then another left into a hammering headwind leading slightly uphill to the last left hand turn which took us back across the start/finish line again, now into a strong cross wind with a head side. The field had a little over 30 Category 4 riders. Off we went, and before we had gone half way, the field started disintegrating. There were two riders off the front, I was mid-pack and on the backstretch cross wind section when the field split and the riders immediately ahead of me just gave up and left me in no man's land. Bad positioning. I teamed up with one other strong rider and we kept the remaining field of six or seven at about the same distance up until the last two laps or so, when the group out ahead of us started pulling gradually away. It was tough out there with only two of us. We caught and dropped a couple who fell off later than we did, and even lapped a few of those who fell off early on. A pretty disappointing race except I did get the hard ride that I went for. I have no idea of my place; I'm guessing 8th or 9th.

Sunday arrived still windy, but not quite as severe as Saturday. I did a punchy 39 miles, went and got an hour and a half massage, then went to the afternoon race on a different course. This one featured three turns. The course dipped downhill into the wind and traffic dots, swooshed to the left into a cross wind, then turned left onto a big ring hill with traffic dots up to another left hand turn and a cross wind back to the start/finish. It was important to position one's self before the turns to be sure to be protected from the wind after making the turn, otherwise you'd be out in it blowing in your face full force. About mid way on the uphill there were a tangle and a rider went down. Although only one person hit the deck, his crash split the pack, and everyone behind lost momentum, while everyone in front was in full kick up the hill. I teamed up first with one, then two more, and finally there were four of us working to pull what was left of the field back. We eventually caught them and I'd guess there were about ten in the main field with three off the front in a break, and everyone else was scattered behind us. I sat in and was fourth in the field sprint, which would have made me possibly seventh, unless I miscounted. So all in all I rode 163 miles in two days, with two fifty minute criterium races as part of the effort.

The wind has continued unabated with the exception of yesterday afternoon. For some reason it was only mildly breezy and I rode the Loop in a pretty good time, so I'm feeling strong for the weekend's stage race in Tooele, Utah, the Tour of the Depot. The weather continues to deteriorate here and the wind is howling today. Rain and snow are expected tomorrrow, and Saturday in Utah it will be cold with rain and snow possible. Saturday's offering includes a 49 mile road race and a 9 mile individual time trial. Sunday features a 20 mile circuit race. Not overly hard, but the weather will be a factor for sure. Brr.

Weekend Madness

2011-04-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

There are a series of local races this weekend, a Saturday morning time trial, an afternoon Criterium, then on Sunday a morning Criterium and another afternoon Criterium. I have a stage race next weekend, and so got the bright idea of doing my usual long Saturday ride tomorrow, then riding the afternoon Criterium. It's for 50 minutes with Category 4 men. The field is only 19 riders, so that should be OK. Then on Sunday, the same, i.e., I'd riding my usual Sunday morning training ride, get a massage, then go ride the afternoon crit. Again, 50 minutes with about 21 Category 4 men. I'd in effect, "supersize" my weekend training, then back off on first intensity (maybe one hard day next week), and then miles (just a little) to get that stage race bounce in fitness just before riding the real stage race. There is just one glitch. The forecast for tomorrow is for WIND! Again. Spring is such a mixed bag. Last Saturday it was cold, windy, and snow flakes were seen in the canyon. Then I've been riding in shorts and a jersey most of the week. It was in the low 80s yesterday when I was out on the bike! You never know what's coming next. Speaking of which, I'd better go check the forecast for Tooele, Utah for next weekend. You never know. It could snow.

TNW - Las Vegas

2011-03-30T12:20:00.000-07:00

On some wild notion I decided to ride the Tuesday night westside wild cat criterium training race (Tuesday Night Worlds) that is held in a neighborhood in The Lakes. I rode it about half a dozen times in 2009, my first year back in the racing scene, and decided it was too sketchy and hadn't been back since. It's run on city streets complete with cars, people who walk in the bike lane, slow moving non-racing cyclists, and all the other hazards of neighborhood life. The Lakes is a mature, upscale neighborhood with a lot of trees, and a lot of grass, unlike many newer parts of Las Vegas, which have opted for a more desert friendly landscaping. This means that in addition to the already mentioned hazards, there is one off camber turn that is always wet. And I mean always. The course is roughly round with two turns, one through a round a bout and is quite narrow, the other is the one at the top of the slight grade that follows turn one, and that's the one that's always wet. From here the course swoops downhill, through a stop sign (cars enter the course from the left here, it's a T intersection), and rises gradually to the start/finish line. Turn two is also a stop sign, and is a four way stop, which we run with impunity as well. There is also a neighborhood strip mall where cars will exit the parking lot into our path from time to time. Since it is a wildcat training ride, there are no real rules, and dropped riders will often re-enter the pack on the next lap. So all of this combined makes for an exciting experience, so to speak. I arrived about 45 minutes early after riding over there from my house, which is about 3.5 miles away. I did a total of ten miles warming up, then lined up for the race. We go for an hour, give or take. I sat anywhere from about mid-pack to the back third. One had to actively maintain position or be spit out the back. By about half way the field size had shrunk to maybe just over half the original starters, and from here on it got smaller and smaller each time through the two turns. Speeds were very high throughout. It was fun, in a sick sort of way. I finished better than mid-pack and my Garmin tells me my average speed for the 28.36 miles covered in 1:03 was 27.0 mph with a top speed of 37.7 mph. Although I'm not racing in any more criteriums as part of a stage race (all the stage races coming up that I'm riding in do not have a criterium as one of the stages), and probably none as a stand alone race, I'm still going to go ride these Tuesday night training rides for the leg speed and general practice of riding at high speed in a group. That is, until I feel it getting out of control like I did back in 2009 with Hummers racing us for the turn, big sticks and water bottles becoming airborne, things like that. So for now, I rode it, survived it, and will go back for more. Total miles for the evening was 43 and some change, so that was good, too. Back to a climbing workout tonight.

Races coming up in April:

Tour of the Depot - April 9th and 10th - Tooele, Utah
Superior Road Race - April 16th; 62 miles, Superior, Arizona
Devil's Punch Bowl Road Race - April 23; 32 miles, Pearblossom, California

There's also a road race in San Luis Rey, California at the end of the month that is still a maybe.

Third Stage and the First Day of Spring

2011-03-23T12:27:00.000-07:00

I was up before dawn again in order to get to the start with plenty of time. It was cold, cloudy, and rain was threatening. There was snow on the surrounding mountains; the only thing spring like was the grass and leaf buds, but their hold was looking a little tenuous Sunday morning. Vic had a 48 second lead over Dirk, who was sitting in the number two spot. Third was taken by another team mate, Charles Palmer. His lead over fourth was tenuous at only two seconds over Jerald Hunsaker from the Bountiful Mazda (BM) team. I was further back in 5th, about two minutes and two seconds behind Jerald. I had 13 seconds on Michael MacDonald, and after that the gaps were larger. We took off at a pretty good clip and Jerald and Dirk took the first two hills pretty hard. The second one was the longer of the two, and it got pretty steep near the top. I was on their wheels and we had gapped the field pretty well, but then they relaxed the pace and most of the field got back on. Vic was in the group and there was only one serious hill left before a long false flat and a fast descent back into St. George. On the false flat Vic flatted and we had no wheel vehicle for our race. This effectively put Dirk in first as the race leader on the road. There had been no contingency plan for flats, which was very unfortunate for Vic. A couple of us could have dropped back, given him a wheel, and paced him back to the group. I have real mixed feelings about that whole episode. I continued covering any moves by the BM boys. The descent was fast, but once we reached St. George and were heading west back towards the resevoir, the pace slowed some. I was itchy for a hard ride. When we turned back into the canyon leading back to the finish line there were a series of small but stiff hills. I rode off the front and was chased down by one of the BM guys. I did it again, and once more I was chased down. The next time, I put some effort into it, and once again I was chased down, but it took them longer to do it. Coming over the second to last hill before a short descent and the last hill which was the uphill finish, Dirk said to go, and I did. I was caught by Jerald and Dirk on the hill, which was interesting. Dirk sprinted by, taking Jerald with him. I powered up the hill in my big chain ring, taking third. The gaps were five seconds to Jerald, five more to me, then another five to Charles Palmer, who was second going into this stage. Mike MacDonald came off when I made my last attack, and he came in well over a minute down on me. The gap Jerald had on Charles, ten seconds, was enough to put him in second over all. So the final finishing order for the General Classification was Dirk, first, Jerald Hunsaker (BM), second at 41 seconds, Charles was third at 49 seconds, I was fourth at 2:44, a minute and fifty five seconds behind Charles. We also took fifth and sixth over all as well (Vic got sixth GC, and Dwight Hibbons took 5th)

The time trial came back to haunt me once again in that the biggest time gaps were accomplished in that race. Sure, Dirk made up some time in the Criterium, which brings up some interesting questions. I'll address them later, once I've had a chance to ask a few questions. Vic got a wheel from a friend of his who had been dropped from the main field in the 35+ race, and managed to keep the gap to less than five minutes, which means he was riding solo for half the race and used his time trialing ability to its maximum. He shaved off more than five minutes of the roughly ten minute deficit he had going by the time he got a wheel. If we were a pro team, under contract, etc., one of us would have been directed to drop back and offer up a wheel, but we're not, and no one did. There's a certain amount of ambiguity here that merits further discussion, as we will be racing again as a team at Tour of the Depot in April, the Capitol Reef Classic Stage Race in July, and possibly other races (I'll ride the Utah State Road Championships even though I don't live in Utah, just to support the team in the race). These kinds of issues should be addressed before the race and not left to circumstance.

The good news for me is that after two stage races, I'm sitting at number two in both my five and ten year age categories (60-64 and 60-69) nationally again. This will change from time to time through the season, but the Mt. Whitney Stage Race and Everest Challenge should put a lock on the ranking by the end of the season.

First Two Stages Done - Tour del Sol

2011-03-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

This morning I awoke before dawn and began preparing for the first stage, the Individual Time Trial. Back in the day, we didn't have special time trial bikes with special wheels, special clothes, and special helmets. We took our road bikes, maybe put lighter tires (the adventuresome would glue track tires on their road wheels), took off our bottle cages, maybe took off the inner chain ring. Some would remove the grease from their hubs and bottom brackets and put in oil instead. But basically, you rode your road bike as hard as you possibly could. I'd wear a track jersey, use 28 spoke wheels with light rims, stripped the bike of bottle cages, and that was about it. Now it's a whole production. Well, my TT bike is just my training Soloist (it's at least aero) with clip on aero bars and a pair of Reynolds deep dish carbon wheels. I did take off my water bottle cages. So off I go at 8:39:30 a.m. Mountain Time (to me it was really 7:39:30 a.m.) under cloudy skies and cool and breezy conditions. I finished 7th in the 20 km ITT (12.5 miles, give or take). That makes the 4th time in a row I've come in 7th (all three stages of the Callville Bay race, and of course, 7th overall). Vic Miera took 1st and took 3:25.9 out of me. My team took 1st, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th, and 9th.

The criterium was held in the afternoon on a high bluff that what is now the "old" airport is on. We used a pair of parallel runways joined by two swooping turns. It was a short little thing, just 30 minutes. We started off under cloudy skies and a stiff crosswind coming in from the west. We hadn't gone more than a couple of laps before it began breaking up. If you didn't get a good position coming out of the turn you would be out in the wind on your own, so I always took a line that would put me in the shelter of other riders when the crosswind would hit. About half way through the race Dirk Cowley rode off the front (he was 4th going into the crit). Mike MacDonald (from Capitol Reef days, a person I really wanted to beat in this race) went with him. Since there were five of us in the race, we went to the front and controlled the race completely. I wanted the gap to hold for Dirk's sake, but not to get so far that MacDonald would be out of reach if he cracked. As it turned out, he did. So I was motivated to chase as much as I could to bring MacDonald back into the field. He only had one team mate in our group, and although he tried a variety of maneuvers to break up the chase, it was inevitable that we'd catch him. He was blown, and squirted out the back pretty quickly. He wasn't seen again. Coming into the sprint I was on his team mate's wheel, a guy named Hunsaker who was second in the TT. I sprinted by him and it looked like I had second sewn up when Charles Palmer (third in the TT) from my club nipped me at the line. So we took first, second, third, and fifth in the second stage. I'm thinking unofficially I've moved up to 5th going into tomorrow's road race, where the distance and the hills will be in my favor. Official results to follow as I get them.

OK, it's official. I'm 5th going into the road stage.

Tour del Sol - Preview

2011-03-18T13:42:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving for St. George, Utah after work today for the two day, three stage Tour del Sol Stage Race. Tour del Sol is probably mis named this year. Tomorrow's stages are an individual time trial (20km) in the early a.m., then a 30 minute (thirty minutes, are you kidding?) criterium in the afternoon. The forecast calls for chilly temperatures, and a pretty stiff wind by the afternoon. OK, that's doable. Sunday morning is a 44 mile road race through some pretty hilly country, three stiff climbs, a long, fast descent, and a rolling uphill back to the Gunlock Canyon, where there is a half mile steep uphill finish (yay!). Although the longest climb is only a mile and a half at 9% (nearly 3km), there is enough of the up to put me at an advantage. OK, enough of this, let's get to what is really driving this post. Sunday morning the temperature at 8:45 a.m. (Mountain Time) is supposed to be 47 degrees Fahrenheit (8 C), but then drops to 37 degrees Fahrenheit (3 C) over the next couple of hours, with a 30% chance of rain/snow mix. Wait, it's the first day of Spring? Yes, Sunday is the first day of Spring. Fortunately, I brought everything winter with me, just in case, with the notable exception of shoe covers. I should be warm enough. So, bring it on!

Updates as the race progresses.

Mount Palomar and the Murrieta Omnium Circuit Race

2011-03-14T15:44:00.000-07:00

I decided to ride Mt. Palomar on Saturday instead of the Tour de Murrietta omnium's forty minute criterium. It was a mixed choice. The road from Temecula to the base of the climb had little or no shoulder and, although rural, had heavy and fast moving traffic. Fwoom, fwoom, fwoom, huge SUVs and pickup trucks moving within inches of me at well over the 55 mph speed limit. I persisted. It was a slight uphill leading out of town starting at approximately 1000' of elevation, cresting at 1250' of elevation, and then a quick four mile descent to bottom out at about 390'. The road climbs gradually from there to the base of the climb just past Pala and starts at approximately 1000' again. The next five miles averages 6%, then one turns left onto the main climb up the mountain. The next 6.8 miles averages 9% to the summit and tops out at 5270' at the saddle. The road continues up to the observatory, but only climbs a couple of hundred feet over five miles, so the saddle is really the end of the serious climbing. It's been compared to the Galibier climb often found in the Tour de France. It was a great climb once I turned off highway 76 onto CR S6. The road was good, traffic light, and the switchbacks were abundant. What I found remarkable was that it showed that my climbing form is coming on well, in that I took a nearly seven mile climb at 9% in a 39x21 and 39x23 and didn't feel over geared. I could have taken the climb even harder if I wasn't thinking of the road race I was going to ride the following day. It was great. So one more peak in the bag! On the way back I also got to climb back up that four mile climb out of the low point, from 390' to 1250' at an average of 5%. Total miles: 64

Murrietta Circuit Race: 39 rolling miles with approximately 30 55+ aged riders, and 56 45+ aged riders over a rolling 3.5 mile course with six turns. My concern was riding in such a large field with an amazingly large number of 45+ riders, given how fast they drive a race, and no hills on the course to break things up. There were riders of such reputation as Thurlow Rogers in the 45+ race, and Kenny Fuller in the 55+ race, and the list of the rest of the talent would fill this page. As it turned out, I was doing well, sitting about a third of the way back coming into the half way point, and I had the course dialed in and had my eye on certain riders and was sure to be always either ahead of them, or slightly behind them so I could better read the race. These were guys I knew who generally did well in fast, mostly flat races, so I figured if I was in their vicinity at all times, I'd be in a pretty good position. Then disaster struck. Coming around the end of the lap I began to think my rear tire was softening. It was. When we made the hard right turn over the brick intersection I began to feel my rim bouncing along the road way. Flat! By the time the wheel vehicle got to me the leaders were down the road moving at close the 30 miles an hour. The race was over for me. Damn! This is the first flat I've had in a race since I returned to the scene nearly two and a half years ago. Oh well. Fortunately, it wasn't an important race for me. I was viewing it as a glorified training ride, and that's what it ended up being. From the finishing results, though, I was pretty well assured of a top ten position, barring misfortune. And misfortune found me. I'd rather it be in the form of a flat tire than a crash, though, so I count myself lucky. It was a great weekend all around. I went down with Ray Cook, a former runner turned bike racer and met up with some of his old runnning buddies, including Ruth Wysocki, the woman who beat Marry Dekker in the 1500 meter Olympic Trials amongst many other achievements as a world class runner. It was great.

March Madness

2011-03-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

... or it blows in Las Vegas. Yes, spring is here and so is the wind. March is known for blustery, chilly weather. Gone (maybe) are the 35 degree morning rides, but in their place are the breezy, blustery days of March. In 2008 there were approximately 100+ days of wind over the late winter and spring, not dieing down until early June, when it just turned HOT. We'll see how it goes this year.

Upcoming events: Another Dam Race was cancelled due to a low pre-registration count. I was one of the first signed up. Needless to say, I'm greatly disappointed, since it would have given me well over 7000' of climbing over two days of racing.

March 19th and 20th: The Tour del Sol Stage Race in St. George, UT. Two days, three stages of racing, including a hilly road race with an uphill finish. Yeah!

April 9th and 10th: Tour of the Depot Stage Race in Tuelle, UT. Again, two days, three stages of racing.

Inbetween is another stage race that doesn't really suit me, and it's listed as a maybe. It still is a maybe, the San Dimas Stage Race.

I'll start afternoon training most days starting tomorrow in an attempt to bump my weekly mileage up over 300. With longer days already here, and the time change this weekend, it is time.

February re-cap:

Total miles: 1072 (1726 KM)
Average weight: 148.6 lbs
Average resting pulse: 49.8
Race results: Callville Bay Classic Stage Race, 55+ - 7th, 7th, 7th, and ... 7th GC

Picks and pans:

Capo racing kits: I wore Capo kit when I rode for Paramount. I gave an early thumbs up on it back in 2009. I have to take that back. While the chamois in the bib shorts was of good quality, the shorts themselves didn't even last a season before losing their shape. It was too thin and flimsy to stand up. The jerseys, on the other hand, I still see as top notch. Good cut and fit, color fast, and outstanding zippers. Good stuff. Too bad the bibs are so poor.

Rapha bib shorts: I now have five pair. Two of which are going into their third season. The oldest still wear like new, have lost no shape, fit well, are comfortable, and indeed, show little or no wear. Good stuff.
Try their chamois creme. Expensive, but worth it.

Anything made by Louie Garneu: it sucks. Nothing holds up. Shoe covers unravelled at the zipper after only two wearings, the glove self destructed in well under a full season. Yuck. They outsource everything to China. I wouldn't wear a thing that company makes anymore.

Assos: I still say the 851 Airjacket is the best piece of winter clothing made. It's warm, fits like a jersey, and after three full seasons, still looks like new. It's worth every penny.
Assos Skin Repair Jell: this stuff is freaking unbelievable. I've had chronic saddle sores (not infections, just damaged skin under the sit bones) since 2002 and nothing would make them go completely away, not cortisone, a variety of other steriodal topical creams, Elidel, nothing. Not even the four and a half years off the bike did it. So since I came back to the sport, the best I could do was treat the symptoms, grin and bear it, and search for the perfect shorts/chamois/chamois creme combination. I bought this Assos stuff (it's expensive, too, $40 give or take delivered) and it's been a dream come true. I haven't had any discomfort since I started using it. I don't know how it works, but it does. I can't say enough about it.

Giordanna: My current team's kits are made by Giordanna. So far, they're outstanding. The jerseys are well made and color fast (I know because I've got some that were made as long ago as 2008), the jacket, although not Assos, still keeps me warm in cold weather; I just need one more layer than I did with the Assos. The shorts wear well over long rides, fit exceptionally well, and look good. Whether they hold up over a season or more remains to be seen. I'm optimistic, however.

Callville Classic Stage Race, 2011 - More to Come And a Correction

2011-02-27T18:14:00.000-08:00

Friday: Hillclimb TT

I was scheduled to go off at 4:29:30, nearly the last rider off. The wind had been howling in the 20-30 mph range all day. It was still stupidly windy as my turn came up to ride, gusty and at a cross, slightly tail wind in portions of the canyon we were to climb. The times all day had been fast as a whole, with the earlier times faster than they were later in the day. I took off and hit the edge of my ability all the way to the finish. I rode a 9:57, which was 56 seconds faster than last year, and a minute, twenty six seconds faster than 2009. It was good enough for 7th in the 55+ category. Gary Shuey from the San Diego based Swamis club took first, Kenny Fuller, the 60+ World TT champion (amongst many other accomplishments), took second.

Kenny Fuller, Gary Shuey, and me.

Dirk Cowly about to go off...

Vic Miera at the speed of light...

Me, T -5 seconds

Off!

Saturday: Road Race

It rained pretty much the whole time. Temperatures were in the mid 40s, and there was a stiff crosswind pretty much always. It started out at a blistering pace and we started shelling people off the back of the 70+ rider field from the start (the 45+ field of 52 riders was combined with twenty 55+ riders). We passed a bad crash about ten miles into the race, and we were funneled into a narrow corridor to get past it. Not surprisingly, the riders at the front attacked, stringing out the bunch and gaps started opening up. I had to close two hard ones prior to the turn around. Things continued fast and furious, but I was moving up in the bunch, when we came across the same crash scene and once again we were funneled into a narrow corridor and the front runners attacked. I came off in this, as did several others; at this point nearly forty riders had come off within the first twenty miles of the race; the front bunch looked to be down to about 30 - 35 or so as they rode off down the road. That's how it is with a very strong 45+ field. They don't play nice! In the lead group was Gary Shuey, Kenny Fuller, Warren Wicks, Robert Wilcox, Dirk Cowley, and Bill Pinckard; the other 14 were spread out behind me. I was pretty blown and was considering pulling off at the entrance to Callville and calling it a day when Kim Bleth from Swamis and some other guy caught me and we started working together. I figured if a heavy weight like Kim was dropped, well... so we pushed on, caught two 45+ riders who had been dropped out near the second turn around and Kim and I were pushing the pace pretty well on the way back. He did most of the work on the way out, too. On the last steep roller (it is a 9% big ring beast), I pulled away and ultimately gapped everyone before the summit. I had a little over a mile to go on a slightly down hill section, then a sharp left turn and another four tenths of a mile to the finish. I was caught by the two 45+ riders, and sat on them until about 50 yards to go and I blew past them on the slightly uphill finish (it didn't change the outcome of the 55+ race, but it gave me a great deal of satisfaction). Kim came in a few seconds later. He still had a few seconds on me from the TT, so he was 7th in the GC at this point, and I was 8th (I was seventh in the RR, and Kim was 8th).

Kenny Fuller, Me, Gary Shuey back against the fence in Swami blue, and the Big Orange guys...

And away we go.

Sunday, February 27: 40 Minute Criterium, 29.438 mph average speed, according to the official results.
Start time, 7:00 a.m. Morning temperature: 39 degrees, wet, and intermittent rain.

We took off in a roar of speed. I was seeing spots by about the 5th lap, but my legs finally opened up and I found a rhythmn. Bill Pinckard (a surprise guy who managed to stay with the lead group in the RR) dropped out; I'm not sure why. Several more were dropped, Vic Miera dropped out also, and I thought it was Robert Wilcox from UC Cyclery who flatted with about a lap and a half to go. He was third in GC at this point, and had to finish the race on his rim, which dropped him to 8th in the crit for sure. It may have been another UC Cyclery guy because the final GC results show Wilcox still in third. I was so oxygen deprived by this time, I'm no longer sure of much of anything! In any case, the final GC was Gary Shuey, Ken Fuller, Robert Wilcox, Dirk Cowley, Warren Wicks, Kim Bleth, me, Michael Birditt, and Mark Ainsley. The results haven't been posted online yet. Once again, a hard and relentless race with atrocious weather. It was snowing at my house when I left for the Crit. There was snow on all the mountains, including some that were not much higher than 2000'. It was about 39 degrees at the start, wet, and still raining lightly. My bike looked like I'd just finished a cyclocross event when we were done!

Snow at Lake Mead

A nice, clean, sweet ride.

All bundled up.

Off at the speed of flying.

I have had doubts about publishing this early, in that the final results have not been posted yet, and there are several personalities and events in the race that should be written about, but I decided to write another entire post when that information becomes available. What I will say now, though, is that this was an intense experience, not only for me, but for everyone involved. Now that it is over, I wonder how I ever survived it. More to come.

All photos courtesy of Lorraine Wajda.

Wind, Rain, and Snow at Callville Bay

2011-02-24T06:03:00.000-08:00

Friday: high 62, WIND, possible p.m. showers (TT start time: 4:29:30 p.m.)
Saturday: high 49, 70% chance of rain, possible snow (RR start time: 12:50 p.m.)
Sunday: low 31, chance of rain, possible snow (Crit start time: 7:00 a.m.)

Callville Bay Stage Race

2011-02-22T15:24:00.000-08:00

The third running of the Callville Bay Stage Race is coming this week. For the first time, there is no 60+ category and I will be riding in the 55+ field, which is combined with the 45+ field and scored separately. Make no mistake, though, the 45+ field will set the pace, and it will be blistering. There are 20 riders signed up in the 55+ category now; at least three of them have won or podiumed not only on the National level, but on the World level as well; and 52 in the 45+ field for a total of 72 riders hitting the line. The first day is a hill climb time trial, which will probably determine the race unless there is a break away during the road race. The road stage is a little over 57 miles long with well over 4000' of climbing. It is not strictly speaking a climber's course, though. It consists of endless rollers; many fairly long and steep, but not any long steady climbs. Instead one will be constantly sprinting up these lung and leg busting hills in the big ring, hoping that no gaps open up to leave you stranded when the leaders hit the downhill. Over and over. The really bad news about the course is that there are two very tight turn arounds at the top of uphill grades. If you were to lose contact, even briefly, the leaders will already be heading back down hill at top speed. The worst piece of bad news is at the end of all this, there is a series of four sharp rollers, and then a fast down grade to a sharp left hand turn with only a few hundred yards to the finish. Last year they did this to the women (we went the other direction, so had a right hand turn on an uphill grade before the finish), and there was a bad crash where at least one woman had to be air lifted out to the hospital. Grr. The race will be a race of attrition no matter what else happens, but with a field this strong there is still a strong possibility that there may be as many as thirty riders left at the front contesting the sprint. We'll see how well that turns out. There are no time bonuses for placing in the road race, which will help somewhat.

Sunday's race is a 40 minute criterium that goes off at the ungodly hour of 7:00 a.m.

I rode the road course on Sunday in chilly and on and off wet conditions. I did it solo in a pretty good time, and put on 67 miles total for the day. The TT course is also the first 3.3 miles of the road course, and I did the first part of the TT at a good clip, but well under full bore, and the 2nd part (the steep part) at about 90-95% of what I will do during the TT itself. With my heavy wheels, two full water bottles, and loaded down with winter riding clothes, I still beat my time from 2009, so that's a good indication.

My team (I'll actually be with a team in the same category this time for the first time) will consist of local third place World TT rider Vic Miera, and World Stage Race champion, Dirk Cowley. I'll be the weak link in this trio! At least I can climb and will need every bit of that to keep me in contact this Saturday. It will be epic, as they say down at the Rapha headquarters.

Changes to the Schedule

2011-02-14T15:28:00.000-08:00

These are minor changes, in a sense, but the San Diego Cyclovets' Omnium has been cancelled. The same weekend the Tour of the Depot takes place on the roads west of Salt Lake City, Utah. SLC is the home grounds of the majority of my team, so I'll gladly take off and ride this two day, three stage race over April 9th and 10th. Closer to now is the addition of a stage race held at Lake Havasu City, AZ (Another Dam Race). It's unique in that both stages are held on the same course, a hilly 40 mile race on both Saturday and Sunday on the weekend of March 12th and 13th. These are both welcome additions to my stage racing calendar, which now has now fewer than 8 stage races, with at least two others pending a final decision.

It looks like Callville Bay is still a go, so that's the next race on the calendar. At least three of us from FFKR/Sportsbaseonline.com will be competing in the combined 45/55 field, which now numbers nearly 60 riders. Typically it's been won on the 4 mile hillclimb time trial. This will be interesting, as this will be the first year there wasn't a separate 60+ field, so Kenny Fuller and I will both be riding against a strong 55+ field.

On a side note, I had a great weekend. My friend from my Colorado days came to town. Jeff is a hard core long distance tourist. Last summer he rode from San Diego, California to Maine. He'd just come from several months of riding across Australia. He was the victim of a bike/car accident and is still recovering from a knee injury that was the result of the crash. I rode from LV to Tecopa, California (74 miles and 4210' of climbing) and was picked up by my girlfriend. We drove on deep into Death Valley, hiked, camped overnight in the wilderness, hiked again in the morning, including climbing several hundred vertical feet up a sand dune and the three of us sat on the top of the world there in near perfect weather. Later, I was dropped off about 45 miles from home and rode over the top of Mt. Potosi from the north this time for another 2914' of climbing. So I had the best of both worlds: cycling training, hiking, sleeping out under the stars, and seeing a friend I haven't seen in eight years. Great stuff.

Sufferfest 2011!

2011-02-08T14:48:00.000-08:00

The Las Vegas Sufferfest is a thrice yearly event that has been informally put on for years by a group of local riders, including Vic Miera, who is not only my team mate, but a podium finisher in the World Championships in the individual time trial. I rode one edition of the ride last summer, but only completed 85 miles of the 135 mile ride. Each one gets longer as the year progresses. Sunday was 2011's first edition, so was the shortest at 93 miles with 8690' of climbing. About fifty of us set off at a little after seven a.m. Sunday morning, riding into increasingly windy conditions. The first leg had us climbing up the Red Rock Canyon Scenic Loop into a viscious headwind, which made the subsequent descent a little sketchy for some. At least one rider reported being blown sideways and nearly off her bike on the second lap of the Loop. We then headed down to Blue Diamond for the first feed stop. We were treated to all manner of good things to eat, including egg mcmuffins, various bars, cookies, gator aide, water, and bananas, to mention a few. This put us at nearly half way. We headed out of Blue Diamond to the 160 and began the nearly ten mile climb up Mt. Potosi. This climb starts out easy at 2 - 3% for several miles, and then begins to ramp up to 6% and over the last three miles averages 7% to top out at 5490' of elevation. It's wide open until the final few miles and the wind tends to gust at will, making for occasionally unpleasant conditions: headwinds, crosswinds, strong gusts, and general mayhem. All were in evidence on Sunday. At the summit we met the 2nd feed station, and those who made it that far refueled and headed down the mountain to the intersection of the 159 (the Red Rock Canyon road) and began climbing back up into the park for one more trip around the Loop. At the Loop summit we were fed once again, and then it was back to the start through a howling cross-headwind. It was great fun. This is the second time this year I've done rides in excess of 90 miles; this one came in for me at 96.9 miles, a major mile stone.

Here's a little background on the history of the ride, as reported by Vic:

"Jeff Jonas designed the concept to jump start his training for all the ironmans he competes in every year. The first sufferfest was 7 years ago. There were only 5 guys who started and finished. It's grown every year to 45-55 start and it's usually just a handful who finish. I'd say 12 did the entire SF this past weekend. SFIII is the hardest of the 3 and the most that ever finished that was 5. one being a woman (stef) 2 loops -2 potisi - 2 loops."

What he's saying is that each of the three events gets longer and harder. SFII will have, I believe, two Loops, two climbs up Potosi, and one more final Loop. So SFIII adds in yet another Loop at 2, 2, and 2. So, I see this as yet one more positive step towards the Everest Challenge in September. I want that mountain goat jersey!

Murder and Mayhem in California: Poor College Kids' Road Race

2011-02-01T16:08:00.000-08:00

The Poor College Kids Road Race was, ahem, an interesting experience. I drove down to Redondo Beach to stay with my friends the Steeles on Friday afternoon after work. We headed up to Buellton, California for the late afternoon slot given the 55/60+ field. It was cool at 57 or so degrees and the clouds were coming in. Our race was delayed quite a bit due to some serious crashes at the finish of the field before us. Not a good omen. In fact, serious crashes marred the day, pretty much all day. It is held on a very narrow two lane road through the southern end of the California wine country, and there was a lot of drunken traffic on the road with tourists visiting various wineries' wine tasting events. It's an out and back course with a nastily tight turn around, one sharp climb before the finish, with a long, fast down hill leading to the finish with way too little room on the road for the field sizes that were on it. A disaster not waiting to happen; it happened nearly every race. So the geezers were the last off the line, nearly twenty minutes late. I was jokingly calling this the moonlight ride, because we were going to finish not much before sundown at the rate the wait was taking us. Approximately 47 riders took the line (although the actual number is disputed, given the large number of walk ups). The field was so tight on the way out that it was impossible to move up without knocking someone over. The pace was moderate going out with at least one serious crash averted by adept bike handling by all around; a rider hit another's wheel, went nearly sideways on a high speed descent, but no one freaked out and the race went on. At the turn around, I went in tight around the cone, unclipping my foot from the pedal, and then jamming out from there to catch the leaders. We shed quite a few riders there, and the pace picked up considerably on the now gradual uphill back. When the mile and a half climb finally appeared, the race started breaking up and I was able to move through the splintering pack to reach what was going to be the winning break before the crest of the hill. A really good rider in the 55+ group, Gary Shuey, shot off the front and ultimately soloed to victory out ahead of the rest of the break, which now technically was a chase group. Our speed over the top and down was in excess of forty miles an hour. The road is rough with a large number of pot holes. I was glad to be riding my R3 with my thirty two spoke hand made wheels with Continental Sprinter tubulars. They performed exceptionally well. As we approached the finish we were warned that the finish line had been moved up because of a crash. This caused some confusion in the group. Some rider in a green jersey (not a racing kit, I don't think) decided to cut across the road from the right to the left within the last couple hundred meters and nearly took me down. I saw him coming and had to hit the brakes a touch, which wrecked my momentum. We were sprinting at 40 miles per hour and this was not a welcomed move, and since all it did was break up the group into two groups (every one behind or near him had to slow to avoid hitting him) and did nothing to improve Mr. Greenguy's position, I have to scratch my head as to why he did it. I had words with him afterwards, and got pretty much a blank look in response. Which brings up the idiot factor one has to deal with in racing... I took second in the 60+ field. For another write up of the race, see John McKee's blog: 55/60+ Bike Racing

Sunday was the Peninsula Cliff Climb TT, a six mile climb with some 1200' of climbing on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Sunday's forecast had rain in the picture, but the hour by hour indicated it might not hit until some time in the afternoon. The day was clouded over; cool bordering on chilly. Bruce and I rode to the start and took some warm up trips up the bottom of the climb. I took off on the climb and rode as close to the edge as I felt my form would allow. I've done the climb before, in fact, I've done it several times over the decades. It was one of my training rides back in the 70s when I lived in SoCal. I did an unofficial 22 minutes and some unknown number of seconds back in '09 while out visiting the Steeles. On this occasion I did it in 23:27. All of the times were on the slow side, I'm guessing because of the cold and damp. Not much after I finished it started to rain, so my hopes of a post race training ride were dashed as none of us was really dressed for the rain, thinking it wouldn't start, if it did at all, until the afternoon. So my time was good enough for 7th overall out of everyone there, and 2nd in the 60+ field. The legendary Herb Johnson was a walk up, and he took 23 seconds out of me. Herb is a notorious climber from the San Diego area. Being retired he rides in excess of 350 miles a week, most of which is done climbing Soledad Mountain in San Diego County. Herb took 6th overall. Since the results aren't posted yet, I can't really speak about anyone else, other than Bruce took 3rd. Full results for the 55/60 Poor College Kids Road Race are below.

Race Results for
UCSB Poor College Kids Road Race
Los Olivos, CA(Event Information)


Road Race on 01/29/2011
Men - Cat 1/2/3/4 - Master - 55-59
Place	Points	Name	City, State	Time	License	Bib	Team
1	10	Gary Shuey (1 - Cat4)	Lake Arrowhead, CA		44197	818	Swami's Cycling Club
2	9	Michael Birditt (1 - Cat3)	Escondido, CA		47255	801	Swami's Cycling Club
3	Exp	Kalman Szkalak	Capistrano Beach, CA		54522	820
4	7	Fred Hoblit (1 - Cat2)	Valencia, CA		16360	809	Santa Clarita Velo
5	6	Albert Shorts (2 - Cat3)	Long Beach, CA		230085	817	Velo Allegro
6	5	Richard Barron (3 - Cat3)	Glendora, CA		2734	828	Cycles Veloce
7	4	Witold Czulak (4 - Cat3)	Encino, CA		276778	807	Breakaway-UBS Elite Masters
8	3	Jim Parkhurst (2 - Cat4)	Capistrano Beach, CA		162650	814	Cycles Veloce
9	2	Kim Bleth	Santa Barbara, CA		49191	802	Swami's Cycling Club
10	1	Kirk Freeman (3 - Cat4)	Santa Clarita, CA		12354	808	Santa Clarita Velo
11	0	John LaGrandeur (4 - Cat4)	Irwindale, CA		302695	811	Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)
12	Exp	Rory O'Reilly	Santa Ynez, CA		45744	831	Echelon Santa Barbara
13	0	Robert Willcox (5 - Cat3)	San Diego, CA		69952	822	Sun Coast Velo
14	0	Cameron Phillips	Huntington Beach, CA		204365	824	Cycles Veloce
15	0	Howard Miller (6 - Cat3)	Long Beach, CA		49424	827	OCW/Paramount Racing
16	0	Ricky Shorts (7 - Cat3)	Long Beach, CA		52251	816	Velo Allegro
17	0	Alex Collins (2 - Cat2)	Orange, CA		46255	806	Sun Coast Velo
18	0	Richard Roberson (8 - Cat3)	Spring Valley, CA		50765	815	Sun Coast Velo
19	0	Kenneth Neumeyer (5 - Cat4)	Thousand Oaks, CA		195285	813
20	0	John Luke (6 - Cat4)	Simi Valley, CA		21803	826
21	0	John Huber (9 - Cat3)	Pasadena, CA		206734	810	Velo Avanti Cycling Team
22	0	Ken Burns (7 - Cat4)	Upland, CA		95649	803	Southern California Velo
23	0	Ronald Carlson (8 - Cat4)	Ventura, CA		288193	804	METALMTN Cycling
Men - Cat 1/2/3/4 - Master - 60-99
Place	Points	Name	City, State	Time	License	Bib	Team
1	10	Bob Wright (1 - Cat4)	Castaic, CA		39024	865	Santa Clarita Velo
2	9	James Morehouse (2 - Cat4)	Lasvegas, NV		283640	859	Velosport Racing
3	Exp	Harold Schneider	N Tustin, CA		171763	862	OCW/Paramount Racing
4	7	Jean Villiot (3 - Cat4)	Murrieta, CA		59805	864	CA Pools Racing
5	6	John McKee (1 - Cat3)	Westminster, CA		180386	858	OCW/Paramount Racing
6	5	Richard Stahlberg (2 - Cat3)	Redondo Beach, CA		50911	874	Ironfly
7	4	Phillip Richards (4 - Cat4)	Beaumont, CA		238828	861	Citrus Valley Velo
8	3	Randy Drusen (5 - Cat4)	Ventura, CA		287291	853	Judgement Velo/ TBOV
9	2	Bruce Steele (6 - Cat4)	Redondo Beach, CA		236498	863	South Bay Wheelmen
10	1	Leo Longo (3 - Cat3)	Lomita, CA		189814	857	South Bay Wheelmen
11	0	Robert Paganini (4 - Cat3)	Los Angeles, CA		45763	860	Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)
12	0	David Lang (5 - Cat3)	Upland, CA		107852	856	Pacific Sunset Velo/Pac Sun Velo
13	0	Robert Elmore	Santa Barbara, CA		336626	855	Echelon Santa Barbara
14	0	Cary Alpert (7 - Cat4)	Redondo Beach, CA		203244	850	South Bay Wheelmen
15	0	Alexander Blake	Los Angeles, CA		330200	852	Velo Club LaGrange

January ReCap:

Miles: 1142 (1839 KM)
Longest ride: 94.4 miles (151 KM)
Lifetime miles now up to 418,939 (674,449 KM)

Training Camp

2011-01-24T15:36:00.000-08:00

I spent the weekend in St. George, UT with nearly thirty members of the club. We were packed into two condos up on a hill overlooking southern Utah. The first night I slept on the floor in the living room. I had some misgivings about the whole affair, as I was clearly in the vicinity of 20 years my room mates senior. None of them had any inclination to go to bed early and were involved in a rather silly movie and loud conversation. I rolled up in my sleeping bag and fell asleep finally, thanks to two melatonin. I actually slept pretty well on the stack of three sleeping mats I'd laid out on the floor. As the ride didn't go off until ten o'clock (nine o'clock my time, Las Vegas and Utah are in different time zones), I had plenty of time to get up, head over to the main condo and have a breakfast of oatmeal, toast, and coffee. There was plenty of food of all imaginable types. It would have been easy to come back weighing twenty pounds more if I availed myself of everything that was available. We headed out in temperatures in the mid thirties (1 - 2 C) and mostly calm air. The route was up and over Utah Mountain, which on the Utah side is about a ten mile climb at a modest 4 - 5% grade, followed by an approximately 13 mile descent straight down the other side into Beaver Dam, Arizona. We regrouped at the summit and about fifteen riders decided to turn around at Beaver Dam, which would have given them a 74 mile ride. The rest of us rolled on to Mesquite, nearly ten miles farther, where we stopped for a quick lunch at Subway, and then began the trek back to St. George. Mesquite sits at approximately 1617' of elevation (493 meters). The road rolls gradually upward to Beaver Dam, AZ at 1868' (569 meters), which is where the climb back up Utah Mountain begins. Total elevation gain from here is 2683' (818 m) over the nearly 14 miles with the bulk of it occurring over the last six miles. Not a staggering climb, but it's long, and the road is straight through the desert, so one can see the road disappearing in the grim far distance. A few of the Category 1 riders started pulling the group apart, and Dirk Cowley (one of the old guys I'll be racing with, a world class Master's rider) and I were adrift for awhile. Dirk surged ahead and caught them, while I stopped the following van and pulled my jacket off, as I was beginning to overheat. Once I was clear of the jacket I felt much better and immediately dropped all the remaining riders, but to no avail: I was caught out in the middle of no man's land. I'm not sure how far I was behind the lead group, but I ultimately took out so much time from the remaining riders that when I reached the summit, we went on without them after waiting nearly ten minutes. A junior , T. J. Eisenhart, took the summit first, with over a minute of free space between him and second. I caught and passed Ken Louder, who had left Mesquite well ahead of the rest of us, about a mile from the top. At this point there were seven of us, and we took the twenty miles back to St. George at a good clip. The descent was fast and winding, and a lot of fun; once down, we hit a series of rollers on the approach to town. The further we were into the ride, the better I felt, and I often had to wait at the top of a roller for the rest to catch up. To be fair to them, many of them had been up there all week and had been hammering day after day prior to that Saturday (not that I'd been on any kind of cycling vacation, mind you, but I hadn't done the long hard miles these guys had subjected themselves to). We rolled in the parking lot of the condo at 94.4 miles (151 Km) and approximately 7000' of climbing overall (2134 m) .
This ride marks a new bar for me . This was the longest ride I'd taken since the early 1990s. The second longest was last summer at approximately 85 miles, and my weekly "long ride" has been in excess of 70 miles since June. Given my chronic saddle soreness, I wasn't sure if I could sit on the saddle that long. I was fine with it, and so now the possibility of riding the Everest Challenge is within the realm of more than possibility, it can be a reality.

Sunday was an easy 22 mile spin around the St. George area.

Tentative Racing Schedule: 2011

2011-01-18T12:02:00.000-08:00

1/29 - Poor College Kids' Road Race - definite
1/30 - Palos Verdes Hill Climb Time Trial - definite
2/24 -2/26 Callville Bay Stage Race - definite
3/11 - 3/13 Murrieta Stage Race - maybe
3/19 - 3/20 Tour del Sol - St. George, UT definite
3/25- 3/27 San Dimas Stage Race - maybe
4/8 - 4/10 SD Omnium - ~~definite~~ cancelled!
4/16 Superior Road Race - definite
4/23 Devil's Punch Bowl - likely as a Cat 4
4/30 San Luis Rey RR - maybe
5/14 - 5/15 Death Valley Road Stage Race - definite
6/4 SCNCA Road Championships - definite
6/18 - 6/19 Mount Whitney Stage Race - definite
July - open ...Capitol Reef Classic Stage Race? maybe others in AZ and UT,
including UT State Road Championships
8/21 - AZ state road championships, held on Hillside RR course - definite
8/27 - Sanpete Classic RR, UT - maybe
9/24 - 9/25 Everest Challenge Stage Race - definite

This Friday I drive up to St. George, Utah for two days of training camp with my new team, and some of the questions will be ironed out. The possibility exists that there may be several other races tucked into that calendar that I haven't considered yet and meeting with the team will answer that question.

Three days of warm temperatures and hot riding! Saturday saw a fifty mile group ride over the Loop. I turned in my best time since October. Sunday saw us riding from the Henderson SBX out to Callville Bay in the Lake Mead area. Daniel and I broke away on a hill and stayed away until the turnaround, where we would have sat up and waited anyway. Total miles were a hair under 60. Monday was outstanding. The temperatures climbed to nearly 70 and I peeled my knee warmers off and rode in shorts! The ride itself was a repeat of Saturday's ride. Surprisingly enough, my time up the climb was identical to Saturday's, but much of the rest of the ride the tempo stayed fast with frequent attacks on the rolling climbs back to town. All told it was 160 miles of hard riding over three days. We used to call this Stage Race Training back in the day. Ride long and hard over several days, then back off and recover and there would be a training bounce several days later. After Monday I'm feeling my form coming back from winter hibernation. The two races over the last weekend of this month should be fun.

Rapha Festive 500

2011-01-13T19:51:00.000-08:00

My effort was 599 km.

And all the people listed below will be receiving special edition woven badges. If your name is not there and you think you deserve one, get in touch. NB: Make sure your address details are registered on the site so we can send you your prize.

Once again, congratulations to everyone involved.

· Mark Adams
· Takahashi Yuki
· Tony Steward
· Mick Freeman
· Daniel Carruthers
· Michael Raven
· Per Eric Rosén
· Christian Tillmann
· Charles Hutcheson
· Emily Brock
· Henrik Öijer
· Greg Descargar
· Bjarte Bjørgen Olsen
· Michael Ross
· Mary Jane Watson
· Jay McStay
· Tarik Saleh
· Lance Farley
· Nate Ripperton
· Paul Rollings
· Chris Locke
· Rory Berry
· Sean Smith
· Tobias Whaley
· Paul Bowman
· Fabio Albertoni
· Chin Lee
· Aaron Hulme
· Dave Wyman
· Owen Richards
· Troy Coleman
· Andrew Shaw
· Andrew Pearson
· Craig Harding
· Mike Papageorge
· Jan Sotorník
· Florian Goessmann
· Stefan Rohner
· Marion Hambrick
· Dan Manco
· Steve Barratt
· Bernd Straehle
· e vad (?)
· Marlena Klaic
· Mark Hutchison
· Ad Vermaas
· John Russell
· Victoria Armstrong
· Richard Pearce
· Frank Yeager
· Joseph Kristian Orellana
· James Salazar
· Kurt Cornell
· Jim Morehouse
· Rob Meyers
· Mike Eng
· Mark Slavonia
· Dirk Maertens
· Steve Taylor
· Eddie Relin
· Brock Price
· Daryl Spano
· David Pouncy
· Jason Sager
· Chris Matthews
· Gavin Hornibrook
· Howard Buckley
· Michael Hodgson
· Tim simmons
· Guillermo Bartolome Husson
· John Pogson
· Steven Campbell
· Rupert Cox
· Tim Cox
· Dave Christenson
· Clive Pursehouse
· Wes Bevan
· Steve Messer
· Derek Braunch
· Stephen Dodson
· Daniel Geber
· Peter Lunt
· Nico Toscani
· Mario Traversi
· Kay Bowen
· Matt Swiatek
· Mark Gregory
· Karl Trigwell
· Rick Ewing
· Graham Briggs
· Jon Heaton Armstrong
· Josh Caffrey
· Jonathan Warner
· Matthew R
· Sir Brian Palmer

Pavlov's Dog

2011-01-12T11:32:00.000-08:00

...is what I've become over the last couple of months. I've ridden nearly the same route for way too long, and had picked up some bad habits. I've known this for awhile and have tried to break the routine, but until this morning hadn't really made the necessary changes. I had only gone about two miles from home when I saw a golf ball (groan) which I just had to pick up. I looked up and saw Bruce and Alex coming my way and I joined them. They were going to do hill repeats on a couple of local hills. These are really more in the way of power climbs than real hills, i.e., a maximum of about 4% and maybe a mile long. They proceeded to pretty much kick my ass, crunching huge gears up these hills. The game, I realized, was to go as hard as you can for as long as you can until you crack. Once I figured that out (on the third one, I'm slow that way sometimes), I was OK with it. It also made it painfully clear that my habitual ride had to go because it had become a detriment to getting back into racing form.

Weather stats for the last 14 days:
Number of rides below 40 F (4.4 C): 12
Number of rides below 32 F (0 C): 8

Number of days until the Calville Bay Classic Stage Race: 43
Woof! Drool, drewel!

A New Year Is Here, and Golf Is Not On the Calendar

2011-01-02T15:41:00.000-08:00

So, I finally counted the golf balls (I found seven more, but didn't include them in the count, as they were found after I put this silly idea up here). The guesses that were made include:

Richard - 94
Trevor - 98
Steven - 97
Galstudio - 100
Old Bag - 128
Boab - 107

After counting carefully, I came up with 138 golf balls, and there was a buried baseball down at the bottom as well. So with an approximately 7% error, the Old Bag is the closest. Since I didn't make up any rules for this, I guess she wins. The question is, wins what? I made a couple of suggestions on the last post, so if you're out there reading this, OB, you can ring in on it anytime and we can go from there. Now the second question is, what am I going to do with these things? A new year has started. Help me, Rhonda!

Closing stats:
Last two weeks of the year, goal was for 600 miles. Actual miles were 665
Now that it's January, I'm going to start with the heart monitor again as the first races are coming up next month. This year is the final push to see what I can do. It's time to get into shape.

I stand corrected. Richard's was 147, and it was Andrew who had 94. So let's see, if I calculate correctly, Richard comes in at 6%. It's pretty close, nine vs. 10 off. I'm going to have to go with Richard! However, I'm willing to discuss this somewhat silly and rule-less "contest" with both of you.

Suck It Up, Jim

2010-12-30T14:36:00.000-08:00

Is what Julie Ann (Women's Category 1) said to me at a rest stop on Tuesday's ride. A group of us met at the local SBX and we headed up to the Red Rock Canyon Loop and parts beyond. The majority of the riders were from the Allegiant Air racing club, Julie, myself, and a couple of others. When we hit the loop, a young rider named Ken took off on his own. I might have done the same, but I've only just returned to riding hard, and haven't honed my climbing skills since October (I've only returned to climbing in any fashion this December). What happened on the way up is that one by one everyone else dropped off my pace and it was Ken ahead of me, and everyone else behind. I was closing in on Ken when he hit the false summit. That's where I typically stand up and upshift and kick the last couple of hundred yards to the top, and I expected to close in on him because that's also the spot where the locals sit up and relax, as that last 10% upgrade is a killer. Not so. It seems that Ken has the same proclivities as I do, and he kicked it up a notch there too, so I came in about ten or fifteen seconds behind him. I was feeling out of shape and didn't expect to come in where I did. Unfortunately I had a Garmin malfunction (read that, user error) and didn't get a time for the climb. Judging from the last timed climb done two days prior, I'd have to say that Tuesday's climb was in the ball park of my three or four fastest trips up the Loop. We regrouped and began the descent. It was fast and furious leading into the Wall (a short but very steep kick up on the way down, about 11%), and it was a maximal effort to stay with the leaders. Shortly before the last fast downhill section there is another longish grade (about 7%) that puts everyone up off the saddle and again it becomes a contest to see who can put the screws to everyone else. These kinds of grades require a lot of strength and power, and don't necessarily favor the climber in for the long haul. We were shedding riders all the way to the false flat and I had become the new "end of the pack" when Javier punched it, and then Julie came through and punched it again. I came off there and had to chase with a vengeance down the last stretch back to the highway. I finally caught them where the road started tilting back up again, and on we went down to Blue Diamond. We typically take a short break there and refuel. That's where I mentioned that "someone punched it near the top of that grade, and you, Julie, had to go and do it one more time!" I could have handled the first one, but it was the second hard acceleration that got me. She turned and said, "Suck it up, Jim!" And she's right. Climbing by itself does not make one a bike racer. It helps, but it's still speed, strength, power, and the willingness to use it at the right moment that can make the race come together, and that moment saw several of us come off the back. Sure, I might have been the last one to come off, but I was still off, and had all the wind to myself. If I was to get back on, it would be at my own expense. Ah, the lessons of pre-season training!

Yesterday and today I was treated to cold, windy conditions. Thirty five degrees Fahrenheit (1.6 C) today with winds out of the north at 22 mph (35 k/h), gusts to 41 mph (66 k/m). I'm beginning to believe that the bicycle is an instrument of mortification rather than an instrument of joy and pleasure! Six days straight of rain and wind, and now wind and cold. Yes, yes, I know it's way worse in (pick your location). I'm just sayin'...

I'm going to count the golf balls between now and Sunday (I'm heading out to Death Valley for a couple of days... , yes, it's cold there too. Here's a thought: on my other blog (and my other life) I post photographs. I make greeting cards from the prints on acid free paper and archival quality ink. They sell for $5 in local stores. If you are the winner, you might peruse the pictures; look around, there's nearly two years worth on there and they are good, if I may say so myself. I'd be willing to either a) make a set of five greeting cards, or matte an 8x12 inch print. If that doesn't suit you, well, I could always ship the balls to you!

(Almost) Year End Stats:
Miles (so far) this year: 13,913 (22,399 km)
Miles (so far) this month: 1176 (1893 km)
Lifetime: 418, 907 (674, 440 km)

Six Days Straight

2010-12-22T15:09:00.000-08:00

Nearly two inches in the past 24 hours in my zip code. Sure, I could be in the U.K. where it's been know to rain for weeks at a time, but this is Las Vegas where four inches a year is the average, and it hasn't even made that total for some years thanks to global warming. I'm not complaining, it's just that it's unusual. I'm going out in it anyway.

This is a view of a piece of highway leading to Red Rock Canyon that I train on daily..., except when it's closed!

Back. Dripping on the table as I write this. Wettest day on the bike in some time. Brr!

The Rainman Cometh

2010-12-20T14:22:00.000-08:00

Today makes four days straight that it has rained here in Las Vegas, meaning that it's the fourth day straight I've ridden in the rain, and more is on its way. Not that I'm complaining, it's just unusual. I found a hole in the rain for awhile today and was able to get in 35 miles or so before it started up again, so I was only rained on the last seven miles for a total ride of 42 miles. Yesterday it was for the whole ride, Saturday wasn't much better, and the bulk of Friday's ride was wet as well. One could argue it's good mental preparation. I would respond that it makes me and my bike a muddy mess! Or some such thing. The Velominatis' rule #9 (John Lennon?) states that : If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period. So if that makes me baddass, or just have a bad ass (from soggy riding clothes), it still remains to be seen. In the meantime, I soldier on. I'm hoping to do some 600 miles over the next two weeks. Rapha is having a Festive 500 between December 23 and December 30. That's about 310 miles or so. Easy, and within my plans, barring a major wash out of the roads (already Red Rock Canyon has been closed twice in the past two days on account of flooding...). As soon as it dries out I'm putting the heart monitor back on. Climbing will be back on the agenda, as will hill repeats and longish intervals.

In the meantime, here's a little contest. Over the course of last year I indulged my obsessive/compulsive nature by picking up golf balls that I'd see while training. Don't ask me why, because I couldn't tell you. It's non-verbal and even I don't understand it. But here's a basket full of them. Guess the number of golf balls and you'll win something. I don't know what yet, but I have some good ideas...

The dimensions of the basket are 34 cm x 15 cm, and the golf balls are, well, golf ball sized.

Stats so far this month:

Total miles as of 12/20/10: 736 (1185 KM)
Total miles for 2010 as of 12/20/10: 13,473 (21,692 KM)
Golf balls picked up this week: 1
Golf balls picked up in December so far: 3
Number of riders seen out in yesterday's rain: 1
Number of riders seen out in today's weather: 1 (and no, they weren't the same one)
Number of riders staying indoors on the trainer: way too many! Movies, hot coffee, room heated to 70 degrees. I know how it is. I could name names...

November Re-Cap, or It's December Already!

2010-12-06T13:25:00.000-08:00

It's time to start pre-preseason training! In other words, I'll start pre-season training the last two weeks of December over the two weeks I have off then. In the meantime, I've started riding harder over the course of each ride, and last weekend returned to climbing, i.e., the Red Rock Canyon Scenic Loop and Mt. Potosi on Saturday for a total of approximately 5,900' of climbing (1798 meters) over the course of 69 miles (111 KM). I did this as part of the Starbuck's Ride that often accumulates on Saturday mornings. This group was in the order of about 20 riders, give or take, and they were out to make a point. Although I felt out of shape on the climb, I was still able to do it in a good time and finished in the lead group of four who had a large gap (minutes) on everyone else. The subsequent descent and run in to the highway was very fast, probably the fastest descent off the Loop that I've been on to date. Once we got down to the turn around, only two other guys were up to heading up the road to Mt. Potosi, a nine mile climb. So we let the group go on its merry way. I ended up at the top about ten minutes ahead of the next guy, and it was a bit longer for the third to show up. At 5475' of elevation, it was quite cool up there, so the descent was pretty cold for quite awhile. My two companions, while not quite great climbers, really drilled it on the trip back down and I was searching for my nine and ten cogs... not to be, so I had to rely on the existing 53:11 to keep up! Sunday I went out on my own and rode the Loop once again.

November Stats:

Miles: 1073
Average Weight: 149.9
Miles this year through 12/5/10:12, 975
Lifetime miles: 417, 934

Prowess

2010-12-01T12:59:00.000-08:00

At any point in life it is prudent to contemplate the nature of prowess. ... it is good to meditate, and to accumlate not victories, but the experience of those victories. Savor them. No one can ever take that away from you.

365 Tao Daily Meditations - Day 335

You will die. You will not really see it coming. You wouldn't recognize it even if you did; death is something that happens to other people. We all believe this. I think of these things, nearly daily. Some time there will not be a me inhabiting this body I've grown accustomed to, the one that will (mostly) do my bidding, the one that sometimes seems to have been made for the sole purpose of riding a bicycle. Of course, that's not even remotely true. It can do other things as well. I've had a good long run on the bike, though. It's not the same as "back in the day", but I'm often surprised at what it can still do. It won't always be this way. So I'm accumulating experiences each and every day. Every day is a good day, even when it's not. So get out and ride.

Two windless days in a row. Twenty seven degrees Fahrenheit yesterday, a balmy 36 today. It was wonderful. Damn, I love to ride my bike!

Still Hell, Still Frozen

2010-11-29T15:33:00.000-08:00

Thirty four degrees at seven a.m. (1 C), wind out of the north in the high teens, gusting to 34 mph. By the time I'd covered 31 miles it had only warmed up to 38 F (3 C). Tonight it's supposed to drop to 24 F (-4 C). According to the Velominati and The Rules (they're a bunch of guys overburdened with the glories of the past because they never lived through it. And they have way too many rules...), Rule 5 is "Harden the F##k up". Ok. I had to harden myself to the truly cold temperatures of Wyoming, where I rode year round for nearly ten years. It wasn't uncommon for it to be hovering around zero F ( -18 C) when I'd push off in the morning. If it was snowing, if it was still under an inch on the ground, I'd go anyway. That's what mountain bikes were for. It was either that or die wallowing on the couch. So I rode. I spit in the eyes of the cold!

Today's Stats:
Miles: 31 (50 Km)
Temperature: 34 F (1 C)
Windy, gusts to 34 mph (55 Km/h)
Number of other cyclists seen on the road: only one other intrepid soul
Number of hard core walkers seen out walking : 0 (even they stayed in this morning)

Hell Freezes Over!

2010-11-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

It's been below freezing in the mornings in Las Vegas most of this week. Even Phoenix has had frost warnings. Even as I write this it's 33 degrees outside in Sun City West. I know that's not cold by Denver or Salt Lake City standards, where some of the worst of this winter's icy weather has gone, but I'm talking about Las Vegas and Phoenix!

Which brings up another topic: embrocation. A simple thing, embrocation. An liniment, for lack of a better term, designed to warm muscles by bringing blood to the surface of the skin. It's use has been popularized by such websites as Belgian Knee Warmers. In high school we on the Cross Country team used something called Jet Balm (which is not to be confused with Badger Balm!) in the fall and winter months. Wise guys would like to say they put it on so and so's jock strap, har, har! It's use by cyclists is beneficial in warming cold muscles at the start of a chilly ride. I tend to like Mad Alchemy's products. So, a few words of caution. Order matters. First, contact lenses, if worn. Then chamois cream, if used. And then and only then, rub the embrocation cream into one's calves and thighs around the knees. Lastly, wash one's hands thoroughly and don't touch anything else! Especially not there. You could end up like this:

Thanks to Hyperbole and a Half

Don't forget to pull on one's knee warmers, the all important bib shorts, and wear a jacket! It's cold out. Pull down your ear flaps before you put on your helmet!

Now go out and take a ride!

Vegas Blows Day 2

2010-11-21T14:36:00.000-08:00

Forty two degrees, 25 mph winds, and two hours of freezing rain, albeit light, was today's riding weather. Still, it beats sitting on the indoor trainer. I spit in the eyes of bad weather! ...it made a mess of my bike, though. Had to give the poor baby a bath!

Today's stats:
Miles: 31 (50 KM)
Temperature: 42 F, windy, and light rain
Number of other cyclists seen out training: 1, and with bare knees, the fool!
Number of tarantulas out walking: 0 (even they had the sense to stay indoors!)

Vegas Blows

2010-11-20T14:21:00.000-08:00

..the wind, that is. Gusts to 38mph this morning; rain and snow in the mountains.

This comic sums up the weekend here. Wind, more wind, and intermittent rain. Ah, the joys of the off season! I look with scorn on indoor trainers, bwahaha!

Today's stats:
Miles: 60.3 (97 km)
Number of sunbonnets out walking: 0 (I think the fad has passed)
Average wind speed: 15 mph, gusts to 38 (stronger up higher, and harder gusts... I just don't have any numbers for Red Rock Canyon)
Temperature: 52 F (not all that cold, just windy)
Number of tarantulas still out seeking: 1 lonely little guy, all huddled up near the side of the road
Weight: 148.4
Pulse: 48

Off Season, It's Here

2010-11-18T18:05:00.000-08:00

I'm riding just a little less these days. Instead of 40 miles during the week, I'm down to between 30 and 35 and just (mostly) turning the cranks with only occasional bursts and hard efforts. The weekends are pretty much the same as before, i.e., a 70 plus mile ride with two major climbs, and another 40 or so on Sunday. This will continue until late December when I'll start picking it back up again with intervals, hill repeats, jumps, all the usual stuff of road training, with a gradual increase in mileage until I'm hitting 300+ a week again. The biggest difference will be that I won't take until June to hit the 300+ range. I expect I'll be doing that by late February this year. I'm taking on a large tray of stage races next year, with the possibility of racing further afield. Utah, Oregon, Arizona, California, Nevada, perhaps even further away. I'm also going to be representing a new club next year. Velosport Racing, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, has invited me to join their Master's Elite Team, and I've accepted. I'll be associating with riders who've won and/or podiumed at the National and World level. I look at it as a step closer to where I want to be, where I missed out on when I was young, that is, making it on the National level. The second place national ranking in stage racing this year makes it clear to me that I'm ready to compete with the best. If nothing else, I'll get my ass kicked by some of the best riders in the world, and maybe dish out a little myself!

A Smooth One

2010-11-09T12:05:00.000-08:00

Racing cyclists aren't noted for complimenting one another. Back in the day the one thing that was ever said to me that I remember (because of how unusual it was) was that I was a "smooth" rider. That short phrase was dense with meaning. It meant I rode with a smooth style, but also rode smoothly in a pace line, was predictable, followed well, pulled off in the right direction, didn't open gaps, filled them when necessary, kept the pace high without surging, etc. Smooth was a good quality to have. I haven't heard those words in a long time. First because of the twenty year layoff from racing, and now, well let's face it, cyclists just don't compliment each other often. So one my ride last Friday (a day off from work for me) I picked up first one, then three other riders, two of which, quite independently from each other said emphatically that I was "smooth, very smooth". Well, smooth indeed:

Death Valley Road Stage Race - Results Not Posted Yet!

2010-11-04T19:02:00.000-07:00

...and other escapades from the off season.

Unbelievably, the results from the second running of the DVRSR are still not posted. Of course, the first one took forever, too. It's unfortunate, since the race itself and the support and organization of the actual event is great, not to mention the epic climbs up the massive Eastern Sierra escarpment. I was directly responsible for bringing along at least five other riders from Southern California to the June event in that they came based on my talking the event up. They loved the race, but were so disgruntled by the handling of the results they said they'd probably not do another one. Five riders represented 10% of the entire field in June. In October I influenced three others to ride the event, again 10% of the entire field, as there were only 30 pre-registered. I'd really like these races to succeed, since there's nothing else like them in the US with the exception of the Everest Challenge, which is put on by some of the same people in the same location. I can't begin to tell you what it's like to climb the massive Horseshoe Meadows road, or the Onion Valley Road, but I can tell you that if you do those kinds of climbs, you'll know you've done something important. I want to be able to ride all four events next season.

Now that it's officially "off season", I even took one day off and went hiking last weekend, camping out over night in the Mojave. The wind came up during the night, and in the morning a rain squall developed out of the north and I was witness to a fabulous double rainbow (see Digital Existence for a photo). Not long after that the squall passed overhead and it rained pretty hard for a short while, then the sun came back out and I took yet another hike. Now I'm back on the bike every day, but at a reduced mileage during the week that will continue until the end of December when I'll start pre-season training again. Next year will be the year where everything comes together.

October Recap:
Total Miles (KM): 1167 (1879 KM)
Hiking Miles: 13.2 (21.25 KM)
Average Weight: 147.7 lbs (67.2 kg)
Races: 1 (DVRSR, 1st)
Number of tarantulas on the road looking for love: 5
Number of coyotes seen in town: 5 (Coincidence? I think not, my friend)
Number of burros turned into road kill: 2
Number of bottle caps I stopped to pick up (thinking it was a gold ring): 1
Number of bottle caps I left on the road: 1
Number of golf balls picked up on the road: 2

Death Valley Road Stage Race - Stage Two

2010-10-19T20:13:00.000-07:00

Horseshoe Meadows, ranked the third toughest climb in the contiguous United States according to the book, was the destination of the second stage. Starting at 3800' (1158 m), the route took us through the Alabama Hills for some short but steep "teaser" climbs, rolled down to Whitney Portal Road for a quick turn around, then for approximately 20 miles of climbing with the finish at an oxygen deprived 9,950' (3033 m) of elevation. The day started out in the mid 60s and partly cloudy. But by the time we were on the mountain the temperature was dropping and it started raining. We began as a small group of 23 intrepid souls, but by the time we exited the Alabama Hills, three riders were off the front and my group had a total of nine riders; the rest were off the back. Upon entering the first monster switch back at 5,500' the rain was coming down a bit more seriously and I was not enjoying the thought of possible hypothermia as we ascended the mountain. Fortunately, it passed and was only intermittent after that. Nearing the end of the first switch back there were only two of us left together, Ken Shiokari, the 45+ rider who rode away from me the day before, taking approximately two minutes out of me. As we turned through the switchback, he accelerated some, and I let him go. However, he never got much more than about 100 yards ahead of me. The gradient through the five main switch backs hovers around 8% with maybe a maximum gradient of 11% at times. A couple of hundred yards or so behind me was another small group consisting of three riders. I had the perfect gearing for this. I was able to spin comfortably in a 34x27 and 34x24 for the worst of it. There were several people out who hadn't done anything like this before and were struggling with their 39 tooth chain rings. It seemed endless, and the temperature kept dropping. Afterwards I was told it was down around 48 degrees, sometimes even cooler. Towards the top I found myself getting closer to Ken, and rounding one of the last bends before a short descent that marked the last two miles of the climb, I saw the third rider of the band of three who had come off on the first switch back. Both were now in reach! Topping out at approximately 9,600' there is a loss of about four or five hundred feet over the course of I'm guessing 3/4 of a mile (1 km). After spinning out my 50x11, I went into a tight tuck and hit 46 mph (74 km/h) and passed Ken shortly before it bottomed out. I used my momentum to kick it up the grade and by the time I sat down and shifted to the small ring I had close to 200 yards on him. I kept up the pressure, and before long I caught and passed rider number three. He struggled to keep in contact, but I was on fire now. Third on the road! There was some passing back and forth, but honestly, that part is a blur for me now. I saw the 200 meter line and I was up and sprinting for all I was worth, shifting up on the fly. I ended up in a 34x15 by the time I crossed the line in third place overall, and first of the old guys. It was a great day on the bike. I found a site where someone took the time to take pictures of the climb and post them. You can get a sense of what the climb is like from them, just add clouds and some rain! Horseshoe Meadows, the climb.
And here are some scenes from the road:

The finish of Stage 1

If I look like Death on a Cracker, it's because I am!

This way, in case you were wondering.

They say bicycle racing can be dangerous.

All photos by Lorraine Wajda

Death Valley Road Stage Race, Stage One

2010-10-16T16:40:00.000-07:00

Thirty of us lined up for the first stage of the Death Valley Road Stage Race - Fall edition this morning at 10:20 a.m. Within three miles, four riders were off the front, and by five miles, I was in the second group with also four riders. My little group had one Cat. 4, my worthy opponent, Jean Louis Villiot, and a 45+ rider. A few miles from the top of the first climb I saw that one of the four had been dropped and was between the three leaders and us. I was feeling it on the climb, as Jean Louis and the Cat 4 rider were pushing the pace and I felt like I was on the edge. Near the top, Cat 4 rolled away from the three of us, as he was fidgety about the possibility that another Cat 4 was in the lead group. Near the top I zipped my jersey back up, as the heat of the valley had given way to mountain coolness. We crested at a bit over 7700' and began descending to Eureka Valley thousands of feet and 15 miles below us. The first three miles are fast and winding, then the road straightens out and becomes very rough and bumpy. My two companions had never ridden this before and were disheartened to hear me say the climb back out was way worse than the one we had just completed. At first, after hitting the rough road, the descent is relatively mild at -5%, but then suddenly there are a couple of rollers and the road pitches downward at nearly 15% for miles and miles. We were doing 46 mph over rough, bumpy road until finally we began bottoming out and had to prepare for the handing up of water bottles and the tight turn around. Up we went again. That fast little stretch becomes a bone crushing climb back out with some where around six miles (give or take) of an unrelenting 10-15% gradient. It seems as if it will never end. JL cracked here and I went on alone, passing that one guy who got dropped from the main group, but the 45+ rider and the Cat 4 rider remained just out of reach. So I came in 6th, and first in the 60+ category. Unofficially I took off more than ten minutes from my time over the same course when I rode it in June. Given that I've been sick with a cold for the last three weeks, I was pretty pleased. One stage down, and one monster stage to go. Tomorrow: Horseshoe Meadows.

It's a Go: Death Valley Road Stage Race Is On

2010-10-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

As of this morning, 25 people have signed up for the event, including Jean Louis Villiot, my climbing partner in both editions of the Acorn/Boulevard Road Race, this year's District Road Championships, and other races with hard climbs. Also, two people I know from Las Vegas will be there as well. The weather still looks good, and I'm raring to go. Here's a video clip of the White Mountain climb, which I did this summer just for yucks, and the Horseshoe Meadows climb. I didn't make the clip. It's a bit choppy and long on the descents, but you can get a sense of how magnificent these mountains are... and how high. So, on Saturday, October 16th at 10:30 Pacific Time I will be climbing the White Mountains from both sides, and on Sunday, October 17th, I will be climbing up those awesome switchbacks up to 9,910' to Horseshoe Meadows (on some maps the area is called Last Chance Meadows). The last ten miles averages 10%.

Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places

2010-10-09T15:44:00.000-07:00

...or Biting Bug Bastards V. II

I took a run up Mount Potosi this morning. Breezy conditions, but mild temperatures. I did something I haven't done before. I rode over the crest at 5490' and descended down another five miles, then turned around and climbed it from the other side. All told, 5,560' of climbing over 70.2 miles. The last chance before the Death Valley Road Stage Race. My ongoing cold and the wind kept my climbing time well below my best. I hope I'm fresh by next Saturday! Miles and intensity will taper now.

I've had some interesting observations out riding the past several days. Here are some stats:

Number of coyotes within ten feet of me in the suburbs: 1
Number of bee stings today: 1
Number of bee stings in the last 30 days: 3
Number of tarantulas out on the road: 3 (it's mating season, and they're willing to travel!)
Number of plane crashes seen on the highway: 1 (yes, the plane attempted a landing on the road and was the worse for wear for it)
Number of burros lounging in the shade: 5
Number of burros no longer with the living: 2
Greatest number of sunbonnets (or other wildly huge brimmed sun hats) seen on one training ride: 5
Number of hot air balloons landing within 10 yards of me: 3 (separate events)
Miles ridden in September: 1267 (2040 KM)
Miles ridden to date in 2010: 10,900 (17,549 KM)

The Death Valley Road Stage Race, Part II

2010-10-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

The latest word on the Death Valley Road Stage Race is that it's still a go, although the list of confirmed riders is still small. The web page hasn't been updated in a long time, and the second stage route is unknown at this time. At one time, it said the second stage would be back up to Horseshoe Meadows at over 9900' of elevation, but that information is no longer there, so who knows? The first stage is supposed to be the same as the first stage in June, i.e., up over the White Mountains on Death Valley Road from Big Pine at 3900' up to around 7700' down into the Eureka Valley at about 3200', then back to the top for about 8200' of climbing, give or take. The weather forecast looks good: temperatures in the mid 70s in the valley, cooler at elevation, but sunny and mild. Am I ready? Good question. I'm still coughing and snorting from that cold I got over a week ago. I feel well (mostly), but my body is wondering. This weekend is the big Rapid Transit Commission ride over the new bridge bypass over the Hoover Damn. The price went up from $99 earlier this year to $200, and now it's all sold out. I will not be attending. So my weekend will consist of a free ride over the Loop and up Mt. Potosi, sans the company of the hundreds who will be out else where in the Valley paying (dearly) for the pleasure. I've been hammering out 300+ mile weeks since June and once this is over, I expect to back off a little and go hiking once in awhile, at least through the end of December when I'll start getting obsessive again.

Men's Masters 60+ National Stage Race Rankings

2010-10-01T18:45:00.000-07:00

2010			Name	License
Mens Master (60-64) Stage Race Rankings (2010) There are 38 results.
Rank	Points	Results	Name	License
1	113	5	Kenny Fuller	46765
2	90	4	James Morehouse	283640
3	55	1	Michael Crystal	8283
4	30	3	Ken Louder	179491
5	24	1	Stephen Bennett	68855
5	24	3	Philip Holman	58212
7	21	2	Armand Phillippi	254801
8	19	2	Dwight Hibdon	16081
9	14	1	Rick Montgomery	45701
9	14	1	Ed McAlister	273356
11	13	1	Ruben Solis	33435
12	12	1	Michael Wasson	263521
13	11	1	Phil Durham	237185
14	10	1	John Elgart	45071
15	9	1	George Chester	196820
15	9	2	Michael Barnes	220804
15	9	2	Harold Wallace	304767
18	8	1	Stuart Ross	113835
18	8	1	Reginald Dowdall	54272
20	7	1	Charles Hetrick	62551
20	7	1	Michael Knoll	49809
20	7	1	Matthew Parker	256690
20	7	1	Bruce Steele	236498
24	6	1	Jack Neyer	60507
24	6	1	Raphael Gomez	3793
24	6	1	Gary Powers	176500
27	5	1	Henry Ebell	47978
27	5	1	Hylton Murphy	72995
27	5	1	Charles Snyder	80973
30	4	1	Donald Kimper	195498
30	4	1	Robert Tompkins	305794
30	4	1	Scott Hennessy	15827
33	3	1	James Ring	206266
34	2	1	Terry Johnson	273205
34	2	1	Larry Hansen	278978
34	2	1	Randall Maddox	81544
34	2	1	Jean Villiot	59805
38	1	1	Robert Gerdes	289101

Tomorrow, a charity ride, and I'm looking forward to it. Today was an easy ride amongst friends. I left the house at 6:00 a.m., and it was still dark out! What a day at work, too. I saw a bumper sticker that said something like "I'd tell you to go to hell, but I work there, and I don't want to see you every day!" Today was the day from hell, but you know what? I still love my job. And I really love cycling. I've got a friend who's into cyclo-touring, and he criticizes me for racing. I'm not saying it's the only reason to ride, but it's my reason to ride, and I love it.

So, ride hard, ride safe. But ride, no matter what.

Rommel Drives On Deep Into Egypt

2010-09-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

Back to hard training this morning. I felt good, like I could go deep into the heart of darkness, if I wanted to. Although I haven't missed a day yet, I only manged 260 miles (419 KM) over the past training week at a much reduced intensity because of the cold. I'm still congested, but otherwise am feeling good. I signed up for the Livestrong ride on Saturday, about 65 miles of easy to rolling terrain. The Death Valley Road Stage Race is still on for the 16th and 17th of October. It's hard to believe that I'm at the end of my second season of racing since 1989. Last year when I started, I had no real idea of how I would do given the time gap. I can say that at the end of this season, I'm mainly pleased. I see room for even greater successes next year, as my fitness continues to improve. I can't bring back my youth, but I can push myself as hard as anyone.

Grr!

2010-09-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

Well, my long run of never being sick has ended. I've got a sore throat and a cough. It probably won't linger, but I'm bagging the Charleston ride. Grr. Since I run a large computer network, I often have to touch many, many keyboards during the course of a day. So some snot nose left his/her bugs behind on one, and I picked it up. Usually I don't get touched by them (the bugs), as I have an outstanding immune system, but this one made it through.

First Cold In Many Years?

2010-09-24T19:05:00.000-07:00

I was planning to ride the Mount Charleston Hill Climb - Underground version tomorrow morning, but I seem to be coming down with a cold. Sore throat, mild congestion, you know the story. I rarely if ever get sick, and when I've caught something, it's usually gone in a couple of days. So this isn't a full blown cold (yet), but it has given me cause for concern. I'm glad I didn't decide to ride the Everest Challenge this year, because it starts tomorrow. At least the Mount Charleston Hill Climb isn't even a real race at this point, just an informal "fun" ride. I wanted to do it in any case as part of my preparation for the second coming of the Death Valley Road Stage Race in mid-October. Now I'm going to wait and see how I feel in the morning. If I'm worse, and scratchy in the throat when I wake up, etc., I may just go out and ride easy. If I'm no worse than now, I'll probably ride it. Stay tuned!

Up Mt. Potosi for the Special Olympics

2010-09-18T13:08:00.000-07:00

I decided to ride to the start, and cut it close. They were rolling out of the parking lot as I arrived, so I jumped in and away we went. There were an amazing number of people out for the fifty mile part of this ride (there was also a 25 mile ride, which started a little later). I wound my way through the huge pack to the front where the usual suspects were starting to drop the hammer (so much for an easy ride!). The first 20 miles of this ride is fairly easy, with only the long approach to Red Rock Canyon to thin out the group any before a long and fast descent to the turn off to the climb up Mt. Potosi. We averaged over 30 miles an hour from the high point in Red Rock, with speeds in excess of 40 miles an hour. On the turn off, we were stopped and told that those wishing to be timed up the climb would go off individually at 30 second intervals, and that everyone else could just go on. I was about the sixth or seventh guy to go, so I waited there about five minutes, give or take. I caught the main field about half way up, worked my way through them, and saw one other guy up the road. One of the Allegiant Air guys (I think it was Mike Hileman?) went off on his own (not part of the timed event, though), and Chad Mickelson of Allegiant Air was trailing me for awhile. Ultimately, I was, I believe, third to the top with Mike and a guy from Red Burro still ahead of me. The Red Burro rider ultimately won the timed climb with a time of 42:08 (a young twenty-something). My Garmin gave me a time of 42:13, so unless some rider who started after me came in that narrow five second window ahead of me, I'm likely the 2nd place finisher. Results will be emailed out later. I felt amazingly strong this morning, and was able to surge repeatedly. At the top I turned around and headed back, not realizing that just past the summit was an aid station where I could have refilled my water bottles. The ride down was quick and there were riders strung out the entire nine mile length of the climb. Just before the turn back into Red Rock Canyon, there was a car parked completely across the bike lane, which forced me to break hard and ride the rumble strip (they're really deep here) to get by it. Just past the car on the shoulder was what appeared to be a wild burro that had been hit by a vehicle and killed. Strangely enough, the rider from Red Burro caught up to me here and we rode the rest of the way back to the start together. When I asked him if he'd seen the burro, he said he thought it was an ostrich (they grow them out there somewhere)! I asked some other riders later if they'd seen it, and the consensus was that it was indeed a burro. They are large (not as large as horses, but big nonetheless), and hitting one at speed would do some serious damage to a car. It happens fairly often, as the burros just walk out across the road and pay no attention to cars, nor do the cars always pay attention to them... until a collision occurs.
After finishing the 50 mile portion, I picked up with some guys from McGhie's who hadn't done the full Potosi climb and so were back ahead of me, and we went out and did another 20 miles. It was a great ride, good weather, and was for a good cause. The turn out was huge, so I'm pleased by that.

Total miles: 72.11
Total elevation gain: 5828'
Weight: 146.9
This marks 10,033 miles for the year so far, and the 9th time I've climbed Potosi since the end of June, when I started including it in my training.

Biting Bug Bastards, and Wildcat Hill Climbs

2010-09-14T19:49:00.000-07:00

In the past week I've been stung by flying bug bastards that have gotten into my open jersey and stung the hell out of me. The first one was last week where some flying biting bug bit me under my heart monitor strap. I had a welt the size of a half dollar (remember those?). Yesterday I got it under my bib short straps in that hollow between my collar bone and neck. It's about the size of Mt. Whitney. I think the "killer bees" have made it to Nevada, and the hot weather has just pissed them off. It's not easy training in such a hostile environment. On a more positive note, the Mt. Charleston Hill Climb is going on regardless, but now as a wildcat race. No sponsors, no license, no insurance. I'm going to ride it anyway. I need a really long, steep climb to prepare for the last running (this year, I hope) of the Death Valley Road Stage Race. So here goes.

Potosi Again

2010-09-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

Another weekend climb of Mt. Potosi, seventy one miles total. I missed the group for some reason, so I did it solo. On the way to the Red Rock Canyon Scenic Loop for the first major climb of the ride, I was caught by a young rider who, when he pulled alongside me said, "Hey, I read your blog!" And he did, as he was familiar with many of my posts. I asked how he recognized me, and he said "By your Paramount jersey, and your bike", referring to my white Cervelo R3 (better than being in love...). I looked over and he was riding a 2010 Cervelo R3, the red, black, and white one, just like the one I have hanging in my garage. He said his name was Aron (I think he said with one 'a') and was a Cat. 5 rider, just beginning to race and doing well. We rode on to the beginning of the Loop. He had to get back, so I peeled off and started the climb. It was pretty cool to run into a reader and be recognized, even though we'd not laid eyes on each other before. Cyclists! What a bunch.

Here's a clip from YouTube I found that does a fair job of showing what it is to us:

Week's ending stats:
Last week's mileage totals: 295 miles (475 Km)
Three times up the Scenic Loop, twice up Mt. Potosi
Average weight: 148.5 lbs (still 20 pounds lighter than when I got back on the bike in 2007)
Twenty four days until the Death Valley Road Stage Race!

Mt. Charleston Hill Climb - Cancelled!

2010-09-09T15:45:00.000-07:00

The seventeen and a half mile grind up Mt. Charleston has been cancelled. Some would say lack of organization and planning was the cause, but in any case, it ran into permitting and insurance problems that if it had been planned early in the year might have been prevented. So, for this year, the classic race will not be held. I was hoping to use it as part of my final preparation for the daunting Death Valley Road Stage Race (Fall edition). I will have a charity ride (Pedal to the Metal for the Special Olympics) next weekend that will feature as part of the ride a timed climb of Mt. Potosi. Not as grand a climb as Charleston, but a good climb nonetheless. I've been climbing it as part of my 70 mile Saturday training rides all summer. So there's that.

Already September?

2010-09-03T06:37:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already September. It seems only like it was last week I was getting drowned in the rain at the Boulevard Road Race (which was in February)! The Mount Charleston Hill Climb is tentatively on for September 25th, but it hasn't been granted a permit from USACycling yet, so it is at best a maybe. I'd want to use it as part of my preparation for the final Death Valley Road Stage Rage in October. It's the second edition of the one I won back in June. It will feature the same first stage and what was the second stage of the Mt. Whitney Stage Race, the epic climb up to Horseshoe Meadows at over 9,910' of elevation, give or take. In the meantime, I'm back at work full time running the computer network and the work is taking its toll. I'm not used to training hard and working too (I've only been off for two and a half months for summer break!), but I'll find my rhythm again soon. I've had to train in the afternoon heat for the past week and a half, but I hope to return to seven a.m. training as soon as tomorrow. Here's a recap for August:

Miles: 1293 (2082 KM)
Miles so far in 2010: 9, 338 (15, 034 KM)
Lifetime miles: 414,333 (667,076 KM), give or take
Races: Hillside Road Race, 51 miles: 1st - 60+, 2nd in combined 50/60 field
Number of days with over 2000' (610 meters): 11
Average weight: 148 lbs
Number of near misses with cars: 3
Number of flat tires: 1
Number of flat tires so far in September: 1
Number of bars on my cell phone at the time: 0
Three flats so far this year, and all were caused by little pieces of wire from the wire mesh found in steel belted radial vehicle tires that had blown on the road.
Number of sun bonnets seen out walking: 3 ...maybe it's seasonal.
Number of hot air balloons seen landing on my morning training rides: 5

The Hillside Road Race - Win for Dan Crain

2010-08-24T06:22:00.000-07:00

At the same time in Ontario, California, the 55/60+ Dan Crain Memorial Criterium was being held. Not being able to be in both places at the same time, I decided the Hillside race (which Dan has ridden in the Skull Valley incarnation) would be ridden in Dan's honor.

Here's part of what was said prior to the race in Ontario:

"This past Sunday August 15th, 2010 Paramount's Dan Crain passed away as a result of injuries from an accident in Newport Beach where he was struck by an SUV while cycling on August 3rd. Dan had not been racing long but his cycling accomplishments were extensive. Dan had completed 106 double centuries since he started serious cycling in 1996 and was inducted into the Triple Crown Hall of Fame in 2001. He set a 2 person age group record in the Race Across America in 2005 making it across the country in less than 9 days. He also set a record at the Firecreek Furnace 508 of which he did 7. Dan had many other accomplistments in his life and will be sorely missed by a lot of people. Let's have 10 seconds of silence to commemorate his loss...... Thank you. Today we are racing for you, Dan." ...and a link to John McKee's blogging account of the race.

This would have been my third time out for the Skull Valley Road Race, but the whole course, and the name, were shifted west to Hillside. The morning started out cloudy, humid, and about 77 degrees. As the race rolls upward the first two miles, and then descends rapidly before the first of two intermediate climbs, we rolled out at a leisurely pace. However, not ten miles into the race two guys rolled off the front. The field seemed uninterested in chasing them down. When the lead rider pulled off, instead of the next guy coming through, he pulled off too. I thought, WTF? So I came through and took a pull, and when I was ready to pull off, there was no one there, so I bridged up to the two gentlemen off the front and we went to work. One was a 50+ rider, and the other was a 60+ rider, neither of whom I knew. We stayed away for a few miles and had a pretty good gap, but at the base of the longest of the two intermediate climbs, we were caught by two other riders. When they shot by us, I jumped on, leaving my other two companions behind. This was the winning move of the race. The new three man breakaway, which included Bob Pomgrantz, a not even 50 year old rider who just moved up to the 50+ category (he's still 49, not having had his birthday yet), and a guy named Keith (I don't know his last name yet, it's not posted), and myself stayed away the rest of the race. We drilled it down to the turn around and headed back uphill. Bob gapped Keith and I for awhile; Keith and I worked hard to catch him. I was surprised Bob had that much in him, as he had been complaining that his back was hurting him (speaking of which, I took along an 800mg tablet of Ibuprofen, which I downed about twenty minutes before what would be the last, long, steep climb back up to the finish for just that reason... geezer dope). We caught him, but then he went off again. Not long after that the last long climb began, I dropped Keith and took the hill alone with Bob always in sight, but I was unable to catch him. Coming down from the high point of the course, there was about a kilometer of downhill before the finish. I did something I've never done in my entire racing career: I took a victory salute when I crossed the line, both hands in the air. I feel this was the best result of my entire last two years of racing: first in my age category, and second overall! I'm pretty pleased.

This race, and the previously held Skull Valley Road Race(s) was put on by White Mountain Road Club, and in particular, by Eric Prosnier. Chapeau, gentlemen! I'm so glad there are still clubs willing to put on challenging road races. Long may you prosper.

Hillside Road Race Stats:

Miles: 51
Average speed: 21.1 mph
Elevation gain: 4024'
Number of longhorn cattle loose on the course: over 20
Number of buzzards following us: a complete gaggle, perhaps two.
Full results to follow (as soon as they're posted).