Bier en modder

Little sore this morning from Barlow yesterday; right hip, right shoulder, and my hands…oh, my hands. There was a few slight downhill and very bumpy stretches in there where you were holding on for dear life. Good stuff.Got to the race with plenty of time to get ready and warm up. During the warm up I had a hard time getting things moving, but after about 20 minutes or so I loosened up. Could have been the blistering sun too.

I was a little surprised by the numbers at the start. 57 in the A’s and 35(?) in the Master A’s. I may be off. Seemed like a lot though. We lined up 4 or 5 wide on a doubletrack road for the start. Something about it didn’t feel right. I had a sense that there would be some ugly bottlenecking right after the start. Despite people not being able to clip in, it went fine though.

I ran the new Racing Ralphs and dropped the pressure a bit to get some grip on the off-camber stuff. Maybe 35 or so. Zipping around the paved section behind the school, I felt a little bit of a rollover. Better ease up and take the corners a little more upright. Once I got a sense of how the tires acted, they were ridiculously solid. Didn’t feel even the remotest possibility of a slip anywhere. I could probably go 36 on firmer stuff but keep it at 35, maybe 34 when it gets softer.

Anyway, I’d never raced Barlow before. It’s a good course but the highlight was the run-up in the woods.

It’d be near impossible to accurately describe the railroad tie run-up. Screaming fast approach which was halted by 2 downhill barriers. Short downhill run, over the bridge to a run-up that was 30 feet (?) tall. 30? Shit, it seemed like 50. 8 to 12 never-ending steps, with an irregular 2 to 3 foot rise and run. Difficult to find a rhythm up.

You could make an argument that with my legs (36″ inseam), that I would have had an easier time in this section than most. That’s probably true, especially compared to those stuck in the <a title=”Pony Class” href=”http://www.veloreview.com/obra3/2008/09/new-cross-category-announced.html/” target=”_blank”>Pony Class</a>. I’d like to think I gained ground up the hill on a number of people I was around. Still…it burns like hell and I spend about 20 meters after the run-up spinning the acid out. There’s nothing easy about run-ups like this for anyone.

My main focus for the race was to clean up my act. Pain on the Peak was an abysmally sloppy race. I wanted this race to help get things back in order. From that aspect, the race was a huge success. Much cleaner dismounts. Remounts need a little more work but otherwise they were better. Bike carrying, especially up the hill, was better. Cornering was much, much improved since I really focused on 2 things: pedaling through the turn and, more importantly, looking where I wanted to go through the turn.

I’ll consider this a fantastic final tune-up before Alpenrose next weekend. I finished a solid 10th, feeling like I got stronger throughout the race. I remembered how to race again. Just plain fun.

After a rest week, it time to get back to the grind. We’re heading out to the coast for the weekend and I’ll head straight to the race Sunday. That means I’ll need to get everything in order before we leave Friday.

Looks like rain is in the forecast for the tail end of the week. That’d be nice. I’m so over the hot and dusty cross races. It feels like it’s been a while since we’ve had a wet Alpenrose race.

About halfway in to laying another coat of mastik on the new rims and tires, I was thinking that it would be nice if tubular glue came in different scents.  Patchouli, Luscious Lavender, Outrageous Orange and of course, Minty Fresh!

How many layers of glue do you want on? 8? 9?

Then I opened the door to air the garage out and it all went away.

Final bits of work on the bike.  I’ll finish up with the 3rd glue coat tonight and mount tomorrow.  I’m anxious to get them out to the park to try them out.

Also got a new shifter cable set and bar tape.  Couple slices in the tape from last fall that I just let go.  Might as well get a new roll on.

The rear derailleur has been shifting like hell.  I haven’t been able to solve this.  Whenever I shift in in an opposite direction (up to down or vice versa), it seems to take an extra primer shift before it’ll move.  After that, it works fine.  No amount of barrel adjustment will get it to work.  Strange.  I changed the cable only this summer when it first started but that didn’t affect it.  Also took off the rear derailleur, cleaned it thoroughly, and re-lubed.  Still no change.  That leaves a few possibilities: dirty/fouled cable housing (possible), broken shifter (unlikely), or broken derailleur (also unlikely).  Other than that, I’m out of ideas.

I’m finally rested up.  Got some drills planned today during lunch at a nearby park.  Mostly dismounts and remounts.  I was hopping up and slamming down way too hard on the rear wheel at the Peak race.  Need to clean that up.  I’m not really near anywhere I can do decent off-camber and uphill work.  Those are at a park closer to home.

Happy fall solstice. Equinox (thanks for the correction).

Got an off-week this week.  Very much needed.  Saunas and hot tubs galore.  Time to get things in order before October.

Team picnic yesterday.  Picked up the new Castelli kit.  New colors (no more ‘Laker Girls’ comments).  New graphics.  New team car.  We got totally pimped out.  Sweet.  The Castelli stuff feels a bit weird walking around in it but once you get in riding position on the bike, everything fits like it should.  The shorts are, um, shorter.  Lots of moderately unsightly tan lines visible.  All in all, pretty excellent gear.  I appreciate that they left a black panel in front so we don’t have the sausage-fest appearance colored shorts can get.

Also picked up the new wheels and Schwalbe Racing Ralph tubulars.  Now these are worth getting excited about.  35mm size with a fair amount of volume in the tube.  I’m hoping it’ll give my fat ass a little more cushion on the bumpier sections.  Tread looks good, seems a little tight for shedding mud though.  We’ll see.  I hope to have them ready for this weekend.  It’d be great if the ground got softened up a bit over the week.

I’ve already set aside my post-race beers for the season.  It’s a mix of Hair of the Dog (Doggie Claws ‘04, ‘05, ‘06, ‘07 and Fred from the Wood ‘07), Sierra Nevada Bogfoot ‘05, ‘06, ‘07, and Deschutes (Abyss ‘07 and Black Butte XX).  I don’t know in what order I’ll have them but I’m sure it’ll all work itself out.  Sometimes I’ll stand in front of them and the right beer magically appears in my hand.  You can call me the Beer Whisperer.

Starcrossed was this weekend.  From what I heard and read, it got a little slick up there.  It brings me back to the ugly lessons of last weekend – be prepared for anything.

Spent the past few days getting things back in order; mentally, physically, and mechanically.  Saturday’s race was a little like taking a rather large band-aid off.  I wasn’t sure how bad it would hurt (it did) but it needed to be done.

With a few days to let it all sink in, I’m left with a little sore and irritable feeling from it all.  That wasn’t my best race.  It’s fair to say that it was arguably one of my worst.  I didn’t plan on doing that well.  I had a fairly heavy training load the past few weeks so my legs weren’t that sharp.  That’s ok.  I have my focus further on down in November and December.

But I didn’t anticipate letting myself get mentally beat down.  That stings a bit more.

I took a step back and looked at my plan for the rest of the season.  Fitness-wise, I don’t feel that far off, which is good.  Aside from focusing and making every workout count, there’s not much more I can do.  I can’t train that much more than I already am.  My bike handling needs serious attention.  I need to dedicate more time towards dismounting/remounting and cornering drills.  I’m not going to win a race with good skills but I sure as shit will lose time without them.

I shouldn’t be worried.  It’s still September and there’s plenty of racing left this year.  Other than showing up and being ready to race, nothing happened last Saturday that concerned me that much.  I’m confident that I’ll get some decent results later on.

Pain on the Peak last Saturday.  It was dry.  It was hot, and shit, was it dusty.

I’d seen the pre-race stuff that Portland Velo put out and hit my usual GIS sites to get a better look.  I was wondering how they’d make a course out of it.  But they did.  And it was hard.  Real hard.

It didn’t help that I came in there, well, casual isn’t a good description.  Rushed.  Not focused.  I’m not sure.  But whatever it was, I didn’t mentally have my shit together for a 60 minute race in the A’s.  And it showed.  I am not good enough to just “show up” and race.

Lined up at the start next to Chris Tauscher.  We joked a bit on what the over-under would be for getting lapped by Trebon.  He had ±3.  Previous groups were getting lap times of around 5 minutes.  For a 60 min race, I was thinking 3 would be optimistic.

The A’s go off.  Usually by now I’m kind of dialing in.  Getting focused and ready to push it for an hour.  Instead?  Nothin’.  I got nothin’.

Whistle goes off.  We head down the chute and make a right turn…and I’m down in a cloud of dust.  Whether it was a cause or effect, my rear tire rolled off about 3 inches.  I jam it back on and now have to chase the group.  59 minutes to go.

By the time we get to the logs in the back of the course, I’d caught up to the rear third of the group.  Mentally, I’m a bit rattled.  I need to settle in and get it back.  The dust of the pack kicked up enough where you were riding blind – no visibility below 2 feet above ground.  Sketchy.  Hit the path through the woods and up the run-up.  I pass by the pit and make a split-second decision not to swap rear wheels and keep going.

I stuck with about 6-8 others for a lap or 2, slowly picking up spots.  Physically, I feel good.  I’m starting to get into a groove.  Approaching the run-up through the woods the rear wheel slides off again, this time for good.  100 yards to the pit.  Uphill.  I shoulder the bike and start running/shuffling back.

The March of Death

I’m officially DFL by now.

The middle third of the race didn’t go so well.  I came unraveled mentally and physically:  Sloppy riding.  Couple spills.  Terrible dismounts and remounts.  Bad shouldering form (which I’ve already been heckled on by teammates).  Blisters forming on my right hand.  Cottonmouth I hadn’t experienced since UConn Spring Break of ‘93.  I was basically hanging on but there was no way I was giving up.

Got my shit together to rally the last few laps, getting a little mojo back.  I need to finish with a little dignity here.  Rode up the run-up once and came close a couple other times.  Managed to hang with a couple of the A’s that passed me for half a lap or so.

Jeff Standish caught up on the last lap and we finished the race out.  With that, I managed to only get passed by Bannick (riding very strong) and Jeff (ditto), which kept me within 5 minutes of the field.

Between the mechanicals, the fact that I completely forgot how to race a cross race, and a tough course, I can live with the result (18th out of 24).  I don’t like it but I can live with it.

One more preseason race – Barlow – to get the kinks out and then it’s time for the Crusade season.  I’ll work on my wheels probably next week when the new ones get in.  I also need to go straight to the park – without passing go – to work more on skills.

I’ll get out a Peak summary soon, maybe later tonight.  Had a busy weekend and today is pretty full.

The Oregon Velo pictures tell a fairly good story.  Just look under the A race and find the guy carrying his bike.  That about sums it up.

Standing in the elevator heading up to work having a monologue with myself: Man, it’s getting dark now – Can’t believe I need the blinkey for the 6:15 ride in – I am so excited for coffee.

Suddenly…sniff, sniff.  Sweet Jesus, what’s that smell?

No bike clothes in the backpack (at home in the dryer).  No post-shower towels (ditto).  Then what?  Somebody drop a bottle of vinegar?

Oooo, the helmet.

Time for a little wash.  I can’t remember the last time I gave it a shower.

Got new rims (EC 70’s) and tires (Schwalbe Racing Ralphs) orderd.  Made a last minute flip-flop after trading emails with John.  I haven’t heard if they’ve actually been ordered but I e-mailed my order in.  Should be there in time for Alpenrose.

As much as I’d like to, I don’t have the cash to run tubulars for every condition.  In an ideal world, I’d have a dry (I’m not sure yet) and super-mud (Dugast) setup.  But hey, I’m glad I finally have a cross bike so we’ll just leave it at that.

What else.  Workouts are going as planned.  2-3 days of 15-20 minute intervals, aiming for 45-60 min total.  1 day of running.  1-2 days of shorter, higher intensity intervals.  I double-up a couple days so rest days are becoming very, very important.

Pain on the peak this weekend.  It’ll be my first A/35+ race at the full 60 minutes.  Course map was released yesterday.  Looks similar to Rainier HS – about 80-100 feet of elevation gain, no run-ups (from what I saw), a few barriers.  If the weather holds, it’ll probably be fast.

Not much else for now.  Our apple tree in the backyard is shedding apples at a pretty fast rate.  We didn’t spray this year so some have worms.  But I still have a shitload of good apples left on the tree.  So…it’s applesauce time!  I’ll leave you with a great recipe I’ve used for years:

• 4# apples, unpeeled but quartered & cored.
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• Spices – I use 2 cinnamon sticks and 2-4 cloves per batch.

Add all ingredients in a saucepan.  Place uncovered on medium heat for 15-20 minutes until everything breaks down.  Stir occasionally, especially near the end when it can burn.  Process through a food mill and add water if needed.  It cans and freezes well.

Pretty sweet spell of weather we have this week.  It’s still technically summer but you can feel that the sun is getting lower.

Spent a delightful afternoon jamming up and down Saltzman during lunch.  It’s typically about 20-23 minutes up, depending on where I start from.  Perfect interval length.

Saw a couple other ‘crossers out there too and a few more on the ride back in on Lief Erikson.

Did a mental check on the bike to see what, if anything needs servicing or upgrading.

Strongly contemplating a new wheelset for this season.  Our team order is due Monday and I need to suck it up and get a new set or carry on with what I have.  There’s nothing wrong with my current setup (Mavic Reflex w/ Ultegra hubs & Grifo’s glued on).  A tad heavy but relatively easy to service and, at least for me, the Grifo’s are a dreamy ride.  I ran them aroung 34-36 psi last year and never had a problem.

Since I’m just on the lean side of 2 bills, shaving weight has never been a huge concern of mine.  But a new Easton EC 70 set will drop 2 full quarter-pounders from my rotational weight.  That’s kind of a big deal.  The EC 90 Aero will drop that weight again but it’s out of my price range this year.

I’ll need a new set of tubulars for them too.  I’m on the fence whether to re-up with Grifo’s or just go for it with Dugasts.  I have no personal experience with Dugasts but I’ve only read that they offer a similar ride to Grifos but just…better.  Veloshop had a few Rhino 34’s left in stock.  I’ll think about it over the weekend.

The fall schedule looks like it’s 90% finalized.  Couple unknowns in there but I can still make a tentative plan.

9/6-7: off.

9/13-14: Pain on the peak

9/20-21: Team pics & party.  It’s Hood River but team stuff is about as mandatory as it gets. Plus, we *may* be picking up our new unis there although we may be asked to hold off on racing with them until Alpenrose.

9/27-28: Veloshop Cross and/or Barlow.  Dunno yet.  Rach is out of town and I’ll need sitters to race.  I hope to get one in, maybe both if they’re close.  I haven’t seen any details.

10/5: Alpenrose. Always good. I’ve typically done well here.

10/12: Wilsonville. New venue (to me).

10/19: Rainier. Great course that I want to do again. I faded down the stretch last year.

10/25-26: off (rest week)

11/2: Barton. My favorite.

11/9: PIR. Ok, I’ll admit it…I’m a PIR virgin. What was I thinking??? Oh sure, it’s the closest race to town but I think I’ll skip it. What an ass.

11/16: Hillsboro (finals). New course. Too bad though.  The old stadium course, especially from 2 years ago, was one of the best.

11/23: off (rest week)

11/30: no races

12/6-7: USGP.

I’ve got a few tune-up/pre-season races in there but the bulk of the schedule is Cross Crusade.  I don’t want to go into Alpenrose cold.

So that’s it.  Depending on which races I do, there’s about 10 hours of racing spread out over 3 months.  10 hours!!

Last month’s brain-fart is brought to you by…well, you’ll figure it out.

In Bend.  Rach and I left the kids with M & D and headed in to town for drinks, dinner, and a movie (Batman).  Got through the first 2 with little time to spare for the movie start.  Yes, I know there’s a hour of flippin’ previews but for 9 bucks, I want my goddam previews.

Rach heads inside to pee while I stand in line for the tix.  Man, this is taking forever.  Plus, I need to pee too.

Get the tix and head inside.  Time to hit the head.  Now, most Regal Cinemas have the universal bathroom entrance where you head into an alcove and then go right or left.  Mind you, they both look identical.  Same subway tile.  Same colors.  Everything.

I head in right by the vending machine on the wall and think, ‘that’s funny, why would they have O.B. tampons in the men’s room?’…and abruptly hit the brakes.  Oh shit.  I put it into reverse and head left.  Oopsie.  My bad.