Elkhorn Classic Stage 4 results

Uh, nothing to report here. What was going to be a 105 mile race instead turned in to a 19 mile hillclimb due to severe inclement weather. I think I finished in the 30’s, but the weather worked against the officials, as their camera was on the wrong side, and the fog affected the readings. Oh well. Not a biggie. Great weekend, fun time, but cold & wet. I needed 20 miles just to open up my legs!!

Stage 3 Crit results

Its going to be hard to get the images on here immediately, but it’s now Tuesday, and ya’ll need to know the rest of the story.

The afternoon crit went well. I rode very aggressively, and raced hard for 2 or 3 primes, just missing out on each one. For the last prime, even though I missed the cash, I dashed on and kept going, only just getting caught by the pack on the last lap. Unfortunately, I was gassed, so I struggled to hold on to a Top 10 in the sprint. As you know, I’m no sprinter, so I slipped back to 11th. NUTS.

Still, it was a great 45 minutes, I had a strong showing, I hope they got some good photos – the ones my friends took were awesome, and I’ll post them as soon as I can find the time. No change in GC.

Update to the update, and images

Moved up from 32nd in GC to 29th in GC, 4:16 back! I can DO THIS! I KNOW I can!!

Here are images from the past 2-3 days.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Whareagle/ElkhornClassicStageRaceJune2009#

Update on Stage 2

20th place! That’s got to be worth SOMETHING in the GC! Will post those results shortly.

Elkhorn Classic, Stage 2, 11.3 mile TT

Ready to Roll

Well, I gave it everything I had. I think I’ve got one of the most aero positions possible, with a back that is as flat as can be, and a helmet that merges with it perfectly. Power was down today, though I know that’s a combination of the position, elevation, and fatigue. I never caught my 30-second man, but I kept him close, and he caught his 30-second man, so I have some hope that I didn’t lose time. I was never passed, and at the turnaround, I know I had a large gap. I hope I kept that. Wattage was in the 250’s. The wheels were perfect, and the 55 chainring worked well. Spencer rode a 23:20, and the other two guys were probably faster. This is just something I need to work on. The saddle largely worked. It’s better out on the road than indoors. I’ll tweak it a little bit, but I’m going to have to go out to the Motor Speedway more often.

Crit is at 5:30 local time. It should be dry, so I’m going to go for a top 6 in this one and see if I can garner some upgrade points.

The DeSalvo Team with Mark from Landshark and myself post TT

Governor Vetoes SB 488

BUT, here’s another perspective that might merit thought and pause. Me? I WANT EDUCATION! EDUCATE MORE CYCLISTS!

http://cycledallas.blogspot.com/2009/06/reason-prevails.html

Elkhorn Classic Day 1 – 73 miles

Oh man. I am BEAT. Beat, but UP beat!

The view from the first feed zone

I’m up here in Oregon, in Baker City, attending the Elkhorn Classic, a 4 stage race held on the solstice weekend annually. Spencer, my buddy that lives up here, brought two teammates with him, David and Matt, and we all hit it off immediately. On Thursday afternoon, we actually drove the course for Stage 1, showing the two newbies, Dave and Matt, the nuances of the course.

The first 35 miles are mostly downhill, as you leave Baker City and follow some green farmland and basically parallel the Interstate, though you can’t hear it. Then, you cross under I-84 and head out in to some hills, where the real action begins. There is a wind farm at the head of the valley, so we ride right underneath them, and then get in to a canyon which takes us to another tiny village, and then IT IS ON, with a 14-mile climb, the last of which is at maybe 7 to 10%. After that, though, it doesn’t get any easier, because you end up on the high prairie desert, and there’s this black ribbon of road that just winds its’ way back to Baker City, over hill and down dale, following creeks, climbing up rolling hills, until it finally drops you down in to a flat runout to the finish line, which is near the Baker City airport.

Spencer (left) and Matt (right)

I had prepared for this since November. I had followed a strategic plan to show up stronger than ever, and to compete, rather than just survive. Spencer was also ready, and from the conversations with David and Matt, I was convinced that they were in great shape as well.

We started off at 1:40pm from Baker City High School, and within a mile, a friend I’d made here last year, George Chiou, showed up at the front of the race, and started setting a HIGH pace. Spencer stayed up there with me, and together, we took roughly 2 minute pulls, keeping the pace high, keeping the pack single-file, and basically screaming down the valley. Others took some good pulls, but George and Spencer and I were the instigators. However, both George and Spencer pointed out, after about an hour, that a storm was brewing in the EXACT direction we were headed.

Mountain storms in the summer are nothing to sneeze at. I remember one time in July of 1994, when my friend Jeremy and I were mountain biking in Montana, and we got stuck in a storm that dumped snow, ice, and lightning, in our midst. It scared the absolute bejeebers out of me, and I remember being cold for days afterwards, when we were essentially rescued by a neighbor. Anyway, that’s a digression.

On the first real climb up to the first feed zone, I OWNED IT, and I pulled and guttered as many people as I could. Spencer later told me that I actually SPLIT THE FIELD! 90 people started this event, so I was STOKED that this flatlander was able to climb at least somewhat with the locals. But as SOON as we hit the feed zone, the rain started. Now, this is not typical Oregon weather. Usually, when I come out here, it’s dry and hot. But this year, the weather pattern was different. It had started raining earlier in the day, and had not let up until the start of the race, so we had a nice break from the weather for about an hour, maybe longer. But when this stuff hit, it hit hard, it hit dark, and it came down in a cold, quarter-size drop DELUGE.

Instantly the pack went on the defensive. Gaps betwen wheels were longer, and we single-filed to the center of the road, to try and avoid the deeper wheel wells, which were quickly filling with 4+cm of rain. For a short while, George told me that we had a gap of about 10 seconds, so the two of us, with about 7 others, tore it up through some tight, twisty roads, and tried to get a gap. It lasted maybe a minute. Damn. The rain kept coming down, though, and I was glad I had my leggings on, because for a while there I started quaking. That settled down, however, when we got to Union, and started the climb that would define the race.

The climb is about 14 miles long, and it starts gradually, but then pitches up to the point where the gradient is about 8% or more for short periods of time. But it is relentless, and the rain, accompanied with the short range of vision due to the twists and turns, really sort of hampered our ability to predict what was coming around the next corner. But about 4  miles in, Matt came up to the front, and within a mile, with two riders about 20 seconds off the front, I launched him and he was able to bridge up to those guys, and form a working break. It was AWESOME! I stayed at or near the front, but my pulls were so-so, as Matt pulled away with the other two guys. Several attacks to try and close the gap were nullified by me, and I found that as we near the crest, I was actually holding on to the leaders pretty darned well.

But about 1.5 miles from the top, maybe 1.2, after urging myself on and on and on, I just couldn’t hold on with the leaders, and I fell back. I hate getting gassed, and I  hate getting passed. But this hill, at this gradient (one of the steepest parts), and given my flair for pushing and pulling from the front too early, too much (man, Jason, what was I thinking?), just combined to make my legs and lungs swell up and lock. Well, not really, but it was just enough to fall back. David passed me, but I was too out of breath to tell him about Matt being up the road. It took about 30 seconds for me to get my head back in to the game, but by then, the pack had slid past and I was fighting for scraps.

But this time, I didn’t lose my head. I kept pushing, and I rallied, and I got over the pass less than a minute away from the pack, which was down to less than 30 riders. There was another group in between, and then scattered riders in 2’s and 3’s. I grabbed a bottle, left a bottle, and then raced like a demon down the back side of the pass and on to the plain in between the area where the rolling hills are. George rejoined me (he had also been dropped – still no sign of Spencer, though, which was surprising), and we all grouped up to try and paceline it back to the main field.

We were doing pretty well at this, when, weirdly, my right calf, and my left hamstring, started to give me some weird sensations of pre-cramping. What made it weird was that they never seized outright, and the weather (wet and cold, yet the legs were wrapped in a pair of leg warmers, nevermind the fact that I’d been religiously holding to my schedule to drink my EFS every 15 minutes, finishing a bottle an hour, just so I wouldn’t cramp) should’ve been more to my liking. I did everything I could, but my legs were definitely ‘off’, and I communicated this to the grupetto that I was in, trying to stay with them and contribute, but unable. Everyone was great about it, however, and they let me try to massage my hamstring and calf, and eventually, maybe 2 minutes later, the twitching went away, and I freakin’ climbed the first 1-minute hill from the front!

With 20 miles to go, the agenda now was to do everything possible to mitigate time losses, and try to bridge with the larger pack. Slowly, we reeled other riders in, but our efforts were just always a little off, and try as we might, we never got inside a minute on the front pack. The good news is that we were just a minute or so off, maybe a little more, but the bad news was that we were never good enough at reeling in the bigger fish, nor were we strong enough to keep the pack together. Riders dropped off like flies, leaving us with a core group of 6 + 3. Somewhere on one of the 3-minute hills, George and two others got away, and stayed about 30 seconds ahead until we got within 3 miles of the finish.

When we finally regrouped, I told everyone that we were now riding for nothing but time, and that we could minimize the gap by working together. We actually sort of did, for  a while, but in the end, I think I finished about 4 minutes off the front, together with George. However, the entire pace of the race had been so high over it’s entire duration, that we were FIFTEEN MINUTES faster than last year, and I know I was somewhere in the mid 30’s or 40’s, well above the 86th position that I got in the Stage 1 race last year. Matt finished slightly ahead of me, and David was in that main pack at the front, or just behind it.

But where was Spencer?

Sadly, Spencer, who had been having a banner day at Elkhorn in the first half of the race, fell victim to a flat, on the main climb, just feet from where the gradient went from moderate to steep. He lost a minute in the wheel exchange, then soloed in the rest of the way, finishing 7 minutes down. He’s had a lot of flats this year, and he’s got some of the most puncture proof tires in the business, and whatever Karma he’s ticked off, his debt has been more than paid.  BUT, we were all still in good enough spirits, and we all animatedly talked about the race, our strategy, and what we should do next.

I could go on, but I’m exhausted, and this is detailed enough. Placings haven’t been posted, but I’ll put up what I know when I know it, and I’m going to bust patootie on the TT and crit tomorrow, in the hopes that I’ll move up in the GC. Of course, that’s everyone’s strategy, so you never really know. Still, I’m satisfied with my effort, feel like I came here strong enough to do well, and I did.

Sidebar – unfortunately, I have no wattage information. Apparently the flight up here affected the PM on my road bike, via the compression/decompression of the cargo hold in the aircraft, so I’ll be sending in my unit come Tuesday. That means no wattage info on Stages 1,3, and 4. The TT bike’s unit still works, but I’ll be ‘going commando’ for the duration of the weekend on my road bike. It’s unfortunate, but it hasn’t dampened my enthusiasm for the Quarq or for the race.

See ya’ll tomorrow after the TT, and then again after the Crit!! Pray for drier weather!!

Mesquite Rodeo Rally, 2009

Man, oh man, oh man. Something good is really happening now!!

Pulling Colavita and Colonel's

This is one of the toughest rallies in the Metroplex. It’s a 64 mile course over terrain that EVERYONE is familiar with, and it brings out several of the Big Dogs of racing and rallying in North Texas. I decided to really try and bury myself, so I ended up riding out to the course start from home, and then doing the rally, with the intention of returning the same way, to try and make it almost 90 miles. The out part was great, but the rally itself was SO HARD, and SO INTENSE that I ended up bumming a ride home with Amy after it was over.

True to form, there were a LOT of big guns there. Names I recognize, though you may not. Mike Brown, Brett Crosby, Surfer, several members of the Colavita squad, lots of Tenzingers, and Chopper. Champions among them. Top Guns. This was going to be a REAL test of my fitness.

The start was hot & furious starting early, and I tried my best to stay hidden, in the teens and 20’s, but after maybe 12 miles, I found myself at the front more than once, pulling or bridging small breaks. But I found that I had some really good legs, and the recoveries were just as good. About 20 miles in, Chase McKinney (a Mirage teammate) got in to a break of 3 that got about a minute up the road. Originally, since I was riding in Pirate gear, I thought about going to the front and pulling them in, since I knew the riders were strong, but I got chastised by another Mirage rider, and I backed off. But at about 30 miles, they were all reeled in. It was then that Brett Crosby started his attacks. Brett is a super-strong cyclist, who is famous for his LONG, HARD, STEADY pulls that can rip the legs off of most people. In November, I raced against him in a 1,2,3 category race, in a blistering 25mph wind on a CRIT course… and he lapped the field. That’s how strong he is.

His attacks came from the left, strong, but not too strong, in the hopes that someone might go with him and establish a breakaway. He tried maybe four times in the crosswind, before we turned left and started on the long route home, but to no avail. Then some Tenzing riders attacked here and there, and it was an attack by Joe Giordano that sent me up there with him as we tried to work together and get away from the pack. With a gap of maybe 15 seconds total, we were joined by Mike Brown of Colavita, and the race was on!

This was about mile 37, I believe. We rode together smoothly, changing positions on a regular basis, and pushing up the rolling hills where we knew we could get an advantage. As we rode behind the Seagoville Federal Pen, Mike looked over his shoulders and said, “I don’t see ‘em. It must be a minute.” We had a minute on the pack! It only reinvigorated me, and I pushed through Seagoville so hard that both Mike and Joe cautioned me to slow down because they were barely holding on.

Our gap continued to grow, but  it wasn’t until we got within 13 miles of the finish that we actually ended up seeing just how far ahead of the pack we were. It was on a section right before we dove under I-20, and as we looked across a 40-acre pasture, we could see the group just cresting a hill that we had cleared at least 3 minutes before. The pack was falling back! We were almost in the clear!

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long after that, maybe with about 8 miles to go, that I began to feel the effects of the heat and humidity, and previous effort from the past 2 hours. Joe and Mike got a small gap on me on a hill (usually my forte), and I was popped off the back of the train. Then I got scared and began to worry that I’d get swept up by the pack, and my Best Finish Ever in a local rally would be lost. I MOTORED IN as fast as my wilting legs would allow, hoping that I could weave in between the other returning riders from shorter distances, and that the pack wouldn’t be able to do the same. I took risks. I raced through corners. I called out “On Your Left!” with every rider I passed, hoping that they’d get out of the way. I tried to keep my wattage above 230, then 220, then 210, then just above 200. I drank EVERYTHING I HAD, four bottles of EFS liquid shot. I never cramped, but with about 1/2 mile to go, with the final chicane in sight, I suffered from a delusion that I’ve come to recognize as my own sort of heat-related out-of-body experience. The bridge over Highway 635 (a big circle around Greater Dallas), turned purple, and the railings on both sides began to waver and wiggle like that image of the Tacoma Straights Bridge that broke apart in a high wind in the early 50’s.

The bridge began to waiver and wiggle and turn purple, and I knew that I was close to needing extra help to get back home. But I recognized what was going on in my last clear-conscience thought, stood up, hammered over the bridge, made the right, then the left, and rolled under the “FINISH” banner. I had done it. I had finished 3rd in what was arguably one of the top fields of attendees of a rally in 2009. I immediately went over to the air-conditioned food court area, found some water and some coke, and then gingerly made my way over to First Aid, and asked them for a cold pack.

Is it over? It is OVER! YES!!

I was cooked.

I don’t remember much from the next half hour, except that they took my bp and pulse about a dozen times, laid me down on the floor with my feet up, and gave me two cold packs to put under my arms and then one on my forehead. Maybe someone told me this. I can’t remember. I know the floor was cool, my legs were twitching, and the coke tasted great. I guess I should’ve asked for an IV, but I don’t know if they had any.  Anyway, after maybe 1/2 an hour, I was well enough to get up and walk back over to the tables, where everyone was meeting and retelling their stories about the ride. I congratulated Joe and Mike, then got some congrats sent my way for doing most of the work (I tend to be guilty of that).

When you ride that hard, and dig a hole that deep in your reserves, it’s hard to think, much less take care of yourself. I did make sure I drank caloried drinks, and I did have an ice-cream sandwich, but I couldn’t bring myself to actually eat anything at all. I had no taste or appetite. I might’ve retched had I actually tried. Eventually, Amy rolled in with our friend Lila, and we all recovered to the point where we could retell the tales, experiences, etc. without me feeling like I needed a bucket. Amy had driven my car out to the rally, and she gladly helped me load it up with both our bikes for the trip home.

Rally riding for me gives me the opportunity to ride, hard, with people I don’t normally get to ride with. It gives me the ability to gauge myself against others, continue making friends, and honestly, it validates (or doesn’t validate) my own training plan. I ‘beat’ some really good riders that weekend. I’m hoping that some day, with accomplishments like these, I’ll earn their respect. I mean, I’m getting it, certainly, and I’m really grateful for the opportunities that Rallying has given me, but I just hope that the next time some guy starts thinking about finding ways to get better, finding ways to improve, he or she will think about “onlinebikecoach” and give me a ring or send me an e-mail. I think some of the events we do in North Texas produce some of the strongest, toughest riders in the country, age group or otherwise, and I’d like to be a part of that continued contribution.

The stats for the rally are below:

Lap 2 (2:37:19.85):
Duration:      2:36:25 (2:37:19)
Work:          2085 kJ
TSS:           184.4 (intensity factor 0.841)
Norm Power:    250
VI:            1.12
Pw:HR:          5.44%
Pa:HR:          4.47%
Distance:      64.038 mi
Elevation Gain:        5133 ft
Elevation Loss:       5156 ft
Grade:         -0.0 %  (-23 ft)
Min    Max    Avg
Power:           0    919    222     watts
Heart Rate:      94    185    169     bpm
Cadence:         3    134    91     rpm
Speed:           0.4    47.1    24.4     mph
Pace             1:16    160:56    2:28     min/mi
Altitude:        359    524    433     ft
Crank Torque:    0    892    202     lb-in

This was a hard rally, performed at high levels of energy and wattage, and it left me feeling pretty prepared for the upcoming stage race in Oregon. It still took me about 3 days to recover, but on Monday, I performed a 20MMP on my road bike, and blew a Season-Best 309!!!! So this really is working. I can’t WAIT for Oregon!!

Thanks for reading – I’ll try to post some final pre-Oregon thoughts up here soon.

Durant, Oklahoma Rally review

THIS is starting to get really fun!

The absence of a local race, and the fact that the Tulsa Tough was going on the same weekend, gave Amy and I some time to actually head North a few miles, up to Durant, Oklahoma, for a small rally that has a beautiful reputation. The “Magnolia Tour” coincides with Durant’s outdoor festival, and we made the 90 minute drive, arriving in an area that is rolling, green, and has few of the usual complaints that go with country cycling, namely, “chip seal”.

Though there were barely 140 participants total, there were a number of really good cyclists with whom I was familiar, including Cindy and Armand Phillippi, and their teammates. My old friend Duane Neu parked right next to us, and we all had a great time catching up before, during, and after the ride.

The event itself went off without a hitch. There was a batch of maybe 40 of us that ended up in a solid paceline for the first 10 miles or so, but after a while, I realized (as I have a lot this season), that there were only a few of us who were actually doing much work. I rolled back and tried to compel some others to take their turns up front, but got little response. That frustrated me. It frustrated me a lot, so I decided to do something about it.

The terrain in Durant is perpetually rolling. There’s no flat stuff at all, just false-flats, steady climbs, and rolling descents. I went to the front and took some strong 2-minute pulls at about 360w, just enough to put the last person in line under stress. Then I’d get to the top, and drift off, to let someone else do some work. The winds were minimal, but they were present, so there was little time to truly recover.

After 20 miles, we were down to 15 or so, and when a good 1-minute hill came up with about 4% incline, I put the hammer down and pulled the string to the point where a lot of riders fell off the pace. That left us with a solid group of 7 or 8, and by mile 30, we were down to 5 or 6. We continued to pull and do some work together, though it was obvious that the other riders were getting fatigued, and by mile 45 or so, we just had four riders at the front.

Looking at the group, and realizing how silly it would be to try and solo in on a course I didn’t know, we worked together to keep the pace high enough that we could continue getting a good workout, but slow enough that no one would get consciously dropped. In the final 400 meters, though, a McKinney Velo rider tried to steal the Finish from me — and I passed him, finishing a good bike length ahead.

Another ‘victory’!

The day wasn’t quite as good for Amy, who suffered from fatigue, stress from our dog situation (she’s been recovering from palette surgery), and just general dismay about work. She finished in a time that she felt was slow, but I encouraged her to look at the bright side; it was sunny, the weather was perfect, the course was smooth as silk for at least 30 miles, and we got out of town for a ride someplace new! That night, we ate at a new restaurant for us, “Bolsa”, in Oak Cliff, with our buddy Todd, and called it a night early.

I really think the mix of rallies and races is leading to some solid fitness and results, and I can’t wait for next week’s rally in Mesquite, so I can see what is possible in a stronger field!

Don’t Forget!!

The Cycling Center of Dallas will be starting a new quarter of classes on June 22nd or 23rd, and the program will set you up for a peak performance in late August, JUST IN TIME for the Hotter ‘n Hell 100. You can sign up now by going to
http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=8663
and filling out the information. If you have questions at all, don’t hesitate to e-mail me and ask!