Memorable Memorial Weekend

Man good times this weekend. I was able to cross two trails off my to-do list and just had an all around fantastic time.

Link to pictures:

Good Weekend

Saturday I got to go down Coldwater for the first time with Matt, Andrew, Troy, Jason and a guy we met named Frank. We gave Frank the nickname "Frank the Tank" after the guy from Old School. Also because he dominated the downhills.

I was expecting a tougher trail, but it was still challenging. Some really steep sections towards the end and some tough switchbacks. Other than that it was really fun and I really enjoyed the different scenery on the trail itself. It was good, tight singletrack and had a lot of green all around.

Monday I hit Telonics for the first time and even though conditions weren't the best, it was still awesome to finally do it. When I first started riding a few years ago there were two trails that struck fear in my heart ... Telonics and Joplin. Everyone always talked about these trails as if they were the hardest and gnarliest trails ever.

Telonics wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but again, not easy. I think there was only one very short section that no one rode on Monday. Otherwise between our entire group, we rode the entire trail.

I walked three technical spots, but Matt rode the top, Brian rode the middle and I'm sure someone rode through the other short section I walked in the middle.

I was really stoked to ride the entire bottom part without having to stop or put a foot down. It didn't have anything technical on it other than a small drop or two. It was just really steep.

Also I was able to clear Deer Canyon in El Moro for the first time. There were a few obstacles that made me pause and worry, but I was able to clear all of them. Stoked.

Made about 95% of T&A and I'm positive I can ride 100% of it in the future. Granted I'd be riding the easiest lines in some sections, but that still counts right?

Finally, I rode 100% of Rock-it. I know this isn't a big deal, but I hadn't done it yet. There is this short climb towards the bottom that I've never been able to clear and I finally did it Monday. It's kind of like a 6 year old finally pooping in the toilet on his own ... a little late so not that great, but I'll take it.

Last note is about racing ... I'm SUPER excited to see that the race this Sunday is just one big loop. It's not two laps of a short course. I despise racing laps, so this is great news for me. I'm actually starting to look forward to the race Sunday in Big Bear.

Traverse Lessons

First ever first place!



Many things in life have opposites or antonyms. Black and white. Life and death. For my bike racing career I would say Vision Quest and The Traverse.

Everything that went wrong for Vision Quest seemed to go right for The Traverse.

I'm trying to think what I did before the race that helped. Here is my short list:

- Took Tuesday off from riding before the race
- Went a little harder than usual Thursday before the race
- Took a smaller Camelback
- Drank a few bottles of Gatorade the day before
- Ate a large breakfast and lunch (6 dollar burger from Carls Jr.) the day before
- Slept GREAT Thursday and Friday night
- Relaxed and put no pressure on myself. No goals except for being faster than last year

During the race:

- Ate 1 Clif Bar and three gels (not a lot at all)
- Drank Cytomax (think this is my staple drink now)
- Pushed more than usual in an endurance ride

So who knows what really helped me and what didn't. I wanted to keep everything the same as much as possible going into the ride. I changed tons of stuff before Vision Quest and it backfired on me.

I think the reason I did so well was the heat. Take away the heat and I finish a lot further down in the rankings (11 out of 98). I've learned that bike racing has a lot of variables involved and some days you feel good and some you don't. There is no way to control everything and I was lucky that one of my "good" days landed on race day.

In other news I just looked at the Socal State Series results from Sunday and only two guys made the trip to Santa Barbara that have been competing with me. That is GREAT news for me. It means I didn't lose too much point wise for the overall standings.

I plan to attend every remaining event so hopefully that will land me in third place for the series. It still feels stupid though to finish third out of only four people to race consistently. I wish more people would compete in my class. It would make finishing third mean more.

The Traverse 2008

Figured I'd write down my experience from this past Saturday while it was still fresh in my mind.

I wasn't too excited about The Traverse this year. I felt like I hadn't been riding all that well prior to the event and I knew it was going to be hot during the ride. I tried not to think about it and kept telling myself to treat it like a normal Saturday ride with my friends or maybe a docent ride.

Race started out ok. It was a fast pace from the beginning. I consider those opening miles "free" in the sense that they are fairly flat and so why not push? Once the climbing started I settled into a pace I thought would be good. My plan was to never dip below the middle ring on the climb up and to get a good time to the top. I wanted to have a good time to encourage myself. If I rode up to Beek's in an hour or more I would have been bummed and it would have messed with my head. I figured I'd try to push a bit to get a good time and start things off on a positive note.

I'm always aware of where my buddies are on rides like this and at the start of the climbing I was ahead of Matt and Andrew, but behind Doug, Troy and Jason. I was pretty happy to be ahead of Matt and Andrew at the start, but that didn't last long. Both of them passed me a mile or two into the climb and that was the last I saw of them for quite a while.

I ended up catching Doug and Troy after Hidden Valley which was encouraging. I got passed but a lot of riders going up to Beek's, but I'd catch up to most of them later. Haha.

Time to Beek's was somewhere between 55 and 56 minutes. Pretty good. I felt great other than having to pee which I decided not to do (wastes too much time).

From Beek's to the Motorway was pretty uneventful. I kept waiting for Troy to ride up behind me, but it never happened. I also kept looking for Andrew or Matt on the climbs ahead of me, but I never saw them. I didn't even bother looking for Jason.

I was a little worried about some of the descents on Main Divide with my new tires but things went pretty well. I felt confident and the tires gripped perfectly. No real issues.

I ended up pulling into the Motorway at about 2:03 I think, which was only one minute faster than my time last year. Not so great. I was actually really discouraged at this point. I could not understand how a years worth of solid training had made me only one minute faster.

From Motorway to Four Corners I actually felt pretty good. I hadn't been on that part of Main Divide since last years race so I was curious to see what it would be like. I was happy to ride most of the climbs in an aggressive gear and managed to pass quite a few people.

I was really happy at how I felt. Last year cramping started a few miles before Four Corners and this year I had no cramping and no signs of cramping. I tried to stand up on the bike often to keep the blood moving. I remember cramping on Vision Quest and wondered if it was partly due to the fact that I had been sitting for two hours without standing up to stretch my legs very often.

Right before coming into Four Corners I kept looking at my ride time and wondering if it was good or not. I really had no idea what a good split to Four Corners was. Last year I had all my times lined up and I had specific goals, but this year I just wanted to push and work hard and see what happened.

Got to Four Corners at about 2:59 which seemed good to me. I was still ahead of Troy (which I could not believe) and Doug, but was behind everyone else. "Oh well. Good for them. They've all worked hard and deserve to be doing so well." is what I remember thinking.

My plan was to cut down on time spent not riding this year, so I just wanted to stop long enough to fill up on water and pour some cold water on my head. Maybe even eat some fruit, but nothing else.

I was shocked to see Andrew and Matt eating and resting a bit when I rolled in to Four Corners. I was in a hurry so I didn't talk to them that much. I was feeling good and wanted to keep riding to get everything over with. One of the volunteers helped me fill my Camelback and exchanged my old water bottle for a Cytomax bottle and I was almost gone. Right before I was ready to leave someone offered me a frozen orange and I decided to grab one and eat while I rode. Man it was good.

The trip to Santiago Peak was decent. I usually feel really strong on this section of Main Divide, but on Saturday I was feeling "just ok". I managed to not cramp, but my legs were starting to get raw.

I passed a few people that were walking their bikes and kept chasing another Velosport rider (my team) for a few miles. I just could not drag him down.

Descending from the peak was a lot slower than I wanted to go. I've been getting a lot of pinch flats lately so I tried to take it easy and pick good lines to avoid flatting. Also my front tire had lost a lot of air after my ride on Thursday and I was worried it would go flat on me even though I couldn't find any leaks before the race.

I was pretty tired from the descent when I finally reached the Holy Jim checkpoint. I swear there are definitely times where I'd much rather climb 1,000 feet than descend 1,000 feet.

My first cramping issues happened shortly after the Holy Jim station. I was still chasing the Velosport guy in front of me and I was trying to discourage him by standing and riding in really high gears, but I think it only encouraged him to chase me. We went back and forth a bit before I think I eventually dropped him. I honestly can't remember. I ran into so many teammates (red/white Sho-air jersey) that I can't keep them straight in my mind.

I have had issues with cramping for a long time and I've learned how to deal with them so they didn't bother me all that much. The trick is to just keep riding. I've learned to slow my cadence just a tiny bit and to gear up. It seems stupid to gear up, but what kills me is less resistance.

The worst thing I've learned is to stop and get off the bike. That will almost guarantee a full lock and force you to just stand there in agony until your body relaxes. If you keep riding after about five minutes the pain goes away and your legs are ok again. Well maybe not ok, but you can keep riding. It's probably different for other riders, but that's what has worked for me.

Right before "The Wall" Matt caught me. Bummer. I was really hoping to stay ahead of him, but it was not to be. It was funny because at a few points going up the climb Matt was walking his bike about as fast as I was riding. I was trying really hard to just spin and not push because of the heat and my sore legs.

After cresting the climb I had put a small gap between Matt and I that I thought would hold up. It didn't.

I cramped a bit more right before West Horsetheif, but nothing too serious. Right before getting to WHT I saw Jason riding and yelled at him to encourage him. I don't think he heard me or didn't understand what I was saying. Hahaha.

I also saw Napolean D from GeoLadders riding right behind Jason and was very encouraged. He has always seemed like a fast rider and I was excited to be near him so late in the ride.

Jason and Napolean stopped at the WHT aid station but I just kept rolling. Matt caught me again around this time and Napolean also caught up and the three of us rode to Trabuco to start the descent.

Right before dropping Trabuco I stopped to get some water from Warrior Society Volunteers because I was completely out. It was such a relief to drink and pour some cool water over my head.

The trip down Trabuco was a lot slower than usual for me. I was trying hard to pick soft and easy lines to avoid flatting and I was also pretty tired which hurt my bike
handling skills.

I ended up walking a few sections on lower Trabuco before coming out to Trabuco Creek Road. Napolean had gone ahead of me down Trabuco and was now stuck after walking over the barrier at the end of trail due to cramps. He said "Cramping sucks" to me to which I replied, "Agreed." Hahaha. I took that as my chance to pass him and finish ahead of him.

The trip out on Trabuco Creek Road was horrible. It was hot and there was a headwind which just added to the misery. Even though I had a full suspension bike it felt like a hardtail. I hate whining about this since some of my buddies actually did ride hardtails, but it still was horrible.

Finished at about 5:29 for total time with a ride time of about 5:26. It was good enough to get first place in 18-30 Intermediate and I actually beat out the first place guy from 18-30 Expert as well.

I felt like a jerk later when I heard two guys looking at the results and saying that our category was full of sandbaggers. Haha. Oh well.

I'll post some lessons learned later if I have time. Congratulations to Doug, Jason, Matt, Andrew and Troy for attempting/finish the ride. It was super hot (over 100 degrees easily) and the course was not all that fun. Rides like this build character, right? Haha.

Distractions

Life has become far too busy to keep up with this blog. Deadlines at work and trying to buy a house have consumed all my free time and even though I still think about biking from time to time, I haven't felt like writing anything down.

Until now.

I'm going to keep this brief by bullet pointing some thoughts I've been having lately.

- I forgot everything else I was going to write after Hurkey. Not a big loss though.

- I want to start trying to "big ring" trails. Pro riders always ride in their big rings, so why not at least try? I want to start seeing how far I can get up something like Blackstar in my big ring. Sounds crazy, but higher gears = the future.

- I want to beat my time last year from The Traverse. Ride time was 5:23, total time was 5:33. If I don't beat my ride time I'm going to be really bummed. I have not been training a lot since Hurkey.

- I'm not that excited about The Traverse. I just want it to be over. My plan is to take the smaller Camelback and eat out of the new Bentoo Box I bought (mounts on the top tube).

- I bought new tires and I'm worried about them. I couldn't find the standard Specialized Resolutions anywhere so I bought S-Works Fast Trak tires. They were more expensive, but the guy in the shop said he uses them and they're great? He was big and strong, so I bought them. They're very narrow and I'm worried I'll be sliding out a ton.

- I'm finding it hard to get mentally motivated for racing in June. I have two state series races on back to back weeks and I feel like I'm in bad shape right now. I really wish I had a better way to gauge my performance to know if I'm doing good or doing bad.

- I drove by Whiting the other night and the sign telling people to stay out was gone! Is it open?! Did someone just remove it?

- I took a day off this week from riding and I think it helped a lot. I've been way too busy lately trying to just get day to day stuff done. Even on my days off I find myself running endless errands and trying to keep all the balls in the air.

- I feel like riding three days a week isn't enough anymore. To get better I need to ride more. But when? I don't have anymore time! Haha.

That's it for now. I'm disappointed that between three cameras at Hurkey, no one from our team ever sent out pictures. Actually I take that back ... Jake sent some pictures, but everyone else just sat on their pictures I guess.

First 24

I always go over in my head what I'm going to write when I sit down to add to my riding journal. The biggest problem I always have is fighting the temptation to write too much. I have a good memory and I always find myself making note of every little thing that happened during a race or an event. Truth be told I could probably write 20 pages with no problem about this weekends race at Hurkey Creek.

I'm going to try and be brief though.

This past weekend I raced my first 24 hour event with Andrew, Doug, Matt and Jason as part of a 5 man team. Jake also came up and ran support for us, which was a huge blessing. It was nice to meet his family who were very patient during the whole event. Race started at noon on Saturday and ran through noon on Sunday.

Our plan was to run two laps a piece (almost 10 mile course) and then adjust as the race went on.

I brought my dog up to Hurkey Creek with me and our campsite was excellent. It was quiet and secluded from the race craziness. We had plenty of space and even some shade. We were also able to get the Velosport (our club team) trailer and EZ-UP, which really helped.

Start of the race:


Andrew started the race for us and turned in some pretty fast lap times. I remember our whole team was at the start/finish line waiting for Andrew on his first lap and we were all surprised and impressed with his first lap time. I was expecting roughly 58 minute to 1:00 lap times from almost everyone. Andrew turned in a 55 to start which set the bar high for everyone else.

Matt did his two laps after Andrew on his SS and turned in fast laps as well. Jason then went and I think his first lap might have been the record for our team at 50 minutes. Amazingly fast.

My turn to go came up faster than I thought it would and I remember rushing to get changed into my bike clothes and scrambling to get the bike ready. Everyone had been running 55 minute laps or less and I felt pressure to match their efforts.

First lap started off really good for me. I calmed down quick and settled into a nice pace. I felt fresh and strong and managed to stay in my middle ring on all of the initial climbs.

Right after the Exfoliator downhill I came through a section with a dip in it and I hit it really hard. Right away I heard a pop and I was praying that it wasn't a flat. It was.

At first I was really mad. I'm not the fastest when I have to change flats and I knew that every minute counted. I managed to repair the flat, but the rear wheel was not in good shape. I had a small dent in my rim, some rocks and debris had made it into the tire and my C02 wasn't working so the tire wasn't inflated to a high PSI.

After fixing it I went back and forth as to what I was going to do when I came in to the start/finish. I was worried that the bike wasn't in good shape and that another lap could see another flat. I didn't have any more tubes on me and I didn't have a patch kit so I wouldn't have been able to fix another flat. I'd have to borrow a tube from another rider.

At the same time I wanted to finish my second lap. I didn't want to be the guy that only ran one lap when he should have done two. I really wanted to hold up my end of the bargain.

I ended up deciding to put my pride aside so we could eliminate the risk of another flat. I'd tell Doug to ride my second lap and then fix the bike and take the next lap.



As I rode in to finish the first lap I quickly saw that Doug wasn't ready to ride. Hahaha. Our race strategy was to have the next guy in the rotation be ready to go ahead of time in case the rider before him could not do a second lap. With no one else ready to ride I had to do a second lap. (My total time for the first lap was about 1:04 but my Garmin was a shade under 55 minutes for ride time)

Second lap actually went great at first. I still felt strong and fresh and I told myself that at least I could rest properly when I finished and I didn't have to deal with throwing the rotation off.



Then it happened. Right before the last downhill section I felt the rear slip out. Another flat. With no tube I didn't bother trying to repair it. My hope was that it was a slow leak and that I could pump it up really high and ride out on it before it went completely flat again. No such luck. The leak was too big.

I ended up running with the bike down the technical spots and even ran with it on a few of the flats and climbs. It didn't take me long to realize that my lap time would be insanely slow if I ran the entire way back (2-3 miles). So I got on and started pedaling. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Obviously my speed was limited, but it worked out ok.

My Southern California mountain bike hero (Manny Prado) even rode up behind me at one point and asked if I needed a tube. I said I was ok and off he went.

My second lap was 1:04 again and I have no idea what my ride time was. I'd like to think I was at about a 55-57 minute pace with time lost to stopping and pumping up the rear tire and time lost to riding at half the speed I would normally ride due to the flat.

After my two laps I was very happy to go back to the camp and rest. I changed clothes and hung out for a bit before trying to sleep inside of the Velosport trailer. I think I went to bed at around 10:00pm and woke up a few hours later. I say "woke up", but that implies I was asleep. I wasn't. I really just laid in the trailer listening to the loud music from the finish line and the cheers from the drunk people screaming every time someone crossed the finish.

A little before midnight I crawled out to see what was going on in the camp. Nothing was going on. I remember seeing Jason sitting by himself waiting to ride after Matt. Everyone else was asleep in their tents and everything was really quiet and dark.

I went down with Jason to send him off and meet Matt after his night laps and then talked with Matt about the course at night etc. After maybe 30 minutes Matt went to bed and I was left alone. It was not the best experience having to sit alone in the dark waiting for my turn to ride. I had to get dressed and ready for the end of Jason's first lap which sucked. Jason was ok after his first lap which meant I had to head back to the camp and wait for another 45-50 minutes. I literally just stared at my watch during that time while everyone else slept.

This was probably the most demoralizing period of the ride for me. The team feeling had faded and now it was as if I was at the event by myself.

The night laps were ok. I was a little slower on the climbs and definitely slower on the downhills, but I tried to push here and there. I'm not super proud of my night lap times. The first lap was 1:00 and the second was about 1:05 I think. I had lost a lot of my motivation at night.

When I finished the last lap I handed the baton off to Doug and went back to camp to crash. Everyone was still asleep so there was no one to talk to or review our overall standings with.

This is where my memory starts to get a bit blurry. I crashed in the trailer again and this time I fell asleep fast. I slept on my back on top of a sleeping bag which was on the hard wood floor of the trailer.

I think I got up at around 7AM in time to see everyone begin their 1 lap tours. Everyone except for Andrew had done four laps (two at a time) and now we were going to do one lap at a time. Andrew had to cover for Doug because Doug snapped his chain on his first lap so that threw our rotation a little off.

We all got psyched up when our turn came and I managed to pull off a 56 minute lap for my last tour. I felt pretty good about the time considering I hadn't slept well and considering I had already been on the bike for four hours.



Everyone turned in strong lap times to finish and we ended up with 25 laps (5 per team member), which earned us second place. We had been fighting the first place team all day but we just couldn't close the time gap. They finished 25 laps as well - but they were obviously faster. I think if they hadn't had a bad crash and some other mishap they would have easily finished 26 laps.

I've always wanted to do a 24 hour race and I was pleased with our result. I think we all learned how to stage races like this better and how to make it more comfortable for everyone. Little tips and tricks. The night laps made me pretty sour on the experience for a while, but the glory of getting second has dulled that frustration.

Andrew (LOOK HOW HAPPY I AM!!!!!!!), Doug (cool with the shades), Me (spacing out), Jason (figuring out how he can trade in his tires), Matt (almost falling off the platform):


Three top teams in our category:


I'll write another article in a bit about specific lessons I learned from racing.