Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Where's Ryan?



I'm in that picture. Look to the bottom left and you'll see my hand and part of my arm. Haha.

Someone finally posted some pictures from the race in Santa Barbara and after looking through maybe 50 pictures, that's the best I could find. It's frustrating to see 10 different photographers and yet none of them post their pictures online for the racers after. No emails, no links, no posts on message boards.

What do these people do with the pictures?

Friday, June 20, 2008

Quick Post

Just a quick post.

I've been riding around O'Neill this week and I've found it to be pretty enjoyable. There are a few singletracks I haven't tried yet, but overall it has been a nice change.

I accidentally went down an illegal trail because the start of it had no signs on it. Usually there is a mountain bike icon with a big red X across the icon to inform riders that a trail is off limits. The top of a trail called Homestead had no such icon, so I rode down it. At the bottom I saw a sign that said it was illegal. Oops.

The biggest note from riding lately is seat height. I've been raising the seat a little bit on each ride and I'm finding I have a lot more power and energy when the seat is higher.

I think it has to do with putting most of my body weight on my butt and my seat instead of on my pedals. I'm still trying to find the right position, but for the time being the higher, the better.

Also I usually don't get itchy from trees and bushes, but man O'Neill is killing me. I keep getting hives and scratches that annoy me to no end.

Last note: MAMMOTH IS COMING SOON! Can't wait ...

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Lessons Learned from Elings Park

I always think there is a lot of value in going back over a race and seeing what could have been done better. Obviously the idea is to get better for the next race.

After the race in Big Bear I was really focused on making good mental decisions. I thought that if I took a turn on the inside and if I was shifting often and early that I could make up precious seconds over the course of the race.

I'm not so sure that means anything now. It seems that no matter the conditions I am destined to finish a few minutes behind the leaders. Wake up early, eat good, eat bad, pre-ride course, ride the course blind, sleep in, have a good working bike, have a bad working bike, ride in heat, ride in cold ... all of these things don't add up to much. Other riders deal with the same issues and fitness is always going to be the differentiating factor.

Fitness comes down to climbing. I need to climb better. That is one of two things I took away from Elings Park. I simply have to climb better.

The second thing I took away is that I might have to up my pain threshold to improve. I might be too hard on myself because I'm sitting comfortably at my desk now, but I almost always feel like I could have gone harder when the race is over. During the race I tell myself not to push too hard because I don't want to blow up.

So maybe I can combine these two areas. I need to climb faster and be willing to suffer more.

Actually I just remembered one other very important lesson I learned.

Bigger gears are not always better. I found myself in too high of a gear several times on the course and it made me feel like I was riding underwater. There is a magic gear for every climb and a magic cadence that goes with it. My goal is to be able to quickly identify the right gear and cadence for any part of a trail. The goal is to be able to be fast and yet not exert more energy than I have to. What is the point of riding in your big ring if you are going super slow and killing yourself in getting the pedals around?

Still learning ...

Monday, June 9, 2008

Santa Barbara - Elings Park

Yesterday was my fourth race in the Socal State Series. Racing categories are divided by skill and age. They are as follows:

Pro
Semi-pro
Expert
Sport
Beginner

So if you've never raced and you think you aren't that good, you'd start in Beginner. If you work part time and race bikes for a living (or TRY to race for a living), you race Pro. I happen to race Sport.

This last race was in Santa Barbara at a place right near the ocean called Elings Park. Just like the last three races - I had never been on the course prior to race day.

I drove up with Doug and we managed to squeeze out a pre-ride before the Beginner men took off. The course was a lot harder than I thought it would be. For some reason I thought it was going to be short and easy without a lot of climbing. Instead it was roughly 16 miles with 2,500 feet of elevation gain. The course consisted of doing three laps which added up to the totals previously mentioned.

An interesting comparison:

Big Bear Race (6/1/08):
Distance: 19.6 miles
Elevation Gain: 2,050 feet
My Time: 1:44

Elings Park Race (6/8/08):
Distance: 16.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 2,507 feet
My Time: 1:40

So wait. I did MORE climbing in LESS distance FASTER yesterday? I don't understand how that works. I felt like I had an off day yesterday and had a fantastic race at Big Bear and yet the numbers say otherwise. *shrug*

The course started with a pretty long climb which was intended to thin the groups out. It worked really well and I found myself almost dead last in the middle of the climb. I managed to work my way past one or two guys before starting a singletrack descent with tons of fast switchbacks. I managed to make up the time lost in the first climb on the downhill because of the traffic jam on the singletrack.

The next part of the course was a long paved climb. This is where I consistently fell behind. Each lap I must have lost 20 seconds at least on this part. I just couldn't get the strength and rhythm to get up the road at a good speed. Frustrating.

After the road climb there was a series of switchbacks to climb. Maybe four or five. Every rider I talked to from Orange County said this section reminded them of Meadows at Aliso. Really steep and tight switchbacks.

At the top of the switchbacks there was some pretty fast and windy singletrack. I heard from someone that the course was about 80% singletrack and I wouldn't doubt it. There was tons of it.

From there you're at the top of the hill and it's all downhill for a few miles. The singletrack is tight in some spots with a lot of switchbacks as you descend towards the front of the park.

Right before the end of the course there is some climbing with some more tight switchbacks on loose and sandy terrain.

I would write about chasing guys from my class but there is no point because halfway through the first lap the race was decided for me. I was fourth at that point and that's where I finished. I managed to pass two guys from my class a little later in the first half of the first lap, but once I got beyond them, they were unable to catch up.

Some notes from the race:

1. In my starting group, out of maybe 12 riders only two of us were NOT wearing spandex shorts. I stick out by wearing baggy shorts.

2. On the second half of my last lap I raced a guy the entire way to the finish and beat him. Too bad he wasn't in my class. Still it felt good to destroy him on the last climb.

3. I got caught several times in the wrong gears on different climbs. I found myself moving in slow motion trying to get the bigger gears turned. Lesson learned.

4. I could see the second place guy from my class even on my last lap. He was less than 2 minutes ahead of me and with the singletrack turning back on itself so much I was able to see him often. So frustrating being so close and yet so far away.

5. I was a little under 5 minutes slower than the first place finisher.

6. Talked with the first place finisher after the race (Adam) and he was a really cool guy. He is from Team Platinum and I'm from Team Sho-Air and I guess we are rivals? I had no idea, but that's what I hear. He lives in Santa Barbara so he had an advantage with course knowledge, but he still blew me away on the climbs.

7. Jason beat me by _7 minutes_. If I ever thought I was getting close to his level, this race proved I'm not close at all. Hahaha.

8. I felt like I did very well on the downhill sections. Not a lot of braking and I rode aggressively. I know I can get better, but I felt good.

9. Looks like I'm going to finish fourth in the overall series now. I thought I had third locked up, but another rider showed up and has taken third away. =( I just want to finish the series now and race to my potential.

Next state series race is July 27th - a Rim Nordic race which is in Big Bear again.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Real Mountain Bike Confessions

I realized my blog has been sorely lacking for humor lately. So I figured I'd remedy that with some REAL confessions - or funny mountain bike stories.

Fat and Excited Ryan

First is a picture from when I first started riding:



Click on it to make it bigger. Two things come to mind when I see this picture. First is that I'm obviously heavier. Second is that it looks like I am "excited" in this picture. Haha.


Loud Brakes

So a long time ago when I first bought my Specialized I did something pretty stupid. Actually I did it over and over. The brakes started to make noise so I did what anyone else would do. I greased the brakes.

I took some Tri-flow and squeezed it into the brake pads. I did this any time the brakes made noise (which was a lot).

Eventually I took the bike into a shop and I distinctly remember the guy at the shop asking me what happened to my brakes/rotors. Conversation went like this:

Bike Dude: There is a ton of fluid on your brakes. Rotors and pads.
Me: Oh? (acting surprised)
Bike Dude: Yeah that's not good. Know how this happened?
Me: No idea.
Bike Dude: Do you store your bike upside down? Maybe fluid from the front shock has leaked?
Me: No I don't store it like that.
Bike Dude: Well I'm going to try and burn it off the rotors. You sure you don't know how this happened? You don't oil the brakes or something stupid like that right?
Me: No.

I made a mental note to NEVER oil/grease my brakes after that. Haha.


Abstain from Ice Cream

This is a long story, but I'll make it short. I ate ice cream before a long ride and ended up relieving myself all over Blackstar. I didn't have anything to wipe with so I tried to use a bike tube.

Lesson learned: Bike tubes are a poor substitute for toilet paper.


High PSI

I used to run 60 PSI in both tires when I first started riding. I couldn't figure out why I would crash so much, but upon reflection the high PSI might have had something to do with it.

I always thought that the stiffer the tires were, the less likely they would be to get a flat.


Curbs

I am scared to ride over curbs. Still haven't been able to get over this. It's pathetic. Haha.


Ok, ok that's enough. This is not a good thing to do too much of.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Big Bear Lessons

So I've been trying to figure out what I need to do to close the gap between me and the guys ahead of me at a race like Big Bear.

Here are the results:

1 JANSSEN KURT 26 1:36:14.36
2 SEVERSON MATTHEW 29 1:39:51.67
3 POYTRESS ADAM 28 1:40:31.53
4 MEYER RYAN 29 1:44:07.27
5 BUTLER BRET 28 1:47:11.21
6 BURNDUM ADAM 27 1:54:25.46
7 PEREZ ROEL 27 2:05:45.63

So I lost third place by 4 minutes. Or if we want to get specific (and we do), I lost by 216 seconds. If was 216 seconds faster on Sunday I would have been on the podium.

I would look at what it takes to catch the first place finisher, but I need to start somewhere right? Haha. Let's start with third.

I've thought a lot about this and I've become convinced that I can bridge this gap with smarter riding. Bike weight, fitness, pushing hard ... let's keep all that the same. I can only do so much of that. I can't suddenly change my fitness level during a race or right before it. I can only push so hard before I blow up.

I think it's little things that can help bridge the 216 second gap.

For example:

Turns

On the fire road descents there were several wide turns with loose sand and gravel. Some of them were even really wide switchbacks.

I came into several of them too fast and ended up going wide on them. I would come in hot, fail to turn well and then slow way down as I tried to get back on a good line.

That costs time. How much? Maybe not much. Maybe only 5 to 10 seconds. But there were a lot of turns I took poorly.


Downhill Confidence

I'm not that fast on the downhill. I would pass people often only to have them catch me on the descents. I wouldn't go as far to say I'm super slow, but I'm just not as fast as the guys around me at these races.

How much time am I losing here? Brake less in a few spots and I might make up 30 seconds.


Better Lines

What if I pick better lines on the downhill? What if I pick better lines on the climbs? A bad line can take energy from you and can stall you. It can kill your momentum and that means time.

Maybe I should always try to cut corners short? Taking a corner wide might cost 1 second. 1 second adds up when I'm trying to eliminate 216 of them.


Better on Technical

Some of the technical spots were very slow for me. If I was faster on these sections I could make up time. I need to get more aggressive and confident. Remember all I need to do is make up seconds, not minutes.


Overall I think that making better mental decisions could help a lot. I really believe that I give away precious seconds during these races with poor mental focus.

Also I realize that mentally I'm not prepared for these XC races. I always ride with friends and I'm not used to staying aggressive for long periods of time. I'm used to attacking maybe one climb and then spinning for a bit.

I need to make sure that I stay focused and smart during these races from start to finish. At the 1:30 mark I should still be trying to find the best line and trying to find the right gear so I can stay in attack mode. I can't relax because I think I've settled into third place or because I think I've done "pretty good" to that point.

We'll see if I can focus better for the next race and we'll see if little things really do add up. If they don't, then I guess I just suck compared to the other guys in my class. Hahaha.

Big Bear Shootout

Went up to Big Bear yesterday (Sunday) to do the next race in the Socal State Series. I finished fourth out of seven riders in my class (Sport 25-29) and I have a ton of thoughts about why I finished fourth and what I need to do to finish higher.

I met Jason at the race and had some time to kill after finishing up registration. Jason and I went to look for the start of the race and ended up getting a little lost. It was confusing because they had registration in one area of the town, parking somewhere else, the start somewhere else and the finish SOMEWHERE ELSE.

We ended up riding two miles up hill on pavement before we found the start. We got there at 11AM. The start time for my group was 11:12AM.

I lined up with the other guys and noticed the group as a whole was pretty small. They put the 19-24 year old sport guys with my group, so we came to a total of 10 riders (3 in the younger class, 7 in my class).

I had talked to Chris Messina before the race and he said it was mostly fire road with a 2-3 mile climb to start the race. He also said the end was a 2 mile singletrack descent that was pretty technical. I needed all the information I could get because I had never been on the course.

Race started pretty slow. I was shocked that my group didn't rush up the hill. The pace was moderate and I struggled to understand what was happening around me. Was I that much stronger? Were the other guys pacing themselves? Did they know something I didn't?

My teammate Adam rushed to the front and stayed there for maybe half a mile before we swallowed him up.

I felt great on the climbs and tried to ride at my own pace. I just felt like our group in general was going too slow.

After about a mile or two I was actually leading my group. I think I was in first place with the rest of the field trailing behind. This is where I made my first big mistake. I was ahead of the other riders and I was also passing some Expert men and some Expert/Semi-pro/Pro women riders when I started to relax. I'm not sure how much I relaxed physically, but mentally I started to cruise.

Whenever I go out to a state park, or if I'm on a group ride, I always notice that passed riders stay passed. In other words, if I pass someone they don't catch me. They never hang around. In XC racing it's different. I was also easing up because I was cocky, thinking that I was just that good all of a sudden. I mean I was passing EXPERT men!

Somewhere around the two mile mark - after the initial climbing was over - I got caught. Probably 4-5 guys suddenly appeared behind me and passed me on a flat/downhill section.

Jason passed me around that time as well and I couldn't keep his pace.

About this time the course turned into an endless fire road experience. I don't remember specifics. Just a lot of loose fire road with sand and small gravel.

I spent a lot of time in my big ring during this race because so many sections were either flat, down or a very easy uphill grade.

I was flying down one section looking ahead to see how the road curved and kept going when I was flagged down after coming around a corner. The volunteer told me to go right onto a singletrack. I skidded really hard because I was going maybe 20mph in my big ring. It was tough to adjust and get going to the right when I had been turning left.

The singletrack turned out to suck. There were a lot of blind turns and some creek crossings. I hate blind turns because if I don't know the trail I have no idea how fast I can take them.

Then it was more fire road and more sand and more hammering to try and make good time.

Garmin turned off on some bumpy section so that sucked.

The last part of the course had some steep climbing that surprised me. The course last year was 17 miles and this year they said it was "roughly 20 miles." I kept trying to figure out how close I was to the finish and the last climbing section demoralized me because I thought I was done with climbing.

I don't remember a ton about the singletrack that finished the course. It was fairly long, had some tough steep climbs (again a surprise to me) and had some really technical sections. I would say the technical spots at the end were quite a bit harder than anything I had seen at Bonelli or Fontana.

I got passed at the very, very end (maybe 20 yards from the finish) by the first and second place finishers for the Sport class below me. Made me really mad because I thought I had put them away.

Ended up with fourth place even though I thought I was first or second during the race. I guess I just didn't realize the guys that passed me early were in my class. It's tough because after the first 15 minutes of these XC races everything gets really confusing. It's really hard to know who is where in your group. I find myself constantly thinking, "Who is behind me? Is that guy in my class? Nope. I think I'm ahead!"

I was pleased with my performance for a few reasons. Firstly, I rode the entire course in my middle ring at the minimum. Never hit the small ring. I was able to push with it as well. It wasn't like I was surviving and forcing myself to stay in it out of pride. I simply didn't need anything lower.

Secondly my legs hurt like crazy after the race. All afternoon and night they were sore and painful. That means I pushed hard and came close to reaching my full potential.

I'm going to write some racing lessons with the next post ...