June Update, Racing into Shape! And having a good time...
I moved to Oregon because the weather, while still seasonal, is a bit more workable that Maine. Turns out I can stay on account of the kick-ass local race scene. Now that Timmy and Dr. Ryan reckon it’s OK to do some racing and get in shape the old-fashioned way, there are a plethora of events on rad terrain around the state this month. I’m taking full advantage.
After taking full advantage of the training and competitive spoils of Oregon I figured it’d make sense to have the final exam take place a bit closer to home. The Subaru Cup in Mt. Morris, Wisconsin was round four of the 2010 Pro XCT and seemed like a good place to see how far I’ve come in the last month, since it was at least most of the way back to my home state of Maine…
There's lots of pictures and videos from the last month. Enjoy.
After taking full advantage of the training and competitive spoils of Oregon I figured it’d make sense to have the final exam take place a bit closer to home. The Subaru Cup in Mt. Morris, Wisconsin was round four of the 2010 Pro XCT and seemed like a good place to see how far I’ve come in the last month, since it was at least most of the way back to my home state of Maine…
There's lots of pictures and videos from the last month. Enjoy.
Return on the Jedi
Last weekend was the Return on the Jedi, held outside Grant’s Pass in the Coast Mountains of Southwestern Oregon. I’d heard good things about the race from some folks but after a weekend of kickin’ it in Timmy’s Van at Sam Brown Campground, Brig and I agreed that our buddies had done us a disservice by not insisting that we check it out sooner. Saturday was a double header of Morning Short Track and Afternoon Super D. To me this meant not one but two chances for someone saying GO in the vicinity of a bunch of dudes to result in a good solid workout. Turns out both of the GO’s were a prompt for both exercise and entertainment.
The Camping Compound. Can you hear the South Park?
The short track was on a mile or so loop around the campground that included a solid stream crossing and a fun, muddy, flowing (with both water and, um, flow) singletrack descent. Brig, Timmy and I were joined by local shredder Bear Perrin for the opening. We proceeded to spray each other with water in the stream and generally roost around. Attacking and countering is something that’s hard to simulate but easy to do with just a few quick guys in the mix. Eventually I lost ‘em and chalked up the first win of the 2010. Comeback in full swing? We’ll see…
After a bit of snoozing and watching South Park in the Westfalia it was time to load up the shuttle and head up (and up) for the Super D start. We’d pre-ridden the lower part of the course in the morning, but the top few miles of fireroad was a mystery. Good thing I had a couple dozen dudes to follow after walking the Lemans start… Timmy made me wear my knee brace (he’s smart) and gave explicit instructions to NOT RUN. This meant I got to see way more crashes and puddle splashes, upping the entertainment factor for sure… Eventually it was only Timmy’s splashes that I was enjoying, and they were coming fast and dangerous on a surface that had deteriorated to more creek than road. We eventually settled in to pinning it down drifty gravel corners and pedaling really fast. Then I blew the turn into the Jedi Trail and Timmy squeezed by. Thanks, that’s really great… He led the rest of the delicious way to the finish, winning by a few seconds instead of getting stuffed in front of the photographers by me…
The Super D Winner. And Genius Physical Therapist...
More south park and sleeping and suddenly it was 9am and time to start the “Epic Loop XC”. I don’t use Epic lightly so was curious to see just how it applied in this instance. Turns out they’re spot on in those hills. Huge climbs followed by backwoods singletrack descents followed by more huge singletrack climbs before finally finishing on the Jedi Trail once again. Brig and I rode with some other fast guys initially, figuring there was no reason to really pin it just yet. Eventually he got antsy and made a move, which I followed and started getting a good solid race pace established. A few navigational stops were sufficient to keep the lead four sort of together throughout the 30 miles but I made sure to get a gap again after each turnaround. It was nice to have people to ride with and Brig was keeping me honest to the very end. Which came after what we thought would be a couple mile river-grade cruise but was in all actuality a 2-mile GRUNT up to a saddle. Oops. The morning showers had tapered off as I ripped down the Jedi for the last time, winning my first proper XC race of the year. Which happened to be a pretty damn nice ride too…
Jedi XC Scenery. Not bad...
Mid-Day barbecue and awards ended our weekend in the hills and we headed home. Brig (a coach with Bart Bowen at the Rebound Sports Performance Lab) was keen to download my SRM power data from the weekend and try to learn a bit about the types of efforts put forth during a MTB race. Turns out there’s a lot of effort and I’m kind of getting in shape. We’ll see how that improves…
Up next on the Oregon Radness Tour was the Ashland 12-Mile Super D.
Ashland 12-Mile Super D!
Before I knew it, I was in a vehicle pointed south again, this time with Lizzy at the wheel while I devised a clever route to Ashland. She seemed skeptical when we turned slightly west on the “Sun Mountain Highway”, which then promptly turned to dirt. Ungraded dirt. But it went the way we needed, and maybe the lack of recent rally racing had me jonesin’, so we kept on, discussing the finer points of our “Bubba Scrub” technique in the WRX, Thule receiver hitch rack strength and skid-plate integrity… All of which proved sufficient to handle the task at hand. 20 miles and some scenic views of the area around Crater Lake later we were back on pavement and winding further south. About thirty miles from Ashland it started snowing. We agreed that it was June and that we weren’t about to ride in the snow. An early dinner with the Portland Blasters was much more appropriate…
Friday dawned sunny and warm, as it bloody well should in June in the Northern Hemisphere. I need to get in shape so a quick ride around the Spring Thaw XC course was in order while the snow melted up at Mt. Ashland. The rest of the day was spent doing a couple of shuttle runs with the boys. Some helmet cam footage from Ross Schnell on Missing Link (NOT in the race course, unfortunately) and Carl shredding dirt-a-licious singletrack is evidence of the good times had.
Race day dawned mint as well and we tricked Rando into shuttling us on a practice run to wake up the senses. Abby and Ariel from Santa Cruz were the first ones we ran into and did a fine job as our morning cup of coffee… Riding dirt bikes has, not surprisingly, turned them into even harder SHREDDERS.
A nice mid-day siesta was planned at the Cedarwood Inn before the 2pm Pro start time (thanks, Ashland Mountain Adventures, for not making us get up at dawn.) Then Timmy called from the top to inform us that the Pro Women’s start had been changed to 1pm. It was 12:15. Oops. Lizzy rallied up and hill while Rando and I gathered our supplies and hitched a ride with the Shimano Boys. She, and most of the other girls (sorry, Ms. Vories) made it and got their race runs off. Kelli Emmett ended up with the fastest ladies time, forty minutes flat. Lizzy made the Northstar crew proud, taking second a slim 16 seconds back from Emmett. It didn’t even take me that long to pick the splinters out of her hip from a little “incident” on the way down…
As per my performance last year on this very track, I had the #1 plate and was first to give ‘er. Jason Moeschler was my minute-man and I told him to just call it out when he caught me, preferably passing on the non-knee-brace side… I pedaled hard, tucked a bit and smoothed it a bunch, resulting in not seeing Moeschler until he crossed the finish line after what seemed like about a minute. Weir was in next and they immediately consulted their Nerd Boxes for split times and speculation. My watch doesn’t have a second hand but I reckoned I’d been there for about a minute and two minutes when they finished.
The beauty of a hand-timed Super D race is you just have to relax and show up at the awards party to find out if you won. Once we showed up under the bridge, it was determined, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a 26” bike (my dope Trance X Advanced) is at LEAST one second (35:01) faster than a 29er (Carl’s Prototype Anthem X 29) over 12 miles of shredding. It was also determined that the Santa Cruz Nomad (Weir’s) is at LEAST one second (34:40) faster than the Blur LT (Moeschler’s) over the same distance. I’m glad that’s finally settled. Hats off to Weir for coming out of retirement or whatever cave he was in stronger than when he left. I hope Moeschler wins next year though. There’ll be a next year for sure, Bill from AMA is pumped to keep growing the event and they’re on the right track, Saturday and Sunday race starts totaled somewhere in the 500’s. That’s a whole lot of people from all walks of life who are down to shred!
For some Ashland Action check out these videos. I totally have a sweet Contour HD helmet cam now so you can expect a lot more of this...
Ross and I shredding Missing Link, which isn't actually on the "race course" but sure is entertaining...
Carl and I shredding Bull Gap and Catwalk, which are about to be raced on.
Giant Cycling World Grand Opening
We took the scenic route to the last stop on the ORT. Colorado is on the way to Corvallis, right? Giant is working on a new retail concept dubbed Giant Cycling World and the Grand Opening of the first store in Denver was on Saturday. Carl and I caught our new favorite flight, the Redmond-Denver direct on Friday afternoon and were eating shockingly good Cajun food while the sun set over the Rockies with An, Brad and Jake. Nono’s is a sleeper for meatloaf… Saturday dawned warm and sunny, which we hadn’t really experienced yet this year and we took full advantage, taking a few guys from the shop on a morning cruise up Deer Creek Canyon and High Grade. This ride happened to be the FIRST road ride I’d done without long-sleeves and knee-warmers. Very nice. When we got back the store was PACKED. 29ers were flying out the door while Jeff Lenosky did his first street trials demonstration since his Tib/Fib fracture in February. He may or may not have wrecked in his first show… An afternoon of talking to Coloradoans stoked on Giant and we were on our way back to the airport and, eventually, Portland, Oregon…
"Can you just squeeze a little closer together?"
Test of Endurance 50
Lizzy and I decided to take advantage of the free camping at the race venue and rolled in at about midnight, throwing a pad in the (unpitched) tent and crashing out under the stars. And a tree. We awoke at dawn to an intense, very thoughtful, conversation between the two local Roosters and were soon located by a neighborhood Black Lab who was FIRED UP to play some fetch. With a 6-pound log. That was dropped on our feet until it was thrown. Time to go racing!
"I'll make you a deal, if you throw it again I'll go fetch it again!"
The T.o.E. was probably the most stacked field that’s raced lately in Oregon. Carl and I were joined by Ryan Trebron, Barry Wicks, Chris Sheppard, Eric Tonkin and his S&M crew (including The Legend, Luke Pennington). Ben Parsons even convinced his Hammer Nutrition sponsor from Montana to send him out for the ToE (good thing, because after finishing 11th he put out a fire and then brought a firefighter back from a heart attack…). More than just the individual glory of winning was on the line on Sunday, there was a Team Competition for the best four finishers out of a five-person team. A $1000 bonus was available to the team who broke the current cumulative record of 16:02. We got a Bend crew together to do battle with the S&M Young Guns. Carl, Ryan, Brig Brandt and Lizzy English and myself would take up the challenge. Pressure was on Lizzy to shred it and/or Ryan to finish…
Turns out we all finished. But nobody finished faster than Carl. After He, Sheppard and I took the lead for the first 25-mile lap it was pretty clear that the winner would be one of us. I was feeling dang good for a cripple but was pretty sure it wouldn’t be me. And Carl doesn’t lose well to Canadians so it was up to him… After a nature stop to open the second lap, the Deckerator set a tempo that sure seemed fast to me but looked pretty effortless for him. I kept it effortless and got dropped but Shep took the bait. It was interesting watching someone try to hang on while the pace kept getting upped and upped. Eventually he was dropped and started coming back to me. I figured Shep would just wait to have someone to ride with and laugh at the out of control skidding antics of, but I was soon alone in second. Only entertaining myself with the impressively greasy descents. A heavy mist was falling in classic Coast Range style and after one lap of a few hundred people massaging the moisture in things got pretty rowdy out there. Good think crashing isn’t an option for me… We survived and Carl ended up breaking my record of 3:43 from last year by five minutes… Solid. Even more solid was Luke Pennington riding in 4th and 5th with Tonkin until the last ten miles or so when he fell victim to the older Kona boys. Still, seventh ain’t bad for The Legend… Glad to see him out racing in the dirt again.
As to the Team battle, Carl and I dug deep all the way to the line to post a 3:38 and 3:45 then set about waiting for the next guy to come in. Brig was that guy, rolling in soon after in 8th place at 3:58 which meant Lizzy better be having the ride of her life or Ryan better be coming in sometime soon. We needed a 4:20ish to take it. Ryan was 4:05 or so, so we dropped the team record to, what is the math on that? I think it was 15:38 total. Carl is using his cut of the money to buy another sweet new Handbrake for the Rally Car…
Lewis River Detour…
Not wanting to give up on the scenic route theme for the weekend, Lizzy and I headed up to the Lewis River in southwest Washington for some kayaking on Monday. We had agreed, at the behest of my original boss at Giant, Steve Westover (now working for VholdR cameras), to have some photos taken to promote their new waterproof housing for the Contour HD helmet cam. We met up with Photographer Ian Coble and ended up spending a pleasant day running around in the woods along the river, finding waterfalls to paddle and basking in the sun. Another day at the office… Here a few shots from Ian, I’d say he did a good job capturing the moment…
Pro XCT #4-
It’s been a while since Carl and I were battling for 8th place at a National Series race in America’s Dairyland. In 2002 we’d been down south in Wisconsin, at Alpine Valley, and I’d totally punched his ticket over the last few laps. Or did he beat me? Anyway, fast-forward eight years and we’re back to the land of lakes and nocturnal thunderstorms. To keep things familiar, just as John Kemp had done for the Devo Team then, we’d rented a small cottage on the water to facilitate lakeside recovery, hygiene and dining. Magic.
It’d been a month since I got kind of smoked at the XCT in Texas and I was curious to see how my fitness had improved. Turns out it improved enough to have another game of cat and mouse with Carl. After I was able to resist the temptation of charging to the front at the start (it wasn’t an option) and things settled in on lap two I started seeing Decker about 30 seconds ahead of me at certain parts of the serpentine course (they packed an 18min loop onto 101 acres of land at the Nordic Mountain ski area). He would stay EXACTLY that amount in front of me, and the leaders about a minute ahead of him, for the duration of the race. We passed a couple guys but that was pretty much how things went. The final tally? 6th and 7th. I was pumped to be sorta back in the mix and Carl was pissed to have missed the podium by one place yet again. Or maybe he was pissed about being tied with Kelli. Either way, all emotions were positive after the half-hour ride home and evening snooze on the wharf out in Silver Lake. I hear that as a reward for Sam Schultz winning his first National XC race and first race in the new Subaru-Trek (formerly Gary Fisher) kit he gets to trade his team Outback (pleasant but a bit dull) in for an STI… I hope he makes that happen… Nice work, Sam, and in front of the best crowd we’ve seen at a National Series race in years. The last Switch Back climb and Yee Haw descent of each lap was packed with cheering fans from all walks of life. There were the families, the drunk singlespeeders and the stoked junior racers. I told the most stoked junior to come fine me for a reward of some type. All I could think of were the size medium Giro test gloves I raced in. He figured he’d grow into them…
Here's a nice shot from Tom Moran. Good to see ya, Tom.
After another high-quality light show and a couple inches of rain on Saturday night we expected a sloppy short track. Nope, the sandy hard-packed soil sucked it up and things were dry before we got out of bed. Nice. The Short Track course had a decently big climb in it and I was decently scared of the prospect of trying to keep up with the fast guys up it for 20min plus 3 laps. Carl was riding strong and seemed motivated to break the perpetual 6th place streak. Once the lead group of seven formed with me somehow in the mix I figured I could help set Carl up to seal the deal. After he effortlessly accelerated around the group and upped the tempo for a lap before easing off a bit I counter-attacked up the main climb, much to a watching Felice’s surprise. Sam Schultz came with me but I immediately shot him with a Mind Bullet in the only slick downhill corner and he slid into home (which sounded like bushes, hope there’s no poison oak on his face) which served to open my small gap. I kept it rolling for a lap, feeling shockingly good and got a ten-second advantage on the ambitious, fit-looking chasers. Since I’d noted the location of the clock and Lap Board I knew that we had 4 to go when I attacked and kind of planned on getting caught with 2 to go and have Carl counter for the win. Turns out I kept feeling unnaturally strong (for a guy missing one leg) and was still out with 2 to go. Jeremy H-K took up the chase and closed a bit of ground but I somehow had planned ahead and saved a little extra for him on the last lap to crest first and cross the line with my first proper win of the year (and first short track win outside national champs in a few years, hmmm)! I’ll take it!
Here's a clip that Felice took of me making the proverbial move...
And here's Sam having a hard time with my clever cornering line shortly thereafter... Must have been the 29" wheels... Carl is controlling the race for me. Teamwork.
Man, there were some good photogs in Wisconsin,
Chris Milliman took this one of my huge muscles.
The day wasn’t over yet though, after the STXC podium and a Honey Stinger Protein Bar we rode to the top of Nordic Mountain (about 200 vertical feet) for the Super D. To our surprise, there were a couple hundred people up there getting ready to shred some woodsy singletrack. And they were starting the “bike race” on their “bikes”… Amazing. We milled around for a while then remembered to go back to the bottom and get our Contour HD helmet cams. We were back to the top ten minutes after leaving. This was gonna be a short Super D. Due to the unprecedented turnout the officials were starting folks in waves of 12 every three minutes. Open class was last and would be four heats. Carl and I hoped we got in a fast one but figured it would be interesting to see how it shook out. Since we both suck at starting (documented on helmet) cam the odds weren’t in our favors if there was a faster heat. I’m better at passing than Carl (also documented…) so I ended up 5th and Carl 6th, again… Some local guys must have ridden really fast together because they stacked the podium. Nice work, local guys.
Here's my POV from the Super D race. I'm glad those guys aren't pissed at me for the demonstration of why you protect the inside of switchbacks in head-to-head races...
http://www.vholdr.com/video/wi-pro-xct-super-d-heat-3
Here's my POV from the Super D race. I'm glad those guys aren't pissed at me for the demonstration of why you protect the inside of switchbacks in head-to-head races...
http://www.vholdr.com/video/wi-pro-xct-super-d-heat-3
I had a conversation with Geoff Kabush last summer after he won the Bromont World Cup about what gave him that extra little edge to ride at the front. He said his climbing (obviously) improved that last little bit when he lost another 4 or 5 pounds. Well, thanks to Tim Monaco at Bioletics (www.bioletics.com) pointing out to me via some blood tests and a Metabolic Typing profile that caring about what you eat makes you healthier and, sometimes, leaner, I’m about that much lighter than I was last year (plus maybe a pound or two in my left leg). Is that the difference? Who knows, but I can’t wait for another month of training and eating decent to find out at the World Cups in the Alps this summer… Carl and I still had a Tombstone Pizza to celebrate before bed last night though. We just put roast beef, spinach and Goat Cheese on it to up the protein, fat and fiber… It was delicious.
Taking this weekend off from racing and then it’s July and we’re headed to the Downieville Classic. I’m less nervous now that I’m getting in shape. Henry O’Donnell is probably going to cane us in the DH anyway after a year of trail work in the Sierra Buttes…