To Serve and Protect

In the last week, I’ve had a couple of pleasant, short interactions with police officers doing their work. The first one was last Thursday, while I was completing the last of my threshold intervals on Riggs Rd. It looked like the Gila River Indian Community Police had a speed limit operative on this section with about 6 squad card spread over a 1-2 mile stretch, but it was 10 in the morning and the traffic was low. They had one “client” on the other side of the road and as I went by with my head down trying to get through the last seconds of my interval, one of the officers jumps out of the car and yells…”you are doing 26 MPH!” I gave him a thumps up and kept going. He waved, smiled and got back in his car.
Then Today, I was riding to work on 347 and right before Riggs Rd again, two  officers from the Arizona Gang Task Force had pulled a vehicle over on the shoulder and were searching the vehicle with all doors open, therefore, I would have to merge onto 65+ MPH traffic or stop and walk around the right side. As I was starting to slow down, one of the officer saw me coming, tells the other officer and they quickly closed both  doors and moved to the front of the car then waved me to keep going. I thought it was really nice of them.

Anyway, that’s all I got.

Happy Holidays!

Those Three-Hours Rides

I had two 3-3.5 hour rides for Saturday and Sunday. I didn't start to get ready for my ride until close to 11 am on Saturday, then when I got to my road bike, I discovered that my rear tire was flat (which is becoming a norm now that those tires are getting close to 4000 miles...yeah I need new tires). After a putting a new tube and doing other stuff, I finally rolled out the door past noon and as soon as I got to the end of the block I knew I was in for a treat. The flags were pointed straight to the Northeast. My planned route had me going South then West then South again, so that meant I had a head wind with gusts up to 20 MPH all the way. There were two occasions where the wind gusts blew me off the shoulder and onto the dirt. Thankfully it was somewhat smooth every time I went off road. With a lot of the fields freshly plowed, there was a lot of dust blowing which didn't help. After a little more than 2 hours of slow going against the wind, I decided to turn around and cruise home. And cruise I did. Now with a tail wind I was able to maintain 28+MPH with little effort. Unfortunately the wind change a little before I got home, so I had to battle with it for a couple more miles before getting home, however it took me a little over one hour to cover the same distance I had in 2:15.

That evening we went to Jay and Melissa's home for an early X-mas party. Lots of food and treats not to mention lots of bike talk. Thanks to Jay and Melissa for hosting a great party.

The next morning, the wine and eggnog effect prevented us from opening our eyes before 9 am. James and Katia had called the day before and wanted us to meet them at White Tanks. I called them as soon as I got up to confirm. Thankfully they were just leaving Prescott, so we had some time to get ready and head to the other side of town.

On the way to White Tanks I realized we had not only forgotten my riding jersey and my heart rate monitor, we also forgot our snack box with all the treats. We got to trailhead and I changed onto my bib and base layer outfit then realize it was too chilly, so I put a green long sleeve t-shirt on top to go with my red and black short (Very well coordinated). Norma and I rode part of the course while Katia and James got there.

My plan was to explore some of the other trails in the park. James was in childcare duty, so he didn't ride. As Katia and Norma headed for the competitive track I rode to Mesquite Canyon and rode a similar route to what Art, Brian and I had ridden a few weeks ago. Once at the top after 1.5 hours of climbing, I decided to turn around and follow Ford Canyon. The first few miles were fun. Tight single track. Sharp turns and steep little climbs, however once I hit the Ford Canyon wash all the fun went away. The sandy open sections were too soft to ride then the rocky sections were impossible to ride. Then I got to the White Tanks. Huge granite water reservoirs impossible to ride and very dangerous to walk on, especially on cycling shoes. On some sections I had to lower my bike then slide on my stomach to get down from one part of the granite slab to the next. This went on for over 1 hour of which I only rode 5 minutes at the most in increments of 30 seconds. Eventually I made it to the lower portion of the trail and was able to ride a little more. Hungry, cold, thirsty and tired, I made it back to the car just as Norma and Katia were finishing their third lap of the course. Note to others. Don't bring your bike to Ford Canyon trail. In fact don't even try to hike it unless you are an experienced hiker.

 

So on the drive home I was thinking, I hope something out of these two rides help me shave off a few seconds here and there during a race, so when I stand on top of a podium next season, I could look at rides like those and felt good. For now, I just want some food and warmth because it was cold out there today!

 

On a separate note, the Vikings were in town and beat the Cardinals, so that was good, however we had to deal with all the traffic leaving the game, not so good!

 

Out!

Dawn to Dusk

Once again, Norma and I teamed up to participate as a coed duo. Unlike last year's, the weather this time was really nice, except for a little chilly start but nothing that a pair of arm and knee warmers couldn't solve.

The plan was to have Norma do the first lap, then I would two back to back and so forth. Coach had recommended to do the first two laps at race pace then settle into Zone 1 or 2 for the rest of the race.

Here is Norma in her pink jacket at the start of the race

Norma's first lap was a little shorter because we exchanged at the team area, which was about 2 miles before the start. I used that portion to get warmed up then let it rip for the rest of the lap. The gradual climb was really busy with traffic starting their second lap, so I did a lot of passing, usually on the least rideable portion of the trail, so that completely toasted my legs. Actually my legs were already toasted from the gym exercises that week, so I only had somewhat good legs for 3/4 of a lap. The gradual down hill was fun however after going around a few times it got kinda old going over the many logs on the trail.

Norma went on her second lap while I tried to recover from the all out effort. Initially I thought I would have a hard time staying in the prescribed zones, however when I went on for my 3rd and 4th lap, I discover that I was so tired I could barely hit those Zones. Needless to say those two laps were slow. Norma kept her lap times pretty steady, so we had plenty of time for me to go for one last single lap before the cutoff. Surprinsingly, my legs partially came around on that last lap.

It got chilly again as soon as the sun went down

In terms of results, we never know where we were. At first they had us in the wrong category which I asked to fix about half way into the race, however we never checked the results again. We just knew we weren't in the top three, however Art and Wendy did as they were racing in our same category and scored a 3rd place. Congrats to them and the rest of the Adrenaline Team out there. There were at least 15 of us in the race.

Here are Dan, Darrin, Art, Wendy and Robert relaxing and recaping stories after the race.

On Sunday, we checked the results and realized we finished in 7th place out of 15 or so starters in our category. Not too bad considering our goal was to have a good time and get a few hours on the bike. Not to mention we did double the laps from last year for a grand total of 8.

During the awards they also recognized the winners from each category from the Dust Devils Series and Norma had won hers, so get got a pretty cool gear bag. We'll see if she ever let me use it.

That was probably our last race of 2008. The next season gets underway early in January with the first MBAA race just five weeks away.

For now, I just have a few more weeks of leg draining work at the gym then it's time to focus on the bike 100%.

Pura Vida!

Turkey Week

Last week was an easy week for me in terms of training time, however there was plenty of stuff going on with Thanksgiving dinner at home with family, gym workouts, Black Friday stuff at work and some riding.
We hosted family on Thursday, so Norma and I spent the previous night and most of Thursday getting food ready. Everything turned out pretty good. Turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, baked yuca, fresh salad, wine and empanadas. Needless to say I probably ate too much but on Friday I found a way to burn it off.

Yes, that's a turkey suit. I wore that thing for a little over 3 hours on Black Friday. When your department supports the retail and credit side of the biz, it's obvious you have to work that day, however this year our support was in the form a comedy relief by walking around in the custome, taking pictures, playing silly games and all kinds of shennanigans. It was fun, however I am pretty sure I lost more sweat than on a regular 3 hour ride.

Talking about riding, on Saturday I joined Art and Brian for a ride at White Tanks. First we rode the course backwards, which was pretty cool, then we went to explore some other trails in the park away from the competitive track. We rode Mesquite Canyon up. The first mile or so was really rocky and mostly unrideable either up or down then at the top the trails completely change and allows us to ride some awesome trails. It almost felt like we weren't in Arizona. There were several miles of hardpack singletrack that went from one ridge to the next and the next...until we had to start heading down then we had to do a lot of this...
Here are Brian and Art walking their bikes. After this section we hiked for about 30 minutes during which we would hop on the bikes and ride for 30 seconds then walk for 5 and so on. It proves that you have to earn your singletrack.

On other news, I just found a video clip of the cyclocross race from the previous week, so here it is for your enjoyment. As you can see, I didn't lie when I said that I had no problems with the barriers.




This coming weekend Norma and I are racing the Dawn to Dusk as a coed team. Hopefully the weather won't be anywhere nearly as bad as last years. Now I just have to confirm that my bike is ready. I dropped it off at Landys Cyclery, so they could check an oil leak on the fork.

Pura Vida!
Jeff

Cyclocross Virgin...No more!

I gave cyclocross a try last weekend. Well Arizona cyclocross anyway. I had a great time, however I don't think that would qualify for me to say that I liked cyclocross. Usually cross racing involves cold weather, which we didn't get. It was 80 by the time we started. The courses usually have a variety of terrair were a cyclocross bike is a most. We race at a park in Phoenix, where it was mostly grass except for the sandy section by the playground. oh and one little paved climb littered with broken glass. Oh and mud, I usually like riding in mud, but yeah, did I mentioned it was 80 and it hasn't rained down here for a few months, so sans mud.

The race:
I lined up in the back of the small field of riders in the open race (again cross races usually attract huge crowds at the starting line). The start was sorta fast but I still managed to stay with the group even with my MTB gearing. We made it to the sandy section which was a run-with-your-bike only. I made a couple attempts during warm ups and didn't even make it half way, so I decided I would run it like everyone else. The dismount was OK but at least I didn't crash. The group split here, so I made a huge effort on the back of the course to get by everyone in my group and bridge up to the next one. And I did, except that by the time I made it to the last guy in the lead group, I was completely maxed out. We hit the first barrier and I am proud to say that I had a smooth dismount and remount but I got gapped. I almost ate it on a little loose hairpin turn onto the paved section but made it through, then there were two other single barriers that I could have bunnyhopped but after a failed attempt during warm ups, I bagged the idea. The thought came back during the first lap as this would have help me bridge to the front group, thankfully I didn't because it could have been bad, unfortunately that mean that I had to ride on no man's land and try to bridge the 20 second gap to the next rider. For the first 4 laps the gap seemed to grow but it never exceeded 40 seconds, then I felt a little better and would reduce the gap on some sections then loose it in others. By the last lap I got it down to less than 10 seconds then I must've ridden over some glass which made a nice cut to my rear Maxxis 310 tire. I had stans in the tube which worked well for goatheads but this hole seemed to be too big for stans to seal it. I rode the hissing tire for the rest of the lap without getting lapped by TJ who won the race. I was the last rider not to get lapped but at the same time I lapped the other 3 guys behind me to finish in 8th place.

No pictures this time. Norma was out of town.
Thanks for Mister Zamora for helping me with hand offs. It was nice to get a sip of water or Cytomax every other lap.

Perhaps next year I could add a cross bike to the list and race the series. It sure was a painful and as fun as everyone had described it.

I am curious how many pounds I would gain by Friday?
Happy Thanksgiving!

Pura Vida!

Saturday Gravel Grind

The plan for Saturday was to get 3.5 hours in Zone 1 with a few 1 minute efforts at race pace in preparation for the cyclocross race on Sunday. I am planning to race on the hardtail, so I figured I'd spend the day getting re-accostumed to it and went for a ride on the different gravel roads around Maricopa.

No matter which direction you go in Maricopa, you are bound to see two things:

1. cows:

2. Cotton fields

I didn't have a planned route, I just pointed my bike south and follow the gravel. Eventually one of the roads lead me to this...You would think this is a perfect cyclocross training opportunity....hum! Nah, I didn't feel like getting muddy, not to mention cross racing in AZ is pretty far from muddy. So I hiked around it and still got my shoes dirty. Oh, never mind the sign, it's open...at least to bicycles.About half way into my ride, I noticed a little trail going up one of the buttes, so I went exploring. You can see part of it on this picture.At the bottom the sand turned to rocks and it got rockier and steeper until I got to this...Time to practice shouldering my bike.Here is the view from the top.

I had to hike down too, then rode back home to make it a gravel grind just shy of 60 miles.
Probably not the recommended pre-ride for my cyclocross debut on Sunday but coach said this is only a test race.

I wonder how am I going to do when I get to hop my first barrier...

Pura Vida!

Jeff

White Tanks Full Recap

Saturday was a return to good old cross country racing. We left the house pretty early so we could make it to White Tanks with plenty of time to warm up properly. We even beat the sun to rise.

Unfortunately, time just flew by, so by the time we both got registered, got dressed and got everything ready, I only had about 30 'til race time. So I rode on the road for a few minutes then did a couple of race pace efforts and headed to the start line. By the time I got there, about 20+ Pro/Expert riders were already lined up at the front. My teammates Zack and Eric were in the front row and offered me to move up and join them but with just a couple of minutes to go, I decided to stay in the back and work my way to the front.

Benji for DCB Adventures blew the air horn and we were on our way. I tried moving through traffic but got by only 5 or 6 guys. I could see Zack and Eric at the front and they quickly strung out the field. Once we were all single filed, I did two big efforts to get to the front. On the first one, I made it to the top ten, recovered for a few seconds then went all out again just before the first wash and made it to 4th. By now Zack was on the lead with a Tazer guy, while another guy and I dangled off about 10 seconds back. By the time we made it to the first tech section, Zack had gapped the Tazer guy so I just marked their wheels and let Zack build his lead. Eventually we caught the Tazer guy and another guy joined us before the end of the lap. This train of 4 stayed together until the first tech section when the Tazer guy attacked. I went with him and stayed on his wheel until almost the end of the second lap. At that point I figured Zack had a good gap, so I was going to secure second but I didn't want to bring the Tazer guy with me, so I put another huge effort to gap him then put in cruise control for the remaining two laps. I saw Zack on my third lap and he had a 2-3 minute lead and I couldn't see anyone else behind me, so I kept it steady for the rest of the lap, then half way through our last lap I found Zack on the side of the trail with a broken crankset. One of the bolts on his big ring had fallen off and the rest broke from his torque. He also bent his middle ring, so that left him with a granny gear. I stopped and tried to help him for a couple of minutes and even rode with him but his chain wouldn't stay on his granny ring while the other two were missing. Suddenly we saw the Tazer guy coming, and we decided to at least have one of us in the lead, so I took off and kept it together for the win. Zack walked his bike for the remaining of the course finishing almost 30 minutes later but didn't DNF. Way to go man! You really were the strongest rider out there!Norma also got to stand on the top spot. She finished third overall in her group and beat over a dozen beginner guys. Way to go!!!

On Sunday I experienced the results of the previous day effort. I went for a ride and could barely bring my heart rate to Zone 1. Eventually I felt like I was going all out just to be above 131, so after an hour of this I decided to call it a day and crawled home.

Up next is Cyclocross racing. I am planning to dab into this, until now for me unexplored version of cycling. I will be riding Norma's hardtail Giant with some skinny tires, however the purpose of racing is mostly to have fun, get some experience and of course get those 55 minutes of intensive riding. We'll see how it goes. So far the biggest concern is the dismounts and the remounts. I seem to keep doing the little hops before commiting to jumping back on the saddle. I am sure this will be very time costly during the race. As for the dismounts, I can do them, just not sure how I will do in traffic and at race pace. We'll find out on Sunday.

Until then...Pura Vida!

I got to order dessert today!

That's right! A long time ago Norma and I had talked about a "stimulus package" that would consist of me having the opportunity to order to dessert after winning a race.
Today I endulged with a Blodie from Ruby Tuesday's after winning the Pro/Semi/Expert race #3 in the Dust Devils Series at White Tanks.

It was quite a shock to the system to race again. I really don't remember the last time I hit 199BPMs, so needless to say I am a little tired.
Norma continued her winning streak by claiming the top spot of her age group in the beginner female race and 3rd overall. So today we got two 1st places in the household. Sweeet!

I'll post some pictures and a full race recap in the next couple of days.

Pura Vida!

Weekend Review

This was a busy weekend. Lots of things going on in all different fronts.

Things started really well on Friday, when I came home to this.

Genuine Innovations came through for us one more time. I hope I won't need any of those during races, but based on previous history we all know I will. It's good to get this kind of support from a local company. Thank You! Genuine Innovations.

On Saturday we drove up to McDowell to watch the start of the 12 and 24 Hours of Fury. Lots of team members participating in the race. Results are not posted yet, and I haven't had a chance to talk to any of them but the 24 Hour Team was battling out with a Bicycle Haus team up until we left. While we were there, Norma and I rode up to Pemberton and completed a lap and little more, then we rode the service road to different sections of the trail to cheer on riders. At first it was odd not to be racing, but again, it also felt good to leave just after dark, grab some Sushi then sleep on our own bed.

Look at all the Adrenaline, red, white and black at the start of the 12 Hour race.

Sunday, I was scheduled to do 3 hours and the plan was to head to White Tanks and pre-ride, however with the wind advisory, we decide to keep it local. Not to mention, we would have to drive near Avondale and deal with the NASCAR traffic leaving the PIR.My 3 hours felt like two completely different rides. The first 1:45 was slow, low visibility, dusty and with a head wind with gusts up to 20MPH. The other 1:15 was all big ring action with an awesome tail wind.

Once I got home, I decided to do some cooking. Sweet Plantains and Empanadas were the afternoon project. It all turned out really good, but I am biased.

Then it was on to the next project of the weekend...

Hairy Legs...

No More...

No shaving here. Haven't shaved my legs for over two years. Waxing seems to work a lot better for me. It takes a little longer but it also lasts longer. A little painful the first time but it's worth it. Again, thanks to my wife for taking care of me.

Racing is back this week with the White Tanks race on Saturday.

Ciao!

Halloween, Bike Fit and Dust Devils #2

So last Friday I rode my bike to work like any other day. As I get through the front door, one of security guards at the front desk asks me "How can I help you?" I politely replied " just getting to work" while I showed him the badge that I had dug out of my jersey pocket. I continued walking and as I am scanning my badge over the access sensor, he says: "That's an interesting costume!"  "I know, I wear it almost everyday! I said and went on with my day.

 

Anyway, I later discovered that he was a new guard at our location, so he had never seen me come in to work wearing spandex and a helmet. It was also Halloween, which means that throughout the day, he had seen quite a few other people wearing stuff much different than what's normal for a Friday, so I guess he's excused but it sure was funny!

 

Other than riding a lot, including a 4-hour road ride on my mountain bike, I have been working with Coach on my bike fit. I have never really devoted too much time to my position on the bike, nor am I meticulous about my saddle height. In fact, I've been known for lowering or raising my saddle by close to an inch just before a race. Sometimes my back would hurt, but it'll go away after a while, then my aquiles tendon would start acting up or I would get muscles cramps on odd locations. So a few weeks ago I met Art and we went over my position on both the mountain bike and the road bike. After close to an hour of pedaling on a trainer, moving, measuring and checking alignments of things we ended up with a completely different position. The most drastic change was my saddle height. I had it so high that I was not only rocking my hips (which explains the saddle sores) but I had also gotten used to pedaling with my toes down.

At first, it was hard to feel comfortable with the lower saddle position. I felt like I was riding a downhill bike but after a few continuous days of riding, I have gotten used to it and really enjoy it. I still have to remind myself to drop the heels while I pedal but I'll get there soon.

 

Racing is still in the down low for me, however Norma did race last weekend at McDowell. I did a horrible job assisting her as I missed her second hand off. Thankfully Art was there to cover me. My goals was to give her the first bottle then ride to a point on the long loop to give her the second one. I under estimated how long it would take her to get there, then I wisely decided to ask some of the expert riders that were coming up this hill, crossed eyed and almost delusional from the unusual heat if they had seen my wife back there. One of them said "Yes, I saw her back there" but I guess he was referring to seeing her on a previous lap. Anyway, by the time I got back to the finish line, Norma had already finished and had even changed out of her racing clothes after finishing 4th overall and 2nd in her age group. I suck at doing hand offs!

 

Looking ahead, coach has given me the green light to participate on two races this month. Dust Devils #3 at White Tanks will be my next one, then I am going to give Cyclocross racing a try on the 23rd. Stay tuned for that!

 

Pura Vida!

 

Here comes the Bandersnatch

Last weekend a bunch of Adrenaline Team riders came to the McDowell Mtn trail system to pre-ride the course in preparation for the upcoming two races at this venue; the second event in the Dust Devils series on 11/01 and the 12/24 Hours of Fury the following weekend.

Upon our arrival I saw Darrin who had just completed one of the many laps he did that day in addition to riding from his house, then Tom joined us for what turned out to be the official delivery of the Vassago Bandersnatch frame that I'll be riding. Thanks guys!

I am really excited about building the bike up and start riding it. Except for a few short rides on borrowed 29ers, I haven't ridden 29 inch wheels yet. I am really glad that I get to experience that, riding a bike from a company that especializes on bigger wheeled mountain bikes. Not to mention all the positive reviews that I have heard from all Adrenaline riders who already got theirs.

I'll take a little while to get it build up as I don't have any 29er parts that I can just swap and go for a ride, so I'll keep you posted on that process.

After starting the weekend on that great note, Norma, Kendra and Wendy went for a few loops at McDowell while I completed a few drills prescribed by Art on the pavement. That was the first time I hit my heart rate threshold since the 24 Hours of Payson over a month ago. It's hard to forget that weird taste on your mouth and the burning on the legs but for some reason I really love getting to that point. It makes me feel like I am really training.

On Sunday, I had another long easy ride so I met up with Bob and Jonathan for a ride from Wickenburg to Yarnell and back. It was a little chilly at the start, however less than 15 min into the ride we were already getting rid of layers. The ride up to Congress was steady gentle climb, then from there it's a steep climb to Yarnell. I kept my HR under Zone 1 and rode the climb on my very smallest gear. Once at the top we decided to ride a little further down before heading back. The downhill back to Congress was awesome and scary at the same time while going way above the speed limit a few times.

Jonathan flatted right before Congress, so it was a nice little break before the last few miles back to the car.

Once in Wickenburg we refueled at the House of Berlin. Nothing like German food for a recovery meal. We had beer from the "Oldest Brewery in the World" according to their table coasters, some bratwurst, schnitzle and some tasty potatoes. I guess Wickenburg is the place to go for German food now.

This coming weekend Norma is racing at McDowell. I'll be on bottle hand-off support then riding a few loops afterwards.

Until next time!

Pura Vida!

Super Domestique

I probably spoke too soon about the nice weather finally coming down here to the Valley of the Sun, as mother nature had another week of above average temperatures for the area. That meant we had to drink hot Cytomax tea for a few more days. No Cytomax doesn't make tea...yet, however after you have your non-insulated bottle with grape Cytomax out for any more than an hour, it turns into grape flavored tea. According to Norma, the good part of it is that your body is supposed to absorb it faster, but it tastes nasty and at that point it doesn't provide the refreshing effect that you expect when the temps are nearing the 100 degree mark...in the shade. Unfortunately no one bikes under the shade here in the desert.

This morning though, the temps were still nice, so I got ready for another ride to work. I got two bottles ready, got dressed, put air on the tires and headed out the door. Since I had just finished a cup of coffee and I was planning to ride for 2 hours at an easy pace, I didn't even reach for my water bottles until 15 minutes into my ride. At least tried to. I reached down and all I could find was the bottle cage. I looked down and there is nothing. So with 1 hour and 45 minutes left on my ride, I decided to go back home and grab the bottles (last week I did the same but I had no time to go back, so I rode to work with no water). So I got to the next turn around point and as I was starting to head back I hear someone calling me from the other side of the road. There was my beautiful wife on her bike, so I yell to her that I had left my water bottles at home and I was heading back to the house

-she says, "yes I know! I have them with me."

Unsure that I heard right I decided to stop and wait for her to turn around. I knew she was also going for a ride but we were riding different routes, however as she was getting ready to leave a good 5-10 minutes after me, she found my bottles in the garage and decided to try and catch up to me. So there she was, winded from an all out effort to catch me. She said she was planning to ride as fast as she could to Casa Blanca road (which is where I finally turned around) but if she couldn't catch me she would go back home. The funny part is that I never looked back, otherwise I could have seen her way back as the road follows a straight line for a good 1-2 miles before Casa Blanca.

Anyway, I figured this would be a great time to recognize her for everything that she does for me. I don't think I could have accomplished what I have so far without her support. From supporting me at races and even training rides (like today), to understanding the sport and recognizing what a big part of our lives it plays and everything else in between. THANK YOU!

Training is going steady. I am spending a lot more time a The Gym following coach's plan. By the way he just got done with two different 100K Off-road races south of the border. Check out his blog for more details.

On equipment news, last week I got the OK from my ever supporting wife to order one of this for next year. I am hoping to race a little bit more on the road next season, so this will be the weapon of choice. I should have the frame by the end of the year then I'll see how long it takes me to put it together.

Off-road I am planning to ride like the devil next year. More details to come...

Pura Vida!

Riding To Work

I guess now being GREEN is the new black and the cool thing to do, so in order to increase our coolness level we have tried adapting a few things here in there. In the end is a matter of feeling good about what YOU can do. I realize that it would take a combined effort to see results but I also believe that everyone is responsible for their own actions, that being said it's frustrating to see how many people drastically change their life styles to be more green, then a few weeks down the road they do a 180 turn and go back to the norm or worse than before.

Norma and I have been taking smaller, achievable steps to be more environmentally friendly. Simple things like being more diligent about recycling stuff at home, using reusable bags, turning our AC down or off and carpooling or riding our bikes to work.
Over the last several weeks we have only driven both cars to work on a couple of occasions. Instead we plan our days a little better and either carpool, I ride to work then we drive back or we have left one car at work and we both ride there the next morning. It requires a little bit of planning but when you combine it with your training rides it makes it easier. Our commute is 24 miles, so on a regular day it would take me about 1:15 to get from the door of my house to work. On windy days, especially North winds, or when we both ride to work the ride extends to 1.5 hours or if Coach schedules a little more time than that, I take the long way and make it a full training ride. On the easy days, I scan the shoulder of 347 for odd stuff. It makes the ride go a lot faster. Besides dead snakes and coyotes or water coolers the sky is the limit on what you see, from furniture to ladders, it makes you wonder what would you do if that item happens to fall right in front or <knock on wood> on top of you. Then once you get to civilization, meaning after exiting the reservation, the show is on the left side. Drivers putting on make-up, eating, singing aloud and off course ignoring bicyclists on the road. We have had a couple of close calls, all within the last two miles of our destination. In order to avoid some of this we ride a short stretch on a canal path then we jump off our bikes to connect with the next street. I've been practicing my cyclo-cross dismounts on this section. About a week ago, I gave Norma a good demo on how NOT to dismount when my left foot didn't unclip on time after crossing my right leg over. Fortunately I was going slow enough to hop a couple of times with my bike still attached to my shoes and avoid a face plant.

Anyway, happy rides to everyone and kudos to you if you ride your bike to work, even if it's one day a week!

On other news, the tentative racing calendar for 2009 is taking shape. Among the new items I have my eyes on a little fun ride of 100 miles in a town called Leadville. According to Eric Neat it's one of those races that you have to do at some point during your mountain biker life, so I figured why not give it a try next year. Of course that depends on the lottery thingy but we'll see. Sea Otter is also tentatively penciled in along with 4 other events of the newly created Unites States Cup. Still waiting to hear about MBAA calendar.

Lastly, in addition to training times on the road, the pounds are also going up at the gym. On most of the strength exercises I have graduated to lift more that just the bar. Doing planks on the ball still kicks my butt and makes for the most dreaded 45 seconds of my evenings at Coyotes Athletics but I already can see some of the results on the bike. Now I can ride on the drops of the road bike for more than just 5 minutes.

That's all for now. I have to go see if I can get my road pedals replaced.........
Pura Vida!

Estrella Dust Devils and Training

This weekend was the first event of the Dust Devils series. The series kicked off at Estrella on Saturday with cooler than normal and really windy conditions. I didn't partake in the racing festivities however my other half did.

Norma doned the pink Adrenaline jersey and lined up for her first race in a while. She's been riding consistently on her road bike as well as a couple of off-road rides, so she was pretty stoked about this race.

I was initially planning to do some drills at South Mtn then ride to Estrella, but it was so windy that I asked Norma to pick me up as soon as I was done with the climbing drills. Later on I completed the rest of my training for the day by riding the trainer in the confort of our living room. Yeah, I know I am a whimp! I hate windy days!

Anyway, back to the race. When we got to the venue, the Marathon guys were already on course. There was a big turn out of beginner and sport riders (mostly male riders) but it's good to see more people. The pro/expert class was kinda small thought. There was a nice vibe around the venue. Several bike shops came out to offer support such as Estrella Mountain Cycles and Bicycle Showcase (supporting the Procon MTB guys). I even got a free hot dog from Tim Gillis from Showcase who had his George Foreman grill out.

Norma's race started at 9:30 am and there was a group of 5-6 ladies in the beginner category. She got into third or fourth wheel up the little climb from the start and moved up a place while we could still see them from the start. According to Norma (I have to tell you because it will take her a while to update her blog), she passed another lady on one of the washes. She's been getting a lot better on the technical sections so she gained some ground. The other girl in the lead was out of sight, so she kept a steady pace up the gradual climb in the back. Not too long after the switchback in the back her rear tire slid off course and she went down. She got a few battle scratches to her elbow and fore arm but nothing major. She remounted to discover that her handle bar were twisted a bit. Fearing that the next rider was not too far back she decided to keep on riding, even with the croocked handlebar. That most have cost her a few minutes due to the difficult handling.

Back at the finish I was waiting for her when Jen Sica from Schampa came down and gave me an update on her. I was worried on the extense of the damage but a couple of minutes later Norma was coming down the hill with a big smile. She completed the junior loop and finished strong even ahead of some of the the beginner guys that started a few minutes ahead. Great Job!
Adrenaline had a good showing overall. Zac and Tom finished 1-2 in the marathon, however Tom removed himself out of the race for slightly bending the rules. Check his site for the details. The other Zack won the Pro/Expert event while Kendra and our other Junior Female rider whose name I still don't know finished 1-2 in the Junior Girls race.

It was great to see everyone out there. Even Darrin P and Darrin A were there to support the team!

Training continues increasing gradually. I did my first 3 hour ride on Sunday. That was the last time I rode for that long since AMC back in August. It was nice to be out on the bike for a long easy ride. However my last few miles got a little difficult when my right pedal broke….again! Yes that's the same type of pedal that I broke back in June at the Summit Center road race, so I am trying to figure out what's causing it. I simple got off the saddle at a stop light and when I went to pull up with my right leg my shoe came off. Oh well, it was just a few miles before home so I mostly pushed down on that pedal and made my left leg do the full circles.

That's all for now!

Pura Vida!

Back to Training

Since the AMC race at the end of August, I’ve been just riding around without a particular training plan. I ran once (which made me sore for like a week), I rode on the road or off-road based on what I felt like. I even rode the mountain bike on the road and the road bike on some gravel roads. Anyway the point is that I rode for fun even at the 24 Hours of Payson and I liked it, but it was the end of the season. Now it’s time to start looking at 2009 and define goals, so with the coach’s help I am back to structured base training. I wore my heart rate monitor for the first time in a month this morning and I also started strength training at Coyote Athletics.

 

Once some of the calendars start getting published, I’ll be compiling events, dates and locations before prioritizing each race. Most likely I’ll be focusing on the MBAA series, a couple of Epic Rides events, some of the newly created US Cup events and perhaps some of the events in the US Cycling Endurance calendar for the second part of the season. That may included AMC and others. As far as road goes, I’ll do some crits here and there and one or two road races.

 

One of the last “just for fun rides” was last Saturday at Estrella. I have ridden this course many times, in fact that’s the first course I raced at after moving to Arizona, however on Saturday, Art, Tom, Norma and I rode it backwards (with the consent of the Maricopa Parks, I must say). Estrella isn’t my favorite course, but I have to say that I like it better backwards. The start will make you work right away, then you get a nice, fun and fast downhill to the big wash. From there you have to work hard until the saddle at the back. It didn’t help that the course was really rutted and loose. The gradual downhill back to the front of the park is fun but it keeps you on your toes then you have a little bit of climbing to do before completing the lap. As for the Tech loop. It seems like you are working all of the time, which I like. There are a couple really steep almost hike-a-bike sections where my 1.9 Maxxis proved to be the wrong choice for the course.

 

Other than this, there isn’t much else going on.

 

Pura Vida!

Payson Stampede

Last weekend was my third consecutive participation in this event, however every year I have competed in a different category. This time I was part of a 4-person team that eventually became a 3-man team, however even after being down one rider we pulled it off and won the overall with a total of 32 laps.The course was also different for third consecutive year. The 9.8 mile loop had over 1300 ft of climbing, most of it in a short stretch of fire road where we were required to climb 4 very steep hills in a matter of less than a couple of miles. That and the initial rocky downhill made up for a very difficult course.
Norma and I drove to Payson on Friday afternoon an after getting settled in we got pre-race food at Alfonso's. We got a pretty good night's sleep and got up next morning ready to get rolling. One of the cool things about this course is that everything is really close, so instead of improvising breakfast at the campground, we drove a couple of miles away to Denny's where I ate probably more than what I should have.Noon came quickly an after a short team meeting we finalized our rotation, however the $50.00 incentive to the first rider to finish lap 1 was enough to change our plan, so Matt went for it.
Unfortunately he couldn't hold on to Nat Ross' wheel but still finished the first lap in a respectable 3rd place behind Ernesto Marenchin. I gave it a try on the second lap but not knowing the course affected how I managed my efforts. My first lap was 42:58 then Chris Sutter did our third relay in just over 40 minutes and Darrin closed our first rotation with a lap just a tad over 41 minutes.Over the next few rotations we tried to rotate Matt as much as possible because he was planning to race until midnight but our lap times were consistently around 44 minutes which allowed us to get a lap and a few minutes ahead of the Schampa boys lead by Eric Neat and Scott Keller who were occasionally pulling under 40 minute laps.
Around midnight we had our only major mechanical issue of the race. Darrin crashed in the rocky downhill and broke his saddle. This forced him to ride off the saddle for 3/4 of a lap.
Results were not updated through the night, so we continued riding as fast a possible but when the first results were posted at around 6:00 am, the Schampa guys had narrowed the gap down to 20 minutes. Since midnight there were just the three of us riding, so our break in between laps was short and our lap times had increased by 2-3 minutes.We continued riding strong but by the time I went for my last lap at around 10 am we only had a 6-minute gap. I poured everything onto the pedals on my last lap and finished feeling a little "bonky" but I keep the gap at around the same margin. Chris did another hot lap to give Darrin a couple extra minutes advantage before the last lap.At the end the three of us rode 9 laps each and Matt had ridden 5 laps before midnight.
It was cool to have such tight race until the end. The Schampa boys event tried all kind of tactics to catch up to us and that made it even more exciting.
Team Adrenaline had a great showing at this event. In addition to us winning the overall, the Masters of Adrenaline with Art, Dan V, Dan K and Robert won their category and finished 3rd overall. Tom, Zack, Hayley and Kalan all won their respective categories in the 12 hour event, while Chad had an awesome race in the 24 hour solo.
Thanks to all the team for the support, especially my wife for getting everything I needed in between laps and for loading up the car after the race when I was too trashed to do much and driving my sleepy face back home. I love YOU!

I slept 14 hour straight after the race and have been taking it easy since then. I'll probably do some easy rides the rest of the week before starting my new training cycle under the Coach instructions.

Until next time!
Pura Vida!

Turning the Page

Another cycling season is in the books and now it's time to start looking at 2009. Yeah, I know we still have a few months left of 2008, but the way the cycling season goes around here, you have to start your base training in early October to be ready for the state series kick off in January.

2008 was a great year, among other hightlights:

• 2nd Pro/Semi-Pro Overall - AZ State Series
• 2nd Cat 5 Overall - Summit Center Stage Race
• Won the Vulture Mine and South Mountain Time Trials as a Cat 5
• 4th Elite Overall at Afton Avalance9th Open Overall at the Whiskey Off Road 50 (After riding most of the race with Floyd Landis)
• 17th Elite Overall at the inagural American MTB Classic
• There were a lot of firsts too. I raced on my first crit event (Hungry Dog), had my first crash at a Crit (Cyclo de Mayo), raced my first road stage race (Summit Center) and road Time Trial (Vulture Mine), completed my first 24 hour race in a 4-man team (Old Pueblo) and did my first short-track and cross country race as a semi-pro.

So what's new for the next season... New Team...
Starting this weekend I'll officially start racing for Adrenaline Race Team. Darrin A. offered me a spot on his team, fresh off winning the 2008 State Team Series, so I look forward to a great year.

New Sponsors...
Along with the new team comes an awesome list of new companies supporting us including: Coyote Athletic Centers, Train Like a Pro, Vassago Cycles, Hammer Head Cycles, Whey Up, WTB, White Brothers, Crank Bros, Carb Boom and others.

New Coach...
After two years of self-coaching I seemed to have reached a limit, so it was time to trust my training on a professional, so my friend and teammate Art MacFarland from Baja Training Systems will be my coach. Over the last year, Art has provided me with tools and advise to improve my skills, so I am eager to see how things will develop during the next season.

Over the next few weeks, I will be finalizing my racing calendar for the upcoming season but it all starts this weekend with the Payson Stampede 24 Hours. Darrin, Evan, Chris Sutter and I will be competing as a team. This event will host the 24-hour national championship for 2009 and 2010, so it will be cool to give it a go this year. I am not sure if any big names will attend, considering it conflicts with the re-birth of the Cactus Cup in Las Vegas but we'll find out on Saturday.

Thanks to all for your support in 2008, stayed tuned for a promising 2009 season.

Pura Vida!

Bozeman, Big Sky, Denver, Yellowstone, Phoenix...we've been everywhere!

Not quite, but it felt like it, over the last few weeks.
We hadn't been to Montana before, but a few days ago we joined our friends Dan and Sarah in the celebration of their matrimony in Big Sky. We also got a chance to catch up with our gang of friends from Minnesota y visit Yellowstone Park.Unlike most other trips, there were no bikes on this one, so if you were expecting to read an epic story of cycling over the montains of Montana...check back next summer.
With the Cardinals playing at home the day we left and the Democratic Convention wrapping up in Denver, United put us on a Boeing 767 for the less than 2 hour flight. That was kinda interesting.While walking through the Denver airport we stopped at the Crocs store and after some deliberation Norma decided to get a pair of pink MaryJanes to match my orange crocs. Now we both can look goofy but comfortable. Once in Montana, we met with the rest of the group and drove in caravan from Bozeman to Big Sky.
We attended the wedding rehearsal and had a great time after dinner with Dan impersonating Ray Charles and badly detuning the hotel's piano.I spent the wedding day behind the video camera recording the events for the new couple but we had a wonderful time. Congrats to Dan and Sarah and the best wishes on you new married life! It was interesting to see so many people dancing Nigerian music during the reception. That was definitely a first. The day after the wedding we decided to explore the outdoors so we went out for a round of FOLF....that's right not regular golf but friesbee golf. It's very similar to golf. There are no golf cars, there is no dress code, no beverage cart, no manicured lawns, no paved paths, not tee times, no actual holes and it's played up, around and down the mountain....actually it's not like golf at all, except that there are 18 segments and it takes over 3 hours to complete. Anyway, we had a great time enjoying the mountain air, hiking in search of our lousy thrown freesbies and taking in the views.Before returning to Phoenix, we visited Yellowstone Park. We stopped at almost every historical, geological, flora and fauna marker in the park. We also got snowed that afternoon but we saw a Bison and watch Old Faithful do its thing so it was worth it.Now back at home, we have had a lot of stuff to do to get back to real life. There is a lot going on to get the 09 cycling season under way, but it was really nice to be off the bike for the last two weeks.

To see the rest of the pictures, click HERE!


Pura Vida!