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!