The second event of the weekend double-header was the Sun Devil Crit put together by ASU Cycling. Coach had told me to do only one race, so I chose the 30+ because I figure it would be safer and less intense. Boy was I wrong! I knew they were combining the 30+ and 40+ categories and score them separately but by Friday there were less than 14 riders registered for both. Norma, Koko and I showed up at around 11 am after having some delicious chocolate chip pancakes that Norma made from scratch. I got registered and warmed up for a few minutes, just to find out that the races were running late. Sometime before 1 PM as I was hovering near the start line I saw this massive amount of riders around me. It turned out that they were all racing with me. My guess is that we had over 40 riders. Now this is a "D" shaped course with two sharp corners. I am just getting confortable riding in small groups but this was a little overwhelming. I lined up at the back and hoped for the best. The race pace picked up immediately and I was working a bit at the back trying to stayed with the group. At one point I though I had moved a few spots and felt like I was in the middle of the pack, then I almost panicked and for a second though about letting people by and moved to the back. As I let off the gas a bit, I realized that I was already at the back and now I was gapped. I picked it up a bit and regaing my lantern rouge position. 10 min into the race I had moved up about 10 spots and decided to grab some water and dropped the bottle as I was putting back in the cage. Total rookie move! I could see the bottle every time we went by. Unfortunately it was a Procon bottle so, everyone knew that one of us had dropped it and I had no bottles, so it was a simple process elimination answer.
Suj dropped out of the race, picked up my bottle, handed it back to me and got yelled at by the officials. I guess there are no hand ups at crits, who knew!
At one point the pace eased off and I saw a Ride Clean rider going hard on the right, I tagged on his wheel and soon we were off the front. The rider happened to be Brian Forbes and for a second he thought he had Craig or Matt, two of the most accomplished riders in Procon on his wheel, but he was quite disappointed when he found out it was only me. I pulled through and pedaled at the front for a few seconds before pulling to the side and letting the experienced guys do their thing. I moved up a little on the last two laps, mostly trying to avoid the big groups and found a safe line to sprint at the finish. Overall I must have finished in the top 20 but that was good enough to put me in 7th in the 30+ group.
Not bad for a really stressful ride. Fortunately my legs felt good and didn't even get a chance to test them, however my heart rate was pretty high mostly from the tension.
We are heading down south to Yuma this weekend for another road double at the North End Classic. It should be fun not to mention, we'll spend some time with my brother in-law and family.
Journal of my cycling adventures, travel and life events alongside my wife Norma and our dog Koko.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
3rd Time is a Charm...Not really!
Third race of the MBAA series went on yesterday. I wasn't sure what to expect since I had done only two rides, both of under 90 minutes during the week, not to mention my legs still felt heavy from the Old Pueblo effort.
Norma didn't race, so we got to the venue and where Darrin had the Team bus conveniently set up right next to the finish corner. We watched the Marathon and Female races going on then it was time to get ready.
11:30 AM came by really quick. I lined up at the start behind Scott Keller and Tim Allen. The three of us came hot off the start line and stayed up front.
Tim was setting such a fast pace that we had gapped the group within the first mile. Soon Eric bridge up to us as we got to the sandy spots and I started to fade. I couldn't keep the same pace on the sand so, Lance and Kam came by. I stayed in 6th for the rest of the lap but I could see Kam. I tried bridging up to him but my effort had me crashing in front of everyone at the corner for the start of the second lap. I struggled to get off the bike and a few seconds later was in pursuit. I rode most of the lap by myself just to find Tim working on his crank near the end. Kam was fading and I was able to catching before the downhill. With two tech loops to go, I started to hear someone behind me. First I thought that Kam had recovered and was closing in really fast. All the sudden I saw the blur of green and red go by me like a was standing still. It was Tim and he was on a mission. I couldn't even try to get on his wheel, in addition I was starting to cramp. Half way into the Tech loop I looked back and was very surprised to see Mike Montalbano from New Jersey closing in on his singlespeed. The guy is a stud. He scapes the Northeastern winter for a few weeks and comes down to AZ to make us look bad. I held him off for the rest of this lap during which I also caught Scott Keller who had flatted. On the last Tech loop, Mike came by me but I was in damage control mode already. 
My legs were cramping up badly, so I just wanted to secure a spot on the podium. And I did, Chris Suter was a couple of minutes back so I held on to fifth. Not bad for a week of swollen feet and head colds. 
Now I am off to the Sun Devil Crit for 45 minutes of racing with the "old guys."
Jeff
Norma didn't race, so we got to the venue and where Darrin had the Team bus conveniently set up right next to the finish corner. We watched the Marathon and Female races going on then it was time to get ready.
11:30 AM came by really quick. I lined up at the start behind Scott Keller and Tim Allen. The three of us came hot off the start line and stayed up front.
Tim was setting such a fast pace that we had gapped the group within the first mile. Soon Eric bridge up to us as we got to the sandy spots and I started to fade. I couldn't keep the same pace on the sand so, Lance and Kam came by. I stayed in 6th for the rest of the lap but I could see Kam. I tried bridging up to him but my effort had me crashing in front of everyone at the corner for the start of the second lap. I struggled to get off the bike and a few seconds later was in pursuit. I rode most of the lap by myself just to find Tim working on his crank near the end. Kam was fading and I was able to catching before the downhill. With two tech loops to go, I started to hear someone behind me. First I thought that Kam had recovered and was closing in really fast. All the sudden I saw the blur of green and red go by me like a was standing still. It was Tim and he was on a mission. I couldn't even try to get on his wheel, in addition I was starting to cramp. Half way into the Tech loop I looked back and was very surprised to see Mike Montalbano from New Jersey closing in on his singlespeed. The guy is a stud. He scapes the Northeastern winter for a few weeks and comes down to AZ to make us look bad. I held him off for the rest of this lap during which I also caught Scott Keller who had flatted. On the last Tech loop, Mike came by me but I was in damage control mode already. My legs were cramping up badly, so I just wanted to secure a spot on the podium. And I did, Chris Suter was a couple of minutes back so I held on to fifth. Not bad for a week of swollen feet and head colds. Now I am off to the Sun Devil Crit for 45 minutes of racing with the "old guys."Jeff
Friday, February 20, 2009
Recovery Week...Kinda!
Riding has been on the down low this week. It seems like the 24-Hour took more out of me than what I expected. I took Monday completely off and by completely I mean that I barely got up to eat and pee. This was mostly because my left foot was really swollen from my encounter with the barrel cactus before the start of the race, but my legs, especially my calves were really sore…probably from the LeMans start. I am definitely not a runner! So, unable to walk and very sore, I laid down most of the day with Koko. I ate when he ate and peed when he did, just not outside like him.
My foot was still to swollen on Tuesday to even get my cycling shoes on, so I didn’t ride either but I went to work. I rode on Wednesday once the swelling was gone and the legs felt good, however my throat was scratchy and I’ve had a constant cough since Monday.
Cough worsen on Thursday, so I went home early and sleep for 4 hours instead of riding for 1 hour as coach had planned.
Today I feel better, so I’ll probably ride a little to open up the legs for the 3rd race of the MBAA series tomorrow and if time allows, I’ll clean my bike, which is as filthy as it got after Old Pueblo. Lastly, if I have something left on the legs after the Saturday race, then I’ll do the Sun Devil Crit on Sunday.
By the way, Velonews had a little write up about our race on their MTB News and recap. It’s the third article on this page, titled “1600 flock to Old Pueblo”
http://www.velonews.com/article/88179/mtb-news-and-notes
Thanks to all for the support!
Pura Vida!
Monday, February 16, 2009
With a little help from my Friends
This past weekend WE won the 4-Male Open category at the 10th Annual 24 Hours of Old Pueblo, detroning the Kona Racing team. Adrenaline Team was completed by Chris Sutter, Sam Schultz, Andy Schultz and myself. The Schultz bros were additions to the team for this event and they didn't let us down. It was really cool to race and hang out with two top pros who are easy going and friendly guys.
Norma, Koko and I drove there Friday morning. Darrin had arrived a day earlier and had our team area set up and ready to go. I was really cool to be right on the expo area and having the RV is always a bonus too.
However, there is always drama. This time Koko was the main character. We had just arrived at the location when he decided to attack the little cholla cactus seen in the picture above, just in front of the TLP sign. I was a few yards away and when I heard him crying I thought another dog had attacked him. Norma quickly grabbed him regarless that he was covered in jumping cholla which ensured that she got a lot of needles on herself too. Within seconds friends and complete strangers came to our rescue armed with plastic hair combs and twizers. It was amazing to see the quick and caring reaction. It took several minutes to get most of the needles off his nose, face,ears, paws, mouth and even on his tongue. Someone else brought some medication to give him and soon he was back to his old self
Here is Norma with Koko in front of the Old Pueblo Saguaro. By the end of the weekend this tree would be covered with tubes and tires claimed by the course.
This is what Old Pueblo looks like. More than 1000 RVs, plus as many or more tents and you have a big town in the middle of the desert.
The LeMans style start is a most for this race as it would be impossible to get all the starters onto the bike at the same time. I got to do the start since I am a veteran at this. Done it 3 times over as many years.
I had a good run and made it to the bikes within the top 20, unfortunately my transition to the bike wasn't the smoothest and I ended up crashing right in front of all the starters.Fortunately, I was able to make up for the crash at the start and finished the lap just a couple of minutes back. There was lead group of 15-20 riders that formed right after the start. I had to dig deep to get on it but by the time I got onto the back the attacks started, so I would get dropped and get back on a couple of times. After the third I couldn't connect anymore so I jumped on a chase group of 3 riders and stayed together form 3/4 of the lap picking up riders blown up by the intense pace set at the front by Tinker, Kimo and all those guys. Ryan Trebon had a huge gap on this lead group, however half way into the lap we passed him while he was getting attention from the course marshalls who were trying to remove copious amonts of jumping cholla covering his whole right side. Eventually they cut his jersey off and he finished the lap about 14 minutes behind me.
Sam was our second relay and he really set the course on fire with a 55 minutes lap. Andy did the third one turning a really fast lap considering all the traffic and finally Chris kept things under control with a lap just over 1 hour.The transition onto the night wasn't too bad but it wasn't perfect either. Sam had a leaky tire while I lost my handlebar light early on the lap then with a couple of miles to go my head light went dead. I rode home with a little LED light and the reflections from other rider's ligths.
After the race, Dean from Bicycle World TV came by to get the recap of the race from our perspective. He had stopped by half way into the race and talked to Sam, however our lead wasn't as comfortable at that time.
The rest of our Adrenaline Team riders did well too in there respective races. Adrenaline Masters came even close to cracking the podium with a 6th place.
Norma, Koko and I drove there Friday morning. Darrin had arrived a day earlier and had our team area set up and ready to go. I was really cool to be right on the expo area and having the RV is always a bonus too.
However, there is always drama. This time Koko was the main character. We had just arrived at the location when he decided to attack the little cholla cactus seen in the picture above, just in front of the TLP sign. I was a few yards away and when I heard him crying I thought another dog had attacked him. Norma quickly grabbed him regarless that he was covered in jumping cholla which ensured that she got a lot of needles on herself too. Within seconds friends and complete strangers came to our rescue armed with plastic hair combs and twizers. It was amazing to see the quick and caring reaction. It took several minutes to get most of the needles off his nose, face,ears, paws, mouth and even on his tongue. Someone else brought some medication to give him and soon he was back to his old self
Here is Norma with Koko in front of the Old Pueblo Saguaro. By the end of the weekend this tree would be covered with tubes and tires claimed by the course.
This is what Old Pueblo looks like. More than 1000 RVs, plus as many or more tents and you have a big town in the middle of the desert.
The LeMans style start is a most for this race as it would be impossible to get all the starters onto the bike at the same time. I got to do the start since I am a veteran at this. Done it 3 times over as many years.
I had a good run and made it to the bikes within the top 20, unfortunately my transition to the bike wasn't the smoothest and I ended up crashing right in front of all the starters.Fortunately, I was able to make up for the crash at the start and finished the lap just a couple of minutes back. There was lead group of 15-20 riders that formed right after the start. I had to dig deep to get on it but by the time I got onto the back the attacks started, so I would get dropped and get back on a couple of times. After the third I couldn't connect anymore so I jumped on a chase group of 3 riders and stayed together form 3/4 of the lap picking up riders blown up by the intense pace set at the front by Tinker, Kimo and all those guys. Ryan Trebon had a huge gap on this lead group, however half way into the lap we passed him while he was getting attention from the course marshalls who were trying to remove copious amonts of jumping cholla covering his whole right side. Eventually they cut his jersey off and he finished the lap about 14 minutes behind me.Sam was our second relay and he really set the course on fire with a 55 minutes lap. Andy did the third one turning a really fast lap considering all the traffic and finally Chris kept things under control with a lap just over 1 hour.The transition onto the night wasn't too bad but it wasn't perfect either. Sam had a leaky tire while I lost my handlebar light early on the lap then with a couple of miles to go my head light went dead. I rode home with a little LED light and the reflections from other rider's ligths.By the morning our lead was just over 14 minutes, so we had to make sure to continue turning fast laps, so I decided to rock the pink for extra motivation. I wore Norma's jersey, helmet and socks. Here I am posing by the Saguaro before my last lap.
Sam had some tendonitis on his right wrist, so Andy volunteered to do the last lap. He set out knowing that we had an almost comfortable lead, so the plan was to ride hard but conservatively to avoid a crash or a mechanical and he did, which secured our spot on top of the podium.
After the race, Dean from Bicycle World TV came by to get the recap of the race from our perspective. He had stopped by half way into the race and talked to Sam, however our lead wasn't as comfortable at that time.
The rest of our Adrenaline Team riders did well too in there respective races. Adrenaline Masters came even close to cracking the podium with a 6th place.Congrats to all of you racing this event and thanks to all of you that e-mail me to show your support.
Now it's time for some serius recovery in order to be ready for Estrella next weekend.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Back to Old Pueblo
To prove I am a racing fool. I’ve got my biked dialed up. My shoes velcroed tight and I really hope I don’t get into a fight. Especially not with a Cholla Cactus! That’s right, this weekend is the big show at the Old Pueblo. I’ll try to post updates as the race progresses but don’t count on it. It sounds like I’ll be doing the first lap because no one else wants to do the running.
You can get live updates here too.
Later,
Jeff
Monday, February 09, 2009
Four Races in Two Weeks
It's barely February but the racing calendar is pretty busy. I had started the MTB racing season a few weeks ago but the road racing season got started on Super Bowl Sunday with the Avondale Criterium, put together by Procon. My last road race was the Summit Center Stage race back in June 2008, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I toed to the line with about a dozen or so "old" guys in the 30+ category. I mainly hung in the back trying to get comfortable and stay out of trouble. After 20 some minutes of racing I decided to make a big effort but was quickly brought back by the bunch and we stayed together until the end. With half a lap to go, Swiss American and Bicycle Haus formed their trains and picked up the pace. I was planning to just watch from afar and stay out of trouble but when both teams hesitated waiting for the other one to launch the sprint, they left the whole right side of the road open. I saw the opportunity and gave it a go! I even attempted to throw my bike forward at the line and it seemed to have paid off as it required a camera review to confirm that I had won the race. Yeay for me! Later in the day I also did the 3/4 race. Procon had a huge showing on this race, so we knew it was a race that we could easily control. After a few timid attacks, I chased a few of them but tried not to work to much then on one of the primes I chased two guys and beat them for the prime. We had also opened up a pretty good gap on the group, so I put my head down and gave it all I had. With all my teammates blocking and marking in the back I was able to get up to a half a lap gap on the field then we started to count down the laps. With 4 to go the gap was shrinking but I felt I could hold them off then with 3 to go I hit one of the road reflectors with my rear wheel and pinch flatted. I tried riding it in but I had too many laps to go on a rim and was quickly picked up. Unfortunately for my team, they all had done a lot of work so our highest placed rider was 5th.
Sorry no pictures of that weekend.
We did take Koko out to McDowell for our MTB pre-ride and he loved all the attention.
Norma race too. Although she was dissappointed with her finish, she was able to shave 10 minutes off her best time on this very same course, so kudos to her. Her she is with Wendy and Lisa from Adrenaline who did the 1 and 2 in the Cat 2 Women.
I had a great start and managed not to blow up in the first part of the race. All position chances took place during the first lap. I started the second lap in 5th place and that's how I finish, not before having to push really hard to keep Eric Neat from catching me. Here I am coming into the finish and you could see Eric getting to the corner a few yards behind.
Lance Runyan, Tim Allen, Scott Keller and Kam Reedy (not pictured) rounded up the top five.
Then on Sunday it was time to head back to McDowell again but this time for a road crit. RPM team put together a race up there and eventhough it rained a lot earlier the skies held up at least for the majority my race (30+ again). The field was a little bigger and with the wet and cold conditions I wasn't too concerned about attacking, however I gave it a try once and got a little gap but couldn't hold it.
In the end Jeff Kluve, Jarrod Barnes and I ended up policing the front while teammate Ryan O'Connor was up ahead with another rider. Unfortunately for him his gears weren't working so he lost the final sprint. I completely lost track of the laps and when the rang the bell for the last lap I thought it was a prime and tried to go for it, but decided to sit up at the end just to find out that I could have gone a little longer and get 3rd. Three other guys went by me within yards of the finish so I came in in 6th.
Overall it's been two great weeks of racing. Now it's time to start looking forward to this weekend's mega event at the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo. Chris Sutter and I are teaming up with the Schultz brothers (Andy and Sam), so it would be interesting to battle it out against the always strong Kona Team. It sounds like both Barry Wicks and Ryan Trebon will be in attendance, so that makes things more exciting.
Sorry no pictures of that weekend.
We did take Koko out to McDowell for our MTB pre-ride and he loved all the attention.
Then this Saturday was the real thing. I had Koko for a warming up partner at the Team Adrenaline set up then it was time to head to the start of the 2nd race in the MBAA series.
Norma race too. Although she was dissappointed with her finish, she was able to shave 10 minutes off her best time on this very same course, so kudos to her. Her she is with Wendy and Lisa from Adrenaline who did the 1 and 2 in the Cat 2 Women.
I had a great start and managed not to blow up in the first part of the race. All position chances took place during the first lap. I started the second lap in 5th place and that's how I finish, not before having to push really hard to keep Eric Neat from catching me. Here I am coming into the finish and you could see Eric getting to the corner a few yards behind. Lance Runyan, Tim Allen, Scott Keller and Kam Reedy (not pictured) rounded up the top five. Then on Sunday it was time to head back to McDowell again but this time for a road crit. RPM team put together a race up there and eventhough it rained a lot earlier the skies held up at least for the majority my race (30+ again). The field was a little bigger and with the wet and cold conditions I wasn't too concerned about attacking, however I gave it a try once and got a little gap but couldn't hold it.In the end Jeff Kluve, Jarrod Barnes and I ended up policing the front while teammate Ryan O'Connor was up ahead with another rider. Unfortunately for him his gears weren't working so he lost the final sprint. I completely lost track of the laps and when the rang the bell for the last lap I thought it was a prime and tried to go for it, but decided to sit up at the end just to find out that I could have gone a little longer and get 3rd. Three other guys went by me within yards of the finish so I came in in 6th.Overall it's been two great weeks of racing. Now it's time to start looking forward to this weekend's mega event at the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo. Chris Sutter and I are teaming up with the Schultz brothers (Andy and Sam), so it would be interesting to battle it out against the always strong Kona Team. It sounds like both Barry Wicks and Ryan Trebon will be in attendance, so that makes things more exciting.Stayed tuned for updates!
Pura Vida!
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