Cross season or Off season?
Shortly after it seemed like I was finally getting a cross season on track, work threw me another curve ball. While I’m more than happy to still be employed in this economy, 60 hour work weeks have become the norm the last few weeks. It’s been relentless. No matter what is going on in life and with work, I can usually always squeeze in some rides. Lately, that hasn’t been the case.
Then, just as my momentum with racing and training seemed to be picking up, I took a trip to South Dakota to hunt pheasants with my Dad and a few of his friends. It was a great time, but there was no riding to speak of. The break from work and the ‘world’ was nice though.
Hunting Pheasants in South Dakota:
Aside from work, I’m also organizing our Pro 1-2 team, so that has been keeping me busy too. Luckily, we have a rock solid roster of 12 Pro 1-2 riders for 2010, so I’m stoked. We had our first ride this past Saturday and it was great to see the new guys jive with the returning riders.
Then after nearly zero training, jumped into a cross race on Sunday. Initially, it went well. I made the break of 5 guys off the front, but then the rough course took it’s toll on my back, which then seized up a little and I just had no snap to keep up. My final result was a little embarrassing, but it was good to get back out there.
Getting some air on the cross course yesterday:
Ouch …
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Boulder Cup 2010
I planned to race this a few months ago, but my cross season had to be adjusted, so I just came to watch. It was a great day. Great weather, huge crowd and a legit field. Nothing like a UCI cross race on the front range. I’m not sure you’ll see many cyclocross crowds bigger anywhere in the US. Katie Compton walked away from the women’s field proving again why she is number one in the world and Tim Johnson won the mens race to make it two wins in one weekend.
Hopefully next year I’ll make to the start line. Enjoy the video of the first lap of the men’s pro race. Sweet to see some big names outside my backdoor.
Boulder Cup 2010, originally uploaded by Garrett.Davis.
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Cross “Racing”
Well, after postponing my cyclocross racing for 3 weeks, I finally dove back in … with wait for it …. 4 days of training on the bike since my last race at the beginning of September. I wanted to take a break after a very long road season, but as the break went on, I realized I needed more of a break than I thought I would. Anyway, it’s over now and I’m back racing.
Let me say, jumping into the Pro (open) field in Colorado after all the big dogs have all ready been racing for a month is a shock to the system to say the least. I got my ass handed to me at the cross race up in Boulder yesterday. It was a really tough. It was bumpier than a lot of mountain bike races I’ve done. Very technical, but it was fun. I had a good start considering I was at the bottom of the call up list and rode well for about a half hour. With 15 minutes to go, I was done. Literally. I think 10 guys passed me on the last few laps. I finished, but almost dead last. I was so cooked afterwards, but it was a cool venue with some big names racing. Jeremy Hogan-Kobelski from Gary Fisher nipped Matt Pacocha for the win.
That’s me, deep in the pain/shame cave:
Today was much, much better. It was again a technical, fast and dry course. I figured yesterday would have done one of two things, either kick started my engine, or run it dry. Luckily, it appeared to be the first. Again, I had a relatively good start, moved up and had a good fast race. I had one little crash, but nothing too bad. I was actually racing today and feeling strong. I finished 21st out of some 40 starters in the mens open field. Matt Pacocha won with Daniel Summerhill in second.
I absolutely love cross. It’s hard as hell, but it reminds me a lot of mountain biking. Your result generally represents how well you did and how strong you really are. I like the solo suffering aspect and I get to channel all my old technical skills from my mountain racing days. Super fun.
So, I think I’m going to keep it up. Race until the middle of December, train at low volume with high intensity and then take a break and hit base hard for the road season.
One of these years, maybe in 2010, I want to plan my road season so I can race a full cross schedule and really try and get good at it. I think it could potentially be my next obsession … after I get my Cat 1 road upgrade of course.
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2009.
It was a good year. Results weren’t great, but I had a lot of fun and made some progress. I can’t ask for much more than that. I got to race a good amount, but I hope I can double my number of races next year!
I’m looking forward to a little cross racing this fall, snowboarding and getting in some big miles in preparation for next year. Primal will be re-loading and it looks like we will have a very solid team for next year to add to the great core we established this year.
Cheers!
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R.I.P. – Frank Vandenbroucke
One of the greatest one day cyclist of the late 90’s has passed.
“VDB” put to PRO in pro cycling.
He had some of the most inspiring rides of any cyclist. Sad end for a gifted, yet troubled cyclist.
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Steamboat Stage Race
Long time no blog-ie … sorry. Once I got back from Steamboat I needed some decompression time.
Steamboat was the best race rolled into the biggest sh*t-show ever. I hope they put this race on again because Steamboat is a great town, the courses were epic and really hard. Moots, Steamboat Grand and Orange Peel took damn good care of us. What a great town/race/etc …
I feel like a proper serious race report would be too stuffy, so I’m going to mix it up with highlights, lowlights and reports on the general tom-foolery which is my life racing on the lower fringes of “pro-cycling”. Or as we call it “kinda-pro”.
Like a few other big races this year, luck was not on our site. Nearly the entire team lost 10+ minutes on the circuit race after a medley of flat tires and mechanicals.
We laughed it off and went to the front on the road race to help Ben Day bring a break back. The Fly V Aussie rider put on a freaking clinic the whole weekend. It was unreal how strong he was. Drew threw down for an 8th place, which considering the climbing was what I think his best result to date.
The crit went very well, with Nick and I patrolling the front. We avoided a crash when Garmin rider Summerhill went down in a fast corner. Nick took a late race flyer and took 6th and Drew and I ended up in the top 20 in the field sprint. I think we could have done better, but man, I was feeling strong. It’s nice to finish a season feeling good for a change.
Here are some highlights:
“Sippie-cup” Drew enjoyed his Capri Suns:
Steamboat was beautiful, which was expected:
Kina and Celeste took care of our battered bodies with daily massage.
Thank you Symmetry for a season of the best support:
Congrats to my buddy Alex Hagman for winning stage 3 on a monster uphill sprint finish. Thanks to Moots for the factory tour and awards ceremony (and beer):
Our hotels were the nicest we’ve had all season. The views were great and Drew barely snored the whole trip:
The awesome guys at the legendary bike shop Orange Peel fabricated my teammate a new derailler hanger in 1 hour. Thanks for keeping us in the race! The is the spot where Moots bicycles was born
The road race course was EPIC
The crit course was pretty great too:
The Primal/HART elite team after our last road race of the year. (Nick, Me, Ewam, Drew and Mark):
I almost forgot, Mark won the Pro Men Lantern Rouge. His response … “ze lantern is mine”! Even better, my car had a hook made just for his new hardware, so he could enjoy it the whole ride home. Or at least until we stopped in Silverthorne for that hatefully good, yet disgusting end of the year fast food binge we treated ourselves to. Drew ate something like 4 cheeseburgers. At one point I turned the light on in the car and almost had to stop eating because the food looked so gross. Mark’s response, “turn the light off, that way you just focus on how good it is”.
What a fun year. Primal/HART will be reloading and traveling even more next year, so I’m excited. It was a really long season with some rough patches, but I came around at the end and have great momentum going into next year.
I’ll be racing a little cross this fall and dreaming of 2010. I can’t wait.
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The Kopp
Koppenberg.
Aside from being a famously brutal, race making climb in euro spring classic Ronde van Vlaanderen, it’s also a “spring classic” race here in Colorado. Like the Boulder Roubaix, it’s a race held on the outskirts of Boulder, on dirt and gravel. It’s a nod to the Belgium spring classics. We don’t have cobbles, but flying over gravel is the next best thing.
The defining feature of the course is the climb, which the pros see 8 times. It’s steep and very technical:
Last year, the race was cancelled due to snowy weather, this year, after 2 or 3 cancellations from weather in the spring, they moved it to the end of the season. Due to my mountain biking roots, these are my kind of races, so I was pumped.
It was going to be a fast race. Phinney showed up with a good team of support guys from Livestrong and Slipstream had a solid presence as well. Then add the normal local firepower from Horizon Organics, Subaru-AutoVista, Michelob/Big Shark, and VC-Natural Grocers and it was going to be a tough day.
The first few laps were insane. The climb was barely rideable and all I can say is I’m glad it was dry. I was good to go. I made the front group on the first two laps, but like Snake Alley, this punchy little climb is an elastic band. Each lap a few guys either fall, loose the wheel in front of them or get dropped at the top.
My teammate Drew made the front break which consisted of names like Phinney and Moninger. Nick and I were just behind. While I had a good day, it could have been better. I had a fall on the climb on the fifth time up, which cost me a bunch of time and then I attacked the chase group leading into the finish. It was a move that would either be really good on the results or really bad. I ended up being caught right before the line and like 7 guys passed me. I ended up 26th though, which wasn’t too bad considering the fall. There were around 70 starters and 34 finishers just to put it in perspective.
While I think I had it in my for a top 15 or even a top 10, I still had a decent day. I’m a little sore from my fall on the climb, but thankful it isn’t worse and I’m also very thankful my BH bike held up so well. The bike shifted well, I never dropped my chain and my tires never went flat.
Big props to my teammate Drew who came in at 9th, just behind Phinney. The force is strong with DC. I expect big things from him …
Here are some pics of the mayhem.
First Time up the climb: Insanity
Nick and Drew on Coyle’s wheel:
Drew slayin’ it to make the break:
Feelin’ good:
My last time up the climb … ouch!:
More pictures of the Pro race here
On deck is a 4 day stage race in Steamboat. I’m excited, it will be beautiful, fast and fun. It will also mark the official end of my 2009 road season. That’s ok though, Cyclocross is coming …
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Breakthroughs.
It’s been an off year for me with the racing (see previous blog posts). I’ve been really close to some breakthroughs a few times, but haven’t actually had any. The wait came to an end at the Colorado State Criterium Championships at Niwot. It’s a classic course with a long history, mostly of being brutally fast.
After another dismal day at the Raisin Hope classic, I had a little breakdown/”come to jesus” about how I was racing. I did some reflecting and realized some mental stuff I’ve been doing during races. Mostly, my frustrations just came to a head and I made some decisions on how I wanted to move forward.
The next day at Niwot, I as relaxed and ready. My legs didn’t feel good, but I didn’t care. From the gun, I made the first few selections. This race usually has a high attrition rate, so even finishing is usually a small victory. Once I made it through the first 20 minutes, which is usually the hardest, I settled into the groove. While I tail-gunned the race for most of the time, I was feeling good and was never in danger of being dropped. In the final laps, I made my way through the pack and while I started my journey to the front too late, I ended up in 19th place at the Colorado Senior Pro 1-2 crit championships. My teammate Drew came in for 5th place to end a great day. It was a tough field and a tough course, so I was really happy. The field was littered with guys from Garmin, Fly V Australia, Hotel San Jose and the usual local pros.
Niwot:
The next Thursday was our local CSP Table Mountain weekly crit series. I was active the whole race, chasing moves down, getting in a break and with 3 to go, our team organized a leadout for our sprinter Mark. We controlled the last 2 laps on the front and then executed a nearly perfect leadout. I was the last guy to peel off and while Mark didn’t get the win, he did get 3rd and I came in for 10th. It was a really fun night and great to have the team riding so well together.
Then last weekend, at the Primal/HART crit, I was again feeling good mentally and physically. I patrolled the front, chased down moves and worked my butt off for the team and made the final selection. Unfortunately, on the final lap, Dirk Friel went down in front of me really hard when someone swerved into him. In the mayhem, I had to hit the brakes and slow down. My chances of a top 10 or 15 were dashed, but I still managed to come in around 26th, which I was ok with considering.
What can I say, it hasn’t been run-away successes, but I’ve had some measurable progress both mentally and physically with racing. It feels good to finally feel that and I hope to carry the momentum I’ve found into the home stretch of the road season and then cross.
I have tried to figure out what the difference is between the last two weeks and before. All I can find is an increase in hunger, a stronger mental state and I quit wearing gloves. I know it sounds funny, but I think it’s the lack of gloves. It’s very representative of confronting fears and going “All in”.
Filed under: Cycling, Life, Racing | 1 Comment
Vain?
Dear Vino -
I just wanted to let you know how much I like your new jersey design.
That is exactly what I would do! Just print my face on the front – Brilliant!
So glad to see you back racing
Your fan,
The God Narcissus
P.S. Nice BH!
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