First Ride of the year and an interiew for GT

I got out on my first ride of the year last week. I went with a couple of friends from work. For my buddy Greg it was his first time riding on this trail which was cool. I think he forgot to breath on some of the uphills. For all of you out there, breathing is key in most athletic endeavors. It was a beautiful day, nothing like doing a bike ride in the first week of January with short sleeves and shorts. I'm not in Michigan anymore! The trail was great, a little muddy on some of the sections, it made it slick but fun. I also got to see a group of the Mad Cat crew at the trail head after the ride. It was good to see those guys, you miss the people you see at races during the off season. A great day to start the year none the less. I will be getting out for another ride next week. It feels good to get the season started!

Also I did an interview for GT and its posted on the GT Facebook page and the GT Dirt Coalition blog. Heres a link if you'd like to read it!!

Cyclocross !!

What is cyclocross and where did it come from? Allow me just copy and paste some content from Wikipedia-
"There are many stories about the origins of cyclo-cross. One is that European road racers in the early 1900s would race each other to the next town over from them and that they were allowed to cut through farmer's fields, over fences or take any other shortcuts in order to make it to the next town first. This was sometimes called steeple chase as the only visible landmark in the next town was often the steeple. This was a way for them to stay in shape during the winter months and put a twist on road racing. In addition, riding off road in more difficult conditions than smooth pavement increased the intensity at which the cyclists were riding and improved their on-the-road bike handling abilities. Forced running sections, or portage, were incorporated to help deliver warm blood to the feet and toes, as well as exercise other groups of muscles. Daniel Gousseau of France is credited as having inspired the first cyclo-cross races and organizing the first French National Championship in 1902. Géo Lefèvre, the originator of the idea for the Tour de France, also played a key role in the early days of the sport."
Basically we race on dirt, grass, sand, mud whatever in 2 miles laps for about 60 minutes. We race on bikes that are pretty much road bile with slighty fatter tires and different brakes. The races also involve obstacles that we have to get off our bikes and jump over, or super steep hills or steps to carry your bike up. It is also synonmous with mud, sand, and rain. Pictures from epic races have the riders covered in mud with only the whites of their eyes visible. It's pretty much awesome!


So I was growing restless not racing something and I've always wanted to try cyclocross. Unfortunatley my car broke down a month ago and it took away all of my cyclocross bike money. I sat depressed in my house for a month and then realized with some slight modification my fixie commuter bike could be converted into a single speed cyclocross machine. I flipped the hub to the freewheel side, because keeping it fixed would not be a good idea. I am currently running a 46t X 18t combo until my 42t chainring comes in. I put some knobby tires on it which fit my frame because I run 700c wheels on a frame designed for 27" wheels. I also installed some brakes, which also seemed like the safe thing to do. So my spray painted black steel steed was now ready to race.

Last weekend I raced out in Folsom. The practice laps went great. I got to practice my dismounts and mounts. I was wishing I had the 42t chainring but it was managable in the tougher gearing and only made me faster if I could keep it up. Also I didn't have my rear brake yet. At the start line I throw down a little too hard and my chain popped off, I put it back on, and because I was upset I threw another 1000watt pedal stroke and popped my chain off again. So I'm 30 ft. from the start and I'm already 4 minutes back. I pushed hard and pulled back half the field and took 6th. I think I could've been in the top 3 if not for my chain mishap. All in all an awesome time!!

This Sunday there is a race in Sacramento in Discovery Park, just across the river from downtown. So if you find yourself enjoying a day at the park watching one of the most popular spectator sports in Europe come on down. races start at 9:30, but Keith will be racing with the badasses at 11am and I'll be racing the singlespeed class at 2pm. You can find more info at http://www.sacramentocx.com/!

Taking a break, hanging out in a lab and joining DBC

About three weeks ago was the last race i did. My body told me that is was the last race I should do for awhile due to the thorough butt-kicking I took! We all reach that point and it was time to get off the bike for a little bit. I went home, visited my family and spent my birthday in Michigan. Enjoying a lazy week.

When I came back I went to Sac State to volunteer for a study one of my roommate's classmates was doing. Not being a masters student myself I don't fully understand what the study is about but saw it as a good way to enjoy some free testing, and it sounded fun. First I did a VO2 max and VO2 submax test, Then I spend two weeks spending 3 hours a day in an altitude chamber. Every other day I did between 4 to 7 windgates before I went in the chamber. What are windgates? Well they suck, thats what they are. They involve doing 30 second sprints with a massive amount of resistance then a 4 minute cool down in between. The first session I nearly threw up!! You go as hard as you can for what feels like the longest 30 seconds ever, then you get to do it again 4 minutes later, and again 4 minutes after that, one day doing 7 straight windgates! I complain but it was kind of fun at the same time taking yourself to that pain level and fighting through it. Usually I took a exhausted nap in the altitude chamber afterwards or I watched Flight of the Concords episodes on my laptop.  After two weeks of that we retest my VO2 max and my submax to see how it changed. It's been neat to be involved and look forward to learn more about how different training exercises affect my fitness level.

In other news, last night Chris Hopkins and I drove to Davis to go to a Davis Bike Club race team meeting. After hearing some people talk and meeting some people on the team we joined.  I know Keith enjoys racing for DBC and I think there is a group of Cat 4's that can work together and support each other's goals during next season. This will be the first time I've raced for a team on the road bike and will have a lot to learn. But I look forward to having people to train with and learn from. So next year I will be racing on the road with a DBC team kit on. We will have to wait and see but hopefully I also get re-picked up by GT and get to continue to fly the GT colors on the mountain bike.

Overall this has been an amazing season, I won a lot of races, some of which were total surprises! Now it is time to start prep for next year. Time to hit the weights and get in some base mileage. I think I'm also going to flip the hub on the old fixie, put some nobby tires on it and make it into a singlespeed CX bike too have fun at a couple of cyclocross races!

2010 GT Bikes on New and Improved Website!!

Happened to notice that GT's website has been redesigned and updated with the 2010 bikes. Some things are still funky like the bike within the category are alphabetical instead of being by price. The new bikes are looking awesome though! I want the new Zaskar with the SRAM XX kit, check it out.

The new cyclocross bikes are on there but won't be available till the end of the season. The Carbon Force, an all mountain bike looks really sweet, there is an aluminum model as well. Looks like all the bikes were updated with at least a new paint job. There are also a couple more Road Bike and Women's specific bike options available from them. The 2010 line looks good!

I won the Solo Championship of 12 Hours of Humboldt

Saturday I did my first ever 12 hour solo endurance race. My first race ever was a endurance race, the 24 hours of Moab, but as a 4 man team and it was the infamous flash flood year where they cancelled the race in the middle of the night. I had some friends who were going to do it but cancelled about a week before the race, but I was already too excited to bail so I signed up for the race just two days before it anyway. So my first long race had less than ideal situations. I had no support crew. It's a 5 hour drive, and I had to work the day before. Lastly I had no idea what I was doing. Ever the optimist I didn't care, I was excited, and looked forward to it being a learning experience.

I bought a bunch of random food and packed the car Thursday night and went to work Friday morning. I left Sacramento at 5pm and arrived in Arcata, Ca about 11pm. I found the race site then parked down the street and slept in the back of the car. I slept horribly and had mosquitoes visit in the night.

I woke up around 6am and went to the race site. Started talking to other early risers and made some friends who in the end saved my day. Deanna, whose husband, Jason, was racing on a two person team with his buddy Gavin, volunteered to help feed and water me throughout the race. I was also helped by the wife of another rider. The two of them are the reason I won. Another example of how amazing the mountain bike community is. So I set up my EZup, bike stand and tools, then laid out my food. What do you eat during a 12 hour race? I have no idea so I brought everything. Of course I had Gu, Clif Blocks, Nectar bars. But I also brought chocolate donuts, bagels, PB&J, turkey, bananas, clementines, and trail mix. I knew I needed to eat about every 45 minutes, no more then 300 calories but no less then 150. I also put down a bottle of water every lap. Some bottles were Perpetuem or HEED. I also took endurolyte capsules every hour or so. Nutrition is super important and I knew I had to keep eating and drinking even when chewing seemed a chore.

The race is 8am to 8pm and you have to finish your last lap by 8pm. The course is 7.6 miles with 1,600 feet of climbing. We rolled out the start with the race organizer Vic. He bailed as soon as we hit a head wall of a climb. I stayed out front and just rode fast. I didn't ride very conservatively. I rode my first three laps at about a 40 minute pace, then slowed down to about a 50 minute pace for the next 4 or 5 laps. The course was beautiful, nothing really technical. The trails were smooth, but a lot of quick turns and switchbacks. There was a lot of climbing, most of it on fire roads, but always followed by amazing single track though redwood forests. Tinker Juarez talks about this as one of his favorite courses.

After about 6 hours of riding this amazing course I came by my tent and actually stopped. Deanna gave me some food and told me I was in 4th place overall. I was like cool! I asked her if anyone in my class was ahead of me. She said no, only teams were ahead of me, I was in first place overall the solo riders!!! I was stoked, and immediately got on my bike to defend my lead. I did have a couple of slow laps, and it became hard to eat real food. I did realize that clementines tasted like magic! It was awesome.

My climbing definitely slowed as the day went by, but the other riders out there were encouraging. There was a guy on a unicycle doing it solo and it was awesome. He was definitely the races most popular guy. All the riders were very supportive, every time I rode through the pits people cheered, it was a great time. I thought I might be able to get in 14 laps but came up a little short and did 13 laps, 99 miles, 21,000 feet of climbing in 11 hours 18 minutes. This put me as the fastest solo rider at the race by about 30 minutes and I was only beat by 4 teams!

Overall it was awesome experience, I have tons of stories from this race. It was also a great realization that I'm apparently good at these endurance races. This win caught me by surprise and is the one I'm most proud of so far this year.

GT Demo Tour in California

Stop by and try out one of GT's 2010 Zaskar, Marathon or Force carbon bikes. Everyone who tries a bike gets some SWAG. That's right, we are giving you stuff just to ride our bikes! Don't forget to bring a helmet, shoes, pedals and some ID. Anyone under 18 needs to bring a parent as well so they can sign your life away.

August 30
Consumer Demo Day
Nisene Marks Parking lot (Behind the Aptos Post Office)
500 Cathedral Dr
Aptos, CA 95003

This is just annouced so isn't on the calendar on the GT Demo Team website, but info and other dates are at this site- http://www.experiencegt.com/index.html

First Place at Howell Mountain Challenge Mountain Bike Race!!

I woke up early this morning to make the two hour drive to Napa Valley. I drove past a lot of the wineries I visited with my Mom a couple months ago. Took a right after St Helena and headed up the mountains on the east side of the Valley. I got to the course early, turns out Dean Meyer, another GT rider was also there to race. We set up both our tents and I went to warm up on the course. I had just enough time to get in a lap, which is 10 miles. This could have turned out to be a mistake because the course had a lot more climbing than I thought and was forced to work a little too hard for a warm up.

I raced in cat2 19-34 class. We did two 10 miles laps. There was a lot of us at the start, and one thing about mountain bike racing is you don't want to get caught behind the pack once the singletrack starts. The start was uphill off the line on pavement and then narrowed into a dirt path. I made sure I was lined up at the front on the start line and then hammered up the hill and reached the singletrack first. I could feel some lactic acid build up from this effort making me nervous about my extra long warm up. I got passed by someone in a different age group but kept my own pace. The group stayed behind me till we hit some uphill singletrack switchbacks in the first 1/3 of the first lap and then I left them and never saw anyone from my class again. (Podium pic taken a little late, no worries Rachel)

The course was amazing. Lots of singletrack with switchbacks both uphill and down and some double track flats or slight downhills to motor down. Cool little tech sections were scattered about too. The course threw about half a dozen tough climbs at you that were just long enough to hate them... a lot, glad I'm not Cat 1 like Dean who had to race three laps. One of which had to be walked it was so steep and loose. Also at the end of the laps was a huge set of rocky rollers with the crest and trough of all three of them being about a story and half tall deep and both sides being super steep. It was a course that changed terrain quickly and you had to look ahead to make sure you were in the right gear. The other plus was it was on a college campus and they opened the showers for us, which was nice after the dusty hot ride we had, thankfully most of the course was shaded!

Riding the last half of the first lap and beginning of second lap was lonely and its tough to push yourself and stay focused sometimes when your riding alone. It was nice to start catching some of the slower Cat 1 guys it makes you ride faster when you have someone to catch. On the last long climb before the end of the last lap there was a young kid laying on the side of the trail with a bunch of other riders. He didn't look like he crashed but instead heat exhaustion or heat stroke. We could hear emergency services coming up the fire road, one of which almost got stuck on those rocky rollers I described.

I took the turn off for the finish line and rode around the track through the finish line arms up in the air. I have been working on my climbing and this race tested both that and my endurance. I have a lot more work still but I know I can get better. Overall it was one of the best courses I've ever ridden, it was a great course for the carbon hardtail climbing machine that is the Zaskar.

In the picture below is Dean, in his GT shirt, Chris, in green who took second in his class, and I've done some road races with, and Justin, a young kid racing his first race. Justin picked a tough course to make his first race. He was worried about walking parts of the course and riding with the other riders. But he finished! which was a great feat for him. He was tired but enjoyed himself, who knows this kids may get addicted like the rest of us and come back three or four years from now and destroy us all on the race course. Keep riding Justin, cause mountain bike racing is fun!