Bikes, Travel & Bagels

Cyclocross Continues... in the Dark.

2010-11-17T20:32:00.002-05:00

The time change has wreaked some havoc on my training. Riding in the dark, in the cold, alone, is generally less than fun. Somehow I continue to drag myself out there, a few nights a week. The thought of taking a really long lunch during work and getting out while there is daylight has crossed my mind a few times. After two weekends without racing I was relatively psyched for the West Hill Shop race in Putney, VT. It's a course that suits me well, a fair amount of turning technique required in the first half of the lap followed by some drawn out sections requiring some 'dig in' power.

Last year's race went something like this: I started great, I was hanging with the top 4 or 5 guys for the first 2 or 3 laps, then I popped at the top of the run up. I drifted back a little until Jake caught me, passed me and dropped me. Then I caught up and dropped him with a half lap to go.

This year's race played out similarly. I wasn't quite with the top guys, but I was ahead of Jake. Then Jake caught up. Jake and I rode together for a few laps. On one lap he knocked his seat slightly crooked, but he took care of it quickly. The very next lap, in the very same place, my seat got knocked completely out of whack. The nose was pointed sky-ward. I managed to knock it down fairly far, but it was still rather uncomfortable. Jake opened a gap here, enough that I wasn't able to catch back up with my seat in such an awkward position. He took further advantage and attacked where I couldn't really tell what the gap between us was.

So Jake, I'm not going to blame my seat situation on me losing to you, because you might have beat me this time. However, I am going to blame it for not providing the opportunity for us to have a more exciting finish.

Check out the playlist of videos covering all seven laps.

Gran Prix of Gloucester 2010

2010-10-07T22:17:00.002-04:00

This post will simply contain video footage, except for this link to photos.
And the statement, "Wow I need to get some training in!"

On with the featured videos!!

Day 1 - The start of the race. Totally sketchy, downhill into a turn very quickly in the lap. This guy goes down, hard, in front of me. It seemed he was getting up pretty quick though as I went by.

Gloucester Day 1 Start - Cat 3 Men from Scott Frison on Vimeo.

Day 2 - Lap 1

Day 2 - Lap 2

Day 2 - Lap 3

Day 2 - Lap 4

Day 2 - Lap 5

Day 2 - Lap 6

Yeah, so I guess I tend to tilt my head to the left. Thanks to helmet cam, it looks like I view the world at an off kilter angle while riding a bike. Maybe it's right, though I suspect it has more to do with oxygen levels than head angles.

Mt. Washington Bicycle Hill Climb 2010

2010-08-25T21:21:00.003-04:00

Most of the mountain, especially the early miles, is a little bit of a blur. I never saw the 1 mile post, so by the time I got to the 2 mile post I was wondering where I was and thinking this was going to be a bit longer of a ride than I remembered. Realizing that I'd actually completed 2 miles was a relief.

The Mt. Washington Auto Road is relentless. Sections that would appear flat are not, and if you're really racing they're just a good place to pick up a little extra speed. Climbing up the road on a bike hurts the whole way to the top, but as long as you keep pedaling, the top continues to get closer.

I spent most of my ride around 5 or 7 other guys. Some of them finally pulled away, others dropped off the pace. The company of those guys, and the shared suffering kept me going. If they weren't going to give up, neither was I. It could just be me, but there is some kind of bond formed with the other people, these strangers, as we work are way up the mountain. At first, the feeling is that of out-climbing the others. It is, after all, a race. But after riding beside another person for several minutes, some brief snippets of conversation start to break out. Mark and I encouraged each other over the last 2 miles, we rode close together for nearly 3.5 miles. I didn't get his name until there was less than a mile to go.

The spectators at the finish provide an overwhelming emotional support. It's as if every racer is the loved one they are there to support. A race number may be all they have to cheer a rider on with, but it's enough. The cheering, clapping, and mentally willing the riders up the final slope. Strangers pushing strangers up the steepest part, when the last 7.6 miles had left them no strength to get up the taunting slope.

Getting to the top is enough for some. A life accomplishment, 'I didn't give up, I made it.' For others, it's a matter a making it within a goal time. For me, it was 1 hour, 20 minutes. I finished in 1 hour, 16 minutes, 7 seconds.

Photos here.

The final 9 minutes of the climb in the video below.

Finishing the Mt. Washington hill climb from Scott Frison on Vimeo.

2010 Wilderness 101

2010-08-01T19:36:00.006-04:00

Let me just say that I'm pretty sure there was no way I had enough miles under my legs to finish a 101 mile mountain bike race with any kind of credible strength. I've been saying it for a month. Anyone that I told about the race, I also told that I was expecting at least a 10 hour finishing time.

So we flew down to Coburn, PA in the T-jet, err, drove in Taylor's Saab. We set up camp with the crew of Jake's friends from the Pittsburgh area, and after an adventure to find water we rolled out for a little spin on the bikes to check out the final few miles of the course. I'm glad we did, it rendered handy information during the race.

Upon returning from the ride we stopped by the campsite of some other people Jake knew from CT. After some arm twisting they convinced us to come back and help them finish off the food they'd made, chicken, pasta, and salad. I downed a bit of their food and had a healthy plateful of pasta and sauce that Jake's wife had sent along with us. I have to say, events that combine camping and mountain biking draw the most awesome people.

The Race:
We rolled out of the park and out of Coburn at about 7am and the riders immediately began to string out. We took advantage of space on the road and moved ourselves up, getting quite a bit closer to the front of the race, though not completely at the front. I saw Jake make the left hand turn at the bridge and figured it would the last I'd see him until the finish. Shortly there after, Lee, Chris, Taylor and I began ascending the first climb of the day. We held a comfortable pace over the top and proceeded into a dust cloud of a descent. I think I hit the max speed of the day bombing down that dirt road, my computer told me 38.5 mph. It was like one of those old racing games for Atari or early Nintendo, dodging from side to side of the road to work my way through groups of riders. Did I mention the dust fog?

The course was relatively unexciting for a little while, on the moderately rolling stuff we drafted with other groups of people, though I'm pretty sure our small posse ended up at the front doing most of the pulling in these groups. At one point, this one rider who I initially thought was a girl, but upon seeing them finish, may have actually been a guy, was messing with the feng shui of the group effort. I was a little annoyed with this rider and jumped to the front of the train and dropped some hammers in hopes of dropping them from the group. This wasn't level eight Bowser hammer throwing but enough that I thought shortly there after it may not have been such a good idea. I think we dropped the rider though, there were no more episodes of blasting up the middle of the group on a slight incline only to slow down and get in the way.

Anyhow, I digress. On the climbs we held a quick, but comfortable pace, and on flat to rolling stuff we did the drafting thing. Really groovy stuff, we were passing the miles pretty quickly. Aid station 1 came and went, we barely slowed for it, opting to start right into the climb leading out of the aid station. Then came the first major trail descent. It was an old jeep type road, wide, but the grass was so tall everywhere there was really only one line down the hill; where the trail was beat into the ground. I was ripping down this descent when I flew by Jake standing on the side of the trail, "Jake, WTF!?" I'm not really sure what he yelled back, I was too far gone and there was too much trail noise.

We popped out onto another dirt road climb. I pulled up to a singlespeeder and held pace as I checked back for my compatriots. They weren't too far back so I held my pace with this SS guy and had a little chat with him. Turns out he'd almost given up mountain biking after breaking too many derailleurs, but managed to stick with it after being introduced to the world of single speeds. Crazy. I was happy to make full use of my range of gears. Into another trail and a slow descent to the three bridges before yet another climb. At this point I didn't see the other three guys, but figured they weren't far behind. Following another ripping jeep road descent I latched onto two other guys until aid station 2.

In a short bit, Lee and Chris rolled in, then Taylor shortly after them. I just continued shoving food in my face while the took care of their needs. Once everyone was set we rolled out, 40-ish miles complete, and into possibly the longest climb of the day. We came upon a group of 3 or 4 guys on a small knoll before the real climb and I pulled in front of them as I stood up to stretch the legs, Lee, Chris, and Taylor just staying behind these guys. We got into the climb and I settled into a happy pace, swallowing up a rider from Sid's-NYC. Initially I just followed his wheel, but then he clearly pulled off to let me lead the effort. I obliged and continued on. Then I decided to check for my guys. I figured they were right behind me, but it turns out that the riders I heard behind were not them. I'd opened a gap by accident. After some thinking I decided to keep going with my pace, it was comfortable and I was passing riders, though Sid's-NYC kept hanging on my wheel. I sort pulled to the side once or twice to see if he'd pull through and lead the effort for a little while. No dice. Whatever man, I'm a climbing machine, at least for now. I figured I was going to blow up somewhere between aid station 3 and 4. So I didn't think too much of pulling away from my friends, they'd probably catch up after my implosion.

We finally crested the top of Greenlee Road, and I was thankful, or so I thought I was. It had been nearly 4 miles of constant climbing. I plunged into Croyle Run Trail. It was rougher than a corn cob. When I finally got to the bottom, I felt like I'd been thrown into a dryer for some tumbling action. Rarely is one so happy to be climbing again; at least climbing was smooth. More kidney beating followed down telephone trail. Peeling my fingers off the grips hurt like a son of a...

Into aid station 3. I still felt good, despite being roughed up. Coming Out of three was an immediate turn up Lower Sassafrass Trail, the long single track climb of the day. A little bit of a challenge, but really not that bad, at least when things are going well. Coming down the other side of the hill on Upper Sassafrass was steep, my butt was way behind the rear wheel. The rough and tumble was replaced with a dry, dusty, sandy trail which the rear wheel just skidded through with minimal slowing effect. At one point the trail turned right rather hard, followed by a hard left with a large tree in the apex of the left. I got around the right only to deem that I was headed for the tree. I turned hard into the side of the hill so I could stop. Standing there, it was clear that plenty of other people had been in a similar situation and just cut to the left of the tree in order to make the corner. On to the bottom and an extended section of cross country style singletrack, good stuff. I came across a berm in the trail that screamed jump, so I hit it since I was still feeling good and energized with about 60 miles out of the way.

My one and only cramp scare came when I popped out of the trail and turned up yet another hill. My right leg got all sorts of funny in various places in the quad and hamstring. I kind of shook the leg, rubbed it, and changed the gear into an easier cadence along with downing about half of my bottle of Gatorade. Luckily it went away within a minute or two without any need to stop pedaling.

Somewhere around mile 68 I popped out onto something that resembled civilization and some kind of major road. I say major since it had nice 5 or 6 foot shoulders on it. A half mile up that road was aid station 4. More food, a change of gloves, some lube onto the chain, and a little stretch of the hammies. Roll out of aid station 4 and into, wait for it, another long climb! Nearly the last major climb of the day though, so it was all good. Despite what seemed like a decent sized crowd at the aid station things were pretty thin climbing the hill. My stomach had been a little funky since about the same time the cramp scare came. I was still drinking but maybe not taking in the food as much as I'd been. I was still doing good though. Things changed over to rolling to slightly downhill just before mile 80, and this is where things got lonely so to speak. It was the last sighting I'd have of another rider for quite some time. As I worked my way down through yet more of a beating towards aid station 5, I was really starting to get a little annoyed with how many rocks were plastered all over the trail. Then I saw Kristy and Hollis standing off the trail, their cheers provided a little pick-me-up. I figured the aid station was close. I took a few more minutes of jackhammer torture and popped out onto a road. I then realize that aid station 5 was a few more miles down the road. "How the hell did they get that far up the trail," was all I could wonder the rest of the way into the aid station.

I arrived at the aid station, the lone rider for the volunteers to help. Despite a slightly irritated stomach I tried to put some snacks down the hatch. It was at this moment that I experienced a culinary mutant. In my effort to shovel food in my face, even as I jumped back on the bike, I had a bite of Snickers followed by a few wheat Pringles chips. What a flavor combination, I don't necessarily recommend it for your next dessert party. Trying to wash it down with fruit punch Gatorade added to the oddity.

So I'm leaving the final aid station, and the volunteers tell me, "Only 12 miles left." I replied, "Just a drop in the hat at this point." The real torture now began. The trail turned into boooooooooooooooooooring. Straight, flat rail trail nonsense. Easy on the body, but not nearly as entertaining. A couple miles of that finally ended as the road turned up into the final climb. I was doing good until the road turned steeper and kept torturing me with false summits. I was finally starting to crack. On the upside, once I got over this hill there wasn't far to go, I just had to keep the pedals turning. I finally pulled over the real summit, gave thanks and praise, and started down the other side.

I immediately started cursing again. Even though it was a dirt road and not ridiculous trail nonsense, it was still rough enough to really hurt after the beating that had already been handed down. The bottom finally arrived and there was much rejoicing. Angels sang and minstrels danced and played instruments. The short walk of hike-a-bike was less than cool, but I was close to the finish and I'd seen the trail from here on out, so it didn't bother me all that much. A little more rail trail ended with a super narrow foot bridge of which my handlebars barely squeezed between the railings. Despite my feeble state, I managed to not stuff my handlebars into the railing and send myself tumbling over the side. Off the bridge and into an old railroad tunnel. This was the second tunnel, actually. The first was longer and therefore much darker in the middle. I'd nearly come to a stop just because I couldn't see what I was riding, luckily it was smooth through the first tunnel. The second one had huge chunks of rock scattered about. It's a little difficult to see them in the dark with a blinding light coming from the other end of the tunnel. Luckily I managed to avoid any catastrophic collisions and came out of the tunnel unscathed.

I checked my watch. I had 4 to 6 minutes to make about a mile and a half back to town and still be sub-9 hours. If had hammers to throw, I'd have been throwing like Bowser in level 8, but there were none and I kept telling myself, "Pedal, pedal, pedal."

I pulled across the line, official finishing time, 8 hours, 57 minutes, 44 seconds. Way ahead of where I really thought I'd be. Granted, I walked around about as fast as the living dead and sat down like a rag doll for a solid two hours before I started to feel right, but I was happy to have held off cracking until 40 or 50 miles after I thought it would happen.

So to all those of whom I informed of my doubt, apparently less was more in this case. I'm pretty damn surprised myself to be honest. What'll happen next year? Eight and a half hours? Maybe I'll just quit while I'm ahead. Though, the thought of hanging out with some really great people again certainly has its draw. Who else would feed you food, ride some absurd distance in the woods with you, then party following the race with keg stands and all. Okay, I didn't witness the keg stands, and I only had about a half glass of the beer from the local brewery, I was somewhere close to passing out in my chair with most of the other people at our campsite.

The Condensed Version

2010-07-26T21:58:00.003-04:00

A lot has happened in the two months since my last post, I should really keep on top of this blogging thing, but I often find myself forgetting to get things written down. I'll try to bring it all up to speed with the condensed version of June and July.

Early June saw me out riding and starting to get stronger, only to take a significant hiatus with a trip to the Cancun region of Mexico with two of my friends. The trip was not the best for my training considering the swaths of all inclusive food and alcoholic beverages surrounding me. Regardless, it was rather nice to get out of the country for the second time this year, and it was quite relaxing. In true nature to my inability to sit still for very long, I essentially forced Mike and Derek into spending a day on an excursion. The highlight of the excursion, and likely of the trip, at least for me, was visiting the Mayan ruins at Coba and climbing the 40 meter tall pyramid. Pictures of the trip can be found here.

Back in the states I got back to riding, though not as ferociously as past summers have seen from me. I'm really trying to chill out and not have a mental burn out before the middle of cyclocross season. This closes June and brings in July.

Just as I was getting back on track, it was time for another trip. This time I headed for Newport News, VA to celebrate the marriage of my long time friend Todd and his now wife Kate. Congrats to the newly weds, two people certainly made for each other. It was a very enjoyable weekend with a great opportunity to see some people I had not seen in some time.

Back in Connecticut, I began to realize that I'd signed up for a ridiculously long race and it was sitting around 3 weeks away. My mileage was certainly not where it should be. I might note, that with the impending doom of the Wilderness 101 approaching this weekend, I'm pretty sure I still have not put in the hours required to survive this race without entering the initial stages of rhabdomyolysis.

With two weeks to go a few of us riding the 101 headed for an area just North of Poughkeepsie, NY for a 12 hour race. I had no intentions of racing for a full 12 hours, only to put in several hours of riding and call it a day when I felt I'd had enough. That's about what I did too; I rode for nearly 5 hours took a nice break, then put another lap in and called it a day.

So here I am, contemplating my life decisions and whether I'll actually be able to finish the 101. I should have a real good story after the coming weekend.

We have lift off!!

2010-06-05T14:31:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago I took a little trip to Florida to watch something I've wanted to see for a long time, the launch of a space shuttle. With only three planned launches left including this one I was hoping to see, I knew I need to get there. It also works quite well that my brother lives relatively close to Cape Canaveral. I would have the opportunity to spend time with him and his family and meet up with my aunt and uncle and cousins that live in the area.

We headed for Titusville pretty early in the morning to find a place to park and watch the launch. We arrived nearly three and a half hours before the 2:20pm launch time, but it was none to early. People were already parking along the waterfront and staking their spots to watch. We found a great spot with a great view of the launch pad. Despite being 12 miles away, we could see the launch complex pretty clearly with the naked eye. I could see it really well with the super telephoto lens that I rented for my camera. It was just a matter of waiting for launch.

After waiting and waiting and waiting the launch was finally drawing very near. Fortunately it was a beautiful sunny afternoon so the chances of a cancelled launch were very slim. A few minutes before the launch a gentleman with a portable tv came over and stood near me. Now I knew exactly where the countdown was. Right on time, the cloud of smoke billowed from the launch pad. The moment was very surreal for me.

Shortly after the smoke appeared the shuttle could be seen lifting into the air. The sight was incredible!

I took a number of photos, of course. You can view them here.

'Singlespeed-a-palooza' or 'maybe racing singlespeed isn't so bad'

2010-05-12T21:01:00.005-04:00

Short story; Jake and I were to race at Singlespeed-a-palooza, Jake broke the end of his collarbone, Lee says, "I'll be 'Jake'." Lee rides Jake's bike at Singlespeed-a-palooza, Jake drinks beer and chats people up at the event venue.

Considering my torturous ride the week before, I planned on simply hanging out for a ride in the trails at Stuart State Forest just West of Newburgh, NY. It was cold, it was wet, and 25 miles of trails on top that was going to equal a long ride.

Amidst a light rain, the race started and yet again I was somewhere near the back of the field. It didn't take long to get up to speed and wind out my one gear on the dirt road. Soon we were in the trails though, and my gear was just right for these trails. I felt fluid and fast. A brief feeling of 'whooped' in the legs passed and I was passing people. The only problem was the watery dirt kept flying into my eyes and with my contacts, it was a painfully lethal impact on my ability to see. Every time I finally worked the dirt out of my eye, another piece flew in. At one point, I had just passed Lee in the first lap and a piece of dirt was so bad I had to stop and take my contact out. I lost 20 seconds on him that took 20 minutes to make up.

When I finally caught Lee ('Jake'), we spent some time riding together along with one other guy. Then we got into the second lap. The rain had stopped, but the mud had gotten thick, especially after 200 riders in the other classes behind us went through the trails. I learned very quickly that thick mud and the Surly singleator don't mix. My chain kept 'popping' every time I tried to put pressure on the pedals. I was stuck with one basic cadence of the pedals and that was it. Every time I tried to build momentum for a little up pitch in the trails, the pressure made my chain skip. My second lap was one of extreme frustration. Frustration that I had the physical ability to go a lot faster, but my mechanical devices would not cooperate.

In the dry, the singleator works wonders. My formerly geared hardtail mountain bike works well as an alternative riding style with one gear. The mud just does not agree with it though. Perhaps a true singlespeed bike is in my future because I would certainly like to race the trails of Singlespeed-a-palooza and Stuart State Forest again. They were so much fun that the race hardly seemed like a two and a half hour ride in the cold, wet mud with one gear.

Photos here.

Racing Single Speed is Dumb

2010-05-12T20:49:00.003-04:00

After only two weeks of what I will loosely call training, I entered the first race of the season. I waffled about which bike I was going to ride, but finally settled on riding single speed. I figured getting a taste of racing single speed would help prepare me for the following week's Singlespeed-a-palooza race. The extremely important knowledge I could gain from this first attempt could show me how to rest at the appropriate times and push at others. (Insert hearty laugh, followed by a slight scoff [pfff])

The race took off, and I was somewhere near the back of the very, very large Cat 1 Singlespeed class. Then it was me and a few other fellas. We traded positions for the better part of the first lap our gearing was better in different places. By the end of the first lap my legs hurt. A lot.

Then the guy I'd been racing closely with got ahead as I eased a little to let a faster (geared) guy through on a narrow piece of trail only to realize four other guys were right behind him and taking advantage of the trail I'd left open. My singlespeed racing companion was now a bit ahead of me and I didn't have the legs to catch him. I settled in for a long ride in the woods with one gear.

As the race went on for three more laps my legs grew very, very tired. Too much gear on the uphills, too little on the flats. Guys just kept passing me. I even got lapped by the lead singlespeed racer. At the end I was cooked, my conclusion; racing singlespeed is dumb.

The following week's race was going to be dreadfully entertaining.

Playing Director Sportif

2010-05-12T20:34:00.002-04:00

"Don't worry about any early breaks, especially solo riders, they won't last. Be patient and stay with the group." Complete strategical error on my part, though, I wasn't the only one.

It was Saturday, 10 April, and I was sharing my advice as a pseudo director sportif with Lee before the start of the 2010 Tour of Battenkill. The wind was nearly constant and strong enough that I would have expected any early break aways to fail miserably by the end of the 63 mile race. I told Lee and Taylor to make sure they had another rider to work with and share the draft, staying with a group would be the best bet. Common sense and conservative strategy says, sticking it out as a group and working together is going to make it easier for everyone, anyone trying to go it alone would likely be too tired at the end of the race to hold on for victory.
It was exactly the kind of day to play the odds and try something a little wild.

The Cat[egory] 5 race pulled away from the start with little fanfare. I jumped in the car with Kristy and Jim, and we made our way for feed zone 1, about 17 miles into the race. Kristy drove while I poured over the sheets of race information to find the best way to the feed zone.
We arrived at feed zone one and waited for the Cat 5 guys to come through. The large group of guys I expected didn't come. One guy by himself came trucking through and maybe a minute later came another guy looking a little more fatigued. A few minutes later a group of 10 or 12 riders came through, it was all that was left of the Cat 5 peleton. Over the first two major hills, the peleton had shattered apart, not even 17 miles in.

Lee came through, a bit upset that he'd missed a turn, but only a few minutes behind what was left of the peleton. Taylor was maybe two minutes later, he looked content to hang with his pace and enjoy a day on the bike. We walked back to the car and headed for another spot on course to watch the riders go by. The lead rider had increased his lead to nearly 7 minutes at this point, the solo chaser had been swallowed by the peleton, which seemed unconcerned with chasing very hard. After seeing Lee and Taylor come through we headed for feed zone 2. We parked and were headed towards the race route and the feed zone when I saw Lee coming, I ran towards the course screaming, "Lee, do you need water?"
We weren't technically at the feed zone, but I figured, what the heck, if he really needs it then he should take it, he was by himself anyhow. He passed on the fluid hand up. I then ran up the hill to get to the feed zone for Taylor, who did take a hand up after taking nothing at the first feed zone.

Back to the car, and we boogied to another spot on course to watch. This time at one of the dirt road sections of the course. The riders were coming down one hill and into a short, but quite steep uphill. Many were struggling up the hill.
I saw 4 guys together that had been part of the Cat 5 'peleton,' It had apparently shattered even further. Lee and Taylor came through, and at this point all we could do was cheer and provide encouragement, our feed zone work was complete, and any strategy had been completely scrapped. There were only 15 miles left to go.

While I was wishing that I'd been out there riding, I still had a lot of fun running around playing director sportif and feed zone guru. It's a job that I could actually get into, I enjoyed it nearly as much as riding. It was far less painful too, though I imagine far worse for the waste line over time.
I took numerous photos throughout the day, you can see them here.

Ireland

2010-04-18T08:38:00.003-04:00

It's been two weeks since returning to the states from Ireland. I traveled with my sister and a long time good friend of mine. We departed on the final Saturday of March with overnight flights, arriving early on Sunday morning. I arrived a bit earlier than Lori and Derek and spent some time reading and doodling at the airport until they arrived. Lori was originally supposed to be on my flight out of Boston, but after a connecting flight was canceled ended up on Derek's flight from Philadelphia. Once we were together we hopped on a bus to Dublin and our apartment.

We elected to rent an apartment for our stay, and it was an excellent choice. With a kitchenette, living room, and space to relax, it made for rather comfortable accommodations. It's location was excellent as well, on a quiet little alley, but under a 5 minute walk to Grafton St., St. Stephen's Green, and many other sights.

We spent the rest of Sunday gathering our bearings in the city. Monday, amidst rain showers we walked to Dublin Castle, Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick's Cathedral. Our stop for lunch in all this was a welcomed respite. We warmed up and had some great food; my Irish stew was fantastic. Tuesday we awoke to snowflakes falling, but it did not deter us from the bus tour we had planned. We took the bus to see monastic ruins at Glendalough, through the Wicklow Mountains, and to Kilkenny where we ate dinner and had a look around Kilkenny Castle. On Wednesday we relaxed for a bit, then headed to the neighboring block to visit a few museums.

Thursday was the day of highlights. The rain subsided and we were on a bus headed for the West coast of Ireland with many sights to see. After a brief stop in Galway, we headed for the Cliffs of Moher. Of course we stopped along the way to see a few things, like Dunguaire Castle. We finally got to the cliffs, and the sight was beautiful. After a while of pondering the cliffs we headed for the Poulnabrone Dolmen, an ancient portal tomb. After another brief stop in Galway, we headed back to Dublin for the night. Once back we made a final trip to one of the local pubs.

Friday was spent basically relaxing, doing some final shopping, and packing. We did head to St. Patrick's for the Good Friday service. The choir was very good, singing a few pieces throughout the service.

Saturday we headed to the airport and boarded our planes. Aer Lingus, is definitely an airline worth taking. The staff is friendly, the seating comfortable, and the in flight service and entertainment very nice. Upon arrival in Boston I headed for the train station only to find that my train was canceled due to heavy flooding, so I wandered over to the bus station in order to get myself back to New Haven.

All in all, a very good trip. Photos here.

Winter Came and Went or A New Season Begins

2010-03-27T09:20:00.004-04:00

Somewhere in the midst of the onset of winter I stopped doing a lot of things. I just about stopped riding bikes altogether. I got out once in a while but I'm pretty sure I managed at least a three week stretch without touching a bike. Mental recovery is what I'll call it, maybe it was just laziness. You may have noticed I also stopped maintaining the blog too. It's been quite a while since I've written anything down, to state the extremely obvious fact. Being that spring is approaching rather quickly, I think it's time for a little winter recap.

January rolled in, and I rolled onto the couch. The temptation of my roommate's PS3 got the better of me and I found myself playing Call of Duty for an hour and a half longer than intended on a rather frequent basis. Life wasn't all about cuddling up and fighting cabin fever with video games though. There was skiing too.

During the Presidents' Day weekend I joined a number of friends in renting a house just off the slopes of the Stowe ski resort. We had to walk maybe a quarter mile to the lift, but we were able to ski right into the backyard of the house. I put two full days of skiing in; only stopping for bathroom breaks.

March seemed to roll in like a lamb and stay that way. I took advantage of the really nice weather on a few weekends to wash up all the bikes real good. They hadn't been that shiny in a very long time. The headset in the 'cross bike sounded like a cross between a really squeaky hinge and sandpaper rubbing together. This last 'cross season was extremely harsh on the bikes.
I took the bike into the shop and got it fitted with a nice new Chris King headset. I also got the Dura Ace shifters that I'd bought on ebay mounted onto the handlebars. I was then able to return the right hand shifter back to the road bike and got that in working order.

All of that work led to a minor amount of riding. Skiing was not done until this past weekend though. A group of us stayed at our friend Tom's (family's) condo at the Okemo resort in Ludlow, VT, then spent a day skiing at Killington. Spring skiing, I found, is rather enjoyable. Bundling up like an Eskimo is not required, sunglasses however, are. The snow is soft, if a little wet. It was one of the most fun days I've had on the slopes ever. It was the perfect opportunity to try the trail Outer Limits. This trail is normally above my skill level, but on soft snow it was worth a try. I fell 4 times at least, but there were no spectacular wipe outs. I did learn that day, that if a mogul is soft enough, your ski will not ride up over it like normal, it will spear through the mogul and throw you forward on your face.

And now here we are, March is coming to a close. Bike racing is just around the corner as are a few exciting travel destinations. The cycle keeps going.

Some pictures that we took at Killington; from me, from Tom, from Dan.

Season finale

2010-01-02T12:06:00.003-05:00

I hung up the bike after the last race and called it quits for the season. I was certainly ready to be done with riding for a little while. I was mentally in need of a break and physically I could feel my legs yearning for some quality rest. I was so ready to be finished, that I didn't even get to writing anything about it until now.

We attended both days of the NBX Gran Prix in Warwick, Rhode Island. Day 1 included temperatures in the low to mid 40s along with rain. It made for less than pleasant racing. Only a short way into the race Jake and I were riding together, and then I got a large piece of dirt in my eye. At this point I could barely see out of my right eye and had some difficulty going into the turns. After a slow lap of suffereing with the severe pain in my eye, the dirt seemed to flush out. My pace picked up again, and I was able to hold a steady gap behind Jake but never made it back up to him. If I hadn't had that issue, I probably would have been in the top 30 with Jake. I still finished a none too shabby 35th on the day. Immediately upon finishing, the chill of the temperatures and being soaked to the bone set in. We rushed back to the hotel to get hot showers. I was almost shaking uncontrollably.

On the second day of the race, we awoke to a layer of snow and ice on the ground at the hotel. However, only 10 minutes away at the race venue there was hardly a trace of snow on the ground. There were some changes to the course, and most of it was pretty dry. A pleasant change from the day before. I spent a large portion of the race riding very close to several other guys. It made for a very good race between all of us. I thought I was riding better, but I managed to pull off 35th again.

It was a good finish to the season. Respectable finishes with some good hard riding. Since then the bike(s) haven't been touched and it's been great.

There are some pictures available from Day 1 and from Day 2 for you viewing pleasure

Weather channel

2009-12-04T18:34:00.002-05:00

So I was looking at the weather forecast on weather.com for the coming weekend. I wanted to see what things were looking like for the race in Warwick, RI. It seems the weather channel is catering to cross races now. Notice the forecast highlight for Saturday, "course conditions." Cyclocross course conditions? And Sunday, "stay warm on the links." Is that chain links?

Wrap it up and eat some pie

2009-12-01T22:04:00.002-05:00

Here we are, exiting the eleventh month of the year and nearly at the finish of the racing season, at least for me. This is a good thing, though. As fun as the riding and racing of this year has been, it's time to take a break from riding to train and riding in general. I've reached the point where riding very much at all is making me slower, or so it would seem and feel. The dreaded precipice of over training. The difficult thing about over training in these late months is that it becomes very, very easy to do. When we change the clocks I think the body naturally wants to rest more. Instead, I've been forcing my body to ride with headlamps burning.

Cheshire Cross went well. I'm happy with my result though not fully satisfied. I'm very happy that I finished relatively well in front of the friends that came to cheer us on. A top 50% finish is never horrible. I could have finished better though, but I faded as the race wore on. I was running top ten for a while, but just couldn't hold my pace anymore. The legs just felt more and more tired with each lap. This does, of course, happen every race, though in a different way than when the legs just turn to bricks.

I figured all would be well the next day at Durham though, since I always tend to do better on day 2 of doubleheader race weekends. According to the online preregistration page there were only 5 of us signed up; 3 of which were from our regular group of riding partners. Lee, Taylor and I all figured we could take it easy for a few laps before really racing each other. Things changed as several guys registered the day of the event. The field size was close to fifteen guys. This being the case, the race started as usual; fast and aggressive. I got into a lead group of 5 and was pretty excited. I figured I might have a chance at a win. The pace was high, and the legs hurt; in fact they were feeling that sluggish, made of bricks hurt instead of the "bring it on show me what real pain is, I want more" kind of hurt. I was definitely faster than the others in some places, mostly the turns, and even took the lead at points; but after two and a half laps the legs just couldn't turn an effective gear anymore. I rolled across the finish in 6th. Despite a good finish, the placing was a bit disappointing. I knew if the legs had felt good, or at least some level better, then I could have easily finished in the top 3 or won.

I took advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday to deal with the over training situation. I didn't ride a whole lot the entire week, but I did eat a fair amount of stuffing and pie. I hope the rest allows some snap to return to my legs this coming weekend as I hit up two days of racing at the NBX Gran Prix.

Apples, Cheesesteak, and a Break.

2009-11-15T18:41:00.002-05:00

The week after Hartford Cross came the West Hill Shop race in Putney, Vt. I had a great start to the race and was hanging with a group of guys that fluctuated between 3 to 4 of us for a few laps. I'm guess we, as a group, were holding somewhere in the range of 4-8 positions at any given point. I was feeling good with the group, but the other guys were rather strong. There were places on course where I was faster, and there were places they were faster. Strangely enough, I tended to be faster in power areas, and most of them in the slick corner sections. I finally cracked at the top of the run up one lap though. When I jumped on the bike, the legs just couldn't turn the gear over that I needed to turn over. I faded back for two laps, at which point Jake bridged the gap I'd had over him. He brought one other guy with. I figured Jake was riding much stronger than I at this point, so I decided to get between him and the other racer and block for Jake. With one lap to go Jake was pulling away, but then with a half lap remaining I managed to close the gap on him, then power away through the soft feeling corn field. I placed 8th, Jake 9th. Our prizes, sacks of apples.

I eventually made apple pie with them.

The following weekend was a planned trip to Philadelphia, a city which I'd never visited. Since my friend Sarah and her boyfriend, Matt, live there it was a great opportunity to visit them and see the city. Before I headed for Philly, I needed to make a trip to my home town to pay my final respects to my Grandmother. She and my Grandfather are together forever now.

I made it into Philly Friday night, and after some brief hellos we ventured to a local pub to catch up over some beverages. Saturday morning we headed into the city. We started with a great breakfast at a small restaurant/cafe which gave very large portions of very good food. It was obvious the food would be good from the line outside the cafe. We then ventured to some historical sites including Independence Hall and Elfreth's Ally. We rounded the night out by living the scene from Rocky and running up the steps of the Art Museum.

That brings me into this weekend, in which there were no trips, and no races. That's not to say there wasn't any riding. Sunday was a beautiful day for a bike ride after a very rainy Saturday.

Where's my helmet?

2009-10-28T17:50:00.003-04:00

Full on into 'cross season and I've only managed to do one race since Gloucester. I'd have done two, but I managed to forget my bag with shoes, helmet, jersey, et cetera right by the door. Since that was the case, I worked as chauffeur for Lee and Taylor to the Mansfield Hollow race. It was a rather picturesque Autumn day, but I have no pictures. I left my camera at home figuring that with Jake, Lee, Taylor and myself riding the same race we would be able to get any pictures. My bike did get used though! Jake's shifter stopped working midway through the race and he was stuck spinning in his easiest gear. He shouted at me and replied back double checking his style of pedals, which were compatible with mine. I sprinted back to the car, got my bike together, and got to the pits to make a bike swap with him. It was a little funny watching him on a bike that was too small, but he managed to gain some positions back after the swap.

Then came Hartford Cross. Woohoo, I remembered everything this time. And I took a camera just in case. Hartford didn't have much in the way of technical features and was a bit of a power course. Had it been dry, the place would have been super fast. Heavy rains the day before left some soft ground and mud holes in places. My legs weren't feeling very chipper, and the conditions weren't making things any easier. The one awesome feature about the course, was that we went straight up a rather steep 40 foot levee. During warm up I managed to ride up it, maybe the only person to do so all day. During the race though, I was too gassed to get the whole way up. I'd managed to get about halfway then I'd have to run the rest. The best part was that I was much faster up it than anyone else I was around. Between the up and the off camber, muddy, rut filled down hill that followed I was making time there.

I was battling with a few guys, and they would pull away for the half lap leading up to the levee. At that point I would catch back up, stick with them for a little while the slowly get dropped. I thought I'd had it at one point when they'd built a lead at least 100 yards on me. But I managed to surge through the levee and the following section in the woods to catch back on. With one lap to go I was determined to minimize the lead they were pulling, which I managed to do. They didn't get far ahead and I put everything I had into attacking at the levee. I passed them and pulled away. I kept driving for the remainder of the lap and held off the one guy that was slowly surging back up to me. All in all, not a bad race considering I never felt particularly good the whole time. 13th of 30 guys with 2 nonfinishers.

Cheshire Cross is coming in about a month. We're trying to get some of out friends to come out and have a tailgate party yet again and cheer us on since it's sort of like our home field race. I put a video together to go along with the invitation I sent out to hopefully garner more interest.
Check it out.

Cyclocross - be there from Scott Frison on Vimeo.

Diving into Cyclocross Season

2009-10-07T20:12:00.005-04:00

So here's the recap since vacation since I've failed to stay up to date with it all.

I returned from vacation and on September 19 headed for Rocky Hill, CT for a race. Actually two races. I competed in the Cat 3/4 race then rode in the 1/2/3 race for training. I was doing well enough in the 3/4 race but just didn't have enough gas to ride they way I did for the first 20 minutes of the race. I faded pretty hard after that point, but still managed to finish well. During the 1/2/3 I was just trying to survive the entire hour of the race.

I was scheduled for another race the following weekend but I needed to pay my final respects to a truly great man. My grandfather was quite the role model. I hope he's putting in a good word for me in heaven.

Then this past weekend was the Gran Prix of Gloucester. The third year that I've attended New England Nationals, as it has so been dubbed. Competition is fierce and many. Saturday was a complete mudfest. It rained all day. Jake and Taylor suffered through cold temperatures and rain during their race at 8 am. By the time I raced the rain was intermittent, but the course was a complete mudbog. I didn't have the most particularly awesome race, I was still feeling a bit worn down from the events of the past week and a half.

Day 2 began far nicer. Jake, Taylor, and Lee raced at 8am on a changed up, cleaner course under a dense fog. Jake even pulled of the victory in a solo break away. By 1pm, the sun was out and the course was drying out where it had still been wet. The corners were tacky and everything was fast. I'd rested up well too. Despite starting in the back, and I mean the waaaay back of nearly 100 guys, I managed to fight my way through. Place by place. After some aggressive passes in turns and putting the hammer down I managed to work my way up to 48th.

It was quite a weekend, and now we are full on into 'cross season. More cowbell!

Pictures from Gloucester can be seen here.

Vacation!!

2009-09-20T14:50:00.003-04:00

The Thursday prior to Labor day weekend I began my trek South towards a much needed vacation. I stopped in the D.C. area and stayed with Derek and spent the day Friday relaxing around his place. Saturday morning he and I ventured further South to Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. We were meeting numerous other friends at a house that we were all renting on the beach of the outer banks for a week. The house was fantastic, and huge, perfect for a week long relaxation fest. Okay, maybe some parties too. It was a much needed break, that much is for sure.

The weather was wonderful to start the week, then turned slightly less that desirable for much of the week. We were blessed with a fantastic Friday to end our week there though. After spending a while at the pool, we moved to the ocean to finish our day.

I managed to get a few bike rides in as well, though some late nights and rain stopped me from completing some of the rides I'd planned.

On the way back through we stopped to see two old high school friends in Newport News, VA. After spending a few hours there we continued back to D.C. I dropped Derek off and then spend the night with my sister in Arlington. The trip worked out to be a great opportunity to see a lot of people.

There are some pictures from the trip at this link.

Time to ride. A lot. Again.

2009-08-31T17:48:00.002-04:00

The properly functioning bike and enthusiasm for the sloppy weather were short lived.

I warmed up on the stationary trainer for a bit at the Palmer cross race, though there was no protection from the steady rain that was falling. I was damp to wet before I went out for a course inspection lap. I'd been hearing people talk about it being a very mountain bikey course, something I was happy to hear. I usually do relatively well on such courses. My pre-race lap confirmed the reports, and also left me soaked and muddy before the race had even started.

I felt good from the warm up lap, I felt good on the bike though all the mud and water. Then I got stuck in the back for the start, not the most favorable place. Well, everything was pretty dicey off the start, and I didn't make up much ground, it was hard to be aggressive in such slick conditions. As things thinned out I started to move up little by little. Then, I crashed on some slick roots. Shwwooop, in a semi-over the handles bars kind of move. My right hand hit the ground hard as I tried to catch myself, three fingers went into a painful, numb kind of state (my pinky is still swollen and sore). My right shifter hit the ground and moved slightly inward too, though not horribly so. My shifting capabilities seemed to disappear though. I had maybe three gears in the back as I started back out, but quickly lost those. I was down to shifting with only the front chainrings.

My brakes faded, a lot, my hand was numb, the bars were wet and muddy, needless to say, I had a hard time controlling the bike from there. I didn't feel like I had much stamina either.

I didn't get last though. I wasn't as close to first as I wanted to be either. Finally got the motivation to not suck and start riding more again.

I found some pictures from the first race of the day. I'm not in any of them, but they paint a pretty good portrait of the race, and cyclocross in general. Check them out here.

Pre-Season continues

2009-08-28T22:40:00.002-04:00

Hopefully the pre-season continues without further woes. The bottom bracket I bummed from Jake, didn't have much life left. It was good through the race, but managed to start making some very strange noises midway through the first ride after the race. Noises that I've never heard come from a bottom bracket. I just took it out and there is definitely a bearing or two rattling around freely. Further inspection of the tube from the flat in pre-season race numero uno finds that I had a pretty gnarly pinch flat.

I picked up a brand new bottom bracket from the shop this evening and the bike is back together. Everything seems to be in order with it, which is nice, because pre-season race numero dos is tomorrow. The weather has turned rainy, first time in a while it seems. That stint of hot sunny weather was wonderful, and I kind of like racing cross in it. I'm not complaining about the potentially sloppy conditions for tomorrow though, should make things exciting.

2009 CX Begins

2009-08-23T14:32:00.002-04:00

Today was the first cyclocross race of the season. I'm going to call it, PRE-season for me. The plan was for it to be a warm up race, just to get my frame of reference into 'cross.

I just got the bike up and working properly, somewhat late last night. There was a last minute bottom bracket pick up from Jake, for which I am eternally grateful, there were two tubes that went flat on me on the stand, and I'm still not sure if I've got it shifting quite right, but it seemed to be riding well this morning.

Warm up went well, but at the start line I dropped a little tiny bit more air out of my tires, hoping to make some of the bumps just a little smoother. I started fairly well, feeling aggressive, I dove hard into some corners and was trying to get past one particular rider that wasn't taking, what I felt, to be good lines in the corners. I could definitely get through the corners faster, I just couldn't quite get the edge on him going through the first narrow section into the single track. I was annoyed, I should have gotten through those corners much better but he was disturbing my line and speed.

Then, maybe a third of the way into the first lap I flatted. I may have pinch flatted from letting just a little too much out at the start, or maybe I ran over something when I swung into some rough sketchy stuff to get by some guys off the start. I'm not sure yet, but I let the field get by, as it was a single track section and I would just plug everything up. Once everyone passed I rode the course to the pits, picked up a neutral support wheel.

Once I got going again, I spent nearly a full lap pretty alone. Then I started to pick off some riders. Little by little I moved up positions. Of course, I didn't get anywhere near the front, but I was happy to be able to finish, and not be last.

Next race I leave the tire pressure alone.

Random Notes

2009-08-21T22:17:00.002-04:00

The last two weeks have been mostly mental rest and recovery. I just took my third ride since the 24 hour race. The first was a pretty easy going ride, the second, was a pretty tough one on the single speed, and tonight and easy going ride on the road bike.

The cyclocross bike calls though! Tomorrow morning I get it working well enough to 'race' on Sunday. I'm just going to the race to get myself in the right frame of mind. It's tough not to get excited about seeing skinny knobby tires under me.

I might also mention that I found a new bagel at the grocery store. Among all those other flavors I'm not interested I found one that I was extremely interested in. French Toast Bagels! They are quiet tasty with a little butter on them.

When does a cult become a legit religion? I'm not sure, but we have converted another rider. Lee just got himself a great looking, used, Van Dessel Gin and Trombones. Not quite the bike that Van Dessel shows on their website but still a very nice bike! I had to keep looking at it during tonight's ride, it got me rather excited for some cyclocross action.

Riding Bikes up Mt. Washington

2009-08-17T22:37:00.003-04:00

I ventured to the Mt. Washington, NH area Friday night to support Matt Saturday morning at the Mt. Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hill Climb race. The second weekend in a row at the mountain. I just can't seem to stay away from the place.

Saturday morning was beautiful; clear blue skies and warm enough to be comfortable in a t-shirt at 6 am. Driving from Gorham to the mountain I could see the summit was perfectly clear of any cloud cover. There are very few days this nice at the summit, it was going to be wonderful for taking pictures.

After meeting up with Matt and Bill and talking for a while, Bill, Rob and I headed for the summit. Once we were there I started snapping some photos, then decided to walk down the road a ways to where I could a few sections of the road further down the road. I waited there until Matt came by then head back to watch people finish at the summit.

I was really trying to get some good shots with the camera; the scenery, the pain, the glory. I feel like I got some good ones. In doing so, I experienced an extremely emotion scene.

I rode the mountain two years ago, it ranks as one of my favorite bike rides of all time. 7.6 Miles with an average gradient of 12%, all uphill, gaining 4700+ ft. of elevation. It doesn't sound like a lot of fun, but what an experience and accomplishment. My own experience, on some level, let me into the emotion that these people were carrying into the final steep slopes near the summit. I could see so much in their faces, and then to see family and friends of all ages, just as emotional while cheering on their loved ones; the entire scene was amazing. I almost cried at one point. Unfortunately, my words don't do the scene justice. Hopefully my photographs do a slightly better job.

Pictures and Video from the 24

2009-08-16T14:16:00.003-04:00

Finally uploaded some pictures for viewing from the 24 hour race. Just click here to see them. They're in no particular order.

I've also got some videos uploaded. Just follow the links below.
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
Video 5
Video 6
Video 7

Account of the 2009 24 hours of Great Glen

2009-08-12T18:56:00.001-04:00

Team Dirt Nuts had its 4th incarnation this year. The roster was yet again, slightly different, but contained alumni of the team. Taylor and I were now in our 4th straight year of the event. For Solin, it would be the 3rd time at the event after a year off. Jake would join us for the 2nd year running.

We jumped from the sport division to expert this year. Speaking for myself, and maybe my teammates, I had really wanted to make it onto the podium in sport. We were so close last year, problems with our lights cost us at least the 10 minutes between us and 3rd place. I knew we could make the podium, however, Jake and I upgraded our regular cross country racing categories to expert and therefore, the entire team would be entered under expert. We would just have to shoot for a podium spot in the expert division, a far more difficult task for certain.

If you followed along in the live updates, you are aware of some of the story. I would like to fill in some of the details at this time.

I would start the race off with the Le Mans style running start. A 1/3 mile lap around the pond would spread riders out a little, making things a little safer upon starting out on the bikes. The course narrows after a short distance and within a mile is a short but very steep hill. I’ve watched this area the last three years, and was quite aware that a significant traffic jam was going to occur there, no question about it. The sprint finish for 4th place, still playing in my mind from last year has me thinking that every second counts. Even over 24 hours of racing. It’s hard to say what kind of time would be lost if I got stuck in rider traffic for the first few miles, I knew I needed to get past that hill near the front of the pack. I took off in the run, holding a steady but quick pace and managed to be 5th to the bikes. I kept my pace up until I made it up and over the steep narrow hill in the clear. I then settled into my pace.

The course this year, was 99% the same as last year. The biggest difference was the course condition. It was far dryer. There was still some significant mud in places, but it was possible to ride the entire course.

Our lap times reflected this, they were a bit faster than we expected. We started the race by rotating through our entire roster of riders, one lap at a time. With the fast laps, we found that there was very little down time back at our camp. Lee, who had ridden the last two years, was our head pit guy. His plan to live in 40 minute increments had been changed to 30 minute increments. By 5 pm, I’d felt as if we’d raced far more than 5 hours by the sheer number of laps we’d gone through compared to previous years.

At this point we were holding steady in 5th place, expert class. Team UNH (University of New Hampshire) was holding steady at 3 to 5 minutes behind. Some of the lead teams had already pulled out of reach, as long as they maintained their speed without any major problems. I went out for my 3rd lap just before 6 pm, as I completed the first small loop on the other side of Rt. 16 and came back through the tunnel under the road I saw a UNH rider coming through in the other direction. Some quick math said I had approximately 4 minutes on him. I decided I’d need to put some distance on him if I could and tried to pick up my pace a little.

As we completed our third round of laps I was getting set for our night shift. The strategy would change here. Jake and I would alternate laps, such that we would each complete two, while Taylor and Solin caught some sleep. They, in turn would do the same. On my way to take over from Solin I noticed my bike handling funny, but contributed it to the bag of clothing swinging from my handlebar. It wasn’t until I was halfway to the timing tent that I realized my front tire was flat. I quickly went back to camp and changed the flat, but I was not quick enough. Solin had come in, shouted for me briefly, then made a quick decision to get back on course and not waste time. Lee and I started to rework the strategy. It would be best to give Solin a longer rest period after pulling the double lap. Jake or I could pull an extra lap during this alternating shift. Reality said that Jake was the best candidate; he was the strongest rider on the team and could handle the extra lap better than any of us.

Solin came in, and I took over. I needed to make up for time that we might have lost if Solin’s 2nd lap in a row had been much slower. Turns out that it wasn’t too bad of a time, but inevitably, the 2nd lap is always slower than the first. I had a great lap for my first dark lap, nearly as fast as I’d done the course in the daylight. Jake went out for a very fast lap, then I headed back out.

I struggled to find my rhythm this time out. I hit the steep hill, almost rode the bike over the side of the bank, and ended up falling backwards down the hill. I started to feel hungry only 3 miles in, not good. Despite putting down food constantly and eating a banana after my last lap, I was apparently running on empty and I could feel it. I took the Cliff bar out of my pocket and shoved it down the hatch. It didn’t take long to feel better, and then I started to find some rhythm. Right as I found some strength and rhythm I took a bad line while overtaking a slower rider and pounded my front wheel off of a root. “Oh no,” I thought, “my tire is surely going to go flat!” Sure enough, just a few meters later I noticed the ill handling of my bike. I pulled over to fix it.

Surprise! My frame pump was not working. I’ve had a few of these model pumps fail between uses, likely due to mud and water getting in the seals. Through some miraculous event, I’d decided to get my spare tube partially inflated before unseating the tire from the rim. When I couldn’t get the spare inflated, my first reaction was that of Ralphie in A Christmas Story when the wheel nuts go flying everywhere when he and his father are changing a flat, “OHHH FUUUUUUDGE!” Except, just as with he, fudge wasn’t exactly the real word. I felt the front tire; some way, somehow, it still had some amount of air in it, enough to suffice for riding, at least for a while. I figured, if I bang the rim off a few rocks too hard, I’ll just buy a new one, I’m riding it. It actually held up quite well, the handling was only a problem on the dirt roads on some high speed turns, where I could feel the tire trying to peel off the rim.

I came in to hand the baton to Jake, and explained very briefly what had happened to me and told him to put down some good laps while running with him to his bike. He was now going to go out for two laps to make up for the two laps Solin had done.

I took a shower and went back to lay down for some brief sleep. At first my stomach was wrenching in knots, but that faded away. The other issue was the two cans of Red Bull at early points in the afternoon and evening, and they’d seemed to help earlier while riding. Now they might be causing me trouble. I don’t normally drink much in the way of caffeinated beverages, so these were possibly affecting me a bit. My mind was racing. Despite feeling tired and ready for sleep, I couldn’t get my mind to settle down. I closed my eyes, but never really fell asleep. At 4:15 am it was time to start getting myself ready and prepared to ride again as well as eat some food. If the laps that Taylor and Solin were doing were as fast as they’d gone during the day, I would need to ride shortly after 5 am.

At 5:26 am I started my 6th lap. My legs were tired, but I was still turning over a pretty good gear on the bike. We were now back to rotating straight through the line-up. When I came back in, Lee informed me of the reworked strategy he had come up with to get us to the finish with as many laps as could fit in. Oh the beauty of technology and real time updates on lap times. This strategy had me going out sooner than I’d expected, but I’d have a normal break after then next lap. As much as I wanted to wake myself up with some Red Bull I decided to hold off in hopes that I might actually get some sleep after the next lap. That next lap I felt tired, it was my slowest lap without any problems. I finished then went back to camp to fall asleep for a little while.

That nap was great, I felt much better. I coupled that with a double dose of Red Bull, and I was ready to go. Just before 11am I headed out for my final lap. It was clear that Jake would take the final lap. As much as we’d hoped to get Taylor out before noon, it simply wasn’t possible. That final lap, I passed several people. A lot of people were out riding again, the course being sparsely populated at night. Unless we encountered a terrible failure of sorts were set to finish 5th in class (of 6) and 6th overall.

The two major goals I had going into the event would be met. I didn’t want to finish last in expert, and I wanted to be in the top 10 overall (we’d been 14th and 11th the previous two years). The goal of making it onto the podium in sport class would have been reached if we’d registered as a sport class team; we beat every team in the sport class. We could have finished first and paid for our entry with the prize money. That is something to feel good about too I guess.

The only remaining question is, next year?

Pictures and Video soon.

Fin

2009-08-09T12:41:00.002-04:00

That's all folks! We are all done. Jake even managed to slide out in a little crash in the final grassy turn. Not as much traction as he thought. Spectacular style points! He finished at 12:24, bringing us to 24 hours and 24 minutes. 6th overall, and not last in our class. Not too bad.

Almost there

2009-08-09T10:30:00.001-04:00

Just had a nap with the best sleep i've had in 36 hours. Too bad it was so short. I've got one more to go then Jake will follow up with what will be our final lap. Holding steady in our placing, just have to keep it up. Thank you all for the comments and encouragement. I hope you've had as much fun as we've had. See you at the finish line in a little while.

Getting ready for his bacon lap...

2009-08-09T09:41:00.001-04:00

2.5 hours left... We are onto the bacon laps a.k.a. last laps at warp speed!

Time to tick off laps

2009-08-09T06:51:00.002-04:00

Well here we are just over 5 hours to go. And go they will, rather fast actually. We will be putting laps down one at a time for each of us. If we hold steady we should stay in 6th over all. It's the final count down.

Welcome to Sunday Morning!

2009-08-09T06:10:00.002-04:00

Dark things

2009-08-09T01:07:00.002-04:00

Noticed the front tire was flat on the way over to take over from Solin. Despite a quick change I still managed to miss him. Quick thinking on him to go out again. Went out after that and really put down a good lap in the dark. Then Jake went. Then I went and had a less than awesome first half of a lap. Crashed then hit a root way to hard and semi flatten the front. Trouble with my frame pump. But the original tube was still holding some air. Decided to ride it like that and worked pretty well. Time for some brief sleep, expect to be back out about 5 am.

Flat

2009-08-08T21:25:00.002-04:00

I was rolling over to start my lap when Solin came in and noticed the bike was handling funny. I stopped about half way to the timing tent and realized my front tire was flat. Even though it was a quick change I missed Solin. Under quick thinking he just went out for another. We'll have to make some slight alterations to the strategy. Going out next, hopefully without further problems.

Woops

2009-08-08T19:56:00.002-04:00

I threw down another good lap, even without a pace rider. Time trial as I'd seen the team behind us when the course crossed by itself, figured we were about four minutes ahead. I mentioned that Taylor should with only one light mounted, but he went without a back up so we lost about two minutes when he had to rush back to get his other light. If that is the only problem we have, I'll take it. Solin is heading over to await Taylor coming in. Still feeling pretty strong!

So far to go

2009-08-08T16:27:00.002-04:00

That was a good second lap, I had a pace rider for the second half of the lap. He was riding the 12 hour race on a two man team. It was quite a pace to follow but nice to have. As I type we are still 5th in class and tenth overall.

A few laps in...

2009-08-08T14:04:00.002-04:00

Solin just left to await Taylor's arrival from lap three. The laps are very fast. I went out and got past the cluster funnel uphill before the crowds then let up just a little to find my groove. I settled in for a quick lap, around 44 minutes. Jake went for a sub 40 and we're just waiting for Taylor to come in.

The start

2009-08-08T12:08:00.002-04:00

It has begun! Scott had a great run & was fifth onto the bike.

Checked in and counting down

2009-08-08T10:02:00.002-04:00

We have checked in as a team and we are #138. Real time lap results should be available at www.myrealtimescoring.com . In about two hours I will lead off the race with the le mans run and first lap. Jake will follow, then Taylor, and then Solin. Final preparations are in progress.

Sat Morning

2009-08-08T08:19:00.001-04:00

Cooking, eating, & relaxing before the start of the race. Everyone made it up okay & slept well last night.

And to all a good night

2009-08-07T22:10:00.002-04:00

We got a pre-ride in, only minor changes to the course. The single track is greasy and muddy in places, but the rest is dry and fast. The entire team is here now and the 'compound' is set up. We are just relaxing and thinking about bed soon. See you all in the morning.

Pre-ride

2009-08-07T18:27:00.002-04:00

Just got back from food shopping & dinner at a pizza shop. Going for a ride. Hopefully the weather stays nice! It is already cold out...

Arrival

2009-08-07T13:39:00.001-04:00

We arrived at mt. Washington to a brief bit of sunlight then got the easy up set up. We were just getting tarps on the sides when it started to rain, then poor, then hail. It is sunny now, wait, here comes some more sprinkles.

Departure

2009-08-07T07:32:00.001-04:00

7:30am departure with Lee, Taylor, & a very packed car for the five hour trip to Mount Washington.

Heading North

2009-08-06T20:34:00.002-04:00

Nearly everything is packed into the car, so we're pretty much ready to head North to Mt. Washington for the weekend. Hopefully everyone's training has set them in great shape, and hopefully the legs will be there for everyone. See you soon as we get some live updates going.

Live Update Testing

2009-08-03T22:55:00.001-04:00

Live update test 1 was a resounding failure. It was almost a success, until that vital moment when I tried to place text here. Then failure. And since this is pass or fail, we got a fail. We have other options though.

Test 2 was a success if you are reading this. Plan 2 is to update the blog via email. Which seems to be working fine.

I'll fill you in on the plan. Lee's phone accesses the internet, and the hope was to use it to make some short updates when I had a chance to keep everyone up to date on what was happening at the race. Problem is, it treated the way I enter text on this one particular spot a little strangely. Plan 3 is to tether the laptop to the phone to use the internet.

Of course this is all good and well, as long we even have a strong enough cell signal at the base of Mt. Washington. There are a lot of variables, but I hope to throw out some live updates for everyone.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Team Night Ride

2009-07-30T22:17:00.002-04:00

With just over a week to go, We have finally put in a night time ride though we did have to wait a little longer than expected for the sun to go down. The team, minus Jake, was all there. The last time I rode in the dark with lights was around the winter to spring transition. In past years, we've been out after dark a few times throughout July. We just didn't get to it this year.

Riding in the dark is always fun, when it's by choice that is. There is something soothing about it to me. Perhaps it's that most of the living world has calmed down and there is a certain quiet serenity floating about. Perhaps it's the idea that my world only exists as the conical beam of light in front of me.

Riding at night presents a special set of challenges. The trails do not always appear the same as they would in daylight. Some small things appear bigger than they are, and some of the big things appear smaller. I have found that a light mounted on the helmet and one mounted on the handlebars works best. The handlebar light can be aimed higher to see things further ahead, while the helmet light allows you to see where you are actually looking which works well in
tight twisty trails.

All in all, a good night and a good ride.

I might also mention that I am hoping to be able to make updates to this blog on a regular basis throughout the 24 hour race.
That's right, real time race reports! I'll throw out some more details in the near future.

Count Down to Cannon Fire

2009-07-28T22:12:00.002-04:00

It is now down to a week and a half until the annual 24 Hours of Great Glen. This is the event upon which the summer training has been focused, as were the previous two summers. In some ways I am more nervous and anxious about this year, yet I also feel far more calm, relaxed and laid back about this year. It's a strange place to be, and I can't decide whether it's good or bad, or if I should really worry about it.

I find myself reflecting upon the three years I've participated in this event. The first year we hardly spent time training, specifically for the event. It was an event that sounded crazy and absurd enough to be fun. Four of us, Taylor, Solin, Bill and myself rolled up to Mt. Washington, and staked out our campsite in the dark the night before the race. I didn't even have a tent, luckily Solin had one big enough for the two of us. We certainly learned a lot that year. We had a great time, though our approach was slightly haphazard.

For year two we got a bit more serious. I had started racing the regular XC circuit again with Taylor. Lee had also started racing as well, and with Bill bowing out, Lee was our clear choice for the fourth man. Solin of course was back and we had a much needed addition of Matt Feiner for pit support. Lee's twin, Chris, and his girlfriend also came up to provide additional support. Our friend Mike came along as well, volunteering a significant amount of time through the night to help the organizers of the event keep things running smoothly. Solin's wife and little girl came along to cheer us on as well. We were trained and hungry for a good result, and with the support we had, we would be well taken care of. I have to say, Matt's entertainment value alone
changed the whole event and atmosphere at camp. He and Chris had us taken care of too, we were certainly eating a lot more than we'd done the previous year. I remember coming back from my night laps, I was drained physically and mentally. Spending 2 hours alone, in the dark, in the woods while pressing your physical limits does strange things to your head. I sat down, with the grandest of blank stares, I'm sure, and Chris immediately got after me to get some food in me. The single greatest bowl of warm oatmeal was in my hands in no time.

Year three saw another change in the team roster. Solin would be unable to join us, so we picked up Jake. We were getting more serious about the event as well. This season was surely dedicated to finishing as best we could, we were hoping for a podium spot. Matt was back for support, and Lee's girlfriend Kristy would be our second pit support helper. I had warned Kristy that we would be in a strange place upon returning from our night time laps. Much to her dismay, I returned from my laps in the dark rather chipper. The biggest issue we had was
the mud. Our bikes came back from each lap absolutely caked in mud. Matt had to spend far more of his time cleaning and prepping our bikes and so we suffered a little in the nutrition category at times. We suffered problems with lights yet again, a running theme for us. Despite placing quite well after a very dramatic finish, we missed the podium in our class by 10 minutes. (The complete account of last year is available in 3 acts plus one for the data crunching, you can read them via the following links; act 1, act 2, act 3, data)

Year four now approaches quickly. The roster has changed yet again, though each of us is a veteran of the event. Lee opted not to ride this year, rather work as our cheif pit man. We are still attempting to secure a 2nd pit person to make Lee's life a little easier since Matt will be unable to join us. Jake, Solin, Taylor and myelf will ride in the expert class, upgrading ourselves from sport. I would have loved to stand on the podium in sport, but none of us really wants to be a 'sandbagger,' so we now aim for the expert podium. We all look strong on the bike this year, we have the potential to complete more laps than we've ever done and finish better than we ever have.

When the cannon fires, marking the start of the race, another 24 hour period will begin. We will have to emulate time, and operate like clockwork. While it seems that 24 hours is a long time, every precious second and every bit of energy, will have to be used wisely. While our fate in the race is yet to be determined, one thing is for sure, memories will be made that we will talk about for weeks, months, even years to come.

6 Hours of Power

2009-07-23T21:18:00.006-04:00

The 6 Hours of Power was to serve two purposes; training and preparation for the 24 hour race, and a confidence builder. One thing was for sure, the time spent in and around my home town was worth the trip, I only wish I’d allocated more time to spend there and alleviate a little more stress. That alone was probably worth a bit of confidence.

The morning of the race we were a little later leaving than desired, but I didn’t figure it to be a big problem. With at least six hours of riding, I wasn’t going to need much of a warm-up. We arrived at Holiday Valley ski resort about 30 minutes prior to the start of the race. I checked in at registration and we began to unpack the van and take things to the pop up canopy my uncle Jim had set up. He was there supporting my cousin Pat who was also racing. As I pulled my bike out of the van I realized that my front wheel was not there. In my less than attentive state earlier that morning, I’d taken it off, but forgot to put it in the van. Luckily I had managed to throw my back up wheels in, so I had a front wheel to use. The back up front wheel had less than desirable tread on it, but it would have to suffice.

The race started with a Le Mans style running start, everyone scrambling to get to the bikes as fast as they could. I found mine, and took off up the opening climb. I’d ridden it many times several years back, so I was very confident in how hard I should climb it. I passed several people right away. At the top of the hill, the single track began. Fantastic single track, I’d forgotten how good some of it was, even if it was a little damp and greasy in places.

I finished the first lap, just beginning to feel warmed-up. I took a half banana and a fresh water bottle and got on with the second lap. The field had thinned out a bit, so this lap I was able to see more of the trail ahead of me. I had a blast in the single track, riding it relatively fast, even jumping the bike here and there. I felt smooth and confident.

Each lap I came through, I stopped at the pop up, where my mom had a tray full of food selections. I would grab a thing or two, and shove what I could in my mouth and hold on to what I could to finish off as I headed through the timing area at the start/finish line. When I looked through the pictures taken by the professional photographer, it seemed as if they took most of their pictures in this area, my cheeks were puffed full of food in most pictures. The food was extremely important, in order to ride strong for six plus, straight hours I needed to keep calories coming in.

As I finished lap three, my legs were getting tired. By the end of lap 4, all the zip had left my quads, and my hamstrings were feeling a little sore and over-worked. The final downhill was fast, and also steep and rough in places. On a mountain bike this means hovering above the saddle, using the legs as shock absorbers. My calf muscles were now burning by the time I was getting to the bottom of the hill. The bumps and hard braking from the hill, and the overall nature of handling the bike in the single track was taking its toll on my arms too, especially my triceps.

I started lap 5, knowing I had only two laps more to ride. I went up the hill, slowly but surely. At the top, I stopped. The only time the entire race other than at the pit. I felt like I needed to stretch my hamstrings a little. It helped a little, but not enough to warrant the stop. I continued on, slowly. Anywhere the bike would coast, I was coasting. I began to think about making this my last lap. I could just stop at our pit, located just before the finish line and wait until 4pm to finish. (The rules state that you cannot ‘finish’ before the end of the 6 hours. Crossing the line earlier means completing another lap to finish.) I was headed toward a bad place, mentally.

Near the end of the lap, Pat came through to lap me. I sped up and kept with him for a short bit, it made for a quick uplifting moment, seeing a familiar face out on course. I finished out the lap, and essentially forgot that I’d almost thought about stopping. That is until I crossed the finish line and was committed to completing another lap. Any feelings of regret were soon gone and I focused on getting through one more lap. I even found a little hidden drive and strength over the last half lap as I caught and passed one guy that had passed me earlier. I was determined to finish ahead of him, especially since he was riding single speed.

The confidence I was looking for, didn’t come right away. Some of it did, but some of it has come as I reflect and look over the results. Certainly, I rode well. Despite being tired at the end, I felt good, really good. I have felt much worse at the end of far shorter races.

My total riding time was 6 hours 38 minutes 44 seconds. Throw in a few pit stops, and my total finishing time was 6:44:59. I completed 6 laps of the course for 58.26 miles. I was 26^th overall, of 83 solo riders, 43^rd overall of 123 solo riders and two person teams. (Results here)

My lap times were

lap 1 - 1:01:18

lap 2 - 1:00:19

lap 3 - 1:04:44

lap 4 - 1:11:39

lap 5 - 1:15:30

lap 6 - 1:11:29

There are a few pictures here from the day's event.

Pictures from the professional photographer’s site are here. I’m in photo #18, #252, #253, #468, #565

On a side note, Pat finished in first place for the solo riders. Only two of the teams were faster.

In the search for some confidence

2009-07-15T20:16:00.002-04:00

Confidence has been hard to come by lately. Finishing near the back of the pack in every race, sometimes in a race to not be DFL can do a number on your feel good. The weekend after Putney was the race at Domnarski farm. Well, I'll blame it on the sunburn, but I didn't feel particularly chirpy the day after the burn, which was the day before the race. I didn't really have an appetite to eat dinner, then not much of an appetite for breakfast the morning of the race. Domnarski is long, with lots of climbing, and it is rough in places. Just before the start, I felt slightly hungry. Not good.

I never really bonked, thankfully. I even found some kind of power on the last half of the last lap, mainly cause I was trying to drop the other guy so I wouldn't be in last place. It was way too little, way too late though. The entire Cat 1 field had walked away from me on the first climb.

I'm supposed to be good at climbing. It has always been where I stood out in racing. It doesn't seem to be so this year. I find myself wondering, am I just no good at climbing any more?

Truth is, everyone in Cat 1 is just plain fast. There is no hiding.

I'm probably just as fast, if not faster than I ever was, but I don't feel it. Not when I'm hanging out some place close to last in every race. So, with the traditional XC races winding down for me as I prepare for the annual 24 hours of Great Glen I'm looking for a lot of confidence. I think we all know that the mental aspect can be the most powerful part of a sport, especially one like cycling. If you're confident, you'll be fast, if you're not confident, best of luck to you. I'm trying to find that mental boost that makes me feel fast, so that I'll be fast, for me and my team mates.

The first boost finally came the other day. I did a little fitness test. The fastest I'd done this particular loop before was with an average speed of 19.7 mph. Despite the one killer hill, and it's a killer, there are some places where the pace can sit above 20 mph. Monday night, I did the loop at 20.1mph.

Big boost. Maybe I am fast.

This weekend will hopefully give me the next boost. A 6 hour endurance race at the Holiday Valley ski resort. If it all goes well, I'll be mentally ready to shred the 24 hour course.

Here, take some Speed

2009-06-30T20:48:00.003-04:00

Hey you, here, take this speed. Actually, I don't promote drug use. In fact, I won't even take ibuprofen unless my body really, really, hurts. But, despite my lackluster show of speed at Putney I was rather surprised tonight. I think someone injected me with something in my sleep or slipped something in my lunch today.

I took Monday off as a rest day and caught up on some chores. Then, today, I wasn't sure I'd even get to ride, strong thunderstorms were on their way. After consulting the radar several times, I decided it was a go, and then even decided it would be possible to pull off the Tuesday Night Sleeping Giant ride before the rain came. Lee rolled out the door with me and we rolled a nice warm up before arriving at Sleeping Giant State Park. I told him as we pulled away from the house and my legs screamed in agony, "I hope I can manage to hold on until the Paul Bunion Statue." The statue sits about half way through the ride. As we warmed up more, my legs started to feel alright.

The the Sleeping Giant ride started, this week it was split in two, with another group riding a slightly longer route. This was nice because it dropped the total number of riders in one group down, and the really fast guys opted for the long route while I opted for the short route. That's not to say the short route was going to be slow though. It may have started out a little easier since no one really wanted to pull at the front, but after a few miles the pace was sitting high. Somehow, I was easily sitting in the first 10 guys of the pack through nearly the entire ride. A few times, on some short uphills I surged to the front.

Then we pulled onto route 10, I was getting positioned for the sprint up the hill to the grocery store entrance. I let three or four guys expend large amounts of energy at the front and when the hill kicked up I began to surge. Unfortunately, I was sort of blocked into moving up the ride side and after I got to the front and was pushing on the pedals with everything I had for about 5 or 10 seconds I heard it. "Clank, clank, clank." Each time the tires rotated something in the back end was smacking the frame of my bike. I pulled off onto a sidewalk entrance as the entire peleton kept on trucking. I'd taken a metal spring to the rear tire. After a quick change of tubes I was up and rolling. Though I had no hope of catching the group again, likely going 5mph slower on my own, I time trialed my way home holding 20-25 mph.

Upon arriving at the house, Lee says to me, "I decided you're a liar." Truly, I didn't think I was going to be able to hold on tonight, some how I ended up playing around at the front of the pack.

I made it home about 5 minutes before the rain too.

I posted some select pictures from Putney. I included some random faces, just because I kind of like some of the pictures. Look at them here.

Slippery Race at Putney

2009-06-29T21:19:00.002-04:00

And so it has continued to be wet, and it even rained as Taylor and I entered the state of Vermont. Not particularly exciting when I'm planning to race, though, I guess I didn't care a whole lot. I just prefer dry trails, especially technical ones. Wet roots and I have never had the best of relationships, cordial to one another, but never out of our way to be friendly.

It had rained quite a bit at Putney recently so the trails were damp, greasy, and extremely ready to suck the life from each rider's legs. The race started out okay, but soon enough the entire field just walked away from me. It took me nearly all of the 4 laps to begin to find a rhythm I'd had through roots and mud that I'd had before pile driving my shoulder into the ground. Until I began to show some ability, I pretty much looked like a kid that just got off his training wheels. At least that's how I felt I looked. I looked forward to the climbs, at least a little. After all, it is where I usually shine.

Not so on this day. I was doing pretty good compared to other people I saw, even getting pretty far, farther than most, over some really slippery technical uphill stuff. But, the greasy mud was too much for even the best of us. I saw no one riding, on two particular spots of the course. The less technical climbs proved to be suffer-fests. Many riders were reduced to slow, grinding climbs as their rear wheels struggled to hold traction.

Through it all, I felt that I rode fairly well, I was even beginning to catch some guys towards the end of the race. I have the endurance, just no high end speed yet. So I felt good about my ride, even if I was really close to the back of the 19-29 Cat 1 field.

Getting Wet

2009-06-24T22:12:00.003-04:00

Somehow, despite the fact that it seems to rain or threaten rain every day now, I managed to pull off a second big week in a row. I was nearing the point of over doing it. After a few days rest I was back out today, even though there was rain in the area.

Sometimes being wet, or damp, is just plain annoying. Like a sock that is wet from a shoe that failed to provide protection from the rain soaked ground. To me, there is little more annoying than a wet sock. But for some odd reason, a ride in a light rain is slightly refreshing once in a while.

It may have something to do with the fact that spring rains are associated with the rebirth of life after harsh winters. Or it could be that the forestation along the road looks so much greener and more lush after a rain. It could be even more than that. Whatever it is, it felt good to get a little wet on the ride today. I started out with a light misty-type rain falling on me, and after a mostly dry ride, finished the last few miles in a similar rain. Instead of the usual grumpiness associated with wet clothes, I was rather cheerful.

It certainly was not my first foray into a rainy ride. There have been other occasions, some more enjoyable than others. I recall donning what I had for 'water resistant' clothing once in my early teenage years, simply to go ride and play on my bike in the rain. Sometimes, it is just fun to get wet.

So today's ride passed, as many rides do, without a particularly notable moment to record other than I got damp and enjoyed it.

BIG week

2009-06-16T20:10:00.003-04:00

It seems like so much has happened since the race in New York City, and yet I have some how put off writing, or at least forgot to when I had the time. There has been a lot of riding since that race.

I took the day after the race off to rest, then Tuesday I would have normally done a moderately paced recovery ride. Instead, I was somehow convinced to take part in the Tuesday night Sleeping Giant ride. It is the so called 'race without an entry fee.' I can't describe it any better than that. Guys from all sorts of categories show up (read as, guys who are a lot lot lot faster than me show up). Anyways, I think this was the third time ever that I tried this ride. It is a bit sketchy to start, the roads are littered with potholes for the first 2 miles and the ride is fast, and if you've ever ridden in a large group of cyclists, there is next to no ability to see what is coming your way on the road. Well, in short, my goal was to simply survive with the pack to the end of the ride, which I had yet to accomplish in my previous attempts. That night things went just right, and I managed to finish up with the big guns. Wow, the legs hurt.

I put in some recover miles on Wednesday, took Thursday off, then went riding with Jake on Friday. We ended up killing a few short, steep, punchy climbs. With as strong as Jake has been this year, I was hurting. I hadn't really recovered from Sunday and Tuesday's efforts. Quite likely not the greatest move on my part since I intended to race the next morning in the Nutmeg Criterium.

Note to self, don't ride with Jake the night before a race if you hope to do well.

I showed up at the crit, with few ambitions to place, but plenty of hope to stay in the pack to the finish and get a good work out in. Goals accomplished. I was wishing I'd had legs at the end of the race though, tactically it was the best I'd ever been able to read a race. It may have helped that a majority of the field was comprised of squirrely, inexperienced, junior riders that thought they could walk away from the peleton into the head winds. I was near the front with 1/3 lap to go at the top of the small rise and decided to try for a sprint, but I didn't have it, realized it, sat up and let the peleton pursue the sprint to the finish. I proceeded to pack up, drive 30 minutes home, and put an extra 28 miles in for the day.

Sunday was the annual Tour de Cure, which members of the Sikorsky Cycling club participate in. What is exceptionally nice is that it starts just a couple miles from my residence. I didn't actually sign up this year, but decided to ride the route with some friends that had signed up. I just went self supported, while the helped themselves at rest stops. Despite some significant issues with a flat and a tire that was far too worn out at the start of the ride, we ended up having a good ride. We all agreed that we were just warming up when the tire issues started and never really felt like our legs were quite there after sitting around playing with the tire. I ended up with 67 miles out of that ride at an average speed of 18.2 mph.

I started the week off with another Monday rest day. My legs were a bit sore all day from the high mileage, and heavy efforts of the course of the week. Then came Tuesday again. Feeling ambitious I went for the Sleeping Giant ride again, but put in some miles before the ride. This time, I was struggling to hold pace at times but managed to stay in the peleton. At one point I was feeling really pretty good. Then made a turn, into a slight rise, and the usual accelerations out of the turn happened. Well I got caught up behind the wrong guy and had to brake check a bit killing all of my momentum. I tried to accelerate back up to speed up the small rise, but my legs just filled to the brim with lactic acid and pretty much shut down. I watched the group pull away. I took a small shortcut and managed to get just ahead of the speeding peleton. The shortcut allowed me enough rest to jump back into the draft for the remainder of the ride down the smooth and straight asphalt.

My legs now hurt so good.

Mountain Biking in New York City

2009-06-09T21:33:00.002-04:00

Sunday started out like any other race day. This time I was picking Taylor up at a wonderfully bright and early time, and with bikes on the roof and all of our stuff in the back we hit the highway. Things got a little different though, instead of the usual where we drive further from civilization, this time we found ourselves surrounded by more and more concrete and more and more people. Then we came around a tight little corner on the cross county parkway and saw the sign for our exit right in front of us, hard right onto the ramp. As I pulled the hard right I realized there were actually two signs for the Saw Mill parkway and I'd just taken the wrong exit. No worries, we made a U-turn near the Dunwoodie Golf Course, which Taylor found the name of to be strangely funny. It was just the beginning of odd things to come on this day.

A few minutes later we were on Manhattan Island, at High Bridge Park. Strange place for a mountain bike race, but I think that's why we were there. Taylor partook in the Cat 2 race, and I decided to roll over to the staircase and grab some pictures. From there I decided to continue in the direction of the course. Bad idea. I was still wearing sneakers, heavy shorts, a regular old t-shirt and had a camera on my shoulder. I had worn my helmet though. I ended up in some gnarly, greasy single track that was likely to be difficult to negotiate in race attire let alone what I was wearing. I also climbed the toughest climbs on course, and despite trying to take it easy through all that, I managed to work up a serious flow of sweat in the mid-80° temperatures. Turns out I rode most of the course.

Well onto my race. I'd already sweated out more than my fair share of liquids, so it wasn't long into the race before I realized I wasn't prepared with enough bottles to last me through the race. Luckily I'd warned Taylor that I'd likely need an extra bottle. There were only 2 of us in our age group and I managed to stay on my competitors wheel without difficulty through the climbs of the initial partial lap. I pulled away a little in some of the technical stuff but I figured he might crack with the gear he was trying to pull up the hills so I let him go without too much worry.

I might mention that we started out with this 3/4 partial lap that went straight to the top of the park off the start. It was really a pretty darn good climb. After that we (the Cat 1 field) did 5 full laps of the course. Starting out with some gnarly single track, followed by a long semi paved section into the ride down the staircase. After that was a little bit of grassy stuff, before entering the caverns under a few bridges. Then it was climb, climb, climb up mostly pavement to the top of the park. Greasy rocks, roots and off camber stuff followed in some amazingly awesome single track. My only complaint, the switch backs were the worst bit of hike-a-bike, back to the top of the park and around the baseball fields. From here it was mostly down hill, with a few minor hills just to keep the roller coaster ride going. This was some of the best single track I've ridden, period. The lap ended by popping out on a sidewalk, and though it was taped and barricaded down the middle, and had few warning signs, there was the occasional oblivious pedestrian to avoid.

Back to the race. I had my competitor in my sights through part of the first full lap, but things shortly went dry for me. At 45 minutes in I'd done a 3/4 lap, plus one full lap and I was realizing that my hydration supply was quickly disappearing. At 2 and 3/4 laps I was beginning to get lapped by the pro field. Near the end of 3 and 3/4 laps I saw Taylor and Christina and yelled out, "I NEED WATER!". It would be another lap before Taylor could meet me at the feed zone with water.

2 laps to go and I'd just started my 2nd bottle of fluids. I should have planned on a bottle a lap. Well my breathing had been comprised for a few laps, I could only seem to bring in enough air to fill up half of my lungs. I side effect of the heat and dehydration I'm sure. This kept me from being able to get my heart rater higher, or efficiently provide oxygen to my legs. The result, I had but 1 speed that I could ride at. It wasn't particularly slow, but it certainly wasn't fast.

Somewhere in there, while I was descending a couple of sketchy looking rocks I saw a guy come flying up my ride side on an 'alternate' line. Nothing I was going to tempt riding, and out of the corner of my eye it seemed that he was going waaaaaay too fast. My thoughts were that he came up on me too fast and couldn't make the slight turn for the good line and couldn't stop quick enough. Oh, man, I'm going to have to stop and help this guy, he's just crashing down through the weeds. I got down over the rocks, and followed the trail back to the right, looked up and saw that the guy was not out of control and crashing through the weeds down the embankment. Rather, he'd hucked off one rock into this 'line' then popped back up onto the main trail, catching air, and doing a slight tail whip too. Hmm... I just got schooled. I still shouted at the sheer awesomeness of it.

At just over 2 and a half hours I finished my 5 and 3/4 lap, 21 mile ride. Cooked. My competitor was about 4 minutes ahead. Not really that much considering how long we were riding. Had I been more prepared with water, I might have tipped the balance the other way. An awesome ride either way.

Since there were only two of us, I got the 2nd place prize pack, which included $30. Taylor, Christina and I headed for a pizza joint. We found one, with prime parking, I think it was the only open spot we saw on the way there. Some little shop, near Broadway and 207th. Food!

There are some selected pictures here, taken by Christina, Taylor, and myself.

Another entertaining report on the race, by Gary Fisher 29er Crew rider Thom Parsons can be found here.

New Wheels!!

2009-06-02T21:51:00.002-04:00

I'd been longing for a nice set of race wheels for the mountain bike for some time. I'd been looking at parts online, comparing price versus weight versus performance, and trying to find that optimal blend of the three. I'd looked at some of the high end wheel sets that were available, but decided I could spec out each piece on my own and build something close enough without spending as much money. So I ended up with Mavic XC 717 Disc rims, Wheelsmith XL14 spokes, Wheelsmith alloy nipples, a Cannondale Lefty hub for the front, and a Chris King hub for the rear. I mounted a Shimano XT cassette, the rotors that came with my Avid BB7 mechanical disc brakes, and some random light wieght tire I found in my dad's garage for the rear. A Kenda Karma stick-E on the front. I'm rather pleased, the best wheels I've built yet too. I should clarify, the best I've built a set of wheels yet, they've held true through the first round of beating.

On a side note, a cyclist I met a few years ago, pointed me in the direction of a blog some friends of his had started. Joe's friends are riding across the country, in a speedy sort of way. Since I have a life goal to accomplish just such a task, though likely a bit slower to stop and see things, I've been following along. You might enjoy their journey as well. Follow along here.

Weekend Get Away

2009-05-26T22:18:00.002-04:00

Memorial day weekend became a 4 day weekend for me with the company furlough on Friday. Not a problem with me, I'd already planned to travel for the weekend and the extra day was great to have. I made the drive, through throngs of bugs, back to the home town. The front of my car, and the bike on top, were absolutely plastered with bugs. Pleasant to clean, let me say, especially off the bar tape and brake hoods.

As much fun as densely populated areas can be with all they offer to do, I always seem to feel so much better in the rural areas of Northern Pennsylvania. The rest is better, the rides are better, the air is better, a lot of things are better. I'll stop short of saying everything, because there are some great things about Southern Connecticut as well. I always enjoy getting quality rides in though.

This particular trip didn't see as much riding as a normal trip to the area. I spent a good bit relaxing, as well as visiting various extensions of the family. The biggest ride was nearly 58 miles, in the warmest weather I've ridden to date this year. I struggled a bit in it, and downed the 2 bottles I'd brought along, by the time I'd reached the halfway point. Luckily, as I'd hoped, there was a water fountain in Kinzua Bridge State Park. The biggest hills climbs of the ride came in the last 9 miles of the ride, I struggled with them to say the least.

The best ride of the weekend may have been the morning of Memorial day. I'd planned to start my trip back to Connecticut early, but thankfully came to my senses. Why head back early to get a ride in there, when I could ride the perfectly wonderful roads of McKean County? My dad and I put in a great 25 mile ride. The roads were quiet and nearly void of traffic, the winds were light when they were in our face, and we hit the fastest downhill I've been on. I only managed 51.6 miles per hour, a little shy of my personal speed record, which had been achieved on the same hill a few years ago.

Unfortunately such enjoyable times of relaxing and riding had to come to an end.

Riding Again

2009-05-14T20:25:00.003-04:00

I'm back on the bike again! It's been a tough first week. I'd like to be stronger, especially on the hills, but I have to say that all in all I'm happy to be riding at this point. Those 3 weeks off were starting to get tough on the mind.

Helping even more with my motivation is the great coverage of the Giro D'Italia provided by Universal Sports. If you are lucky, like me, you get the television channel and get to watch the coverage in great clarity. If not, you can still watch! Just go to their website and watch the video for the stage you'd like to see.

As much as I'm tired of hearing about Lance and his return, it is probably everyone's infatuation with him that has allowed us here in the states to get this great coverage of the race. By the way, the Giro is a three week race, just like Le Tour. The other grand tour is the Vuelta A Espana. So, in some weird way, thanks Lance, for riding again, and for riding another big race beside Le Tour.

Insta-bonk

2009-05-10T21:38:00.002-04:00

After suffering a grade 1 A.C. separation and being off the bike for 3 weeks and 2 days, I made a triumphant return to the road bike on Saturday. Surprisingly enough I felt pretty good and was even able to push my pace to some decent speeds at times. It was really great to be back on the bike, and in such good weather too.

My legs hurt a bit after I finished the ride, but I wasn't all that shocked. I'd put in a pretty good ride after such a long time off. Sunday, I figured I'd get another good ride in, though my plan was to take it fairly easy. I did keep myself from going overly hard, though the head wind certainly gave me its best.

Then after about 17 miles, the legs got real tired. Luckily I was already on the return portion of my loop. Not far after the legs got tired I was really starting to struggle and the wind was wreaking havoc with me. Then I began too realized just how hungry I was. It hit me, I'd just bonked. Quite possibly the quickest bonk that had even struck me. Thinking about what I'd eaten early in the day I quickly came to the conclusion that it was no where near enough to be out exercising for very long. It was really probably just enough to exist with basic functionality.

Lesson learned: eat more, ride well, get stronger.

Spring Travel

2009-05-09T10:45:00.003-04:00

Travel has been my theme as of late. About a month and a half ago I made a trip to Washington D.C. metro area. With two uncles, a sister, and two good high school friends in the area it always makes for a busy visit. Three or four days just never seems enough time to spend the time I feel I need to with everyone.

A few weeks later I made a weekend trip to Florida to visit my brother and his family. Oddly enough, the weather that weekend was actually warmer in Connecticut than in Florida. I have to say, the weather in Florida that weekend was just about perfect for me. It was the type of weather I could get used to; sunny and warm, but not hot.

I was also able to meet up with up with my aunt and uncle in Stuart, just a few miles from my brother's house. They hosted me for a wonderful dinner.

The number of people out cycling in Florida made me rather anxious to get out and ride, but an injured shoulder and no bike, it was not to be.

I returned late on a Monday night, then that Thursday I took off yet again for D.C. I'd had so much fun during the recent visit there I really wanted to get back down before cycling season really took off for me. Being off the bike with the shoulder injury really opened up some weekends for me to take off and go do things in place of the usual training.

End of the early season

2009-04-19T18:54:00.003-04:00

Getting too comfortable can be a bad thing. It turned pretty sour for me at the end of last week as my shoulder pulled a nice pile drive right into the ground. No broken bones, but awaiting the verdict on the rotator cuff. Needless to say, no riding for quite a while. Extreme bummer considering I'd just got healthy after nearly three weeks of random colds/bronchitis.

On the positive side, at least I shouldn't be burned out come 'cross season. Maybe this year I'll make beyond Charm City Cross riding strong.

Here's a little bit I put together from Hop Brook during the Cat 2 race.

Hop Brook Cat 2 Opening Lap from Scott Frison on Vimeo.

Lessons on the holeshot

2009-04-14T20:34:00.004-04:00

I'm not going to say that getting the hole shot would have done me much good at the Hop Brook race on Saturday, BUT I think there is a lesson to be learned here. If you plan to be competitive with the front of the field on a course that involves narrow sections (read single track), you best get to the front at the start and not get stuck behind someone in the first tight section. This especially holds true if that section will be difficult to ride due to technical features and/or slippery mud.

Notice the group come through, then a gap, then the guy struggling to gain traction right in front of me.

Opening weekend, 2009

2009-04-12T19:42:00.005-04:00

This was the first big weekend of racing for the 2009 season. I'm still just getting the riding going so there wasn't much to be expected for results. Mostly, I knew I'd get some good saddle time on the bikes.

Saturday was the first Root 66 series race at Hop Brook Dam. It was also my first race in the Cat 1 field, formerly known as expert. Right off the start I was somewhere near the back. A little way into the first lap I found myself riding closely with two other guys. Shortly into the second lap, one of them found some strength and pulled away. The other got a small gap on me shortly there after. Every time I closed most of the gap I started to make silly mistakes in technical sections of trail. Finally I caught and passed him. Now, as far as I could figure, this might have been the race to not be DFL. I did not want to be last. Starting the third and final lap, I dug deep and tried to prevent my competitor from passing, and to my pleasure, I found that I was pulling away. I dug deeper. Success ensued, I managed to completely lose him and finish relatively strong.

Did I mention that the race was just that much tougher because of the rain that fell during our entire bout on course? Well it was, rear tires were sliding around going up some of the hills. There was actually more traction in the wet leaves then in the clear line that people were following up the hills.

Upon just checking the results, I found that I actually placed 15th in a deep field of 19 guys.

After my race, I stuck around to watch Taylor in the Cat 2 race. It continued to rain throughout their race as well. Our friend John was also racing in Cat 2, so I got to cheer for a few guys. It was rather fun to watch despite the significant moisture. I jumped around the course and tried to grab some good photos. You can be the judge by looking at them here.

Battle of the Bronchitis

2009-04-08T21:57:00.002-04:00

The sore throat and cold that was mentioned last post turned into bronchitis. This was not diagnosed by a medical doctor, rather by logical reasoning that I was around someone that had it, and after a little reading at an online medical site, it seemed pretty clear to me.

Despite dealing with a bit of the effects on the lungs, I felt pretty good and mostly normal I headed for the Plainville Spring Series on Saturday. I felt good at first, I even bridged a gap to a potential breakaway on lap two. We got caught though, and no one wanted to pull at the front as we headed into the strong headwind. Seeing as I was there for the work out, I decided the heck with it, I'll just stay here at the front then and they can go the measly slow pace that was all that I could muster into the headwind. Finally a few riders capable of more speed into the wind decided to pull up through, increasing the speed of the peloton a notch or two.

It was disaster for me. Just tired from the pull at the front, and beginning to feel that I didn't have much left I couldn't hang on to the peleton and promptly got dropped. Each time they came around to lap me, I tried to catch onto them but I just couldn't hold the speed for long. The headwind was really taking a toll on me while I was alone.

Sunday it was off to Rhode Island with Jake for the King of Burlingame mountain bike time trial. The course is quite fun, which was a bonus this year. It was the first race as an expert for me. Considering I haven't really started 'training' yet, I was still suffering from a bit of bronchitis, and the competition was going to be a step up, I wasn't expecting much for results. Riding a fun course was going to bring a lot more joy to the whole event. My legs felt like bricks the whole time and I figured I was slow.

Suprisingly, my bike computer said I was about a minute and a half faster than last year. The 'official' results, listed me as a minute slower. After finally getting to see the results I realized that something just didn't make sense, as I had suspected after hearing my time on Sunday. The way the start order worked with bib numbers, the start intervals, and the finishing time I was 3 seconds behind bib 103 at the finish, real time. He would have started exactly two minutes ahead of me. This simply wasn't the case. There was no one that close in front of me as I crossed the line. There were two guys not far behind me as I crossed the line, but not at a 3 second difference. I did catch bib 106, who started 30 seconds before me, we finished not too far apart. I figure I had about 40 seconds on him, race time. That would place me at 36 minutes 5 seconds, which is nearly identical to the time on my bike computer. I'm pretty sure I should be listed at 17th with a time just over 36 minutes instead of 20th. I could go on about how my time just doesn't make complete sense, but the reality of it is, I wouldn't have won anything anyway.

Ah well, onto the first Root 66 race of the season and Easter weekend.

This Spring seems to have a high K constant

2009-04-01T22:01:00.004-04:00

Spring is suddenly approaching rather quickly, I feel like I've barely done much riding to speak of and the important races are drawing close. So far I ventured to Bethel for a short criterium, mostly for the workout, not really the results. Though I finished mid-pack without contesting the sprint. Last Thursday, a whole week ago now, was my last ride. I stopped at the velodrome in Trexlertown, PA on my way to Washington D.C. After going in ovals for an hour I continued my car ride. Upon returning from D.C. I immediately wound up with the second sore throat and head cold in less than three weeks. Riding was a thought, but with a nice chest cough it seems I'll be holdng off for maybe a day longer.

I'll get to see just how poorly prepared I am soon enough. For another work out, I'll be at the Plainville Spring Series for another criterium, then the King of Burlingame mountain bike time trial. I fully expect to get womped in my first race as an expert. I finished midway in the results last year as a sport rider. A week later is the first Root 66 race of the season, Hop Brook Dam. This is the first 'important' race, and at 21 miles, I fully expect to be somewhere way behind the leaders. My primary goal at all of these, not to be DFL. I figure Hop Brook will be my wake up call to start putting some hours in.

My big excuse? I'm claiming that I don't want to burn out a third of the way into 'cross season this year and I'm only racing expert so that I can get a chance to ride longer races. We'll see how it all works out.

In the mean time, here is a video of riding at the velodrome. 25mph doesn't look as fast on video.

Velodrome Riding from Scott Frison on Vimeo.

Ride, Ride, Ride!

2009-03-22T20:18:00.003-04:00

Two days, Four rides. All fun! I tuned up the road bike with a new chain, brake pads, bar tape and other minor tweaks Saturday morning then took the bike out for a ride. Twenty miles later, plus a stop at the bike shop to shoot the breeze I had a good ride in. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, it was off with the mountain bike for some rather technical riding. Despite the legs feeling mighty tired, I was getting through the technical stuff rather adeptly.

Sunday morning started early, too early to be awake and be happy. I headed up to the Bethel Spring Series for a little high intensity, high speed work, and my first criterium. It was cold. As a newly licensed roadie, I took part in the mighty short cat 5 race. My legs had nothing, and I was simply there for the workout, my only hope was that I could stay with the peleton for the entire race. I managed to do so, and even found myself near the front on a regular basis. If I'd had some legs I might have even contested the uphill sprint for the finish.

I packed up, headed out, stopped for breakfast #2 and swapped bikes. Another good mountain bike ride in the afternoon. The legs are pretty tired after all those rides, but it was all a lot of fun.

Spring is springing

2009-03-18T20:52:00.002-04:00

Winter seems to be fading away and spring not far off. The warmer weather has found me riding more and more each week. Despite being nearly destroyed on a road ride a few weeks ago, I'm beginning to feel some strength in the legs. I must say, the benefits of riding the single speed in the woods since last fall is showing. I finally pulled the scalpel off the storage stand and got it in running condition. After riding a hard tail with minimal front fork travel, the scalpel just felt squishy and I didn't feel like I knew how to ride in the woods. Following a handle bar swap and a little more air in the shocks, and I feel good on the trails. I certainly suggest some single speed trail work to boost the training.

Curing Cabin Fever

2009-02-28T20:39:00.002-05:00

The period of rest that was recovering from being burnt out turned into a bit of a long spell without any good riding. I fell into a rut and couldn't find the motivation to pull myself out. The weather was cold, the sun wasn't out when I could be, and heck, it's easy to sit on the couch or in front of the computer.

The sun is out longer now and spring is showing itself if but through some small cracks in the cold. Along with some new parts for the bikes I'm getting rather excited to spend some time outside. That, and it's getting mighty tough to sit still.

I've been getting out a little bit here and there. I don't know that I'm quite up for training as of yet, but it sure is nice to get out and enjoy some time rolling around on two wheels. As painful as they were, the couple of hours I spent riding this afternoon gave me some time to think a little about life, friends, the idea of training, and a lot about how strong the wind was.

Thursday night, Tom and I got out after work and rode some trails. I was surprised at just how long it stayed light. We did finish up in the dark and took a few videos while we were out. Click on this link to see Tom ride over the log pyramid, then crash as the video ends.

Here is a clip he got of me coming down the last hill near the exit of the trails.

Night Riding at Trumbull from tjfuzz on Vimeo.

Jump Start or Over Done?

2009-02-15T20:52:00.002-05:00

Good weather albeit a little chilly offered a fine chance to get out on the roads this weekend and get some riding in. Nearly 30 miles of relatively easy terrain was made fairly difficult by strong winds and a strong early season Jake. The 27 miles felt like plenty yet not too much. However Sunday's route was to be 'The Colombian', named for our Colombian friend Solin who came up with the route. It is full of challenging climbs that make for a leg busting ride when we are in shape. Being the longest ride to date this year, following one of my more substantial breaks from riding, this ride just plain hurt. The road bike simply couldn't provide enough gearing for me today and I found myself struggling to turn the cranks over at the top of a few hills and standing up for most of the final few climbs with a very slow trudging cadence.

My legs were absolutely trashed by the end of the ride, unable to cope with even the basic pedaling required to cover flat ground. When we all stopped to split ways, I had to cut out of the good-byes early because my legs were locking up. For a while after returning home it was rather painful just to stand up. Sitting was only slightly better. After eating a large amount of food, showering, and a nap though, things were better.

As they say, that which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.

Weak and feeble

2009-02-08T18:02:00.002-05:00

On the first road ride of the season it was all pain and suffering, except when that tail wind kicked in. Things were good with the tailwind. But the hill Jake and I climbed into a headwind, it made me want to get off the bike. I could barely turn over the gear my legs were so weak, or so they felt. I survived though, and actually felt relatively good by the end of the ride. I also looked like I'd been in a mountain bike race, with all the water and dirt on the roads getting sprayed up in rooster tails by our bikes.

Hiking the snow, with a little Riding

2009-01-31T15:51:00.004-05:00

February first, I'm finally getting sanity back and the itch to ride more, not quite at the point of training, but definitely getting out for some good old fashion fun on the bike. Today I met with Jake and Tom and we rode a little bit at first in the snow, but as the tracks from hikers dissipated the riding became near impossible. We reverted to some hike-a-bike. A few feeble attempts were made at riding, but were generally unsuccessful.

After hiking to the top of the hill we followed a trail that plenty of people had hiked on so riding was possible. It was also downhill, and a lot of fun.

Here is a video clip from a portion of the ride.

Riding the Snow from Scott Frison on Vimeo.

Skiing Stowe

2009-01-26T21:10:00.003-05:00

The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend took me to the Stowe ski resort, near the town of Stowe, VT. I joined a number of friends at a house that we rented in Morrisville, VT. We spent two quality days on the mountain skiing, despite extremely cold weather. The first day we pulled into the parking lot with sub 0°F temperatures. The second day was warmer at 11°F when we pulled up.

The skiing was fantastic, especially on Sunday after an overnight snow left some fresh white stuff on the mountain. While it can be relatively easy to just glide down the mountain, we didn't take it easy. We really worked the turns at a fast pace, leaving my legs rather tired by the end of day two on the mountain.

There are a few pictures here.

I also captured a video during one of our runs. I almost had a giant yard sale on the mountain when I hit a small patch of ice followed by some bumps. Skiing with both poles in one hand and a camera in the other, not the easiest.

I suggest clicking on the option in the lower right of the video screen for HQ (high quality) when watching. It takes a little longer to load, but allows you to see a much better image.

Lots of Car Time

2009-01-05T18:59:00.002-05:00

There's been rather little bike riding since the final race. In fact, there hasn't been any for me, I didn't even bother to take a bike with me on my Christmas trip to my home town. There was quite a bit of time spent in cars during that time though.

Tuesday, December 22nd found me home-bound after work. 6 Hours 36 minutes after leaving work I arrived in Port Allegany. With little time I made good time.

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The only traveling on Christmas Eve and Christmas day was around town to places like my grandparents, church, and my friends' houses. Then, the day after Christmas, I traveled with my parents to the Buffalo airport to pick up my brother.

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After a weekend of family fun it was back to the Buffalo airport early Monday morning to drop off my brother. The warm weather that had arrived with him, seemed to be going back to Florida with him as well. I stopped in Smethport to see my grandfather on the way back from the airport and then in the evening I went skiing with some friends at Holiday Valley. This was my 3rd appearance in the town of Ellicottville, NY for the day. Conditions were on the icy side after the big melt and refreeze.

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The rest of the week was spent relaxing. Then, Saturday, January 3, 2009, I made the return trip to Connecticut. Thus ends my Christmas vacation and its travels.

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I suggest clicking on the option to 'view larger map' and zooming appropriately to get the full picture of the travels. To some, this would be hell. For me, it can be rather enjoyable, the traveling about. I hope to place some pictures on a map soon. I'll be sure to post a link for your enjoyment.

'Tis the Season to Call it a Season

2008-12-08T20:59:00.003-05:00

Saturday was the NBX Grand Prix in Warwick Rhode Island and I was beginning to think this might be the last race of the season for me. I've been a bit mentally and physically burned out, well, for far too long, and I kept trying to drag myself just a little bit longer through the season. I hadn't ridden since the day before Thanksgiving, so I was going into this race in no kind of form, since a week and a half without riding will do that to you.

The day started at 4:45am when I rolled out of bed and into some clothes then waited for Jake to arrive. We then picked up Taylor and headed East. I closed my eyes and gave my best effort towards sleep en route, especially since I'd attracted some kind of stomach bug about 36 hours prior.

We arrived in some significant cold. Jake and Taylor readied themselves for the 8:30am Cat 4 race while I readied my cameras. During their race I ran around, using the small camera for video on the Gorillapod (many thanks to my sister, I finally put it to good use Lori), and the recently acquired SLR for still images. It was a lot of fun grabbing all the images, I even caught Taylor crashing, you should watch it (look for it just after 3 minutes in).

After hanging around for a while I raced at 12:30pm. Based on registration, I started way at the back of the field. As soon as we hit the first sandpit and sandy run up I moved up some places. Then I found myself running directly into the back of another guy in a group that had come to a stop on a small up slope. I jumped off and ran, gaining a few more positions. Finally things cleared up and I settled into a pace I could hold. I knew not to make any extra efforts as I certainly wouldn't recover. I passed a few guys and a few passed me but I found myself in a general race with a few other guys.

The only consistent competitor around me was Vinnie from Keltic Construction. At one point his hand slipped picking up his bike over the barriers; the bike hit the barrier and stopped, he did not. And so I thought I dropped him for good while he ran back for his bike. However I found myself with another guy who would pull ahead of me but refused to pull me in his draft on the pavement. He would slow up and move so as to indicate for me to pull through. Good strategy would say to refuse pulling, which I did until he was pretty much just coasting. I realized that I couldn't loligag behing him for long as Vinnie would likely catch back on. This happened 3 times, and much to my dismay, Vinnie caught back on with a lap and a half to go. We had a great battle over that last bit and it made for quite a fun race. Our sprint at the finish made for an exciting way to finish the season even though I couldn't quite come around him at the line to win our little battle.

Taylor and Jake used my cameras while I raced, the photos and video from the day are at the links listed below.

Photos are here (or slideshow). A total of 542 pictures were taken, I've narrowed them down to the good ones.

Videos:
Early in the Cat 4 race
Cat 4 Men in the Barriers
Cat 4 Men running Sand trap #2 (Taylor's spill at 3:12)
Start of my race (Cat 2/3)
Ticking off another lap
The Sprint Finish

I wish I had stayed and raced at day 2 of the event. My friend Adam went solely to take photographs and he said the conditions were awesome. Snow with a little mud, conditions that would have made for a great race. He took a lot of photos, a number of them quite qood, they're worth a look. You can see them here.

Slowing, like molasses

2008-12-02T22:39:00.002-05:00

I'm a little slow with a lot of things recently, including posts. There hasn't been much to write about as of late. The last race was Cheshire Cross and I haven't been on the bike since the day before Thanksgiving, though it was a ride that involved snow. I never planned an appropriate break in the season, now my mind and body are just burned out. Thus I'm just getting slow on the bike, I'm slow at building up motivation to ride, heck I'm just slow, like molasses in January. I'm going to go out this weekend though and have some fun drifting around the course at Warwick, Rhode Island. There's nothing quite like riding a fully taped off 'cross course, even if you are slow.

On the up shot, I'm currently sitting in the top 10 of CX Magazine's fantasy cyclocross league. That means my choices of pro riders are riding quite well, even if I am not. Though I'm down 1 spot from last week, I'm still hanging in there and hoping to hold out for a top 10 or better by the end of the international cyclocross season in February.

I also got a hold of some video that my friend Mike took at the Cheshire race. I posted two of them to vimeo, one is embedded below.

The final lap of the race, I thought I finally had the hill, as in, I was going to ride up the whole thing. Alas the second log foiled me. I'd been the only guy trying in my race, or so I was told, but another guy followed me, riding up the hill, that final lap.

THe Hill at Cheshire Cross 08 from Scott Frison on Vimeo.

Cheshire Cross Tailgate

2008-11-23T17:08:00.003-05:00

Saturday morning was cold. So was the entire day for that matter. I'm not even sure that it ever made it above 30°F. The sun was bright, which added some sense of warmth at times, but the wind was blowing a lot, thus adding quite a chill. This would be the first really cold 'cross race of the season. The cold tends to be extra painful, since by the end races at these temperatures I usually can't feel my toes to well. Thank goodness they're only 45 minutes.

The Cheshire race is considered my 'home' race since it is only a short drive from my residence. Because it is so close and because my race as well as Taylor's and Jake's race were late enough in the day we decided to throw a tailgate party, hoping to snare some of friends into coming and cheering for us. With the added lure of food and booze a few were willing to brave the cold day and cheer. A BIGGEST THANK YOU to each of them!

I arrived at the park to see Matt from the Devil's Gear Bike Shop already there. We set up our little tailgate area and soon I was off taking some photos with my new camera. I got a look at a few sections of the course before heading back to the tent to greet the arriving friends. We ended up with quite a crowd around our tent.

Just before I raced, Taylor and Jake went out on course for their race. I was able to shout and watch them come around while warming up on the trainer. Both had a great race. Then I headed for the start. I was good and warm but I found myself in a second row starting position. The start didn't go too well either, somehow I was near the back of the pack after the first turn. Not only that everyone seemed to be pulling away. I had nothing, the legs couldn't turn the gear I needed to push over. (I had realized the night before why I'd felt so slow lately, I've only been putting a quarter of my regular time on the bike over the last month and a half; at best.)

Needless to say, I had no chance of keeping up. I watched most of the field just pull away from me and there was nothing I could do. At this point I was a bit disappointed in myself, all my friends had braved the cold and I was going to be doing my best not to be DFL, instead of doing my best for a top 5 or better. I figured I might as well try to please the crowd and have some fun. On what is probably the longest run up of the New England circuit, almost everyone was running. The log at the bottom and the log half way up made for a difficult ride. Plus there were numerous roots strewn about the lower half. I saw maybe 3 guys ride the hill earlier in the morning. For the first few laps I got over the first log and about half way to the second log, losing traction in some loose dirt on the right side or getting hung up in the roots on the left. The crowd of people that had gathered there loved my attempts though. They would scream like crazy as I made my attempt to ride up the hill.

Finally on the last two laps I made it to the second log of the hill. On my first attempt over it I just didn't have enough speed to get the whole bike over. On the final lap I managed to get the bike over the log, but didn't have enough momentum to keep the bike moving. The crowd seemed to love it though.

My friends were all over the course. There was hardly a spot where there weren't screaming at me. That alone made this race about the most fun I've ever had with a race. I was way off the back just trying not to be last, but I was having quite a bit of fun with all the screaming and shouting. At one point I rolled towards the edge of the course as Mike was running beside me yelling, I gave him I nice push in the shoulder just to play back a little. At another point, after I'd failed to ride 'the hill,' I pumped my fist in the air while running the rest of the way up through the crowd.

All in all, not a bad day. My results were far less than stellar, but introducing a new group of people to Cyclocross was great. Watch for next year, the tailgate is likely to be back.

Many thanks to Lee who shot some video for me. Some of the videos he got are posted on my Vimeo page. Some of the shots I got with the new camera and some of the shots Kevin took with it while I was racing can be found on my Picasa page.

My friend Adam was there taking photos as well. His shots can be seen at this page.

Cyclocross 101: class 10, review and wrap up

2008-11-16T17:09:00.004-05:00

We've come through a lot of information on cyclocross, and there is really a lot more to be had. However, at this time it would likely be best to go out and experience a cyclocross race. The written word can only provide so much about the overall experience that can be had at a race.

The basics have been covered here. The start, the obstacles, the competition, the bell lap. Essentially the race is about going as fast as you can, while pacing yourself just enough to last the set time period without imploding. A little knowledge from various cycling disciplines is quite helpful. Bike handling skills from mountain biking and power and strategy from road cycling, cyclocross encompasses it all.

Before we completely wrap up this course there is one brief topic left. That is being a fan at a race. There are a couple of items essential to being a really good 'cross fan. First, a good beer and some frites with mayo (fries to Americans) will keep your belly happy and your soul warm. Second, warm up your voice and scream at your favorite racer each time they come around the course. At most races in America there aren't enough fans to fully line all parts of the course, so you can likely even run around a few places and catch the rider a few times per lap to scream at them even more. The final essential element is a cow bell. As the saying goes, more cowbell! An air horn would be a suitable substitute in most cases.

So this concludes Cyclocross 101. If you would like to go back and review each class just follow the links below. It's been fun!

Class 1, The Overview
Class 2, The Competition
Class 3, The Race Format
Class 4, The Barriers
Class 5, More On Barriers
Class 6, An in Depth Look at Barriers
Class 7, An in Depth Look at Run Ups
Class 8, An in Depth Look at Sand Pits
Class 9, The Start
Class 10, Review and Wrap Up

How Disappointing...

2008-11-04T17:32:00.002-05:00

Well, it's official, I checked crossresults.com and my finish in Northampton was my worst result in a cyclocross race, ever. That is if you look at the percentage of the field that beat me. 77.5 % Of the field beat me. The closest result to that was the first 'cross race I ever competed in, Gloucester, day 1, 2007, where 72.1% of the field beat me. You can look at my race history and analysis if you like.

On the upside, my halloween costume was great this year. Of course it was at its best because of a group effort. Pacman!!

Pacman and Ghosts from Scott Frison on Vimeo.

Double race report

2008-11-03T21:57:00.002-05:00

I have to jump back to October 26 and Beer Cross 1 to begin this race report. Jake and I headed for Dayville, CT early in the morning. Jake rode the early Cat 4 race while I jumped around the course taking videos and shouting updates to him. He finished a solid 2nd place with about a 25 second advantage over 3rd. A little later he joined me in the Cat 2/3/4 race. This race started well with all the prospects of a return to the form I enjoyed in Baltimore. I took the whole shot on the start and through the tight, technical course I actually built a small lead. With ¾ mile left in the lap I had a small gap over 2nd and we enjoyed a comfortable, though small gap over the rest of the field. Soon enough I was in 2nd place and 1 lap further I was fading hard, too hard for that early in the race. Slowly I drifted back in the ranks and then Jake caught me, and briefly dropped me. I managed to catch back when his legs started to cramp on him. I then found myself in a battle with another guy with one lap to go. I made a move with a half lap remaining and opened a gap, then dropped my chain. Despite a quick recovery by shifting it back into place my rival caught back up as we headed down the stretch for the run up. He tried to pass, but knowing that I could pull away coming down the single-track hill after run up I gave everything I had to be in front at the run up. Sure enough I opened a gap on him down the hill and easily rode in to hold 10th place of 20.

Then came Halloween weekend, November, and the Cycle-Smart International in Northampton, Mass. Two nights of less than adequate sleep, on top of waning fitness bit me good. Taylor and I left the Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot at 6:12 am to catch his 8:30 am race. I ran around the course and shouted at him cheering him on to a strong ride.

Starting at nearly the back of the field I had my work cut out. The Cat 2/3 field is so aggressive, picking my way through the field would be tough, but I figured technical course full of turns would play to my advantage. Following Taylor’s advice I shot up the right side on the start, as everyone drifted left to make the hard right turn a hole opened up for me and I shot a few spots before grabbing the brakes hard for the turn. Going through the turn my handle bars were pressed hard against another guys, neither of us had any room to give. Coming out and getting up to speed I had to lock up the brakes as two guys in front of me did the same to avoid a crash. I was trying to get spots through the next few turns and coming out of one 180 degree left turn I was very close to the outside tape when I felt a lot of pressure pushing my rear wheel to the left. I fought against the pressure, and after what seemed like a very long time the pressure was gone and I heard someone hit the deck behind me. The guy’s front wheel had been leaning into my rear wheel and he finally lost his balance, going down and taking some others with him I noticed when looking back. The next lap, at one of the railroad track crossing, there were two guys right in front of me, the first tried to jump over the tracks, only to crash on landing. The second guy grabbed his brakes hard and was headed of the handlebars last I noticed, as I grabbed the brakes hard myself. I managed to escape without crashing. The rest of the race went something like this; I battled for positions, but slowly fell back places as my legs just couldn’t turn the gear I wanted them to. At the end I was totally spent and exhausted. I finished a measly 62nd of 81 finishers and 91 starters.

I also managed to forget the memory card for my camera, so the large number of videos I’d planned to capture, well they don’t exist. I did, however, grab a few videos of Jake during Beer Cross. Head over to my Vimeo page to find them.

Cyclocross 101: class 9, the start

2008-10-28T20:27:00.003-04:00

We've discussed the start a little before, but this session is dedicated the start. It’s been noted that the start of a ‘cross race may actually account for as much as 20% of the factors leading to finishing position. Yes, the start is rather critical in determining how one will place at the end of the race. Let’s take a close look at why this is so.

The start is a mass start, meaning racers are gathered at the line and as soon as the starting signal is given, the race is on. At smaller races, starting position is first come first serve on the line; at larger races it may be determined by registration order. The larger races may have as many as 100 or more competitors. The starting line-up usually has between 6 and 8 racers per row and as many rows as needed. After all racers are lined up, an official will give various instructions concerning the race. After these instructions are given, the racers will be given a warning about the approximate time until the start, as many as 2 minutes, but rarely much more than that. Countdown updates are given, the last being around 15, 20 or 30 seconds until the start. At some races the start signal is given right on time, at others once the final countdown warning is given the signal to start may be given at any time up until that time runs out, for a little more randomness.

From previous classes we’ve seen how the group can get bunched together, especially in the first hard corners and obstacles. It is rather difficult to pass in this situation since there is little room to move until later when the field spreads out. If there is an accident, there can be major traffic jams, just the way an accident on a busy highway backs up the highway. This may be a bit obvious, but those closer to the back of the field when there is an accident are going to get slowed down quite a bit, while those up front pull away at full speed. Therefore, starting well and getting position near the front drastically reduces the chances of being involved in an accident or being held up by one.

Even if there is no accident, by nature, it is slower going in a large group on a tight course. Those in the very front can break down into a single file line and take the fastest lines through the corners; however those in the middle of the group will be forced to take nonstandard, slower lines.

So a race is stuck in the pack, he’s faster; he’ll catch up once everyone thins out, right? Maybe, this depends on how much faster he is. Depending on how the start went down, a racer may have lost a large amount of time on the leaders right off the start. Now that racer must work much harder to catch up, spending precious energy. Since cyclocross is such an intense effort, pushing one’s self too hard too early may leave one with little energy to maintain speed at the end of the race. Let’s say our race managed to make up the time lost, they’ve spent a lot of energy doing so. The leaders who have managed their effort may now pour on the pressure and increase the effort output, which may leave our racer behind since is too spent to hold the faster pace any longer. Had he been up front with the leaders he may have held the same pace as the leaders, conserving energy, and made an attack near the end of the race to take the win.

So that's it, start wherever for a good race, start up front and take the whole shot for a great race.

Watch below to see the start of the Cat 4 men at the recent Beer Cross race in Dayville, CT.

Beer Cross 1 Cat 4 start from Scott Frison on Vimeo.

Class 1, The Overview
Class 2, The Competition
Class 3, The Race Format
Class 4, The Barriers
Class 5, More On Barriers
Class 6, An in Depth Look at Barriers
Class 7, An in Depth Look at Run Ups
Class 8, An in Depth Look at Sand Pits
Class 9, The Start
Class 10, Review and Wrap Up

Just a little tid bit

2008-10-23T20:08:00.004-04:00

I don't know that I ever mentioned how the finish actually went down on day 1 of Gloucester in my original recap. Well, I could feel something going on that was kind of strange coming from my crank in the last lap. With a quarter mile to go I realized the left crank arm was coming loose, meanwhile I had to fend off one guy surging towards while doing my best with a seated sprint. I didn't dare stand for fear that the extra torque would pop the crank off right when I had my weight on it sending me to the tramac in an unforgiving way.

The crank popped off while cooling down in the parking lot.

I have problems with cranks at that race. Last year I realized it was loose just minutes before the start, with just enough time to get it fixed. Later in that race I was battling a guy on the last lap whose left crank arm came off mid lap.

On to another tidbit. One of the heads of state over at crossresults.com slapped a little camera under his seat and took some video of what was going on behind him. He has 4 videos, each of a separate lap, 1 through 4. By the way, this was taken during the same race I competed in though I never see myself in here, probably because he has a far better starting position and rides the whole race faster than me.

Gloucester Cyclocross Seat Cam from colin reuter on Vimeo.

See the other laps.
Lap 2
Lap 3
Lap 4

Quick Update

2008-10-22T21:39:00.002-04:00

The latest batch of videos is up and ready for your viewing pleasure, just click here.

We've got just a little bit left to cover in Cyclocross 101, the next class will be coming along soon, don't fret.

Mansfield Hollow 'Cross Race

2008-10-18T20:36:00.002-04:00

One of the best races of the season, that's what I call Mansfield Hollow. The course is a great course, one needs to be good at all facets of 'cross to excel here. It's truly a fun course to ride. Unfortunately, restraining my left quad earlier in the week, then riding single speed in the woods another day left me with little spark on the day. Usually I can accelerate well out of the barriers or runs ups or steep banks, but I had no such accelerations. I was even struggling to get the bike up some banks that shouldn't have given me too much trouble.

I could tell off the start that there was little available for any bursts so I decided to find my pace immediately and hold it. After pulling an initial lead on Jake he slowly worked his way up to me. Finally he passed and opened a lead. With two laps to go I almost lost another position but fought back and continued my surge to nearly catch back onto Jake. But the effort cost me and while he was going at it a little easier for a little bit, he had a better kick for the final lap. I had however dropped the other guy that had passed me briefly. I finished 1 spot behind Jake, Taylor came in a few spots later.

After our finish, we headed for some free hot cider and other goodies. We also took the chance to heckle some other the other races taking place.

Photos from the day, click here.

Videos to come soon.

Cyclocross 101: class 8, an in depth look at sand pits

2008-10-13T18:09:00.007-04:00

In this session we will review the sandpit. In this case there are a few corners in the sandpit. Many, including myself, were able to ride through it. For me, it was a little faster, only because I could accelerate faster out of the pit and avoid the heart rate spike associated with running at a full sprint, thus there is no needed recovery period. For the elite men’s race, with their speed and fitness it was faster to run. The risk of a slow, drifting ride, and possible forced dismount was not worth the attempt to ride. In this video we watch the leaders of the elite men’s race run through the sand on day 1 of the Gran Prix of Gloucester, 2008.

GP of Gloucester Day 1, Elite/Pro Men through the Sand Pit from Scott Frison on Vimeo.

Class 1, The Overview
Class 2, The Competition
Class 3, The Race Format
Class 4, The Barriers
Class 5, More On Barriers
Class 6, An in Depth Look at Barriers
Class 7, An in Depth Look at Run Ups
Class 8, An in Depth Look at Sand Pits
Class 9, The Start
Class 10, Review and Wrap Up

Cyclocross 101: class 7, an in depth look at run ups

2008-10-13T18:09:00.006-04:00

In this session of special material we will look at the run up. The videos in this session are from the 2nd day at the Gran Prix of Gloucester, 2008. This run up is a prime example of the said obstacle. First we will see the Cat 4 men hit the run up on the first lap of their race.

GP of Gloucester Day 2 Run Up, Cat 4 Men from Scott Frison on Vimeo.

In this next video we will watch the Elite women attack the same run up on the first lap of their race.

GP of Gloucester 2008, Day 2, Elite Women on the Run Up from Scott Frison on Vimeo.

Class 1, The Overview
Class 2, The Competition
Class 3, The Race Format
Class 4, The Barriers
Class 5, More On Barriers
Class 6, An in Depth Look at Barriers
Class 7, An in Depth Look at Run Ups
Class 8, An in Depth Look at Sand Pits
Class 9, The Start
Class 10, Review and Wrap Up

Cyclocross 101: class 6, an in depth look at barriers

2008-10-13T18:07:00.002-04:00

In the next few sessions of Cyclocross 101 we will enjoy some special material concerning various aspects of the race. In this first portion of bonus material we will look at the subject of recent discussion, the barriers.

In the first video we see the Cat 4 men approaching the barriers on lap 1 of their race at the first day of the Gran Prix of Gloucester, 2008. The barriers will be visible about halfway through the video. However, since it is the first lap you will notice how bunched together the racers are. These barriers are 40cm tall and are placed on an incline providing some difficult hurdling.

GP of Gloucester Day 1 Barriers Run Up, Cat 4 Men from Scott Frison on Vimeo.

In this next video we see more barrier action. The uphill incline and general fatigue causes Jake to nearly trip on the second barrier.

GP of Gloucester Day 1, Jake hits the barriers from Scott Frison on Vimeo.

Finally, we see Taylor finishing the barriers and returning to the bike to accelerate away.

GP of Gloucester Day 1, Taylor through the barriers from Scott Frison on Vimeo.

Class 1, The Overview
Class 2, The Competition
Class 3, The Race Format
Class 4, The Barriers
Class 5, More On Barriers
Class 6, An in Depth Look at Barriers
Class 7, An in Depth Look at Run Ups
Class 8, An in Depth Look at Sand Pits
Class 9, The Start
Class 10, Review and Wrap Up

GP of Gloucester, 2008

2008-10-13T18:04:00.003-04:00

A brief review of the weekend’s races in Gloucester, MA. Oh yeah, it’s pronounced Glastah. Throw in some heavy Massachusetts-New England accent and it sounds really great. Saturday morning the races started at 9 am with Taylor and Jake partaking in the category 4 race. A recent acquaintance, John, from the Wednesday night training series we’d been riding was also there, but I didn’t notice him right away. As soon as the race got going I was already wishing I was in their field, frankly because I figured I could roll out a top 30 placing of over 100 guys pre-registered. However, I gladly took on my role as 5% pit guy, 5% strategy coordinator, and 90% heckler/cheerer. Jake apparently punched some holes through the pack in the first half lap. Taylor witnessed this and claimed there was no hole to pass with but somehow Jake made up a lot of places from the back of the pack. Both of them fell into place, Taylor in quite a battle with a half dozen guys through out the race, Jake slowly but surely moving through the field. I counted position and shouted it out, then shouted some other words, and ran around the course to yell at them multiple times per lap. Oh, and I rang a lot of cow bell at them. Jake finished 14th of 98 and Taylor 41st.

After a morning of conjuring myself around I raced at 1pm. I was already feeling a bit intimidated. I was racing in the Cat 2/3 field which was bound to be fast. Then the announcers were saying Cat 1/2/3. “WHAT!? I’m racing Cat 1’s as well, oh geeze.” (As it turns out, I don’t think there really were any Cat 1’s.) So now I’m really feeling like a small fish amongst sharks and wondering if I should have just stayed Cat 4 for a little longer. Then the top 20 starting spot I thought I’d get, drifted into an 8th row starting spot after numerous call ups for guys with certain standing. To top it all off, barely riding your bike for 2 weeks doesn’t leave one with much for legs. So the race started, and let me tell you, this was the most aggressive field I’d ever been in. It was a fight, tooth and nail for every little inch in the field. In the first half lap I narrowly avoided becoming part of three different giant pileups. One pile up actually formulated, but I managed to stay upright and moving. From there, it was pure lemons. My legs didn’t have much and I slowly drift back in the pack. Once I took a corner too hot, and without warning my rear wheel slipped out from under me and I hit the deck. Later, as I entered the corner just before the barriers my left foot failed to unclip from my pedal and I hit the deck again. The 2nd encounter with the ground was slightly more embarrassing since there were many more spectators hanging around the barriers. I rolled across the finish in 65th of 98. Far from stellar, but acceptable, considering this is Gloucester, a.k.a New England World’s. Yes it has the nickname of New England World Championships, the competition is that hot.

The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the elite fields race.

Day two started well enough, I was feeling better and more mentally stable. Jake did not stay to race, so I found myself shouting at Taylor and our friend John. John finished rather well, 22nd of 102. Taylor’s legs faded on him a bit from day 1 and he came in 51st after some further battles during the race. The best part was the addition of a large, steep run-up that had not been part of the course the first day, a prime spot for yelling at people during their height of suffering. After the race I found John to congratulate him, and he thanked me for all the shouting noting how much it helped and motivated him.

On to my race a 1pm; I tried to be a bit more aggressive during the start. I was, to some extent, but the whole field was fast and aggressive. I also had to avoid yet another crash, two guys were on the ground, dazed and confused. The run up was chaos, but I seemed to be a little faster running than those around me so I shoved my way through a few guys. This run up would be a good place for me all race, I tended to be faster through it than those near me. This race I stayed upright and my legs felt a little better. I managed 54th of 90. Thus ended another weekend of cyclocross excitement.

I've posted a lot of selected pictures.

Just before posting I had a little pick me up from Jake. He called and told me to check out the finishing times. Despite my mid-grade finish in Cat 2/3, I would have been top 10 in Cat 4. Thanks Jake.

Class to resume soon

2008-10-12T21:30:00.002-04:00

Like any good teacher that goes to a good conference, I've returned with a plethora of information to share and use in the classroom. As soon as I figure out exactly how to share it with you, my students we will resume class. Until then, review the classes we've had thus far and get ready for some great supporting material.

Cyclocross 101: class 5, more on barriers

2008-10-10T16:05:00.004-04:00

Now that we're familiar with the obstacles most commonly seen in 'cross we'll examine how some promoters use them to make the course really painful. One of the most common ways of creating such extra pain is to combine the run-up with barriers. Place a set of barriers at the bottom of a bank in which the riders will be going straight up and suddenly that rideable bank isn't so rideable. The rider coming in, dismounts to run over the barriers but then the bank has too much grade to get back on the bike and get it going. Thus the rider must run to the top. And as many people may have noticed, sprinting up a hill puts you into the red zone of anaerobic ability, no less while carrying something like a bike.

A slight variation on this is to throw the barriers in the middle of the uphill. This causes riders to carry less speed into the barriers as the bike slows quickly when it is not being pedaled up the hill. In actuality it tends to make the riders nearly stop forward motion. This makes for difficult traversing of the barriers.

To and another slight variation, throw a tight corner that exits uphill, with barriers part way up. This causes a situation where the rider must begin running up the hill from virtually a standing start, and without much running speed barriers are might tough to get over.

Below we see a picture from the GP of Gloucester in 2007. These barriers we placed in the middle uphill bank. It was very difficult to carry much speed into these barriers. There was a tight left hand turn, from which riders entered going down hill but exited going uphill. In the middle of this 20 meter bank was a set of 40cm barriers. The fastest way through was to dismount entering the corner, run up the hill until the ground leveled off then remount. Many racers attempted to mount their bikes to early and lost too much speed.

More to come after the weekend. It's off to the Gran Prix of Gloucester 2008.

Class 1, The Overview
Class 2, The Competition
Class 3, The Race Format
Class 4, The Barriers
Class 5, More On Barriers
Class 6, An in Depth Look at Barriers
Class 7, An in Depth Look at Run Ups
Class 8, An in Depth Look at Sand Pits
Class 9, The Start
Class 10, Review and Wrap Up

Cyclocross 101: class 4, the barriers

2008-10-09T20:36:00.004-04:00

As mentioned in an earlier session there are various obstacles that can be found in 'cross courses. Such obstacles are meant to 'oblige' the rider to dismount their bicycles. In most cases some skilled riders can get by without dismounting, in other instances it would take a super human feat. Of course, just because you can ride the obstacle doesn't mean it is the fastest way through, and since we're talking about racing, well you get the idea.

The three main obstacles we usually see in cyclocross are run-ups, sand traps, and barriers. Run-ups are usually a relatively short hill or bank that are too steep to ride one's bike up. Sometimes they can be ridden by some but not others. In most cases, if you can ride up it, you'll be faster. There are also some run-ups that include stairs, pretty hard to ride up, especially on a 'cross bike.

Sand traps, consist of beaches or volleyball courts. The sand is rarely packed, rather very loose. If you've ever ridden a bike, or tried to ride a bike through sand, you know it is rather difficult. The bike wants to follow its own course and moves all over on you. Sometimes it is a straight shot through the sand, so most people can ride. Then other times the course designer throws in a turn or two, or three. Turns tend to force most people off their bikes, as they cannot get the bike to turn without the front wheel washing out.

The final obstacle is the barrier. According to UCI rules, there is a limited number of barriers per course and the size of them and distance apart the pair can be are regulated as well. They can only come in pairs as well. The rules on barriers are, 40cm high constructed of wood boards and 4 metes apart. This is all good and well, however some of the best courses, in my opinion, are not UCI legal. First of all, sometimes the barriers aren't 40cm high. Sometimes they are lower, other times, higher. I've seen small logs, to large logs that one needs to step on top of to get over, to small fences, or sets of four barriers, or a single barrier. Now the riders don't have to dismount their bikes for the barriers, but lets face it, most of us can't hop a bike 40cm into the air. Nor can we do it clean enough and fast enough to be efficient in a race. There are a few guys out there that can get over the barriers with relative efficiency though, and when they do make an attempt it is a real crowd pleaser.

That's all we'll cover for now on the obstacles but I'll leave you with more video footage to watch.

In our first video we have JPOW explaining how to hop the barriers. In our second video we see Matt White cleaning them nicely without a dismount.

Class 1, The Overview
Class 2, The Competition
Class 3, The Race Format
Class 4, The Barriers
Class 5, More On Barriers
Class 6, An in Depth Look at Barriers
Class 7, An in Depth Look at Run Ups
Class 8, An in Depth Look at Sand Pits
Class 9, The Start
Class 10, Review and Wrap Up

Cyclocross 101: class 3, the race format

2008-10-04T17:31:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the delay in our next class, we'll get right into the next lesson.

In class 1 we learned that races were based on time, and as the race developed more, based on laps. We'll begin our discussion of race format by reviewing the time based situation. Most people familiar with racing are used to a race where the number of laps to be raced is set at the start, like the Indianapolis 500. Mario Andretti knew he had to do 200 laps before beginning the race. In cyclocross you neve quite know how many laps of a course you will complete.

When the racers gather at the start line, some selected person goes over some general information about the course and basic rules, and they indicate the time length of the race. In Cat 4, 40 minutes is pretty standard, Cat 2/3, 45 minutes, and in Cat 1, 50 minutes. The professional fields run 60 minutes. This applies to the men's fields, the women usually run a few minutes less.

Now the race starts, and everyone knows they are racing for approximately 40 minutes if they are cat 4. Granted not everyone can finish their lap exactly at the 40 minutes mark. So after 2 or 3 laps, the officials have the average lap time. With this they can figure out approximately how many laps can be completed in the given time. If it looks like the leaders should complete a lap around 39 minutes the officials will post that as the last lap. If they look to be completing some laps around 35 minutes and 41 minutes, the lap closer to 41 minutes will be designated as final. When the officials make their decision based on the average lap time calculation, they display the number of laps left at the start/finish line. Most racers know after two or three laps to look at the lap cards to gauge their effort and strategy for the rest of the race.

With one lap to go for the leaders, a bell is rung to signify the last lap. Fittingly, this is known as the bell lap. The rules on lapped riders can vary from race to race. At some races, as soon as a rider becomes lapped, they are pulled from course. At other races, they continue to race but finish on the same lap as the leaders even though they've completed fewer laps.

The start of a 'cross race is critical, especially at larger races. Getting as close to the front row is critical, especially at larger races. Racers line up in rows, up to 8 or 10 riders across and as many rows deep as needed. The start is from a standstill and can be very predictable, or they may simply say 30 seconds and the whistle may blow anytime in the next 30 seconds. Once the whistle goes off, it is an all out sprint into the first few corners. Getting ahead is critical, maybe even 20% of producing a good finish. If one can make it through the turns with a good line and through the obstacles and technical stuff ahead of the traffic they stand to pull a large gap while others get slowed down by the high traffic effect. Because the start is so important, it is not uncommon to see racers fighting tooth and nail for position during the first lap or two. Leaning against each other and rubbing handlebars is not all that uncommon. At Charm City Cross I brushed one guy's handlebar as I dove into the inside of a corner on him. At the Wednesday night training series my bike got a little squirrely in some sand I hadn't noticed as I tried to make a pass and I ended up leaning fully into the guy I was trying to pass for at least 10 or 15 meters.

During the race, some road tactics can come into play such as drafting, depending on the course. A very fast course would allow for drafting, while a slower technical one would not. When things settle out it really becomes a matter of holding pace with the competition and figuring out where you're stronger on course. Once you pick out the spots of advantage you know where you can make a move near the end of the race and drop your compatriots.

During the final lap the fight for position gets aggressive again. The bell has rung and everyone knows this is it. As they come towards the finish line, if anybody is still together it breaks into a complete sprint for the finish line.

This pretty much sums up the race format. We have a video for you this time, which sort of shows the importance of the lap cards [and that the officials keep them accurate]. It comes by way of cyclofile.com. It is a recap of the Starcrossed and Rad Racing GP races a few weeks ago. The cards got messed up, and you'll see Ryan Trebon get a bit unhappy and Jeremy Powers (aka JPOW) gives his description of what happened at Starcrossed.

2008 Star Crossed/Rad Racing GP Cyclo-Cross from sam smith on Vimeo.

Class 1, The Overview
Class 2, The Competition
Class 3, The Race Format
Class 4, The Barriers
Class 5, More On Barriers
Class 6, An in Depth Look at Barriers
Class 7, An in Depth Look at Run Ups
Class 8, An in Depth Look at Sand Pits
Class 9, The Start
Class 10, Review and Wrap Up

Cyclocross 101: class 2, the competition

2008-10-04T08:15:00.004-04:00

Before we delve too much into the ideas about the course, its make up, and the obstacles I'd like to cover the competitors that ride on the course. Many races are held under the rules and backing of the governing organization, USA Cycling. USAC provides categories based upon experience and results. In 'cross there are currently four categories, though only a few years ago there was simply an A race, B race, and C race. A was the fastest and C the entry level. Then the classes were designated in a fashion similar to road racing using a numerical system. Now Category 1, or Cat 1 for short is the upper echelon and Cat 4 the entry level. However, organizers have not necessarily change the number of races to meet the categories, and still hold a bit to the tradition of A, B, and C races. That is there is usually a race for Cat 1 racers, then one for Cat 2/3, and one for Cat 4. Sometimes the promoters change the grouping a little, but this is generally the grouping.

Moving up a category requires a racer to post certain results. One exception is moving from Cat 4 to Cat 3. Racers looking to upgrade are allowed to do so after participating in a set number of races, however most tend to try and meet the finish results aspect of the requirement. After all, most people like to be at least semi-competitive within their category and moving up based on results may mean the new class will be significantly faster. There are also rules that state a rider must upgrade their category if post a certain number of high place finishes.

Manditory upgrades keep the fast guys from dominating in lower classes, and give others a chance to accomplish good results and upgrade themselves. The manditory upgrades also keep the classes more competitive.

I hope you enjoyed today's session, next time we'll cover the race format a little more in depth.
Since the link on usacycling.org isn't quite correct, you've been saved from homework and the suggested readings this time.

Class 1, The Overview
Class 2, The Competition
Class 3, The Race Format
Class 4, The Barriers
Class 5, More On Barriers
Class 6, An in Depth Look at Barriers
Class 7, An in Depth Look at Run Ups
Class 8, An in Depth Look at Sand Pits
Class 9, The Start
Class 10, Review and Wrap Up

Cyclocross 101: class 1, the overview.

2008-10-03T21:26:00.004-04:00

I've had a request to explain all of the cyclocross nonsense of which I write. As such, many of you reading this may be familiar with various forms of cycling, or even a complete novice on cycling, but no matter the cycling Jedi status, many seem to have one look upon their face at the mention of 'cross.

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And with that I welcome you to Cyclocross 101. In this session we will cover cyclocross, or 'cross, basics.

'Cross developed in the early 1900s in Europe as a way for road racers to stay in shape through the winter months. Granted, there were no mountain bikes at the time so all that really existed was a 'road' style bike that was raced on either roads or on a track, called a velodrome. As it was, road races didn't extend through the winter months so many a racer took to riding their bike in the less than desirable conditions and to mix it up a little they started wandering from the roads.

Before long there were officiated races and 'cross took hold. 'Cross courses can vary significantly, but generally they have a particular theme; they are generally held in parks or other public local. There is usually minimal elevation gain compared to what one may find during a road race or mountain bike race, but this is not to say the races are pancake flat. In fact, many course feature a short steep hill or bank that obliges riders to dismount their bikes and run to the top before mounting the bike again. Clever enough, such an feature is called a run-up. There are also generally barriers on course as well. Again, they are designed to oblige riders to dismount their cycles, run over the obstacle, then return to riding. Barriers come in many shapes and forms; low fences, logs, or planks of wood. Some locations are lucky enough to provide a large area of sand, and since we are talking parks, this usually means a large volleyball court. Again, loose sand is difficult to ride through, especially if a corner or two are thrown in, so riders tend to dismount and run through the obstacle.

At this point we understand that there are obstacles on course, but we must investigate the course as a whole. Course usually range from 1 to 2.5 miles and even slightly longer, though an attempt is usually made by the organizer to produce a lap that will take between 5 and 8 minutes to ride for most competitors. Depending upon the level of event and funding various items mark the course. At large events the entire course will be marked on both sides by caution style tape. At small events, tape will be used minimally to block off significant turns and small flags, and paint may be used.

'Cross races are also based mostly on time, i.e. 30 minutes, 40 minutes, 60 minutes. Officials take a reading during the first few laps and factor and average lap time for the leaders. At this point they can figure approximately how many laps can be completed in the set time, or finished as close to the time as possible. Once this is figured they begin to place lap cards on display. Once the cards are out, that is simply the tool used by racers to determine how much racing is left. As the last lap starts, as with many other sports such as track & field, a bell is rung to indicate the last lap, otherwise known as the bell lap.

At this point I think we've covered a general outline of the sport and I'll allow you to digest this fascinating information while you complete your homework. Over the course of our next few sessions we will dive further into various details of the race and the course.

For your homework I have some suggested reading. There is a pretty good article written in wikipedia on cyclocross here.
the Gran Prix of Gloucester race website also has a decent, if brief explanation here.

Class 1, The Overview
Class 2, The Competition
Class 3, The Race Format
Class 4, The Barriers
Class 5, More On Barriers
Class 6, An in Depth Look at Barriers
Class 7, An in Depth Look at Run Ups
Class 8, An in Depth Look at Sand Pits
Class 9, The Start
Class 10, Review and Wrap Up

On the road again

2008-10-02T00:04:00.000-04:00

Another weekend and another road trip. This time was purely for the pleasure of getting away and visiting friends and family in the greater area surrounding our nation's capital. And while there was no racing to be had, despite the temptation of a 'cross race in Buckeystown, MD, there was some riding.

I departed Friday morning, in the rain. By the time I arrived in the Allentown, PA area, I'd moved out of the showers. I grabbed a sub from a local store and made my way to stop #1, the velodrome in Trexlertown. After discovering the weekend before that the track was open for public use it became a definite stop on this trip, provided the weather would hold out. The threat of rain remained but it seemed as though it might hold off for a while. Initially I thought the gates were closed and almost left in complete disappointment, but thankfully my curiosity got the better of me. I back up the car and went looking around the gates. Low and behold the lock was not secured on the main gate despite the appearance from afar, and the athlete entrance was wide open. I scurried back to my car in the parking lot, grabbed my bike and clothes, changed in the locker room and headed out to the track. After riding 100 laps (+/-1 lap count error) in an hour of the 333 meter track, I showered and got back on the road.

The next stop was Gettysburg. South of town, in the monument laden battlefield I pulled over and got out for a much needed stretch. I walked around and investigated some of the information plaques and monuments. After the brief respite and gaining further interest in spending a day or two in Gettysburg to really take in the history, it was back on the road to Germantown, Maryland.

Here I arrived at the lovely home of my good friends Derek and Jess. We spent the evening dining and catching up. Saturday Derek and I met with my sister for brunch and then after returning for Jess we all went to an Octoberfest in Frederick. The celebration of German culture was small and entertaining, but a bit less exciting than any of us had anticipated. Certainly, the best part was the food and beer. Saturday evening began with some neighbors joining us for dinner with plans to watch the Penn State vs. Illinois football game. Dinner was great (thanks Jess), but ABC decided our region should be watching the Virginia Tech vs. Nebraska game. Thus the party thinned to Derek, Jess and myself staying awake enough to catch score updates.

Sunday came too soon and it was time to head for Connecticut. I planned to follow a similar path back through Amish country, but with a small detour into Philadelphia for a brief dinner visit with my friend Sarah and her boyfriend, Matt. I can say that I now have a baseline from which to compare all other "Philly" cheese steaks. It is quite a standard to live up to. The stop was far too short, but I had to get back on the road if I hoped to return to Connecticut before the wee hours of the morning, so I exited the Philly area amidst more rain to finish out my trip, just as I'd started it.

Maybe it was the Doughnut?

2008-09-23T22:42:00.003-04:00

The doughnut was my form of doping at Charm City, lots of sugary glazed goodness. Common sense might say something like that would sit like a brick in your stomach, but I've found that I can eat a lot of strange foods before a race, especially two hours before. With that much time, my stomach has a chance to settle. So I will contribute my superb finish on Sunday to the doughnut. Taylor, if you're reading this, you should try one next time.

Okay so it probably wasn't the doughnut...

I did however come across some images from Nittany Lion Cross. Just follow the links to enhance your viewing pleasure.

Scott 1
Scott 2
Scott 3
Scott 4
Scott 5

Taylor 1
Taylor 2
Taylor 3

Perhaps the headlining news from the weekend was the 15 year old that absolutely stomped the men's B field (Cat 2/3/4 race). He could still be racing in the junior category but he walked away with wins on both days in the regular men's cat 2/3/4 race. Future Pro?

Follow this link to see a video of the elite men's race. Or you can follow this link to watch a little bit of the sand pit run of doom.

'Cross Road Trip part 2: Charm City Cross

2008-09-22T21:39:00.005-04:00

So the official result from Nittany Lion was 27th of 47 finishers. Not as good as I'd initially thought, 10 more guys in the field would have put me in the top half. All in all not bad though. My legs weren't all there, and the strain injury I'd incurred to my left quad a week earlier was bothering my pretty bad at the barriers.

So it was on to Baltimore. We arrived at the park with plenty of time to eat the breakfast we'd picked up along the way. No bagel sandwiches at the 7-Eleven, so I settled for a croissant. That and a giant twisted glazed doughnut. Much to Taylor's disbelief I did eat it before the race. Not pre-race food in his mind I guess.

We signed in, got ready and as soon as the 9am race finished we took our chance to preview the course prior to the next race. After more warming up it was off to the start area for the 11am B race.

Cyclocross used to be split up as A, B, and C fields. The categories were re-designated to Cat 1, Cat 2, Cat 3, and Cat 4. A and 1 being the fastest. With the new categories most events split the fields into races for Cat 1, Cat 2/3 and Cat 4. Sometimes they have the Cat 4 race but also allow Cat 4's into the Cat 2/3. This was the case at Charm City Cross. Thus I convinced Taylor to race the Cat 2/3/4 race some time ago just to get an idea of how racing with the "B's" would be.

So we lined up, about half way back in the field according to our registration date. The start was average for me, not fantastic but not bad. Then we hit the first tight corner that was causing some serious traffic back-ups. I dove in hard, brushing one guys handlebar and forcing another further outside on the off camber corner. I had to take a few steps straddling my top tube as we turned up the bank but was quickly pedaling again. A little later we hit some more tight 180° type turns. Other guys eased off and started coasting into the corners, I simply dove in really hard, forcing them off their line. I made up a number of spots in these corners. Finally after a lap and a half things settled in. Positions traded a little here and there, but I finally found myself with 3 other guys. We rode a lap together, then two of us began to pull away. My legs were feeling better today and the strain injury was not bothering me. I thought we might just pull off this attack. Then my partner slid out in a corner and I braked hard to avoid running him over. I asked if he was okay as I got going and cheered to him get up quickly and catch back on to me.

We'd had 2 or 3 other guys chasing our former group of 4 down, and we both expressed interest in working together to not get caught. His crash threw a snarl in the plan. I was now off the front of about 6 guys chasing hard, chasing me. I'd initially eased up just slightly hoping my partner would catch back onto me before the ensuing group got him, but now I was having trouble holding them off. Mentally I sort of resigned myself to the fact that I would get caught, which truly was the deciding factor. The mental game is a huge part of it all. I figured if I reserved enough until they caught me I could make a move on them and pull away one last time. But in my reservations I got sloppy in the corners, the places I'd been faster than most.

They caught me, and I really didn't have anything to attack and pull away. Instead, one by one the slipped by. I held onto the back of them but I couldn't pull back through the group. So in the last lap I lost 5 places.

Despite the dreadful finish within the small group I still managed another 27th place, out of 81 finishers shown in the results. This, I'm very happy with. Especially since I was racing against Cat 2's as well as my class of Cat 3's. Now if I'd only dug deep and found the strength to hold off my pursuers, I might have had 22nd!

My sister was cool enough to come experience the nonsense of 'cross racing, since her residence near D.C. is only an hour away. She got some photos which are posted here. I will have some from Nittany Lion Cross soon. Within a week I may have some video as well.

'Cross Road Trip part 1: Nittany Lion Cross

2008-09-20T19:43:00.004-04:00

True 'cross season has arrived. Summer has ended and it was like as if someone hit a switch and cooled the temperatures. Today started out a bit brisk, close to 40° I think but gradually warmed to a beautiful and sunny 70°. While still a 'little warm' for 'cross I felt the temperatures to be just right for my 11 am race. We Are... at Penn State Lehigh for Nittany Lion Cross and the first race of the Verge Mid-Atlantic Series.

Taylor started the day off in the Cat 4 race at 9am. The course was essentially a grass carpet, generally smooth with some undulations and a few short steep banks to ride up. With the dew still lying heavy, his race started with some slick corners. I watched more than one person slide out in one sharp corner. His cornering prowess played out well, and what seemed to be a power course was not as much so. Cornering skills were good to have. Despite getting caught up by the competition on three occasions in the sand pit he still showed good form for the first race and placed an excellent 15th of 39.

At 11 am I ventured into my first race as a Cat 3 rider. I felt a bit intimidated at the starting line since the race was a combination of Cat 2 and Cat 3, Category 2 essentially supposed to be faster than us threes. However, I had a fair start from the middle of the pack and after a bit of an effort I settled into a groove, or at least as much as one can settle in a 'cross race. At only 45 minutes the intensity is high and the chance of rest is next to nothing. I found myself battling with the same 4 or so riders in the last half of the race. In the last lap it came down to 4 of us, and then essentially 3 of us. After we rounded the final hard right I though it was a sprint between 3 of us, but two other riders had charged hard and caught us, a complete surprise to me. The two I'd been battling chased the first guy in the sprint, but I wound up to slow and only contested with the last of them, taking him as we crested the final grass bank for the finish. I finished in 27th of around 50 or 60. I'm rather happy with the result as I'd though I might be in well over my head at the start.

After the race was a short stop at the Trexlertown velodrome. The temptation to grab the 'cross bike and do a lap was great, especially since the track was open for public use. But alas, I did not.
A couple hours later, and we're in Baltimore. With tired legs and a very full stomach, food coma is taking over.

Charm City Cross tomorrow.

The Dancing Chain

2008-09-16T22:02:00.003-04:00

My Uncle Jim is off to France to ride up Alpe D'Huez. He's written some interesting stuff so far on his blog. He will be writing an account of his travel as he has WiFi access available at dancingchain.blogspot.com.

So far I've found the traveler accounts of the area in which he will be staying particularly entertaining.

Movin' On Up

2008-09-15T23:24:00.003-04:00

It is now official, I've upgraded. I am no longer part of the Sport class in the Cross Country mountain bike racing discipline, nor am I a Category 4 racer in Cyclocross. After posting respectable results for two seasons and meeting the mandatory rule of a top five at the National Mountain Bike Championships I submitted my resume of race results to upgrade from sport to expert. The request was accepted and I will race next season as an expert, actually a Cat 1 XC mountain biker since they are changing the category system for 2009 in mountain biking.

USA Cycling also has a chart listing equivalent categories and since I am now an 'expert' I was also able to upgrade my Cyclocross category in parallel. I'd also met the minimum number of races needed to upgrade as the alternative reason. I will immediately begin racing in Cat 3 races in 'cross, beginning this coming weekend at Nittany Lion 'Cross and Charm City Cross. We will see how this pans out or if I'm in over my head.

One Season Ends and Another Begins

2008-09-14T09:02:00.002-04:00

The riding has been on the light side lately, though suplemented with cross training. Running has entered the program on a regular basis, including bleachers and wind sprints. The change has been good, both mentally and physically.

The exercises have left my legs a little sore and tired, but I still managed to pull off a good ride on Saturday. The series final of the root 66 race series was held in Ware, MA. A few guys showed up in my class, 5 I believe. I pulled out a 2nd place finish on the rugged course. One 10.5 mile loop had a lot, especially after some wet times recently. High speed sections, tough and rough technical areas, killer uphills, mud pits and large puddles. It was a fantastic course to ride, and a fitting end to the mountain bike XC season.

On with Cyclocross now. I've and a few early season races and training races thus far, but the bigger races begin the coming weekend. On the list are Nittany Lion 'Cross and Charm City 'Cross, road trip anyone?

Not Laboring on Labor Day

2008-09-08T23:09:00.003-04:00

The extended weekend for Labor day took me to Florida for a few days. It had been far too long since I'd seen my brother and his family as well as my aunt, uncle and cousins. Okay, confessions of a bad sibling, I hadn't been to their town to visit in 6 years. I've since made a pact with myself to return every year. I was supposed to Kayak out to the ocean with my aunt, but the weather and timing didn't work for us, otherwise I think that would have been a lot of fun.

While fishing that Saturday evening a far reaching band from Hurrican Gustav came through. We had made it back to the car and packed most everything up before it hit us. I avoided looking like I'd jumped in the river but still got a bit wet. I was a bit entertained, though I don't think the others were as it served a reminder of what may be looming in the near future. Except for that little bit I managed to dodge any tropical storms or hurricanes, bonus points on that one.

In the limited travel I have done by air I've made a few observations about the different airlines. I've come to feel that Delta is the best, or at least I've had the best flights with them. They held a flight for myself and a couple others when our first flight was delayed once, they still give out free crackers, the first checked bag is still free, and I think they have just a little bit more knee room. (as of 9/8/2008)

Returning to the bike after 4 days off was painful, especially when the first ride was a pseudo road race. Chewed up and spit off the back after struggling to hang on for the first half. I was left with nothing for the cyclocross training series the next night. Bricks i tell ya, bricks. Only on Sunday, 5 days later did my legs even think about coming back while on a leg numbing hill ride.

CX Lives Again!!

2008-08-25T23:10:00.004-04:00

The 'cross bike was put back together and has had only two rides on it, but the first race of the season was Sunday! Actually I should say races, as in plural. It was great to be back out and feeding the addiction, especially on such a tough course. It was really flat, but 6 dismounts made for a tiring experience. In the first race, the cat 4 category, I had a slow pickup off the start having selected a very bad gear to get going. However I finally got up to speed and shot towards the front then dove hard into the first turn, a U-turn with room for only one rider on the exit. I came out of the turn in first place and held position for about half a lap. From there I lost a few positions slowly over the next 40 minutes. I ended up in a relatively close battle for a few laps, but managed to attack and pull away with 1/3 lap remaining to take 7th of 36.

I then cheered Chris on during his race, shouting and ringing a lot of cowbell. After stressing out a little too much then suffering from two hard crashes he was slightly down in spirits, but I convinced him to get back out for the noon race, the Cat 3/4 race. We both rode in this race, though we were quite tuckered. We decided to start at the back and use the race as training and try to pick off who we could. After a brief separation on the start we rejoined and rode the rest of the race together keeping each other posted on gaps over 4 or 5 other guys near us and general course notes. My legs felt like they could barely turn the cranks but I managed to finish the 45 minute race. I'd saved enough energy through that race that I managed to have a little kick for the last lap. I'd been opening gaps in technical parts of the course all race, so the final lap I pushed as hard as I could through those sections and kept my pace up throughout. I managed to drop the rest of the guys that had been just behind us. I managed a 24th place finish of 39. Not too bad really.

Overall a great start to the season. The results are posted here.