Gran Prix of Gloucester 2010

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

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.

The Condensed Version

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!!

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'

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.

Playing Director Sportif

"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

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

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

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

Diving into Cyclocross Season

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!!

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.

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.

Riding Bikes up Mt. Washington

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

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

6 Hours of Power

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.

Here, take some Speed

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.

Mountain Biking in New York City

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.

Opening weekend, 2009

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.

Skiing Stowe

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.

'Tis the Season to Call it a Season

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.