Crux Zone

2007-10-25T10:12:00.000-07:00

"You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals." Booker T. Washington

Livin Large!

2007-10-23T17:51:00.001-07:00

CB Posts... how much we all would give to look him in the eyes for another day.

2007-10-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

Thursday, August 30, 2007

It's done
Cancer free, remission, whatever you want to call it. I am free of the dragon. I have no idea what this was going to feel like, I am just blown away right now, no words can convey or expression can make it seem real. It's like wonderland with so many unanswerable questions and so many thanks to give out, I think I need to lay down for a while. I think it is called shock.
posted by cbo @ 8/30/2007

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Turn the page
...
When I look you all in the eyes know that I believe in, thank and appreciate all of you and when this is all said and done, we'll go for a ride on snow, a bike, a wave, in the air or in the car...

"You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals." Booker T. Washington

2007-10-22T17:44:00.000-07:00

The storm photo was taken while recovering from the transplant. Shannon and I had visited the day before and had talked about he was trying to get just that one shot. The title of his email "WOW, I Got So Damn Lucky" His persistence for this photo are indicative of everything he did.

"You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals." Booker T. Washington

Goodnight my friend. We miss you!

2007-10-21T23:35:00.000-07:00

"You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals." Booker T. Washington

Meridian

2006-05-19T06:17:00.000-07:00

photo Courtesy ofCB
I'm the little blue spec in the very middle near the frony of the pack. This pic was from afew weeks ago.

MTB play day

2006-05-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

1h 46m 35s
13.00 miles
7.32 miles/hr
Got out of work early today, so I decided to do some MTB training up Deer Creek. Other than breaking my brand new chain, I had a really good ride.

I was finally cleaning a super steep section when the chain broke, so I rode back down to the car, got a chain tool, fixed the problem, and went back up. Other than the rockwall, I can finally send the entire climb up to the junction.

I got up to the top and decided to do Red Mesa Loopx2 in each direction. I wanted to go and do an easy pace, w/out putting a lot of stress on the system or legs. Good times...of course I went hard a "few" times.

Descent max around 26.7mph

Race Report

2006-05-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

Sat, May 13 2006
Copy/Move/Delete - Edit today's log - Nutrition - Inspire me [0]
31m
6.65 miles
12.87 miles/hr
ACtually I rode for more like 10 including warmups, but the above reflects the STXC race. Quick synopsis: The XC race started well. I was in the top 6 position, and we had shelld the race in half from the start well before we started the climb. Pass 2 guys that were walking the steep ascent and then...pffffft. The bang heard around the world. A rock or something reached up and grabbed my tire and put a 1/2 inch gash into the sidewall. I tried to reinflate, but with a tear(not puncture) like that, my race was done faster than it started.

I drove down to Salida and bought a new tire, and drove back to the course for the STXC.

The experts and Sports went off at the same time. It was blistering for the start. I got shelld pretty hard by the top 3 riders in the field, and managed to finish 2nd about 5 minutes behind the next "Sport" rider. Did I mention that he finished behind the Expert that took first. That dude is too fast for me.

Not a bad day of racing. Not great, but not bad. Only my 2nd DNF, but I'll take the paper hardware from the STXC.

Only bad thing about the courses, were the 3 inch 250 yd sand traps. Nothing like going 18mph, only to crawl at 5 and hoping to keep the bike upright. I don't know if it's been that bad the last 2 years, but this yer was really deep. Guess I'll have to figure something out for next year.

Here's some rides

2006-05-08T05:37:00.000-07:00

MTB should be rebuilt by today. I'm hoping to break it in on the BOB course on Tuesday!

Sun, May 7 2006
2h 46m 20s
45.16 miles
16.29 miles/hr
Good ride with Mat, the wives, Ben"Jammin", and Orlando(teammate) Boulder Peak Course, followed up by the sprint course. Decent day of riding. My legs felt pretty tired up Old Stage from the day before, but it was good.

53mph on the descent of Boulder Peak. Great paceline w/ Mat, Ben and Orlando on the backside. We even mimicked some race scenarios on the paceline, and on the rollers back to the Res. That was fun.

I can pull up on my pedals now w/out having my feet pull out.
Taper time to get ready for this weekends races.

Sat, May 6 2006
2h 21m 16s
39.88 miles
16.94 miles/hr
Time and pace includes sweep rounds to keep the group intact. Met up with the girls and Orlando to do a practice run on the TTT at Rabbit Mountain. I met up with the crew at Amante's. Orlando was running a bit late, so I waited for him, and told the girls to go ahead. 10 minutes later Orlando made it, and we were on the chase. Weny around 20-24 on 36 from Boulder to Lyons.

Keep in mind that Orlando had already had a 11 mile warmup from his house by the time he got there and I had none. By the time we caught up to the girls and met up with 2 others, I felt like I was going to puke while we regrouped. Fortunatelly it passed. We played rabbit for the women on the TT course to the end of Rabbit Mountain, and then rode back to Boulder. Not a bad day.

New parts came in for the MTB. I hope to test run the new drivetrain before next Saturday's race.

Here's a bunch of the recent rides!

2006-04-13T20:40:00.000-07:00

1h 29m 01s
13.68 miles
9.22 miles/hr
MTB Ride at Lair of The Bear Innagural run on my favorite training course. Great dry conditions. I had some moments where I felt strong, but I'm not sure if I am completely ready for the 2 hours of race pace.

I need to check, but I may have set a tiny PR on the initial ascent to Pence Park. I need to check my logs from last year to verify. Todays time up was 6.49 miles in 49.45. Not bad considering I was not feeling great on the start.

My return was pretty good. I need to have a coach observe me on the downhills to see what I can do to be more efficient(in control) w/out scrubbing speed. I feel faster than last year, but I know that I lost a few places due to my descents, and I don't feel as comfortable as I would like. I did hit 30mph on one of the descents into a single track, but I sketched out and scrubbed a ton of speed on a turn.

I also ran into 2 of my teammates on the way down. I decided to join them for a little, but turned back at the rock wall, to have legs for tomorrow and Saturday.

Gotta love spring time in the rockies!
Tue, Apr 11 2006

1h 39m
34.26 miles
20.76 miles/hr

Above includes 26 warm up down 1hr race, and 13 min cool down. Avg pace in peleton 23-26mph. Max 38.4mph

I'm happy to say that I made a huge PR today. For my very first time, I ACTUALLY FINISHED with the main peleton w/out getting spit out the back! I didn't even want to try and sprint with the big dogs. But to have come across the line with the main group was super cool.

Got to ride with my teammate Chrisitan. He pulled a picture perfect flier with 2 laps to go. From my vantage point in the middle, it was awesome to watch the big guys tense up, right as were were sitting up for a bit. Even better, to watch them send 2 guys to bring him back.

Considering poor sleep due to the power out, poor eating throughout the day, and feeling wiped out from work, I am pretty stoked!

Mon, Apr 10 2006
Hips are feeling a bit sore today, so it's a definate rest day!
Tomorrow I plan on doing the Meridians.
Congrats to the Twin Peaks Train for what sounded like a great weekend of racing. I'm still waiting to hear the official results.

Sun, Apr 9 2006
4h 45m 59s
72.58 miles
15.23 miles/hr
Over 5000 ft of climbing on a beautiful day with the BT crew. While a lot of my teammates were doing some serious racing, I hung out with the BT crew for the Deer Creek/Golden/ and back ride. One more week of serious mileage before the chaor of my race season begins.

Went out with Mat, Mark, Jen, John, and John. We kept the pace pretty casual the eintire way up. Of course I had to play some cat and mouse with MArk near the top of Deer Creek, but in the end he as sneaky and pulled off the impromptu sprint. The downhill to Morrison was great as we worked an awesome pace line all the way down. That's drafting at its best.

I'm feeling stronger. Not quite race ready, but I'm getting there. The climb out Deer Creek and Parmalee felt very calm and controlled. Much thanks to the BT crew for a great day of riding. So after 3 dyas of riding it's time for a rest day!

Sat, Apr 8 2006
1h 29m 55s
19.17 miles
13.41 miles/hr
Above includes warm up and cool down. MTB ride from the house, up Waterton, and then to Lenny's bench. The singletrack is definatelly muddy. I should have taken a picture of the bike before I washed it. Oh well. I felt strong the entire ride. I felt like I had a lot more to give on the singletrack, but I wanted to keep the RPM's high w/out fatiguing the quads. The flats definatelly felt easy. Now, to recover and get ready for tomorrows long roadie ride.

Fri, Apr 7 2006
1h 43m 33s
29.17 miles
16.90 miles/hr
Only in Colorado, can it snow in the morning, but still have it be warm and dry enough to ride in the afternoon. I got out of work early, so I got a ride from my house into Chatfield, back out the backside, and then into the park to the flat section of Deer Creek, and then back. I even ran into a girl named Kendra who is a Pro1/2 from BMC Sports Garage. She was on a sweet BMC SLC 01 Pro Machine Team Bike. ($3500 for the frame alone) All of 15.7 lbs. Being pro must rock. Anyways, it was cool to have somebody to ride/work with. Let alone, have it be a local pro, who didn't mind havin' me tag along. I was averaging around 17.1 until near the end. I managed to get a flat 3 miles from the house. In which case, it gave me time to get cold while changing the tire. Either way, not a bad ride at all.

First Meridian of 2006

2006-04-04T19:22:00.000-07:00

1h 42m 21s
31.34 miles
18.37 miles/hr
Meridian Practice Crit
Above times include warm up and cool down. Warm up was for 35 minutes, and approx 9 miles.

I'm happy to say the race(practice) went off much better than expected. I had hoped to hang for about 20 minutes. I actually managed to stay on for 33.38.77 before I finally got blown off the back. At this time lastyear, I could barely hang for 15 minutes, and even then, I was always near the back. I felt I did a pretty good job of manuevering within the front or middle of the peleton,(I'm guessing around 50 riders +/-) until the last lap in a half, when I got near the back , and then eventually pushed off. When I popped, I took a recovery and then got back in for about 4 more minutes and then I was cooked.

After that, we (teammates Colin, and Chuck) did a few laps of recovery, and now I'm done. I'm totally exhausted, but I know I won't sleep well, cuz I'm way wound up. Oh yea, and for how hard was it, avg pace was 23.7mph w/ accelerations reaching 37.7 on the downhill. and during my cooldown, I managed to swallow a bug, which caused me to lose the rest of my lunch... I'd say I went pretty hard.

I'm not sure if it's fitness, being more comfortable in the pelton, or the new bike, but I'm stoked!

Moab 2006

2006-04-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

3h 46m 01s
66.52 miles
17.66 miles/hr
First day of training camp. Unfortunatelly we woke up to overcast skies, and windy conditions. We wanted to save Dead Horse or Arches for a sunny day, so we decided to do the Potash Road Route. We had hoped to take it all the way to I70, but it turns out the road got pretty bad with about 15 miles to go, so we turned back. I'm happy to say that my fitness wasn't as bad as I though it was going to be. I stayed with the main peleton for most of the first section, when I did get blown out by the Pro 1/2 and super stong 4/3's, I managed to hang on with the middle group, which also included a 2 who was building base. Avg speed for the first half of the ride was 20.1 mph. In any case, I felt strong.

On the return I was feeling strong, but eventually got popped by a couple of teammates on a hill(Orlando an Dean), and got stuck in no mans land. Being that I was stuck by myself, I sat up and waited for the 3rd of 4 groups, and took turns taking the long pulls. As it turns out, one of my superstrong 4's who will be cating up, was in this group, so I didn't feel as bad for being dropped by the guys I had worked with for a while. My average return was much slower, but it gave me a chance to get to know some of my teammates, and just take it all in. I was definatelly satisfied with my effort. Highlights: On the way out in the paceline, it was a blast to be cooking along at 26mph, and then when you pulled out to move back, having to let 19 riders pass you before you can get back in. That was awesome!

3h 21m 45s
48.62 miles
14.46 miles/hr

2nd day brought sunny skies, little wind, warm temps, and lots of climbing in Arches National Park. For those that have never done this ride, it's an absolute must do, top 10 rides in the US. It has a ton of climbing, but the views are incredible.

WE had a good warmup from the Motel to the park entrance, but my legs refused to wake up. As soon as you enter the park, there is a good climb, to the pullout for pictures. Can't say that I did well. Anyways, back downhill, to the next climb. Even in the pace line, I just didn't feel it. So I sug in and held my own pace. I was fortunate enough to catch most of the team near the crest, and bombed downhill. All be it, being a heavy guy is somewhat disadventagious, it was awesome on the DH because I was able to hold, or pass the bulk of the group. That was fun. Max/ w/out pedaling was 45.4mph. Yee Haw. Anyways, I wanted to stay with the front group on the last major climb. (think 5-11%) for about 6 miles. Unfortunatelly I got popped, nad stuck in no mnas land again. Oh well, at least the scenery was amazing.

The return was very much like the first half. Awesome downhills, but Cracking like Humpty Dumpty on the hills. After being in no mans land on the last hills, I saw our girls that were behind, and I decided to sit up and sweep. Always more fun to ride with, then to ride alone! Thanks for letting me play ladies! I was disappointed that I didn't have the same fitness that I did on day 1, but that gives me a goal to get near.

The weekend as a whole was incredible. I got to know some of the teammates that I hadn't ridden with yet. I got to see some teammates that have gotten super strong since last year. I got to asses my current fitness... Not great, but not bad either. and finally got to ride in an amazing place, with a great group of people!

Keep on keepin' on

2006-03-15T17:57:00.000-08:00

Statinary ride
Wed, Mar 15, 2006
1h 06s
-----
-----
Wanted to ride outside after work, but the winds were blowing pretty hard, and I didn't maek it home until 530, so I road on the Trainer.
13.51 Miles
13.49 mphavg
I did my own workout following the outline of the Carmichael MTB video.
Warmup with 2-1 minute high cadence spin
4,3,2,1 30 second interval sets
5x2minute Tempo spins w/2 min recoveries All while watching the TDF IT from last year. Kinda fun trying to matvh cadence with Lance, Hincapie, or Vino

All of my time at work today was doing the Virtual University (VCU) training programs. After doing well on 9-10 tests, I finally scored less than the requisite 85% and have to retake it tomorrow. After about 93 pages of info on the last section, I think my mind tuned out a bit, and I missed a couple key points. Oh well, I should be fine tomorrow, and then do more of the same.

Mon, Mar 13 2006

55m 24s
15.43 miles
16.71 miles/hr
It was cold, but I made myself get out for a ride after work. From the house to C470 in 19minutes. From C470 I went into the park to the dam, and then back out to the house. I forgot my booties, so the toes were pretty numb. Decent ride. The cold air definatelly made the lungs burn a bit.

First day on the new job. Definate honeymoon period, but it lookd like it will be good for me. Now I just have to learn everything there is to know about cars, how to fix'em, finding the truth, etc... Should be fun, but I've got some serious learning to do.
Can you believe I waited 2 hours to do a physical, that took the Dr. all of 10 minutes to do?.

MTB ride of 2006--It hurt so good!

2006-03-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

1h 04s
8.46 miles
8.45 miles/hr
Avg HR: 186Max HR: 148

Mountain Bike ride in and around Deer Creek. I had hoped to do the upper loops of Deer Creek Trail. Unfortunatelly after the first mile, it's pretty much icy and muddy all the way up. At least that's what I was told. So, I did two laps on the technical sections before the ice. I was happy with my technical riding, as I only dabbed the first time at the big waterlog. The 2nd time I cleared the rocks and the log no worries.

Not bad at all for the first MTB ride of the season. The bike needs a bit of a tune up. At least I'm getting saddle time on the MTB. I remember last year, that I only got 2 days of saddle time before the first MTB race, and that was a week before the race.

From Deer Creek, I headed down rattlesnake and then up Grazing Elk Meadow. I forgot how fun this loop is. It has a slight climb and then a fast windy singletrack section. All be it 2.3 miles long, it reminds me of a short track course. I think I've refound a training run. It was great to work on fast cornering on singletrack.

Anyways, after the loop, I headed back over to Deer Creek to do 1 more run up the first steep hill on Deer Creek, and then back to the car. I made it a point to push hard on the Grazing Elk loop, to simulate the STXC feel. I don't feel very fast on the MTB yet, but it will come.

Ride with CB

2006-03-07T10:11:00.000-08:00

2h 10m 15s
32.62 miles
15.03 miles/hr

Zone 2/low 3 Base Builing ride with Chuck B. We went from Morrison, up Rooney, Up Dinosaur Ridge, over to Red Rocks, up Red Rocks, up behind the Ridge, through Golden, to the old Bike Shop, to Garrison, to Morrison Road, back to the car at Morrison and 470.

Notice the up, up, up... for the first part of the ride. Chuck B kept me honest, and kept me going nice and casual. Although I wanted to hammer hard on the bike. For what I did do, the bike road super smooth, and really had zip the few times I did get on it.

Max Speed 35.4 in the tight turns of Red Rocks. The bike cornered very well!

This is the last week with Shelter Insurance. Feels kinda weird.

Pheasant Hunt

2006-03-06T08:28:00.000-08:00

Went on a Pheasant Hunt with Robbie, and a bunch of his buddies in Stratton. I shot 19-21 birds. I can honestly say I lost count. Of course, I missed my share too. Below are some of the pics.

Todays ride

2006-02-21T15:34:00.000-08:00

48m 14s
9.41 miles
11.71 miles/hr

Climb up Lookout. Pillar to Post.
Had some moments where I felt fast, had some more where... not so much. I thought it was supposed to be warm today.???

Splits:
Pillar to Saddle 22.32 7.9mph avg
Saddle to Post 12.36.06 7.9mph avg
Post back down: 11.05.49 23.8 mph (still too much wet, snow, and gravel)

Pics from KB Workout

2006-02-20T17:35:00.000-08:00

If you haven't seen this before, these are known as Kettlebells. Each one that I'm lifting is a 24kg(53lb) weight. This was a new PR of Double clean and jerks. Check out www.mikemahler.com, or www.tacticalathlete.com for more about KB's. I posted the pics just cuz I was stoked for the PR.

New Pic

2006-02-02T12:55:00.000-08:00

Check this out form the 5k race last week
http://www.eventpictures.com/app/event/zoomPictures?eventInstanceId=4673&picture=665317#thumbs

2006-01-30T11:28:00.000-08:00

Sunday Jan 29 2006
5k Polar Bear Run Race
28m 19s
3.10 miles
8m 55s /mile

Official Results from BKBLTD
70th 19/27 for age Group Littleton CO
28:23 9:09MM Ok, so not bad, better than my first race, however I did not quite make my goal of sub 9:00MM pace. I'm getting there, but not quite.

Ran the Polar 5k with Shannon, Mat, Jen, and Mark. Not too bad, considering how tight the hams felt from yesterday. I did hit one of my goals and finished a 5k in under a 9:00MM... by 6 seconds, but I'll take it. As the miles went on, I got progressively slower, but I'm glad we did it.

Splits:
1 mile=8.39.61
2 mile=9.23.84
3 mile=9.33.16

All be it only my 2nd 5k, it is a PR 39 seconds faster. Mat was moving fast, nad of course Mark D was uuber fast at 19 minutes or somewhere around there. Fun times for sure! Avg Speed 6.7mph Max=9.1mph Funny my GPS says 3.2 total miles...whatver

Sat, Jan 28 2006
Team Bike Ride
2h 36m 35s
41.14 miles
15.76 miles/hr

Team Ride from Boulder to Longmont and back

First time in a while that I rode with the whole team. It was a bit windy and chilly, but a good time. Riding in the peleton again was a blast. I felt awesome all the way into Longmont, including 2 pretty fast laps around our race course. On the way back, I hit a bump and my saddle moved a bit. Unfortunatelly for me, it meant I had to stop, adjust the saddle and get back on. By the time I made it back to the peleton, I had spent 11 minutes in the wind, and I was toast. I did my best to stay with the fast group, but eventually popped, and got stuck in no mans land between the fast gropu, and the second group. Essentially another 35 minutes of solo time trying to catch up to no avail.

Either way, it was a great ride, and a blast to be riding in a large group again. Of course, I'll be gone for the next 2 weekends at Breck and then Utah, but I look forward to the next big ride. Not quite the 60 we had planned, but it was probally for the best. I imagine with the way my legs feel, tomorrow will be interesting.

33.8 mphmax

2006-01-27T13:20:00.000-08:00

Thu, Jan 26 2006
Ride 1h 6m 45s
15.84 miles
14.24 miles/hr
Another Windy Day in Golden After yesterdays perfect riding weather, I figured it would be great to get an outdoor ride instead of spin class. I started from my office and went to Coors Tek Center (3.31) miles. I knew it was going to get interesting when my spedometer said 28mph, I wasn't pedaling, and it was flat. My plan was to do 3 laps of the Ore Digger Crit Course.

I did great at the start, but when I came back to the last flat before the Start/Finish Hill the bottom dropped out. Nothing like heading into 30mph Headwinds w/40mph gusts(according to weather.com) I only did 2. I'm absolutely amazed I didn't get dumped coming around the turns at 30mph. Especially the first one where I went just a bit wide. I would've felt really bad for the guy on my outside or behind. That would've been bad in a peleton.

Each lap is 1.69 miles(approx) Splits per lap: 5.06.26 5.12.65 EEK only 19.69mph Race pace in the peleton was 26.7 When I finally got spit out, I was still pulling 22.3, darn wind!!!

Funny this I honestly felt like I had gone faster on the 2nd lap. Maybe because I took the turns better. from there I headed back inot the wind to Golden, then behind the neighborhoods of table mountain. It's hilly back there, so I worked on steady state out of the saddle, and then finally up past Jeffco Sheriff and then back down 6th ave to the office. Good ride.

Looks like a 60 mile Team Ride in Boulder on Saturday, and then if I can crawl on Sunday, I'll do the 5k with Shannon at Wash Park. If I do that one, it's strictly JFF regardless of my time. My guess is, with the way I'm going to get "handled" on Saturday, Sunday will be laughable.

HEY WOODIE ARE YOU OUT THERE!?

2006-01-25T13:13:00.000-08:00

Hey man, if you still peek at this, hit me with an email. I'd love to catch some rides with ya!

"You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals." Booker T. Washington

He did what???

2006-01-25T13:09:00.000-08:00

Wed, Jan 25 2006

RIDE

1h 5m 08s
19.03 miles
17.53 miles/hr
Avg HR: 154Max HR: 188
Z3ride with Hill Bursts(Full Hammer Sprint Over the hill until fully crested) First endurance ride of the '06 Season. Don't you love that nast acidic taste after an all out effort on a nasty hill. Ummh, ummh, yummy. I've got some work to do before the Cherry Creek TT's, Scwab Crits, and our teams Camp in Moab. Regardless of the job situation, I guess I should commit to the coaching thing. We'll See.

Tue, Jan 24 2006

This week is turning into an absolute bear as far as getting workouts in. Last night was night 1 of 2 for the Basic Life Support for the Healthcare Provider. Hope to be done tomorrow night. If I can make it, I hope to get a spin in tonight at the old shop. Wednesday is out due to the class, Thursday is out due to a Scuba Class. I haven't been this busy with "Other" stuff in January in a long time.

Sun, Jan 22 2006
Brick Training

40m Stationary Bike
Stationary Level 10-12 3x5 Intervals at level 12/13 Felt Great. 14.01 miles according to the machine

Indoor Track Run
11m 22s
1.30 miles
8m 44s /mile
After wiping down the stationary bike, I went straight into the run. Ran 1 mile then did 1 lap intervals w/1 minute recoveries around Englewood Rec Track Splits
1 mile=8.35.64
1st lap=59.44
2nd lap=1.01.06
3rd lap=57.41

45m
KB's
5x5 2 handed swing w/flip 24kg
5x4 Bottoms up press 16kg L/R
5x4 Around the world w/flip 24kg
5x5 Pop Ups 16kg
2x5 Dead man lift with bar and 25lb plate L/R

Thu, Jan 19 2006
Copy/Move/Delete - Edit today's log - Nutrition - Inspire me [4]
40m
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Avg HR: 133
Trainer ride while watching stage 20 form the TDF. Awesome to watch the full bore, lactate ride for 1:15. Unless your Lance and do it in like 59 min. Anyways: 10 min warm up 4x4 Steady State Intervals=middle and 14 on the back During 4 min recoveries, I went middle and 23 and spun out the acid while spinning out at 95rpm

It's Official! Check out our/my (Twinpeaks Racing) sponsor. www.glorycycles.com

Logs

2005-12-21T15:26:00.000-08:00

21 December 2005 BIKE
1h 10m 45s
11.50 miles
27.79 miles/hr
Avg HR: 146Max HR: 169
Long Slow Cimb up Lookout Mountain. When I was out this afternoon, it was nice and warm. By the time I made it out for my ride, it was feelin' cold. Not to mention the 25-35mph gusts approaching Windy Saddle. Past Windy Saddle, it was fairly protected. My goal for the ride was to climb with my quads and hams as relaxed as possible, while maintaing a HR between 138-148. There were times when I was going SO SLOW, my cadence was at 32rpm, into the wind. It's amazing I didn't get blown over.
Splits: 17th and Jackson to Pillar:9.47
Pillar to Windy Saddle:29.27.61===More than 13-15 minutes slower than TT pace.
Saddle to Post: around 18 minutes(I forgot to hit stop at the top) Around 8 minute slower than TT pace
Post to Pillar(Down):11.04 WOO HOO 22.9 MPH on the Downhill even with gravel and slick switchbacks!
Pillar back to 17th and Jackson:3.56 Avg MPH up=6.3 Avg MPH Down 21.6 (approximate)

Tue, Dec 20 2005
1h 7m 17s BIKE
21.00 miles
18.73 miles/hr
Avg HR: 140Max HR: 181
Demo'd The Bontrage Race Light Aero Wheels today. It waqs more of a low intensity ride, so I didn't really get to test them out until I did my 5 sets of 30 second intervals, near the end of the ride. Route: Office to the Bike Station, out 26 to Garrison to Colfax and Garrison and then back to Golden. 21 miles is an estimate as I forgot to switch the magnet onto the demo wheels. First 52.59 minutes were very casual w/ avg HR=136 On the stretch near Coors I did 5 30 second intervals, w/30 second recoveries in between. It's been a while since I've pushed the HR up to 181. Man that was fun.
Here's the Interval Hr's"
1st 30 156HR
Recovery 169???
2nd 30 158
Recovery 162
3rd 30 169
Recovery 168 4th 30 169
Recovery 173
5th 30 171
Recovery 170
Notice how in 4 of 5 sets my recovery HR was actually higher than my max efforts. Need to check with Hofer about why it did that. I think it has something to do with my HR taking a while to figure out..."oh... go now!!..." Fun ride all around. Gotta love this warm weather. All be it, it makes it hard to feel like Christmas.

Mon, Dec 19 2005
Weather is going to be near the 50's all week, and I hope to take advantage of it before we leave town. Glutes are a bit sore from yesterdays Kettlebell Workout, so I plan on taking today off. After that, I plan on at least a bike or run until we got onto the plane!

Sun, Dec 18 2005
13m 35s RUN
1.50 miles
9m 04s /mile
Ran with Shannon today at the inddor track. She is cleared to run 1 mile. So we did. She did AWESOME!

Her 1 mile time was 9.12
Our Splits:
1st 1/2 mile: 5.07min
2nd 1/2 mile: 4.09min
My last 1/2 mile: 4.19

Can't complain, and it was great to run with Shannon!
30m
Kettlebells after the run. Sets were off, as I was teaching a new guy at the gym how they worked. Still good to chuck the weights for 30 minutes.

Log Updates

2005-12-13T12:18:00.000-08:00

Tue, Dec 13 2005 Bike Ride
51m 54s
12.19 miles
14.09 miles/hr
Avg HR: 133Max HR: 151
Ride from the Office to 32 and Youngfield(The Bike Station) to get my new gloves(I lost by old Burton Pipe Gloves, and needed something in the event I do Chilly Cheeks) and then back to Golden. The ride was designed as a VERY low intensity for base miles, and to spin the legs out from yesterdays run. Ever notice how hard the discipline of riding slow can be. Especially when a speedy rider passes gives you a look of... you suck! Anyways kept the HR Avg HR=133 Cadence between 80-90rpm Except for the 2 steep hills on the return---45rpm at 4.4-6.1 mph to keep the HR low. Man that felt weird. The cold front is coming, the headwind back made it interesting. I ran into Woodie and Schuman from Gambro. I hadn't seen those guys in a while. Splits=18.38 Out AvgHr=134 33.18 Back(nasty wind)AvgHr=133 Max Speed=29.6

Mon, Dec 12 2005 Run
29m 31s
3.03 miles
9m 44s /mile
I never know the exact difference, cuz the GPS I'm borrowing still says one thing at the split, and then something other than the same for the trip back. Oh well. Felt pretty good. Toes felt a bit tingly(numb) near the end. Hips felt good. The slightest bit achy right now, but not "painful." So, if the weather is above 40 on Saturday...I'M IN! I might finish last, but I'll be there. Splits were cool: 15.13 Out 14.18 Back

Sun, Dec 11 2005 Team Training Ride
2h 22m 42s
36.56 miles
15.37 miles/hr
Max=36.8 mph---Too icy in the canyon to let it rip! Casual team ride in Chatfield, and to the base of High Grade. We were trying to go to REI downtown, but it was way too snowy from Chatfield to Aspen Grove, so we turned back and went up to High Grade. Definatelly a bit cold higher up, but it was a good ride all around. I can tell it's been a while since I've done any real climbing, but it was still fun.

2005-12-05T09:34:00.000-08:00

90+ mph winds at home, then on the drive on c470 via Morrison, and still here in Golden. Unbelievable. I get the feeling that State Patrol is thinking of closing down 470, as their were a bunch of them driving in wither direction.

Had a great day of skiing at Winter Park yesterday. It was super cold with highs at about 5 deg, but the powder conditions were stellar.

Tentative 2005/2006 Race Season

2005-11-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

Short term goals
Dec 17 Chilly Cheek Duathlon-Just Finish (might be my first)
Jan 21 Chilly Cheek Duathlon
Feb 18 Chilly Cheek Duathlon

Long term goals
2006 Tentative Schedule
May 7 Barkin Dog Duathlon
May 20-21 Chile Challenge Angel Fire, NM MTB XC??
June 10 Big Sky Duathlon
Jun 24-25 Wildflower Rush Crested Butte MTB XC
July 4 Firecracker 50 Breckenridge MTB XC
July 15-16 Snowass State Championships MTB XC
Aug 12-13 Snowmass NORBA Championships??? Depending on Shannon's Half IM
April 2006 Cherry Creek TT (road)
June-July 2006 Boulder Short Track Series
and other Crits with Twinpeaks Racing--including Tues/Thurs Practice at Meridian

Oops. I didn't know

2005-11-28T08:34:00.000-08:00

I hadn't posted here, cuz I thought the link would direct you to the BT Blog. Evidentally, you need a login to do that.

So, here's what's new:
I ran my first run race on Thanksgiving Day. See below for details. I'll copy and paste my BT logs

Had an awesome Thanksgiving weekend. Shannon cooked a feast, and ChuckB, Cadley, and Brent came over. Shannon and I got some of the Christmas decorations started.

I biked/ran a brick on Saturday. evidentally I wasn't recovered from the 5k, cuz my hips are suferin today.

My 2006 Race schedule is tentatively set. I'll post it later.

Here's the logs:

November's totals: Bike: 8h 5m 03s - 56.02 Mi
Run: 4h 2m 02s - 24.53 Mi
Strength - 4h 35m

Sat, Nov 26 2005
1h
14.88 miles
14.88 miles/hr
1 hour base building ride w/Shannon. Very low HR w/ high cadence. It was Shannon's first ride back since Oct. It was nice to ride w/her again.

Run
22m 40s
2.06 miles
11m /mile
After we got back to the car at the Kingfisher lot, I had Shannon go to the Audobon lot near Waterton. I decided to do a brick. I didn't even notice my hips on the ride, but within the first 50 yds, I though my legs were going to give way, As I got warmed up, that subsided, but I was crawling along. Not sure if it was the headwinds, or the residual from the Turkey Trot. Either way, I was nice, slow, and strugglin' Guess I need a few rest days. Looks like the weather will cater to that just fine!

Thu, Nov 24 2005
Copy/Move/Delete - Edit today's log - Nutrition - Inspire me [0]
28m 57s
3.10 miles
9m 20s /mile
I ran my first ever run race. The Turkey Day 5k(Highlands Ranch Turkey Trot) Not too bad. I wanted to be a little faster, but I'll take it as the neophite. Thoughts: It was WAY cold when we started. It took me at least 45 seconds to get to the start (maybe 500 runners)line after we officially started. From there, it took about 5 minutes to pick my way through the crowd. Funny how the minds plays tricks just like a bike race... thoughts like, I could walk right now, and be just fine...but that would make me weak. First 2 miles were in 19.09 and the final 1.1 in 9.48 I've got a ways to go to be at at sub 8:15 pace, but I hope to get there. Hips feel ok. I didn't feel them at all during the run. After a good stretch they feel fine now. My patellar tendon on my left leg is a bit tight, but no biggy.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Tue, Nov 22 2005
Copy/Move/Delete - Edit today's log - Nutrition - Inspire me [4]
50m
-----
-----
Spin class with Spin Instructor at the shop. My legs felt like lead after the run, so I sat in the back and just free spun to hopefully flush the acid. It's a shame too, cuz the instructor was awesome!
26m 08s

Run
2.69 miles
9m 43s /mile
Didn't feel quite as good as I did on Sunday. Hips feel ok, but ever so slightly achy. Also, I still can't figure out my buddies GPS. Provided, the route does meander up Clear Creek Canyon a bit, but it was forever saying "Wait Tracking Satellites" So who's to say it's accurate. Only other thing, was my left foot was a bit pumped for some reason, otherwise, it was a good lunch run.

Training logs updated... hit the link.

2005-10-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/index-weekly.asp?memberid=21454&year=&month=&day=

2005-10-07T13:19:00.000-07:00

Admittedly I have been terrible at updating this thing.

So,
I recently took, and I think passed a polygraph the other week. Ahh, but then told to try again next year. So back to the grind for now. I also got to do a pretty cool ride along with Jeffco the other night. Other than being a bit cold, it started slow, and ended with pretty interesting. All tolled for the evening: 2 Traffic Stops, 1 accident(handed off to CSP), 4 drunk/stoned young/funny mexican kids at Southwest Plaza, a highschool fight at a Subway, and the last one was the best. Started as an anonymous call of strange noises at a house. Later turned into a possible chop shop with 2 stolen vehicles, 3 stolen flat bed trailers, which then led to an entry, 1 maced pitbull(lucky dog), 1 tweekd homeowner, and possibly a meth lab. Way to end a shift. I felt bad for the deputies and the amount of paperwork that ended up to be. But am greatful to the Deputy for the ride, and the insight. For now, it has reaffirmed how mcuh I would love to have that career.

I have in fact been training pretty regularly. I started doing reverse run-bike bricks. Shannon sprained her knee last week, but the Doc says that RR is all she will need. Whew! During my weekend rides, I've connected with a group of Shan's friends from the Beginner Tirathlete Board. Super cool people to talk to and ride with. I've started logging my workouts at http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/index-weekly.asp?memberid=21454&year=&month=&day=
It seems to be better structured so that I won't leave out details.

Also, I've been getting into Kettlebell workouts thanks to my bro. Check out www.dragondoor.com to see what they are all about. Talk about a rockin' weight workout for the core.

Cheers!

Back to the bike

2005-09-20T10:40:00.000-07:00

After the phys exam, my parents were in town, so I took the week off. Supposedly I'm supposed to race CX in 2 weeks. BAsed on my suffering yesterday, I've got some work to do. I didn't ride anything special, just to both ends of Chatfield for about 18.8 miles in 1 hour. I usually avg. 21.1 through the park w/a little wind, one way or the other. I think the fitness has definatelly fallen off.

Gotta get back on it! Tonight I'm running. Shannon and I are doing the Race For The Cure on Oct 2nd. Shann's mom was diagnosed with breast cancer yesterday. The Dr. says that they have caught it early enough, and chemo might not be necessary. So now, more than ever, we have even more incentive to do the race. No easy way out with "Sleeping In For The Cure." We're running, and we are running with purpose.

Wed back on the bike.

Next week will be the poly and oral board. Wish me luck! I'll keep ya'll updated.

What's happenin

2005-09-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

Hey all. Not too much to report. My exam the other day went pretty well. I'm not going to post much about it on a public site, but feel free to ask me about it. Hopefully it was good enough to move me to the next phase. All in all, I feel good, but my legs are still a little blown. I'm hoping to do a good ride on Sunday. We'll see.

My bro is talking me into buying my first set of Kettlebells. I did this workout last November, and I can tell you it is an amazing lifting routine. Checkout this link for more info at www.dragondoor.com.

Outside of the Sunday ride, most of my weekend plans are up in the air. If any of you have seen or heard from ChuckB tell that guy to stop avoiding me, and give me a call.

Have a great weekend.
-Ocky

Enlightenment Ride Shots from the Climb

2005-08-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

2hrs and 3400+' of climbing later!
From the Top of Storm Peak

2005-08-29T14:19:00.000-07:00

From the Enlightenment Ride /Steamboat 2005
Tibetan Monks and some Cycle Guy!

Free ridin Steamboat

2005-08-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

.So the weekend has come and gone, and Steamboat was great.

We got into town around 12. Shannon had a prerace meeting, so I had her drop me off at the base of the Mountain. After a brief stop to get a route suggestion, I set off. My goal was to go from the base all the way up to the top of Storm Peak.

In any case, the route they suggested was Zig Zag, to Duster, to Sunshine, to Cathy's Cutoff, and finally Pete's Wicked trail. Before I left, I called David W to see if he wanted to join me, as he was in town as well for his family members doing the tri. In any case, he called me as I was already on my way up Zig Zag, and indicated he didn't think he would make it.

So there I was, all to my lonesome, aside from the few guys cruisin Downhill after taking the Gondola. I think total, I saw 8 riders. Of which, only 4 were actually climbing up. Of those 4, they were all stopping at the Gondola. I sarted to wonder if there was a reason why no one wanted to climb up. Zig Zag is a relatively uneventful fireroad/snowmobile up to mid mountain. Not exactly my idea of "fun" singletrack, but fun all the same. About half a mile from the Gondola, I had caught the 4 riders that were making their way up to the top. asked if they were going to the "top," and they said yes. Cool misery loves company. As it turns out, the "top" to them was the Thunderhead Gondola which was at 9080' of altitude. While refilling my bottle, I ran into 4 Buddhist Monks from Tibet. They were super nice, and agreed to let me have a picture with them. Aside from Chuck's race pictures, the photo with the Monk's has got to be one of my coveted pieces from the MTB season.

Onward I went. Duster turned out to be more fireroad. At least the dense Aspen Forests were cool. Shannon had called to let me know she was done with the meeting. As I was standing there, I see a fast moving rider coming towards me. As he gets closer, I realize, hey it's David W, of course decked out in our Twin Peaks gear. Turns out, he took the Gondola up, with the hope of catching me. Off we continued. Keep in mind, I had just climbed some 2180' in an hour, and here comes David with his super fresh legs. The tempo picked up a bit, but it was fun. It added a little "competitveness" to the neverending climb. Up to this point, most of the ride had been all fireroad, so as we hit Sunshine, we finally got to singletrack. This singletrack was exposed, with a few rocks thrown in, but mostly still uphill. My legs were a little worked, but having David there, made me oush a bit. As we got to Cathy's Cutoff, David had opted to finish the Sunshine Loop as opposed to climbing all the way up. I was bummed that I would be alone again, but it was all good. Cathy's cutoff pretty much meandered the fall line of the hill to the top. The last little bit of trail was Pete's Wicked Trail. It became clear, that not too many people did this trail, as there was very little if any tire marks, and plenty of moderately technical rock sections. By now, I was pretty fatigued, and had to dab out on a few places, but I wanted my goal of Storm Peak. After about 2:05, I finally made the top. 3472' of altitude gain from bottom to top in 2 hrs. I think that may be afirst for me. I can get that gain in a multilap race, but I think that was a first as far as one single climb. It was cold and windy up there. I stopped to get a few pictures, and take in the beauty of it all.

I did actually see 2 other rides up there. Turns out, they had taken the Gondola and rode Storm Peak Challenge to the top. I caught them on the downhill of Cathy's Cutoff. The downhill was pretty fun with several shot rock sections and tight switchbacks. From here I rejoined the Sunshine trail that David had taken. This section of Sunshine down towards the gondola was a blast. I had it to myself, and pretty much let it go the best I could. After Sunshine, I took the fireroad back to the Gondola. From here I took Moonligh to Valley View. Valley View is right up there as one of my favorite sections of singletrack. It has steep switchbacks, and couple of short climbs, and super fast downhill. Definatelly a must do. I'm intrigued to maybe try Valleyview as a climb, as it would definatelly add a challenge to the climb. Valleyview eventually reconnects to Sitz and Yoo Hoo, which were unfortunatelly more fire road. But definatelly a time to open her up.

If not for the satisfaction of over 3000' of climbing, Steamboat lends itself as a fun Mountain to ride the gondola up to the mid level, climb up from there, and do continous loops on Valley View. It is defiantelly right up there with the likes of Government Mule in Snowmass. The fireroad ascent was definatelly a bit monotonous, but still fun!

It was the first time in a long time, that I got to be at a resort and ride just to ride. It was a blast. That evening, I even got to relax with a few Crown and Cokes! Great times.

Thanks for reading,
Ocky

Steamboat or Bust

2005-08-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow mornin' Shan and I leave for Steamboat Springs, for her 3rd/final Tri of the season. I look forward to this trip. Our hotel is about a mile from the resort, in which case, I'm taking the Mountain Bike. So while Shannon is at her packet pickup, I'm going riding. For the first time in 5 months, I'm going to be in a Resort town, and I don't HAVE to ride, I don't HAVE to eat/drink certain things, at certain times. In point of fact, I get to drink Beer. More importantly, I can just be. I am so looking forward to it! Couple hours of riding, and hopefully some cool pictures to be taken.

Shannon's a bit nervous and excited, but I'm sure she'll do well.

Funny thing, it turns out that another Shelter agent will be in town with his wife. I'm sure I'll catch up with him for a bit. Also Dr. Ken and Lori from Active Care will be there. Dr. Ken is racing a relay, and Lori will be hanging out. She tried to sucker me in to do a relay, but I said no can do! So I'm sure we'll spend some time with them as well.

Stay tunedand thanks for reading.

Runnin'

2005-08-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

Not too much to report. It's amazing to feel the weight of racing kinda lifted. I went and ran with Brent last night. The first 1.2 out were fairly casual at 11.31, but the return was hard. Fun, but hard. Brent had me doing 45 and 30 second intervals all the way back. We did the 1.2 return in 10.39. Suprisingly, I feel pretty good today.

Looks like tonight will be a ride with Paul, Dave, and Patria. Something about 40 miles in 2 hours, flat, rolling, and fast. Should be interesting. I plan on running Thurs morning and Friday evening with Brent, then Shannon and I leave for her Tri in Steamboat.

That's it for now!
-Ocky

Thoughts on my first year in NORBA/MSC Sport XC.

2005-08-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that 5 months of racing are finally done. I've had some good times, and some not so good times. All in all, it was worth it.

I had come into the season hoping to continue those winning ways of a beginner. All be it, I'm stronger, faster, and a little smarter, so was everyone else in the class. Sport 30-34 is not for the timid. we've got some really strong guys in this field. I think Jeremy T is moving up for Keystone, and Brian C already has. Big props to Nathan M. for getting 1st at the Co State Championships. He's been laying the wood all season, and finally caught a big win.

I enjoyed the competition all season. I was never a top contender this year. I finished consistenly towards the rear of the field during XC. The bright side, I was never DFL, but I came close. I definatelly went through a period of severe burnout, and then rebirth of enjoyment. The major downfall of the season seems to be my issue of cramping. Starting with the 2nd XC race in Nathrop, I battled cramps in almost every XC race but 2. Crested Butte was the worst of it with both quads and hams locking up on both legs at the same time. After that race, I started using a CamelBack and changed my eating, hydration process. But even with the changes, I still battled cramps. It's kinda funny when you look at my lap times. For example: lap 1 this weekend was 1:04. Lap 2 was 1:10. Most people tend to go a little faster on the 2nd, but not me. Something about that 1:40 mark, and my body starts to hit the preverbial wall. Oh well...

Lessons learned:
-When you race sport 30-34 in Colorado---be prepared to go hard from beginning to end.
-Until I start seeing top 10---I'm never trained enough.
-Racing road and Moutain is way tough---Need to stay balanced to avoid burnout.
-I can always get better---Remember these guys in Sport that are top 10, have been racing Sport for a few years.
-Tubeless tires rock!
-In the end, the point of racing a Mountian Bike, is to have fun.

Goals reached:
Qualified for Mammoth Nationals!
Finished top 15 in the overall MSC Series.
Finished top 10 in one race.

Cycling XC Goals to Attain:
Finish top 10 consistently
Qualify and attend Mammoth Nationals in July of 2006
Reach my goal weight of 162
Be healthy, happy, and have fun doin it all.

Much thanks to:
Andrew Hawkes for the Tubeless setup, and crank installation. Thanks for all your time and effort man! You Rock! I hope that sweet deal come through for ya... you deserve it.

Jeremy for helpin me out with brake and tuning issues.

Chuck B-- man what can I say. You got me into this mess, and for that I will be forever grateful.

To my teammates from Twin Peaks Racing, for letting this slow Mountain Biker tag along so I could get stronger.

To all the cool people I have met along the way--Tom K., Steve H, Mark K, Jason G, Devin M, Woodie, Brian C., and to eveyone else that helped make this a great season.

And most important-- My Wife. Love ya babe. Thanks for all the support in my pursuit of this hobby. You have made great sacrifices, to allow for my passions. Thank you!

Those of you that know me, know that next year is up in the air. I guess I'l know for sue by November. Stay tuned!

It's Done!

2005-08-22T08:23:00.000-07:00

5 months, some 18 races, and the season is basically done.

Snowmass was fun. They changed the start of the course from last month and made it better. Instead of an asphalt start, we started above the 4x course. Up the fire road, and then made turned back onto the singletrack from last year.

I was feeling great, and stayed with the pack for most of the first lap, until my silly little crash. No harm, no foul, just kinda endoed off the course. Picked it up, got right back on... not even a scratch. Everything was going great until of course... the 2nd lap. As I crested the "kick" before the left turn to the singletrack, I could feel the twinges of cramp again. I was able to hold them off for a while, but was too hesitant to floor it on the switchback climb. Eventually, the cramps did show up on the semi technical tree/rock section. Fortunatelly, it was only on the quads, so I pedaled through and sucked it up. I never did cramp in the hammy's but that twinge was always there. I lost about 4 positions during the last 3k while trying to keep the cramps at bay.

End results--- 19th of 24. Not bad, but not great. Other than Nationals, I never did finish top 10. Which was a goal. But I did make a few. I'll post more race details/stats tomorrow. If I get luck, I may still be able to eek out a top 15 in the overall. It depends on who shows at Keystone. As for me, I'm not going to Keystone. It's time to prepare for the Cop Test.

So... what does it mean...

Snowmass or Bust

2005-08-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

Allrighty,
Back to Snowmass for the final race of the season... I think. Keystone is iffy. Not sure if I'm leaving tomorrow or Friday morning. either way, it looks like I have to take the long way in, due to the rock fall in Idaho Springs.

In any case, Cycle Cyndicate confirmed to day that the course will be the same as last months. Should be fun. My hope is to finish sub 2 hrs. We will see.

I'm doing a short 30 minutes on Lair Of The Bear this evening, to make sure all the bugs are worked out on the new tubeless. I think it's holding, but I don't quite have absolute confidence.

That's it for now. Stay tuned early next week for a new race report, and hopefully a couple of pics.

Ciao!

New Cranks, Fun ride w/PR's and Runnin

2005-08-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

Hey all. How's it.

Well Saturday, I decided to do High Grade. Originally CB was supposed to go with, but had other commitments, So I made the treck myself. It was slightly cool out, but well worth it. My ride as a whole went pretty well. Not super fast, but better than last weeks.From Phillipsburg, it took about 51.55. Not fast, but fun. I truly think the section through the guard rail is the steepest, and most sustained section. Of course right after here I was in the cloud. Meaning, cold, and wet mist. Made the top and went back down. I took it a little easy, just for the simple fact that it was hard to see, and I was sketched of falling on the slick road. All tolled it was 1:53 for 29 miles. Good times. I'm sure it would have been better had CB been able to go.

Sunday was a run day. I've got just under 4 weeks to go. I decided this time to run at the Dakota Ridge track. I find when I run by myself, I don't push as hard, as when I run with Ty, But, the 1.5 was not too bad. I'd sprint around the turns, and let up a bit on the straights. All in all 13.12 minutes. Under the time requirement, but I imagine I will go faster with other people.
Surprisingly, I'm starting to like this running thing. Enough so, that I plan on doing the Race For The Cure in October. Should be fun. More importantly a fun race for a good purpose.

Tonight I rode Waterton to Lenny's, back to the Dam and back up on the new cranks and new tubless front. I'm not sure if it's the cranks, or just placebo, but I set 2 new PR's. 23.46 to the Dam and 41.16 to Lenny's. Woo hoo. That was fun. I didn't set out to get a PR, but the bike just seemed to go! Cool. After this weekend, the racing season should wind down. I imagine I'll do some CX this fall JFF, but I look forward to getting back to riding just to ride.

Gotta go eat dinner! Oh yea, I heard from Woodie today. Man it was cool to chat with him for a few. Hope to ride with him again some day.

Much thanks to Hawkes for the work on the bike! Ciao!

Yesterdays Spin and new cranks

2005-08-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

Hey,
Chuck B and I spun up Lair of The Bear Yesterday. Good interval session. Aside from the crash on the tight left rock section, it was a pretty good ride. At least the weather held out on the way up. We ducked down the fireroad to acoid the rain on the way out. Of course, by the time we made it to the cars, it hadn't erained.

Yesterday my new cranks came in. I'm hopin to see Hawkes today so I can get them installed, as well as change the front to tubeless, and hopefully put the new brake pads in. It's gettin a little sketchy with the bald rear pads.

I hope to do High Grade this weekend. Good luck to the team at Swanky's.
-Ock

2005-08-10T07:57:00.000-07:00

Hey all, what's happenin'?

Shannon completed her 2nd tri last weekend, and took 10 minutes off her time. In 3 weeks she'll be doing a Tri in Steamboat whihc will have some longer distances. She made her goals last year, has stuck by them, and is kickin' major but.

As for me, I rode High Grade on Saturday. That was a very interesting ride, as I went through the whole gambit of physical exertion. It started out with a super heavy chain type of feel. I was already hurting by Phillipsburg. As I made it onto the "steep" section, I was toast. Speed went from 11 to 5mph. I was strugglin'. Passed through that, went into the euphoric laughter as i staired at the never ending climb through the valley. Hit the top, and had a blast on the downhill. When I made it back to Phillipsburg, I continued with the climb up Deer Creek. Of course this time, my legs were finally alive. All in all, a great ride.

Yesterday, Ty and I did the run thing. My body is excepting the run, and surprisingly my legs feel good. I hope to ride Lair of The Bear tomorrow evening, and do a track run on Friday.

Cheers for now!

Last Nights STXC

2005-08-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

Ok... so last night was the last Short Track in Boulder. I went up knowing it had rained a bit, but was hopeful. I should have trusted my first instinct. You could tell by the B's that the mud was sticking to everything. I knew when Jeremy from ACME was running his bike sans wheels, that it could not be good. But figured what the heck, this is the last one, and it will make for a good story.

Story is, first lap was kinda fun and funny, and I was doing pretty well. 2nd lap, my bike starts holding the mud. By the 3rd lap, I'm being passed by everybody. My entire rear drivetrain is caked. I try to shoulder the bike over a hill, except the bike must weigh 60 lbs. 30 minutes later and it's done. I hosed the bike down last night, but barely made a dent. Tonight after my run, I'll have to spend some serious time cleaning.

Cest la vie.
-Ock

Not much new

2005-08-03T13:58:00.001-07:00

Let's see,
Shannon has her second Triathlon this weekend. Tonight will be the last STXC in Boulder. Hard to beleieve. I never did crack the top 10, but at least I was stronger. In almost every race other than the first, and last week, I had some sort of mechanical or crash. Ahh, but it was fun. Now we have to wait and see about next year. Depending on the job situation, this could be my last STXC for quite some time.

I'm thinking about getting TruVativ Stylos cranks for the Superlight. Rumor has it, that they are only 70 grams lighter than XTR for much less than half the price. Sounds like an option.

Snowmass is still on the schedule. I may even try my hand at cyclocross this fall. We'll see.

Chuck is evidentallyready to get serious for the last half of the season. I hope he does. If he can sustain those sprints, he's a force to recon with.

Catch ya later.
-Ock

Body is blown

2005-07-29T09:25:00.000-07:00

I think I over did it yesterday. In a few weeks, I will do a run for Jeffco Sheriff. So I've added the run into my training. Well after a pretty decent STXC race on Wednesday, "the ghostman" Tyler called. Tyler used to be an XC runner, in which case he's got technique and speed. So we went out yesterday, and the training began. Thank goodness, he let me go slow, but with no walk breaks. All tolled, just short of 5k in 28 minutes. My cardio is great, but I think I may have overdone it by going for 30 minutes straight. My quads and lower back are completely blown. Help I can get them to recover by at least Sunday. We'll see.

2005-07-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

Wildflowers on top of Independance Pass

2005-07-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

I'm almost spent, but I always sprint for the finish line.

2005-07-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

Climbing again on the start of the 2nd lap. Photo by Andrew H

2005-07-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

Start of the pain! The guy on riders right is "Grey Shirt" that I tried to mark but lost on the 2nd lap.

Race Report from Snowmass Nationals

2005-07-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

So a week after my wife completing her first Triathlon, it was time for me to get back on the saddle, and head back to Snowmass Village for my 2nd Nationals Event. Some of you may remembe rthat I was WAY burned out a month ago. In any case, it was here last year, that I had won my first race as a beginner. I enjoy the course, and I was feeling excited again to race.

Thursday morning before the race, I check the website one last time to check for any pertinent info that I didn't already have. I click on the XC Description, and notice a "slight" modification. It lists that Sport is scheduled to race 2 laps. I'm thinkin'... WOW 2 laps on a 13.4 mile course. OK it is nationals, but even at 1:25 minute laps it would still tkae me close to 3 hourse...huh... then after a little more exploration, I find that they had changed the course to a 7.44 mile course. OK, at least 2 laps sounds a little more reasonable, but why the change. I call my buddy Hawkes who is already there coaching the SMBA kids to get the report for the course changes. It seemed that Snowmass Village is building a new 6 man lift at the base. So now, the race kinda starts at the Tech Area parking lot, up a paved road, then to a long fire road. From the fire road, it relinked itself to the switchbacks leading back to Govt Mule. This is the best part of the course as it involved singletrack running in and out of the trees, after one last climb, the trail dumps back onto fast fireroad descent, and then to super fast single track downhill, and then finally back to one last decpetive climb that dumped back to start finish. Basically climb, climb, climb, SCREAM downhill, and then do it again just because.

So we leave town around 530 am to get into town, so that I can preride and then schmooze around the tech area. At about 11, I kit up, and do the preride. At first I'm put out by the idea of .2 miles of paved road, and then suffering on a long fireroad. As I make it back to Start/Finish, I decide that even with the changes of the course, the suffering of the long climb, mixed with the always fun singletrack will still be fun, I just have to change my strategy. Leading up to this week, I had based my training around the ida of last years course. Oh well, time to adapt and overcome.I head back to the hotel after schmoozing for a bit to take a quick nap. The idea was sound, but man was it hot. I call downstairs to the front desk to ask if we had anything for airconditioning. As it turns out, this hotel has none. HUH? $100 a night and no air?! Much like Denver, Aspen/Snowmass has also been suffering with a heat wave, and in the past there was never a need for AC. At least it rained that evening, and cooled things off greatly.

Race morning comes, and it's time to get it on. I do the normal prerace rituals of breakfast, stretching etc. After a 15 minute session on the trainer to wake the legs up, I head out to do the warmup on the hills on and near the Start/Finish. As I make my way up, I see Tony B heading up, and we go up together. My legs feel good, and I'm excited. We head back down, get our legs marked and then on to staging. With the turnout, they decide to start the 19-39 at the same time. It was actually kinda cool, cuz we started with the typical 35-45 riders.Anyways, 3...2..1. GO! We're off. I like this part because it's a lot like a road crit where we have a short straight, to a quick left turn, and then one more straight before the true suffering begins. Riding in an MTB peleton is a lot more casual then a roadie peleton, but I digress. From the expo area, we make a right turn and the climbing begins. I settle in on the back 3rd of the pack, and develop my rhythm. from here, I start marking the other guys in my class, and make sure I keep the ones that aren't destined to win in sight. For the most part, much of the start group stayed intact until the super steep climb(aka "the kick") before the short reprieve. From here, it kinda broke into 3 distinct groups. Of course, I was in the 3rd group. At least I'm in contact. As we head into the switchback section. I feel pretty strong, and work my way up the side in the middle ring. NICE. From here I keep stalking the guys ahead in my class. Every once in a while, I would gain some ground, and then back off. Notice the grey shirt guy in the first pic...this was a guy that I would mark throughout the day. As we got into the windy/semi rocky section of trees, I am able to pass a few guys that have to dab out. Sweet! After the trees was one last climb that kinda crossed over a water pipe. Right before here, my left cleet felt a little lose. I decided to hop off real quick and tighten the cleat. (Why I didn't check before the race is beyond me. I should be passed the "rookie mistake" but it was my bad) Of course I am passed by the guys I passed in the trees, but I figure I can make up the time somehwhere on the next climb. I do manage to catch back up with a few guys on the long downhill, but it's hard to gain back time, when everyone can fly on long fireroads

As I make it back to start/finish for my second lap, I feel ok, but not great. I do see the "Grey Shirt" guy up about 15 yds, but I figure I can catch him again. For some reason though, my ability to spin the middle ring up the paved road just doesn't feel as strong. Oh well, back to settling in and finding the rhythm. This time around "the kick climb" pretty much cracks me like humpty dumpty. Oh well, drop her into the granny and recover all the way through to the reprieve. From here, I feel ok. As I start the switchbacks, I notice "Grey Shirt" and 1 other guy in my class are already a full switchback ahead. I do my best to mark them, but I never could catch them back. I do pass and drop one other guy in my class, so at least that was good, but I never can catch "Grey Shirt" Anyways, make it back to the last little climb, and feel that twinge.... the twinge of cramp. NOOO! So I get off real quick, minimize the damage with a fast stretch, and get back on. Whew... thank goodness it did not turn into the full blown cramps from Crested Butte. Oh well, crest hill, and push hard on the fireroad descent, and steep singletrack. Fom here, I manage to pass 1 other guy in my class, but never see "Grey Shirt" until after the finish

So what do I take away from it(aka negatives):
Not great, but not DFL either. At least I qualified for Mammoth! Had I been able to keep contact with "Grey Shirt" I may have been able to finish sub 2 hours. I was a little dissappointed in myself for not checking my cleats before the race. I try and make it a point to check every bolt that may need tightening, but for some reason, I missed it. I'm sure that cost me at least 1-2 minutes. Oh well. My continued issues with cramping is a bit perplexing. Since the Butte, I have changed a lot of my eating, hydrating(I even race with a Camelbak now), and prerace details. After the Eldo race 3 weeks ago, I thought I may have nipped it in the bud. I think I'm close, but I still have some issues to deal with as far as cramping.

The Positives:
I had fun! There's something about the Venue at Snowmass that I really dig. Even with the changes I liked the course. The suffering on the climbs was intense. I'm starting to develop that instinct of marking a man, ctaching that man, and then dispensing of that marked man. I guess as a beginner, I didn't have to worry about it at the front. If I can continue to develop that "killer instinct" I think that will help. I made one season goal and finished within a Top 10. then again there were only 12, but at least I can go to Mammoth.I still have work to do before I will see a podium again, but if I don't have to work for it, it wasn't worth it.

Thanks to Hawkes and the SMBA guys for the support at the feed. Thnaks to my wife and mother-in-law for all your help and support for the weekend. Much props to Brian C of Comotion for his debut in Expert. Not only was he killing it as a Sport in the MSC's, he debut with a top 3 finish in Expert at Nationals. YOU ARE THE MAN! Much props to Chuck for toein' the line and getting it done. I'm super stoked for you for pushin' through. Hopefully this will be your restart back into the game! Your sprint start will live in lore legend!

C ya guys later

2005-07-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

Not much new.

Shannon is officially a Triathlete as she finished her first tri. Pretty good results as she finishd well in the top half of the field! Pretty cool, and I was/am super proud of her.

This weekend will hold NORBA nationals for me at Snowmass. Not sure what will happen, but I do like the venue. Couple more days of prep and then show time!

2005-07-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

photo courtesy of ChuckB
Nice huh. That was from last weeks STXC

What's new

2005-07-11T10:11:00.001-07:00

Hey all. Sorry I hadn't posted in a while. Since the the Butte, I've been a little burned out. I raced Eldo, quit, got back in it aftwer having a blast in the bog, and finished 23 of 28. Still cannon fodder, but at least I overcame the mental dulldrum. Oh yeah, and pulled a sweet pass on a guy that I kept exchanging position for the entire race at 250 yds to go.

So I took almost all of last week off. I did race the STXC which was a 2nd to last effort, thanks to some due who crashed me out right at the start a few yards from the single track. What a jerk. Oh well, I've got some pretty bad road rash on my arm, and right hip. It's getting better, but it took a few days to be able to sleep normally.

Saturday, Jim B and I went up to Rocky Mountian Natl Forest and went flyfishing. HAdn't done that in a while and it was worth it. We explored some new waters, caught a few fish, all on dry, and even saw my first moose in the wild. That was really cool.

So after taking a full week off, I got back on the saddle with ChuckB yesterday. It was fun to ride, juts to ride. No set intervals, no training schedule, just a long ride. We did the Deer Creek, Tiny Town, Parmalee, Kitteridge, Evergreen, Morrison ride. Fun times. Gotta love doin 40 mph while drafting a car on the downhill. All tolled about 50 miles. Man that was fun.

Tonight another casual ride on the roadie. Back to Boulder on Wed for STXC, maybe a good ride on the XC Saturday morning, and then Shannon has her first Tri race on Sunday.

Gotta go!
-Ock

What

2005-07-11T10:11:00.000-07:00

"You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals." Booker T. Washington

Crested Butte Race Report as posted on MTBR

2005-06-27T15:08:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I had gotten an email from Rapwithtom for an invitation to The Butte as they had room in their Condo. Originally this race was not even on my list. But after having missed 3 races this year to weather, injury, or illness, I thought it would be good.

So off we go. We met Thursday afternoon to meet up with TonyB who lives in the Butte. After a slight problem w/Condo keys, Tony was very generous an offered us a place to stay for the night. So early Friday, we wake up, have a great breakfast, and head down the hill a bit to preride the course. I wanted to preride because there was a "slight" change to it from last year. The plan was to ride the course very mellow. That we did. Which was really great, because unlike last year, I was able to take in how awesome, and how beautiful the course really is! All in all, the course only changed for a small 1 mile section, otherwise it was pretty much the same.(I'll give details shortly)

The nice thing about showing up early, and prerideing early, is it opens up the day to relax, clean bikes, and get a good night sleep.

Saturday morning, myself, Tom, and Steve are up at 5am for preride breakfast. Thanks to Steve, I think that's the best prerace breakfast I've had. Whole wheat pancakes, bananas, and a little oatmeal. My race time was 9:09 and Tom and Steve were set to go off 1 minute behind. Around 8, I kitted up, and started my warmup on the trainer. Tom and Steve take off while I'm warming up to do their own. At 8:45, I leave the condo for the start line. Ahh yes, that old familiar feeling of anxiety, excitement and dread. I hadn't done an XC race since early May due to Road Racing or weather, illness, or injury. As I line up, I see the familar faces of the series leaders, and the "back of packers" who are just like me.

3..2..1 We're off. The start consists of a pretty wide fireroad up a relatively mild climb, to a switchback, and then a steep climb up the ski slope itself before finally hitting the singletrack. I knew from last year, and the preride, my race would be made or broken on the start of this long climb to the switchback. Unfortunatelly, my warm up had too much time to cool down, and I was near the rear of the field by the time we hit the steep ski slope. Oh well, slow and steady I go, as I know that this is a long 2 hr race As I near the switchback, I hear "good job Ock" from Steve. Which was cool, but Steve started 1 minute behind in the 40+ Sport. As he passed, he looked good. Oh well, a little demoralizing, but no worries. After the first singletrack section, there was a super fast fireroad section, which then turned to a hard right, up another singletrack, to the fun/fast tree section. I was still in contact with the back, but I could tell the race leaders, ahd made a pretty big jump while in the trees. Oh well, after the trees, a slight climb up another fireroad. This section was more or less the summit at around 10300 feet. From here, was a quick descent to another rolling singletrack. After coming out of the trees, there was antoher fireroad descent. It was here that Tony(another Sport 40+) caught me and told me that Tom(rapwithtom) was close behind. Allrightty then, time to get some speed up. From here it was a pretty long descent to the bottomw. The descent had 2 technical, loose dirt, with switchback sections. These 2 sections were known as the waterfall/Carnage hill. Tom caought me right before here.
As we came back to start finish, it was pretty clear that I was way out of top contention, but still in it. All be it Tom was a few yards ahead, I felt rejuvinated, and excited for the 2nd lap. I caught tom on the climb before the first switchback, and put a little bit of time between us again. All be it I'm not in the 40+ class, keeping Tom behind me was my motivation to go harder. Thank Tom! For the rest of the race, Tom and I paced off of each other, and picked off stragglers. The 2nd lap was crucial, as the guys that went way hard on the first lap, were falling off on the 2nd. After pulling in a few guys, I suddenly became 1 of those stragglers. With about 4 miles to go, I felt my first cramp in my right quad. I quickly jumped off, strectch out, and jumped back on to get back with Tom. Unfortunatelly, my legs did not want to oblige. I could tell that if I did the necessary interval to get back on with Tom, my leg would seize again. I settled into my slower pace, and told Tom to get'r done. I kept him in visual, and even thought I would rejion, until it all went very, very wrong.
For the first time, I completely seized up. Not just one leg, but both. Not just the front or rear of the leg, but both! That has got to be the worst cramp I have ever felt. You can't stand, you can't sit. You can't straighten a leg to stretch the hamstring, and you can't bend the leg to stretch the quad. All I could do was writhe in pain, punch the seized areas, and watch the stragglers that I had passed, pass me. As I was writhing, 2 race marshalls came up to ask i f there was anything I could do. After 4 minutes or so, I asked for a hand to stand up. The marshall asked if I would need help down. I said heck no, gritted my teeth, and worked my way back on the bike. I kinda crawled/hobbled up the 10 yds to the start of the final descent. Thank goodness it was mostly downhill. I made my way through the last technical descent with pure anger for the pain. This pain motivated me to the finish. As I sprinted up the road to the finish line, my legs again seized literaly as I crossed the line. I think the official was confused as to why I crashed, and told me to move. I think he realized my problem by the look on my face.

So it was done. The race that I had orginally not planned on doing. Truth be told, I didn't want to do it, because I remember how hard it wa last year, and it was only 1 lap. Now, I'm glad I went. Of course, my result was not what I wanted, but that's been the story of the season. I'm sure everyone would love to move from Beginner to Sport and win Sport as easily(Glen ), but this year for me is about learning, growing, getting stronger and faster. My 1st lap time was 10 minutes faster from last year(2nd place as a beginner 1:17), which I was pretty stoked about. It was wild that I felt completely spent, but elated with the fact that I finished after the worst cramp experience I had ever felt. I remember going by guys on the course last year, as they would scream in pain as their legs seized. This year, I became one of those guys.

If not for the cramp, who nows how my placing would have been. I imagine since Tom caught me, and I was holding pace with Tom, I would have been in 5-6 minutes earlier. At least, that's what my HR indicates was my downtime while rolling around on the ground. With the cramping, I finished 15 of 19. Despite that, I am pleased with the fact that I was able to do both laps, at full pace. I need to work on my starts, as it would appear that this was my mistake on the beginning. Even with the warmup on the trainer, I just wasn't ready for the knock down, drag out start. Maybe I got too cold while staging. I'm not quite sure. Once I got my groove I felt great.

Unfortunatelly this cramping issue messed up my groove. I've now had 2 consecutive races where cramps have hurt me in the overall. The races are longer, I'm definatelly stronger this year than last, but clearly I need to work on my hydration, and potassium intake. I'm even considering wearing a camelbak so that I can hydrate continuosly w/out having to let go of the bars to grab a bottle.

All in all, it was a great weekend with great people, and an awesome course. It is still a "nemesis" that I intend to conquer next year. Much thanks to Tom, Tony, Steve, Mark, and everyone else that made it a cool time. Up next Eldora!

2005-06-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

Boulder STXC#3 photo by ChuckB

2005-06-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

The preride crew of myself, ACME Racing, and the Texas Pedalmashers, at the highest point.

2005-06-27T09:55:00.002-07:00

It truly is a Wildflower Rush!

2005-06-27T09:55:00.001-07:00

This place is amazing

2005-06-27T09:55:00.000-07:00

More Wildflowers

2005-06-27T09:54:00.001-07:00

Wildflower Morning Dew

2005-06-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

Crested Butte

Updates as of 22 Jun 05

2005-06-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

Hey all. Looks like I'm heading to Crested Butte tomorrow with Tom, and the crew from ACME Racing. Last year I took 2nd with one lap for 1:17. Oh boy I'm nervous. I need to finish 2:15-2:20 in 2 laps to come in around top 15. I know I'm stronger, but oh boy!

Got some great miles on Deer Creek Yesterday morning. 7.98 miles in 1:09 from the base to Plymouth Loop, 2 laps there and back down. I feel ok. We'll see what happens after the STXC this evening.

Also, keep checking www.twinpeaksracing.com for pics from the Longmont Criterium

2005-06-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

View from my backyard 2 nights ago. Unbelievable!

This just in!

2005-06-17T09:13:00.000-07:00

After a generous offer from Tom(acmeracing) I will be heading to Crested Butte next weekend. Allthough this race was not on my schedule for the year, due to weather, sickness, or injury, I have missed 3 planned races, so this should be interesting. All be it I made podium last year here, I remember this course kicked my but, as the initial climb hurt...BAD! Should be fun. I'm sure it's a flogging in the making, but I look forward to it.

Injury Update

2005-06-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

Slowly but surely, it is getting better. Thanks to Dr. Ken and the girls at www.activecare.com.

Having them as a sponsor is super helpful. I don't know if I'd be recovering as well if not for them. As it stands right now, I am not cleared to race on Saturday for either Mountain or Road. Which was super bummer, because I was looking forward to the WP race. Sunday is a day of decision. I'd like to at least line up with the guys, as it is our race. We will see.

Last night I did an hour of flat interval workouts around Chatfield. The hammi was a little tight, but better than it was on Monday when I could barely do 20 minutes of Chimney Gulch. Tonight will be another PT type ride, so we will see.

Also wanted to give a huge shout to my awesome wife, who just did her first consecutive days of Aquathons at Chatfield and Cherry Creek. You go girl! We think we hve it rough, leaving it all out on the bike, try being a Duathalon or Tri, when you have to leave it all out there, but figure out how to balance 2 or 3 disciplines.

Catch ya later,
Ocky

TT Race Report

2005-06-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

After being snowed out from an MTB XC race last weekend, this weekend brought on a Road race of sorts. Actually it was a Time Trial Race.

Race Stats: 38km approx 32.5 miles on a moderatelly hilly course near the airport. My Time: 1:05Place: 3rd.......From Last 36 of 38. Hey it's better than my first TT race.

Road Time Trials are definatelly interesting. Also known as "The Race of Truth." As a mountain biker, I think Road TT's are the cloest Road type race to an XC MTB race. Unlike Crits and Road Races, you don't have to worry about peleton dynamics(shoulder bumping on asphalt at 30 mph, etc...) or strategy. TT's are almost all about yourself and the clock. Like XC races in the fact that, if someone's ahead of you, you want to catch them, and hopefully not be caught by the guy behind.

In any case, the start is typical with the guy holding the saddle. 3,2,1 I'm off. First 2 miles were flat and allowed time for gaining max speed. I settle in after 45 seconds of all out hammering, and start cruising at 24mph approaching the first hard left and climb. Up the climb and through the rolling section for about 5 miles with an avg speed of around 30 mph. Wow I was moving, and thankfully not being caught. After the turnaround point, it was back the way I came. Remember for the 5 mile section I was averaging 30+, now I was averaging 21.2mph. Why?.... That slight downhill was now a long climb into a good headwind. Oh well, time to dig in and suffer. While suffering, I was caught nad passed by 3 guys behind me. I didn't feel so bad, as they were on Beautiful $3000 FELT TT Bikes with either MAvic Carbon or ZIPP wheels. I'll add a comment to this in just a second. Back to the tight turn, reapproach start and then a tight right for the next 11 miles of the course. This was similar to the first turnoff with a short climb, to a fast/long downhill. It's right about here that I am hurting and am caught by a few more guys. Oh well, again those guys are also on dedicated TT bikes. From the turn around, it was to the finish line, which ended in a long .9 mile climb with into the wind. Oh well, suffer, suffer, suffer, and I was done. Not bad, 23.6 miles in under 1hr5 minutes. The winning time was around 55 minutes.

I came into it, knowing I would get beat, but I was thoroughly amazed that almost everyone in Cat4's had dedicated $2000-3000 Time Trial Bikes. Now, I'm a firm believer in "it's not the bike, it's the motor..." but in TT's I think the bike obviously make a huge difference. Then again, I did come in ahead of 1 guy with a TT bike.

So what gives, I understand it is a Time Trial Championship, and the bulk of the people that showed up specialize in TT's, but what in the world do these guys do that they can afford $3000 TT bikes as well as $3000 race bikes. Afterall, this is supposed to be Cat4. I'm clearly in the wrong business.

Oh well, I did the race because I enjoy the one on one suffering of self and clock. This TT did not dissappoint, and I look forward to doing more. More than anything else, it's great training for the MTB. Ya know what's funny? I remember when I got my first tatoo and the guy saying "you'll never pay someone to feel this kind of pain..." Ah, but clearly he was not a cyclist! BEing it's my first year racing on the road, I have been humbled for most of the season. It makes me think that people like Kabush truly are "freeks."

One more observation:
Here in Colorado, we have 2 guys who race 4's that were at one time professional athletes. They will remain nameless, but I can tell you one has reached the pinnacle and has a Super Bowl Ring, and the other is in a "strike" after having won the Stanley Cup a few years ago. Both guys are big guys, but truly nice guys. In any case, I was talking to one of them after the TT and he made a pretty cool comment to ponder: "... even after have hitting the pinnacle of what hockey has to offer, I truly think that cycling is harder than anything I have ever done..."Pretty cool huh?!

Oh yeah, the injury... I'm not sure what I did. I felt great (relative to suffering) throughout the entire race. Almost immediately after I sat up after the finish sprint, I developed this real tightness in my left glut/hamstring. The 1 hour drive home was less than comfortable. In any case, I rested all day yesterday, and felt good. I decided to do a local MTB climb near my office. Almost instantly, I could feel a "discomfort" right where my Hamstring meets my glut. After 20 minutes, I decided it wasn't worth it, and rode back down to the car. Of course now I feel ok, but I'm guessing I have a pulled or majorly stressed hammi. I'm scheduled to meet with the masseuse this afternoon, so hopefully we can diagnose the problem. this has me a bit depressed because I was planning on racing the normal Tues Crit, Wed Short Track, and the makeup race at Winterpark. Looks like all this might be in jeapordy, and I might have another setback to the season. First it was that darn 100 day flu, now it's this. Such is life I guess.

I guess cycling truly is just another way to pass the time, and maybe this is my time to continue to work my way back up to the top.Catch ya later,Ocky

Unbelievable

2005-06-09T17:44:00.000-07:00

Cyclist testifies in White Rock case04:25 PM CDT on Thursday, June 9, 2005By DAKARAI I. AARONS / The Dallas Morning News

The cyclist who said he was run down by a Southern Methodist University law professor’s car testified Thursday that he faxed a copy of the police report to the law school the day after the incident. "The dean of SMU's law school should know who he has working for him,” Tommy Thomas explained on the stand. Jane Dolkart is accused of using her car to hit Mr. Thomas in May 2004 while he was biking with a friend at White Rock Lake on West Lawther Drive south of Mockingbird Lane. Mr. Thomas, a lawyer, suffered minor injuries as he was dragged under the car. Ms. Dolkart is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted, she could face two to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. In describing the incident, Mr. Thomas said he "got a hold of the bumper and the car is pushing me down the street." After the car stopped, he got up and friend Paul Schoenberg said: “Oh my God! Are you all right?" Mr. Thomas testified. And he replied, "No. She just ran over me." On Wednesday, a police officer testified that Ms. Jane Dolkart told him she only intended to tap a bicyclist with her car the day she allegedly ran him down. Officer Craig Bennight's said that Ms. Dolkart said Mr. Thomas had intentionally blocked her efforts to get around him. He also testified that when he told Ms. Dolkart that Mr. Thomas was claiming she had intentionally hit him, "that kind of unleashed a torrent of anger" from her. Officer Bennight said Ms. Dolkart told him that claim was absurd and that, "I only meant to tap him." She was arrested shortly thereafter. During cross-examination, defense attorney Mike Gibson questioned the thoroughness of the police investigation, noting that officers never went back to the scene with Ms. Dolkart. They also did not hold her car as evidence, even though Officer Bennight said it was used as a deadly weapon. During opening arguments, Mr. Gibson said evidence would show that Ms. Dolkart accidentally hit Mr. Thomas and that the proper place for this matter is a civil court. "Just because a car and bicycle collided on a road, it doesn't make it a crime," Mr. Gibson said. Officer Bennight later testified that he and his partner spent time discussing the incident with both parties to determine whether the collision had been an accident or intentional. "We both concurred there was no evidence it was an accident," he said. "Ms. Dolkart never said it was an accident." E-mail daarons@dallasnews.com

Short Track Race Report

2005-06-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

1st Boulder Short Track Race Report
Tis the season for the annual Boulder Short Track Series. I did a few of these towards the end of the season last year, and decided I'd try to them all this season. For those that aren't familiar with Short Track racing, it's very similar to a Road Crit, or CycloCross Race(w/out the barricades) You and 20-30 of your closest buddies line up for a quick whole shot to the singletrack, and from here, the suffering is on for at least 25-30 minutes of all out Lactate Threshold Burnin Love!

I prerode the course for my warmup. The beauty of this series, is the course changes every week. In any case, I make it a point to get a good spot in the front during staging. 3-2-1 we're off. Big Tom(rapwithtom) gets a great jump on the start and clears the start to the single track strainer in near 4th position. My line was a little off, and I had to battle with a much bigger guy into the tight left downhill turn. Through here to a fast right burm turn, over a whoop(great place for a little air depending on the line), from here to a straight away into another single track strainer. The next short section is pretty windy, it then spits out into a flat before a short climb. After the first climb, there is a steep left turn downhill, which opens directly back into a very steep descent(gear selection was critical), a couple more turns and back to the finish.So I'm into my race, and holding me own in around top 15 position. As I approach the windy section, all of the sudden my rear wheel starts locking up... what the! Unfortunatelly I have to get off my bike and try to relieve the problem. It turns out that the brake cable pherrel that connects at the top tube had come undone. Serves me right for putting on new housing and brake cables during lunch. I failed to zip tie the cable near the brake, in which case, it allowed the housing to ride up, which then gave too much slack, which allowed the ferrel to come unseated from the top tube. Oh well. Back on the bike. I did manage to get back on, and start picking of the stragglers, and I did manage to finish with the main group.

The positives:Finishing with the main group even after having a mechanical. Huge for me because, last year I was barely able to keep from getting lapped. Scratch that I did get lapped last year. Looks like the training is in fact paying off. Not to mention the 25-30 minute time is a lot less than the 45-60 minute Road Crit Suffer Fests.Watching JHK and Travis Brown open up huge gaps on the A Flight(Pro/semipro) Boulder is one of those amazing places, because you never know what pro might just show up for a local series. Those 2 are amazing to watch, and it shows how far off people like myself are from being "fast" The crazy thing, JHK and TB were duking it out, and TB was on a single speed. UNBELIEVABLE!

I think we did 6.6 some odd miles in under 26 minutes, or something like that. I forgot to shut the computer off when I was done. I did run the Heart Rate around 173 for the entire race, so that was good. Now if only I could sustain that output for 2hrs of a regular XC Race.

Up next-36km ITT on Saturday.

XC Short Track Tonight

2005-06-08T10:34:00.000-07:00

Funny how back in April, June was supposed to be a relatively uneveventful race month. I had planned for the XC Short Tracks, so that should be fun. My goal for this year, is to hopefully just hang on to the pack.

This Saturday, will be my 2nd ITT on the Road. This time I have Aero Bars. Not that it'll help, but at least I'll look cool.

Not much to report. Work is super slow this week. Uggh.

I did do a run up lookout. Nothing too special. 29.01 from pillar to post. Avg Hr 171 All tolled was 51 minutes of riding from the office, past lookout for a bit, and then back to the office.

Left quad felt really tight until about 20 minutes in. Felt good to spin the legs out and run at Lactate Threshold for almost a half hour.

We got our new kits last night. They look cool. Guess I'll finally get to wear current team stuff tonight for the first time in 2 years of racing. Woo hoo!

Updates

2005-06-06T10:35:00.001-07:00

As you can see from the PIC below, Saturday's MTB race was cancelled, so Saturday was a lazy day, other than the party at Chris's house. Sunday I went out and did 40 around Chatfield working on 10 second Sprints into 1 minute intervals for over an hour. Felt strong at times, but like a dog by the time I made it back to the house.

This weekend is the 30 km Time Trial. Should be interesting. My goal other than to have fun, is hopefully not finish DFL. We'll see.

2005-06-06T10:35:00.000-07:00

So that was supposed to be the HC race at Winterpark on Saturday. Much thanks to Keith for calling me, as I was already on the road when the announcement was posted.

2005-05-31T09:58:00.000-07:00

Not sure about the facial expression, but I felt ready. That's David behind Beth Wrenn Estes. At least I held him off on the climb, but he dropped a nice grenade on me on the downhill. Go Waugh!

Evergreen Time Trial(Sophomore Slump???)

2005-05-31T09:21:00.000-07:00

Before we left for Evergreen, I joined the team to do one stage of the Omnium race. This was my first time trial, so I didn't know what to expect. I came 2 hrs early, with the hope of getting a good warmup, only to find the registration line was a little over an hour. Oh well, got my #, and started warming up with Haggerman. As I got to my start position, I knew David Waugh was 30 seconds behind, and Andrew Barker (14 yr old phenom racing in the Senior Men's) was 1 minute behind. I knew Andrew would catch me, bit I really wanted to stay ahead of Waugh.

So, 5.4.3.2.1 and I'm off. I knew that I wanted to pretty much sprint all the way to the top. At least I'm able to hold my HR much higher and much longer than all of last year. After about 2 miles I am caught and passed by Andrew. No worries, that was to be expected. But I also see David gaining as well. I wasn't having it, so I dig harder, and rebuild my gap on him. As I reach the turnaround, I feel pretty good knowing I was able to hold David off on the climb, as I begin the descent I pass David as he proclaimed "you better run boy." So run a little more I did. Unfortunatelly, I didn't run hard enough as David managed to catch me with about 1 mile to go. Oh well. I worked my way to the finish, and felt pretty good as I crossed the line. Sure I lost about 50 seconds to David, but I really enjoyed doing a real Time Trial race.

I was amazed to see how many guys have dedicated Time Trial Bikes even it Category 4.

So what was the end result... My first DFL of my cycling career. Total time for the 9 mile course 26.07.09. Slowest time of the team, and again, my first DFL. And I actually thought I was doing well. Hmmh!

On the bright side... I really enjoy the Time Trial Format. For having only done 1 stage of 3, I finished 47 of 67. I can live with that. Makes me wonder if I had been around to do all 3.

Also, looks like the team as a whole had a great showing. Awesome job my Hageman( the new guy) who finished 31st in the GC after 3 stages. Man those young guys are awesome!Much congrats to Christian as well. It looks like he may have pushed through with the fastest time for our team in the 4's at the TT and a great showing at the Table Mountain race.

I may be going through a Sophomore slump as my results are not what I had hoped to be. All be it, I feel much stronger than Iwas last year, in comparison to the guys that I race against this year, I pretty much feel like I'm at the bottom of the Mountain with a long way to go, before I see the top again. Maybe I'll touch more on this feeling later.

All in all, Memorial Weekend was a fantastic weekend. All be it I managed to finish DFL, I really do enjoy TT formats. Now if only I could afford a TT bike...JK! From the racing, to a wonderful weekend of camping, boating, and climbing with my wife and friends, it was awesome!

Buena Vista Weekend

2005-05-31T08:28:00.000-07:00

After a quick TT in Evergreen (read next report) Shannon and I headed to Buena Vista to join up with some friends to do a little climbing, camping, boating, and hangin out. Candice invited us to a beautiful spot right next to the river. Which sleeping next to a river, drowns all the stress, and provides an incredible peaceful sleep. Thanks Candice.

Sunday morning, we started out with breakfast, and then a short stroll to do some climbing. Keep in mind, I haven't climbed since December. Little Top Rope on a 5.9 maybe 10a. Of course I took due to some pumpage on stuff I used to pull easily on, but man, it was super fun to be on a rope and rock. Thanks to those that made that possible.

After getting all the ducks in a row after climbing, Damon got everything organized and we were set to run Browns Canyon. Except for the fact that my boat managed to fall out of Conner's truck. So Damon and I headed back to camp to try and find it. Fortunatelly, it fell out right in front of the camp exit, so back we went.

As I entered into my boat, the anxiety was a bit much. I was nervous, excited, scared... all that stuff. I also kinda knew that I was in good hands with Conner's leading a raft for the ladies, Bart leading the way for my lines, and Damon being there for the sweep in the event that I would need to swim.
As we made our way down, we took a quick break before Pinball. 1 of 3 rapides I was nervous about. Of course, this lead to more anxiety. Anyways, strapped back in, and got ready. Said one last Hail Mary as I entered the rapid, and enjoyed the ride. No worries, it was good to go. The next rapid was Zoom Flume. This one is even listed as a Class IV. Didn't scout it, just went. Conners was leading out with the raft in front. As I see him enter the first drop, I watched the boat go completely vertical up and over the wave. I'm thinkin...oh crap... Fortunatelly Bart took a line slightly more forgiving just to the right. I really didn't have time to dwell on what Conner's raft just did... it was time for me to go. By far, the waves in Zoom Flume were the biggest I have ever paddled. I remember seeing Bart a bit ahead trying to point a direction. Problem was, I couldn't really tell what he was pointing in between waves. As I made it out, I asked him what he was telling me. He said he was trying to tell me to go right. I actually went left. Somehow, I made it through... I'm not sure how big my grin was, but Shannon said it was larger than the Cheshire Cat.
From here out the anxiety was pretty much gone. I did have to do a combat roll in the Step Down Rapid, but made it through w/out any swims. Much thanks to Damon for setting it all up for me. Thanks to Conners for taking my wife, and the ladies on what looked like an awesome raft run. And much thanks to Bart for showing me the right lines to take.

It was a fantastic weekend, and for that I am greatful! Thanks again to all!

2005-05-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

Much thanks to Jeremy for doing a quic tune up on the Cruz! Off to the bike fit. this should be interesting.

Cool Post from Bike Forums---Why Do We Suffer?

2005-05-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

I copy/pasted this from Bikeforums.net:
We suffer because it's there. A btter question for me is, do I need to race?

"How can that be: suffering is suffering, isn't it?
In 1910, Milano-San Remo was won be a rider who spent half an hour in a mountain hut, hiding from a snowstorm. Man, did he suffer!

In 1919, Brussels-Amiens was won by a rider who rode the last 40Km with a flat front tire. Talk about suffering! he arrived at 11:30 at night, with a ninety-minute lead on the only other two riders who finished the race. That day had been like night, trees had whipped back and forth, farmers were blown back into their barns, there were hailstones, bomb craters from the war, crossroads where the gendarmes had run away and riders had to climb onto one another's shoulders to wipe clean the muddied road signs.

Oh to have been a rider then. Because after the finish, all the suffering turns to memories of pleasure, and the greater the suffering, the greater the pleasure. This is Nature's payback to riders for the homage they pay her by suffering. Velvet pillows, safari parks, sunglasses: people have become woolly mice. They still have bodies that can walk for five days and four nights through a desert of snow, without food, but they accept praise for having taken a one-hour bicycle ride. 'Good for you.' Instead of expressing their gratitude for the rain by getting wet, people walk around with umbrellas. Nature is an old lady with few suitors these days, and those who wish to make use of her charms she rewards passionately.That's why there are riders.Suffering you need; literature is baloney."--------------------------------------------------Read it again.Mark

Updates

2005-05-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hey all. I've been slackin on this blog thing. And, I had written an entire race report from Nathrop 3 weeks ago, but of course their browser crashed and I couldn't recover it. What a pain.

In any case, I spent all of last week, and the week before being sick. I'm still a bit congested, but back on the saddle. Unfortunatelly, I missed a cool race last week, but hope to be back to racing soon.

Keith did Battle of The Bear, and placed 14 of 29. Awesome job, especially cinsidering how hot it was. Rumor has it, they didn't even have a manned feed/water station! Go Warriors Cycling???!!!

I also noticed some sand baggin from a guy I have raced. Last year, he raced beginner at Bear. This year he raced Chalk Creek in Sport and finished 5th. According to the results, he just raced Beginner again at The Bear and finished 4th...huh!!! Enough of that rant.

Yesterday was a 2 a day MTB-Road. Other than the massive amounts of wind heading up the canyon, I did cut 5 minutes off my time on the single track from last year. That's pretty cool. I look forward to my custom fitting at Bike Source tomorrow. Hopefully that will help to eliminate the back tension, waisted energy, and improve my handling skills.

Chuck came out and road with us yesterday. His fitness is gaining pretty quickly. Way to be Chuck.

Tonight is the Meridian. I tried to run it last week with the cold, but could only hang for 15 minutes. My HR was only around 162, and I felt like I was totally pegged. Uggh! Tonight should tell me where I stand.

This weekend is the Omnium. I plan on doing the TT, but Shannon and I are heading to Buena Vista Sat night, to camp with the old climbing crew. If my kahones are big enough, I hope to run Browns in the Kayak with Damon, Mike, Chris, Wes, and others.

Next weekend will be the Winter Park Hill Climb. I don't expect to place very well here, as from my understanding the Sport class is sand bagger central. Oh well. Should be fun. Rumor has it I can run it with the road slicks.

Cheers for now!
-Ocky

2005-05-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

35 minutes in, and I'm still with the pack. Kind Of!-Photo Courtesy of Chuck Bolden

Meridian Progress

2005-05-04T09:03:00.000-07:00

Hey all. I did Meridian again last night. Went up with Keith, and met up w/Nathan at the start. As far as crit/circuit racing is considered, I consider the Meridian practices to be the best group training I can get. I continue to see improvements in my pack riding. This time I went with the goal of staying in the pack for as long as I could before doing my routine of 3 laps in/rest, 2 laps in/rest. Last night, I managed a new personal best. I stayed in for a full 5.5 laps before I popped on the back side. I worked my way around to the front, joined back in for the downhill, and stayed in for another 1.5 laps. I imagine I could have stayed in, but I sat up for 2 reasons. 1st-I was relatively close to the rivet, 2nd-The hail came and about half the pack sat up. In which case, I rationalized and justified.

There is something about the tactics on the backside, that I just haven't dialed in yet. If I can manuever on the downhill, to come out on the left side before the short climb, I'm usually fine. It seems that everytime I position myself to the right, I get majorly worked, and eventually get spit out.

All in all, I was very stoked about my effort. All be it the first lap is always "relatively" slow, I did manage to stay in for a full 5.5 before getting spit out. The peleton was a litle more skiddish this time around, but I continue to feel more comfortable with picking my spots. Provided, I used the weather as an excuse to sit up, but I wasn't the only one. Looks like the Pro, 1, 2 and others layed down the wood for the remaining laps. Awesome to ride in, and awesome to watch when I'm worked.

Stats: 20 minute warm up before the start:
30.38 total race pace time---I turned the computer off when I got spit out, and turned it back on when I rejoined the group.
12.43 miles
40.8 mph max
24.3 mph avg

Good stuff. 2 days of recovery, and then off to Nathrop on Friday for the XC race.
Ciao!

Updates

2005-05-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Hey all. Not much to report. With the weather being what it is, it has been hard to get out. I did a pretty decent city ride w/Keith on Tuesday, and a shop ride on Saturday. Weather on Sat was unreal. I left my house and it was sunny in the 50's. By the time I got to the shop, the clouds had rolled in and the temps dropped. We did the usual Garrison to Morrison. The original plan was to take Red Rocks, but the front moved in fast. We opted for Rooney Road back to the shop. I felt strong. Chuck B joined us for his first group road ride. Way to hang in there man. A couple more of those, and Chuck B will be in the hunt in no time.

Don't have a lot of stats from Sat. Something like 27 miles in under 2 hrs. Not too bad considering how miserable it was on the way back.

Plans for this week:
Maybe get a ride in tonight, race meridian tomorrow, day off and leave for Nathrop MTB XC race.

Kudos for Paul for a new PR at the hill climb. Hard to beleive that 24 minutes was only good for 50 something place. It's amazing to see how stout even the sm4 times were.

Catch ya later!

2005-04-26T09:23:00.000-07:00

Too cool to have worked hard while racing. But to be refreshed enough to cruisearound Arches, and spent a great weekend with my wife and friends!

2005-04-26T09:21:00.001-07:00

The beauty of this place is amazing!

2005-04-26T09:21:00.000-07:00

The Start of The HC. The guy behind me had already caught my after the creek crossing!

Moab Race Report

2005-04-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

The first MTB race/Sport Debut of the year is officially in the book. As some of you know, I've been sharing my time this season as a roadie and the Mountian. The weather has been rather wet so far, in which case I haven't had too many days on the mountian. for that matter, I had only ridden my Superlight 3 times in as many months before this race.

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND PRERIDE
In any case, Chuck and I leave Denver around 10 and get to the XC course by 4. Thanks to Chuck's impulse buy of a new Specialized Allez (roadie) on the way to Moab. YOU ARE NOW SUCCUMBING TO THE DARKSIDE As a beginner last year, I would not have dreamed of riding an entire course the day before the race. I find myself this year with much more strength, so we head out. One of the first things I notice is this ever present deep "ocean" sand that seems to be strewn about. In point of fact, there's a nice deep 15 yd section of it as we aproach the start. Can't say we hav a lot of that around here. We head out on the TT course for a little recon, and a little play. Less than .5 in, and I crash on a right hand turn which just happens to be full of the sand. Funny how 20+mph can be very quickly negated by sand. The bike stops, I keep going, fourtunatelly the deep sand makes for a soft landing. Get back up, take a ribbing from Chuck and do more recon... except now my saddle is wobbling (this will be important in the race) I had to borrow a seatpost right before I left because my older CT2 finally broke. In any case, tighten it back up and keep on goin. After about 4 miles or so, the course takes a quick left off of the ATV road and leads to the singletrack. This singletrack would be the intro to the technical section. Basically from here out, we would climb moderately technical slickrock with the occassional 1 to 3 foot rock step ups. Being that I haven't had much time on the Mountain, my technical skills are very lacking. This would be made very evident during the race. As a roadie, I have developed a pretty rounded out spin. Unfortunatelly I have not figured how to spin on the uneven/undulating slick rock. Thank goodness I went out with Tom(rapwithtom) on White Ranch the week before the race. Otherwise, I would have had no technical riding prep. After the eventual climb out, at about 10 miles there was the summit,and the fast descent through single track, which then opened up to an all out .5 mile sprint on fire road to the finish. Cool course. With an occassional race pace, and play around the slick rock, it took us about 1hr10 minutes to ride.

That evening, we meet up with Tom at the Moab Brewery for dinner. Poor service, lousy food. Oh well. After that we check into the hotel. Nice that we get stuck with a smoking room, despite the fact that we reserved a room 3 weeks ago. The town is packed, and their were no vacancies anywhere.

RACE DAY:The benefit to riding SPORT---No more 8am race starts. We get to the parking area around 9. from there it was about .5 miles to the finish area to check start times. I go off at 10:35. Cool! Ride around for my warmup, and then do the final .5 to the Start area. At least that deep sand stuff will get me a good interval push before my race. 3.2.1.GO I leave the block feelin pretty good. Fly right through the section where I crashed during the preride. Averaging around 19-20mph on the ATV road except for every time I hit the soft sand. Evidentally, I still didn't have the right tire pressure to float through. Unfortunatelly I got caught by the guy that started 30 seconds after me. Oh well. Still feeling really good as I move into the singletrack leading to the technical slick rock. As I approach the first step up(less than a foot) I lift the wheel and BAM! Guess I lifted too early. The front tire, hits the front of the step, but end comes up, and I elbow plant both elbows into the slick rock as hard as I can. NICE! From there, I made it a point to time my lift correctly. I cleared almost all of the other step ups except for 2 which I opted to run over. In any case, I gain some time back on a few people, and work my way to the 30 Second Bonus Climb. Right before, there is a descent, when I notice that my saddle is kinda wobbling while sitting. for that matter, it's making a lot of noise while standing... Not good. I approach the bonus climb and dab out, so no bonus. Run to the top, sit on the saddle... and get real personal with my seat post. With about 4 miles to go, I had no saddle to sit on, as it was hanging sideways. Oh well, finish to the top, and begin the downhill. Do my best to endure my new personal affection for my seatpost, and sprint the best that I can on the fireroad to the finish. Cross the line, with a grin either way. Not because I had a stellar race, but because it was fun in general. With having had a broken saddle I finsihed 15 out of 24 with a time of 1:04.02.0. The guy that finsihed in 14 finished in 1:04.01.8. I figure I may have lost about 3 minutes or so without my saddle. Even at that, it would have only gained me 2 more spots.

After the race, Chuck, My wife and myself went for a Road ride in Arches park. Again, not something I would have dreamed of last year. Easy spin to flush out the acid, and the asthetics were phenominal.

On Sunday, I also attempted the Hill Climb. Cool run up Amasaback. The start was downhill, over a 2 foot drop, tight right turn, to another right, with a calf high creek crossing, and then up slick rock for 2 miles. Basically it would be a series of short steep slcik rock sections, over relatively flat/bumy slick rock, to antoher anaerobic climb. On Friday and Saturday, I would be able to acclerate on the flat sections. On this day... No dice. I'd attempt to gain a gear, and my legs would just kinda laugh. Oh well. Not a good day at all as far as racing, but the course was cool. Results---less than respectable 13 of 14 with a very meager time of 22.22. The winning time was 17.03.

All in all, a great weekend. I still can't answer as to whether I like Road Racing vs XC Racing. Both are a great time. Ones a nice ripe orange, and the other a juicy apple. AS for why the borrowed seat post came lose. No clue. Must have been a conspiracy. I was pleased with my debut in Sport. Provided I would have been happier with a top ten, but considering my mechanical issue and my lack of technical skill I am content. As for my HC performance...ahhhhsuckchoo!

Great time, cool courses, great people. Tom's time on both days were better than mine. Good job buddy. Much Kudos to ChuckB for going' out and racin' He's been super busy with work, havin a cold, and other stuff. Also, Much Kudos to Shelby(Twin Peaks Tria Athlete) who took the time from her Vacation to stop in and say Hi before the start time. I can't express how cool that was to have a teammate take their time!

I don't think that any of the other course are as hard as the one's in Moab, so there is a little(very little) hope for me. Looks like Rocky Mtn Hammer Gel(formerly Herman Miller) has got a super strong team in 30-34 sport with 3 guys in top 10, and another that surely would have been in top 10 without his mechanical. Winning time, would have been good enough for a Top 5 in Expert. Looks like Sport 30-34 is gonna be tough! But if it were easy, than what's the point! My short term goal is to hit a top ten this season, pay my dues, and see what happens. Catch ya out there. For this weekend it's a Road Crit at the Swanky's Classic. Next weekend, I'll be taking my floggings in Nathrop!

Training Log 18 April 2005 and Updates

2005-04-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

What's happenin'? On Saturday, the team decided to do some ride out near Boulder. I decided that it wasn't worth it to me to have to get up Uber early, so I hopped on the Mountain instead. I was hopin Green Mountian was dry, so I went from the Conoco in Morrison, up Rooney Rd, to the fire road on Green. I did the fire road in about 18.3. Not too shabby. That's 2.54 faster than when I was doing it last year. Guess the Roadie is making a difference. All be it, it is bad to justify ego, but I did enjoy being able to catch and pass 2 other guys who were working the same climb. I had hoped to link up with Hayden Trail to the Alameda side, and then run another lap. Unfortunatelly as soon as I got about .2 into Hayden, it was basically a Stream running all the way down. I turned back out, and went down the fire road, and then ran another lap up the hill. Decent day for my 3rd trip on the Mountain. I went home, and took Shannon out for her first time on a Road Bike. All be it she's a bit squirrly, she did great. I used it as a recovery spin. Not sure about stats. Something like 43 minutes, from Aspen Grove to Oxford and back.(South Platte Trail)

Yesterday I pulled the double of Mountain then Road.
Rode White Ranch with my buddy Tom from Acme Racing.
Details: up Belcher Trail to the Lot, Down Longhorn. 1:32 minutes
Tom has also moved up to Sport this year, so it was good to measure myself against somebody. I've got some work to do to increase my technical skills, but for the most part of felt pretty strong. I Imagine my first couple of runs in Sport will be interesting. I hope to finish middle of the pack for most of the season, and hopefully hit a few top tens by the end of the season. We will see.

After the Mountain, I joined up with the team for the Recovery/No Drop ride. This ride is for shop customers, as well as an easy recovery spin for the team. Nothing eventful, 1:27 mintes, 20.6 miles. AvgHR 141. Must have been helpful because my legs feel pretty good right now.

Tonight is the Meridian "Practice" Crit. Wed, and Thurs will be off to recover. Friday, Chuck and I are leaving for Moab. I hope to get a practice run of the TT course when we get there. Then relax and go off around 10 am on Saturday, and whenever my time is for the hill climb in Sunday.

Catch ya later.

P-thanks for the encouragement. The guys on the team have used George. Evidentally Pete (Bikestation owner) knows him pretty well. When and if I find out about the potential career change, is when I will/won't have Pete set an appointment up with George. Kind of hard to explain on the blog. In any case, any local races coming up on your schedule?

Training Log 12, 13 April 2005

2005-04-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday I decided to ride up Lookout from my office. Decent ride, 45 minutes all tolled. I had actually hoped to set a new personal best, but actually did it slower in 29.41, Oops. I even had a warm up, and still went slower. Oh well. Still had a good ride, and I enjoy the position and feel of the new Bontrager Race Lite Handlebars. Funny thing, as I got to the parking lot in the middle, I saw 3 guys chattin away. As I got closer, I realized it was Timmy Duggan and 2 other guys from Tiaa Cref. Timmy, went down, and I was behind the 2 guys in 5280 gear. One guys basically rode a manual from the lot to almost the tight switchback. Just as I get behind their whell, they kinda look at each other. The one guy says "...sprint to the finish..." Then they were off. No more than one shift in the rear, and I never saw them again. Of course not. That's why those guys ride for 5280.

Yesterday was a casual ride around Chatfield with Nathan, and Jody. Nathan kept me honest, and kept me from over pushing the pace. I needed that. It's good to give my body casual spins, as opposed to doing all out Interval, Sprint, Hill Climb, etc... suffer fests. It was a very mellow pace. We worked on basic peleton skills. I don't have my comp, but it was something lie 1:06 for 18.9 miles. Avg hr was 145.

Looks like tonight I amgoing to try the Meridian "Rogue" crit race at 6. Hope to get on the dirt to get ready for the TTin Moab next week.

Cheers

More Pics

2005-04-11T15:21:00.001-07:00

Check out the team site. Looks like David put up a ton of pics from the Coors Crit, and Moab training camp.
www.twinpeaksracing.com

2005-04-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

I've Popped Hard. But still finished. from Coors Tech Crit

2005-04-11T15:20:00.000-07:00

Couple more laps...Keep on suckin in!

2005-04-11T15:19:00.000-07:00

Stalkin him. From Coors Crit.

What's happenin now!

2005-04-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

Well,
My XC Race in Nathrop was cancelled, and so was the AST Road Crit. From the sounds of it, the MX race did go on Saturday. Lucky them.

I had a feeling that Sunday was going to be a no go, so I went went hard on Saturday with the team. Around 40 miles. Not sure because I turned the computer off when we were running practice laps on the AST Crit Course. All I can say is , "man that was course was gonna be brutle." There was a nasty hill (longer than Coors Tech) that I'm sure would have popped me and a lot of others.

After running a bunch of laps on that course we decided to do Lookout up the back. another first for me. I can tell my fitness is getting a lot better. Of course I eventually popped, but much later than the first time I rode up 40 with the team. All in all, it was pretty encouraging as I stayed in until right after the Park and Ride. Even at that, I think I gave up more mentally than physically. Met up with everyone and worked our way to the frontside. From there it was an all out speed fest. I'll tell you what... Paul, Christian, and David can throw down when it comes to speed! The rest of the crew broke off and went back to Ulysses Park to get to their cars. Paul and I headed back up 13th to the shop. I pulled behind the Big German's wheel. We were movin, but then again, he is easy to hind behind.

Snow is melting fast, and I hope to get back on the road by Wednesday.

2005-04-11T10:02:00.001-07:00

April 11 in Colorado

2005-04-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

It got a little deep.

2005-04-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

Sierra Lovin Snow. Even if it is April!

2005-04-08T08:54:00.000-07:00

Lookin forward to the pain. Not sure about the podiums, but the pain should be good!

Ride Log 07 April 2005

2005-04-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

Where: White Ranch
Who: Keith and his work crew

Stats: Around 2 hours
Distance: No Clue
Speeds: sometimes fast, sometimes crawlin
How was Keith:...That man is an animal.

First a little about Keith:
I met Keith and his lovely wife at the winter Spin Classes at The Bike Station (www.thebikestation.com)
In any case, I knew he was strong, but never can tell how strong on a trainer. Last week up Lookout he put up a 24 minute time. Sign #1. When he picked me up last night, I ask "ru ready to give me a whoopin'?" At which time, of course he laughed it off. I knew this would be interesting. I have never really done White Ranch before. The only thing I've been told is, it's fun, really technical, and has a good climb. True on all 3 counts. As far as Keith being an animal, here's why: He cleaned some technical rock walls with style. 2 of which I was sure were not capable. He did them with class. On the way down, he pulled a sweet pass, as I almost miss a turn. 2 rollers later, I'm behind as he pulls a sweet 2 ft air and kicks out the rear for a little style. Nice! We get down to the cars, and he wants to go again. OK. 1:30 in, I can do a little more. By then, I was out of water, and no fuel. Keith is off and I had nothing to answer. Riding with him and his buddies is both awe inspiring and humbling. Being humbled is great because it will keep me grounded in my training. Awe inspiring is also great, because it gives me a goal to want my technical skills, and my overall riding to match theirs. I'd say "surpass," but I doubt it. I don't know if Keith realizes how strong he is right now, and this is only early April. I would be willing to bet that Keith would finish a strong top 10 in a Sport Race.

As for my riding... Not too bad. Yesterday was only the 2nd time on the Mountain in a long time. 1st time on anything technical, with a long sustained hill climb. Perfect preparation for this weekend, because the course is nowhere near as technical, and will probally only be an hour of max effort, with only about 45 minutes of sustained climbing. Perfect way to get back in the game. good news is, the back felt fine. Also, I was able to step on the gas for most of the entire 1st climb. Better yet, almost all of the climb was in the middle ring. Of course, that was because I couldn't get it too shift into the small ring , but what else is new. Then again, being stuck in the middle was surprisingly easier. No way I could have climbed in the middle at this time last year. The new rear derailuer worked great. I just need to readjust the front tolerance to match the rear.

I did a pretty good job at keeping pace with Keith and his buddy. And to think, those guys say they only finish middle pack in sport. Unfortunatelly I was only able to keep pace, as those guys cleaned many of the technical sections that I would have to dab out, and then lose valuable time.
I do enjoy the Mountain Bike, and riding with those guys will continue to make me stronger.

I somehow doubt I will see the podium as many times as last year, or even at all. But, I am super stoked to be riding with the guys from Twin Peaks, and guys like Keith and his crew. Podium spots or not, I feel stronger, and I appreciate the humility.

As for this weekend. The season is young. I'm not going expecting much. More or less, I want to see how I stack up, and what I need to continue to work on before my A Race at NORBA Snowmass. Still not sure if the race is going to happen in light of the weather, but we will see.

Cheers for now!
By the way, we saw a very strange Black Fox with a white tip tail. This guy was pretty brave, as he stayed on the trail and had no problem being close to us.

06 April 2005 Ride Report

2005-04-06T19:02:00.000-07:00

Nothin Special, just a quick ride up Lookout. After several members of the team did a great job on the ITT up Lookout, I felt like going for a short climb.

Time 19.05 to the intermediate lot
29.13 to the top.
11.11 back to the car. I was a weebit sketched on the way down because I had forgotten my helmet. I know, I shouldn't have gone at all.

At times I was maxin it, at times I was settling in. Getting in the 28 minute mark would not be a problem. I would like to be in the 26 minute range by Pillar to Post. All in all, considering no warm up, just starting from the post, I felt ok. I have to wonder though, could I even come close to some of the fast times the guys on the team had.

White Ranch or Chimney tomorrow after work.

Short Race Report from Oredigger Classic

2005-04-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

I raced the Oredigger Classis Crit held at the Coors Tech Center on the 2nd. Had fun, learned a little bit more, and lloking forward to the next one.

Short Course Description:
The crit course was 1.6mi. From the start/finish line you went down hill, made a sweeping right and then onto a wide straight away. Speeds on this section were regularly 25-32 mph. The straight away came down into corner #2, a semi-tight turn of about 70 degrees. Then another straight filtering down to a tight 90 degree turn. Which usually resulted in a short sprint on the flat before "The Hill" back to start/finish.

Stats:

25.52 miles in 1:03.47-15 or 16 laps
Avg Speed 23-25 mph
Avg HR= 168
Max HR=187

Overall, this race was a slight improvement. I felt much more comfortable in the peleton, and was able to move about and establish my lines with much more confidence. First lap felt great, even after "The Hill" back to start/finish. Before the race, Paul and I had taken a few warmups to discuss strategy. The decision was made to stay to the left of the peleton to shield against the wind. Did that, and I was feeling great. I would even coasted up 5-10 spots with very little work during a lap.

My mistake came on the last right turn before the flat to the hill. I typically pride myself in being able to handle the bike. In which case, I try not to hit the breaks. As we dive into the turn I am following a wheel pretty well. In any case, he must have gotten sketched by the speed and tapped his breaks. In which case my wheel was now overlapping, as I was holding a tighter/faster line. I tapped the breaks, which then caused me to have to sprint back to near the front before the hill. I used way too much energy and basically popped right after crossing start/finish past the hill. I still stayed in, but never really made it back into the main field.

About 15 minutes to go, I was off the back, and now workin with a couple guys here in there to catch a few others off the back. A few laps later, I was lapped, but determined to finish. Lesson learned, I need to work on sustaining longer max intervals to stay with the pack. As I have learned Crits are a lot about Cruisin on a flat, slowin before a turn, and hammerin comeing out of the turn. All be it, it's a lot easier to carry the speed through the turn, it just doesn't seem to go down that way.

Had a great time, and felt a little more comfortable. Few more years and I should be able to hang... yeah right!

I didn't race the TT up Lookout, but Shannon and I did go to cheer. Sounds like Dave put up a new personal best. Bradley looked super calm, relaxed, and fast. Official results aren't in, but I think he may have done sub or right around 23 minutes. WOW!

Catch ya later. Gotta do a dive thing tonight, and have a very important "test" to take tomorrow morning.

Cheers for now!