2009 November 22, CCCX #5, Manzanita Park
CTL: 117
TSB: 11
The knee I hurt a few years ago while running started bothering me right away after I ran down the hill at yesterday's cross race, it turns out I am in a lot of luck because today's cross race course is one hundred percent rideable by mortals such as myself, there's one short steep, rooted hill that is doable if one has momentum so I will not have to subject myself to much running today. A bit of elevation change for a cross race but it's a long gentle slope up and down, up and down so laps will be long.

Decent size field for CCCX, I still get in back because the hill will sort things out. I see Surf City winner Josh and Justin ahead of me and work up to their wheels, which turns out to be seventh. Kind of surprise myself and am able to hang on to Justin's wheel, Josh leaves us behind on the grass section before the hill. The second time up the hill I have to bridge up to Justin and almost blow and spend a little too long on his wheel, should have tried passing earlier, but waited until he got a feed on the downhill and slowed a bit and passed just to avoid braking on the downhill, then I took one of the downhill hairpins too fast and crashed, and got back up and chased back on.

Was getting close enough to think about passing him back on the last lap when I crashed again at almost the same spot, doh. Left myself less than half a lap to catch back up so just tried to lay it all out there and caught one rider who passed me when I crashed and falling a bike length short of passing Justin at the line.

I must be much weaker at running/remounting/dismounting than everyone else, cause this and the first Surf City race with only one dismount are the only races I've been really competitive at this year. Need to work on those weaknesses more or just do the races with the minimum amount of running...

cccx5c from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

Decent normalized power for once in a cross race, still about 20% short of what I can do on an equivalent length climb.

T: 32:50
C: 86
S: 21.8
H: 183
Pavg: 198
Pnorm: 242

Labels: Cyclocross

- posted by Steven Woo @ 6:04 PM 0 comments

 
2009 November 21 - Cow Palace Cross
TSS: 5.4
CTL: 117
Finally come into a race a little rested, mostly because yesterday it was windy and the roads were wet.

Interesting course, finally get to ride in some local mud this season, little BMX style bumps seemed unnecessary outdoors. First lap there was a big traffic jam at the top of the descent so I just ran it but my knee was complaining about the one little stint of downhill running for the rest of the weekend.

Never really felt like I was racing after spending so much time on the first lap waiting for traffic to clear up on the descent, had trouble going hard for an extended period except while running up the stairs and riding the finish hill.

On subsequent laps I had a bit of trouble with the descent because I had gotten used to mounting and not clipping in and one really wanted to be clipped in with both feet on the descent, but at least managed to not crash. Went with 25 PSI in the rear which was great for traction, just felt like I flatted every lap, will go higher tomorrow.



Cleaned up a bit around the house and found ye old heart rate strap for the PowerTap so heart rate data for this race. Let's one measure something of what one is doing off the bike. Managed to go harder today than last race, though it didn't feel that hard, mostly due to the normalized power algorithm weighting 30+ second efforts so a few of those will pump up the normalized power.

T: 40:44
C: 81
H: 181
S: 15.8
Pavg: 139
Pnorm: 190

Labels: Cyclocross

- posted by Steven Woo @ 9:16 PM 0 comments

 
2009 November 14 Pilarcitos BASPS Cyclocross Sierra Point, 35+B
TSB:-7
CTL:117
Took a couple easy days prior to this race but still kind of negative on TSB from a long Wednesday ride. May try to shift into just moderate length days every day instead of a couple of super long days per week.

Short course on one large suburban block on the waterfront in Brisbane. A little bit of elevation gain thanks to creative of a few domes of earth about seven or eight feet high.

Did the 35+ B's this time because not really having fun in the back with a field size of 140 last race in the C's. Smaller field on a tight course, just made it easier for me to move backwards! Today I felt like I went out hard for half a lap and faded for the next 6.5 laps. Left a lot of room for improvement in a couple of corners, sometimes got too content to follow wheels instead of passing, also, noticed a lot of people accelerate much faster than me on the remount, stuff to work on for the next race.

The camera mount on the helmet has a little too much play, probably need to use the adhesive backing to keep it in one place - the motion makes this video carsickness inducing -


On the plus side, went a little harder than I did at the last cross race.
T: 38:01
S: 20.0
C: 86
Pavg: 160
Pnorm: 180

Labels: Cyclocross

- posted by Steven Woo @ 7:02 PM 0 comments

 
2009 November 1, Surf City #3, Watsonville C
CTL: 110
TSB: 7
guestimated numbers due to no data yesterday

I was so sore and stiff from Saturday's crash I would not have raced on Sunday had I not already preregistered. On the other hand some days you feel like crud but have an amazing day on the bike so who knows what's going to happen.

The course was changed up on Sunday, a little more running and technical with the short hill having a shorter, downhill off camber entry today and the short, steep ride/run up leading into it. Didn't feel better after a couple of laps scouting the course but it looked like fun and I was already here.

No call up today but managed to get in pretty much the same position on the start line. Justin from Godspeed crashed really hard on the little hill and was sprawled across the bottom - kind of disconcerting to say the least. Briefly considered stopping to check him out but then he moved his legs and said something so I kept going. Lost contact with the lead riders at that point, but would have happened anyways without the accident.

I did remember the video camera and it worked for the first half of the race:

First half of 2009 Surf City #3 Watsonville Cyclocross C race November 1 from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

The second half of the race I faded back, just unable to keep up the pace.

Thought I went hard the whole time, but it just felt really hard to me, or maybe the unmeasured part that was running was a lot harder on me than the cycling part, because I can do the Pnorm below for all day, not just 40 minutes.

Pavg:156
Pnorm:175
T:39:02
C:90
S:19.8kph

Labels: Cyclocross

- posted by Steven Woo @ 7:18 AM 2 comments

 
2009 October 31, Surf City #2, Watsonville, C Race
TSB: 6
CTL: 112

Every once in a while waiting at the starting line of a race, one can hear the pfssst sound of a deflating inner tube. Today it was my turn with Mike our race starter telling us we had one minute to go. Resigned myself to trying to convince the registration folks to let me change my race category to B when Mike Valencia and Steve DeLong both offered me a wheel. Since Matthew might need his rear spare during the race, I accepted Steve's wheel. We got the wheel changed in less than a minute and the C field graciously let me back into the start grid where I was on the second row. The winner of the Soquel race, Steve, and someone else took off through the finish area when I remembered I had a bike set up for nine speed with a ten speed rear wheel. I could only get it to stay in the 12, the middle one - 18?, and the 25. What seemed to work best for me with a flattish course with one set of barriers and some wide open straightaways was the 44/12. Managed to stay close to the front set of riders until I took a right hander on the hardpack through the horse stalls a little too fast and hit the ground really hard.

Most of the damage was to me and I was able to hop back on the bike and try to catch back up. It was sort of like racing on a single speed, but I would have chosen a smaller gear for a single speed race! Could not keep up the accelerations after a lap and managed a mid pack finish. Post race my legs were extremely sore from the big gear grinding and the crash.

A fun race in spite of the equipment trouble and crash.

No data since I wasn't using a Powertap rear, and no video because I didn't carry the camera, forgot to charge the batteries.

Labels: Cyclocross

- posted by Steven Woo @ 10:26 PM 0 comments

 
2009 October 25, Pilarcitos #2, Coyote Point, Category C
CTL: 116
TSB: -6
Sand will have to do until we get some mud or snow, making an angel

Racing with 135 other crossers really doesn't feel like racing. The main opportunities for passing came in the first minute and a half of uphill, and the rest of the course was very twisty and slightly rolling so not much separation happening, I think I only saw maybe twenty other riders the whole race, first when I passed them in the first 90 seconds and then when they all passed me back over the course of the rest of the race. I suppose I could race more aggressively and fight for position, but for me that would be kind of an overly serious tactic for a category C race when not a whole lot is at stake. Still could improve on the pacing on the flatter sections.

Touched the camera on the next to last lap to make sure it was pointed in the right direction and managed to turn it off...maybe the first ten minutes is interesting to see what one lap looked like.

2009 Pilarcitos Cyclocross #2 Coyote Point, BASPS October 25 C race from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

T: 41:40
S: 15.1
C: 83
D: 10.5 km
Pavg: 157
Pnorm: 199

Labels: Cyclocross

- posted by Steven Woo @ 8:41 PM 0 comments

 
2009 October 11, Surf City #1, Soquel High School
CTL: 115
TSB: -3
This week cut my Saturday pre-race ride down to fifty easy miles so let's see if it has any effect on the race.

I don't know why but today's race has a much smaller turnout of 30 versus the 100 plus at the Pilarcitos 2009 debut. It's a shame because the Soquel High School course could handle a much larger field with longer wide stretches and more passing opportunities.

Slot in on the second row of four instead of fifth row of ten. This makes a huge difference because one can actually go as hard as one wants to go instead of having to wait for the opportunity to move up and then have three guys fighting for one foot of trail.

Make it halfway through the first lap with the first group of five riders, which is kind of surreal for me since I don't think that's ever happened. The juniors that started thirty seconds behind us start passing us within three minutes! The elastic between me and the front group snaps at the end of the lap as Lee passes me and I can't hang onto the top six. I am able to maintain this position for the rest of the race. Lee unfortunately flats and has to DNF and another rider in front of me blows with two to go and I move up to fourth and stay there, with Dwayne starting to close the gap from just behind on the last set of hairpin turns but running out of course to catch me so I get fourth. I think that's the highest placing I've ever gotten in a cross race with more than four people.

T: 35:42
D: 11.2 km
S: 18.9
C: 75
Pavg: 178
Pnorm: 210

Labels: Cyclocross

- posted by Steven Woo @ 7:09 PM 2 comments

 
2009 October 4 Pilarcitos CX #1, McLaren Park
CTL: 115
TSB: -9
This time I bring a video camera, but brought the wrong memory card, no matter because finishing mid pack is probably not that interesting to watch.
Brought only the mountain bike this year after racing it last year on the cross bike and fully realizing the limits of my bike handling skills or lack thereof...
My preparation is similiar to a Morgan, Lee, and a few others, we all did Levi's Gran Fondo less than 24 hours earlier. Surprisingly this has no effect on my result - last year I ended up sprinting against Brian Brooks for our placing and we repeat it this year, with him reversing the order of last year, finishing a place ahead of me this time with me in 55th / 107.


T: 47:18
S: 17.0
D: 13.4 km
C: 78
Pavg: 158
Pnorm: 203

Labels: Cyclocross

- posted by Steven Woo @ 7:08 PM 0 comments

 
2009 September 27, CCCX #2, Fort Ord Day Camp
CTL: 113
TSB: 17

Have a good 90 seconds of racing when I am close to the lead racers at the start of the race



then the camera starts pointing down and my fortunes go with it as I crash and take a divot out of my leg. Am able to finish the race mid pack but have trouble walking for a week.


On the plus side I mostly survived my first 2009-2010 cross race, still need to work on pacing...

T: 39:13
D: 13.1 km
S: 20.2
C: 78
Pavg: 162
Pnorm: 197

Labels: Cyclocross

- posted by Steven Woo @ 7:07 PM 0 comments

 
2009 September 20, Chico Downtown Criterium
CTL: 114
TSB: 19

If I'm going to drive 200 miles, I'm going to stay an extra day to try a race I've never done before... It's a flat L, the course is different from prior years due to construction with a very short final straight so position in the last corner is pretty much everything. The main difficulty today is the heat, it's pretty oppressive after ten AM. Next time I need to bring an ice chest to sit in...

Was originally going to do the 4/5 and the 35+ 4/5 race, but my teammate Mark emailed me and asked if I was in Chico so I switched to the 3/4 and 35+ 3/4/5 races so I could race with someone, always more fun with someone you know.


Skipping the 4/5 race turns out to be a stroke of good fortune since half the field is crashed out and DNF's. This also delays the rest of the AM races and shortens our 3/4 race by fifteen minutes.

I am just going to try to help out where I can, Mark is already pretty good at positioning himself and sprinting so my primary help to him was probably over when I rented a hotel room!

The race is pretty hard from the gun and we drop quite a few folks, almost half the field. It's strung out for most of the race. There's a lull towards the end and I see Mark sitting around tenth instead of his usual fourth or fifth so I move up towards the front to up the pace a bit and he moves up to, it turns out the rest of the race will have no more lulls. In fact I am last in the pack at about 20th and we go so fast into the final turn I ease up because there's no point in sprinting and it's much faster than I would have considered going into it! But it's all worth it as Mark get's second, he said he entered the last turn in second and sort of boxed himself in against the rider in first and could not accelerate until it was too late.



T: 34:47
D: 24.8 km
S: 42.7
C: 92
Pavg: 202
Pnorm: 219



We have a long three or four hours until our second race. I probably spent too much time outside because I felt exhausted by the time we started. This race felt much harder than the first and Mark confirmed this but the data shows it as about the same or a little easier so the heat took a toll on both of us. Three riders escape mid race. I feel miserable and consider quitting but will soon find out what miserable is. Didn't realize the riders were off the front until it was too late.

We drop almost half the field in this race, too. Lap cards come out and I just hang on for dear life at the back of the pack. One disadvantage to being lower on the bike than most of the riders is that one's view is limited when a larger rider is directly in front of you. This lesson is served up when I have about one second of braking time when the rider in front of me swerves abruptly to avoid an accident and I brake hard but am unable to stop in time and hit Gino who has stopped for a rider who crashed in front of him. I guess that's what I get for making fun of people who run into the back of me at full speed...On the plus side this gives Gino a genuine reason to get a free lap since I can vouch for him. I am not too badly hurt, it does take four weeks for my elbow to fully heal, but I join Gino near the start finish for my free lap and we rejoin with six to go.

After a few laps we catch Todd Manley who was off the front in the break, leaving two others still off. I counter with three laps to go. At first I just accelerated to get to the front and up the pace but no one responded so instead of braking I just kept going, at least someone else would have to chase me and Mark would get a free ride. Unfortunately I only lasted two laps so the pack gobbled me up but Mark did great again in the finale and got third for his second podium on the day.




T: 40:45
D: 26.8 km
S: 39.4
C: 86
Pavg: 184
Pnorm: 209

Labels: Criterium

- posted by Steven Woo @ 6:49 PM 0 comments

 
2009 September 19, Henleyville Road Race, 35+ 4/5 A
CTL: 114
TSB: 26

Takes five hours to get to here if one leaves at 6PM on a Friday evening so next time leaving at either 4PM or 8PM to see if traffic is any better...

I am here to help others out so I just need to carry water bottles and offer my wheels up. Kind of fun to not have too much responsibility. The center line rule is somewhat strictly enforced, from what I remember, lots of people went over, but from the results only my teammates got relegated. Since the course is not very challenging and only three to four riders fit across a lane the pace is glacially slow even with sixty plus riders. At one point someone flats and I think it's our sprinter so I turn around and go back to help out but it's not so I have to turn back around make up a minute gap or so, and the pack is going so slow I am able to close it easily.

Based on what has happened in the first two laps, I think one will have to go to the front as early as possible since we only get to use the full width of the road with one kilometer to go. I start moving up when I heard someone say one kilometer to go. It turns out they were lying, so we had a lot farther to go but I end up at the front. Since I am not here for my own placing I bide my time near the front. When I can see we have about one kilometer to go I get a bit worried because none of my teammates are near me and I really don't want to lead anyone else out, so I start fading backwards to try and get close to a teammate. The field gets to about 500 meters to go and I am around 20th and still no teammates so I have to fall back on plan B and start getting position back and sprinting but only manage twelfth.

The race ended up being so easy I wished I had just lead the field out for the last lap to get a good work out...the normalized power for 2.5 hours ending up being lower than the typical flat criterium average power.

T: 2:30:20
D: 87.4 km
S: 34.8 km
Pavg: 129
Pnorm: 171

Labels: Road Race

- posted by Steven Woo @ 6:49 PM 0 comments