22 March 2008 Copperopolis

CTL 125
TSB 0.2
Came into the race fit for me but not that strong relative to the rest of the cat 4's and a little bit heavy from eating out all the time. I think I did this race once before and got dropped after the feed hill so my first goal was to make it through one whole lap with the pack. We got use of the whole road when there were no lane stripes excepting oncoming traffic of course. Felt comfortable sitting midpack for the main climb until we got to the last pitch and faltered a bit, dangling about fifty meters behind. There were about fifteen guys behind me and seventy guys in front by the time we started descending. Edged closer and closer and after about five minutes of chasing got to the group, on the second turn around the lake. Enjoyed a 45 mph descent in the comfort of a pack of seventy riders. The finish hill seemed really easy but the hard part is getting there with the pack. ot through one lap OK so mission accomplished. Started having trouble on the second lap midway up the climb. The steep little bits were starting to take it's toll and we were down to forty riders in the main group. I felt a little twinge in my calf to remind me of the cramping at Cantua so I backed off a little bit. This marked the end of my stay with the pack as they slowly rode away from me. The data shows that this lap was actually easier up to this point than the first lap so either fatigue or loss of concentration caused me to get dropped, maybe I should have ignored the cramping sensation? Anyways, rode the next lap and half with different groups of cat 4 riders, sometimes catching riders, sometimes passing riders and finishing pretty much where I was when I got dropped by the pack.

Did better than I expected but not as well as I would hope, and it was still a great day to be on the bike.

T:3:37
1:04 for first lap at threshold 1:08 for second lap below threshold, 1:24 for third lap!
pavg 171
pnorm 211
W: 2226 kJ
D: 90.4 km
S: 29.0kph
C: 82

2008 Feb 16, Cantua Creek Road Race

CTL: 115
TSB: 5
Pretty much same fitness as last year at this time but without the 2007 back injury so I can hold onto the bars with both hands and can use the drops so road racing here we come.

Our field happens to have the two strongest kids from the San Bruno Hill Climb and the Early Bird Road Race so this should be fun.

I had gotten way too used to riding in colder temps and the wet weather this January so ended up wearing as much clothes as I normally do which ended up being way too much for the temperature after two hours and ended up a little dehydrated by the end.

First lap was uneventful with a flat out and back course that had a some rollers on the way to the finish line until I dropped my chain and spent a minute putting it back on just before the start of the rollers. Had to do a little VO2max effort for five minutes to bridge back up, and then we went up the steepest hill and some of the riders still in the pack were having difficulty so I had to pass them, too.

Got a little overconfident on the second lap when the telltale tremors in the calves started coming on after about halfway. Thought it was over, and then we go to the forty five mile mark, and my right leg cramped up totally and I had to stop for a minute and massage it. Then I did another VO2max effort and caught the group again, at the start of the rollers. Then the other leg cramped! Not my day today. Massage the left leg and got in time trial mode and started picking off a lot of riders who apparently just packed it in after the second lap, and figured if I've driven this far for the race, I'm doing all 75+ miles of it. Ended up doing a time trial for about an hour that was actually harder average power wise than the time I was with the group, lost about a minute and a half by the last turn around.

Maybe next time I'll get the clothing and hydration right...




T: 3:26:32
W: 1911 Kj
TSS: 206.7
NP: 194
AP: 154
D: 114.4 km
C: 87
S: 33.2

2008 February 9, Mt Hamilton

Someone wanted to see something about this.

Up to the top of Mount Hamilton, down the backside, east to the cattleguard on the top of the last hill before the Junction Bar, and back. Snow, cows, telescopes.

Surprisingly this takes almost the exact same time and energy as riding to the coast and back via OLH and Tunitas.






Pavg: 143
Pnorm: 182
T: 5:22
S: 20.3 kph
D: 109.3 km
C: 76
Work: 2764 kJ

2007 season review

My primary goal was pretty simple - ride every day so it was pretty easy to meet this goal barring illness and I haven't been sick since the last week of 2006 as evidenced by the dip on the chart at the beginning.

The one complication was a neck injury from cross racing in January that made it painful to lookup from the drops so I had to ride on the tops for three months, also it hurt whenever I hit a bump in the road or even braking hard with the right hand. On the bright side I could still ride outside while waiting for the injury to get better.

Secondary goal was to upgrade on the road. Got enough top tens this that counted to upgrade but fell short by one point. Due to the vagaries of the schedule, some points expired and I start the 2008 season with sixteen points, four short of the upgrading goal, and fourteen short of the mandatory upgrade, aka Sandbagging to the limit.

911 hours on the bikes
11477 miles
44198 cumulative CTL
min CTL: 105
max CTL: 135

2008 Mt San Bruno Hill Climb

CTL: 110
TSB: -4

Fitness is about three weeks ahead of last year, since I was sick in December 2006 and haven't been sick this year so have been able to ride consistently leading up to January 2008. Didn't taper for this race as I really don't stand a chance against the real climbers and don't want to lose the fitness associated with tapering.

Field: 2nd Wave, cat 4
Teammates: none, Erin, Beth, Lucia, Danny, Phil, Luke, Jenson, Rich, Chris, Lisa, in other categories

Below freezing temps near my home but by the time I get to the race it feels pretty toasty with minimal clothing on the warmup to the second light on Guadelupe Parkway and super chilly on the descent. Most of the usual suspects for promoting and racing with a few new faces.

Not much to report except the higher categories went in the first wave with a minute or two headstart and the cat 4's with me in there led the second and last wave. The start was super hard, with me at *close* to my five minute max for the first five minutes and I was still at the back of the lead pack. Going out that hard was possibly a mistake but will have to try a different approach next year! Felt like I was going to blow but all the drafting possibilities still in front of me motivated me to keep on going. The muscle strain left over from cross meant I would have to spin, although in the excitement of the start, spent the first two minutes way overgeared before correcting. Stayed with the same few folks from the second light right until the steep part and started passing a few others. With the mixed fields it was hard to tell who was in what field except I knew I wasn't racing the kids or women... But only had a very small amount left in the tank by the top so paced the overall effort well for me, close to my 2007 max AP and NP for the time duration so fitness coming along nicely since probably not racing again on the road until March.




Place: 13th/~25
I was slightly delayed by my inability to get started and pass someone who could not clip in so my elapsed time here doesn't match the race time.
T: 19:34
S: 18.5 kph
C: 93
Pavg: 282
Pnorm: 296
H: 179

2007 December 23 Mt San Bruno Hill Climb pre-ride

Perfect weather for a December ride.

This is fairly close to the same effort required on OLH for a similar time. This is exactly the advice Keith Adams offered to me about the climb. Since I did OLH this year in 21:00 on somewhat tired legs, and will be able to draft on San Bruno come race day, hope to break 20:00, but we will see!

Stopped to take a couple of breaks for photos on the way up and during the ride, and slowed for the light.

D: 3.8 miles ( oops )
T: 24:41
C: 79
H: 172
S: 15.1
Pnorm: 246
Pavg: 227

2007 Dec 2, CCCX #5 Fort Ord, 35+ B

TSB: 7
CTL: 108

Teammates: Mike S in the 35+, Bob Scooby Doo in 45+

40 PSI in Michelin Mud 2 in front and 40 PSI in Michelin Jet in the rear.

This course used some of the same trails as the last Fort Ord race but in reverse with the barely rideable sand uphill turned into a downhill, and the long paved mostly uphill section with a few rollers turned into a long paved downhill section with a few rollers. It also was very dry compared to the last time which was my downfall.

Rode a warmup lap with Mike and thought he was going awfully slow through the corners and when I went a little faster had trouble holding a line but didn't think anything of it.

In my second warmup lap managed to aggravate the quad muscle strain I got from last weeks's cross race but it wasn't that bad so I lined up for the race.

We started at the bottom of the short steep paved hill and off went twenty something of us. I tried to hold back and let the main group get away and coasted and caught up to the tail at the end of the pavement descent and had to brake hard to avoid running into traffic. Was fine until the first corner when I took it a little too fast and washed out the front. This wasn't so bad but was in the big ring and this was tough to get going again. I repeated this on every other rough corner on the first lap so I was fast on the bike and really pokey walking the bike or trying to get started in the big ring. The downhill sand pit was not that bad, had to get some speed up, and take some weight off the front and keep pedaling. Just had trouble with those pesky corners... Let myself get a little flustered and just lost my concentration there and just could not get it back together again.


Need to try slightly lower pressure.

On the bright side went exploring and rode some new trails at Fort Ord, will probably bring the mountain bike next time and a lot more clothing.


T: 44:35
S: 21.9
C: 76
H: 170
PAvg: 157
PNorm: 200

2007 Nov 25 - Pilarcitos CX - Golden Gate - C men

CTL: 109
TSB: -3

Made it to stage three of the 2007 Thanksgiving hill climb/track/cyclocross omnium, firmly in first place - the only folks on the hill climb results who also ride the track did not show up on Friday at Hellyer AFAIK( Charles PW and Peter T) so I win, I think, even though both of them spanked me at the hill climb.

Since going easy the day before a cyclocross race didn't seem to help my results ( couldn't get much worse) just went out on Saturday and had a long and not so easy road ride with some off road excursions to get some active recovery from the 93 lap points race some fifteen hours prior. Also entered a lower category C race, since my laps times in previous higher category B race would have put me firmly in the middle of the C pack.

Met some of the competitors from the hill climb series in the C race, I think Michael G and I went back and forth for the last three or four so it would probably be close in this race even though it was the first for him and Joshua from AV.

The perks of being a C with an early start time are lots of time to get a parking space, and lots of pre riding time and the high pressure (ha) racing is over with early so you can goof off for the rest of the day and hang out with the wife and kids ( or Juan's wife and kids :) )

Anyways we go off and I slot into about 30th spot and pretty much stay there the whole day, passing a few riders and getting passed by a few riders here and there. Course is fast, requiring only the big ring. The hills are not very long or steep, but I do notice the one place I am passing is on the hills or straightaways and the one place I am getting passed is on the technical turns where I brake and others slide and skid their way past me. Need to get better at that! Curt and several others cheer for me so I have to keep trying, on the penultimate lap, a rider on a full sus mtb passes me on the finish straight and Curt instructs me to get on his wheel and I dig deep and follow Curt's directions. That wasn't so bad, and I assume I will be able to outsprint him on a straightaway or the finish straight. The MTB rider is pretty smart and just goes fast enough to make it hard for me to pass him on the straights and distances me a little on the turns so when we get to the last set of barriers I assume there will still be time for some sprint action but he is actually quite good and we stay even until he starts pedaling in the corner and pulls away from me to the finish straight. I think I can get him but I managed to drop my chain to the inner during my remount and am forced to spin up to him in the 34/12. Then the front derailleur engages and I am in the 44/12 and barely moving as the line comes up. Oh well, only 30th place was a stake, a good battle for one place.

One of my favorite courses this year, vying for honors with the super fast and super long Fort Ord CCCX race.

No heart rate data because apparently I am losing weight in the upper torso and putting on weight below the waist and the transmitter keeps slipping to my stomach.
T: 37:04
S: 22.3 kph
C: 81
Pavg: 180
Pnorm: 207

2007 Nov 23 - Race the World Cups Points Race - A

CTL: 109
TSB: -1
Was running late and thought I had pre packed my arm warmers and leg warmers but found out those were MIA when I got to the track and unpacked. Well this is just for fun and supporting our Proman compatriots so no biggie.

Only five riders signed up for the B's including myself so they asked us to pick between the A and the C race and I went with A's. Switched from the 48x15 gear to the 50x15 gear and hoped for the best. Donned the warm weather gear that I had which were the winter gloves, glove liners, and Sheila Moon beanie so it wasn't too bad.

I made a mistake which is a repeat of the last time I did an A points race so this was really stupid. Did not go super hard at the start. A small gap opened up in front of me and I spent ten laps going 28 mph and not closing it and finally had to give up and go a lap down. This took a long time to recover from so ended up losing seven! laps to the lead riders, but hung in there and finished so got a decent workout.

Haven't ridden the track bike in a long time so it was fun to be out there and race and it's nice just going all out and hearing the tires sing and the wind and banking push back against you hard. Plus, who can pass up an opportunity to drool on oneself in public?

T: 45:49
S: 40.6 kph
C: 97
D: 31 km
H: 173
Pavg: 244
Pnorm: 256

2007 November 22, Low Key Hill Climb, Mt Hamilton

CTL: 110
TSB: 10
Teammates: Jay, Lucia, Luke, Phil, Rich and Saturday ride regular Dan.

Local superannuated track star Leo and I smack talked a bit before the race and I told him my best time up from the bottom to the observatory was 2:12 and he told me he did 1:57 two years ago so now I had a target to match!

Really big turnout and not much to say other than I cracked on the first climb! Took about 29:00 on the first climb and was right at FTP for NP but got a little ahead of myself and started leading a little group of LGBRC riders to help get Lucia up the road from the other ladies. We did drop one of her competitors at this point, and put the other on the ropes. Then I overdid it a bit and lost it. This was probably the worst spot to do it because there is a descent and a long section (most of the second climb) where drafting would be of significant help that I rode a solo for a large percentage of the time.

Anyways, duked it out with Dan for the next two climbs, taking 15:00 minutes for the second climb at NP of 234 and then struggling in the last climb at 41:00 minutes for a NP of 229. Probably harder than any of the road races I have done this year, but then again, probably need to try harder during the road races.

On the plus side, set a PR by about forty five minutes, and never sprinted so hopefully will have a good kick tomorrow at the track.

Now for the turkey...

Pavg: 221
Pnorm: 233
T: 1:33:15
C: 80
S: 19.2
D: 29.9 km
H: 177

2007 Nov 19 - Peak Season CX #1

TSB: 7
CTL: 105

Teammates: none
Wanted to get a longer ride in after the race, and judging by the lap times of the last CCCX race (thanks Joe), I would be mid pack in the C's, so signed up for the first race of the day in the C's.

New course and venue, lots of narrow sections and a couple of tight corners on a three foot wide wooden walkway over a very fecund looking lake. One long run up with stairs with about thirty inches between steps and another equally long section that was rideable with my 34x26.

Used the Michelin Mud in the front and Jet in the rear with both at the lowest recommended pressure, 36 PSI. The grass was pretty slick from the morning dew and the fog still had not lifted when the race started.

The juniors started thirty seconds back of us and the starter Mike told us to play nice in case we were lapping or being lapped. :)

Since the field was only about twenty riders it was not too hard to stay with the fastest riders on the first lap until we hit the first technical section and the rider in front of me almost came to a stop at a hairpin and this is the last contact I had with the top four riders. It's amazing how that happens! I am just not aggressive enough...

Anyways once we have some separation, then I am in front of this next group I start having problems with the fog, can't see without my glasses and the glasses are too moist to see through so I have to slow on the long, fast sections out of self preservation and other riders make up ground on me quickly, or I am just fading after the first two laps, or a combination of the two. Finding myself close behind another rider I put my new found confidence in the low pressure of the tires in a slick corner and promptly wash out the front tire. I think I may have flatted here as well but since the tubes have sealant, the pressure goes down just a little due to lost air.

On the next to the last lap I can see one of the wee juniors giving a spirited chase in one of the loop back sections of the course so I can't give up yet! On the last lap we are separated by the same amount but now the fog has cleared up a bit more so I can use my huge weight advantage on the downhills to put a little distance on him by the finish. Mass before youth...

Ride a lap with the B racers and my low pressure front goes flat as soon as I hit a hard root on the first lap. Will have to go back to forty PSI for the next race.

I explore Watsonville for a few hours after the race, find mundane looking subdivision roads that become much more interesting and rural and rolling after a few twists and turns. I only see three other riders in three hours, one recommends Hazel Dell which I go up for ten minutes and save the rest for later. By chance I find Mt Madonna Road which I have only heard about beforehand, only have time to go to the top and back today but next time I am coming back straight here to fully enjoy all of it.

Results show only got tenth in the C's! Just nine more top tens to get an upgrade from 4 to 3.

I think this puts me first in the Low Key Hill Climb/Cyclocross omnium this week, though. Next week I am going for the Low Key Hill Climb/Track Points Race/Cyclocross omnium...



Pavg:173
Pnorm: 221
H: 177
C: 80
S: 19.9 kph
T: 33:28

2007 Nov 18 - Low Key Hill Climb, Sierra Road

Teammates: Dan, Rich, Jay, Luke, Eric, Rob? and Dan from the Saturday ride.

TSB: 11
CTL: 106

Based on the approximate 19 minute times for the pros, gave myself a target of 30 minutes using a 50% handicap per my best time on OLH versus the pros.

For a warmup, managed to park near where we do our informal Mount Hamilton rides and had to hustle to make the start on time.

There was a huge turnout for this hill climb, forebodes well for the Tour of California when they do this climb.

Managed to gain even more weight this week so left myself plenty of room for improvement next time I do Sierra.

Met up again with Francis from the dirt Alpine hill climb and RoadBikeReview.com and he claimed it took him an hour to do this last year on his MTB. Well we went back and forth taking turns passing each other. Dan also alternating passing and getting passed with me for quite a while. We talked about this afterwards and he thought I was surging a lot, I was mostly trying to keep my power output below VO2max power so I didn't blow so I slowed up a lot on the steepest sections and went much faster on the flatter sections where some others were recovering.

The hill lived up to the description - even though I had a 34-26 low gear, this was not enough for my abilities as I struggled to just keep moving on several sections. Since I have never done this, wasn't sure of the finish, but tried to pace myself for a thirty minute effort. As the minutes added up to twenty six, twenty seven, I thought for sure the summit would be at the next crest and I would be finishing in much less than thirty minutes but was met with another riser several times. Finally I could see people at the top of yet another rise. This was not that far away and there was a dip before the final bit so put it in the big ring and went all out and someone yelled out to me that there was more to go! The top was about twenty meters after this point where the road flattened out a bit so I had to restart and go a bit more to finish.



T: 29:21
S: 12.1 kph
C: 70! Pretty low average even though I consider myself a grinder and not a spinner.
H: 182
PAvg: 266
PNorm: 273

CCCX #4, Prunedale, November 11

Teammates: Mike S.
CTL: 105
TSB: 15

The fitness is willing but the spirit is still weak...

Switched over to thinner Michelin tires this week with a Mud 2 in the front at 40 psi and a Jet in the rear at 40 psi. The thinner, lower volume tires don't seem much different from the 42 mm Ritcheys in terms of handling and have the bonus feature of being one pound lighter. The rear slid out a bit when turning in the mud but I was going so slow it was not a problem. Never bottomed out either until I took the long sandy and sometimes rocky trail around the park.

Juan showed up so Mike and I had the usual crew for the BOP honors. The course was changed up a little bit from two months ago with the addition of a small run up, an additional few hundred meters of looping around some tape, and double barriers at the top of the course instead of the single.

Tried something different at the start and tried to keep up with the lead pack. The plan got discombobulated when we hit the small singletrack funnel at the top before the mud section and I had to stop for traffic to clear and the group dispersed. This still put me at the front of the BOP as one of the other old and slow guys behind me reminded me. On one of the next laps Juan put in a attack and pulled ahead of me and I had to dig deep to pull him back, and put in a response of my own on the hill. Probably a little too much as I spent a couple of laps recovering from this. Mike then passed me near the bottom of the course and I was able to pull him back on the hill, then he passed me back again near the bottom of the course and I could not respond this time.

Was able to close the gap a little by the finish but not enough in the tank, so this round goes to Mike with Juan a close third. Slightly longer race in terms of time than last time but pretty much the same numbers considering the slower course conditions. The longer laps also meant I was *not* lapped this time so that's an improvement!

Joe Fabris keeps passing me from the 45+ wave in a downhill section, need to learn to keep pushing all the time instead of just on the uphills, and the hardest thing for me to do - push hard into the corners instead of coasting, just so used to conserving energy in road races...

On the mechanical front - new Eggbeaters fixed the pulling out when pulling up hard problem. But got a new problem with bad shifting, probably just overdue with adjustments. Went to the big ring only on the last lap, and it felt OK, maybe should have used the big ring the whole race.


21st/25
T: 52:57
S: 20.0 kph
C: 80
Pavg: 169
Pnorm: 212
H: 179

2007 Nov 11 - Low Key Hill Climb, Alpine Dirt

Teammates: Lucia

TSB: 17
CTL: 111

Daily diet of ice cream and leftover Halloween candy finally starting to catch up with me as weight is 2 kilograms more than the last Low Key Hill Climb...

Last minute venue change from Windy Point to the Alpine fire road from the end of Alpine Road to Page Mill. Did this last month on my road bike so the cross bike seemed like a good choice, used Michelin Jet tires with 40 PSI. On the way up Alpine we formed the largest mountain bike pack I have ever been in since I've done the Sea Otter Cross Country.

The first surprise on the course was a new layer of coarse gravel on the fire road right up until the single track. The found myself at the back of the lead pack of riders, the sight of the fellow on the road bike spurred me onward. There were a couple of lines that had a thinner layer of gravel that every one gravitated towards.

By the time we reached the single track section, the group had blown up into small packs of ones and twos. Was able to pass a few riders in the single track, one of these was a cross rider that I exorted to get back on his bike, because riding the steep section was killing my legs. Once it leveled out he passed me back as I struggled to recover a bit and keep the gas on. I was not sure how much more we had to go after the single track so tried to push hard and eventually caught back up to the other cross rider, and then was passed by Dan who ran most of the singletrack, and then caught sight of Dennis P. Was thinking maybe I should begin my last ditch effort when the next turn brought on a view of the finish within 20 meters so I just sprinted with all I had. Left a bit too much in the tank especially since I went harder up King's Mountain which is much longer!

T: 18:18
S: 12.6kph
PAvg: 267
PNorm: 270
C: 73
H: 186

2007 Nov 4 Pilarcitos CX #3, McClaren Park 35+ B

CTL: 110
TSB: 15
Teammates: Mikey S

Got lucky and found a parking spot about fifty yards from the start line/reg tent, with the drawback that ten yards of that was vertical up a staircase. One could see the twenty foot runup from the start, but then Juan said it went up from there! When we did our warmup lap was able to see this first hand, and ride everything except the barriers. Part of it was it's not so technical if you go slow and I had 34/28 gearing and the lower profile Michelin Mud 2's. Put the pressure at 40 PSI and felt about right. Maybe should have used the mountain bike or a smaller small ring, the course was like a minature mountain bike course, considering the amount of elevation change and singletrack per lap. The only flat sections were the pavement/sidewalk used for the 300 meters or so of the finish.

Happily at the start, they made the 45's who started behind us get behind us! On the first lap, it was pretty congested so when I biffed the first little descent and my front wheel washed out it gave me and the guys behind me had a good laugh so I know we weren't trying that hard if we could do that. The first three laps I felt pretty good on the short, sharp climbs, the longest was only about thirty seconds, but they came one after another after another. At the end of this was a long descent, where for some reason I was faster than a lot of bigger people, but they killed me on the technical spots. Managed to catch and pass Juan at some point. Still had a few problems unclipping from the right shoe when pulling up hard so I guess there is probably a worn out part in my four year old Eggbeaters, will have to bite the bullet and get a new pair.

In the middle of the fourth lap I was not feeling that great at all, and I biffed the same little descent again, a combination of not clipping in and too much speed, but this time I fell and lost five spots. This caused my computer to lose the connection to the wiring harness so no data for the last three laps. The little hills that did not seem so bad early in the race, those were feeling like mountains now. Curt was there supporting his son and yelling for me and Juan so I got a sort of time check on Juan gaining on me every lap. Curt and Jonathon and Matt kept yelling for me so I had to at least put in a good effort for them. One of the last times up that hill there was a saddle from some poor fellow (turned out to be Joe Fabris who passed me easily on a slippery corner earlier in the race) in the middle of the track so I leaned over and threw it to a spectator.


When we go the two laps to go card we shortly afterwards heard the bell so Juan and I were going to get lapped. We got caught at the top of the big descent. I was able to shadow Juan to the pavement and started my last effort from the beginning of the pavement and managed to catch a rider in our group and almost unlapped myself from the second place rider, but since I wasn't sure if he was in first place at this point, did not pass him because I don't think I could have done another lap.

Found a former coworker who owned a beautiful house above the park, they said they would let me park there next time!

Time: 28:44
Pnormalized: 194
Paverage: 142
Heartrate: 179
Cadence: 79
Speed: 15.8 kph

42nd/field 55

2007 October 27 - Low Key Hill Climb - 84/WOLH

CTL: 113
TSB: 21 (AKA it's too dark and cold in the morning to keep riding hard )

Teammates: Luke, Rich, Kwan, and Dan from the Saturday ride.

Can't make the cross race tomorrow so put more focus on having a long day in the saddle today. Mapquest said it was thirty miles from my door to the start and figured it would be better for me just to ride there, finish the climb and crawl back home.

Took two hours to get to the start and burned approximately 900 calories even after going super slow up OLH, had to eat most of the food I brought with me to stock back up. The roads were nice, mostly dry and in the case of 84, freshly paved with as Rich noted, a slightly narrower shoulder than before the paving. Going backwards over the course was a good reminder that it is mostly uphill from the start with lots of small undulations. Got to spend some time enjoying the views of the beach as the nearest portapotty was at the state park about one mile away on Highway 1.

Started twenty seconds behind the fellow with SPD sandals who I traded pulls with at Diablo, and forty seconds behind the woman in the Lifestyles RX kit who wanted to know where Lucia was so they could have a little head to head competition. I told her she won by default. Joked with the sandals guy (sorry no name) that he inspired me to go faster as I did not want to get beat by the guy in sandals!

Went out hard for one minute and was surprised that both of the folks in front of me were keeping pace, then against better judgement I kept a higher than threshold pace for the next eight minutes and very slowly reeled both of them in at the same time. "Sandals" caught Lifestyles just a bit before I caught them and then I passed him. Tried to not draft but since the shoulder was narrow had to balance safety with sportsmanship there, once I felt myself easing up, force myself to pass. Then he passed me back. Then I passed him. This repeated itself for the next ten minutes. Was trying to figure out how far back I should stay when Lifestyles told me in a friendly voice to not draft, and figured I'm too close so I passed again. There was an intermediate timing point at Pescadero Road so I made it there in twenty minutes and change, maybe five seconds ahead of "Sandals". We exchanged passes a couple of more times and passed a few other riders before we got to the bottom of WOLH. Here he opened up a small gap to pass a Sierra Nevada rider.

It only takes about twelve minutes to climb WOLH so I comforted myself with the short amount of suffering left. Rode it earlier this week and knew there were a couple of spots where the big ring would be useful and finishing in the big ring was a good bet. Not a few times I thought of easing up but "Sandals" was always just a little bit ahead, sometimes more than twenty seconds and sometimes less. We got to the last bit where if I was just trying to finish the climb I might use the small ring but since we were racing I kept it in the big ring and almost caught "Sandals" at the finish.


T: 50:38
PAvg: 255
PNorm: 257
C: 84
H: 177
S: 26.7 kph

2007 Oct 21 Pilarcitos CX #2, Candlestick/Monster Park 35+ B

CTL: 115
TSB: 14
Teammates: Mikey S

Used 42mm Ritchey tires with 35 PSI

Curt was sitting this one out in order to race next week in Kentucky at the USGP with his son Jeremy, Juan came and brought the wife and kids so at least Juan and Mikey and I could push each other to go a bit harder at the back of the pack.


The start was a bit of a snafu as some 45+'s staged in our field and just sat there and we 35+'s had to thread our way through them. Juan got a really good start as I could barely see him ahead through all the riders between us. Mike was right behind me.

On the first lap a big gap opened up between Juan's group and me and I killed myself to close it on the long paved section, then I paid for this by losing contact with the group until we got to the paved section again, and then I caught up for good with Juan.

It took a couple of laps for things to thin out where you didn't have to brake all the time in the technical sections.

After a few more laps I put in an effort to pass Juan, and I could hear him for a lap but then he faded, Amy said he just blew. At this point I was thinking, I can beat my two rivals/teammates/friends. :) But then Mike blew past me on one of the rough grassy sections. I was able to keep him in sight for the last three laps. I would get close on the pavement and he would open the gap up on the bumpy stuff. With two to go he had a mechanical and dropped his chain and I passed him, then he got right back on and passed me back! With one to go I planned on catching him on the pavement, but I let him have a little too much rope and only closed to within four seconds of him. So close.

A couple of times my right foot came unclipped when I pulled up so new cleats are going on the race shoes this week.


Even though my heart rate was high, the power numbers aren't close to what I can do for forty something minutes. Probably could have gone much harder on the paved sections instead of concentrating so much on drafting, and on the grassy section right after the paved section for starters.

T: 42:56
Pavg: 177
Pnorm: 202
C: 82
H: 179
S: 20.4

2007 Oct 20 Low Key Hill Climb - Mt Diablo

CTL: 115
TSB: 21

A lot of people use one hour as a bench mark for themselves on this particular climb, I've only done it once before on my mountain bike and it took me about 90 minutes so I had a much easier goal to meet. :)

Tons of club members for the ride and the after climb ride - Luke, Rich, Rob, Dan, Lucia, Kwan for the climb and Spike, Yvette, Garrett for the after climb ride.

I saw one guy who had so little body fat one could see the veins on the front of his legs and he also was using a $5000 pair of Lightweight brand wheels, so I was pretty sure I wasn't seeing him again after the start!

We went off in small groups, Lucia and another woman I that rode in my group at King's were in mine, plus a guy with a Everest Challenge jersey - this one little climb had to be tons easier than the Everest Challenge, but he said he was a slow rider. So of course he guns it after we pass the rough descent near the start and pulls away from everyone.

I consider being rational and pacing myself but can't help myself and go for it, and start reeling in riders from the group ahead and finally the Everest Challenge survivor. Look down at my time/average power and it's pretty good for me for 20:00 and I'm feeling good about myself when a fellow wearing a Camelbak catches and drops me easily - I dropped everything unnecessary from the race bike save one tube and the micro pump. By the one third point, the road starts to flatten out quite a bit and I regret having dropped every one else in my group. The headwinds are strong enough that a draft would probably help here. This proves out when two riders from our group catch me in the middle of this section. I satisfy myself with drafting for the most part for the next third or so of the climb.

The climbing resumes with a tortuous section exposed to the wind but the view is pretty nice to compensate. A few times even though I am working pretty hard I start to shiver uncontrollably which is a bad omen for the descent. Luke catches our group and we follow for a bit and then one by one let him go off at his own pace. There are scattered riders ahead of us and we each surge a bit trying to close the gaps and then my two companions gradually fall off the pace. I spent the last quarter of the climb going back and forth with one rider. At one point it is so cold and windy I can see his breath streaming behind him for a good four or five feet. Finally we see Camelbak, but also signs of the top so I dig really hard and close to within a few seconds of Camelbak but fall just short.

Probably should have paced the entire climb more evenly but unfamiliarity with the course makes that hard.

P.S. Checked out a creaking I heard during the warmup and there was a loose spoke and my rear wheel was rubbing on the brake! Doh.

T: 1:02:49
Pavg: 243
Pnorm: 250
C: 80
S: 17.2
D: 18.09
H: 175

CCCX #3, Fort Ord, 2007 October 13

35+ B
Field: ~15-20
Teammates: Mikey S

TSB: 19
CTL: 120

New course at Fort Ord using the tiniest climbs from the district road race in reverse and lots of slightly rolling singletrack going to and from the big building where we staged for road districts. Thought about going with 30 PSI but the really long course meant a potentially long run back for pit stops so went with 35 PSI. Lots of rain in the days prior to the event meant the mostly sandy course was in great condition.

Committed to going out as hard for as long as possible for once. First time up the hills, the top ten or so guys separated slightly from the rest of us, Mikey and Grant pulled ahead, and I dug deep to catch up to the lead group. One of the riders near the lead biffed the first set of barriers and caused a bigger split. The long singletrack section was a test of traction versus horsepower, having the guys in front of me was a huge motivational factor.

Mikey and I duked it out for a couple of laps, but then he disappeared, it turned out he flatted and had to run half a lap. The fastest 55+ caught me and we went back and forth for the rest of the race. Surprisingly I was faster than the smaller rider on the uphill sections and he dusted me in the flatter, technical sections. Anyways, thought something was wrong when we got four laps to go and I had thirty minutes of racing - I better get lapped or this is going to be a long race.

It ended up being about an hour long race for me, was probably close to being lapped. Even though there was a lot more elevation change at this course, had a much faster average than at Pilarcitos #1 - probably a combination of smaller field and less technical course.


Pavg: 181
Pnorm: 219
T: 1:01:36
S: 23.2 kph
C: 86
H: 181

Pavg:

Pilarcitos #1, Brisbane, 2007 October 7

CTL: 120
TSB: 8

Fitness *still* fading from the road season. Biggest field of the season at about fifty. Bianchi Juan Ortiz (not the one from Pen Velo, need to remind BJO of his doppleganger), and Curt Ferguson, pere of the prodigy Jeremy, and still on Coumadin so he can't crash - ever, show up and we reminisce about when we were actually fast...

The course was mostly in one large field, going out and back several times to create a longer course. It consisted of a short paved start/finish section, a rideable, off camber seven foot hill, a steep drop back to the bottom with a 180 right hander back up the hill, which was faster for folks who ran the whole thing compared to me who rode down it, but I didn't keep the speed up well on the dismount, a meandering back to cross the start finish road, and a long out/back over a field to a series of three barriers followed by a seven foot hill (making a really long running section), down the hill, a few hundred feet, back up another hill, down the seven foot hill for a longer out and back to a different spot on the seven foot hill followed by a dip and rise that you could get big air on without trying, then down the hill again, and up it again for a long loop back to the start finish. Always a test of trying to keep speed up on the corners without washing out the tires.

Lined up near the back of the pack and most of the field walked for a minute once we reached the first dirt section until things opened up again. Lost track of Juan and Curt but it turns out Juan was just ahead of me and motivated by the sight of me behind him and Curt was just behind me and gaining on me every lap.

I never found a good rhythm on the course until late, always losing ground on the long dirt straights and making it up or holding ground on the corners. Got really close to Juan on the last lap when he and I both went hard from about 300 meters out. Need to do that a bit earlier - like the start of the last lap = to play to my strength, and not my weakness, and work on trying harder the rest of the time as the power output was closer to the effort for flat crit.

41/50
T: 46:19
S: 19.4
C: 78
H: 179
Pavg: 165
Pnorm: 187