Still In Vermont?

Spirit Mt (MNSCS #6) was a great way to reintegrate into Midwest racing...it felt like we never left Vermont. Well, it is a little different. The course is much tighter and twistier but has just as many or more rocks, and the main 700 foot climb is about 2/3 rocky rooty singletrack....down right dreamy. The entire race was only 2 laps, but there was 1300 feet of tough climbing per lap.

They started us right on the hill, which made for a cluster at the start, but I got out front chasing down my teammate, CHARLY TRI, who got the holeshot (he REALLY wanted me to mention him in my blog, so tell him how cool he is next time you see him). I slipped on the first sharp turn on the lead out hill, but quickly remounted...sorry to those who I hindered.
I caught back on by the top and Jay, my bro and I followed Scotty Kylander Johnson all the way through the first lap. He built much of the trail and there is probably no one faster than him descending it. At the start of the 2nd lap, Ben and I had a little gap, but Scott and Samo (who caught Scott on the climb) closed it down to about 20 seconds on the descent.
Ben got hung up on some rocks when we started the climb causing me to dismount. My calves locked up, and it took 5-10 seconds to get going again. We continued to march on and Samo passed me in the last 1/8th or so of the climb. I just didn't have the climbing legs to hang. I yelled up to Ben that Sam was coming and impressively, he turned it on to hold the gap to Sam. So there it ended, Ben then 10 seconds to Sam then 20 seconds to me.
I am super proud of Ben for riding strong the whole race and it was a well deserved victory. Honestly, the only thing better than me winning was watching my little brother take it home.

As far as how I felt?? Well after my debacling at Vermont I wasn't expecting much. Hydration was a challenge w/ only 1 mid race hand off, but for the most part I stayed cramp free. My descending was just fine, but my power, especially on the climbs, was not very good. On the great to horrible scale, I give the legs and OK on the day=) I am hoping this mid season lull in fitness will allow me to have more late season fitness at my favorite race, Maplelag=)

Next up is our bid for the 4 Man 24 National Championships. Our original team was Paul Hanson, Ben Portilla, Fisher and Myself (my bro thought that he would have already moved to Albany). However, a couple crashes later, Paul has a torn rotator cuff, and Ben P has a broke back (this past weekend; he is in pain but will make a full recovery). Our team has been modified to Ben, Me, Fisher, and SamO.

Good to be home.

Buck #?? was last night...anyway there are only 2 left. Fisher went off like it was the Nationals short track, with his wild bike whipping sprinting technique that has the fuel looking like a wet noodle. I followed him and we got a clean run through the first singletrack. When we hit the pavement climb (don't know why we call it that, it is almost all gravel now), we had a little sprint, and I caught his handlebar on my thigh when he started his sprint again. I am not sure if I was too close to him when I went around or if the handlebar swinging got me...probably a little of both. Anyway, all was ok by the top, and I got a clean look at the backside singletrack. By lap 3 the legs started to come around more, and I ended up w/ the solo win by about 3 minutes, with Dave Oachs in second and Fisher another minute behind him in 3rd.
It was good to be home and to have Tegan and Jen waiting for me at the finish line.

Spirit should be tough this weekend and I hear it might only be 2 laps because they are so long. It should be entertaining either way, as they have the most technical course I have encountered in the midwest.

US Nationals

I am sitting here in a hotel room in Albany NY waiting for my flight .... this trip was fun, but from a riding perspective not successful.
To start the weekend on Friday, Ben Portilla and Ben my brother both were on the podium in the Semi-Pro XC race. That was awesome to watch.
From Thursday until my race on Saturday at 2, it was just a lot of sitting and waiting...hard to deal with and something I am not used to back home where other obligations keep me busy up until race time.
The XC course pre-rides went well and I LOVED the course. It was basically a 20 minute climb and a downhill. The downhill was about the most fun one I have ever done.
However, in the XC I had my first DNF ever...this was very embarrassing and hard for me to swallow. I never thought I would quit a race for physical reasons, but I couldn't turn the cranks over after a strange start. The start was a cluster, and I was a little surprised at some of the areas that had pro level mountain bikers off their bikes. I did no less than 4 track stands in the first 2 miles because of people in front of me dabbing, slipping, etc. I got frustrated, had to run the whole first section of singletrack, and then the legs shut down. I shouldn't take for granted that I get to ride my own race most of the time in the Midwest!

On happier note, I also did the Super D....a very interesting blast of a race. The Super D is a mostly downhill time trial that pits XC guys, 4 cross guys, DH guys, etc against eachother. The course was GNARLY! It was about at the limits of my capability on my XC race bike. Schnell, Craig, and all of those going for the win were on their 6&6's (6" front and rear travel) and 2.5" downhill tires. The start was a run (w/ your bike) up a 30 yard rocky grassy hill before mounting your bike and heading down. I was right behind Adam Craig at the top until we hit the rocky 3-4 foot whoops/drops at the top. I followed Jay Richards down the rest of the way just making sure that I would get to the bottom in one piece. I never really over did it and rolled across the line with a smile on my face.

Looking forward, I will probably reboot this week with 3 (or as many as 7) solid weeks of racing coming up. Hopefully a second wave of fitness will be hitting later this season.

Cheers.

What sound is worse than finger nails dragging across a chalk board?

The pssssssssssst sound coming from your tire as it is going flat....

Let me start from the top. I got the holeshot at MNSCS#4 held in Mankato today. I was going hard, but not out of my comfort zone. After the first lap I had about a minute on SamO and Cam Kirkpatrick. Near the end of the second lap, I had held the gap and was riding at a maintainable pace. On one of the technical rooty downhills call "Quick Release" I hit an off-camber root sending my front wheel sideways and me OTB. I was fine, but the air was rushing out of my tire. I flipped the bike over and tried to get the sealant to work but to no avail. I inspected further and found a bunch of mud trapped between the tire bead and rim. I pulled it out as Sam and Cam went by. I let the CO2 fly and the tire seemed to hold so I hopped back on for the chase. I knew it would be hard having lost several minutes, but I was just happy that I didn't have to DNF. I spent laps 3 and 4 catching Cam and getting to w/in 15 seconds of SamO. Unfortunately, the hard effort was too much for me, and I couldn't hold on (cramping again!)....with all the chasing, I hadn't been hydrating appropriately. I rolled home in 3rd very disappointed but accepting the fact that mountain bike racing on technical courses can get you sometimes...my face says it all.
The next few weeks are going to be focused on family vacation (near Two Harbors WI), mid season recovery, and rebuilding for National Championships in Vermont. After 12 races in less than 8 weeks so far this season, I am feeling a bit shagged.

The Good and The Bad

Good - I won Buck last night without wearing myself too thin for Kato. I tried some new tires and liked them. I need more evaluation time before committing to a complete switch.

Bad - Paul Hanson crash hard on the first lap and was in a world of hurt (I found out after the race). I don't know what the latest is this morning, but I hope he is back soon....we need someone to kill us up the first hill every race=)

Mont Du Sludge

I love the Mont Du Lac course...when it is dry=) We got poured on several times yesterday and it made for tough conditions and a seriously muddy bike. THat is mountain biking though.
I didn't have the mental edge yesterday and it showed. I was riding quite comfortably until it got greasy. Rather than stay cool and ride smooth, I got frustrated and started crashing. Anyway, SamO, Jay and Ben were all riding great and SamO did it on the same tires I had (SMB8's).
The highlight for me yesterday was getting up from a crash on one of the steep whoops that I wasn't sure my bike or I would make it through (although my seat shifted and I had to uncomfortably w/ my saddle pointed up - right into my seeds - for the rest of the race)!

Kato and Buck this week...

Thats a Wrap

Last night we wrapped up Buck Hills first 6 race series. After a lead out and some trash talking by Scott Ralston, Paul and I went to the front and got a quick gap. I put in an attack on the first pavement climb and backside single track, and from there I was solo. I ended up winning the race and the first series.
The only other significant note is that it was HOT @ 85F! I like the heat, my legs always feel better in heat, but it takes a few hot races to get acclimated.

Next up is Duluth...not Mankato.

Keep em turning over!

No More T-shirts

My tradition of racing in cotton out at Buck Thursday Nights was broken yesterday. The new skins suit was in full effect and they don't have a pocket so the only opportunity to wear them will be in shorter races. Either way, I have to admit that it fells a lot better to race in lycra.

On to the race....an unfamiliar face showed up to the races. Josh Bezecny a Trek VW pro rider from Boulder was at the starting line (I didn't know who he was, but I talked to him afterwards and found out that he raced here in MN back in the late 90s - early 00's). Absent from the starting line were SamO and Paul. I took the hole shoot, and kept the pace high. Josh and I had a 20-30 second gap by the top of the hill. I pushed on the pedals a little harder through the single track and opened up a small gap. From there, I was able to extend it a little in the second lap. Finally in the 3rd lap, my legs started to snap-to and in the last 2 laps, I grew the margin to almost 2.5 minutes. I rolled across the line to a little guy name Tegan begging for the left overs of my orange drink mix (He knows when I am done he gets a sweet tasting drink =)

I think the legs are coming around, and I haven't moved my cleats in almost a week. I really struggled with that earlier this season when I was switch shoes. 1-2mm of fore or aft movement makes a world of difference in power for me.

This weekend I will not be going to Wisco for the WORS cup. I think my legs are good enough to do well, and my wife told me to do whatever makes me happy...what an awesome wife. Honestly, being with her, Tegan and my parents, getting a little training in, and watching the Nature Valley Grand Prix with friends is about the perfect fathers day weekend for me. I know the WORS cup would be fun...it is the 9+ hours of car time and the 1.5 days away from my family that sealed the deal. I guess it is pretty obvious where my priorities lie... it may sound lame to some, but I think most daddy's would understand.

Next up will be Buck again and MNSCS#3 in Mankato.

Looking good is important while suffering...

Any time you show up to Afton for a race, you better be ready to climb. Luckily the whole VeloRochester crew was looking really good in our new team kits while we suffered!

The MNSCS #2, Afton Avalanche, was a 24 mile bruiser of a course w/ 5000-6000 feet of climbing thrown in, and the median finishing time for the experts was over 2 hours and 40 minutes....good preparation for Mt. Snow.

The race started out up a small-ish hill (but big enough) to allow for "natural" selection. The Velo crew hit it hard of the start.

I got the hole shoot at the top of the first hill, and just kept it a at a good hard pace. To my surprise I was gapping the rest of the field. I wasn't trying to attack, as I knew it would be a long race to try and go solo from the start. However, by the top of Shady Lane (the first of several time each lap you fully climb the hill) I had 20 seconds or so on Ben, and I wasn't under too much pressure so I pushed it on the punchy climbs and technical descending portions of the trail. The gap continued to open and was nearly a minute by the end of the lap. After that, I just set a maintainable climbing pace and rode fast and smooth on the downhills. By the third lap, I had nearly 3 minutes on Ben and Jeff Herrera (who was up from Arizona), but my legs started to get crampy...I HATE that. There was lots of power left in them, but was unable to use it because they were freezing up...darn! I tried a different drink mix for the race and will be going back to my tried and true double top secret formula next time. I rode a pretty slow 4th lap knowing that I had time to spare. In the end, I had a little over 1.5 minutes on Ben. He rode a really strong race and a very strong last lap.

Fisher suffered a flat but hung with it...here he on a typical Afton decent.

Tegan and others provide a great cheering section. If you hear a little voice saying "go, go, go" by the water stand, that was him=) Jen said that he cheered for everyone!

Thanks to Bruce at Skinny Ski for all the pics (except the one of Tegan..that was Jen)

Next up is Buck on Thursday and maybe the WORS Cup on Saturday. I hear the WORS Cup course is a fun one...the only down side would be that I have to start in the second row.

The race must go on.

Sorry for the late update, but I have been busy.
Anyway, the storm warning sirens turned off around 6 pm last Thurs so we did race. It was 55 and raining=( It sure didn't feel like the end of May. Ben took it to me and I did not have a lot of fun out there, but "the race must go on!"

Other than that, here is Ben's update from this weekend in Wausau...it sound like he had fun, but suffered the same fate as may other riders:


Well the race yesterday didn't go quite as well as would have hoped. The start was weird, slightly downhill/flat double track lead-out gave way to a few miles of rolling doubletrack/gravel roads. As such it was fast for the first part of the lap with drafting and pacelines playing a major role. Jesse Lalonde put in an early attack but it didn't materialize, Eppen took the reigns for a bit through the first sections of singletrack but sat up a bit when we got back on the road. Soon I found myself sitting on the front, I worked hard but soon started to feel some pain so I slowed up a bit and Lalonde and Eppen came sprinting past me followed soon after by Marko, Tristan, Guerra, and Matter. I soon found myself in 7th place in no-man's-land blown to pieces. I sat up a bit as there was no one within sight behind me. I ate and drank and began to feel a bit better when Paul H and Bender caught me. I hopped on Pauls wheel and we began to work pretty well together. On the las
t lap I took to the front and was feeling pretty good, about to catch 4th place when in one of the extremely rocky sections of trail I heard two horrifying sounds: pssssss pssssss. Rear tire went flat immediately. I frantically and in vain tried to get two holes to seal with my co2, but the holes where took big. Stans was squirting everywhere. I had about half a canister of air left when I noticed that my front tire was down to about 5 psi. Simultaneous double flat. With only enough air for one tire and one tube, the situation was unresolvable. Defeated, I strolled back to the start/finish in a cloud of mosquitoes and called it a day. Come to find out like 40% of the field fell victim to the sharp rocks as well. Mike Phillips, Tristan Schouten, Brian Matter, among many others flatted out as well. I've never seen so much flatting on a single course before. Those rocks must have been razor sharp.