Thought of the day:

...if you are riding a single speed and no one sees you, are you still cool?

Merry Xmas!!

CX Nationals was.....chillin'.....

Sums up my weekend...what a great couple of races.  Didn't know whether to bring the CX bike or my boards to the SS race Friday morning!  Thanks Scott!The coolest was Marja took 9th in the NCAA Division I National Championship Race!!  More to come, with pics!  It was a long drive home today...

CX Gods...

...so what have I done? Seems I have angered the cyclocross gods this year! DNF in the forst race of the season, hurling in the woods...a great race at McClaren on my SS, then a dismal evening uder the lights for my first race on the Redline (I could blame the gears, but i won't). I followed that race with a good race the following morning in Folsom. After that came Golden Gate Park where I totally missed my start, but that wasn't my fault...oh wait it was.

No worries, put some new treads on both bikes in preparation for Nationals in Bend where it was last forecast to be 34 for a high with snow all week, and took them out to the RodeoCross in Folsom on Wednesday night. Now I have to admit, I had never run this tire setup tubeless (Specialized Captain CX Pro) and I wanted to see how hard I could ride it w/o rolling it off the rim.

Race comes, great start, and after 2 laps I was sitting in 5th and we had a good size gap. Lap 3 the gap is actually getting bigger. I was riding my SS with a 39x18 and I was happy to be hanging with the lead A racers. Lap four, coming into the stadium I run over a barrier, remount, make a hard left to ride up and over a steep pitch and "BUUURRRRPPPP!!!"

"F&^%#" I slipped....and Cameron was right there watching, literally a couple feet away!

"What the heck was that DAD!?" Cameron yells out as I am dropping an F-bomb in front of him....lucky me he was louder than me and he was wondering about the Stan's love sauce that now covered my right leg!

So again, the CX gods strike...well if you haven't figured it out, I have been racing this CX season by the seat of my pants and really not paying attention to details...like when my start time is, helmet, tire pressure, etc. The frustrating thing is I was moving Wednesday night and actually felt good....relatively speaking for a CX race of course.

Just trying to keep up with Marja's performance Wednesday night. Marja put on a clinic, being forced to stage up behind a large field of Men's C's and Junior Men, she was in second starting lap #2 and took the lead starting lap #3 and never looked back. She won by a few minutes (keep in mind each lap took about 3:50) over the men.

Oh well, what can I do....pay more attention, I know, I know!! But I am looking forward to Nationals up in Bend. I am r acing the SS race on Friday, Scott the masters 45s, and then me the Masters 35 race on Saturday. My start position on the grid is around 100 for the SS race and 150 for the masters, so I have no pipe dreams of a Cinderella story, but I am excited as all heck! Cold, muddy, snowy conditions! Marja is racing for the collegiate National title on Sunday.

Most people wonder why we would drive over 8 hours through crummy weather to race for just 60 minutes...my guess..... they have never raced Cross...

So the Thanksgiving Ride tradition continues....this time Marja and I rode the newly established Arnold Rim Trail, above Arnold...in case you couldn't figure it out. I will be honest, due to the lack (or as we found out, apparent lack) of trails and descriptions I had heard of this trail, I expected a casual ride along some nice rolling trails.

We headed out from Marja's parents house and rode up to White Pines to hit the trail head. There was a little ice on the roads still so it was a nice winter ride. We started up a trail running along an old logging road cut, just as I expected, but then a sharp left started the days fun! What a gorgeous trail, single track winding through the pines and fast too! After a creek crossing, we started up a tough little switchback climb and the single track just kept coming.

It seems this area is criss crossed with old motorcycle trails that are now restricted. We rode a spur out to Cougar Rock.

The view was amazing, looking down toward Sheep Ranch and Mountain Ranch to the west and north while taking in the Sierra to the east. Once back on the main Arnold Rim Trail, the play ended for a bit with two sweet pitches that left me struggling on my 34x18. Legs felt great, just my t-rex-like upper body was flailing! I obviously need to either:

1. go to the gym and lift; or
2. ride my SS mt bike more!!

It was sad...anyway, once up that pitch we climbed casually until we hit yet another pitch that had me hiking. Marja was spinning the granny and made her way up most of the climb

at the same speed I was hiking in the steeper pitches.

The rest of the trail was bombing single and double track! And if you hear anyone say its all downhill from Arnold to Avery on the ART, don't believe'em! Luckily I have fallen victim to such descriptions in the past so we knew better.

I found a little spur that was actually labeled "more difficult" so we thought, well really I thought, we should ride the tighter single rack and it will certainly meet up with either Sheep Ranch Road or the ART itself. This was my "abridged" navigation I learned from my adventure racing days. That was the joy of adventure racing, at least on the team I raced with, we flew by the seat of our pants and we always "got close." Marja, luckily, didn't really know that part!! Reality was I was almost right, and Marja reminded me of the third boundary we may hit and that was the town of Sheep Ranch 1500 to 2000 vertical feet below us.

Somehow my "you are absolutely right, that's a possibility, but...." didn't instill a lot of confidence so we hiked out. I think I redeemed myself by bush whacking and hitting the trail right where I said it would be - 10% skill, 95% luck!!

The remainder of the trail was a blast and we were able to ride a county road (dirt) back to a neighborhood across highway 4 from access to Marja's parents place. The ride totaled only 19 miles, but the 12 miles that included the ART had 3400 vertical feet of climbing. Once IMBA adds more trail either up toward Big Trees State Park or down the hill its only going to get better.

Post ride was fun too, we headed out with Marja's dad to shoot a little trap. The first year I joined them, Marja really made me look bad, she couldn't miss! This year I was on fire while Marja was streaky at best with the shot guns. Then Tim pulled out the 22 and said he wanted to try and hit the trap with the 22. He nailed one after several tries.

Next, I went for it and I swear I nicked one! But alas, nada. Talk about frustrating! Marja reloads the 22, and she missed with a few shots and then nails one. Ouch my Man-Card in question again....then she hits another with the 22. Looks like I have to wait until next year to get it back. Maybe I can go shoot throughout the year to get some practice, she won't know!!!???

Both of us hitting the target...

Pics of the day....

There needs to be more of these signs posted, EVERYWHERE ...say on all the trails between Downtown and Granite Bay? Remember:

bikes don't poop

...if you can tell me where I took this I will buy you coffee!

The new wheels....if you have to ask you obviously are not having enough fun in your life!!!!

Pave it Damn it!!

I need to be a little selfish here. I know I should be happy for the "greater good" here, but I have to admit I am sad.

Marja and I were riding our CX bikes on some single track/double track trails that wind along some old RR tracks to Camino from my house. Trails are very hard to come by in the 50 corridor, its mostly private property between here and Echo Summit. So the trails I pieced together from the house were great for the CX bikes.

As we got as high as Missouri Flat Road, as we waited to cross it, I noticed a parking lot where an old dirt lot used to sit, "Hmm, what the heck is that for?" I thought to myself.....

Well, as we rode across I noticed the single track trail was now a paved bike trail...wow, what a bummer that was! This section in particular was fun and it dumped you out on an old abandoned RR bridge that was exciting to ride across...now, its like a freeway overpass across Weber Creek . The pavement continued all the way to Forni road, what used to be well hidden single track.

So, yes, I feel guilty for being so bummed out seeing as maybe more people can walk/run/etc on trails in the 50 corridor, but why pavement? Well, at least the first 13 miles form the house is still predominantly dirt, and fun at that. My concern is that they will eventually pave all of it, part of "Rails to Trails".... here's the funny part, the equestrians are none too happy with the paving either! Wow, maybe we should have worked together to keep the trails dirt! Hmmm, there's a novel concept! A lesson for equestrians and MTBers alike!

Remember....

bikes don't poop

Cheers!

Don't think I ever posted this pic, dunno who took it. This was in the Collegiate National Championship Short Track at Northstar back in October....Marja just rode passed this group.... Its a cool pic! She ended up 15th in the nation in her first ever short track race.

"What a difference a day makes..."

This weekend marked the return, for me, of cyclocross....but like no other cyclocross race I had ever done. This weekend I would be doing it with gears. Crazy, I know. Who would have ever thought it would be such a hard thing to figure out. Okay, I remember how to shift, its just remembering TO shift proved difficult at times. And being efficient using the gears, well I have a long way to go.

Saturday night was a night race at Sierra Point near Brisbane (South SF) in the Bay. The course was a blast, bumpy a few steep run ups, barriers at the base of a short hill, lots of partying fans, and hey it was lit up, pretty cool. Racing the 35+ A group I figured it would be a wee bit tamer than the Open A category...what was I thinking!? A few former world champions (mtb and CX), a few multiple national champions, what seemed like most of Cal Giant racing this category....lets just say it was gonna be fast! Cool!

I had a Marja-esque starting position, back of the back with nothing but daylight (or moonlight I guess) behind me on the pavement, but hey, its my first go at the gear thing so I thought I'd ease into it. Plus with all the roadies I still stress about being taken out, especially on first laps... Race starts, feeling good, move up from the rears to the middle of the field in the first and then second turns (note: see reference to roadies above). No crashes but bizarre lines on dirt/grass allowed me to take advantage of the inside of both turns. We fly down to a 180 turn, oopps there's face plant #1 and the guy looked like he was in pain. Steep up, steep down, run-up up some stairs, back on having fun. Legs and lungs feel good. Go through a few hairpins in the grass/dirt, head back to to some barriers at the bottom of a hill, crest, hard left down a steep descent to an immediate rise, catch some air and get some beer sprayed on me....so on. Having fun to say the least.

Half way through lap #2 I notice a chatter in my front end. Wrap my hand around the headset, no movement, oh crap!!

1. is my fork busted (have had issues with flex, etc with this new carbon fork)??!!; or
2. does my fork have lawyer tabs, cause my wheel is loose!!?? YIKES

So I keep pushing, but stressing as with each lap the fork chatters more and I notice as I come into tight turns, the bike is slow to track through the turn. Hard to describe! Not a good feeling. So I ride scared which I think slowed me down A LOT (at least that's my story and I am sticking to it!!), but I still grabbed every dollar bill I could from the beer bottles placed in precariously technical spots on the course - grabbed $6, dropped 2 of 'em trying to stuff them down my shirt. Lets just say my mtb riding payed off as I was grabbing the bills literally as I was dropping into a steep little diddie, place the bill in my mouth then kickout off the lip of the ensuing up getting a rise and usually beer sprayed on me each time I was airborne....probably not the fastest way to race, but definitely the funnest considering I was either going to be visiting Marja's Dad to have my teeth remade after my fork fails or it was going to be the last ride on my new CX bike after I ovalize the head tube!

Race ends, no catastrophe, just the plug started to pull out of the fork thus allowing the steer tube to rattle around like a rock in a diet coke can!

Hats off to Scott, he started 45 seconds behind and passed me on the last lap, got about 10 meters on me then i luckily out sprinted him to the line to save a wee-bit-o pride amongst friends... I think it was the "YEE_HAW" he yelled as he passed me that spurred me on. He was still 45 seconds faster than me though, nicely done!!

Marja's A race was right before ours. She was lucky enough to be called up which should have given her an OK starting spot, but a lot of the other women rolled up as Marja was going up so I think she got a little screwed there...Women! I tell ya!

She started faster than I have seen her and she started moving up after lap 2. And I mean really moving up. She caught one of her main rivals with a few laps left and left her behind and almost caught Lizzie on the last lap. She looked strong the whole race and is not being shy about passing! She surely ended up with some strong results, still waiting to see exactly where!

We watched most of the Open A race and then headed back to Cameron Park. Got to bed about midnight, woke to the alarm at 7am (impressed I slept that late, wanted more!) to get up and prep for the next race at Folsom HS, Bicycle Planet's covert CX race - someone needs to tell them to advertise better!! Marja's start was at 9:45, 14+ hrs after she finished her last CX race. I was lucky and got to start at 12:45 in the A's.

Marja's race started FAST....translation: Marja was 30 seconds behind the leader at the end of lap 1, 15 seconds behind Emily who was in 2nd....typical start, but Scott and I figured she'd start winding up! Lap 2, same split to Emily, the leader was about 25 seconds up on her. Marja looked good and was powering through the start/finish straight. A few laps later Marja was 10 seconds behind the two leaders, Emily had reeled in the Velo-Bella gal and I was worried the two would now work together and pull away from Marja but she was on fire. Seems in that lap the Velo-Bella woman took a face plant into a barrier at the bottom of a hill and struggled to get back up to stay with Emily....she punctured trying to catch back up to her. Emily came through the start/finish and Marja was now 5 seconds behind.

In roadie fashion, Emily waited for Marja so they could work together and leave the rest of the field, but as Marja came over the top of her to pull through, Emily punctured as she was riding from dirt to a wooden bridge.... Marja rode the next two laps solo to a win in the women's A race. STUD!!!

She tries to minimize her win by referring to the other women's flats, but she caught'em and its all part of it!! She was a stud.

My race rolled around, finally, and I have to admit, after the night before I was nervous about my fork and the gears. In the night race I was fumbling with my gears, always seemed to be too ez or too hard, longing for my single speed so I did not have to think I just had to pedal... Truthfully, I was tired as hell too!

I started near the rear, the Open A's and 45+ A's went together. I slowly moved up through the pack down the straight and a few tight turns and some technical sections, as we flew down a section of hard pack dirt (and cobble, duh..its Folsom always assume half buried cobble) we came to a tight left. AS I set up to take it fast, a Davis Bike Club guys flies to my outside along with a SGW inside of him who is going to pinch me off in the corner.... this is gonna be ugly!!

As we start into the turn, I have my elbow and right knee sticking out to keep the SGW guy from pushing me off my line....my first thought as we entered the turn was that DBC guy is toast, and as I thought it I hear the sound of deep dish carbon tubulars skidding across the cobble....Then, the SGW next to me hits the deck and they get all tangled up....being on the inside of the turn, I immediately stood up and pedaled through it to miss the carnage!

"F-ing Roadies!!" slips out of my mouth....

Bruno from Davis comes by as I am still shell shocked from being taken out of the race, "man I can't believe you didn't get taken out!!" It was good to see it wasn't Bruno who was in the DBC kit...jumped on his wheel for several laps but couldn't hold his pace, he's strong!

Rode up through several people and started to slowly make my way up. Rode strong, I was really happy with my race. A couple of the longer straight aways I just couldn't spin up with the roadies and caught myself thinking, "I gotta ride my road bike more"...but oh well.

Going into the last 2 laps I was catching another DBC rider, got on his wheel through the start/finish straight and then the next straight he opened up a can of whoop-ass...ouch...I didn't panic and figured we had the whole last lap ahead and I was faster through the technical stuff. 1/3 lap later we hit another straight and he gets more distance after I closed the gap, and as we approach the final run up he looks over his shoulder and saw me closing the gap. at the top of the run up I just wasn't close enough to get by the line.

Ended up 6th in the Open A class, but more importantly I was just happy how my race went! Got a little bit better with the gears but still felt completely inefficient...but getting there! Love the bike when the front end isn't coming a part!! I would like to have that night race back to ride again.

For me, the two races were as different as Night and Day.....

Sorry, I had to do it!

Race Across the Sky...Leadville, CO

Cool race to do at least once. I have done it 3 times and would love to do it again on my single speed. Now with Lance embracing it, its insane, at least for the first climb up and over St. Kevin's (20 miles). The last year I raced was when Floyd Landis raced and the race organizers ballooned the field from 450 to 750. That was a crazy start and I was staged in the top 50 or so from the previous year's finishers. Now the field is 1400. So you can imagine the cattle call on climb #1. Still, with the elevations involved its a great challenge, great atmosphere, great town!

November 12 is another showing of the documentary on last years race with Lance winning...

http://www.raceacrossthesky.com/

FYI

24 Hr Racing = Brain fart

Here's a video from the Coolest 24 Hours back in May. Lovingly dubbed the Wettest 24 Hours of Cool:

It poured Friday, and came down in biblical fashion that night. I of course was the picture of calm and control while listening to the deluge outside Friday night. Just don't ask Marja or Chris, they "misinterpreted"....

The lead in for this video: it had been 21 hours of heavy rain, deep slimey mud, 5 sets of brake pads and suffering. Pete, Marja and Chris kept me upbeat and moving through the night! But as you can see, my mental abilities at this time were lacking...

Enjoy...

...tired legs survive to the Podium!!!!

MTB season has finally ended!! Saturday was the Knickerbocker 8hr, last stop in the Leave No Trace Endurance Series. Going in, I was burnt out. An 8hr race in mid-October when I am so ready to play on the CX bike...it was tough. The problem was, I needed to defend my second place in the overall behind Tinker Juarez. And of course, should he have a mechanical or other issue, I could have possibly moved into the top spot on the podium....but reality was I needed to ride strong and finish near the top to keep my 12.5 mile lead over Mike Harrison from Breakaway Bicycles. Thankfully Pete and Sharon were on site running support, because I needed the motivation - legs just plain tired. Marja was in Salinas racing the collegiate race in order to qualify for the Collegiate National Championships on 10/16-10/18 at Northstar. She was racing on one lung basically - nasty cold/illness since the previous weekend!

Back to Cool....beautiful day compared to the rain at the 24hr race here in May, actually wore a vest and arm warmers up until the start. Word for the day... "DUST." The entire first lap was maybe 12 inches of visibility except for the climbs. By the time we got around to the climb out of Salt Creek I knew I was going to have a rough go of it. Oh well, been there before.

Lap 1 done, ufff.

Lap 2, just can't find the power.

Lap 2 done, whoa.....

Lap 3 is absolute misery, but in waves....some climbs strong, the next not so much.

Lap 3 done, "MEDIC!!"

As I leave on lap 4 Pete looks at me and tells me to 'find some legs, now!'

I laughed along with Sharon in the pit. But lap 4 felt good, well as good as it can of course, that's the weird thing about this ridiculousness called racing....it hurt just as bad, but the fact I was going considerably faster somehow made it "OK."

Lap 4 done, I made up a chunk of time of Mike Harrison and the other SSers. That's pretty much how the next 3 laps went, just consistently making my way up through the field. If I had another 8 hours I was golden! On that lap I heard Tinker dropped, Pete was like a little school kid because he thought I may have a chance to make up the miles Tinker lead me by in the Series Standing. I spent that next lap trying to do the math while I pushed even faster, but on the hike-a-bike out of Knickerbocker my 1st grade math skills came back to me and I realized I would not catch him....bummer, but I still had to defend my 2nd - just needed to finish on the same lap as Mike Harrison. He was racing a geared bike this day, just as he did at Cool, and rumor on the course was he was with Tinker (relatively speaking) for the first 3 laps - fast... I just pushed my 34x18 as fast as I could around the 12.4 mile course.

Going out on lap 7, Pete told me to enjoy it as Harrison was NOT going to be able to make an 8th lap, in fact he finished only 7:30 ahead of me. I officially had a new bench mark for suffering! End result, I was one step below (on the podium) of a 3 time World Champion, 4 time national Champion and 2 time Olympian... Not bad for a single speed! Great feat to help remind my kids you can do anything if you set your mind to it!

What a crazy day - Marja took 4th at her race which is amazing considering how bad her lungs were! She will be racing Nationals Friday in the XC and then Saturday in Short Track!!!

...it's not everyday you get to share the podium with Tinker Juarez

A huge thanks goes out to Marja, Pete and Sharon for supporting me this season, without their work in the pits I would never have finished where I did! They are amazing! All three of them sacrificed a lot for my racing. Of course Chris, his dumb-a$$ was there when this whole nonsense started at Worlds in Laguna Seca, I wish he could have been there for all the races. And to the source of all our lunacy: Scott and Linda....w/o their whacked out desire for the EPIC ride and always wanting to do it faster I might be sitting around playing Xbox (ooopppps, I did last night!)!!!

Now is time to play...

And let the record show, I built up a new CX rig and not only does it have gears in the back, it has another derailleur up front - that's 2 derailleurs!!

Uncharted territory....

So the CX season started in sunny California...and I do mean SUNNY. CX is about the cold, rain and mud even some snow. Sunday at Del Paso Park, circa 98 degrees....whatever! Not sure I believe it was that hot, but when its CX, unless its CACX, should you really have to worry about dust!?!?

Marja went off first in the Women's A race and started slower than she hoped, but holy cow she came back with a vengence!! She dropped her main rival from last year and with one lap to go caught the first chase group of three...unfortunately that group had two tag-a-longs riding Lizzy's wheel for the previous 3 laps and when the two gals went Marja went with them and tried her hardest to pull Lizzy through with her, but Lizzy was spent - road tactics, whatever! Anyway...

Marja ended up 4th in the A's....keep in mind she raced a BRUTAL XC course up in Chico the day before, oh yeah and the Super D as well. I am jealous!

Scott and I went next....as I expected I was the only schmoo on a single speed racing A's, and the course was flat and smooth with a bunch more flat and smooth sections. I was in the main pack through lap 3 but once we hit the long flat straight-away after the grass on that lap I quickly spun-out and killed myself trying to spin like mad to keep up....I only made it 3 more laps until I rode off the course completely done....pathetic, I know.

Two weeks ago I raced the Tahoe Sierra and felt great that week right after it and probably rode way too much and too hard, and on Sunday I paid for it. My body opened its own can-o-whip-ass on myself...tough to swallow. I slept for a few hours after the race. Maybe I should have listened to my legs last Wed and Friday on my CX bike on some long rides where I just felt BLAH.... oh well, nothing like a little smack in the face to remind me I am old and need to recover!!

So after that long lead in, here's the kicker.... I wanna play with the big boys in the A's... I did okay last year on my SS, I mainly did it to race 60 minutes instead of the 45 for the SS class. I think its time to step it up...and that means trying to figure out how to ride a geared CX bike...yeah I said it! I may take baby steps and start with a 1x9, so only one derailleur to start with...or I might go crazy and get a front derailleur too....who knows.

Thats my next adventure, if only I remember to shift once I have them!!

There's my week! Now the REALLY COOL adventures from the previous week were with the kids:

1. Annika now can pull off a roundoff-back-handspring solo. Not bad for my little 5yr old gymnastic stud! She has been working hard at it with her coach at practice and then at open gym Saturday, she nailed it!
2. Cam's actually playing soccer....meaning he and his team are passing and moving the ball around the field, its too cool. They even almost scored off Cameron's corner kick, Logan was a few inches from heading it in. No more bunch ball!!! Of course it leads to really lopsided scores now that our team has "figured the game out", but its still great to watch.

This weekend we drive to Parkfield (BFE northeast of SLO) for race #2 in the WCCC collegiate race schedule. Marja and UCDavis are hoping to have another great performance, last week was 3 of the top 4 I believe. Marja hopes to be on her new hardtail. Then after hanging out with the folks in P-town, we may head into the Bay for the opening of the CX series out there on Sunday...

Stay tuned....

Tahoe Sierra Race Report

Well by 7:45a.m. Saturday morning, if you had asked me.....my day was going downhill FAST! In reality, it was going uphill very SLOWLY!!

The Tahoe Sierra 100 (I wish it was 100, I will get to that) was Saturday out of Soda Springs. The 3rd stop on the Leave No Trace Series. Going into the race I was second behind Tinker with Mike Harrison from Breakaway Bicycles 12.5 miles back (1 lap at Cool). I went into the race wanting to top Mike, but the reality was , since the race was based on miles, I only needed to finish to keep my second place...BUT why just show up to one of these things "to finish?!"

Mike and I hung out Friday night before I met up with Linda and Lou at their place in Soda Springs. So nice staying 5 minutes from the start! However, I maybe slept 4 hours at best. I have had a crazy time sleeping lately, and the race didn't help anything.

We started at 7a.m. sharp with a blazing decent down Soda Springs Road (rough dirt road) toward the days first climb - Lyons Ridge Road (4x4 access road). The trip down was better than I thought, I expected the single speeds to get blown out the back but tucking in behind people and taking some risks kept me in good position to the first "up" of the day. I started grinding away and QUICKLY realized I felt terrible. I usually do early on, but knowing Mike, Jared and Zol were fast starters I wanted to keep it close early.

Jared and Mike were gone, and Zol was pretty close in front of me, but I felt like I was going backward. I slowed even more to try and get my heart rate down, but I was starting to get nervous for my race. Been there before, so I kept slogging away. Linda cruises by with ease, I eventually catch back up to her after the summit and pass by hoping we could help each other out through the day...unfortunately I didn't see her again.

Lyons Ridge done, the decent to French Meadows was spooky!! The dust was so thick you seriously could barely make out the trail and the rider in front of you. If you have ever ridden at night with a head lamp in thick fog.....this is what it felt like. Bizarre and nerve racking!

Bottom out and we eventually hit the next climb out of French Meadows, another 1800 to 2000 feet to climb....Now my legs are feeling better. The climb is not as steep and its a fire road so you can choose your lines carefully to avoid slipping.... Passed a few people, one single speed makes his way past me.....he's spinning a small gear....no worries its early.

Hit Mary Allen's aid station at the top, ride through and begin the grind up a long piece of "single track" called RedStar Ridge.... I was riding with two bottles and my Deuter (camel back) so I was fully self-supported. I had an identical pack already loaded waiting at mile 52 w/ Marja and Pete at their Aid Station. Running self-sufficient would prove wise later on.

Redstar, wow, really powdery - wait its the Sierra in mid-September, duh!?! Its challenging, and hey its single track...then we hit the brush from hell. The trail is:

1. Chewed to hell by motorcycle traffic
2. runs through previous fire ravaged terrain, i.e. more powder
3. its steep and its rocky
4. disappears through thick brush

Not whining, just pointing out the obvious...a ways into it I remount and start cranking away when the powder gets deep....there I am turtled about 10 feet below the trail, still clipped in, now covered in powder... at least I was able to make people laugh!!

There are several hike-a-bike sections for everyone, not just the SSers....then comes the descent in the powder. I really had fun, it was dicey and you really had to pay attention to the ruts in the powder, but what a blast....

Here we are at mile 30, Madcat has an aid station at 37, I remember thinking we'll be there soon! Seeing that the first 30 flew by, the next 7 took an eternity! We had 1.5 miles on the road, a good chance to eat. A wee unnerving with my Deuter hanging in front of me, digging through the pack with both hands at about 40 mph heading down the pavement...fig newton in hand, now I can put the hands on the bars just as we hit dirt again....

The dirt rolls along for about 3/4 of a mile, then a 90 degree turn to the right and up we go. Up in a hurry. Although not brutally steep, the 4 inch deep powder with what seemed like marbles in it made it impossible for me to grind up....I caught myself getting irritated, and hopped off and began the death march....100 feet, hop back on and ride for a several hundred, then the next switchback....hike.... I got rid of the negative thoughts and realized everyone was doing the same, and those riding were going the same overall pace I was.

Problem was.....I was HURTING...legs were on fire, lungs felt fine.... I was having the mental battle like it was 3 a.m. in a 24 hr race. I accepted that I was losing big time on everyone I wanted beat. I hoped my legs would rally, that I would rally.

FINALLY, Madcat aid station at mile 37...I ride by and notice there are about 15 people there and most look destroyed. All the people I climbed to the aid station with are off their bikes, i.e. losing time :)

It was the first ugly part of the race, a well maintained fire road that was barely an incline, i.e. spinout in my 34x19 for a few miles then it kicked a bit, then it kicked me in the face, on two occasions - I was hike-a-biking again!

Finally the left hand turn at mile 42 that meant what I hoped was a descent to Pete and Marja at their aid station at 52. With only a few little rises the next several miles were a riot just bombing down the single track....I use that term loosely here, lets just say it wasn't a road, it wasn't double track...it was what one could call a line through the trees and the rocks...

We plopped out on s nice fire road and climbed up to 52. This 2+ mile climb felt good, FINALLY!!!

Pete and Marja's aid station - Marja had my burrito (turkey, rice, cheese and salsa) along with a Fresca! MONEY!! I joked with Sharon as I devoured my food...off I went. Marja told me Mike was already on the loop (we looped back to the aid station after a 7 mile stretch of single track). This meant about 40 to 45 minutes Mike had on me.

The loop was gorgeous, fun single track. The views were amazing, at one point a 2000 foot wall of granite across the canyon. Incredible!

I leave the aid station after a diet coke and start grinding back up toward Madcat, this time covering the elevation in a "more direct fashion"...ouch!

Two SSers pass me. Whoa, just relax and keep ticking away.

Madcat aid station, one of the SSers is blown to pieces on the ground with his helmet off. The other on a trek 29er is out of the aid station already. Damn!

As I pass I notice about 10 to 15 people in that aid station, again I am so happy I was self-sufficient! Although I am hurting, I am able to keep better focus and grind away at the climbs in what seems a more deliberate pace.

Fast forward to Robinson Flat Aid Station...

25 miles to go, I grab a regular coke and pull out more fig newtons as I roll on by.... I am alone on the course now, alone since the Madcat aid station. At Robinson we had over 3000' left to climb, its a long "rolling" slog toward Mary Allen's aid station that's 15 miles out. Along the way I realize I am grinding away at a good clip. I starts pouring rain for several minutes, very refreshing and knocks what dust in left in the air down.

15 miles to go, still alone. Mary reminds me of the tricky decent ahead, gives me a cherry coke as I ride through.

Second rise on the descent to the final climb back up to Soda Springs....there's the Trek 29er, walking on what seems to be a rideable climb.

The next rise I catch him, he is walking and I am riding.

"You've been kicking my a$$ all afternoon, get on that bike lets go!!" In retrospect I should have hit him hard and made him work mentally and physically. Sometimes it doesn't pay off to be a nice guy. But what can I say...

"You're an animal, I'll try"

We talk for a while as we ride along. Its mellow terrain now, the ups are not so tough and the descents are FAST. We hit the bridge that marks the 7 mile to go point and the bottom of the last 2000' of vertical...

He kept asking about aid stations and if any were left, I told him NO and offered a bottle of water. He said he didn't need it and offered me half of a Red Bull....I declined. The road kicks and I begin to pull away. I am hoping his Red Bull kills his gut but he dangles at about 10meters behind me. Several minutes pass, then he is next to me....then he opens his can of WHOOP-A$$...it was the slow release kind, the ones that slowly choke you to death instead of slapping you in the face, hard....

I passed probably 6 more people on the climb to the finish. Once there I see Mike and Jared sitting at the finish. Jared won it. He was only 5 minutes ahead of Mike, Mike was 6 ahead of the "whoop-a$$-kid" and I was 4 in the rears of him. After being as much as 45 minutes down on Mike I got within 10 freaking minutes....

My Garmin read 89.2 miles....if the race was 100 I feel I would have caught Mike and maybe Jared! I would hope Whoop-a$$-kid too but who knows. In the end it seems I was riding myself back into contention.

Moral of the story, I hate to do it, but I need to quote someone here. It seems I wasn't really having that bad of a day after all....

"...it never gets any easier, you only go faster..." Greg Lemond

Until that final climb I would have told you I was having a horrible day, but the fact that the top 4 SSers all finished w/in 15 minutes of each other after roughly 10 hours says something. I am very satisfied with my finish, now if I could get a "start" worth talking about, damn!

Race Stats:

• 10:08:12
• 89.2 miles
• 12,480 feet of climbing
• 4th place Pro/Expert Single Speed

Like I always tell Cameron and Annika, "Don't give up! Don't EVER give up!!"

"Cyclocross is just a bunch of roadies trying to stay fit..."

That's what a certain dirt rag I picked up from a friend basically said. (1) Cyclocross, first off, is gaining popularity which implies it sucks. (2) Roadies started cross to train through the wet months...(3) "...this involves running- something you do only out of necessity over terrain that otherwise couldn't be ridden or avoided..."

Now I think we all know what the term "roadie" entails: eccentric control freak with no people skills (I will stop there) and NO bike handling skills...no, don't bring up Lance or "that guy" on B-Box that "road out B-Box corner" in the Team Time trial at this years Tour"...they already race CX.

But to go so far and to bash CX. To me, the best feel of any race has been any CX race or the SSWC in Napa. These races feel like MTB races did back in the day of the Knobular Series in Northern California. The most fans screaming with cowbells in hand, drinking beer in the spots most likely to witness carnage....you can't beat that!

For me, living in Cameron Park and working here in Sac my predominant riding is the CX bike, now I know where we ride our CX bikes most people ride their MT Bikes, but I consider myself a mountain biker, and a pretty experienced and successful one at that.

My next question is, has this guy ever raced a CX race? I will admit, I didn't see the draw until I raced one. My first was on my Bianchi WUSS (MTB), and I had a blast trying to keep up with all the skinny tire people. The next race, my start time was after my buddy Scott and he convinced me to race his Giant TCX built up as a SS. I think it was the beginning of my second lap when I yelled to Scott, Steve and Marja to order me a TCX frame of my own....I had to have one. I raced to a 3rd place overall in the B race, 2nd SS.

It took me back to my Schwinn bmx bike with yellow Mag wheels I rode all over Pleasanton, the dirt jumps in the drainage canals, the dirt roads out to Shadow CLiffs, etc... Thats what CX is to me first and foremost, just feeling free with no worries. You get to do something completely childish and silly, to most, for 60 minutes and have people screaming at you, offering beer, etc... nevermind the heckling you get to give out to your friends racing other races that day!

Its 60 minutes of absolute joy! Well, okay, maybe its more like 60 minutes of absolute HELL, then you can joyfully share your tales glory, shame, crashes afterward!

And heaven forbid it actually rain in Nor Cal before a race, then its really CX (not the usual CACX)... there is nothing better than a CX race in an absolute downpour (although I have it on good authority that snow rocks too!)

So where was I going with this? Oh yeah....I wish some of these anti-CX folks would try and ride a CX bike on their trails....maybe then they'd get some bike handling skills....

...then again, maybe it would be better if these guys stayed away from CX after all. There is nothing like riding all the trails between downtown and Granite Bay in the rain and mud w/o a single person around. N. Californians really don't like the rain thank goodness.

There's my opinion, which matters so little it's hard to justify the time to type this...but alas, other than my Hope, its the one thing "they" can't take from me...

The funny thing, after writing this I actually finished looking through the mag and they are trying to give CX a "better image"..

I like the way it looks now!

Maybe the real reason I am so grumpy....my little Baby just started Kindergarten today... I agree with Marja, its exciting and I should be happy, but for some reason I am sad...next step college!????

The shoe laces are her touch!!!

The past month in a few pics....

Crewing for Marja at the Kirkwood 9 to 5 (8/1/09)

Marja on the Minden side of the RIM

1/2 a pint is all it takes!!!

uh...no we did not take any shuttle....and the horse reference, ask Scott!

Where did summer go?

July 27, 2009

Well its almost August...yikes where did the summer go?

The kids start school in 3 weeks.

Annika will be in Kindergarten....whoa, its official... she really is growing up. Cameron, he's a 2nd grader. Wow I am getting old...at least I don't feel that old!!

This year is flying! After Boggs 24 we have been doing a lot of playing rather than the usual regiment of "ride everyday for a reason." Marja proclaimed this the summer of "Skillz" so we have ridden Northstar at Tahoe twice...yes on the lifts!! She has been tearing up the technical decents! It has made a huge difference in her confidence when it comes to losing elevation!

We also threw in a great ride on the Rim with Scott. We rode Mt. Rose to Marlett Lake, down the Flume Trail and back along the Rim to Mt. Rose. That night we met Joel and Jenni at the Tahoe SRA in Tahoe City to camp so we could ride Northstar the next day. Beautiful location, right on the lake. However HWY 28 was on the other side of us. Talk about high density camping, wow. And the party goers returning to the site after the bars, lets just say no one slept much after about 11:45/12:00. Ouch. We woke up, then headed out on a 5 minute HIKE to get coffee at the coffee shop! After that, breakfast at McD's...nothing like camping!!!

We rode Northstar, this time on Jenni and Joel's free-ride bikes so it was a bit more enjoyable on the bumps. The one major issue however, we were riding on platform pedals....i.e. NOT clipped in. Hey, I rode my old schwinn bmx everywhere as a kid. I used to huck table tops and other combinations of nutty jumps in what used to be a drainage canal in Pleasanton, now its a strip mall off Hopyard. So off I go on Joel's wheel, we take a few sweeping banked turns and hit the first double jump. I thought I'd take it easy and just get a little air and land on top of the double....even with what little air I got, my feet were floating about 3 inches above the pedals....YIKES!

It took me the better part of the day to get my feet to stick to the pedals...amazing how 15 years of riding clipped into pedals can totally screw you up... I do have to say, for the most part I enjoyed all 6" of travel on that bike...believe me, I was using all 140mm up front throwing that bike through some crazy lines....good practice for the technical skills!!

More recently I have been trying to get back into a regiment preparing for the Tahoe Sierra 100 in September and the Knickerbocker 8hr in October. I took the week off entirely to take the kids camping up in Highlands, south of Ebits Pass. At that point my entire left side of my body from the lower back down was completely trashed. Seems my "i.t. band," my butt, hamstring, and my quads on my left are totally "freaking out" to quote Veloyce. Since that rest, Veloyce up at Monsters of Massage has got my sciatic nerve cooperating with me. For a while now I have had serious sciatic nerve issues: pain in my upper left butt, down my Hamstring, in my quad and most ridiculous in my left groin and hip flexer. Its been miserable, just ask Marja as hard as I try I have been a whiney a$$ and rather annoying I am sure.

So anyway, going 2x per week to see Veloyce, and let me tell you I cry while he is working on me and I feel like I was hit by a bus the next morning....but things are getting under control!! THANK YOU VELOYCE!!! I am heading there today actually!

Where was I....after highlands, which was awesome camping with Marja and the kids...they had an absolute blast! It was fun watching Marja squirm after the first half-day...she always has to be doing something so she was crawling out of her skin! Cute!!

Since then I have been trying to get consistent, but between work/kids schedules/etc its been tough. Road a few CX rides with Scott and Marja (her new CX bike will hopefully be here on Wednesday), I also was able to ride Diablo a while back. Once up from the N. gate, then to the S. gate and back to the summit. Its a nice ride, 50+ miles with about 7k in vertical. The second trip is always better than the first for me.

Last Saturday Scott, Marja, Linda and I headed out on a little climbing-spree. The usual route (well almost) with the N. Fork canyon thrown in: down Ponderosa to the river and back up to Weimar along 80, then down Yankee Jim's to the N. Fork and up Yankee Jim's back to Foresthill and then after 7+ hours and two "Monkey-butts" later we road the road back to the confluence - 57 miles with 7850 of vertical.

Surprisingly my legs felt amazing. Now the trip up Ponderosa toward Weimar hurt...mostly due to the heat: funny thing was the heat on your back was less than the heat radiating up off the fire road... My biggest issue, the Monkey! And it wasn't on my back! Seems Champion Systems shorts do not agree with me anatomically...nor Marja...Get out the Desitin!!!!! I will leave it at that!

Today I am running, short on time, but the reality is my diaper rash still hurts!!!! So now I start prepping for Tahoe Sierra....looking forward to it this year. Life starts to get hectic again with Annika's Gymnastics getting into full swing the next few weeks, Cameron's soccer I will be helping to coach and School too! Time to invest in Monsters again!!

Once Marja's DeSalvo actually arrives, I will post pictures.....it is going to be sweet!!!! I am jealous. She is pulling her hair out, for the real story ask her....or Chris (thats Burrito Mom :)

Cheers!!

Coolest 24hr @ Boggs

Well here it is, my report on Boggs 24hrs. A wee bit different than Cool:

1. weather
2. course
3. mindset

The weather was perfect, forcaste around 80, but my guess was it might have hit the mid 70's Saturday.

The course was tough, after talking with Dez on a lap Sunday morning he agreed this may have been one of the toughest courses for a 24hr race. It started out with a short fire road stretch to single track that wound through the forest. It had a sweet little rock garden that had a few little drops that dropped you on to more single track. Then came the first climb, a fire road ascent that was steep but not too long followed by some rolling fire road/single track to the first single track climb that was tough. It had a few little descents and topped out at a long section of rolling descent with some switch backs that went on for a while...a nice relief. The course went up and down from here on tight single track and eventually dropped you off on the fire road climb back to the top of the course. Ouch. From the Garmin Marja had on her bike it looks like about 2 miles with a steep pitch at the bottom and a steep pitch at the top. Here, after lap 3 I hiked the bottom and top pitches faster than the geared bikes were riding them...

After you topped out it was a ripping single track descent with a few little ups that made all that suffering worth it. Then, "plop" you get to do it all over again.

Scott, Shelly and Max followed Marja and I (with Maddie and Phil of course) for the drive to Boggs Demonstration Forest near Cobb south of Clear Lake. Pete caught us on the road so we all arrived together and set up the pit area. Scott and Shelly made a great dinner for all of us and then around 8 it was time to hit the hay. Pete stayed at Boggs, while the rest of us lesser mortals crashed at the Bates Motel in Cobb. A good night sleep before race day.

We all met back up at the pits around 8, cooked breakfast and got the last details dialed in. With the weather cooperating I was able to mask my nerves....Marja was having a tougher time than me. Leading up to the start of Cool I was a complete basket case, I could tell she really wanted to get the race started. Fast forward to the start...

I rode the first lap with Scott (he and Shelly were doing the 8hr as a team). We had a cattle call at the technical rock garden about 1 mile into the course, but after that the course opened up. I was his tour guide as most of the course was the same as the Boggs 8Hr course that Carlos at Bike Monkey uses in March... It was nice to just ride and talk with Scott the whole time. As we rode the climb on the back side of the course I began wondering about gearing. I had 34x18 on the DeSalvo, and rode that first lap strong....hmmmm, 24hrs though. 1st lap down (Scott passed off to Shelly) and the race started in earnest as I had to get my mind into it. I will be the first to admit I was all over the place mentally. Thinking about way too much.

After lap 2 I swapped bikes with Pete and asked him to put the 19 on the back....a decision that payed off later. I was on my Bianchi that had crooked handle bars and a crooked seat. I am not the best multi-tasker, so early Saturday when tweaking the bike and talking with everyone I failed to pay attention....no biggee....just funny...

To my surprise, Pete was at the mid-way point of the race at an aid station with my DeSalvo. SWEET! I have a lot of history with that Bianchi, by my god is the DeSalvo heaven compared to it... quick cyclocross-like swap and I kept on rolling!

Off I go...

Heading out on lap 4, Pete tells me Mike Harrison is 10 minutes up on me, so take a minute or so off my laps. This started me focusing on racing. My lap times were good, but I was "riding" this race so far, not "racing." I picked it up a notch.

I come through and Pete tells me I knocked 4 minutes off my lap time, great, but back off....

Next lap, "its a 24 hr race Brad, same lap time you can slow down..."

I honestly thought I was. On my lap 7, as I am grinding up toward the halfway aid station I see DeSalvo across some one's butt.....its Marja!

I call out and she cusses me out (in play of course) because she wanted to hold me off for her entire 8 hours. This should have told me how fast I was going. Looking back I should have slowed right here and ridden the lap out with her. We talked for a little and I kept hammering that lap....

Lap 8 I just keep riding with good focus. Top of the last climb I see Mike. I caught him. We finish that lap together and he looks like hell. I head out on a little of a mental high and start lap 9 in the lead. I quickly extend my lead to about 20 minutes over the next few laps... with this a few problems pop up.

1. Mentally I relax, and I ASSuME Mike is toast.
2. Serious GI issues, stomach hurts and plumbing isn't working right.

One late lap I bonk hard about 1/2 way on the lap. Scott's remedy of three Gu's and I start feeling okay...slow though. Finish that lap with my stomach trashed, hit the bathroom. Nada.

Next lap I ride consistently, consistently SLOW as I am on the verge of vomiting most of the lap. Finish and end up in the bathroom for a while.

Mike passes me...

I hit the pit and Marja and Pete are lost as too how. Mike seriously turned it on at night and in combination with my GI issues he caught me and kept riding strong on the high of catching me. I, on the other hand, still nauseous and mentally smacked in the face am having a hard time regaining my focus. The next few laps Mike get almost 20 minutes on me before I regain some focus and start riding more consistent.

One lap in particular I was starving but nauseous at the same time. I was whining HUGE, Marja stepped up and threw my butt out of the pit on my bike...the BEST thing that could have happened, thanks Marja!!!

As the night wears on its freaking COLD...really cold for June in California. As expected, as the light starts to appear on the Eastern Horizon the temp is dropping, BUT the sun is coming.

Once in the daylight I regain a bit of my focus and start riding better. My body is still broken, but my mind is better. I ride a lap with Dez, he passes me on a climb and I ride his butt on the descents. A great carrot for me to follow. He stops to visit nature, and a bit later on the last descent we ride into the pits together. It was great to have someone to talk to.

This race had 40 24hr folks on the course after 8pm Saturday. It made it very desolate at night. So the conversation was a nice change. I had several laps where I saw no one!

As time is passing, I am realizing that I definitely have 2 laps I can get in before 12. Mike has 16 minutes on me, he can definitely get 3 more. I do not want to finish 1 lap down on him for a couple reasons:

1. Pride, he and I have battled it out and to NOT finish on the same lap cause I missed the cutoff wasn't an option I wanted to deal with; and
   
2. The Leave No Trace Series is based on mileage, and I was 12.5 miles ahead of Mike because I beat him in Cool (he raced geared at Cool). Currently I sit #2 behind Tinker.
   

Lap 17 I head out struggling to focus.

Lap 18 Pete and Marja tell me I have to bust it in order to get out on Lap 19 with enough time. I struggle on 18, but role through the start/finish with 1hr 20 minutes to finish Lap 19. That was my average since morning.

I come into the pit and toss my bottles, Marja replaces them, she shoves two Snickers in my mouth...Pete shoves 4 Chomps in my mouth...with a Diet Coke in hand I leave within seconds of arriving at the pit. Riding down pit row I realize I just might be sweeping the course. Turns out Pete and Marja were really worried about me making it, and Jim (race director) came by the pit after I left and expressed his concern that I wouldn't make it.

I can happily say I left that pit knowing I would make it. Somehow I found complete focus from the start of that lap. I just kept mumbling to myself "my legs will clear quickly and easily"...nonstop. I caught a "Davis Bike Club" guy on the single track climb and he was toast. I tried to fire him up but he was broken....he wouldn't make it.

I fly down the descents trying to gain every second I can. I start grinding up to the halfway point and there's Marja Screaming for me with a diet coke in hand....I grab it, slam most of it and keep on pushing. She didn't seem too happy I remember thinking. Afterwards she told me she was concerned I might just miss the cutoff.

On the last climb, I pass another solo Single Speed and fire him up. He was silent.... I yelled at him to get on his bike and push his butt to the finish....

The last descent toward the end I was flying... I glance at my watch and realize not only was I going to make noon, but I was going to have over 10 minutes to spare.

I pop out at the start/finish, Marja and Pete yelling! I roll around the final tree and see the clock reads 23:47:15. I just pulled off a 1:07 final lap. I was so stoked. Marja grabs my bike and as I hop off all excited I suddenly feel like I was going to hurl. A few dry heaves here and there and my stomach starts to settle.

I was so happy to have pulled off that lap after losing focus over night. To race that hard and that fast for 24 hrs was a new level for me. My hats off to Mike, he raced his ass off! I can honestly say it was great to be in that close of a race the entire time.

Tinker finished with 23 laps, Dez with 22 and then Mike and I had 19 laps. Next closest was 15 laps I believe. What a race! What a brutal course, especially on a SS...whoa!

Whats up next....riding Downieville, Hole-n-the-Ground, Rim, etc having fun! I plan on riding a lot of miles helping Scott get tuned for his stage race out of Brian Head, Utah in August.

I owe a lot to Marja and Pete for their dedication this past weekend....staying awake - Marja after racing and winning the 8hr race.....Yes she LAPPED 2nd place twice... They kept me fed, moving when I was totally beat down. They froze their butts off and never missed a beat, thanks guys!!!!!

Pics to come!

Garmin: 199.5 miles, 27,702 vertical feet

Lazy days of summer...

(Looks like an error never posted this last week....Boggs report to come...)

Well its about that time again....Coolest 24hrs at Boggs is this weekend. Unlike Cool, it looks like the temps will be somewhere around 80 degrees with NO RAIN...

I am doing the 24 solo, Marja the 8hr solo and Scott and Shelly are pulling off the 8hr as a two person team. Whats pretty cool about that, is while not racing, the other will be attending to Max.

The past few weeks have seen some big rides, I was fortunate enough to partake in one of them. Last Saturday Marja did her first road century with Shelly. She sold her road bike recently so I threw my road wheels on her cyclocross bike. I assured her that it would be easier than changing tires on the wheel sets as they were identical.

Here's where it gets funny...

About 2 years ago I was riding Mt. Diablo and was thinking about my gearing on my road bike. I always enjoyt riding Diablo, but when my leghs are beat I had no choice in gears, 39x23 was the smallest I could go. I decided I would throw and 12-25 on the rear wheel so I could spin a bit more on tired days. Fast forward to the first climb at the Sierra Century last week...

Marja starts climbing with shelly and goes to shift into another gear, one more appropriate for the day and she looks down as her bike won't shift... Seems although I had mentally made the decision to change that 23 to a 25 tooth cog, in reality, it never happened. Marja was flying up all the climbs in her 39x23. Cursing my name the entire time I am certain.

Although she had no problems with it, it was typical "Brad maneuver"....reason #37 why I stay away from gears.

That following Monday (a week ago) I headed out solo on the usual loop in Auburn as Scott had to work and decided to head up McKeon/Ponderosa to Foresthill. Once there, tired beyond belief, I decided to drop down the other side of the ridge to the North Fork of the American on Ponderosa (dirt road). Gorgeous day, a nice 6.4 mile detour with a 1000' and change extra in climbing added on to the normal loop. Once back to the divide loop I was pooped but kept the pace relatively high. See I was parked at the confluence instead of Russel so I told myself I would just call it a day at the confluence...well that didn't happen and I busted up stage coach as fast as I have in a very long time...hopefully good foreshadowing for this weekend at Boggs.

The next big ride was Scott and Linda, all I did last Monday, plus a trip up to Weimar, back down Yankee Jims to the N. Fork and on up to Foresthill to complete to loop. A BIT more mileage and FEW more feet of vertical. 73+ miles with 11,590+ vertical feet. A mere 9.5 hours later they were done. Marja was not sad she passed on that ride. :)

That happened on Saturday, on Sunday Marja and I dropped down Ruck-a-Chucky and in conversatiopn with a ranger he poked fun of us riding down there and he mentioned he "actually" saw two others the day before...what a shock 2 of the maybe 4 other people in the world weird enough to ride down there on a regular basis....and Marja and I know them all....it was Scott and Linda.

Marja and I made our way up passed the 10 vehicles driving down, a record for me. Marja was riding super strong... and her descending on the culvert trail later on was awesome. Now if she actually has time to train, she will clean up (not that she doesn't already, its just gonna get uglier for her competitors!!!).

Now the rest of my week will be spent prepping my bikes and organizing my food, clothes, lights, etc. for Boggs 24hr. Its a weird feeling, definitely a more anxious/excited feeling than Cool. Cool I was a nightmare thanks to the weather.

The kids will be racing Prairie City this week, looking forward to that!

Time flies...

...well I am WAY over due. Vacation, kids schedules, etc. got the better of me. In short:

1. Washington was great, Chris rocked his 24 hr race. A much needed break from work and school for Marja...
2. Cameron raced a Biathlon (run/bike) and lead from the gun to the tape!! WOW!
3. Marja fell victim to my inattention to detail, 23 is not the same as 25 when going up hill (details to follow)
4. Crushed myself today exploring the canyons..40 miles with 7500' vertical on a balding rear tire...why not make it even harder right....see "inattention to detail" note above...

"...maybe its the fact you are too dumb to know any better..." I realized climbing out of the N. Fork of the American today that my father pretty much has me pegged.

Details to come, I SWEAR!!!!

Cheers!!!

Cameron's Turn...

We headed out to Davis this a.m. for Cameron's second triathlon. He had a 25 meter swim, 1.2 mile bike, and a 0.5 mile run.

Right before Cameron's heat started, he said he was nervous, but never showed it. In the pool, two kids per lane, Cam took a foot in the nose from the lane next to him and got a bloodied nose, he climbed out of the pool and started running to the transition when the EMT stopped him to look at his nose....the whole time Cam kept trying to get away to run to his bike....finally about what seemed like 2 minutes later (probably 45 seconds), Cam was off sprinting to his bike. He found his bike, put on his shoes, shirt and helmet and took off. Once out of the transition area he stood up and started cranking....got love that!!!

The course returned to the transition by coming through an under pass under the neighborhood street (Davis bike paths rock!!) and making a hard right, up a short hill to the park. Cam came ripping through the underpass, making a hard right with the race volunteer screaming at Cam to slow down...nothing doing.... I will admit I was a bit nervous but he made the turn and cranked up to the transition w/o any expression on his face...his race face!!

He racked his bike, dropped his helmet and took off sprinting out of the transition. He grabs a cup of water w/o missing a step, drinks it and tosses it like he has been racing for years! I have a hard time (1) not spilling the cup all over myself, and (2) not choking in a lame attempt to drink whats left after I wear most of it. He tore off FAST.... I hoped he'd have something left in the tank come the finish...

Just to make me look silly for worrying, Cam came flying into the finishing chute, obviously hurting a little, but running just as fast as he started the run... Wow!!

He certainly runs better than his old man!! The best part was the huge smile at the finish, he loved it! The MOST IMPORTANT part!!!

...recovering...

The aftermath.....

I have ridden my bike twice since Cool, partially planned, partially consumed with the kids schedule. Between gymnastics and baseball they are busy busy! I plan on keeping them that way along with school for the next 11 to 13 years!!!!! One of the neatest things this week was how excited both Cameron and Annika were that I won the race, made the old man feel good that's for sure!

Now its about maintaining fitness and recovering adequately before the Coolest 24hrs of Boggs on June 20-21. Pete will again be pitting for Marja and I. What a guy...

Hung out with Pete at the shop for a while on Friday, ordering all the parts I need to make my bikes (and Marja's) rideable again. I will post a video soon that shows the "conversation" everyone in the pit had with me informing me I was done. I look like I am drunk, because despite what they tell me all I can think about is changing and riding.....brain just wasn't processing. Hopefully I will have that soon, its on Pete's camera.

Heading out on the road bike, no that's not a typo you read correctly, for several hours after work. Just get the legs back to working everyday. After 40 today and 50 tomorrow on the road bike I will be riding out to Prairie City Wednesday, racing, then riding back to Scott's house.... Usually about a 50 mile day on the SS. Anyone want to join?? The ride back is fun as the trails that are not advisable during the day are a blast at night heading back! Plus you get to spin out your legs after a 45-60 minute anaerobic spas session!

Next stop, Spokane, Washington for Chris' 24hr race. Marja and I will be crewing and spending the week between there and Seattle relaxing and riding A LOT...you better be ready to ride after your race Chris!!!!

Coolest 24 Mudfest

The past few days have been a roller coaster for me. This weekend was 24hrs of Cool, and if your are in N. California you know what the weather was like. Friday it dumped. Period. We picked up Chris at the airport, he flew in from Seattle, where, ironically, it was sunny and 70 degrees, after we met Pete out in Cool where he was establishing the Dirt City compound for the race.

Let me just stop right there and say a few thank yous, cause frankly however many I do say, won't give these people enough props for sticking it out in the miserable weather those 24+ hours:

Marja, Pete, Chris, Sharon, Lou, Scott, Linda!!!! THANKS!!!

Friday may have been the worst feeling I have had before a race. I am usually a little anxious, but I literally felt like I had a 1000lb weight on my shoulders....Marja is usually the one who is freaking out pre-race, but not this weekend. The weather just had me totally in a panic.

I love riding around in the slop for an hour at a CX race, but 24hrs...how in the hell will my body react to this?? As I prepped my clothes and Marja and I prepped the food I had the WORST feeling in my gut.... Now the fact Chris brought everything he had clothes-wise made me feel a ton better, and the fenders....a life saver!

Funny thing was, I slept great Friday night. Greatest thing about his race is its location, 20 minutes from my own bed!!! We woke at 7a.m. I made breakfast for Marja and I, Chris made his own fake sausage with fake eggs (okay they were egg whites, but I have to give him a little grief) and he made the coffee - my coffee maker broke, HUGE emergency. Then we sat. Chris made the call that arriving at 9a.m. like I planned was foolish, we'd stand around in the cold and the rain for 3 hrs before the start. The phone rang and Linda asked if we could pick up hay for the pit area, it was a mess....

Now I was really bummed.....finally on site and with all the gear in the pit:

Pete's setup used 3 EZ ups, one was completely walled in with a generator to run lights, music, a microwave (yes Pete runs one!!) and a charging station for lights. The other key was the propane heater.... Pete had everything he could want for the bikes, food, etc... Pete rocked the pit!!

Now all I had to lament was what the hell to wear. Temps in the mid 50's, raining, riding for 24 hrs... WTF??!?!

The staging for the race was nuts, I stayed in the pit until the last moment, Marja staged before me so I never got a chance to wish her luck. In the middle of the Chaos, me not even on my bike, the race starts. Hey, no dust this year!

After the first few miles of single track things spread out enough. Despite the rain, the course is in decent shape. The first major water crossing is DEEP, hubs...in hind sight, that was shallow!

The first decent down to Knickerbocker Creek was fast, and when we hit the bottom, an over zealous 8hr rider flys over the bars and starts his race soaked. Yes, he completely submerged. Unfortunately, this meant I had to dismount before entering the creek and run through it to avoid he and his bike and his water bottle tumbling along the bottom of the creek. Now I am soaked from the knees down....not like I was going to stay dry very much longer. ("Dry" is a used loosely here...it is a relative term)

I started the day scared as hell, once at the race I was comfortable, once it started I was in to it. I finished lap 1 with no clue where anyone was on single speeds. From the past few years Sean Sullivan (races for Independent Fabrications) has finished just behind me. This year, he was racing well. 2nd at the Old Pueblo. My goal for the start was ride with him for the first lap just for piece of mind. Thanks to the chaos I had no clue where he was on the course....for all I knew he was off the front with Tinker...

No pit, roll out on lap 2. I cross the mud bog and start the climb up toward the school and notice a SS in front. The first thing I notice on the bike (no clue what the bike was as all of our bikes were a reddish-brown thanks to the snot, I mean mud everywhere) was a super skinny tire on the rear, likely a 1.95. Then I see the Independent Fabrication jersey through his rain cape. Instantly my mood jumped up 10 fold. I could ride with Sean on lap 2 just to see how he riding.

Once up to our right hand turn just before the school I realize I am riding comfortably and I am catching him quickly....no reason to change what I am doing. I pass Sean, I asked him how it was going and he sounded upbeat. I topped out a short climb a few minutes later and as I double back at the top he was no where to be seen. Hmmmm.

So the course at Cool isn't easy, but when its dry its a fast course. 12.5 mile laps early would have been about an hour for me (I rode a 1:05 the Monday prior just goofing off). With the mud, each lap was getting more and more difficult as more people rode. Some of the new sections of the course had small climbs that became quite tough the more it rained.

So I drop down to Knickerbocker, soaking wet, rip through the creek crossing and start my hike out. On a SS, I hike this climb every lap...with the weather, very few were riding it on geared bikes. The next crazy little downhill I notice the front brakes are gone. So a few Freddy Flintstone corners later I make it to the climb out of Salt Creek. In good weather this is the 2nd of two real extended climbs on the course (Knickerbocker and Salt Creek). The new single track added made the climb a lot more interesting albeit more difficult....now with the rain, after this lap I was hiking/riding/hiking/riding due to the depth of the mud.

Come in the pit for lap 3, tell Pete the front brakes are gone, I change my top layers and head out on the Bianchi... Really should have paid more attention to details on my back up bike: rear tire was not good for mud; front tire was not good for mud; running tubes in both wheels, 55psi horrible compared to my tubeless at 35psi; bar ends didn't match my DeSalvo; I could go on.

No worries though....just kept on riding.

Rain keeps coming down for lap 4. At this point, lap 4 that is, I have no clue what time it was, etc. The one great thing Pete and Chris did in the pit was keep my focused on riding. I let them worry about where I was (not that they knew) how many laps I was on, etc. I rode, and when my timer went off every 20 minutes I ate. That was it. Pedal and eat and drink, repeat.

Approaching 7pm, Lou told me Marja was out in front by a few and she looked really good charging out to grab one more lap before her 8hr race ended. I left hoping to not catch her cause I wanted her to get that extra lap...despite Chris meeting me at the top of Knickerbocker telling me Marja was in front of me I never caught her... I was so stoked to hear each lap how good she was doing because the conditions were pathetic looking back on it.

I pitted, changed clothes, ate, got to see Marja in her muddy glory (She took 2nd place!!! Phil was happy she was done too!!!!) and headed back out. This lap the sun had set and it was dark. I had my moab on the bars and a newt on my head. Great lighting setup!

The next great thing happened....it stopped raining! How perfect was this going to be!!?? I'd regret thinking that...

Within one lap of the rain stopping, the course got even more difficult in the trees. The slippery wet mud (though rideable) turned to super clingy-snot-like slime.... Two relatively fast climbs became death marches. Luckily I figured out quickly to climb on the grass just off the trail and was able to climb them still, but the amount of energy I was expending was ridiculous. Now a few sections of the trail without this freakish clay in just the right mixture that made it like wet cement, did get better. The single track climb out of salt creek was not one of them. BRUTAL.

2 laps into the dry weather all I could think is "it better start raining again!!!" I kept that to myself out on the course for fear I might get punched in the mouth!

All the while I saw no SS solo riders on the course. I was really lost. I felt as if I was merely surviving. I felt neither good nor bad about my race at that time. Looking back that was perfect, I wasn't thinking whatsoever. Pete, Chris and now Marja (after her shower at my house, lucky girl) just told me to keep riding because everyone was suffering horribly. I listened, and just kept moving.

Middle of the night. I am cold. Hungry. I pit, take my top layers off and change. I am eating something when Marja asks if I was cold? I look at my right hand and it is shivering pretty badly, oddly I don't remember feeling cold at that point. I finish changing, I get a little of the heater and finish my food. Out again.

Somewhere around 3a.m. the indigestion got really bad, to the point where it was hard to suck down GUs every 20 minutes. Then, on the short paved climb we had, I noticed the moon was shining....whoa, this is gonna end dry at least, how cool is that?!

Looking back I think I see how ready I was for this race, whatever the weather. I never really mentally felt miserable. I would comment on trail conditions or how cold I felt, or heartburn, whatever....but as soon a I said it, it left my mind. I was successful at focusing on that lap, that climb, that moment. Sounds silly, and I guess if you haven't been there you just won't get it. I was there to try my hardest to win and whatever I needed to go through to get there was just part of it. Its a pretty cool feeling to look back on it and realize that now...

Fast forward, sun comes up, lights off, spirits rise!! Okay, you couldn't see the sun, but no more living by HID and LED lights! As I head out on the lap with the sun coming up, just enough light to leave the lights in the pit.....it starts to rain again. NOW, the sections that were improving turned to sh^%, and the horrible sections actually got a small bit better. "Whatever" at this point!

I had been nursing my brakes, taking a lot of chances, trying to make the brake pads last. They were holding up well (rewind, somewhere in the night I lost my rear brake on the DeSalvo and headed out on the Bianchi again....metal on metal). Once the rain returned though, I QUICKLY burned through the pads in a lap. I pitted, soaking wet, needing food so I waited for the DeSalvo to be fixed as I ate and changed from head to toe. Out I go.

Still raining, nothing too bad, but consistent. Nursing the brakes all I can, i.e. not using them, as the entire racing community in Cool, including all the Auburn bike shops, are out of any type of disc brake pads. No worries I just keep on ticking the pedals over. This lap was good, I felt very positive to get 3 more in.

Change my clothes, AGAIN, head out in the rain. Its cold, looking back, the temp probably dropped 6-10 degrees and it was still raining. I had windproof tights on, arm warmers, two base layers and gore waterproof/windproof gloves along with my Mountain Hardwear rain jacket. I can't afford to get cold, not this close to the finish.

I am having a good consistent lap, once out of Knickerbocker it starts to dump. I am laughing at this point. Every decent, every climb is a river of water. As I hike-a-bike to the lake above Salt Creek I am jazzed I will be doing this 2 more times... subtle, but I never thought, "...only," or, "...just two more times." It was oddly emotionless. Again mission accomplished, no thinking allowed!!

I popped out along 49, again laughing at the rain pouring down, and make my way back to the start/finish area and the pits. Fired up for one more change of clothes and busting 2 more laps out. I run down the finishing chute (you are required to dismount and run/walk here), passed the timing tent to our pit.

As I try and hand my bike off to Chris or Marja everyone is standing there (Marja, Chris, Pete, Sharon, Lou)....Chris says his infamous, "Here's the deal Brad..." At this point I am bordering on serious anger because all I want to do is change and get out there. Last year we "tried" to make a tactical decision about when to stop based on data on the rider behind me. Mentally it killed me. After that we decided to race until the clock stopped....period. Now this is all I can think about.

"Here's the deal Brad. The race is ending at 10 (due to the insane weather), and second place is 3 laps behind you"

I look at my watch, probably smiling I think, but can't remember, and see its 8:15.... I look up and say, "...alright I just need to change and I will hit it."

Chris and Marja, "BRAD, you're done. The race ends at 10, you do not need to go out again."

I am still trying to process this. All my brain is going over and over is:

• "12p.m. = stop riding"

I hear a lot of conversation, probably directed at me, but I am attempting to understand. Finally, it sinks in.

Chris: "You can go out if you want...."

Me, immediately: "No, I'm good...."

And for the 2nd time I cried at one of these 24hr races, except this time it wasn't because of the pain I was in, letting myself be consumed by it. It sank in immediately that I had just won... and to do it in these conditions made it all the sweeter.

It didn't hurt that the only person to do more laps than me was a pro on a geared bike named David Juarez, most people know him as "Tinker" Juarez. Tinker had 14, I had 12.

As Pete said afterwards, "That doesn't suck Brad!"

As it turns out, I was 5 laps ahead of 2nd place.

Back to my support....having Pete, Chris, Marja, Sharon and Lou, and Scott and Linda racing out of the pit too, was awesome. They were always positive, always helping me stay focused. I don't think I could have come close to achieving what I did without each of them. To have that many people all focused on helping me, Marja, Scott and Linda succeed is pretty emotional to think about. I thank each one from the bottom of my heart.

Dirt City cleaned up:

• Marja 2nd 8hr Solo women;
• Scott/Linda 2nd 24hr 2person team;
• Me, 1st 24hr Solo Single Speed, 2nd overall male.

I wonder what Bowen might have to say now?

Its now Tuesday, the legs feel pretty good.... the stomach and GI issues are starting to pile up (no pun intended, its actually 180 degrees from that). Doctor doesn't think its Giardia, but he said in a few days I will know for sure so he sent me home with some antibiotics, no need to go on the Scott Clark diet!! Sorry to those I have yet to call, I will catch up tonight! I Promise.

Now get out there and ride!

The end of Spring...

This weekend is 24hrs of Cool. I could lie and say I have not been obsessing over it the past few days...

...and I could lie again and say I haven't been checking the weather every hour on the hour.

The fact remains its going to be wet. Its going to be cold, well at least for May in California. I have gone over it a dozen times: six pairs of shorts, this and that, rain gear....I am covered. Chris is bringing some clip-on fenders that I ironically gave him amazing amounts of sh&% over a few months back. So, yeah, I think I am set.

No matter how you look at it, its going to be tough, and once I am riding the weather really doesn't matter. Get wet, change clothes. Get cold, change/add clothes. Gets too sloppy change bikes while crew changes the gear on my DeSalvo. No matter how I prepare for this its going to hurt, or at least be tough - if it didn't hurt I wouldn't be pushing hard enough.

The key is living in the moment, that one lap I am on. If I am getting cold, I know warm clothes are 12.5 miles away at most. Everything is about that lap, that climb, that's it. Last year I was golden in that mindset until almost 8a.m. when for one reason or another my concentration slipped and I started doing the math in my hazy mind. The race is hard enough, and to think about how much longer you have to ride makes it that much tougher to do.

The goal, ride each lap hard at a pace I can keep on trucking for a full day, and eating everytime my alarm goes off (every 20 minutes) and drinking what I am told to each lap. I just ride and concentrate on the dirt in front of me. If I can do my part, I have complete faith in my crew to get me through this as fast as my body can do it...or as far as it can go in 25 hrs.

So all this worry about the weather is silly. Its just one more factor that makes this an EPIC weekend. Don't get me wrong, I would love beautiful weather, but "it is what it is"....

Have a great weekend! If you want, come hang out in Cool this weekend!!!