Tuesday, May 15, 2007

I’ve written about how great the Reno Wheelmen races are before, and I’ll probably write about them again. Last Tuesday’s featured Reno’s hometown hero Bobby Julich (3rd place in the Tour de France 1998), who was home for a few weeks taking a break from his European race schedule. As we were taking warmup laps on the race course, I saw Bobby ride up on his Cervelo Soloist wearing his CSC team kit, and on my next lap, I saw him pinning a number on his jersey at the registration table. That’s him, 2nd from the left in the photo:

A few of us rode a lap or so with him during warmup, and talked about where he does his training rides in the area. He told us that because 1) he doesn’t like to drive his car to ride his bike and 2) he’s usually in town with his family, and only wants to be gone the minimum amount of time, he doesn’t ride anywhere outside of Reno. Amazing to think that one of the best riders in the world hasn’t experienced some of the best riding in Tahoe area.

The race itself was relatively uneventful. It was fun to watch the comfort with which Bobby rode through the peloton, and the ease with which he increased his speed. When there’s a need for a sudden increase in speed, most riders will shift down a few gears and stomp on the pedals. Bobby would instead ramp up his cadence on each gear before shifting down, minimizing the load on his legs; something I’m going to work on.

While I finished somewhere mid-pack, 30th or so, my big news is that I beat the UCI pro. With three laps to go, Bobby took the lead and poured on the speed. It’s always thrilling to go through corners at 30 mph with the group stretched way out in one big line. Just before the final turn, Bobby pulled off and let the local hammerheads battle it out for the win. Somehow I too snuck over the line before he did.

A jokester on the sidelines yelled to Bobby as he crossed the finish line at the back of the pack “Better luck next time Bobby!”

I raced a local criterium on Tuesday night with the Reno Wheelmen. It was super cold and snow flurries started during our race. On my drive home from the race, I encountered a blizzard and 37 degree temps. After a half hour of freeway driving on top of the car, my bike was covered with an inch of ice when I pulled into my driveway.

The race was fun. There were hurricane force head winds on the finish stretch, and tail winds on the back stretch. The wind was absolutely crazy; coming around the 4th turn into the wind was like hitting a wall!  I stayed near the front the whole time, but never pulled. I got 2nd in a points prime by sitting behind a big dude that was cranking out major watts into the wind. Nobody else could hang, and I there was no way I was going around him into the wind.

With three laps to go, my friend Nick from Truckee found himself off the front and decided to see how long it would last. Because it was so windy, I thought we might have a chance, so with 2 laps to go, I bridged up to him, stayed on his wheel and tried to recover. Before I could catch my breath, another dude bridged up, then pulled around. I tried to get on his wheel but I had let a gap open of 10 feet or so, and couldn’t close it.  I buried myself to stay with him and we dropped Nick. I finally caught the wheel when we came around the final lap into the wind, but I was completely redlined and couldn’t come around him. When I looked back and saw the field closing in, I rode up just enough to give the dude a little push so we could stay away. We did and I got 2nd (which I felt was better than 10th in a field sprint, hence the push).

I’m pretty sure the only reason we stayed away was because it was so windy. The Summary screen on my Timex HRM showed a max HR of 204. I’ve never seen it over 197; but I was TAPPED (and possibly not recovered from Sea Otter 2 days before)!

Lessons learned:
1) Warm up is necessary, especially when it’s cold
2) I need to develop more power since I had nothing into the wind and could barely stay on a wheel
3) I need to work on raising my LT (especially if my max is now 204 when I thought it was 197!)
4) I need to be able to recover faster so I can bridge up, recover, then have enough juice left to help out, and for the finish

The Reno Wheelmen host an impressive race calendar. The races are a super fun and cheap way to get into road racing and learn what it’s all about. I’m going to try and hit their road and mtb races whenever I’m in town. Next week is the Boca road race in Truckee! http://www.renowheelmen.org/races/races_07/07_Calendar.html

Sunday, April 15, 2007

“It sure is hard to catch back up”
Pro/Expert Singlespeed MTB Cross Country: Laguna Seca, CA
7th place
Click Here for complete results

I had only brought one new XCR-Dry2 tire with me, so I stopped by the Michelin booth, where they hooked me up with another and mounted them up for me. Huge thanks for their help!

Being as particular as I am, I insisted on pumping them up myself. I’ve been experimenting with low tire pressure on my training rides, and have gone as low as 20 psi. For this fast, non-technical race, I certainly didn’t want to be that low, so pumped them up to 30, but it wasn’t enough.

I was in the top 5 heading off the racetrack onto the course,and psyched to see my friend Glenn charging off the front. On our first screaming fast fire-road descent, I was behind some other riders and couldn’t see the terrain very well. I floated over a small drainage bump and landed a little sideways in some nasty drainage ruts. I rolled my front tire enough for most of the air to burp out. I was elated that I didn’t crash, but bummed that I had to pull over to add air.

It only took about a minute, but by the time I was back on the bike, there were only two racers behind me, and 40 in front. I was stuck in the back for a long twisting singletrack descent and climb, with nowhere to pass.

I worked my way through the field wherever possible, working my way to 5th place. Problem was, I couldn’t hold on after that huge effort, and ended up in 7th, 5 minutes behind the leader. I was pleased that I was able to regain so much, but disappointed with my placing. Superstar Travis Brown missed the start and rolled out 4 minutes after the rest of the field. Even so, he was able to ride his way through the entire field into 1st place and win by over 2 minutes.
I learned that while I’m just strong enough to ride with the leaders and contest the podium, I’m not strong enough to ride my way BACK to the front from the back of the pack to not only catch the leaders, but then contest the finish.
It was great fun to have my friends Glenn Rawlinson (old Timex teammate) and Rich Blanco (Sycip Cycles) race with me!

The big winner in the family was my wife Lisa, who competed in her first mountain bike race. On her 4th ever ride on a singlespeed, she finished in 3rd place in the Women’s Beginner/Sport singlespeed category. Unbelievable!!

My friend Jen and her dog Finn make this awesome salsa:

4-5 Ripe vine tomatoes, chopped
1/2 Red Onion, chopped
1/2 Cup Fresh Cilantro,chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Juice of one lime (maybe 2 if you prefer)
(Optional: diced avocado)

Lots of chips
At least one good friend
Cold Mexican beer

Singlespeeding is an absolute blast. Remember growing up as a kid and having a bike with only one gear, maybe it even had a coaster brake? Remember racing your friends up and down the street, to school and back, and through “The Ravine” (or your neighborhood’s equivalent)? THAT’s what it’s all about.

Here’s the way it goes down: don’t even think about shifting, don’t slow down as you approach a hill to figure out which gear you need, don’t miss a shift, don’t break a chain, don’t brake as much, learn to work momentum, ride faster, smile more.

Other reasons?
- It makes easy/old trails hard/new
- It’s quiet - no chain noise
- More Here