Cda Triathlon…possibly my favorite Olympic race in the world…possibly. This year it would serve as the USAT Regional Olympic Distance Championship. If you have not read my last blog post on the Cda Triathlon, you may want to in order to understand my battles with this race (click HERE to go to that post).

Fast forward to the day before the race. I was already packed, ready to roll. I decided to go for a short prep ride on my race set up. All felt good except I was having some trouble with my front derailleur. Earlier in the week, I noticed that a zip tie had cut one of the wires and made the front derailleur inoperable. Since I use Shimano Di2, which is electric, not cable, this could pose a problem (foreshadowing). But I was able to manipulate it a bit to get it to work…so I thought I’d be okay. I decided to double check it when I got home, and it was no longer working. Crap! So I spent about 2 hours trying a variety of different ways to get it to connect. It worked from time to time, but not consistently, and not enough to make me feel confident enough to race with it. The Cda course is HILLY. I thought for a moment that I might be able to ride in the big ring…like I said, for a moment.

I got on the phone and called all the local shops to see if they had a new wire set…no luck. They had some suggestions to get it to work, but none seemed to fix the problem. I made a few more calls and was left empty handed. To start with, Di2 is not really on the shelf in very many shops, and ‘extra parts’ are nonexistent. Since I have di2 on my road bike too, I thought I could borrow some of the wires from it. So I disassembled my TT bike and road bike only to find out there are completely different connectors. Crap #2. Now I have 2 bikes completely taken apart, and still don’t have a race bike that works. It was now late afternoon and I needed to head to Cda to check in for the race that I am starting to wonder if I will be able to do.

I was home again at about 6:30pm looking at a bike that was in shambles. I decided to go back to mechanical shifting…yup, cables. So I got Jessi’s TT bike and took off the front shift lever and the front derailleur. I got some SIS housing and a new cable that I had for some reason. I fitted my Orbea with the cable and housing and routed all the cables internally in the frame and aero bars…never easy. I got it all adjusted, wrapped the bars again, took it for a 2 block ride, made a couple adjustments, and loaded it in the car. Live by electronics, die by electronics. I was feeling a little bit country and little bit rock and roll, but I could shift from my small ring to my big ring…life was a little better.

 Which looks better…right or left?

 Not exactly the cleanest look

A battery next to a traditional front der.

I went to bed still wondering if my front derailleur would work though. Zzzzz.

I woke up and had everything ready to roll. Breakfast, bottles, coffee… all was set. I was a little behind as to when I ‘wanted’ to leave, but I was still good. I hopped in the car, turned the key, and my battery was dead. Crap #3! Since it was about 4:45am, and dark, this was not part of the ‘plan.’ I backed Jessi’s car up next to mine to ‘jump it’ with cables, but our batteries were on the opposite sides. Cables were too short. So I went into the garage and got our battery charger, which has a ‘start’ function. So, finally, I was off and running, hopefully all the way to Cda.

Fortunately the drive to Cda was uneventful…I was happy for that. But I ended up arriving about 1:10 minutes before my start. That is pretty close for me. It also meant that the transition area would be pretty full and I would get a bad spot. But I know how to eek out some room. But it still takes me some time to get all set up. The race started at 7:00 for the 39 and under, and 7:10 for the 40 and over. Since this was a USAT race, I was racing 40 and up and would start in the second group. This had some advantages and probably more disadvantages. But it was what it was.

The ‘young guys’ took off and it gave me some time to get ready. I don’t think I even had my wetsuit on yet, typical. I went down to the start and got in about a 100 yard warm up. Just enough to make sure my goggles did not leak and my Orca 3.8 was fitting perfectly. They gave us the 1 minute to go call, and I started my TIMEX Global Trainer. The horn sounded and the race took off like a shot.  I started running into the slower swimmers from the prior wave fairly quickly and that required me to do a bit more spotting and weaving.  As I was approaching the exit, I knew I needed to be fast. I also knew I needed to prepare to hear how far I was down on the others too. Most people who were giving me splits, knew I started 10 minutes down, and some would just tell me how far I was down on my wave. Both are good information. I quickly made it through transition and was given numbers, and times of things I had no clue they were connected to. But eventually it would all make sense.

I was looking forward to this bike leg because it’s a course that I know pretty well now. I have spent a little time on it over the past years and feel that there are some sections that you can get an advantage in if you know the course. Those that have raced this course (was also the 1999 and 2000 USAT Nationals Course, one that Bruce Gennari won) know that it is anything but flat…or straight. As I was moving along the first 5 miles of the bike, I was passing quite a few people. I did not know if they were from my swim start or not, but it really did not matter. I knew what effort to ride and I had my nutrition pretty well set. As I started the first real climb, I saw Jessi, Emma and Owen on the side of the road cheering. They gave me splits on the first wave, which was great, but the most important questions was, did they actually start 10 minutes behind? Because if they didn’t, the information would be off.  I saw Jessi a couple more times and knew I was putting time into them, and I would need as much as possible.

T2 was quick and the crowd had already seen about 10 guys through…all from the wave that was 10 minutes up. I was leading the 40+ group, and was working my way into the other wave pretty deep. I was excited to run in my new K-Swiss K-Ruuz race flats. The run is pretty flat which I don’t mind, but it allows pure runners to move along quite well. After 2 miles I think I had about 2:30 on the lead of the race. I figured they were not putting a lot, if any, time into my lead. I passed a few more runners and was still feeling good. At about mile 4 I started to sputter a bit, but again, seeing Jessi and others out on the course really helped keep my spirits up. I hit mile 5 and started seeing a lot of the other runners coming out and that, for some reason, helped me pick up the pace a little.

 I saw Jessi one more time with about a ½ mile to go and she gave me a few more yells and confidence boosters. I started to think that I might just win this race. But you never know until you cross that line. As I approached the line, I could see the 5 guys that finished before me, and after I crossed, the guy who was the 1st across the line said, “You won it man, you were about 2 minutes faster.” It was a little anticlimactic to cross 6^th and really be first. Not so much for the glory of it all, more for the knowledge that you won.  I still wanted to hear it from the officials. Soon, that affirmation was given. I was also told that I was the ‘oldest’ guy to ever win this race. I think that’s a compliment? I will take it that way regardless.

Cda Press article

Here is a video by Dave Erickson (www.swimbikerunvideos.com). Check out his site for more triathlon related videos and more. Cda Tri video.

Bike is back to normal…rest easy

I think there is a saying that starts something like that. Or is it, “You can buy a cyclist a mt. bike, but you can’t make him ride it.” But that does not seem to be the case lately. Since riding for the TIMEX Multisport Team, a lot of opportunities have come my way. It’s been amazing. One opportunity was getting a mt. bike a couple years ago. Since then I use my mt bike for recovery rides, riding in the winter, riding when roads are horrific, or getting out with a different group of people. It has afforded me a variety of riding options. But I had never raced it. The thought had crossed my mind, but it never seemed to work out. Until recently…

Though mt. bikers are their own ‘group’ with special skills, the group is painted with a broad brush of abilities…kind of like triathletes (but I am not making ANY comparison). But what I like about the mt. bike group is that there is really no expectation of anyone. You get quite a diverse group of bikes, dress, and people. But I will say this…don’t judge. Just because a guy has hairy legs and a third eye mirror, does not mean he won’t school you (yes, it happened, and he even was shooting video at the same time, check it out HERE). Anyway, I showed up and threw down what I was able to.

Staging…and wondering what it is I am doing

As I was fastening the number to the front of my mt. bike (which was hard for me to do since it’s about the most un-aerodynamic thing I have ever done to a bike), I ran into a lot of people I knew from years past. I asked them a lot of questions about the course, what pressure they were running, tubeless or not…you know, traditional questions. Before we lined up, I had to let the race director know I had some concerns on the course. I saw that on some of the corners there was loose dirt, and I noticed that from time to time there were rocks on the trail. Fortunately, I have known Gino since I was a 13 year old junior cyclist and he knows how to dish it right back.

As we all lined up, I did not really know where to stage myself. Nothing worse than slowing people down. So I started a couple rows back in the mass of 100 riders. The start was quick, like a crit, and the 5+ abreast pack quickly split apart when we came to some road-covering puddles. “What?” Mt. bikers avoiding mud in a race? I really did not have an option so I went flying through the small lake. In doing so, I got wet and my shoes were soaking…oh well. But when I was going through it, water was blasting to the sides of me, like a boat, and dousing the people next to me. Cool.

Lap 1, under my belt.

We eventually hit some single track and I saw that I was definitely towards the front. Probably sitting about 18th ish. My initial racing self thought, “Great, up front.” Then my common sense self thought, “Crap, this is going to hurt at this pace.” You see, I kind of wanted to do this race and ‘enjoy’ it. Get out on the course and cruise along at a good pace and have fun. You know, group up and ride together. NOPE. Not where I was. I was following the wheel in front of me and holding on for dear life. I had no clue where I was going. Rocks, trees, sharp sandy turns, stumps, berms, more rocks, more trees. I fund myself saying silently to my bike, “Sorry for this.” But with full suspension, I am blown away what a bike can do. All I need to do is hold on for dear life. But there are some limiters. Like I don’t think I can go through trees…literally. I saw my PowerBar waterbottle on my bike wondering why in the hell I brought it since I was NEVER going to take my hands of the bars.

After a 2 laps I found myself in a group of 4. We seemed to be moving along quite well. The two guys in front of me seemed to like to dictate the lines. And I appreciated that. As we climbed each hill, I felt like my legs were going to stop turning around, but we were approaching the finish. Since it was a single track for the last bit, I knew that this would be the finish order. I was perfectly fine with that. These 2 guys pulled me along and I was not about to pip them at the finish. I had to sprint though as to not let the 4th guy beat me and to give the finish some respect.

Tough finish, but it’s a finish

The second race was a bit different. It was a 1 lap race on what would be in 3 days, the 24 Hour Mt Bike Race. That was good to know since I was going to be in that race too. Nice to get to know the course a bit. This time I had a better understanding of the dynamics of the start and what, in general, happens. I lined up on the front, and questioned if this was a good idea. The horn sounded the start of the race, and we were off. I took off strong and then eased up a bit because I did not want to ‘lead’ the race. I settled into about 7 place back into the single track.

Start of Race #2

Start the the watch…

As I destroy some of Emma’s Halloween candy, I thought it would be a good time to hammer out a post on my most recent race…ahem, cough…4 weeks ago.

I have had my eyes on a 5150 race all season. I planned on racing Las Vegas in early Oct, but it was canceled. Booo (no the scary booo either). So I rescheduled for Galveston. I really do not know too much about Galveston other than it is in Texas. I don’t know too much about Texas other than it defines flat and you should shake out your shoes before slipping them on to avoid large bugs.

I arrived in Houston a couple days before the race and immediately started wheeling and dealing on getting an upgrade for a rental car. I did. I had an economy car and wound up walking away with a Tahoe. Not too bad. I also immediately noticed that it was hot…hot and humid. Blech.

I found some great places to eat and enjoyed some phenomenal fresh Mex restaurants. Since the World Series was going on, all I could watch was baseball. And don’t ever mention the word Cardinal in Texas for about 1 year if you don’t want someone to spit in your food.

I rode the bike course the day before, and I have to be honest, I have NEVER seen roads this flat in my life. I swear, if I hopped on someone’s back, I could see across the entire state. But, though flat, the wind was rippin.’ The bike had a unique cross/head wind going out, and a cross tail coming back. Since the road was literally right along the Gulf of Mexico, there was no shelter. Bring it.

Fast forward to race morning, I arrived in plenty early, and since I had to check in my bike the day before, there really wasn’t much to do. I got kicked out of transition 1 hour before the swim start (not a fan of that) and wondered over to the swim start.

While floating in the Gulf of Mexico I cleared my TIMEX Race Trainer to zero….and here we go. The horn sounded and off we went. A first breath, I was reminded that this was salt water, mmmm so good. I was in the 6th wave and quickly started swimming through other groups. I think I swam relatively straight, but who knows. I knew there was one guy in my wave that was just ahead. Beyond that, I think I was swimming well. I exited the clam bed (or oyster bed, can’t remember) and quickly headed to T1. My Orca 3.8 wetsuit came off easily and I was quickly pushing my Orbea (last race this season on this steed) out of transition.

The first 1 mile of the bike has a series of 90 degree turns and rough(er) road. I used this time to get my feet in and situated. Before I knew it, I was on Seawall Road. I felt the cross wind and quickly locked into my pace, which was ‘go hard.’ I went past a few guys from another age group and quickly found myself somewhat alone on a highway. It was so boring. I cannot imagine IM Florida. I hit the turnaround and was headed for home. On the way back I actually had to get out of the saddle and stretch a little…at ~30 mph. That is how flat it was, I actually felt the need to stretch even when going that fast. I rolled into the technical 90 degree turns and saw a couple of the pros and elites on the ground. They looked okay, but obviously did not navigate the corners well. They sure are not helping the bad reputation the triathletes have on thier poor bike handling skills :)

I hit T2 and was off running in my Kwiss Kruuz racing flats. The run was pretty flat and was a 2 loop course (5k each loop). The first loop I just did not feel well. I tried to push a little but just felt out of sync. I decided to settle in to what I had and then as I started lap 2, for some reason I felt a ton better. I am not too sure what was going on, I am assuming I was too hot from the bike. Once I was able to cool off through the aid stations on the first lap (I was taking about 4 cups of water and tossing 3 on me and drinking some of the 4th) I was cooling down. I ended up running the second 5k 30 seconds faster and felt like I could have run another 10k at that pace. Cool.
I was happy with the day. I knew I stretched it a bit. Nothing felt good, it all felt tough and I was struggling a bit. Don’t know why. But as a result I won my age group, the overall amateur divisions, and beat all the elite amateurs. Now I will hopefully be able to race HyVee 5150 in early September for the Championship.

This concluded my race season for 2011. Racing for the TIMEX Multisport Team for another season has been phenomenal. I cannot thank Tristan, Keith, Tom, and Doug enough. They really see to it that the team is ready and on the start line with the best and looking svelte. The support is unmatched.

And ultimately, thank you to my wife Jessi for holding down the fort while I was gone. I know me being gone, and with 2 kids to take care of, can be tough. I totally appreciate her support and encouragement in seeing that I get to races and ready to race.
Sorry for the lack of photos, when I don’t have any “support” at the race, there is no one clicking the camera.

This weekend would be my first return to a multi staged cycling event. It was the Frozen Flatlands in Cheney, WA put on by the Baddlands Bicycle Club. I feel it necessary to mention Baddlands because any group that puts on bike races I truly admire and respect. It’s no easy task, but they make it look so simple. The race saw over 500 people registered to race this multi staged, multi day event. It consisted of a time trial, and 2 road races… one being 47 miles (right after the TT), and then a shorter 25 mile road race the following day.

This event is the one that recently reassembled the Arrivee Cycling Club (Mark, Pat, Cris and myself) about 3 weeks ago…on a whim.  So as the 4 of us got to the venue, it would only be me racing the TT that day. This is one advantage to the Omnium format. You do not need to race all the events. You can, or you can pick and choose which ones you want to do. Since they did not have the miles, or recovery in their legs, they all decided to forgo the 20k TT. Made sense really, it was windy, cold, and…well… it was a TT. Nothing says miserable like an individual TT. But to their credit, they came to the event to support regardless. My time to take off was at 10:39:30. They sent us off at 30 second intervals. Our road race would then go off in the afternoon at 2:15pm. I only say this because all 3 of these guys came out to cheer me on, when they could have stayed in bed for a few more hours.

Now, let me simply explain  how an individual time trial works. The official says “go”…you ride as hard as you can for 20k… then you cross the finish line and you are done. It is known as “The Race of Truth,” because there is no drafting, teammates, support, nowhere to hide…nothing. It’s just you against the clock. Now, as bad as this sounds, these are my most favorite races. Eliminate the variables, and the strongest on the day, on that course, will win. This is probably why I like triathlon so much. It’s one big time trial but you have to swim and run too. Sure, there is strategy, but it’s “your” strategy.

I am always impressed, or surprised really, how much cyclists warm up for races. When I raced (I seem to say that a lot), we got on our bikes, rode a mile or two, and make sure all 7 gears worked, and the brakes did not rub, and then waited for our start. Now I see people warming up for 30 minutes to an hour on trainers. Oh well, maybe something I can learn from. After sitting in the car for as long as possible, I started to get ready. The weather did not really lend itself to “hanging out.” It was 34 degrees and the wind was gusting up to ~35 mph. As horrible as that sounds, I LOVE racing in conditions like this. Throw in a little rain/snow…ideal. Not my favorite training conditions, but love to race in them. I rode my traditional mile warm up…give or take…and headed to the start. I had about 3 minutes which I passed by asking one of the officials, Marla Emde (www.emdesports.com, another group here in Spokane that puts on races as well) what the rule is when overtaking another cyclist. Obviously I know what it is in triathlon, but in cycling it is much different. The draft zone is more than 20 meters long and 2 meters wide and you cannot enter the draft zone. Holy crap! That is one big zone. But unlike triathlon, TTs are a bit more spaced out and overtaking other riders does not happen too frequently. Good to know.

Click HERE to play movie

Soon my time to start came, and I was ready roll. I took off like I would normally in a tri or TT. I soon found myself battling headwinds and crosswinds. I knew they were out there, but my upper body was working very hard to maintain a straight line. It was tough, but I watched my power, and kept it honest…maybe a little high, but I would soon see that come down. Though my Timex Global Trainer was giving me all the data I needed (HR, speed, cadence, distance) I just focused on steady power.  I caught a few people ahead of me, so I knew I was moving right along. I eventually hit the turnaround and was headed back. I looked at my time and saw that I was right about 15 minutes. I thought that was pretty good since I “should” have a little tailwind coming back…hopefully. For the first bit, it still seemed windy. But there were a few sweet spots that allowed for a tail from time to time. Once I got to about 5k to go, it seemed to turn into mostly a tail/cross wind. This was very welcomed. I took as much advantage of it as I could, and pressed on home. My legs were feeling like tree stumps and the thought of a 47 mile road race later that day, lingered. But I needed top focus on what I was doing now. Nothing worse than losing a TT by a second or two. I kept winding it up as much as I could and came across the line with the day’s fastest time at 27:29. I was very happy with the time considering the conditions. Roadies do not like it when triathletes come in and do well.  But it’s a TT.  It’s what triathletes do.  Now, on to the 47 mile road race.

The road race was only 3 hours away and I needed to get some food in me. I went to Subway and fueled up a little. Cycling is a little different from triathlon in that it’s not all at threshold. There is a lot of recovery going on in the pack, so I was not as particular as to what and when I was eating…it was that I was eating. I was excited to dust off my new Orbea Orca recently outfitted with the new Shimano di2. Okay, there really wasn’t much dust because I have only had it 1 week.

I was a tad nervous to be in a pack of 75+ riders, but I had been there before. The winds were still kickin’ and it snowed from time to time. The pack was not too interested in doing much work so it all ended up being decided on a hill with 10 miles to go. The pack broke up and there was a group of 15, or so, of us moving towards the finish. Things got a little crazy with 300 meters to go as we overtook 3 people from the race ahead, but I was still able to muster out an 8th place finish. Not too sure my legs knew what was going on when I asked them to “sprint,” but they did what they could. I was very happy with my efforts at the front of this group and a bit disappointed with the unwillingness by the majority to get their nose in the wind. But that may be whole separate post.

It was a long and cold day that was full of highs and lows. But all in all, I was happy to be back on the road again and sharing this with 3 other teammates that I had done this with before. Afterward, it was great to hear about everyone’s race and what happened and where. I know we will only get stronger and fitter.

The next day, Easter, our pack would start at 10:40. Kind of nice since I could use the sleep. Again, I showed up 2 hours early, only to sit around and talk with some good people. As I rushed to get my gear on, and number pinned, I was once again able to muster up a 1 mile warm up ride with the guys. Old school I guess since the gals next to us had been on their trainers for an hour by now. Ironically, none of them won their field sprint either…go figure?

This race was substantially shorter, and for a lack of a better explanation, easier. It was relatively flat and the pack stayed together. But, unfortunately, it was the same people doing the work at the front. Surviving several near crashes by people not paying attention, I made it to the finish leading out what was to be a very difficult and chaotic sprint. I finished towards the end of the pack and cruised back to the car.

I was able to keep all my skin where it all started and had a blast rubbin’ elbows (literally) in the pack.  Cycling is what opened to the door for me to multisport.  It’s nice to go back and revisit it from time to time.  Don’t get me wrong though, I am no Tom Schuler.

I will be in the Packfiller studios tomorrow (December 29th) at 5:00pm pst interviewing Chris Thomas LIVE with host Patrick Bulger.  Tune in and listen live, join the chat room, or  SKYPE us…or rather Chris.  If you miss this small time window, you can also download the interview on iTunes a couple days later.

A couple weeks ago we interviewed Andy Hampsten.  Maybe one day, if we are lucky, we will be able to interview the infamous Tom Schuler.  But I don’t think we are quite big enough yet.