Heart Rate Testing

My training plan, Weight loss and Base Training, by Linda Wallenfels (LW Coaching called for a Heart Rate Test today, in follow up from four weeks prior. I've chosen to use The climb up Flagstaff Mountain in Boulder as my testing grounds as it has a good steady climb and is far enough from the house I can get in a good warm up and cool down without having to kill myself to get there. I start once I pass through the stoplight at Baseline and 17th Street and go up from there. Although my average heart rate for the 20 minute test hasn't changed in the past four weeks, I perceive that my power has increased as I was able to climb a quarter mile past where I finished last month's test. This shows me there have been gains in the past month but that better diligence in training will produce even greater dividends.

Decisions...

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(iP)

Superior Bike Park

Lee McCormack, the brain behind the pump track movement and LeeLikeBikes.com shows how to rally the new expert pump track at the Superior Bike Park, in Superior, Colorado. Working with the town of Superior, Lee gave leadership to the park design and construction of a beginner pump track and flow track as well as an expert level pump track and flow track. over the past two weeks, Lee and team have built the park and today was opening day. After a full loop on the Dirty Bismarck, I headed down into Rock Creek and caught up with Lee and gave a go at the pump track. I'm looking forward to figuring out a way to incorporate the pump track into my training for the Breck Epic as a way to build muscle endurance and technical skills.

Breck Epic Training

Yesterday marked 24 weeks until the Breck Epic rolls out of town for Stage 1. That means it is also time to start getting the real training underway. I have chosen to go with Linda Wallenfels plans and today I started with her Weight Loss and Base Training plan which will finish on May 22. I am not planning any big races during this time which is good but will also allow me to focus more on the plan than being race ready. I will likely line up for the Front Range 60 and the Battle of the Bear race the first weekend of May to get some back to back racing days in but I don't see myself gunning for much more as the plan does not call for any super intensity (that I've seen yet). Here goes anything.

I'm all in!

From August 14-19, 2011, I'll be racing the Breck Epic mountain bike stage race. Today was one of the last days to register at an early discounted rate and since I have been interested in this race since it started two years ago, I figured I might as well give myself 10 months to prepare myself. The race covers approximately 240 miles over six stages and climbs over 40,000 vertical feet throughout the race.

Wednesday Worlds

The Hogans dropped into the Bowl of Death to set up the barriers as I was setting up to shoot this picture.

Alpha Cross #1

Today was the first of two races put on by the guys from Alpha Bicycle Company, a great little shop down in the Denver Tech Center area off of I-25 and Arapahoe. The race venue was a dirt lot behind the City of Centennial's city offices. Because of the high heat and little moisture we've seen lately, much of the course was very loose dirt, which was almost the consistency of sand, and other sections of significant washboard due to small patches of grass holding the loose dirt and sand in place.

With a Boulder Racing race the previous day, and a good distance to travel, registration for the Cat. 4 race was 24 racers (compared to 62 on Saturday). With the call ups based on last year's BCR points then on registration order, I landed a third row start position, which was the last row for our race. I took an outside position for the start, slipped a pedal but then cut a line across the pack to get an inside position through turn 1 and turn 2 leading into the dirt. This put me around 8th wheel but riders balled up in a quick, loose drop at turn 3 and some charging put me into 3rd or 4th wheel. Spencer, from the Clif Bar Development team, was off the front and I sat in behind a Vitamin Cottage rider and a Primal Wear rider down through the back of the course.

As the course wrapped back uphill towards the start finish, I made a move to put me into second wheel and charged ahead. I would hold second position for the remainder of the race watching Spencer hang anywhere from 20-40 seconds ahead of me. I could tell on the last lap that he was slowing down but not enough for me to make the catch.

With 2.5 laps to go, coming through a hairpin section, the rider in 3rd calls out, "Are we holding 2nd and 3rd?" I respond, "Yeah" followed with a a few extra pedal strokes to try and open up a bigger gap thinking he was about to come charging and pass me in the final laps but it never happened. I crossed the line in 2nd place, 20 or so seconds from 1st, to take my first podium spot in a cross race (although there was no podium).

Other race reports:
Mountain Flyer's Race Report

Green Mountain Sports CX #1

Photo by: Six Degrees to Slush

A new record high temperature was recorded in Denver today-- somewhere in the mid 90s. this is not your typical weather report when you think about a cyclocross race report. More than a few people commented on feeling dizzy and getting chills in the middle of the race which is a sign of serious overheating. Thank goodness the ACA officials ran the races on the short side of the race time (ie: our 45 minute race was actually about 40 minutes).

Today's Cat. 4 race fielded about 40 starters and the officials based call ups on last year's standings. Although I earned some points in 2009, it was not enough to get a call up leaving me to wait for us to fill in the start rows numerically which left me with a 3rd row starting position. we took off down the length of the soccer field and looped around the goal and headed back towards the single track. By the goal, I had worked my way into about 10th wheel and then into 5th wheel by the single track. A few quick pedal strokes, some inside lines and some jostling set me up into 3rd wheel before the stairs. I sat in until the climb back towards the start/finish area and then took a tight inside line into first position (see picture). I somehow managed to get some toe overlap and caught my right Achilles area on my front chainring so I have a nice cut back there to heal up now.

I rode a fast and steady pace the rest of the race only allowing 3 riders to get past (one of whom won in Colorado Springs yesterday and motored on to 1st today as well). On the third lap I started getting sloppy in a few of the loose turns and could see the 5th wheel rider starting to get closer. I kept on the gas and tried to build up gaps where I could but he finally caught me in the final uphill towards the finish line and he came charging with some power. I was able to respond only long enough to catch his back wheel and he took off again into the final hairpin turn.

I'm very pleased with how today's race went, especially given my history of poor performance in the severe heat. Boups complemented me on my form today saying that it looked like I was having a much better time staying on the gas for the whole race over last year.

As far as my skills today, I was much more comfortable through the barriers today than yesterday and I think a big part of it is I was able to come into the barriers fast, dismount at speed and carry that momentum into the remount. The barriers yesterday were in awkward pseudo-uphill areas where I could not carry any speed into them and lost more momentum on the dismounts and getting over them. I also felt really strong on the stair run up today but I should have taken another lap through them in warm up and decided if I was going to go with a double step or hit every stair for a matter of consistency.

I hope this isn't all a fluke and that I can continue to improve and stay in the front of the pack.

A few things I've picked up on from Wednesday Worlds and short track racing is knowing when to sit in on a wheel and when to attack, to importance of powering all the way through the apex of a turn or hill. Next up to work on is responding to attacks.

Friday, Aug. 6th

Singlespeed Sunday Vol. 1, Issue 4

Hey, what happened to Vol. 1, Episodes 1, 2, and 3? Well, they never got written up so you'll just have to deal with Singlespeed Sunday updates starting at Episode 4.

As you can tell by the numbering, singlespeed mountain biking has sort of become a Sunday afternoon thing for me to do. I've been getting out on most Sundays with Josh and rolling out to the Koppenburg climb, through the South Boulder Creek Trail and back home via Baseline Rd. Sometimes we or I will throw in a loop over towards Davidson Mesa or Harper's Lake for good measure.


Today, we headed out the Coal Creek Trail about 7 miles and turned around. With snow falling, we elected to stay off the roads and on trails for safety and the sloppy factor. Pushing through the fresh snow and balancing over the spots where the new snow was covering old ice and frozen tracks proved to be a challenging workout that we didn't need to go find any hills to abuse ourselves with... today. Maybe in March.

And for those interested: Garmin Connect -Activity Details for Singlespeed Sunday 2.21.10

Saturday Ride

Zolder Photos

U23 Zolder CX World Cup

Women's Zolder CX World Cup

Men's Zolder CX World Cup

Scene at Zolder CX World Cup

Elite Women's CX World Cup Race

The Elite Women's race strung out quickly in the first lap. The first clip in this video is at the end of lap one. American Katie Compton is the fourth rider across the line and would end up in second place by the end of the day, 22 seconds behind reigning World Champion Marianne Vos of the Netherlands.

U23 CX World Cup Race

Valmont Bike Park Ground Breaking Cross

I took a few video clips with my 7 year old digital camera. Yeah, it's not exactly the greatest quality but it sure does show the basics well.

From CX 10.17.2009 Valmont Bike Park is going to be huge when it is finished. Huge in the sense of 'lets bring out all the cyclists in the community together' type huge. I guess, size wise it will be pretty decently sized at 40 acres with a little bit of everything for everyone-- stairs, sand pits, dirt jumps, run-ups, spectating areas, STXC courses, pump tracks. Although I haven't been around since the beginning, I'm looking forward to it just as much as everyone else.

I did put in my share of time on the Boulder Cycle Sport grill heating up brats and hot dogs for hungry spectators wanting to pitch in some money to pay for the park too.

As for the racing itself, I had a good, clean start until I hit the high speed barriers on lap 1 when on the remount I laid my bike out on the non-driveside, throwing it into my left knee, dropping the chain, twisting the left brake lever inwards and losing 20 spots. That didn't bode well for the rest of the race. I was able to swap back and forth with several other racers as they would slow down on the climb just past the finish line to grab a bottle feed and I continued to motor past them. With 2.5 laps to go, I could see Zach Lee coming in to lap me so I sat in to let him pass and dug to gain a few more spots with only one lap left.

Fight Cancer, Win an Ibis, Ride with Chuck and Fatty

Fight Cancer, Win Just About Any Ibis You Want, then Ride It with Chuck and Fatty Wherever You Want

2009 Philadelphia LiveStrong Challenge: Fatty's Speech from Fat Cyclist on Vimeo.

I'm posting this video to give some background on Fat Cyclist. '...That is how we will fight. We will show focus, we will show creativity, we will show endurance and not stop. And we will be kind.' (approx 13:15)

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Velonews...

This might be the closest I'll ever get to being pictured on Velonews.com. Yeah, right there next to JHK, with the iPhone upside down. That's me. We're both watching Heather Irmiger get inked after claiming victory in the Singlespeed World Championships 2009 in Durango. Many thanks to Greg Keller of Mud and Cowbells for making this psuedo-dream come true!

Looking down the road...

Watching the final lap of the 2008 World Cup race at Koksijde gets me thinking down the road towards the Boulder Racing cyclocross race at the Boulder Reservoir on October 25. Although I haven't raced a Boulder Racing race at the reservoir, I remember the Boulder Cup Day 1 in 2008 at the Res. One thing I notice in this video is how tactically smart Erwin Vervecken and Sven Nys ride this last lap-- never letting the other one get too far out ahead, knowing when to ride and when to dismount, when to attack and when to sit in just just a little longer. In the end, Vervecken punches it just right to come out from behind.

The sand at the Res just sucks the energy out of your legs and the best option is to run and pin it. It hurts so much but feels so good at the same time. Weird how so many 'cross races end up that way.

Urban Utility...

After getting a halfway suspicious direct message from MADSEN Cycles on Twitter last week needing to confirm my eligibility for the free bike give-a-way, I quickly called the number I was given. I told the MADSEN employee that yes, I was indeed over 18 years old and I did indeed live in the USA, and confirmed that I lived in the great state of Colorado, he laughed. 'People are going to think this bike-giveaway is rigged because you're the third person to win from Colorado." 

"Well, hot dog. I'll take a bike with a bucket please!" Once the MADSEN crew has settled from Interbike, they'll be shipping off a new townie to me. I should expect to see it on my doorstep and in my garage in about three weeks.

Entering the pain cave...

Can you guess where the hike-a-bike sections were in the SSWC'09 course?

I haven't loaded up any of my pictures yet other than the Sept. 17 post so once I do, I'll have a better report up. Let's say there was a lot of pushing, some amazing views and a festive atmosphere.