Race Season 2011/Wawayanda H2H Recap

Alrighty, so it's been a few months and now I'm back getting into the race season once again. It's been an odd off season as there has been a lot of good training but I feel like I'm lacking some early season efforts to prepare me for the season. Usually by this time in the year I have a couple of good endurance races in that prepare me for the repeated hard efforts that XC brings. The early season of 2011 brought 4 short crits in March that were the only hard efforts before the first H2H race season at the Wawayanda Spring Cleaning race this past weekend. The other change in the early season is that I took a vacation to Costa Rica which was AMAZING. The downside was that it kept me off the bike for 12 days. It definitely put a dent in my early fitness but for the memories that will last a lifetime, it was an easy sacrafice.

Anyway as Wawayanda approached I felt pretty good but like I would be lacking some top end. All it took to find out was to line up and see what happens. I knew the pro field was going to be fast and transition years can be rough but I'm stubborn and really want to do well. I got to the line at the last minute after a good 40 minute warm up and felt kinda scattered and unsure of how the race would go. After all it was only my 3rd ride on dirt this season. So off we went and into a REALLY fast paceline heading though the rocky terrain. The group was TIGHT the entire first lap. Off the line I was 6th, and by the first turn into singletrack I was in 9th or so. I knew it would be a hard effort and I could cruise through the rough stuff so I kept it steady and marked those wheels in front of me. As it got rougher a few in front of me bobbled and I sailed through. By the middle of lap 1 I was in 5th position and feeling good. I just was wondering how the fitness would hold up.

At the start of lap 2 my coach Brian attacked and I held back as a competitor was right behind me and it was a great team tactic. I put a good pace down but didn't put the pedal down. I kept Brian in sight as I gapped the guy behind me and was waiting til the techy parts to try to catch up. I did just that. In the process though I was passed and now in 7th starring at 5th and 6th in front of me. As I was biding my time, my chain dropped for the 10th time or so and jammed between the rings and the frame. It took me a while to get it out. Probably a minute or better just to clear it and get it back on the big ring. I thought 2x10's were supposed to be amazing and trouble free? Guess not...

I kept the pedal down and tried to stay steady but I finished lap 2 in no mans land. The start of lap 3 was when I started to feel the twinge...yup cramps were setting in. The efforts were so hard and frequent that I really had to be careful not to lock up completely. This is where I felt the previous efforts early in the season really helped. I kept on knowing that the guys behind me were charging hard so I rode to the top of my limit without blowing up completely. As I feared 1/3 of the way into the lap I got passed and was sitting in 8th feeling really tired. Now it was survival to get to the end of the race. In the last 1/3 of the race I heard the next disappointing sound, the chain rattling of another racer about to pass me. Yup - with 5 minutes left in the race I couldn't hold the next guy off so he went by and I put every bit of energy left not to get passed any further.

I crossed the line in 9th place of 13 and happy to have the race behind me. http://blackbearcycling.com/wawa11/cat1results.html 2:12 was my finishing time. Looking back at lap times I ran a 40 min then 44 min then 47 min lap time. With the chain dropping on lap 2 it should have been a 42 which was acceptable but then the implosion of lap 3 was evident. More fuel for the next race. Looking back it wasn't a bad effort as I still did pretty well even with mechanical trouble and cramping. It gives more of a hope to see just how things could be if they all go right.

Ahh Off Season...

So CX is officially over for almost two weeks and I'm already going through a bit of withdrawls. I guess my illness in early October kinda set me back a bit and I feel like I was racing better and better through the end of the season. Truth be told I wish I was racing until mid-January but 2011 is on the horizon.

As it sits now I'm debating next year's schedule. So far I'm thinking of 4 NUE races, and the H2H series with the Windham world cup, a few road races, and a few other local races thrown in. OR...and that's a big or - I'm debating on doing a stage race, which I really can't afford. At this point I really feel like I was shafted by not being able to finish out what was looking like a great NUE series last year. I'd really like to be able to put on a couple of good races and finish really well in the series this upcoming season.

On the other hand, this will be my first year as a pro and I would like to see how well I can do in the local H2H series. The local series is going to have a new format to encourage a larger pro field and it should make for some great competition. I did one pro race last year as a cat1 and it was promising.

So the off season riding has resumed and it's nice to not have to do really high intensity training. So far I've done a few rides on my fixie and haven't really stared at my heart rate and it's been nice. With the CX season in full swing all of my workouts were designed to be short and intense so the longer, base rides are a welcome sight.

The other biking news I guess would be the fact that my superfly has been sold. Thanks to ebay, the 2009 fly is gone and I recently heard that my new ride will be coming in soon. The date I was originally told was 12/27, and the rumor is that it may be even sooner. It's going to be a fun ride.

Last Race Weekend of 2010

It's been a crazy up and down for the past 38 weeks but this weekend is the end of my 2010 racing. It'll be 25 races done and a lot of great memories. 5 road races, 7 CX races, 3 Endurance XC races, and 10 XC races. The road races were entertaining and just fun with some good training thrown in. The XC races were a lot of fun with some great competition and just a fantastic season. The Endurance races were a blast and the most fun I've had this season, and still where my heart lies. The CX is a great late season fitness test and it will really help going into the 2011 season. I didn't get to do as many this year as I'd liked but there's always next year.

With that said I have my last two races coming up back to back at the Horseshoe Scramble in Warren this weekend. It's my last hurrah before base starts and should just be a lot of fun. As usual it looks like it will be a small field and those riders that do show will be solid. The new category has been fun but tough. The A racers really don't fade and if anything they get faster towards the end. Just watching their technique is making myself a better and faster rider.

The main goal this weekend is to try to get into that third podium spot for the NJBA CX cup. Sadly I am fighting for 3rd since the A race has been poorly contested. There just weren't that many competitors out there this season. Still I'd like to get on the podium if at all possible. As of now there are 6 registered for the Saturday race and 5 for the Sunday race. I need to finish well and not finish too far behind the other guys that are fighting for the top spot in the series. At the moment it is Troy and Maurice tied for 1st, BL in second, and myself in 4th and Fred in 5th. Maurice is out in Oregon racing nationals, Troy is registered for both days as is BL, Fred, and myself. Currently Fred is in 5th with only 20 points less than I have so I need to keep an eye on him for the overall. It could be a lot of fun. Any way it goes it will be a blast and a great way to rip it up and end the season. Hopefully things go well.

SCCX #1 and #2

November 21st and November 27th were two of the most anticipated races in the NJBA CX Cup, mostly because my team helps put them on with Skylands cycling. It's been a very similar course for both races with the only difference being that the barriers were put in different places. It was definitely a power course as there were some turns but extended pedaling sections that really helped open up some gaps.

For race #1 there was 5 people and it went pretty hard from the start with Bill Elliston from Van Dessel killing it off the front and letting the rest of us fight to not get lapped. The race was going well as my teammate BL and I were in 2nd and 3rd with us exchanging the lead where we excelled and with 3 to go he rolled his tubular off the rim and gave up the 2nd place to me. The gaps held and I rolled in for my 3rd cross podium. It was a great finish but I really didn't feel the mojo of the race as it was really hard and looking at the data later it showed how things were off. HR was not elevated like it usually was but I still did ok.

For race #2 it was a larger field as 8 racers lined up and I was almost dead last off the line. I picked my way through the field on the first lap to get as high as 3rd place but that's the best I would see. The guy in 4th and I were going back and forth for a few laps. One of the laps I took a bad line in the dreaded mud pit and lost all momentum. The gap opened that would stick for the remainder of the race. I finished 4th of 8 with a time that was 50 seconds slower than last week in much harder conditions. The data confirms that I was feeling a lot better this week as my HR was where it should be and just had a better time overall feeling the course.

One more weekend to go in the NJBA CX Cup as I'm sitting in 4th and with a little bit of luck and two good races I could be as high as 3rd. That would be pretty cool. Top 5 is no joke but aiming for that podium. We'll have to see what next week brings. The main focus is that I'm going to eat better this week and try to shed some excess Thanksgiving pounds as I feel like a heffer right now. If I feel totally unfulfilled after next weekend there is one more round of CX coming to the area in the form of the HVCX weekend the following weekend which could be fun. That would be the OFFICIAL end of my 2010 racing season and 2011 base would then commence...FINALLY!

Updates

So a lot has been going on in my cycling world with everything from upgrades to recovery. I'm finally feeling a bit like my old self and albeit a few pounds heavier than mid summer race shape I feel I'm doing pretty well. I was 153 for the early season and right now I'm hovering around the 161 mark. Something the inevitably happens when the riding load goes from 13 hours to 6 and daylight goes from a lot to almost nonexistent. Also, it's been nice to slack a little on my diet. Really nice but base will be here soon and the pounds will shed. Damn right they will. I got down to I think 148 for an afternoon last winter and should be in the same range this winter with more power and more discipline in my arsenal.

Anyway for the updates - Sunday night was a great night. I went to the H2H awards dinner and received my series championship jersey. It was amazing! I worked so hard this past season and through so much with my blood clot that it is truly amazing looking back. When I was in the hospital I didn't know if I'd ever be back on the bike again. Somehow I bounced back to finish up well in the series. The series went like this 2nd, 1st, 4th, 1st, blood clot, 9th, 4th, 2nd and locked up the series. The 8th race I opted to do in the pro class and finished 10th of 12. How nuts is that. I get a little teary eyed when I see that in print. Holy crap.
So it was a crazy season and now I'm in part 2 of the 2010 season.

Now it's cyclocross time and it's exploding again. Or at least I feel like my heart is - in a good way of course. I did the 2/3/4 race at HPCX and had a good finish and I told myself that this season I want to up the ante and race 1/2/3's at the local races. The problem is by doing that race it would take forever to get enough points to upgrade to a 2. So what do I do. I use the CX conversion in the USAC rulebook and inquire about just upgrading to a 2. DENIED... Because I should be a 1. Huh...yes a 1. If I want to upgrade I can contact USAC in Colorado and have them do it because the regional reps cannot. Sent one email...BAM Cat 1 CX racer now. What did I get myself into? Really for the NJ CX Cup it doesn't matter but if I do other series oh boy. I'll be the red lantern...

Even with racing the cross A class locally it's been good as I haven't been DFL - yet. It's coming, but for race #1 at Hidden Valley I was 8th of 9 and Sunday at Greystone I was 3rd of 5. So not too bad so far. It's only going to help in the long run and hopefully it translates to more explosiveness in next years XC or endurance events.

So lots of good updates...more to come.

Greystone Crazy Cross Results

Today's race was at the Central Park of Morris at the old Greystone psychiatric center. It was a great venue and a really fun course. It was also one of the bumpiest courses I've encountered. The straightaways were murderous as the bumps just stole the momentum from the legs and made it hard to close gaps.

Anyway here's how the race went. It was a HUGE field...5 - yep - 5 of us toed the line. It was nice being able to pick whichever spot you wanted to take in the front row ;-) So we went off hot and my teammate BL took the lead with me followed by Troy, Martin, and Nick. BL and I were riding well together and Troy was right with us for most of the 1st lap. Towards the end Troy passed myself and BL and started to make us hurt. BL took a barrier funny and I passed while he was getting himself back together and I opened up a gap while chasing Troy. Troy was riding so smooth and fast that his gap was just opening more and more. That would go on the entire race.

So now it was the race between BL and I. I was riding well and taking the corners hard but I started to make mistakes. Low pedals caused me to slide out a bunch and happened too many times. I lost a bunch of ground. So I kept BL behind me for a few laps but he was rapidly approaching. Part of the other excuse was that my bike was shifting like craaaaaaaap. The one gear that I really needed to use was not there. It kept ghost shifting like mad which really bugged me. I wasn't going to be very competitive like that and unfortunately it went like that the rest of the race.

So BL passed me on lap 5 or so and we kept it together for a few laps exchanging the lead. He opened a gap on the road on a later lap and I chased hard to get back to his wheel. Almost flat out I was riding into a hard left hander when I tried to brake hard and late and totally ate it. Instantly I was on my side wondering what happened. I jumped up and the bike was ok but that was all I needed to lose contact. BL was riding really well and it was pretty much over by that point.

I looked ahead and Troy was killing it followed by a big gap to BL, then a big gap to me, then a big gap to Martin, and by this point we were catching up to lap Nick. So I figured at this point I was into a hard training race and just put down what I could and finished up a fairly solid race. I could have done without the mistakes and the ghost shifting but what can you do.

I finished 3rd of 5 and 30+ seconds behind BL and he was letting off the gas to save up for racing tomorrow. The good thing was that they paid 5 deep and there were only 5 of us so we all got paid. $40 bucks plus some nice swag was great. This wasn't including the $1 that I picked up from between the barriers...thanks Art! So all in all it was a pretty good day - especially the GIANT calzone I got for dinner on the way home. Next up SCCX #1 next Sunday. I want to put some hurting on this one!

HPCX Race Report

Holy crap was it a beautiful day for HPCX. I got there in time to get in a course inspection in street clothes just after the C race. As I rolled down the one sharp down - up, my front tire catches hard and I go half assed OTB. That was odd...I look down to find 12" of my tubular rolled off the rim and collecting grass....wonderful. So I popped the tubie back on the rim and finished the lap easily. So I had that to worry about now and my bike was not shifting right. Luckily I see my teammate Ted and get to chatting about my crappy wheel and he rips off his tubie and throws it at me. Sweet! Got a new sweet wheel and off to get ready I go. Anyway I got a decent warm up and got my wheels in the pit and took one more half lap before hitting the line. They lined up by MAC series points and then order of registration. I hit the line 41st of 95. Ted points me to the outside lane to avoid any mishaps...yea...right.

So the race goes off and the guy immediately to my right decides to swing out - bang into me - and then turn right and totally stack it up almost taking me down. I had to soft pedal and then get back on it so at this point I was probably back in the 60 somethings...wonderful. I stayed on it and passed a bunch the first lap to get me into mid 40's probably. I worked through a few here or there and rode steady to get to the last 2 of 6 laps. Into the second to last lap this Castelli dude and a guy I've ridden against up in NY were staying close as I got through them earlier. There was a nice road section followed by a nice twisy climb that lead to pavement into the finish. Castelli dude drafts me and hits it hard going into the final section and I just put an effort in to stay close. Through the line it's Castelli, me, and Rick from NY with 1 to go. We're all pretty tight and I put it all down on the last lap. We hung tight and this time through the road section I draft the Castelli guy. I see him sitting up to try and hold back and probably save some gas for the last climb which I was getting him on. Into the climb I come around him and see a gap start to open. I pressed on but not too hard as I thought there might be a sprint finish coming up. Sure enough - yup. Castelli and Rick come charging hard and I caught them out of the corner of my eye as we get to the pavement section to the finish. They got close the gap to me but I caught them approaching and kicked hard. I got a little gap and they went harder and I kicked again. It was a long sprint but I held them both off for a satisfying finish. Of all my strengths, sprinting is not one of them so that was enjoyable.

So at the end my sprint was for 31st of 95 racers. Not great, not bad, but decent. I was 34th of 73 last year so at least I improved a little. It was a fast tight group for sure and a really satisfying day(45 minutes) on the bike. It must have been fast since I talked to Ted later and he said my race did two more laps than the B masters race. That's nuts.