The rain.
It stopped.
The wind.
It has slowed.
Man, we’re getting clobbered here in SoCal. It doesn’t compare to Hurricane Katrina or anything that dramatic but by SoCal standards this is bad. The rain is going on and off today. It’s been cold, once again, by LA standards. Not sub-zero east coast but consistently under 40F here in the desert. We drove up to Visalia today to visit family and it was nasty on the way up the 99. There were tumbleweeds everywhere – blowing all over the freeway and tumbling into the miles of barbed wire that line the 99. My nephew spotted a tornado that went by his backyard around noon in Visalia. He said it was down to the tree tops. His brother drove about a 1/2 a mile away when we got there and found 4 big trees tossed to the ground. Wild!!!!
Saturday was exciting for me personally. I went down to the ADT Event Center and successfully completed the Accelerated Class for experienced trackies. Roger Young gave us a talk on the aspects of safety and equipment choices for the velodrome. It was very helpful to learn from someone that has the experience he has. Tires, bikes, and general safety were stressed. You can’t go into the 45 degree banked turns without sufficient speed or you will crash. Johnny Walsh led us around for a few laps showing us the speed we needed to stay upright. I led us out for the first few real laps and stayed on the blue line until Johnny said to move into the sprinters lane. The degree of banking is intimidating however once you’re up to speed you don’t really notice how steep the track is. Even riding up on the very top of the track wasn’t too bad. My buddy Pat Hogan that went along was going good and having fun on the track. There were 4 others for a total of 6 of us that completed the class. We did a bunch of pace line drills that got us familiar with the track. Once we were all done with the instruction and a load of laps we got to do a flying 200. With an 82 inch gear I quickly spun out but it was awesome to tear one off and get the feeling of hitting the boards at speed. The first race for me here is in April. I can’t wait!!!!
I finished up a grueling cyclocross season on 1/19/08. That was my 20th race since 9/30/07. I finished a 8th in the Singlespeed B category. I had a good start and was feeling good. My bike however was slightly under-geared so the long long paved section was proving to be a challenge. I gambled and went easy on the gear since I paid the price by going too big in Palos Verdes. After the start and into the first lap I was in 6th place for a bit not far off the pace and was rolling good. My friend Geoff passed me and held on to the 6th spot for several laps. I just couldn’t get up to him. My new friend Barry was not going away. I tried a few attacks and I couldn’t shake him. In the meantime my bud Todd went hauling around both of us and took over the chase but it didn’t last long. In the confusing switchbacks thru the grass area he went straight instead of making a right turn. I saw the error and made a hard right to stay on course. The tape in this area was at a head-high level making it very easy to go the wrong way. I was spinning out every lap near the end of the straight. I was constantly marked by a chaser. This was tough since I couldn’t attack him and get away. We caught and passed Gobes with about 2 to go. In the meantime Frank the Fisherman was reeling me and Barry in, again! He did the same thing to me twice this year. I could sense that Barry was content letting me set the pace so I backed off on the last lap and Frank caught us. I tried to gap both of them in the grass but my low gear wasn’t enough to make a difference. Coming onto the last straight I swung out and let them go by. Barry made a race out of it and Frank chased him to the line. I was spinning like a sewing machine and I couldn’t keep up. I ended up 8th and got enough points to finish off the series in 6th place – just out of 5th by 1 point. I didn’t contest 2 SS races in the this series and that made a difference. With a good solid finish in those races I could have gotten 3rd over all perhaps. My goal was top 5 so 6th is great for me. You can bet I will be back next year in the SingleSpeed A group slicing and dicing. I can’t wait!
I hauled the clan down to the ADT Event Center for the UCI World Cup. Dude, these racers can haul, period.
Man, I am burnt. Only 1 more race to go and it will be break time. I am planning on taking a couple weeks off from hard riding after 1/19/08. In early February I am starting weight work and serious eating for maximum performance. I am in a mindset of succeeding in masters bike racing. Tasting success in the 90’s was nice. I got on the podium during the one and only Sea Otter track race in March of 1998 with very little preparation. Knowing that I had some natural ability I didn’t train nearly as hard as I should have. I could rely on fitness from the previous crit season and get away with some good finishes. Not any more! I really, really have to work hard just to hang. Life, wife, and kids are all vital components. Balancing it all is difficult but necessary or it will fall apart.
I made the long ass drive to Palos Verdes Estates for race #5 early Sunday morning. Since the bad weather was not letting up I left about 30 minutes earlier than usual for the 85 mile tour. There was virtually no rain on the drive down there! Amazing since we’d been getting dumped on since Friday. As I drove up the course I saw a female racer warming up, well, not really warming up, she was on the course stopped with a stick in her hand. She was poking mud off of her bike. I said to myself,”this is going to be tough!” With massive storms battering SoCal the course was slick and muddy in many different areas.
I got signed up easily – no lines – and talked to a few of my fellow racers on the way back to my car. I ran into a cx’er named Geoff that grew up in Fremont and went to a rival high school. Turns out he graduated in 85, me in 86! We even know mutual people. Ha! We are about the same fitness level so we battle it out in middle of the field regularly. For the Urban Series I am only racing singlespeed. I have raced twice in one day several times this year and it really kicks my ass bad. My strategy for the race was to start the race on my Bianchi San Jose and to go as long as I could, maybe even finish the race with one bike. I am 100% happy to report that I made the right choice bringing my Bianchi BUSS along too!
The climb up along Via Coronel was nasty. The bottom 1/3rd of the climb was sticky cement like mud that quickly clogged brakes and forks. I rode with a flat bladed screwdriver in my jersey pocket. As the mud gunked up my wheels, which seemed to happen instantly, I would buzz the screwdriver along the front tire as I rode quickly flinging off as much mud as possible. Fortunately the soil changes up the climb to a hardpacked single track so you can start moving again. At the top was a slick section and the ride back down the hill was slicker that snot at the bottom for the big left turn back towards the baseball fields. At some point on the course everyone had to stop and clear out the gunk with a stick (or a screwdriver in my case). My San Jose was geared down for the race to a 38×18 but that was too much when the mud glopped up everything. On lap 2 I dove into the pit and grabbed my trusty Bianchi singlespeed MTB which is geared to a climbing friendly 34×17. That was the trick! I got back on the course and didn’t lose any positions. I managed to catch and pass 3 other guys that were getting flogged by the mud in the next 2 laps. As the course wound around towards the west side of the baseball fields the going became a nasty sticky slog. On each lap this area got worse and worse. It took a full 100% effort just to pedal thru this area and it is nearly flat! Just a slight rise. I bet I was doing a max of 7 mph thru here. It sucked. At the end of the flogging I was 6th of 11. Only one more SoCal cx race to go! I am ready for a break. That was my 19th race since Sept 30th.
The 2007-08 Cyclocross season is wrapping up here in SoCal on 1/19/08. This weekend’s event in Palos Verdes should be an epic battle. The course has a long climb which is going to be a challenge on my singlespeed Bianchi San Jose. I am pondering using a smaller gear than the already smallish 38×18 (57 gear inches) set up I am running. For this event I am going to bring my SS Bianchi B.U.S.S. as back up. It has a 32×17 (48.9 gear inches) set up. Late in the race if I am fading I will switch to this bike for the benefit of the lower gear on the climb. If the mud is bad I will definitely switch sooner.
This has been my best season so far in regards to finishes. in 2005 I was consistently in the back of the field, 2006 was a slightly better. This year I am firmly in the middle! Here is a race by race recap so far with notes!
Prestige Series – Muckenthaler race #1 – Men’s 35+ 3/4 – 36th of 46 – lapped
Prestige Series – Muckenthaler race #1 – Singlespeed Open – 18th of 18 – lapped
Prestige Series – Redline Cup race#2 – Men’s 4 – 11th of 31
Urban CX Series – race #1 – Men’s 4 – 8th of 21
Urban CX Series – race #1 – Singlespeed B – 7th of 10
Prestige Series – Cicle Cross – Men’s 35+ 3/4 – 11th of 14
Prestige Series – Dam Cross – Men’s 3/4 – 23rd of 24 (not my normal cat.)
Urban CX Series – race #2 – Men’s 4 – 15th of 17 (mechanical – flat tire at start, used back up bike and flatted again)
Prestige Series – Convert Cross – Men’s 35+ 3/4 – 12th of 13
Prestige Series – Mid-Season Cross – Men’s 35+ 3/4 – 13th of 18
Bay Area Super Prestige Series – race #4 – Men’s 35+ B – 61st of 64 (Thanksgiving blew this one!)
SoCal CX Championship – Men’s 40-44 – 4th of 6
Prestige Series – Hart Park Cross – Men’s 35+ 3/4 – 5th of 8
Prestige Series – Hart Park Cross – Singlespeed Open – 3rd of 7
Urban CX Series – race #4 – Singlespeed B – 5th of 9
Urban CX Series – race #4 – Men’s 3/4 – 22nd of 23 (training race)
Prestige Series – Santa Cross – Men’s 35+ 3/4 – DNF of 26 (complete lack of energy – no spunk!)
Prestige Series – Santa Cross – Singlespeed Open – 12th of 14 (overgeared – lapped)
Urban CX Series – race #5 – TBD
Urban CX Series – race #6 – TBD
In looking back I see that I didn’t get lapped recently until the 12/23/07 Santa Cross race. I just had nothing that day. I ate right, did my usual pre-race prep and still had nothing in the tank. I had a little sinus activity that may have zapped me. In any case I am highly satisfied with my finishes this year. I can feel and see the improvement. My goal for the Prestige Series was to be in the top 10 in the Men’s 35+ 3/4 category. I came up short and finished in 15th place. I missed two races and raced out of my category once which didn’t help at all. My goal in the Urban Series is to get top 5 in the Singlespeed B category. I am just 3 points from the 5th spot. I missed two races of this series so I need to get after it and have some strong finishes tomorrow and in two weeks. It’s still raining here in SoCal with more rain forecast for tomorrow. The muddy course is going to be the first full-on wet weather CX race in SoCal in over 3 years! We’ve been spoiled with dry warm weather for most of the races the last 3 seasons!
I am sitting hear listening to the rain batter our house. So, what better time that ever to ponder 2007’s mileage. I didn’t even come close to my lofty goal of 5,000 miles. I noted almost 2k which isn’t too bad. In reality the total was a bit more than 2k but my CX bike didn’t have a speedo for most of the season. In any flavor, I will be setting the goal for 2008 at 3,000 miles. This should be very achievable since I will be concentrating on serious track racing this year plus even more focused workouts than in 2007. My ultimate goal for 2008 is the make it to San Jose for the Masters Track Nationals. My event will be the kilo. For the unknowing the kilo is a 1 kilometer timed event started from a standing start. Just for kicks I will get in a mass start race also. It will be awesome to get back to the velodrome that used to be my “home” track back in the 90’s.
It is windy right now. Unbelievably windy! We’ve lived here in the Antelope Valley since 2000 and I don’t think I have seen a storm like the one we’re getting now. The rain is coming down sideways. My garage doors sounds like they’re going to blow off the house!
I can’t wait to race on Sunday in Palos Verdes Estates. That should be an odyssey.
Happy New Year!
What better way to celebrate than to go for a ride! Pics n stuff coming up.