If you have followed along with my race reports you will know that I am racing the same track bike I raced when I was a school boy back in England, and that it was purchased second hand from a friend (who I recently connected again with through this blog).
Over the years I have contemplated having it repainted but resisted the urge, it has the patina of time and use which money can't buy. That is to say to some it looks like a crappy banged up bike. Whilst to others it is retro cool. At a recent track day a rider outright said to me "I thought I was the only one with a crappy bike, but I've got a new one now" or something to that effect. I can remember being a little taken aback. Then moments later I was approached by another rider admiring my ride.
Comments aside, like all good gear heads I could not help but be curious if a new bike would not feel or ride better. You know how it is, the thought wiggles in and before you know it your are researching your next ride. I looked at the latest bikes from the likes of Cervelo and BMC and browsed the Internet, shocked at how little information is available. I got really excited about the Cervelo T1 only to find out that they stopped production in 2012. I then asked a friend who builds frames to give me a quote for a steel frame, which I reasoned would be a great way to go. He produced some great drawings and I was almost at the point of pulling the trigger.
Then like all things, reality kicked in and I realized, I have gotten sucked into the new stuff zone without really knowing what I wanted. Sure I could tell you the use but not what I wanted and how it would improve my riding. Then a conversation with my coach confirmed I needed to rethink my expenditure especially with the cyclocross season just around the corner. After all if I did get a steel frame built would it really be much different. Well I guess I will find out some other day as for now my old boy is still awesome in my eyes.
Whilst inspecting the bike at the weekend I was horrified to discover that my bar tape had slipped. I felt like writing to the manufacturer and letting them know that the tape had slipped after a mere 30 years, well I would if I had any idea of the company. And so came an end to he era of zigzag blue bar tap. As I stripped it off Sarah gave a horrified cry of "what you doing?" I had to reply it's time, it served me well.
Now one thing I did reason with was the benefit of new wheels, after all mine are 30 years old and going strong but 30 years old all the same.
A little research and there seems to be some benefit to deep dish wheels other than they look cool. On the track fast wheels help you spin up quickly and once spinning, help you keep your speed. Here we hit the next challenge, nice wheels come at a nice price and I have hit my gear budget pretty hard this year so I decided to see if I could pick up a second hand pair. My patience paid off, ok I got lucky at the weekend, and today I picked up a set of Essor Areodash 88cm Carbon wheels from Craigslist at a fraction of the cost. Yes original owner, with receipt and we meet in a public place. No shady dealings here. I am not familiar with Essor but they seem to get good reviews so I took a chance. I will let you know my thoughts once they have been ridden in anger.
I guess I am just in a curious mood right now but after having ridden 19 and 23 tires I was wondering at the weekend what a set of 26 or 28 would feel like. One good thing about an old frame is that I have loads of clearance to play with. Well no decision yet but stay posted and I will let you know what I experiment with as the current tires need to be replaced and all I have are 26 or 28 so one set is going on the new wheels.
I would love to hear your thoughts on track bikes, wheels and equipment, just leave your thoughts in the comments.
Until next time keep it Rubberside down and MaxLifeOut
A word on a seriously important subject, ok the title gave it away but I am sure you will agree that good shorts can make or break a ride. Well that is what all the manufacturers will have you believe and having spent multiple 7 hour days in the saddle I wanted to share my totally unscientific finding with you.
First and foremost I am a big believer in how the kit we buy makes us feel. We will justify and adjust to almost anything if it makes us feel good. That at the end of the day is what branding is all about. We identify with what the product stands for, represents or symbolizes and in doing so we feel great about ourselves through a mix of internalizing the feeling and lets be honest sending a message to others.
So what has this got to do with shorts I hear you say. Well until this year I had not really thought much about the quality of shorts. To be honest I still have shorts that I use on my trainer that are 10+ years old and they work just great. No the padding has not worn out and no I don't get sore and yes they get washed after every ride.
The only real consideration I had was to make sure the padding felt good and that I liked the design. As a result many of my shorts turned out to be made by Champion Systems. Not because I chose the brand but because the kit was manufactured by them.
Then I discovered the dark secrets of high end quality shorts, or did I just get sucked into the marketing hype. As I prepared for my Tour of California adventure it seemed reasonable and logical that high end shorts would make my time in the saddle more comfortable. The decision was helped after a long weekend training ride when I noticed that after 5 hours my Champion System shorts were certainly less comfortable. Yes, my bum ached.
With so much invested in my trip I was not going to cut corners with my choice of clothing. I went on the hunt for the best shorts on the market. It was then that I was introduced to Assos shorts. To give you some idea of my cycling fashion awareness, I had no idea of the elite status of Assos. Sure I knew it was a well known brand but that was it. The next shock was how much Assos clothing cost. The people I talked to and the articles I read all told me that Assos bib shorts where the best in the World and the "crème de la crème" was the T.Championissimo_S7. They certainly had the best price tag.
I am going to humbly admit that I am just as susceptible to branding as anyone, ok I might be more susceptible than most and yes I like wearing high quality kit that others admire. There I said it, I know it is vain but no point beating around the bush. The elitism of Assos spoke directly to my ego and whilst my back was turned, my brain and ego got together to justify the need to own the shorts despite a tiny suppressed voice deep in my conscious yelling "what the hell are you thinking", needless to say I ignored it and helped by an unexpected but welcome discount I was the proud owner of a pair of T-Championissimo_S7 bib shorts.
So what did I think of them? Well they are comfortable and I like the low cut front when it comes to quick pee breaks. I would love to say I had an "aaaahhhh" moment when I put them on, or when riding but I simple did not. Don't get me wrong they are comfortable I just did not experience the wow factor everyone talked about. One thing I do not like is the light color of the pad, lets face it with race nerves and chamy cream, well lets just say shorts need washing after every use.
Despite what you have just read after a number of comfortable rides and the need for three pairs of shorts for my trip I rationalized that having the same shorts would be the best idea so I resolved to acquire two more pairs. Fate however had other ideas. At the last minute my order for two pairs went south and I was left hanging. Despite the cost it seemed that demand was high and I could not find anyone who had availability before my trip.
What to do? Well I could go with another brand, but which one. I would love to say at this point that I have experience with all brands. That would be cool but not true. The only other brand I had experience with was Rapha. Rapha is a premium brand from the UK and one that I have mixed emotions about. I am a big fan of their designs and when they fit I have been extremely happy with them, however the sizing is somewhat hit and miss. The good news is that they have an excellent return policy which makes purchasing different sizes easy to do if you don't mind going through the hassle of returning the ones that don't fit. In general the quality is great but I can't say it is hands down better than any other brand I have owned. It does however feel special to me and I am unashamedly bought into that feeling whilst knowing I am sometimes paying a premium of the design, the name and the feeling I get wearing them.
So with nowhere else to go for shorts and not wanting to try the unknown I opted for Rapha. I selected both lightweight and brevet bib shorts. The good news was that they were half the price of the Assos shorts but would that show up in quality and ride comfort. Well time would tell.
They arrived on time and true to form the sizing was all over the place. The Brevet shorts were too big but luckily the Lightweight shorts fitted. I am going to have to say putting them on felt good and I really liked the design much more than the Assos shorts. The fabric of the Brevet shorts felt really soft and comfortable but alas I would not be able to return them in time for the trip.
So armed with my one pair of Assos T-Championissimo_s7 and two pairs of Rapha Lightweight bib shorts I headed out to put them through the paces over 8 days and 740 miles. So what was the verdict? I really could not tell any difference between the Rapha and Assos shorts and whilst I would love to say there was something about the Assos shorts that warrants double the price. For my undercarriage the value just was not there. The one thing they have going for them is the statement that you are wearing the most expensive and exclusive shorts on the market. If that floats your boat then they could be for you.
As a result of my totally unscientific experiment I discovered that for rides around 3-4 hours Champion System bibs are just fine. For longer rides both the Assos and Rapha shorts performed equally well while I did notice increased discomfort with the Champion System shorts.
May you always ride in comfort and until next time keep it Rubber Side Down and MaxLifeOut
It is with mixed feelings and emotions that I sit down to write this report. I promised myself when I started to blog I would share the good and the bad and above be honest and objective so here goes.
If you have ever raced you will know what I am about to talk about, but if you haven't well I hope this helps with some perspective. I love to ride and I love to race but it does not come without anxiety and nerves. Am I good enough, will I be on form, can I stay upright and a myriad of other doubts and of course the dire need for many visits to the toilet. Yup racing is the best laxative in the world, just saying. So when you are stuck in a traffic jam with 30 minutes until the race start you can imagine the state of calm that existed within the confines of my car.
It took me another 10 minutes to finally get to the car park where I needed to assemble my bike, get checked in, get dressed and warm up. Sarah had ridden down to see me and was sporting a grazed knee, some friends had turned up to cheer me on and I was like a headless chicken rushing to get ready. If you are wondering this is totally not the way to prep for a race. In the end I managed a 10 minute warm up before the track was cleared
The plan for the night was the same as last week. Ride both the Master B and Cat 4 events to maximize the racing and race intensity for training. It is hard not to focus on my overall position especially since I was in second place for the Master B series going into the race, but the goal is the long game and so the stage was set.
Master B Point-a-Lap (3rd)
In a point-a-lap race you score 1 point for every lap you cross the line in first with the last lap having 3 - 2 -1 points for the first three riders across the line. As the first race of the night I wanted to warm up so I stayed in the field and did not go out early to contend points. As we neared the end of the race I saw the opportunity to grab a few points. I was however a marked man. The race leader saw me go and using my wheel managed to come around me in the final few meters, I had done enough however to secure 3rd place and open the account for the night.
Category 4 Point-a-Lap (3rd)
With one race in between I rolled around the warmup circuit and prepared mentally for my next race. Where there were 8 riders in the Master B field there were 22 riders in Cat 4 and the dynamic of the race was very different. Right out the gate the Cat 4 race leader went after points but I sat back with a longer game in mind. Towards the end of the race I saw my opportunity and stole some points in the final sprint doing enough to earn a 3rd place finish.
Master B Miss-n-Out (4th)
A Miss-n-Out also known as Devil take the hindmost is a race of attrition with the last rider across the line being eliminated from the race until there are 3 riders left. It is a tactical race and this time I got the tactics wrong. One of the rules of track is once you are in the sprinters lane another rider cannot enter it and you cannot leave it. The classic trap in a miss-n-out is to be caught in the sprinters lane and have all the riders come over the top of you. I avoided that trap until 4 laps to go when I was the one trapped.
Category 4 Belgian Win-n-Out (1st)
In a Belgian Win-n-Out there are 4 bells in the race a set number of laps apart. On the 1st bell the race is for 4th place, on the 2nd bell the race is for 3rd place, on the 3rd bell the race is for 2nd place and on the final bell the winner takes the race. With 22 hungry riders I settled into the pack and kept a close eye on the race leader who was also hanging back. He is strong and I calculated that he would probably go for the win, either way I had decided to see the race out to the final sprint and stay true to my goal for the night. As we approached the 3rd bell he started to move up the field and then to my surprise attacked, I started to go with him then pulled up as he took off for 2nd place. It was a tactical move but one that was not liked by the rider behind. I slide back in the field as we jostled for position. At the final bell I locked onto a wheel and he took off after the win but I was glued in place and as we came around the final bend I put the hammer down and was able to out sprint him to the line to take the race.
Master B Scratch Race (1st relegated to 7th)
The final Master B race for the evening. A straight forward scratch race with one $10 preme. We rolled out and from the start the race was one of tactics over speed with no one wanting to put too much work in. At the bell for the preme I was in a good position and thought way not have a dig. It worked out and I scored $10 after which I settled back into the pack. As we approached the final laps the pack moved to the top of the track with everyone on the barrier, you could feel the tension and the energy around you as everyone was waiting for the bell. At the bell a rider went long and I came in on his wheel, it was a horrible position to be in as I knew everyone was lining up behind me. The attack came into the 3rd corner and I accelerated to stay with the field as we came out of the last corner I was laying down everything I had and the finish had shrunk to a single point that I intended to get to first. I took the lead just as we hit the finishing line taking the win or so I thought. As we rolled out I was first congratulated by the second place rider then three riders in turn rebuked me for not holding my line. I will be honest I was confused as I had not thought I had deviated from my line but these are good riders and I will always take feedback and be the first to put my hand up and accept responsibility for my actions. What I did not know was the level of complaint made which resulted in me being relegated for dangerous riding to the back of the field.
Cat 4 Scratch Race (result pending)
I had no time to dwell on the previous race as I rolled up for the last race of the night. I was tired but fully intended to dig in and have a go as it was my last race of the night. As we dropped in it was clear that this would be a very different race than the Master B. I sat back in the field and watched the action not taking part in the premes and not chasing down a lone break. As we hit the bell I was not in an ideal position sitting around 10th and was forced to accelerate to catch the leaders, I closed the gap on the back straight and went wide in an attempt to come around them. I ran out of track and finished in the top group. It was great to find out that a friend had won. My result is pending.
Coming off the track I was greeted by a very confused and angry Sarah. She did not understand why I had been relegated and she encouraged me to find out more. I approached the judges to ask for feedback and was greeted by my second surprise of the evening, I was told curtly that I had been relegated for dangerous riding out of line. What I wanted was to understand was exactly what had been seen but the attitude I was greeted with left no room for questions. I really appreciate judges and their efforts to keep everyone safe, what I really dislike is when it is delivered in an officious and disrespectful way, it simply creates the wrong energy. That by the way goes for riders too. I totally get that they have to deal with riders with attitude but it is not like we were racing for big money or the world championship. Whilst it was disappointing to lose the points, it was not the end of the world and I personally had gotten what I needed out of the effort.
I accept the feedback of my fellow riders and will take it to heart so as not put others at risk as I would not want to be put at risk. The sad thing is that the whole incident left a bad feeling in the air and Sarah and I left on a downer which is not how I want to feel about a sport I love and I certainly don't want to have bad feelings with those that I choose to spend my time with.
I shared the events with my coach and now with you. What is past is past and I will look forward to my next evening of racing with renewed energy, lessons learnt, oh and front and back cameras so I can review my racing lines in the future.
Until next time keep it Rubber Side Down and MaxLifeOut
One of the most important things I appreciate about having a coach is the help with clarifying goals and helping me take on bigger challenges. Turns out that racing Master B on the track will not get me any upgrade points and I need to race Cat 4 to earn them. With that in mind and the objective of getting as much racing in as possible this weeks goal was to race both the Master B and Cat 4, effectively doubling the amount of racing for the night.
Special mention has to be made for Sarah, who without her help I would not have time between work and heading out to be ready to go.
When I signed in for the night it turned out that I was the current Master B series leader and entitled to wear the leaders jersey, now that was cool, however I could not wear it as I signed up for both races series and therefore had to forgo the pleasure of having a bulls eye on my back.
The other little nuance is that for Master B races there is no gear restriction but for Cat 4 gearing is restricted to 48 - 15. That presented me with the dilemma of either changing gearing between races or spinning out in the Master B's. Oh and the Cat 4 field was a complete unknown to me which is always interesting.
The first race of the evening was a Master B 10 lap snowball. for each lap the first person across the line gets points equal to the lap count. ie, lap 1= 1point all the way up to lap 10= 10 points. I had intended to sit in and try to grab some points but the race split apart and I was forced to go hunt points if I wanted them. I used a slowing of the field to launch an attack after the lone breakaway mid way through the race. I have to be honest, once committed my inner voice started screaming at me "what the hell are you doing? it is only the first race of the night Matthew, idiot". I ignored the stupid voice and managed to do enough to finish second overall.
With one race before my first Cat 4 race I rolled around the warm up circle, I breathed a sigh of relief when my gearing successfully rolled out and I lined up for an 8 lap snowball. The race did not start well with the official accusing me of racing in the wrong category prior (Master B) telling me I would be fined if it happened again. I was shocked and confused and it really did not help my focus. I put the incident to the back of my mind and rolled up.
Having burnt a bunch of matches in the first race I was looking to sit in and spin keeping in the main pack, but circumstances did not allow for that. The riders wheel I was on launched into the first point and I simply followed his wheel. It was like following a motor bike and I was very impressed with the speed. I honestly thought we had opened a sizable gap when he pulled up but I did not account for fresh legs. The group had reacted and what little flame I had from the final matches quickly went out. I slide back and came in 9th.
Next up was a Master B keirin which would be conducted over 2 heats and a final. The first 4 of each heat would go into the final. The Master A's were up first and I felt rushed to change my chain ring in time, a 48/15 with this group would not work. It turned out that I had 3 heats to change it in but got my timing all screwed up. At the drawing of straws I pulled No 1. which meant if no one took the motor bike I was obliged to do so. In the event I did not get a chance and I found myself around 6th or 7th wheel. As the pace increased the rider in front lost his wheel and the leaders were pulling away forcing me to bridge the gap. As I bridged, the rider behind me came up along side and both crowded and blocked me in, with a rub of shoulders. I was forced to move inside the rider in front to avoid a touch of wheels.
As we came into the final sprint the same guy was still blocking me in and as we approached the line the rider in front let up the pace knowing he was through, again with nowhere to go other than into a rider in front or to the side I was forced down the inside. I was not happy and had words with the rider, who espoused his experience and the fact he was holding his line. He had the cheek to say I looked nervous and I informed him, he made me nervous through his actions.
The result of my evasive riding caused me to be disqualified which whilst frustrating was a much better result than crashing.
The disqualification meant I had just enough time to change my gearing back for the Cat 4, 8 lap scratch race. I sat back in the field and was content to cross the line in 6th. I watched the Kirien final and then got ready for the Cat 4, 16 lap 4x4 points race. As we rolled out I was not getting a read on the riders and positioned myself on the wheel of the guy leading the series. I figured if he wanted to keep his leaders jersey he would have to perform. I contended the first two points coming in the top 4. Around lap 10 a rider was away and true to form the leaders jersey went after him to close the gap and I was right there with him. As he bridged, the rider behind and the one from the first race with a wicked turn of speed attacked. I was convinced my guy would go after him but to my surprise he didn't. We only had 4 laps to go and the attack was a great move. I went after him and was shocked to look back and see the gap we had opened. The next 3 laps were a pursuit as I slowly realed him in. It hurt and I had to chant in my head "Winners don't give up", the effort paid off as I hit the bell and was almost on him. I could see he had committed everything he had and I was closing. I caught him on the back straight and made my move for the line through turns 3 and 4 taking the race and gaining enough points to win the race overall. Ok I had a few more matches left.
The last race of the night was a Master B 16 lap 4x4 points race. After my effort in the previous race I was curious to see how I would perform. As the last race of the night I could afford to light any matches left so I rolled the dice and mixed it up with each points lap. I did enough to take 7th place overall and could not spin my legs fast enough in the last sprint lol.
All up I took 5th place for the Master B Omnium and 3rd place for the Cat 4 Omnium and whilst I was tired I was not recked which in my books was a win.
As always Sarah was there with water, food, warm clothing, encouragement and support. One rider in the warmup circle said 'wow you have water bottle suport", I could not help but smile and feel pride and a great deal of gratitude for my wonderful wife who gets more nervous than me before every race but is always there no matter what.
Cat 4 points race, making the catch, out of the last corner after a 3 lap pursuit.
Ride hard and fast, keep it Rubber Side Down and MaxLifeOut.
Before I embarked on the Tour of California I added the Ellensburg Gran Fondo I have never done a Gran Fondo and thought it would be something to have on the calendar when I got back.
Like all events is snuck up on me and before I knew it, I had a week to go and I had not checked my cyclocross bike or selected my tires. In my mind it was going to be as simple as switching the tires from my rain bike to my cross bike, job done.
Before doing anything, I switched the cross tires for a set or 700x28 continentals and took it for a ride. In my climbing gears I was getting crazy jumping but only under pressure. A-ha, I have been here before with my road bike a guessed correctly that the cassette was worn. A change of cassette (from my rain bike) and no more jumping. Sorted, I thought. Nope, on the next ride I discovered a clicking noise that could only be the wheels or bottom bracket. I opted for a wheel switch first. No dice. I then dropped the chain off in the stand and spun the crank. Yup, you guessed it the bottom bracket was shot.
By now both my rain bike and cross bike are in bits and I have no bike to ride in the event. I rush ordered a WheelsMfg bottom bracket. The whole bottom bracket standard drives me to distraction. I kept my fingers crossed I ordered the right part.
Whilst waiting for the part to arrive I decided to switch the tires. It turns out that if you use your bike, stuff wears out, go figure. On inspection my rear tire had a hole in it and my front tire had so many small cuts it looked like a crazed pixy had stabbed and slashed at it with a tiny knife. Damn pixy, now I needed tires. Having the option of new tires then introduced the dilemma of which ones to get. With 36 miles of gravel, tread would be helpful however it would be a drag on the road. In the end I opted for a set of Tubeless Specialized Roubaix's 700c x30/32 as I enjoyed them during the winter and they stood up well to local gravel paths, until the pixy got at them.
On Saturday, before the ride the next day, the assembly started. With only the minimum number of swear words everything went together as planned. An hour ride confirmed the bike was ready for a Gran Fondo.
An early start of 3:30am is not a time for a person to get out of bed. It is simply the middle of the night. Well that was the time I woke up and reluctantly dragged my protesting body out of bed. The start time for the ride was 8am with registration opening at 6:45am, oh and I am about 2 hours with no traffic from registration. On the upside there was just me and a few insomniacs on the road.
I arrived with plenty of time to get my bike ready, change and catch up with a few friends who were also taking on the challenge. Normally I would have enjoyed riding with them but I wanted to test myself and see what time I could do it in.
After the race briefing at 7:45am we had a neutral roll out behind the organizers truck for the first 3 miles. For some reason I expected the first half of the ride to be pretty mellow, after all the climbs were not until the gravel section and it was not a race. I could not have been more wrong. As the rider in front of me pulled up I started my turn on the front. I kept a respectable pace of 20-21mph but that apparently was not fast enough. Not a minute into my pull and attacks were launched off the front with everyone scrabbling to find a wheel.
I decided to let 10 or so riders go before I jumped on the train. Everyone came back together and the pace was significantly lifted. What the hell I thought, lets see what happens if I just react. It was hard work matching all the surges but eventually it settled down at which point one rider jumped away, never to be seen again, well that is never to be seen by the rest of us. He went on to finish first so I understand.
The gravel is coming, that is 36 miles of it and somewhere in the region of 7000ft of climbing. Now, I had prepared and reviewed the profile but it still did not prepare me for the monster ahead. Fortunately, I did not know what I was getting into before I was fully committed and anyone climbing that thing in a compact double with a 28 on the back should be committed. Wait, I am getting ahead of my self. The transition from road to gravel was a road climb followed by a gravel wall, well it looked like one. I had already decided to pace myself and had subsequently started to fall back when I hit it. To give you an idea of the grade, the rider next to me ran out of gears and keeled over sideways, it would have been funny if I was not fighting to keep my own bike upright.
It levelled out a little and I started to tempo the climb, slowly pulling riders back. What I did not know was the unrelenting grade ahead that took us up 2400ft in 5miles. I quickly found the limit of my gearing and was forced to turn the pedals one stroke at a time. Getting out of the saddle things got even more interesting as my lack of tire tread resulted in wheel spins. It was a simple matter of embracing the pain and chanting to myself "I climbed Tahoe, I can climb this" and I did, catching a good number of riders in the process.
The aid station at the top which I thought was at the top, turns out it was not. A bunch of false summits later a I was finally on a decent. If you have never descended gravel on a cross bike with road tires at high speed I can assure you it is a white knuckle ride. The trick is to keep your weight back, focus on your lines and avoid holes, rocks and loose stuff. Oh and don't overcook the corners or you are in for an impromptu flying lesson without wings or a soft landing, been there and done that, not good :-).
The trail then proceeded to swoop down hill and then into a climb, followed by another down hill, then another a climb. It was hard climbing and descending. My hands and shoulders hurt from controlling the bike on the way down and my back hurt from the climbing. I was embracing the epic adventure that was the day.
At the midway point was the main aid station and I rolled by opting to fill my water bottles from spare foldup containers I was carrying. Bottles filled and my bladder emptied, I was back on the bike. I thought this would be a good time to take on more food as the trail seemed a reasonable grade, that was until I turned the corner with a mouthful of food. The second big climb was not as steep but not far off and it went on and on and on and on and, well you get the picture. With food crammed in my mouth I was not having a great time and was relieved when I finally managed to swallow it all.
I summited the climb with one other rider and we headed into the decent. Now let me ask you, have you ever strayed whilst driving onto the bumpy white line designed to wake you up?. Well to my horror the corners of the trail had turned into massive wake up lines and hitting them at speed had a similar effect to putting your head in a blender whilst simultaneously driving your man bits up behind your ears. If that was not bad enough it numbed your hands and made you see double, and all of this came as a surprise as you hit a racing line through a loose gravel corner at speed.
As the rider in front of me took off down hill it took all of my descending skills to stay in contact and stay upright on the bike, allowing the back wheel a little freedom to break loose and recovering a number of potential front wheel washouts. I was glad I had both MTB and Cross skills in my toolbox I can tell you. We flew down the descent and the level of concentration was insane. I took calculated risks but was not prepared to take stupid ones, opting to stay back in case he went down but not far enough back that I would lose contact. Our decent worked in our favor and we pulled back two riders ahead. It was however only a matter of time before the trail claimed a victim and I discovered at the end of the ride that the first rider we caught then went down hard behind us Fortunately he received flesh wounds and was able to complete the ride. With his shorts torn up and cuts on his arm and leg I knew it was going to hurt later and I felt for the guy. I hope he is recovering quickly.
The end of the decent dropped us out onto the road and it felt wonderful to hit the asphalt. The other good news was that we were now three and we worked together to race to the finish. With all three of us working we were making good time and soon had a lone rider in our sights. It was not long before we pulled him back and invited him to join us. He dug deep and jumped on. Now we were four and heading for home.
I'm going to say it that the organizers have a twisted sense of humor. Why? because the last 3 miles or so of the ride were on gravel, we turned the corner and hit a railway grade trail. "I was not amused". That said, we put our heads down and raced for the finish, to be greeted with congratulations, a finishers patch and time to fist bump and share stories before heading home.
It turns out that unofficially the four of us finished in the top 10, completing 90 miles (36 on gravel) and 8000ft of climbing (most of which was on gravel) in 5hrs 38minutes.
Epic Day and qualifies for Maxing Life Out.
Here is a short video, not much as I was too busy riding and forgot to film
Remember to keep it Rubber Side Down and MaxLifeOut.
Don't you just hate it when you think you are all organized and then circumstances transpire to reset your sense of tranquility. Well this week I keep getting reset and it started with my cross bike which I am using to ride a gran fondo on Sunday but more about that in my next post. Work was crazy busy and my amazing wife had my kit ready to go for the nights racing. All I had to do was tension my chain and put the bike on the car. Well that's what I thought I had to do until a quick check of my tires revealed a cut. With an hour to get to the track and warm up I seriously considered ignoring it, then common sense kicked in and I had the wheels off rushing a last minute tire replacement. Even the sky looked threatening and both Sarah and I thought the nights racing might end up being cancelled due to rain.
Well that was the start of the night and you might be forgiven for thinking the next sentence would be "and it went down hill from there". Well I am very pleased to report that was not the case. In fact the drive went smoothly, the sun came out and I got in a 15 minute warm up before race proceedings started. Since I have still not sorted out my gearing to be able to ride the restricted cat 4 races I was down for the Master B races.
First race of the night was a 10 lap scratch, we had a small 8 man field as we rolled out for our neutral lap. With 3 to go one rider made a bold move and attacked off the front and the pack was unwilling to chase. He quickly established a gap before the pack decided to make a move. As I watched him ride away I had the choice of sprint to get away and risk being caught in no mans land wasting energy, chase hard and pull everyone with me or sit in and fight it out for second. With two more races to go I aired on the side of energy conservation. In the last lap I maneuvered myself into the perfect position and was able to take the sprint for 2nd place.
The second race was a win-n-out on laps 3, 6, 9 & 12. The first rider across the line when the bell rings takes first and exits the race and so on. The race started fast with an immediate attack that was quickly marked. I did not get into the best position for the first sprint and whilst I was able to fight around the rider in front I was only able to cross the line in 2nd. With the wind at my back in the back straight I decided to stay on the pedals and see what happened, the gamble paid off, the pack let me go and I was able to stay away for the next 3 laps to take 2nd.
The last race of the night was a 16 lap 4x4 points race. It was going to be a closely fought battle and I needed to pay attention to my position. In the first sprint I fought to get on a wheel and was able to take 3rd. I was better positioned in the second sprint but was unable to come around the rider in front taking 2nd which was the same for the 3rd sprint. As we wound up for the 4th sprint a rider took off for a flying lap, knowing that the wind would hit him as he turned into the home straight I held position and remained patient. The patience paid off as one of the strongest riders in the group launched an attack and I was on his wheel immediately. I almost lost him as we turned into corner 3 but dug deep. The rider ahead was fading fast in the wind and we passed him in the home straight. It was all I could do to hold the wheel of the rider in front. My 2nd place finish gave me the tie breaker and I won the race and as a result took the omnium for the night.
It was a great night at the track, the weather brightened up, there was a strong field to compete with and great conversation had with both old and new friends.
Hitting the gas hard, not to shabby after hugging a tree in the Ballard Crit at the weekend
Well I am sure you can guess from the title that my race this weekend did not go as planned. I ended up hugging a tree, just as I bridged and with 2 laps to go.
Crashing, sucks period. Yes I was frustrated and unhappy, no it was not intentional, the guy apologized and yes it could have been a lot worse, for which I am truly grateful. I got off lightly with scrapes and bruised ribs. My rear wheel was not so fortunate, did I mention it was an expensive weekend, but here again it could have been worse.
The plan was to rack up 75 minutes of racing by competing in both the Cat 4 men immediately followed by the masters 1,2,3,4 35+, talk about a deep field. The races were back to back, not ideal but doable. With my chances of a good finish most likely in the first race the game plan was to race hard in the first race and ride in the pack in the second race.
The sun was shining as we parked the car and broke out the trainer. As it was my first criterium of the year I used my Cyclocross warmup then jumped on the course for a couple of orientation laps.
It was a four corner short lap circuit with a slight uphill grade into the finish then slightly down hill for the rest of the course.
The race started fast with lots of attacks right out the gate. I found myself having to mark and chase down attacks which was not ideal for conserving energy. I had two attempts at breaking away both of which failed and although I had expended a lot of energy I was feeling confident. I could not believe it when I saw with 7 laps to go the pack had allowed another rider to get free and I found myself digging deep to help real him in. It is worth pointing out, that on reflection my lack of recent racing experience led me to work harder than needed, with a little more patience I would not have had to do so much chasing. On the upside it was a good training effort.
As I bridged the final few meters to the break I eased off the gas as I did not want to find myself on the front with 1 lap to go, I was tired but I felt confident that I could put in a strong finish. I needed to rolled back into 4th or 5th to recover for a final big push. I was in 2nd and everything was going to plan when I was surpised by a rider on my right who then cut across me as a rider hit my left side and drove me into a tree going down with me. Fortunately I was not going at full speed and was able to hit the brakes. The impact rattled my cage good and after my emotions had exploded out of me verbally, you know something like "goodness gracious that hurt, how unfortunate you dro
ve me into a tree" all condensed into one word ending in "K", I was helped to my feet. My thoughts turned to my bike and the next race. Sure I was bruised and scraped but I was up and I wanted to make the start line.
Sarah handed me the keys to the car and I started to head back to get wheels when I was directed to the FSA neutral support. The guys switched out both wheels, straightened my bars and brake. The officials delayed the race by 5 minutes and I made the start line.
From there everything went south, I failed to clip in and had to scrabble to find a wheel, I was able to move up but then found myself going backwards rapidly, I just could not meet the accelerations to hold a wheel and by lap 2 I was out the back and by lap 4 pulled of the course. I simply had nothing left in the tank and was more than a little disappointed with myself. I took consolation in riding an aggressive first race and taking one preme. The second race highlighted the work I need to do in the coming months.
On the way home we were excited to see on Facebook our friend Dawn had successfully completed the flying wheels century and was looking good. We thought they might still be at the finish so we called and instead received a surprise invite for dinner, which was awesome, even more so as they are now paleo and we did not have to explain what we can and can't eat. Great company always makes a day better. When you max life out it does not always go to plan but it is always epic.
Hope you had a great weekend keeping it Rubber Side a Down and MaxLifeOut.
I thought I would share my thoughts and experience with different depths of wheel rims. Specifically the effect of cross winds on deep section wheels. First I have to say aesthetically I really like the look of deep section rims and was lucky enough to purchase my road bike with Enve 3,4s which many sight as the best combination for cross wind stability. I will be the first to admit I did not even think or consider cross winds when I saw the wheels, I just thought, they are cool and I still think they are cool.
For the first year of use I really did not know what all the fuss was about cross winds, sure I got subtle bumps on local rides but I put that down to my aero frame rather than the wheels. I now realize I had it wrong. It was not until my first decent of Mt Lemon in Tucson that I got to understand the true effect of cross winds. At 35mph I could feel the wind knocking me around and the faster I went the more dramatic the effect. As I leaned into a corner it was like an invisible force snatching at my bike forcing me to focus on keeping upright as much as taking the right line. Again I placed most of the blame on my aero frame although the effect on the steering suggested wheels, I was still leaning towards the aero forks.
Well as you might of read in my Tour of California blog, at the last minute my rear wheel went bad and I was forced to switch to standard rim wheels, in this case Campagnolo Urus wheels. At first I was frustrated but I soon came to appreciate the switch especially during the long descents in windy conditions. I was forced to face the fact that 90% or more of my issues in the past was due to my wheels. I was simply blown away or rather not blown anywhere. I watched riders in front of me fighting to control their bikes whilst all I had to do was concentrate on taking the fastest line. So it's not my frame I was forced to conclude.
The most dramatic experience I had was the super fast decent off the top of Lake Tahoe. In front of me was a coach and I watched the wind literally knock him all over the road. I was being knocked about but in nowhere near the same manner. Just watching him was scary and at the bottom he turned around to wait for the rider behind as he was so concerned about the wind.
I still love my Enve 3,4's and BikeRadar has a good review of them if you are interested in learning more. I for one have a new appreciation for the effect of deep section rims. From now on I will be more conscious of my choice of wheels for specific rides and conditions and if forced to make a choice of one set of wheels I would go for a standard rim over a deep section one in the future.
I really enjoyed and my Campagnolo wheelset that is for sure. I hope you found this helpful.
Until next time keep it Rubber Side Down and MaxLifeOut
It just seems to be a week of unplanned firsts, well that is not entirely true, riding on the track yesterday was planned. What was not planned was racing tonight. It just so happened that tonight was the first official Wednesday night race of the season and I just so happened to be at the track yesterday to learn of said event. That would have been the end of it had I not then texted my coach only to receive a reply this morning of "let's race tonight".
Yes if you have to ask my first response was butterflies in the tummy, quickly followed by the thought maybe I should not have gone so hard yesterday, finishing with resignation and excitement at the thought of actually racing for the first time this year.
Checking out the schedule I was licensed to race both the Master B and Cat 4 Men. Combining the two would give me six races, three in each group. As the intention was training, we rocked up to the track with that in mind.
Oh, I have to sidebar for a second. Last night I messaged the Friends of Herne Hill with yesterdays blog and was shocked to find that they posted it on their facebook page. The upshot was reconnecting with a friend I have not had contact with for probably 25-30 years. He was the one that sold me my track bike, yup the very same one I am racing on now. How cool is that?
Back to the racing. It was a balmy temperature with the threat of rain and a few laps around the track confirmed that the wind had switch 180 degrees from yesterday hitting us as we turned into the home straight. At the end of the 45 minute warmup one of the riders rolled up and I am ashamed to say I did not recognize him and therefore very grateful that he said hi. We had raced together during the cross season and had a mutual friend in common. It was his first official track race which was awesome.
The first race of the evening was a Master B, 10 lap scratch race. My plan was to use it as a race warmup with the knowledge that I had a Cat, 8 lap scratch to follow. I hung with the pack and sat up in the home straight not wanting to blow all my energy in the first race, on hindsight that was a mistake but then that is the wonderful thing about hindsight.
For Cat 4 races gearing is restricted so at the start of the first race there was a roll out to check gearing. I confidently joined the line only to find that I was long, my gearing was too big. No idea what happened, ok I do I had the wrong gear setup - DOH!! My new friend offered me a wheel but I decided to pass on the race. The offer was very much appreciated but would have been a pain for both of us since it was the wheel on his bike not a spare. Reluctantly I resigned myself to just the Master B series. To be honest it was probably a good thing as the races came round unusually quickly.
Next up was an Unkown Tempo, not a race I was familiar with. It is a points race with 2 points and 1 point given to the 1st and 2nd riders across the line each lap. I chatted with my new friend in the warmup/cool down circle. I suggested if we got the chance to work together we might get away. We had an agreement and rolled up to the rail. The race started hard with two fast laps, I was 5th or 6th wheel when my friend took off like his ass was on fire. I had to make a snap decision and got out the saddle to chase him down, it took me almost half a lap to catch him and when I did he pulled up. We were committed and we had a great gap on the field. I put my head down and took my turn like a man, yes it hurt. We then worked together sharing the points until the bell rang. We were still clear of the field but he was fading in the back straight, not wanting to lose the ground we had made I accelerated past him in the back straight to take the win. He followed me in to take 2nd. It was a texted book 1/2 escape and he did awesome. Next time they might not let us go but it is sometimes worth the gamble.
The last race of the evening was supposed to be a 4x5 20 lap points race but each race our numbers had dwindled so a snap decision was made by the officials to reduce it to a 4x4 16 lap points race. We rolled out and got started straight away but no one was really willing to work. At the first sprint I was in the top 5 and with the lead out 4 of us had a small gap for a bit but then one of the riders pulled up unwilling to work which shut it down. That was frustrating as it was effectively a waste of energy. The second sprint was launched and again I mixed it up in the top 5 only this time I did not waste any energy trying to create a break but sat back in to watch the riders around me. For the 3rd sprint I was ideally placed and took 1st leaving us with 4 laps to go. It was cat and mouse with one rider high on the banking, I watched him literally roll away, I was sure they would not let him go but sure enough with 2 laps to go he had a good lead on us and he did exactly what he should he used it to launch and attack. At the bell he had almost a free half lap and went on to win the race. Me on the other hand thought what the hell it is the last race of the evening and went for a flying lap. It very nearly worked but they caught me just before the line although I did salvage 5th.
Ok I am going to admit I was a little frustrated with myself in the home straight as I gave up and did not embrace the pain cave, it might not have made any difference but still there it is I admitted it.
All told I finished out the evening 3rd overall which for my first race night of the season was not too shabby even if I do say so myself.
Hope you are getting out there and ripping it up.
Remember to keep it Rubber Side Down and MaxLifeOut.
With the Tour of California behind me it was time to get back to the track and turn some of the endurance I have been working on into speed. Today was an open track training day with no particular training schedule. A good friend suggested I join them for there training session but unfortunately I missed there warm up. I did get to jump in on a short pace line effort. With no structured training and with no plans of my own I decided to turn the evening into an interval session and boy did my legs complain about that. It was good to open the lungs and discover that I need to do a little brushing up after so many hours working on distance riding and climbing.
I had my support team (Sarah) there to make sure I drank and took on food. Oh and I got to wear my Friends of Herne Hill jersey to represent the track I cut my teeth on as a school boy and junior back in England.
My next decision is whether or not to race the Ballard Crit on Saturday. A lot will hinge on my ability to upgrade from a Cat 5 to a Cat 4. I know those of you that know me will be saying Cat 5, but remember I did not have a UCI ranking until last year and the only UCI road race I participated in was the Redmond Derby Day. If I can get the upgrade then there are two races I can ride but if not it hardly seems worth the effort for a 30 minute race. I will get the category hurdle out of the way before deciding on racing or not.
Remember to keep it RubberSideDown and MaxLifeOut.
What a dramatic title, well that's how I felt astride my fat electric bike. I needed to be in the office today and after spending so much time riding I did not feel like driving. On the other hand I also did not feel like getting changed into my cycling kit and then getting changed when I got to work.
Then I remembered, this was one of the purposes I purchased our Sondors electric bikes. The purchase was a bit of an experiment and todays was a chance to put the experiment into practice. I was a little nervous that the bike would not have enough range but having been out with Sarah on hers I estimated it would be fine.
You might be thinking, "What's the big deal if the battery runs out, you are a strong rider, just ride without power", well that was my thought until I tried to ride the bike without power. It is like trying to move an anchored lead weight.
I headed out and soon discovered that although I had assist it still took effort to ride. It did however have enough range to get me to work where I could recharge the battery. What's more the energy output was low enough to keep sweating to a minimum, which was a good thing as I did not have a change of clothes.
On the ride home I passed a couple of riders and I have to admit as a cyclist I felt a little dirty, but only for a moment.
Experiment over, I estimate I put in 40%-50% of the effort it would have taken if I had ridden my road bike. So I got a little active recovery and passive exercise whilst avoiding the traffic and breathing some fresh air. I will take that.
Remember to keep it Rubber Side Down and MaxLifeOut.
It was wonderful arriving home yesterday and being met at the airport by my darling wife. It was strange waking up in the hotel room hours earlier and not getting ready to ride. The trip to the airport and the flight home was uneventful thankfully. I was shattered but our first stop was at Microsoft. Prior to my vacation I had promised to sit on a Hack for Good panel and I had no intention of letting them down. The panel discussion went really well and I was excited to see the non profit participation. Sarah and I then took off home to catchup. Not that I was much good in the catching up department, being dog tired has that effect on you.
One topic of conversation was "What Next?". It is a great question and I am still working on it. The priority for now however is recovery and to that end my coach suggested that if I felt up for it, Sarah and I could go for a ride together today. I told him that surprisingly enough despite feeling tired I was eager to get back out riding.
Today the alarm clock did not go off in the morning, well that's a lie, it did but it did not stay going for very long. I stayed in bed and it felt good. Once up we had breakfast and took the dogs for a walk before heading out for almost a 2 hour spin in the valley. It was an overcast but warmish day and it was wonderful to breath in the green air as we bumbled along. Well I bumbled along, if you ask Sarah she has a different version and I could not be more proud of how well she rode.
I spent the evening working on my Tour of California and CTS trip summary, but now it is time to get in some more recovery.
Remember to keep it Rubber Side Down and MaxLifeOut.
This morning I got an extra hour in bed with my alarm going off at 6am. I reached over and turned the light on before I turned over and went back to sleep. I was tired but today was the last stage and I intended to finish strong.
Stage 8 was a pancake flat stage with just a little over 600ft of accumulative elevation. We kitted up this morning at the hotel and road 15 minutes to the start line and then we were off. The ride started out mellow and I am sure like me others were reflecting on there week. I was very pleasantly surprised about how good I felt, sure my legs felt tired but nowhere near as badly as I thought they would feel.
The group stayed together for the first couple of hours and then the pace lifted as eight riders including me pulled away. The day might have been flat but the head and cross winds made it hard work on the front. We did turns pulling and the time flew by. I could not believe it was nearly all over. Before long the over enthusiasm of some of the riders in our group started to show and by the end of the ride we were down to 6 riders with one having to be helped along by the coach.
As a result me and one other ended up doing the majoring of the pulling in the last 2 hours of the ride. It was not exactly the easy day I had envisioned but it was really good to finish strong. We came in as the woman's race was finishing so we did not get a chance to cross the finish line which was a little disappointing but quickly forgotten.
After changing out of my kit and grabbing a bit to eat, I headed to the VIP tent with plans on a last visit to the Expo. The VIP tent was packed and after seeing the woman's race finish and bumping into Freddie I decided to head back to the trailer to watch the race come n to TV instead of just getting a glimpse as they charged the line. I headed towards the Expo and took one look and decided to give it a miss. It was swarming with people and honestly I just wanted to chill out and watch the race come home.
With the riders home it was time to pack up and head back to the hotel. Whilst everyone was returning I took the time to watch the riders return to there team buses. Once back at the hotel it was time for a final massage followed by packing to return home. It was odd not to be preparing for a ride tomorrow but also really nice to be heading home to my girls.
We gathered in the hotel lobby at 6:45pm for a final group dinner at a local restaurant where everyone shared there trip highlights. When it was my turn I shared both the lows of the crash and the highs of the achievement. The highest point for me came today from my darling wife Sarah. She has invested and sacrificed so much for me to take on this challenge. Supporting me through the training, putting up with the hours on the bike, the seemingly endless requirement for equipment and ensuring that I fueled properly both on and off the bike. So when I texted her the message "I finished :)" it was not exactly the message she was expecting which as a stupid man I was completely oblivious to. She said 5 words that meant more to me than anything else "I am proud of you". I can't wait to see her tomorrow.
I hope you have enjoyed the journey with me, it has been a real pleasure to share it with you and I hope in some small way you are inspired to climb your mountain whatever that might be.
Here are a few pictures from the day:
Remember to keep it Rubber Side Down and MaxLifeOut
Then like all things, reality kicked in and I realized, I have gotten sucked into the new stuff zone without really knowing what I wanted. Sure I could tell you the use but not what I wanted and how it would improve my riding. Then a conversation with my coach confirmed I needed to rethink my expenditure especially with the cyclocross season just around the corner. After all if I did get a steel frame built would it really be much different. Well I guess I will find out some other day as for now my old boy is still awesome in my eyes.
Now one thing I did reason with was the benefit of new wheels, after all mine are 30 years old and going strong but 30 years old all the same. 
