A year of change

I've gotten pretty good about blogging in spring and then dropping off the face of the blogosphere for a year. Last season started with some good form for racing, and then I ran through a few major changes. First, things hit a roadblock with the team and racing. It simply wasn't an option for me to go to the first four races of the year, so I pulled the plug on the mountain bike season.

Next, I got an amazing opportunity for a new job, doing social media and PR work in the industry. It also meant shelving racing entirely, but it was a dream job, and I wasn't going to pass it up.

One year later, I've been to Whistler twice, followed a major stage race in California, seen Austin, Philly, San Francisco, and had a beer with a Tour de France podium finisher. I'd say it was worth taking a break from racing.

On the flip side, I experienced athletic burnout big time. Once the athlete mentality was gone, I didn't ride my bike or do any physical activity whatsoever for about 5 months. I lost all my form, put on about 25 lbs, drank a ton of beer, and hated the bike.

When I was young, and had just discovered the joy of cycling, I told my dad I hoped I would always love riding as much as I did. He suggested I hope to always have something to love as much as I love cycling, whether it was riding or some other thing. That sounded reasonable to me, and we agreed to just aim for me to never "dislike" riding. Unfortunately, I did end up hating it, but that was because I was riding for the wrong reasons.

Next post: Finding cycling again.

Training Camp day 2

Today I got my ass kicked on a road climb called Wayah. It was my first group road ride in a while and I made some good mistakes. Here's a map with elevation.

We rolled out of the NOC with a group of 17. After a two-hour spin to the backside of Wayah, I found myself in the faster of two groups as we headed toward the base of the climb. Little did I know I was pulling on a false flat, working my heartrate into a zone I didn't want to see until I was actually on the climb.

1. I pulled too hard, for too long, when I should have sat in.

2. I shouldn't have even been in the lead group. I should have gone my own pace into the start of the climb.

At mile 35 it really started to kick up and we entered a few switchbacks that blew me off the back of my group. I tried way too hard to stay with the lead group (the pain train portion of the ride) and probably should have just sat in with the second group.

My legs were still feeling pretty crappy from the 14 hours of driving the day before, so I was one of the last people to make the summit. Instead of doing the second portion of the ride with the lead group, I descended the front of Wayah, giggling with delight at the hairpin turns and high speeds. I reached 45 MPH on the way down and repeatedly dropped the other rider who headed back with me to the NOC.

We stopped a few times on the way back to stretch (we were both cramping a bit), and then Patrick (I think that was his name) dropped the hammer and we hauled ass into the NOC, averaging 25 MPH for the last 10 miles. It was mostly downhill, but damn were we cooking.

The first real ride was in the bag and my legs were shot from the nasty steep climb.

Monday we're riding Tsali: an old famous mountain bike trail system. Who's stoked? This guy.

Training Camp day 1

Friday March 11th Kathleen and I packed up my mom's mini van with two road bikes and 4 mountain bikes and headed south to The Nantahala Outdoor Center near Bryson City, North Carolina. After an overnight stop in Indiana, we arrived mid-afternoon and joined the UW Cycling Team for their annual week-long Spring training trip.

After unpacking, K and I took a quick spin around the NOC's Flint Ridge MTB trail. It begins with 6 switchbacks up a steep climb that will pull your lungs into your mouth. The reward is a sweeping, fast descent with a few swoopy corners. The climb is worth it. The trail is fast and fun.

Pro tip: knobby tires will help you dig through the overbrush and grab onto the trail.

Sunday we're climbing a road called Wayah. I'm told it's a beast.

Where have I been?

Thanks to a new acquaintance I've been reminded that I have a blog. And people attempt to read it. So here's why I didn't post after Rhinelander last year (and haven't posted since):

I did some serious training for the Wausau race in early June. I'll do a report on that later and then link to it here. Training was going well, but I needed some better base mileage to keep the pace high throughout the entire race.

The solution: a road trip with Kathleen to Colorado to visit friends and train at elevation. Big miles in the car to get some big miles on the bike. We rode in Breck, in Aspen, and then in Boulder.

Riding back to where we were staying in Gunbarrel, just outside Boulder, we rounded a bend in the road. My coach Aaron led, I was in the middle, and Kathleen was on my wheel. A four-inch piece of metal blew out my front tire while we were doing about 30mph and I hit the dirty blacktop on my left side.

Kathleen flew over me and landed on her head. Aaron turned around to stop traffic (fortunately there was a break in the flow of cars), and Kathleen pulled me out of the road. I quickly regained my senses (though I was never unconscious), but Kathleen's condition deteriorated. The EMTs arrived in 3 minutes (no joke), and by the time they had Kathleen strapped to a backboard, I was able to stand.

Once at the hospital, Kathleen was diagnosed with a pneumomediastinum (and a separated shoulder, but that was to be expected). Basically, she had a pocket of air in the tissue of her neck and mediastinum caused by the rapid expulsion of air from her full lungs when she impacted the ground.

All I had was some serious road rash (the left side of my left leg, hip to ankle) and eventual swelling. Some of the most astounding pain I've ever been in was experienced while scrubbing out my road rash in a hotel in Boulder.

So we packed it up, packed it in, and drove back to Wisconsin. I didn't ride a bike for two months.

Race Report WORS #2: Rhinelander

Here's the quick and dirty:
Tires: Bontrager XR2s front and rear. The course was partly dirt roads and partly super rough technical singletrack. Lots of pumping and body-english. A five-mile stretch of singletrack with little to no passing room. Tons-o-fun!

Things that went better than they did in Iola: I nailed the leadout and stuck with the group. I didn't crash, my nutrition was spot-on (1 Hammer Gel per 45 minutes), I felt good on the power climbs, and I paced myself pretty well for a 2-hour (25 mile) race.

Things that didn't go so well: This was a 2.5-hour (33 mile) haul. Ouch. After 27 miles I felt a little low in the gas-tank, and when my group started attacking at 4 miles to go, I wasn't able to keep up. Losing 5 spots in the last 15 minutes was frustrating.

However, I did manage 30th ,which felt pretty good. I'm starting to wrap my head around the way these kids race, and I know what I need to do for next time: Long mountain bike rides.

Race Report: Iola: WORS #1

May 2nd was my first cat 1/Pro XC race. I didn't get the result I was hoping for, however, I learned a lot.

When Don called "Go" we hauled out of the start chute faster than I'd imagined we would. I hung in mid-pack for the first lap and even managed to get into a group I could comfortably ride with.

I definitely didn't have the climbing legs these guys did, but I stuck with them through the first few burner hills, and into the sweet singletrack. We rode together for one lap. I was sliding corners and 3-pointing turns to make passes where I could. I was probably in the 40s in terms of positioning.

Then I crashed on lap 2. I don't know how I did it, but I planted my front wheel into a stump or something, and went over the bars. My back landed on something hard, which I soon learned was a tree stump. My group soon left me dazed and out of breath. My back hurt.

Although it took a moment, I got back on the bike and caught onto the second group that was passing. It took about a lap to get back into my groove, and then another lap to feel like I could race.

I bridged up to my previous group, back still hurting a bit, and latched on. Unfortunately, that was when the attacks started. A few guys started going off the front and I was dumb enough to attempt to go with right after I had bridged up to them.

Pop.

Soon I was at the back of the group, and losing a few spots here and there. It was the last lap and we were catching lapped traffic. I missed a few opportunities to pass. I got stuck behind some lapped traffic. I didn't go aggressively when I should have.

When I rolled across the line I thought I'd be DFL. I hadn't seen any other elite riders in a while and I knew I was off the back.

65th of 90 riders. My goal was top 30, which I did not get.

This race did, however, teach me a few valuable things:

1. Do more core work. Lots more.

2. Lose some weight. The fast guys are VERY lean, and you gotta get lean if you wanna be fast. That little extra on the core isn't doing anything for me.

3. Do more climbing. Hard climbing.

4. Eat less during the race. The 3 Hammer Gels were very filling. Time to try something with faster energy. Maybe Gu.

Tonight: a practice crit.

Calm after a storm

Woah, hey, it's been busy!

Work has been super busy, which is good. It's also been really fun lately, which, combined with being busy, is really good.

Training has gone well, and I've been hitting the mountain bike trails since Spring has arrived early in Wisconsin. My first time out at Jim's trails I set a new personal record lap time. Ba-Zinga!

I'll have a new tumblr posting soon from the team blog.

We're at the dress-rehearsal point of the season. A few of us have done a race or two, and it's almost time to start the big show.

I might race a criterium if time permits. Otherwise, Iola will be my first race.

Either way, Trek Store Racing is kicking into full effect this year.

No time to blog; gotta ride.