Jumped into my first mountain bike race of the season today. Rhinelander Rasta Rally, kinda goofy name but a good bike race.
Couple things I would not have expected....
--With it having been one of the warmest spring seasons in memory
--And one of the driest on record.....
Who'd of thought the first race of the season on Mother's Day weekend would start with temps in the high 30's and 2 inches of snow on the ground!! There's this expression that has a 3 letter acronym -- W.T.? I'll let you fill in the question mark but you can perhaps imagine some fine noun, adjective or adverb that will do the job (I'm no English major so whatever fits, use it).
What's snow do in high 30 degree temps? It turns into a potentially wet sloppy mess and that was the story of the day with certain areas of the single track. Different areas in the region had more snow while others less so it was hard to know what the best tire choice would be. I was banking on the latter for the Rhinelander race ... further south... less snow -- it proved to be wrong.
Still I can't put out a complaint about the race itself. Perhaps how I did yes, but not the course.
In what can happen on occasion, the Swanson-mobile got a late start & ended up getting to the course with 9 minutes to start. Enough for me to run in get my race number, toss on my helmet, put a water bottle on the bike and get to the start line.
You're sorta running on amped up adrenaline when put into a time crunch like that, so at the start I came around the left side and immediately went to the front. It wasn't like there wasn't already enough other very good racers to lead things out but it just happened. I felt good, the bike felt fast. That might have been for close to the first mile before Chris Peariso or perhaps Justin Piontek came around. I stayed in 3rd for the first couple miles of the race & there was a string of perhaps 6 or 8 guys total when I glanced back. Upon hitting the first bunch of single track... it became blatantly obvious trouble started brewing. The more heavily wood area of the course had snow that stayed on the ground & was causing some slip 'n slide issues. I did my best initially to dance around the hot spots but some of the stuff was unavoidable and the options were slim at best -- wipe out or slow down. Obviously that wasn't to the liking of 2 or 3 racers behind me who either had way better mud handling skills than I but I believe it was in more likelihood their delightfully knobbier & wider tires. So Seth Lens & Scott Golomski scooted by when I spun out on a hill, later I was double deckered by Adam Swank & perhaps Tom Carpenter when they both when for a pass on each side of me. Something that has never happened before -- I took two sets of handlebars into my kidneys, one on each side. Ugh!
It was just that ugly in some spots, you'd go from dry to super slick pretty quick. Think of when you drive your car on asphalt & then come across black ice. You wondering W.T.? ... just hit me? That's what the course was like for me at least.
So out front it was Chris, Justin, Seth, Scott & Adam. Tom Carpenter was content to sit on my wheel and push me up hills when his front tire would come in contact with my rear tire. Only time I've ever been helped in a bike race by someone running into the back of me. (Thanks again Tom!!)
From that half way point in the first lap, things spread out and made for the rest of the race pretty much. I pulled away from Tom shortly after that and towards the end of lap one I caught back up to Justin Piontek & was now in 4th place. Justin was running abit slower after apparently burping some air out of one of his tires. We road together for just under a half lap probably not fast enough -- as we were chatting up quite the conversation. Nice kid, I wish him well this racing season.
Upon hitting round (ie Lap) two of the slick stuff, we parted ways as Justin's tires were stickin' & mine were slippin'. About the same time, my energy levels are startin' to ebb -- it's probably 90minutes into the race and I was paying the price for not making drinking & taking in fuel a priority in lap one. (So much for the endurance factor my big pre-season of high mileage training was doing... pooh, pooh.)
Shortly after I'm feeling the heat of others breathing down my neck, seeing 'em on various trail cut backs & reversals. Paul Belknap at first, later two other guys. Paul wasn't able to catch on & later dropped off, but eventually the other two guys did. Between the slickness of the trail, plain old getting tired & fighting off a bonk I was so looking forward to wrapping things up.
There was a new section of fresh cut single track towards the end of the laps that took us off the double track fire/forest roads. If I had to give a negative mark on the course -- it'd be that stuff .... with an exclamation mark. Obviously it was softer & slicker because it was freshly cut, but the lines & design of the s-track was just plain wrong. For me I lost a good share of time each time through it.
Nearing the end of lap two, the course wraps up the single track & leads out to the finish with a mile or so of double track. Just coming out of the single track, I hear some gears clicking & shifting. I quick peak over my shoulder & I see in the blue & white SISU jersey of Tom Carpenter. Crap! I thought I was going to coast in to the finish. I locked everything out & laid hard into it immediately when things opened up to put the pressure on Tom to play catch up. Managed to maintain or maybe even slightly grow the lead to maybe 20 yards. Tom finally made a push as we came to the gravel road finish but the lead was sufficient to hold him off.
The finishing time was around 2:09, for a second lap according to Kate that was 10 minutes slower than my first lap.
I wouldn't say it was a hard race, but the conditions made it longer than anticipated. Finished 7th overall, Chris Pearsio dropped out somewhere in the 2nd lap after a 4th flat tire.... Either Chris has the worst luck of any racer I've seen with DNF's & mechanicals in the past 3 years or well, he's stubborn & likes his lightweight tires & equipment almost to a fault. Ah, heck, who cares, that's the beauty of MTB racing you can do what you like. Whether you want lightweight low resistance tires or race a single speed -- it's all good.
Up next definitely a more challenging race in the new Cable Off Road Classic race. Definitely not the speedy open course they made in '09. So if any Twin Cities road racing lovers show up expecting that ... think again. This years edition laces up more single track & climbing than any other Off Road Classic that I've road in the past. Kelly McKnight passed along the potential amount of climbing in the 25 or 26 mile course to be close to 2000 feet.
Lastly if you're going to the Off Road Classic.... watch out for a nasty big Snapping Turtle on the Rock Lake cut off. I ran into him sitting smack dab in the middle of the trail while pre-riding last Saturday. The dude is a monster! He's gotta be the size of a small coffee table. I stopped to check out his snapping/crushing skills.... he was taking out 1 1/2" hardwood sticks like they were a tooth picks. Awesome.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
X's and Oh's.....
To my single speed(ing) friends...
You got me convinced. I bit the bullet and went with the "less gears is better mantra". That's right, I'm not racing a 3x9, 27 speed mountain bike combination this year. I've made a change for the lessor.....
.
.
.
You didn't really expect me to go whole hog with this single speed idea, did you?
XX = 20 gears, seven less than before. It's a start...
Lastly, ever notice how many X's go into a bike? Take the above and add the following....
Otherwise training is going well, coming off a great 3 week block of training. With it however the downfall of intense training, a compromised immune system. And Sunday.. I contracted a major cold. Not exactly feeling like a million bucks right now. It's a recovery week in the training schedule so that's favorable but doesn't bode well for making a run at the first race in the WORS series next Sunday.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Upping the game....
Pretty exciting stuff coming out technologically on the training front. When it came to training with "power" - measuring the actual volume of work produced when cycling. I like to think in terms of weight lifting -- a way to measure how much weight and for how long it can be lifted. The more weight one can lift or the more times one can lift a given weight the stronger the rider.
Predominately there's been only a couple ways of tapping into this kind of training device. A company called SRM which putts a power measuring device near the cranks & chainrings of a bike. And Cyclops/PowerTap -- a system which is located in the rear wheel hub.
But slowly more options are becoming available. One company Quarq has come out with a crank/spider driven power measuring device called CinQo. Very nice in that if you have different bikes with the same spider/crank setup it's a relatively quick & easy move from one bike to another. Drawback.... is the chainring compatibility is for larger road bike chainring setups and not MT Bike systems yet. However perhaps later in 2010 or early 2011 some of those options will be available.
The other and perhaps newest device is called Vector by a company called MetriGear. It's still in beta testing and has a bit to go before being available to the general public -- but this device fits inside the pedal spindle -- if they can get this technology to work reliably it could be a real game changer. Power training as portable as moving your pedals from one bike to the next....
I'll try to get links up later.... Good stuff!
Predominately there's been only a couple ways of tapping into this kind of training device. A company called SRM which putts a power measuring device near the cranks & chainrings of a bike. And Cyclops/PowerTap -- a system which is located in the rear wheel hub.
But slowly more options are becoming available. One company Quarq has come out with a crank/spider driven power measuring device called CinQo. Very nice in that if you have different bikes with the same spider/crank setup it's a relatively quick & easy move from one bike to another. Drawback.... is the chainring compatibility is for larger road bike chainring setups and not MT Bike systems yet. However perhaps later in 2010 or early 2011 some of those options will be available.
The other and perhaps newest device is called Vector by a company called MetriGear. It's still in beta testing and has a bit to go before being available to the general public -- but this device fits inside the pedal spindle -- if they can get this technology to work reliably it could be a real game changer. Power training as portable as moving your pedals from one bike to the next....
I'll try to get links up later.... Good stuff!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Couple seasons wrapping up, ready for a new one to start....
Unlike what I find a typical endurance athlete to do or be -- I engage pretty seriously in the team sports as well. Playing both in a competitive volleyball league and a basketball league over the fall/winter/spring. Best part about being an endurance athlete & playing those other sports (provided you have at least a moderate amount of coordination & skill....which mine is certainly on the modest side) is how much more effort you can put forth than most of the people you play against. When you've trained your cardiovascular system to a pretty high level it's kinda amusing how fast you can make other people you play against run out of gas.
However, both of those leagues are wrapping up here at the end of March. In volleyball, the team I sponsor, is close to closing in on the 5th or 6th league title in past 7 years, really fun team to play with. Basketball is on the other end of spectrum, not the worst team but the winning percentage is certainly below .500.
Playing the other sports, beside for the enjoyment & challenge of it, has seemingly helped maintain my overall flexibility & mobility. I'm not just one dimensional with a bunch of over developed and corresponding underdeveloped muscle groups that endurance sports can do. I never felt like being a "robot" -- and knock on wood I've had little in the way of injury as a result of doing it... besides, I've never seen a sprained ankle stop a person from biking.....
Something of interest to share -- in the past I've talked about how adamant I am about other forms of cross training, be it core training, lifting, flexibility training or stretching. Core Performance and Resistance Stretching have been a big reason if not for an improvement in my cycling performance but at least in injury prevention and chronic pain management. Show me a serious cyclist of a certain age that doesn't stretch and do some form of flexibility training and I'll bet you they have plenty of chronic aches and pains. However I came across another seemingly worthwhile read & program for pain relief -- It's called "Pain Free" written by Pete Egoscue, an exercise physiologist (if I recall correctly), with a decent track record of helping both professional athletes and couch potatoes from chronic pain issues and problems. He's adament about what he believes and has to say, so if that doesn't turn someone off too much I've discovered a few truly valuable routines & philosphies from what he has to say that have addressed some nagging issues I couldn't rid myself of with other programs. Betcha can find the book on Amazon.com for $10... could be entirely worth it, if you've ever had to deal with a chronic or ongoing pain condition.
Other than that I'm coming off a couple week break, had some sleep issues to get resolved and managed to have an instant weight loss program last Friday in the form of a stomach virus. Ah heck, I was getting too heavy at 168lbs anyways, had to get back to the 163lb fightin' weight.... never been too patient in getting it done the long way so why not do it in a day or two.
Got on the bike again this week and the intervals were on target without really any unnecessary hurt & suffering so it looks like a good 6 weeks of training to go and then it's off to the races. Probably the best part about this year is the baseline fitness I'm settled in at is already very competitive to my standards. I don't necessarily have do any special prepping or peaking early on to probably race well (of course I say that with crossed fingers because one never knows until things get settled out on the racecourse). That way I can enjoy the early races and continually build to peaking later in the summer & the fall. Feels like a good place to be right now.
Next post up......... Less gears is better? ..............Stay tuned.
However, both of those leagues are wrapping up here at the end of March. In volleyball, the team I sponsor, is close to closing in on the 5th or 6th league title in past 7 years, really fun team to play with. Basketball is on the other end of spectrum, not the worst team but the winning percentage is certainly below .500.
Playing the other sports, beside for the enjoyment & challenge of it, has seemingly helped maintain my overall flexibility & mobility. I'm not just one dimensional with a bunch of over developed and corresponding underdeveloped muscle groups that endurance sports can do. I never felt like being a "robot" -- and knock on wood I've had little in the way of injury as a result of doing it... besides, I've never seen a sprained ankle stop a person from biking.....
Something of interest to share -- in the past I've talked about how adamant I am about other forms of cross training, be it core training, lifting, flexibility training or stretching. Core Performance and Resistance Stretching have been a big reason if not for an improvement in my cycling performance but at least in injury prevention and chronic pain management. Show me a serious cyclist of a certain age that doesn't stretch and do some form of flexibility training and I'll bet you they have plenty of chronic aches and pains. However I came across another seemingly worthwhile read & program for pain relief -- It's called "Pain Free" written by Pete Egoscue, an exercise physiologist (if I recall correctly), with a decent track record of helping both professional athletes and couch potatoes from chronic pain issues and problems. He's adament about what he believes and has to say, so if that doesn't turn someone off too much I've discovered a few truly valuable routines & philosphies from what he has to say that have addressed some nagging issues I couldn't rid myself of with other programs. Betcha can find the book on Amazon.com for $10... could be entirely worth it, if you've ever had to deal with a chronic or ongoing pain condition.
Other than that I'm coming off a couple week break, had some sleep issues to get resolved and managed to have an instant weight loss program last Friday in the form of a stomach virus. Ah heck, I was getting too heavy at 168lbs anyways, had to get back to the 163lb fightin' weight.... never been too patient in getting it done the long way so why not do it in a day or two.
Got on the bike again this week and the intervals were on target without really any unnecessary hurt & suffering so it looks like a good 6 weeks of training to go and then it's off to the races. Probably the best part about this year is the baseline fitness I'm settled in at is already very competitive to my standards. I don't necessarily have do any special prepping or peaking early on to probably race well (of course I say that with crossed fingers because one never knows until things get settled out on the racecourse). That way I can enjoy the early races and continually build to peaking later in the summer & the fall. Feels like a good place to be right now.
Next post up......... Less gears is better? ..............Stay tuned.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Everybody wants a story....
When someones reading a cycling blog -- what's the draw, what's the interest. Obviously race recaps written well make for an allure. Mid winter kinda makes that a limited commodity unless you are some kind of Arrowhead 135 hooligan. Which by the way, hat's off to you guys & girls. It's not exactly my style or holds any overpowering charm, but I greatly respect the amazing feat of physical & mental stamina it undoubtedly requires.
There are stories of training, of new bikes and of what someone's kids or crazy relatives are doing. Maybe it's someone getting a sponsor to plaster on their jersey.
I always enjoy Doug S's blog back in the day when he time and before all the twittering & tweeting. Witty, humorous... I think he had more bad days on the bike (which were very few) than he ever had blogging.
My story this winter remains much the same. I'm having an amazingly good preseason for my training. This is probably the first time winter hasn't compromised my training plans. I've opted for riding the bike outside over skiing and enjoyed it. Probably have 30-40% more time in than any time previously. Which was actually an eye opener. Not sure who of you keep any kind of records of how much riding you get in but I was looking that over this past month. Comparing previous years, etc, etc. What I found amazing was how relatively little time I've really spent training when compared to what you see written up by "Training bibles" and hear other people talk about. The cool part about it when I looked back. You can still be a pretty good racer without sacrificing the rest of your life to make training a part time job. What's relatively little when it comes to riding? Alot of times you'll read in a training program a person needs to do 500--600 hrs/yr or even more. How easy is that?! On paper maybe 2hrs a day 5 days a week doesn't seem like a lot, but that's assuming 50 weeks of the year - week in, week out. Miss the normal week or two because of a flu or cold, go on vacation for a week, take long weekends to travel somewhere and it's not necessarily easy to put that kinda time in. I've not done a final tally's of years past but I don't think I've ever done more than 350-400 hours in a year and somehow I've manage to reach the level of an expert racer. It leads me to believe the quality of workout you put in goes well above the quantity you put in. I'm not knocking that quantity of miles as it helps in alot of areas. But if your goal is to become faster and you think you have to sell your soul to the devil to find enough time to train I'm not so sure that's the case. Train doing the right stuff & I think you can really surprise yourself.
Though I've worked some moderate intervals in throughout the winter, to keep that part of my fitness nurtured, some recent power tests I've done do not even shown the normal winter fall-off that happens. That's encouraging so I'm excited to see where things could go this year.
Funny story how in life you intersect with other people -- the other week I'm calling Planet bike about some equipment I purchased. This guy, James (no last name given), answers the call -- Lord knows why but for some reason I think I should know him. Anyways it required him to look around for some answers and call me back. And sure enough when he does my suspicion is confirmed -- it's James LaLonde, the youngest of the three very talented Lalonde bros. Often we've been together in a race so it was neat to visit and catch up with someone you wouldn't expect to talk to unless you were at a race. Small world.
Well, another 70 days or so left before MTB racing kicks off. Going be having our Mid winter bike party pretty soon as well. Food, drinks, fun. Always a good cycling video and probably some indoor bike racing... for real. It's pretty wild. We have a pretty dominant 5 yr old in that category of racing, his size & skills work the course over pretty good.... how my wife ever allows it I'll never know... guess I'm just lucky.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Couldn't let another month go by....
Blog updating...? What's that?
Can't believe how long it's been since a write up. But gotta get a least one in for this month.
I think it's safe to guess it's one of the two B's as to why blogs don't get updated. Either things are too Boring or too Busy....
Can't say it's been the former. Work, family, holidays and .....lot's of training. This fall I'd been looking very much forward to getting some CX skiing over winter, things just didn't play out that way however. A couple of miracle winter training aids and I got in an amount of outdoor cycling that would have previously been not fathomable. Back in November I picked up a some Thermic heated insoles. The Lake winter cycling boots I got the previous year ('08) though good -- just didn't cut it once temps got 30ish or colder or if their was any significant wind (10mph or more). Put the two of them together however and not too much can stop a person from some longer winter training rides. The heated insoles cost a fair amount but I gotta say, they've been worth every penny. If you're ever looking for a solution to your feet freezing, seriously consider picking up a pair. Years of riding in stupid cold weather without them only serve to cause nerve damage in my feet. Training on a set of indoor rollers while great for developing your balance and beats the cold weather... really test the limits of my tolerance and interest on riding a bike. If you do check out the Thermic insolves consider getting the lithium ion battery ones and it's alot less maintenance to properly take care of them.
One more year of gearing up for a MTB race season with a cyclo-cross cap at the end. If current training is any indication, my '09 riding/racing season and this winter's training I may have finally kicked my "enduro" problems. The best thing a fellow competitor could have asked for in the past is "just make the race long enough" and the odds of that person out dueling me were probably pretty good. I think I can go reasonably fast... but in as short as an hour or the longest 2 hours I was general toast. The butter-me-up-and-serve-me-with-scrambled-eggs kinda toast.
If a person looks at their abilities, strengths & weaknesses they can quickly sum up where they excel at and where they fall apart or can't muster the effort. I believe each of us has a natural tendency toward something.... a body that can steady utilize it's fuel reserves for hours on end or one that can dissipate levels of lactate acid at high levels of power output. I find it fascinating how similar the motion of cycling is for everybody but how different we all excel under differing conditions and disciplines of cycling. Watch cross races -- muddy versus technical versus power races. MTB races technical versus hill climbing versus the double track "gravel" road races. Same type of things for road cycling.
Coming from some pretty humble results and beginnings as far back as '01, I've somehow managed to climb the rungs slowly and one at a time. Never really any big jumps and a lot of sitting at plateaus. The one nut I never had much luck cracking was the endurance side of the sport. I've learned to go reasonably fast over the years with a lot of interval training but keeping it up past a certain point was always my downfall. '09 I had a couple breakthroughs but with the training I have going on now I hope to solidly put it behind me. Maybe even a NUE 100 miler in my future... perhaps?
Hmmm... only about 100 days til the first MTB race. That sounds pretty exciting when looking at it that way.... it's alittle more motivating than saying it's finally the end of January. Well, I got a great coach in Josh Powers who's somehow been able to understand the demands of my life (running a business, while trying to be a good husband, and father of 3 children under the age of 6). Somehow he crafts a program that "tricks" my body into getting better on some level each year.
If you're reading you're probably racing on some level or at least riding for the love it. I find the battle isn't about winning (though who doesn't like to) -- it's about doing the best you can with the resources you have. Ride and race to have fun or stay in good health or to find out just how good you can become. Is it ok to be curious about what that next guy is doing? Of course, but no two individual's lives are the same. Not only from the physical possibilities we hold but the demands, choices, points in life and other intangibles that make up our lives.
In wrapping up, I'm looking forward to see many of the friends I've made & fellow racers I've had the priviledge of toeing the line with over the years. For those of you think it's still winter and you're out skiing, knock yourself out, have a great time. In a month or two however, you might find those sticks strapped to your feet growing wearisome and the snow to be in short supply....so swing a leg over that old bike of yours (or drool over a new one) you might be surprised at how much you missed riding.
I'm Out..........................riding...
Can't believe how long it's been since a write up. But gotta get a least one in for this month.
I think it's safe to guess it's one of the two B's as to why blogs don't get updated. Either things are too Boring or too Busy....
Can't say it's been the former. Work, family, holidays and .....lot's of training. This fall I'd been looking very much forward to getting some CX skiing over winter, things just didn't play out that way however. A couple of miracle winter training aids and I got in an amount of outdoor cycling that would have previously been not fathomable. Back in November I picked up a some Thermic heated insoles. The Lake winter cycling boots I got the previous year ('08) though good -- just didn't cut it once temps got 30ish or colder or if their was any significant wind (10mph or more). Put the two of them together however and not too much can stop a person from some longer winter training rides. The heated insoles cost a fair amount but I gotta say, they've been worth every penny. If you're ever looking for a solution to your feet freezing, seriously consider picking up a pair. Years of riding in stupid cold weather without them only serve to cause nerve damage in my feet. Training on a set of indoor rollers while great for developing your balance and beats the cold weather... really test the limits of my tolerance and interest on riding a bike. If you do check out the Thermic insolves consider getting the lithium ion battery ones and it's alot less maintenance to properly take care of them.
One more year of gearing up for a MTB race season with a cyclo-cross cap at the end. If current training is any indication, my '09 riding/racing season and this winter's training I may have finally kicked my "enduro" problems. The best thing a fellow competitor could have asked for in the past is "just make the race long enough" and the odds of that person out dueling me were probably pretty good. I think I can go reasonably fast... but in as short as an hour or the longest 2 hours I was general toast. The butter-me-up-and-serve-me-with-scrambled-eggs kinda toast.
If a person looks at their abilities, strengths & weaknesses they can quickly sum up where they excel at and where they fall apart or can't muster the effort. I believe each of us has a natural tendency toward something.... a body that can steady utilize it's fuel reserves for hours on end or one that can dissipate levels of lactate acid at high levels of power output. I find it fascinating how similar the motion of cycling is for everybody but how different we all excel under differing conditions and disciplines of cycling. Watch cross races -- muddy versus technical versus power races. MTB races technical versus hill climbing versus the double track "gravel" road races. Same type of things for road cycling.
Coming from some pretty humble results and beginnings as far back as '01, I've somehow managed to climb the rungs slowly and one at a time. Never really any big jumps and a lot of sitting at plateaus. The one nut I never had much luck cracking was the endurance side of the sport. I've learned to go reasonably fast over the years with a lot of interval training but keeping it up past a certain point was always my downfall. '09 I had a couple breakthroughs but with the training I have going on now I hope to solidly put it behind me. Maybe even a NUE 100 miler in my future... perhaps?
Hmmm... only about 100 days til the first MTB race. That sounds pretty exciting when looking at it that way.... it's alittle more motivating than saying it's finally the end of January. Well, I got a great coach in Josh Powers who's somehow been able to understand the demands of my life (running a business, while trying to be a good husband, and father of 3 children under the age of 6). Somehow he crafts a program that "tricks" my body into getting better on some level each year.
If you're reading you're probably racing on some level or at least riding for the love it. I find the battle isn't about winning (though who doesn't like to) -- it's about doing the best you can with the resources you have. Ride and race to have fun or stay in good health or to find out just how good you can become. Is it ok to be curious about what that next guy is doing? Of course, but no two individual's lives are the same. Not only from the physical possibilities we hold but the demands, choices, points in life and other intangibles that make up our lives.
In wrapping up, I'm looking forward to see many of the friends I've made & fellow racers I've had the priviledge of toeing the line with over the years. For those of you think it's still winter and you're out skiing, knock yourself out, have a great time. In a month or two however, you might find those sticks strapped to your feet growing wearisome and the snow to be in short supply....so swing a leg over that old bike of yours (or drool over a new one) you might be surprised at how much you missed riding.
I'm Out..........................riding...
Saturday, December 12, 2009
The Swany's
Alright, we've all heard about the Oscars, the Emmy's, even the ESPY's.... well, it's about that time of year for the Swanys.
With any luck a couple of installments of odds, ends and notables of the year going by. The content of which will be varied and attempt to exploit no single individual or effort -- but offer in humor and light heartedness with an occassional dash of sincerity a recap of the varied slices of the cycling related world that crossed my path this year.
But before that... what's been going on that so limited my entries of late. Well,...life of course. I left off with a 3 week past due recap of BayCross racing, the second day of that race is now 2 months past and with it any residual memories. Ah, no, that's not exactly the case. It was like Day 1, less Jesse Bell & his UP compatriot, instead Nic Anikin from Duluth showed up. What was interesting about the race? It was a great course at Ashland's BayView park overlooking Lake Superior, great weather and even proved to be respectfully fun racing. Out of the blocks I had some hangover effects from the solo shot the previous day's race. Nic showing up after skipping the first day wasn't exactly reason for a grand harrah. Even so, I was certainly looking to do the best I could, winning the overall title for the weekend was the primary objective, seeing what I could do in this race was number two.
After the heavy solo effort the previous day I was content to see what pace others wanted to take things out at. Early on it was 4 person lineup, myself, Shawn Gort, Nic Anikin & another guy I wasn't familiar with Bill Kuster. The pace wasn't slow but it wasn't fast initially either. I generally have a ton of juice in the early minutes of a race so as I recall I went to the front in part of lap one & two to move things along but also felt like I didn't have the all out power of the day before. So soon I was content to mark anyone else's moves and react instead of instigate. Within few laps Bill dropped back & it was just Shawn, myself & Nic. Now without going into alot of history, I'll just say Shawn's a guy I respect alot and coming in behind him fair & square I'd never have any issue with. Nic as a far as I know him sure seems like a nice enough guy, suffice to say, I can't say I've always been happy with his racing tactics. And I guess you could say having commisserated with Shawn the previous day, I took the approach of siding up with him. I felt I had nothing to lose Day 2, I'd put in the hero's effort the day before and didn't have anything to prove. Nic was going to have the upper hand of the three of us due to the fresher legs so I was satisfied with sitting in & covering his race. At different times he eased up looking for a pull through, but because of what I'd done the day before I felt I didn't owe anyone. Shawn & Nic took turns at the front, once or twice when Nic was likely trying to force my hand it gave Shawn the opportunity to get away -- which if would have been successfull , yes, would have taken away the chance at the overall, but it would have been worth it.
I almost dropped off once when I took a digger on the barriers, but got back into position soon enough before Shawn & Nic turned on the jets. As it turned out, in the final 3 laps or so, Shawn had a replay of what happened to me on the barriers only Nic took off & I was able to stay with him.
In the second to last lap, Nic put in a big surge and my legs just couldn't put out the effort they had the day before. It was strange because the previous day I could bury myself in an effort, but this day I totally had a limiting switch that never let me dig dip. It was like I never got tired all race long, but even so I couldn't go any harder. I did manage to crawl back to within a few seconds in the last lap but it proved to not enough to finish it.
Even so 2nd on the day was good enough to take the overall title & $125 purse for the weekend. Huge thanks to Paul Belknap & Sara Hudson for putting the weekend together as well as the sponsors, especially Ideal Market/Rivers Eatery in Cable. Shawn had flipped flopped positions with me in the two races for the same number of points awarded but the tie breaker was based on shortest cumulative time. In other words I had a bigger gap on Shawn day 2, than he had on me day 1.
Despite all my best of intentions to race again, after successive weeks of falling prey to flu's, colds & food poisoning, I opted out. However I must say, I really would have loved to join the fractious at the UP Championship...next year, PB & I will keep those guys on their toes. Otherwise MN's State Championship is always on the radar.
With any luck a couple of installments of odds, ends and notables of the year going by. The content of which will be varied and attempt to exploit no single individual or effort -- but offer in humor and light heartedness with an occassional dash of sincerity a recap of the varied slices of the cycling related world that crossed my path this year.
But before that... what's been going on that so limited my entries of late. Well,...life of course. I left off with a 3 week past due recap of BayCross racing, the second day of that race is now 2 months past and with it any residual memories. Ah, no, that's not exactly the case. It was like Day 1, less Jesse Bell & his UP compatriot, instead Nic Anikin from Duluth showed up. What was interesting about the race? It was a great course at Ashland's BayView park overlooking Lake Superior, great weather and even proved to be respectfully fun racing. Out of the blocks I had some hangover effects from the solo shot the previous day's race. Nic showing up after skipping the first day wasn't exactly reason for a grand harrah. Even so, I was certainly looking to do the best I could, winning the overall title for the weekend was the primary objective, seeing what I could do in this race was number two.
After the heavy solo effort the previous day I was content to see what pace others wanted to take things out at. Early on it was 4 person lineup, myself, Shawn Gort, Nic Anikin & another guy I wasn't familiar with Bill Kuster. The pace wasn't slow but it wasn't fast initially either. I generally have a ton of juice in the early minutes of a race so as I recall I went to the front in part of lap one & two to move things along but also felt like I didn't have the all out power of the day before. So soon I was content to mark anyone else's moves and react instead of instigate. Within few laps Bill dropped back & it was just Shawn, myself & Nic. Now without going into alot of history, I'll just say Shawn's a guy I respect alot and coming in behind him fair & square I'd never have any issue with. Nic as a far as I know him sure seems like a nice enough guy, suffice to say, I can't say I've always been happy with his racing tactics. And I guess you could say having commisserated with Shawn the previous day, I took the approach of siding up with him. I felt I had nothing to lose Day 2, I'd put in the hero's effort the day before and didn't have anything to prove. Nic was going to have the upper hand of the three of us due to the fresher legs so I was satisfied with sitting in & covering his race. At different times he eased up looking for a pull through, but because of what I'd done the day before I felt I didn't owe anyone. Shawn & Nic took turns at the front, once or twice when Nic was likely trying to force my hand it gave Shawn the opportunity to get away -- which if would have been successfull , yes, would have taken away the chance at the overall, but it would have been worth it.
I almost dropped off once when I took a digger on the barriers, but got back into position soon enough before Shawn & Nic turned on the jets. As it turned out, in the final 3 laps or so, Shawn had a replay of what happened to me on the barriers only Nic took off & I was able to stay with him.
In the second to last lap, Nic put in a big surge and my legs just couldn't put out the effort they had the day before. It was strange because the previous day I could bury myself in an effort, but this day I totally had a limiting switch that never let me dig dip. It was like I never got tired all race long, but even so I couldn't go any harder. I did manage to crawl back to within a few seconds in the last lap but it proved to not enough to finish it.
Even so 2nd on the day was good enough to take the overall title & $125 purse for the weekend. Huge thanks to Paul Belknap & Sara Hudson for putting the weekend together as well as the sponsors, especially Ideal Market/Rivers Eatery in Cable. Shawn had flipped flopped positions with me in the two races for the same number of points awarded but the tie breaker was based on shortest cumulative time. In other words I had a bigger gap on Shawn day 2, than he had on me day 1.
Despite all my best of intentions to race again, after successive weeks of falling prey to flu's, colds & food poisoning, I opted out. However I must say, I really would have loved to join the fractious at the UP Championship...next year, PB & I will keep those guys on their toes. Otherwise MN's State Championship is always on the radar.
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