Strada Sno-go… I mean Fango Spring Classic…

This past Sunday wasn’t about to missed the revised 2nd annual Strada Fango Spring Classic.  In tribute to what some cherish as the hard one day classic races done in the professional cycling early in the season (versus the “Tour” races that everybody hears about later on). 
It’s a race that goes out for a solid distance over “hard man” terrain.  Take 4-6 hrs to finish. 
In the popular culture of Europe it’s races done on semi-dirt roads & those with cobbles (yes, cobbles – bricks, that crappy road material – but hey, who am I to complain, I live in the midwest – asphalt has potholes).  Not those glossy races where a ton of guys are speeding along on smooth pavement.  Don’t get me wrong those are all good too.  I just like those races that require more toughness throughout & less drafting.  They are just plain awesome.
Noah Michaelsen served up a good course re-route this year as Mother Nature wasn’t going to take this race off the calendar… it’s go a honey badger – it don’t take no…, well if you haven’t seen that video you’ll know what I’m saying. 
Otherwise just check out the Strada Fango Spring Classic here.  No it did not have stone cobbles… but it served up 3 miles of “ice cobbles” to navigate on the “glacier” section.
Unknown to any of in the race, beside the race director that was gonna be the breaking point in the race,  18 miles in on a 68 mile course.   Whoever got thru & in what position would be in for a long day of solitude or with any luck help from a friend or foe.  Fortunately enough I got to be part of the action as those fireworks started. 
Re-cap on that in another day or two with the  shout outs & the story line…. stay tuned.

Note to God…

Dear God,

I talked to my physician – Please don’t feel bad about this…. but even an All Knowing Deity after an eternity can suffer from premature memory loss.

Just a gentle nudge & reminder… that season they call “Spring”, warmer weather, no snow…. yeah, that one?  Your missing it.  Please begin implementation.  Thanks,

Most humbly,

Aaron

PS – please forgive all those who took your name in vain with the snow shovels… they know not what they do.

Product Reviews: Shimano XC50N Shoe & Leyzne HV Micro Pump & Leyzne Dirt floor HV Pump

If you spend enough time riding, fixing and being around MTB bikes over time you find things that live up and beyond your expectations; Those that match it;  and unfortunately those things that are exceeding underwhelming.

I don’t often write about products I’ve used, but it came to mind as I constantly am out there researching things that might be on my radar to purchase.  I thought to reflect back on some of the better experiences I’ve had recently.

MTB shoes – First off, I’ve gotta start with all peoples feet are different.  No I don’t mean some of us have 6 toes & others only 4 (from when a 54” Musky mistook that pinky toe for a tasty treat one summer day as a kid).   But for that standard 5 toe person, different brands, styles and shapes work better than others.  For myself?  Shimano shoes have always had the best fit. 

What I like so much about the Shimano XC50N is what a fantastic cooler/cold season shoe it is.  It’s pretty shocking actually.  To offer some perspective, at the Fat Bike Birkie this past weekend.  I tried to take a sampling of what everyone was wearing.  Mostly Lake MTB boots or the 45 North Wolvhammers.  Regardless, it seemed like everyone was in boots.  Me?  At just below freezing temps at the start line -- on what could be a 2 or 3hr race -- I thought “What the heck let’s see what these shoes can do versus the made-for-winter boots”.  Over them I throw on some completely worn out pearl izumi shoe covers and away I went.  

Now understand, I’ve got circulation issues or something with my feet so I fought symptoms of cold feet my entire life (marriage included, just ask my first fiancé, but I digress…) 

Anyways, these shoes did an admirable job of keeping my feet warm give the 2+hr duration of the race, all with the same double layer of socks I use with my Lake boots.  That was nice to race in shoes instead of the heavier boots.

Verdict: if you’re a late fall cyclocross racer, if you MTB or Snowbike year round.  These are shoes that you can easy use thru mid December & again by Feb for 2hr plus rides.  1hr or less in the 20’s & they should be perfectly find too.  They’ll probably be alittle too toasty for only the warmest mid summer riding.  But they are lightweight and easily compete with the highest end custom fit Shimano M315 – at a fraction of the price as both models weight about the same.  (I put both pairs on a scale – there was no way the fit was better or grams less in the M315 to justify spending the money on them.  Maybe I’m just lucky to have an ideal fit, but certainly give the lower price Shimano MTB shoes a try before thinking you should have the M315.)

Oddly enough the XC50N’s  block the wind better than my Lake boots and let’s be perfectly honest.  If you had a choice does anyone really like biking in boots when cycling shoes are available?  As the saying goes… if the shoe fits……..

 

Next up: Tires pumps….

If you like your once & done C02 cartridges to get you out of a flat tire bind, you can ignore this.   Myself I make a habit of  riding & training with mini-pumps in case of an adverse tire situation occurs.  (Something about calling my wife on the cellphone to come pick me up 20 miles away when I get a flat just doesn’t seem to go over too well.)

First suggestion though?  Run tubeless tires whenever you can.  Use Stans or Caffe Latex sealant (in another post I’ll can offer my take on those products more specifically).  The fact if a tires gets a leak or puncture & self seals beats changing out the tube every single day of the week.  That’s not to say don’t carry an extra tube in case the sealant doesn’t do it’s job.  I’m just saying you won’t be pulling out that tube often if ever.

Anyways, mini pumps & MTB tires aren’t exactly synonymous with a good time.  Am I correct?  Now stroking something 60, 70, 80 or 100 times ain’t exactly all the fun it’s cracked up to be -- at least when it comes to inflating a MTB tire.  I’ve had my share of mini-pumps over the years – Trek & Bontrager products to Blackburns.  A few years ago I came across Leyzne, a company created by former Truvativ owner Micki Kozuschek.   After several “junk” floor pumps (sorry Planet bike, among others) I got a super solid dependable High Volume Floor pump from Lezyne – L-O-V-E it.  If you’ve been struggle with junk floor pumps, this year spend the money, you’ll be immensely glad you did. 

Since I liked their standard floor model so much, when my Blackburn mini-pump finally wore out (regardless of their lifetime warranty).  I decided to give their Micro Floor Drive HV pump a try & haven’t regretted it for a second. 

I strap it to the top tube or seat tube with  a two fish Bike block & strap.

The secure screw-on valve, the high volume capacity of the pump, along with foot peg to stand it on the ground makes the days of agonizingly & furiously pumping away….… like one would on the classic undersized mini pumps,  a long forgotten memory.  The size of the pump I’ve found to fit conveniently & easily mounted on the bike.

Ah, for what it’s worth do remember -- you’ll see in a lot of blogs & product reviews plugs for products & bikes --  all talk of how great they are (many of which are truly good) & how life was never so good prior to their existence.  A few of my good product sponsored friends tend to have obligations to their sponsors to say these nice things.  If advertising revenue comes from them or the nice bike stuff is discounted because of it, the glowing reviews usually lack the downsides. 

Fortunately in the case of these products?  No motive, no agenda, no endorsement deals for me,  just an honest assessment from a guy who happens to ride his bike probably too much and has over the years found some companies and products that work well & thought to to share it with the rest of the world in hopes it makes someone else’s ride a little better.

Drop a comment if you have any questions, I’ll be happy to respond.

$292 glass of beet juice….?

So, beets.  The latest greatest research driven, endurance athlete performance enhancing source of nutrition.

Does it work, does it not?  The human body is so complex to nail it down exclusively to certain nutritional substances -- in my book can be pretty tough.

Needless to say, why not give it try, right?  So, on & off, I’ll go through streaks of including it in my diet when I remember too.  I just use a masticating blender (be very careful how you read that), throw in a few apples, carrots, kale, you name it.  It doesn’t have to taste great, it just has to be good for you?

Well, in a sign of how my winter has been going… sickness, bike challenges…here’s how you spend $292 on a single 16oz glass of beet juice. 

 

 

…nothing like 6 stitches & a $292 Doctor bill.

Thanks Doc Brang – you done good though!  If that doctoring thing doesn’t pan out… that needle point craft making stuff could be in your future.

Needless to say I was out biking the next day – not sure if the Nitric Oxide content in the beets made up for the blood loss however.   But I’m pretty sure I’ll never use an apple slicer on a beet ever again.

Hey, on the happy side, it’s already March, and bike racing can’t be far off even if the foot & half of snow & chronically never ending sub freezing, global warming defying, temps continue.

Tackled the 45km Fat Bike Birkie on Saturday.  Not the most stellar effort on my half.  Congrats to teammate Todd McFadden on a very nice ride for 3rd overall.  And very good to see a lot of bike racing folks I hadn’t seen in a long time.  Hollywood, Charlie Tri, Ron Williams, Bart Rodbert, Mike Weisphenning, Jon Wheeler, Evan from up in the U.P. Tom “always on fire” Gaier, Rick Cleary, thanks to Tom Meyer & Scottie Chapin for the encouragement & cheering out there too. – Yeah, it was really nice day otherwise too.  Great temps & conditions to ride the trails on the big Fatties. 

A big thanks all the sponsors & coordinators of the event.  To Seattle E bikes for their support of the event & the unique lineup of Fat bikes that they have to offer.   Really hard working guys there & a company you’ll want to keep an eye on.  They’ve got some good vision on both the traditional bikes as well as electric assist bikes.  Check them out sometime or call & ask to talk to Brian.

Hey, you skier folk, thanks for your kind accommodations in “sharing the trail” – support for one another leads to greater things for all.  Much appreciated.

Well, back to hunker out the rest of this winter, with tax returns & Roth IRA’s contributions to attend to.  Alas, the Strada Fango Spring Classic can’t get here soon enough… til then ride hard, keep the wheels down.

Midwest Regional Championship–Day 2 BadgerCross…..

With the first day of racing not having gone down as I would have liked.  It was with a lot of mixed feelings I had about racing the second day. 

My motivation for ‘cross racing later in the season just never hit high gear -- be it because of results, mechanicals or frustration with the entire points/call up system.  However I don’t give up on anything easily, even to my own detriment.   The appeal of racing the 2nd day was definitely the conditions….

  … living as far North as I do I’d been riding & training in snow cover for two weeks already.  It’s a different kind of handling that dry land, power racers will be challenged with.  It makes for a very interesting race.

What I didn’t count on, was the need for mud tires vs. all around tires and the fiasco Shimano SPD cleats & pedals are in mud.  Rumor has it Jonathan Page swears by them, but if so he’s definitely knows something a lot of the rest of us don’t.

Got to the start had a good warmup, ready & excited to have a good race.  A fun race.  I wasn’t so sure how well I’d do against the best guys today, but I liked my odds against most everyone else.   The call ups for the start were supposed to go by the previous days results, which would have put me in the 2nd row, however for some reason that wasn’t happening. Ugh.  (Sometimes you just have to roll your eyes).

The start was nothing short of going thru 100+ yards of a sprinkler system with water spray coming off everyone’s tires.  The slip & slide started once we hit the above pictures snow field.  I’m comfortably cruising along with others around me fighting the conditions when in an instant it changes, my wheel slips & I go down sliding into tape knocking down several poles.  Once again DFL.  Ugh.

Though that would do me no favors it wouldn’t be the first or last time of the day.  I had fun riding in the conditions and pushed it harder than the combination of tires I had for the day (Michelin Mud 2 & Challenge Grifo) allowed.

A race like this keeps things interesting & constantly back & forth, as one rider pulls ahead over certain sections, he’s pulled back over another.  Again a similar sized field I managed to get back after a couple laps close to the top ten and was riding stronger than other riders….however, I brought the proverbial knife to a gun fight.  Two hills in the race required me to get off & run because my tires would slip out while the others road the climbs.  Secondly, the aforementioned SPD style cleat/pedal setup got absolutely clogged with mud, requiring a person to bang the soles of the shoes against the pedals several times before the would clip in and one could get pedalling again.  So for every advantage I would take before the hills fell back after them.  All a guy could do is shrug & try harder the succeeding laps, but with that came the increasing frequency of wiping out.  I think I managed four pretty stellar wipeouts in the 6 or 7 laps. 

I finished losing out two spots in a spill near the end to get 15th for the second consecutive day. 

The guys at the front I’d see at the mid point in the race…a half lap away had some good back & forth racing though, congrats out to Neff & Stelljes, trading 1st & 2nd both days.  And a nod goes to Trevor Koss who  I’ve had some good battles with in the past for finishing  7th & 4th on the weekend.

Despite the excitement of slipping and sliding in the race it palled in comparison to my attempted drive home after the race.  A normal 5hr drive, soon turned into what would have been a 10 or 11hr drive if after fishtailing my car & doing a 180 degree spin in the road just barely ending up deep in a ditch.  By the time I’d gotten near Marshfield 4+hrs later I was ready to call it quits grab a hotel room & sit in a hot tub.  Which is exactly what I did & waited til the next morning to get home.

With National Championships about a month away,a frustrating season to date & an excitement for experimentation with my MTB training for next season.   It was looking more & more like this might be the end of the season for me.  Sometimes things pan out that way.  It’s said it’s better to take a break, enjoy your sport, hobby, passion or interest than to keep pushing on.  As it turns out the following week I’d end up with influenza & even if I wanted to race Nationals that put a end to it completely.  Getting sick from that can really knock the crap out of ya. 

So it’s been starting from square one since Xmas & looking forward to a fun & promising MTB season.  With 2013 now here, hopefully some time with free up to write up some recaps for the bests/worsts of 2012… stay tuned.

Wisconsin & Midwest Championship ‘Cross races…Day one…

With the US National Cyclocross Championships, now only a weekend a way.  No better time than now to give the low down on last months BadgerCross weekend. 

The two day event sporting the titles of WI State Championship & Midwest Regional Cyclocross Championship.  Despite some inclement weather in the forecast & waning motivation, on went the pursuit of USA Cycling points for January’s US National Championships. 

If  a repeated theme comes through it’s no secret I’m not a huge fan of traveling longer distances for races & the 5hr drive there wasn’t the most appealing (the drive back home was another story…)  Fortunately, the race course at the Badger Cross events is very much a power course over a skills course.  There’s hills, descents, & some twists & hairpin turns but but not so much it gets borderline annoying like some courses I’ve raced.  

With a late afternoon start I was able to drive down the day of the Sat race & prep in adequate time (which for me is anything more than 15minutes).  After some failed communications back from the race director earlier in the week on race scoring,  it would cost me a better position in the starting line up.  Unlike last year they raced the Open Pro, Cat 1, Cat 2 race with the Masters (35+) of the same categories.  It was a person’s option of which to register under.  After getting 3rd overall in the master’s race last year I wasn’t there for placement awards.  I simply wanted to do whatever race afforded the best points possible, looking at the starting line ups & results of those racers it would be close but I opted for the Open race thinking my odds would be better.

The race went off in it’s normal super fast “track” start on the pavement that rolls out into an open field.  Last row start wasn’t affording any immediate passing opportunities without being very aggressive and again forgetting what I learned the previous week in the MN championships I failed  to bring that aspect to the start of the race.  In the first qtr mile things had strung out I was riding 4th from last & trying to be patient. 

Here’s where in only a few races every year you'll run into that moron the tends to annoy you at every step of the race, until you finally drop them.  I’ll pass on naming the kid, but there’s aggressive racing & then there’s stupid racing, he fit the later.   What transpired after the first hairpin turn with him left me off the back of the entire field in D.F.L.   It’s funny when being in last place early in a race isn’t something that normally happens -- what a crazy feeling it is.  You look behind & see no one.  For me it’s a mixture of laughing & saying “oh crap!”  

Even so, the course was hard & very fast, as temps stayed below freezing for the day.  And I was able to work up & pass riders on the successive laps.   There was some 25 riders in the open race & by the end I’d moved up to 15th.  Actually racing the final laps with 4 or 5 guys from lead group of the Master 35+ race (which had started some 30 seconds behind our race.)

The last two laps were pretty fun, as Chris Smith was railing it with a group including Jeff Melcher, William Pankonin, & Andy Hoenisch.  When they came by I knew they weren’t in my race & would have no bearing on the points, but it seemed like as good as opportunity to get some competitive riding it.  I was surprised that Chris wasn’t taking any breaks at the front the entire 2nd to last lap, thinking he’s in trouble for the last lap.  Though he was pushing it hard enough that eventually it would drop Andy. 

On last lap, I thought I had no reason to hold back & perhaps I could pay Smithers back, so I went hard the front & as I passed Chris I told him to get on.

It had been one of those seasons thus far where expectations, capabilities & outcomes hadn’t coincided.  So you look for small wins against or assistance with your competition as motivations.  For me, having lost out to Andy in a uncharacteristically poor race in Eau Claire to start the season, & seeking some redemption for not finishing off Jeff in an attack I put on him at BadgerCross last season was what I had.  Plus for Smithers with the work he was doing pushing the pace I only felt right he deserved a good lead out to finish off his race. 

So I just drilled it from that point, wanting the pace to be high enough guys dropped or couldn’t hold on.  Once or twice Jeff would try to go to the front.  I would counter.  Jeff charged hard to get past me leading into the final turns before the pavement finish.  It was enough to gap Chris & William initially or…. so I thought. 

We hit the pavement with Jeff at the front giving me pretty much all the position I would need to pass him.  I looked back & swore I didn’t see anyone within many bike lengths.  The finish being probably 150-200 yards away.  Instead of pushing it really hard I slowly worked the outside way around Jeff coming into the home stretch passing him just before the finish, only to have Chris catch back & swing by me in the final feet before the finish line.  Very nice job on Chris part to come out of nowhere.  Note to self, you can always learn something in a race or be reminded of it.…. do a better job of checking where guys are behind you.

The weather forecast for the next day wasn’t looking both good & bad.  Good in a sense that snowfall would make the course nice & technical, bad in that it meant a not so fun attempted drive home.

A preview…..

MN State Cross Championship recap….

Had for the longest time heard a lot of positives on how fun the MN State CylcoCross Championships were.  Figured a nice little drive down to Crystal MN & spend a few days racing some of the best ‘cross racers in the Midwest.   Alternatively, it required me to miss some of the best ‘cross racing to my East.  UPCross in Upper Michigan, as they had their State Championship races.

They had “category” racing day one, age group racing on day two. (Thank to Chris “Smithers” Smith for putting it together that way, Nice job Chris!)

The first day, I didn’t come mentally prepared & aggressively minded to race around & through people in some cases & was stuck in the mid teen’s til what had become a seasonal mechanical theme… a rolled tire. I went on to finish 26th.

Day two—if you’ve ever had a bad day of racing, you can go in the next day saying “gee, I suck” & have a repeat performance or go in with a balls to the wall attitude and nothing to lose.

I had a nice chat with Barry Tungseth before hand, a guy on any given day can ride with the best of them, on how the different racers excel at the different disciplines.  Someone like Brendan Moore, who dominates the MTB races in MN, no one really challenged him for a win this past year.  But in a ‘cross race, there’s gonna be guys that he’ll dust in a MTB race who’s wheel he won’t hold in the cross race.  Jesse R., CJ, Chris Fischer will all outlast him.  On the other side, take someone like Pat Lemieux, ‘cross races great, road races maybe even better.  MTB racing with single track?  Just different enough to make him struggle and the above named guys will probably outgun him.  The last top end guy to excel at all 3 disciplines, MTB, Road, Cross?  Very easily Doug Swanson, and sure there are others probably not to Doug’s extent to be able to win all three kinds of races in the same season.  Another extremely well rounded racer back in the day I’d even give a nod to is Hollywood Henderson.

So back to the race I chose the later approach. Despite a third row start, I got into the mid teens by the first sent of U turns & once it opened up it I wound up with another drive to get to the front group of 7.

Half a lap later, I was playing caboose of this fine company…

Hollywood Henderson, Chris Fischer, Josh Roeser, CJ Faulkner,Jessie Reints, and Belgium's very own Oliver Vrambout & finally Owen Thoele.

Here’s where I took a hard lesson in cycling strategy— most races have periods of hard effort followed by lessor effort. The key is to not get doubled up on doing two straight hard efforts. Having to catch up during the “lessor effort” I put in a hard effort, catching them just in time to, only to get put on the ropes by a second hard effort. Being out of sync like that it’s hard to recover & then stay with that group.

Hollywood was the first to drop, but considering how well that guy can still ride given the little time he has to train running his own bike shop it’s always admirable to see him out there pounding nails.

I followed MN ‘cross rider of the year Champ Josh Roeser, who looked like he was dogging it until he shot out of a cannon & took a flyer to the front of the group.

It wasn’t much later on lap 2 (of 7) through a monster long sand pit that being out of sync with the surging efforts to stay with the group I decided to back it off a notch to preserve a 7th place position & not risk blowing up letting a charging duo of Paul Krumrich & EZ Taylor run on past.

The next 3 laps were pretty uneventful, but the LONG Stair climb RUN UP was getting to be more than annoyingly difficult. Normally, I like running & it’s one of my strengths in ‘cross racing, but this run up was double in length & distance of any race I’d ever done. It one of the few times I’ve felt like a course was overwhelming me.

But backing off the lead group on those 3 laps offered just enough recover to put in a surge the final two laps to distance the chasers &  catch a fading Josh Roeser to grab 6th on the day. Finally a result closer to where I felt I was capable of racing.  But in the back of one’s mind comes the question of starting position, not having to fight out of the back row, how different does that race play out?

My contention throughout this all isn’t that ‘cross racing is inherently screwed up. Rather it’s a system with challenges due to the nature of the sport that make it difficult if not impossible for capable racers in large fields to get a fair go of things.

I don’t mean this just in a situation I’ve found myself in, but on a bigger scale there’s an example of it that will occur at the World Championships in Kentucky in the Elite Women’s field, an Olympic medalist, Georgia Gould, at this past summers games -- will end up starting behind racers she’s been way faster than all season – simply because she chose to stay state-side racing cyclo-cross rather than racing in Europe where other Americans raced. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Unfortunately, there’s no easy solution.

As Sunday’s race ended, CJ & Chris had a die hard sprint to the end with Chris edging it out for the win. Just like he’d said the day before after finishing 6th . “It’s always better the 2nd day!” Congrats to Chris, CJ & Jessie for rounding out the podium.

With at least one good race in the bag, the ‘cross season wasn’t feeling lost or a waste.  Traveling to Madison for the WI championships the following weekend would determine in large part how much longer I wanted to push on… more to come…