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Racing bikes with friends

Check out that awesome kit and bike! Photo: PB Creative

A few weeks ago I had my first cyclocross race of the season, Udo Cross,  out at Lake Hodges in San Marcos.  It was renamed from Spyclocross to Udo Cross after the passing of a friend, Udo Heinz, who was struck and killed by a bus while out riding at Camp Pendleton recently.  Udo was a great ambassador of the cycling community and the cyclocross race every year at lake hodges was always one of the best thanks to all of his hard work.

It was great to see everyone from the cyclocross scene as well as all the friends and spectators that came out to heckle.  Especially all my friends at the bottom of the fast descent you guys were awesome!

The course was pretty similar to last year, which in my opinion, is on of the better courses on the Socal cross circuit.  The laps are a little longer and it has more straightaways rather than just a bunch of turns on the grass.  After some whining and complaining about water being added into the mud pits the race finally got started, only about 45 minutes late.

I wasn't sure how it was gonna go as I've been logging a lot of miles, while everyone else is 6 or 8 races into the season.  About halfway through the first lap the Gritters brothers, Jason Siegle and myself had a small gap on the rest of the field.  The three of them definitely had more pop, and power than I did, but I was able to stay on wheels through the technical sections and turns.

It was pretty fun sitting in with everyone watching Brandon and Kyle gang up on Siegle, I could tell it was going to be a fun race.  No one really had any concern with me as I don't have any points for the series so I was thinking I could maybe sneak a move in near the end of the race for at least a top three.  But that thought ended early when I went down on the fast corner/descent on the second lap, right in front of all of my friends.

I didn't go down hard, just kinda slid out on some loose sand, but my chain fell off to the outside of the chainrings, and my shoe unbuckled.  By the time I got the chain on and my buckle re-clipped I was probably 45-60 seconds off the lead group of three.  At this point I was pretty much thinking about which part of the course I was gonna leave so I could go drink a beer with all my friends.  Then I thought of Udo and how much he had cheered for me the year before while racing and decided I had to stick it out.

Brent Prenzlow, who suffered from a flat in the first minute of the race, was closing in on me fast.  I thought it would be good if he caught me and that we might be able to work together to try and catch the lead group.  But after riding a lap or so together Brent was obviously way stronger and eventually dropped me in the sand.

I managed to hang in for a 5th place finish which all in all isn't too bad for my first race of the season.  I had a blast riding around in circles on bikes with everyone out there, I forgot how fun CX is.  The Gritters' ended up taking first and second again, while Siegle ended up third with Brent on his heels.

Apparently someone has a video of me biffing it and I will definitely post that up here if I get the clip in the future.

Yeah, about that Blogging thing...

Man to say I slacked on the blog the past few months would be an understatement.  There has been much to share, but not so much time.

Well all is well here on the home front.  Its tough trying to balance working, starting your own business and wanting to do well racing bikes next year.  There is way to much to say so Ill just do some bullet points, thats all anyone wants to read anyway...

• Velo Hangar is an awesome shop down in Solona beach and if you haven't been there yet, well what the heck are you waiting for get in there!
• Sanding surfboards for 5 hours before riding your bike for 5 hours is tiring, then making fins when you get home in your spare time....yeah you get the idea
• Im working on getting my own kits made with all my sponsors for next season, stay tuned!
• If you need help learning to ride a bike let me know (if I can't help you Ill point you in the right direction!)
• I havent raced any CX yet because Im putting in a lot of base miles for the Pro XCT next year (if it happens, thanks USCycling)
• I have my first meeting this Sunday to be a San Dieguito river park Mountain bike patrol ranger
• The Blue Moonies are an awesome local band
• My wife to be Ellen is awesome and beautiful
• Everyone at Focus Bikes is top notch, and luckily they have some of the best bikes around
• I almost always, need more coffee...especially right now
• I miss the Angry Single Speeder
• If you need bamboo or Marine Ply glass-ons for your next surfboard and you are reading this, you have better buy them from me! www.teleostfins.com
• I recently won a mountain bike race on a cross bike
• ...have you gone to the Velo Hangar yet?
• The new Time MTB pedals have been great (and no I didn't get them for free)
• Whats a blog post without pictures, check out my new Focus Izalco team SL
• 
• Stay on the lookout for Jess Cerra's new Harmony Bars (they're freaking tasty)
• Follow me on twitter @eboogie101 or @teleostfins
• I think thats enough for now

Thanks to everyone in and around my life!

US Cup Triple Crown Finale

I spent the last weekend up in Santa Ynez (Los Olivos actually) for the season finale of the US Cups triple crown event.  Seemed like it was gonna be a good weekend of racing with Short Track and Super D on Saturday, and XC on Sunday.

I left early Saturday morning and made it up there with plenty of time to spare even after hitting some traffic just before Carpinteria.  I paid the ridiculous registration fee (thanks to Velo Hangar for some help there) for the triple crown series and setoff to warm up pre riding the Super D course.  Then toed the line for the Short Track race.

The Short Track format is 15 minutes plus one lap, seems easy enough right?  There was one short climb that occurred after a long straightaway into a head wind, then another straight away to a quick down then a couple turns, a lap takes about 3-4 minutes.  I had a good start and sat third or so wheel for the first couple of laps.  Because of the headwind the group stayed together for most of the race.

There were a few position changes as the race went on, then when I thought we had two and a half laps left I decided to test the field a little and start mixing it up.  I jumped to the front on the short climb and attacked.  Thanks to the insane power transfer of the Focus' seat stays I had a small gap at the top climb, albeit only a couple seconds but thats all I wanted to know for now.  I knew that doing this would have me pulling the group into the wind the next go around which is why I wanted to do it with two to go then sit in and attack and hopefully hold for the win on the last lap.

As I was pulling the group through the start/finish we got the last lap signal, plan foiled!  No one was coming around to put their nose in the wind either.  So I kept it fairly mellow then started to string it out a little bit before the climb this time to try and prevent anyone using my own plan against me.  I was able to hold off the attack of Ryan and Cody up the climb, but they both snaked by me on the straightaway afterwards.  I was pretty gassed from my effort and they got a few seconds on me which is all they needed.

We had broken away from the main group and I was able to solo in for third.  Thanks to my season of CX racing for sharpening my race tactics!  I spun around for a few more minutes then went back to the car and stuffed my face with as much pasta and food as I could and relaxed a little before the Super D start.

I did a lot of time killin in the sun up there

The Super D course was one of the longer ones this season, and had a good bit of climbing in it.  It wasn't technical in a super rocky sense but in a loose dirt, high speed off camber turns kinda thing.  I managed to put a decent run together with a couple small mistakes and sneaked by with a 4th place, and from what I could tell was the only one competing on my XC hardtail too.

Sunday was finally time for the real fun to begin, with the field twice as big as saturday and a lot of fresh legs, I knew I was in for some pain.  Right away once I started warming up I could tell that I wasn't totally feeling it or into racing that much.  I got to the line with about 4 minutes until start time and was pretty disappointed to find that some racers who never faired too well were hogging the front line since there weren't any call ups today.  Thats fine and all just don't loose the wheel of the person in front of you when it starts to get real and we begin to ascend towards the skyline.

But of course, when we hit the first climb there was an almost immediate split of Siegel and Taberlay.  Well, ok then, there were still a couple strong riders in the lot remaining, I was in about 9th, then 3rd and 4th started pulling away from what could barely be called a group anymore.  It took a lot of effort to get by these guys and finally managed to get away from everyone else in 6th on the wheel of 5th.  Unfortunately neither one of us were feeling spectacular and couldn't gain too much ground on Cody and Ryan in the 3rd and 4th position as they were working pretty good together.

So on the start of the second lap I attacked on the first climb and managed to get a little gap and expand it to a minute for a 5th place finish.  At one point I had almost reeled in the next two riders but just didn't have the legs from all the racing the previous day.

This is right when I started to close the gap a little on 3rd and 4th, see how close they are!

I ended up 3rd in the triple crown for that weekend, and second for the overall series triple crown.  I was stoked there was actually a payout for once at a US Cup, and that was for the overalls!  Or so thats what I thought, unfortunately we were told they would not be cutting us checks as some criteria wasnt met or something, I get it I guess.  But warn us of that criteria ahead of time otherwise I probably wouldn't have wasted my time and money to drive up there for some more generic medals and tin trophies.  But all in all it was a fun weekend of racing with good people and some fun trails.

The highlight of my trip would probably actually be running into Kurt, who was riding his bike from San Diego to Monterey, just outside of Los Olivos on the side of the 154.  How random, I was stoked to see him and offered him a nutella and jelly french toast sandwich which he somehow managed to choke down as we talked about our plans for Sea Otter.  Good shit.

Kurt chowin' down

Pro XC tour #2 in the books

No excuses this time, I was off of the antibiotics and had my first 'real' pro race under my belt, having another crappy showing was unacceptable.  I pre-rode the course the weekend before and knew what to expect.  It was a very technical course with some longer descents which suited me well.  I should have done some warming up on the course though, especially after being warned by Gareth and B. Gritters beforehand that the course was getting super chewed up from the Cat 1's racing it.  Turns out the course rode completely different than the previous weekend.  

At the start I was lined up behind Miguel Valdez, which I thought was gonna be a nice wheel to follow through the crowd. For some reason at the whistle he hesitated and rolled out at a 'not very fast' pace and I was swarmed by riders from the rows behind me.  The course went from a pretty narrow fire road to some single track not too long after the start, and positioning was of the utmost importance.  I was pretty far back and had to put in some solid efforts when the trail would open up on the climbs before going back into single track.  There was so much traffic caused by the 50+ riders that we were all strung out within inches of the wheel in front of you in your easiest gear just soft pedaling, there was nothing else you could do.  

Excuse me I'd like to get by now

Near the end of the first lap (of 4), on the last descent, after moving up some spots and in a good place I ran out of talent and slid into a patch of some kinda small nettle plant thing to break my fall.  All was good but the line that I rode on the course three times the weekend before that I really liked was all of a sudden gone and replaced with loose sand.  So I lost a bunch of spots there and was pretty content to throw in the towel now with a valid excuse.  The tip of my saddle was also now pointed up to about the 11 o'clock position which was no bueno, so about a mile from the start I had to pull over and hit it down with my hand to make it level again, ohh yeah and losing more hard earned spots.  

Post crash, I had leaves in my ear after the race

Still wanting to quit, again, I just kept riding hoping I would change my mind.  Which I did, again.  Thanks to Tom Obrien and the nationwide team for the support and handing me bottles every lap, I kept pushing on.  I just rode the climbs as steady as I could, and would start to reel in riders on the descents and would pick em off one by one as the race went on.  Ended up in 20th, which is a lot better than Bonelli, but considering where I was before I slid out and everything I went through again to get going I could have done better.  But at this level you don't really get a second chance, you barely ever get a chance at all, which is why it is so intriguing to keep racing at this level.

After almost falling asleep at the top waiting for the super D start, needless to say I had a pitiful performance.  I basically forgot how to ride a bike after laying on a rock in the sun for 45 minutes!  I was unable to clip in immediately at the start, then made some bad line choices and braking decisions.  Bummed because I feel its a course I could have done good on, ohh well, ended up 13th in that.

Time to start thinking about Sea Otter and what I may do the rest of this season.  In the meantime I'm taking in my Focus to clean it up at the Velo Hangar and drink some coffee, ohh I guess my employer will want me to come to work too.

every accomplishment starts with the decision to try

Well I accomplisd something I never thgouht would happen in my life this past weekend, competing in a Pro XCT mountain bike race.  Due to a sinus/ear infection the week prior and being on antibiotics for the race I was hardly in top form, and at this caliber of racing it definitely shows.  Surprisingly at only around 20 miles, this was the hardest race I have completed to date, worse than Vision Quest on a single speed, and more painful than the Julian Death March on a fixed gear mountain bike (props still to my buddy Chas for talking me into that one)

Due to being under the weather I had trouble even keeping wheels on the parade lap, and about half way through the first lap I was starting to think of the point at which I will drop out and watch the rest of the race; would it be near a good technical section, or over with my friend Len who was nice enough to hand me water bottles during the race.  Then I started thinking of everyone who had helped me get to this point and decided theres no way I could tell them that I didn't finish, without having a valid excuse that is (fingers were crossed for broken chain)  not to mention all of the trash talking that would have ensued for a DNF.

I never unzip my shirt, thats how much I was suffering.  Photo: PB Creative

This racing is completely different, racers battle for a top 40 position just as hard as if they were racing for a top 10.  You can not make one little mistake, or that is a position, decide to gear down a little for a climb to save some for the end, thats probably three spots.  There is no leeway what-so-ever, its awesome.  Since I didn't have any pop I just rode as hard as I could the whole time, and if I was feeling OK pass a few people, and when I was feeling crappy let some people pass me.  The course was very brutal, with the only recovery point at the start/finsih area, if you werent going up you were briefly descending a bumpy and technical section that lasted no longer than 3 seconds before you had to go up the next steep pitch.

Still hurting going down, Photo: Jim Wolf

In the end I managed to not get pulled from the race and out of around 60 or so starters I got a 32nd, ended up 16th in the super D and skipped the short track which led to an 18th overall for the triple crown.  Not too bad for my first real race but I know I can do better and am anxiously looking forward to the next one.

Thanks go out to the same awesome people, Ellen the lovely wifey, Gordon and Laurel at the Velo Hangar, my coach T Glavin, and strength and rehab guru Bryan Hill from rehab united.

...and mountain bike season begins!

I've been busy having so much fun racing/riding/watching cyclocross for the past few months that I kinda forgot what it was like to ride and race mountain bikes, pretty glad that its as fun as I remember!  I hadn't been on the mountain bike much over the past few months and was starting to forget how the thing work.  Luckily my buddy Kurt G. and Victor S. decided to put together a local roots mountain bike race series.

The name of the series was the 'quick 'n dirty' and it lived up to its name.  This is the kind of thing that has been missing in bike racing, especially mountain biking which is supposed to have more of a support community and core feel to it.  The races were only $30, the competition was fierce, and the prizes were legit.  It was a great season opener that got everyone used to racing on their mountain bikes again.  Not only were the races successful in attracting a great crowd , but the 'quick 'n dirty' has contributed back to the park system via trail maintenance and good 'ol cash money.  I managed a 2nd to Phil Tintsman, 3rd to Johnny O'mara and Phil, and a 1st in the three race mini series.

This last sunday was the first race of the US Cup, and I was a bit anxious as this was my first pro race of the season and I had no idea what to expect.  On top of the stress of my first race Ellen came out with her parents Jack and Libby who were in town visiting us, so I couldn't disappoint them with a crappy result after having flown all the way out here from MD (not to see the race though of course)

Jack, Libby & Jacki

The field was rather small with only 9 or so guys.  I had no problem jumping out in front and letting someone else take the lead, wanting to make sure to stay in the top 3 or 5 as long as I could.  Pedroza soon tired out before the first initial hill, so I went ahead and took charge bringing Pedroza and Jenkins along with me, and forming a gap on the rest of the group.  

It was pretty apparent that Jenkins had pre-ridden the course as he too the lead on the last part of the first lap riding the route very well.  He and Pedroza opened up a small gap on me about a mile from the start/finish.  I didn't really want to let them go, but I had no idea what was coming next on the course and wanted to save some energy.  

On the second lap Jenkins had a solid lead on me, and was slowly dropping Pedroza, who I managed to catch right near the start/finish.  I could tell he had turned himself inside out trying to ride with Jenkins, and knew I too could drop him if I ride smart.  I let him lead me halfway up the first climb then put in a solid attack and immediately opened up a decent gap.  I kept on the gas for another minute or so and was able to hold him off the rest of the lap for a solid second place.  

Putting in work on Pedroza Photo: PB Creative

The race couldn't have gone much better considering I just finished building up my new Focus Raven 29er the night before the race.  Big thanks to Velo Hangar for having all the random parts in stock that I needed (as always).  Ive since gotten a few more rides on the bike and gotta say it is one of the best handling, snappiest and quickest accelerating mountain bikes I have ridden, couldn't be happier with it!  It was also super heart warming to see Jack, Libby and Ellen at the end of my race congratulating me, truly memorable thanks guys!

Phil Beckman was out there and got some awesome shots as always...

Look at that bike! Photo: PB Creative

Tight weedy section Photo: PB Creative

Gonna try to make it to the Keyesville Classic this weekend if life co-operates, hope to see all my riding buddies out there should be a good time.

Wrapping up the cross season

I didn't go out the way I had wanted with my first season of Cyclocross, but I am super stoked with how the season went as a whole.  I progressed pretty solidly throughout the season learning and building on my mistakes from racing every weekend, and had hoped for some good results, and a possible win, during the last two races.  Unfortunately, I learned I still have a lot more to learn.  I wasn't in the best riding form from a crash just a week before the second to last race at Irvine lake.  I fell on my left side and ended up shifting my sacrum and freezing up my right leg pretty good.  Quick accelerations or getting on and off the bike were no bueno, which thats pretty much what Cross is all about!

Enough excuses, the Irvine Lake race course was super fun, it had a nice little climb, and a few straightaways.  Adding in a rainstorm literally 5 minutes before our race started, made for some 'true' cross conditions in Socal.  Multi-time National CX champ Ryan Trebon was down training in the area and decided to race with everyone, and it quickly became a race for second.  I was leading the chase group after a lap or two when the course all of a sudden switched to a drivers course.  I got unexpectedly dropped on my side in a super slick left hand turn.  Unfortunately my shoe came unbuckled when this happened and I lost the chase group and rode the rest of the race by myself.  After experiencing some shifting problems, a flat, and having file tread tires on my 'B" bike I rolled through in 6th.

Just starting to get muddy...

The last race of the season was up in Nortwest LA at Pierce College.  I went into this race sitting in third overall for the series.  This season finale race offered 1.5x the points which meant I had the ability to drop all the way down to fifth or sixth depending on the outcome of this one race.

The course really suited me well with three solid climbs and some longer straightaways.  But for some reason when the whistle blew I just didn't have any pop in my step, and after having multiple people make errors ahead of me costing valuable time and positions, I was pretty stoked to roll through within the allotted distance from the riders that were breathing down my neck for third overall in the series.

I had no plans or goals racing cross this year and was mostly just using it for training, at first.  But I have 'applied the embro' and fully have the CX bug.  Every time Im out riding and I see a little park, or field or some trails I quickly put together a cross course in my mind.  I now want to use mountain bike racing as training for next cross season.  I want to go race in the freezing cold and sloppy mud, and barely be able to finish then lie to everyone and tell them I had fun doing it.

I ended up third overall in the Elite 'A' division for SoCal prestiges' cross series.  Overalls are scored on your best 9 races out of 17, and I barely squeaked in with 9 races total!  Couldn't be more happy about my result considering its next to cross master Brent Prenzlow (2nd) and Hammerhead Brandon Gritters (1st)  I had a lot of fun racing with everyone this season, and a big thanks to Dorothy and everyone that helped organize the series.  Most importantly thanks to Ellen for having the patience with me and allowing me to go race as mush as I did.  I couldn't have completed half the races if it wasn't for Gordon and Laurel's support over at Velo Hangar, the coolest most original shop ever!  And my coach Trevor Glavin of skinfit for allowing me to find the ability to ride at this level, heres to continual success!  Bryan Hill at Rehab United for helping me walk...and struggle to walk.  John Bailey for being an awesome guy, I did my first 4 races or so on his old bike from two years ago, thanks again for helping to give me the cross bug!

Time to start getting in more hours on the mountain bike and prepare for my ass kicking this next season, its gonna be interesting, so much more to still learn!

Photo Dump from the season...

Santa Cross

Game face at Santa Cross

Its pretty tough to get motivated to drive up and into the beast that is LA traffic, its a total crap shoot and you just never know what you are going to get.  There were two races this past weekend, both at Griffith park in north west LA.  Not knowing much about LA I was prepared to bring a gun for security purposes, another park in LA riding around in spandex, seriously?  Turns out though that Griffith park is very beautiful and in a pretty cool setting.  It was definitely a surprise and way nicer than I imagined, I even got to see the Hollywood sign for the first time.

Chasing the beard

The course for Saturday was pretty fun, albeit a little short.  It had a decently long climb right after the start/finish then went into the woods a couple times for some fun and fast, slightly technical riding.  I had plenty of time to warm-up and cheer on some other racers.  After getting warmed up, I heard last call to staging so I headed over to the start, figuring that would probably be a good idea.  I got there and everyone had already taken the entire front row, all 10 lanes.  I was a little perplexed not knowing if they had already done call-ups or not, as most of the people on the front probably didn't belong there.  The race official finally made his way down got everyone that earned a call-up up there, and I ended taking a second row spot right behind B. Gritters.

I had a pretty decent start and was sitting fourth at the top of the climb, with Gritters in the lead.  By the time we got to the twisty technical section he was starting to gap off the two riders in front of me, I knew I needed to get around them.  They weren't budging to my request through the turns, so I had to wait until we got to the sandpit and run by them to make my pass.  I was now about 5 seconds back from the leader and worked hard the rest of the lap to bridge up to him.

By the second or so lap Brandon and I had a little gap on third place Eric Bostrom.  We pretty much worked together the next 8 laps to try to get as big of a gap as possible, which is always good in case you need to pit or have a mechanical.  On about the 8th lap I had a little problem getting into my pedals after a muddy run-up after the barriers.  I had been clipping in immediately after the barriers but for some reason I decided I wanted to run to the top of the hill on this lap, which caused my cleats to clog up.  It gave Brandon a small 3 second or so gap, and he drilled it up the climb, as did I trying to get back on his wheel.  I managed to catch him before the end of the 9th lap but didnt get much recovery before climbing the hill again after the start/finish.  Gritters put down a solid attack at the start of the climb on the 10th lap and managed to put a good 5 or more seconds on me.

He maintained his lead and went on to win and I hung onto second about 8 seconds behind Gritters.  Jason Siegle managed to catch Eric Bostrom for third, and Gareth Fieldstein rode strong for top 5.  It was a fun day of racing to celebrate my 31st birthday.

Good times!

The race on Sunday was the toughest field that I have probably raced against this entire year (not including the UCI races)  The line up consisted of Brandon and Kyle Gritters, Eric and Ben Bostrom, Chris Jackson, Jason Siegle, Garteh Feldstein, and local cross guru Brent Prenzlow.  Having tired legs, and not much sleep from the day before I figured finishing in front of any of those guys would be good.

The course had been modified from the day before, adding in some more fun twisty climby sections, which was great, anything to not have to do 12 laps again!  I had a super crappy start when the whistle blew and was sitting back in 8th or so at the top of the climb.  I managed to get around a few people by the end of the first lap, but was still in 5th or 6th.  I could see the race starting to unfold in front of me and was frustrated by the traffic I was in and my current positioning.  I put my head down and gained another spot or two up into fourth.  By this time Chris Jackson and B. Gritters had already opened a gap on the rest of the field.

Getting chased by Prenzlow

About ten minutes into the race it started raining pretty good making for some super fun cross conditions.  I rode in fourth place behind Ben Bostrom for pretty much the entire race.  I took a good chunk of time out between us with two to go, but he managed to ride the last lap super strong and finish with a solid third place.

Always a lot of shit talking and fun on the podium!

The course was a blast especially with the rain.  I was able to put down the fastest lap time of the day, which bummed me out about my start as I know I could have been up there with the leaders.  Still pretty happy with fourth in that field, especially with tired legs.  It was nice to have Ellen and Jacki out there cheering me on too, in the rain and all!  There was also a mini "Santa Series" for the two days of racing which I managed to take second overall behind Brandon, and in front of Gareth, was glad I came up for the second day!

There are only a few more races left in the CX season (just as I start to get it down and my bikes dialed!) so I guess its time to start thinking about racing mountain bikes again, and maybe a few road races this year.

Falls arrived...

To say I was excited to race this past sunday would have been a long shot.  I wasn't totally into it mentally, actually the whole last week I was a little phased out since Ellen had an accident mountain biking at PQ Canyon.

Last sunday we were out having a glorious day riding bikes, excited to go to a party afterwards when she fell, going fairly slow, and sliced her arm wide open on a small bush.  It was just one of those odd crazy things that happened. the cut was 4 inches long and 2cm deep.  It resulted in her passing out and getting a ride in an ambulance  I am so proud at how brave and tough she was through the entire debacle!

After hiking 1.5 miles out of the canyon and into a neighborhood to get Ellen to the ambulance, I ran back to where we stashed the bikes and rode mine out while pushing hers, which took 40 minutes.  I didn't leave though until I went back to look for the branch that cut her, I saw many sharp blades of shrubbery but none with blood on it.  Had I had found said branch i probably would have gone crazy on it, or just brought it home and framed it?  This incident really made me think of what is really important in life, and was kind of a slap in the face of how fragile we really are.  Especially after the paramedic told me that if it would have cut a vein or artery that I shouldn't have hesitated to call the helicopter for a lift out.

So onward to the Turkey Trot up in Glendale.  I found myself going through the motions before the race, but really not wanting to race, I had no drive or fire burning.  I got my warm-up in and pre-rode the course about 5 or 6 times cause it was so darn fun, and toed the line against one of the larger fields this year.

As soon as the whistle blew, and some foreigner in our race who "can't speak english' almost put me into the tape on the first turn, the fire was lit!  We had a large group the first couple laps and kept a pretty mellow pace, with myself, prenzlow, gritters and a couple other people taking some turns in the wind.

Little bridge section.  Photo: Phil Beckman

At the start of the 3rd or 4th lap I was in the lead and had planned on trying to open a gap, if not on Gritters and Brent at least the rest of the field so we could have some space.  But Jason Siegle decided he was gonna make his move and bombed passed us on the long straight road section.  I know that in the past he likes to get a gap 1/3 of the way through the race then just time trial the rest of the race, well I wasn't gonna let that happen. After some 'encouraging' words from Brandon to stay on that wheel, Jason fumbled coming out of the sand pit and I saw an opportunity to make his attack short lived, so I sprinted in front of him right before a left hand turn through the mulch.

Only to somehow loose my front wheel in the loose bark!  For as fast as we were going I didn't slide anywhere and just kind of stuck there, which left Jason no other choice but to run into me.  It took a couple seconds but he finally got off of me, I peeled his bike off of my bike and myself and handed it to him, then grabbed mine.  I got back on with a dropped chain which left me about 15 seconds back from Jason and about 30 seconds from the lead group, and around 9th or so place.

Pretty bummed at what just happened I kind of just dazed my way through the rest of the lap, and contemplated dropping out and drinking some beer.  After more thought, I figured I'd get my money's worth and at least get a workout in after driving this far.  Its already ridiculous enough to drive all this way and spend all this time warming up, etc for an hour long race, even worse for a 15 minute race.

Pretty much sums up the day...

I started building into it and after a lap or two finally started catching some other riders.  On the last lap I put down my fastest lap (third fastest overall) and managed to catch John Bailey and steal 5th place from him, which is way better than I thought I would do after falling.  Despite laying down the bike, it was a really fun day of racing with a bunch of good people on an awesome course.  Thanks to everyone!

Ohh here is a picture of Ellens arm post stitches, warning possible gore factor...

Hodges Race Report

A little late on this one, was busy finishing up a little training block after last weekends races.  Anywho, the weathers been great here.  Its starting to get a little harder to get motivated for those morning rides with the chilly mornings, but as soon as the sun comes out everything gets warmed right up.

So the Hodges SpyClocross course was brutally painful.  In my mind a little more how CX races should be, a little more going up and coming down, and utilizing what our local terrain has to offer.  My buddy Kurt G spent a few hours digging a nice trench, which was rad until two dirty drunkards decided to start hauling mud from the lake and throwing it in the trench.  This made it tough for some to clip back in as after the mud 'pit' there was a nice long sandy beach section which just clogged up cleats.  It also provoked a good bit of whining from the 'pretty' boys/girls who are used to the dry socal cross races.  (Seriously, it was some pretty gross mud though)

Kyle leading the first few laps.  Photo: Phil Beckman

There was a decent little turnout for our race, including Brandon and Kyle Gritters who decided to come down and beat up on Brent and I who had tired legs from racing the previous day.  The race started at a pretty quick pace with Kyle getting about a 15 second gap off of Brent and Brandon.  I was left chasing after getting stuck behind a slower rider after Ted Willard broke his chain on the climb.  It took about two laps of me going all out to bridge the thirty second gap.  Even after I caught up with Brent and Brandon it was tough for me to hang onto their wheel, I was halfway thinking of dropping off and riding with the guy behind me for 4/5th.

At this point Kyle was still off the front by about 10-15 seconds, and Brent was chasing with Brandon behind and myself following.  I was still hurting bad and unable to help Brent put the chase on, the whole while Brandon was comfortably sitting in.  On about the 5th or so lap Kyle dropped his chain after the run and we finally caught him and everyone was riding together, with me still hanging on the back, and finally starting to get a little recovery.

Somewhere near the start of the 6th lap Brandon got in front of kyle, who was in front of Brent, and put in a solid attack.  With his brother sitting up slowing the pace through the grass section, Brandon was able to easily get 20 seconds on the group.  We rode the rest of the lap in the same order, then Brent was able to jump back in front ok Kyle and try to start working on Brandons lead.

Start of the last lap... Photo: Phil Beckman

At the start of the last lap I could tell Brent was exhausted and I moved to the front to try and possibly (i knew very unlikely, but you never know when someones gonna make a mistake or have a mechanical) close the gap on Brandon.  Kyle jumped behind me, which I was hoping would have been Brent, and I went as hard as I could to possibly try to shake Kyle hoping that he was exhausted from riding off the front for the first few laps.  Unfortunately I was also pretty exhausted from racing the previous day and playing catch-up for part of this race.

Kyle stayed behind me until the final straight away to the finish and let me lead out the sprint.  Total rookie mistake!  I knew he is a super strong sprinter and experienced road racer, and I really shouldnt havent been leading out the sprint.  Anyway he managed to pull around me and beat me by .6 seconds. A little bummed to let second place go like that, but still happy with a podium, especially after racing the previous day.

1st-Kyle Gritters, 2nd-Brandon Gritters, 3rd-myself, 4th-Brent Prenzlow, 5th-Scott Lundy, 6th-Johnny Weir

The CX skills are coming along nicely, and the biggest thing I have to start doing now is racing smarter, and more tactfully.  Ive decided to finish out some more races for the cross season as I feel it is building good fitness for racing mountain bikes next year.  Not to mention how much fun I am having racing with these guys, really thinking of doing some traveling next cyclocross season.

Storm the Beach...

Photo: Phil Beckman

After my chain failure during Socalcross' velodrome race, I was itching to get back onto the podium this weekend.  I had a little rest week after the velodrome races, and wasn't quite sure how I would feel my first week back of racing.  Turns out cross is painful anytime.

First race of the weekend was Celo Pacifics Storm the Beach, which is held just 10 minutes from my house on Camp Pendleton.  With a chance of some morning rain, and a strong N wind the event was truly living up to its name.  I ran down to Velo Hangar first thing in the morning to get my pre-race good karma and coffee then made it to the venue a couple hours before my race.

I chatted with friends that were done racing about course conditions, tire pressure, different lines/techniques and got a wide array of opinions   Then pretty much decided that none of it mattered, everything was personal preference, and that running in the sand and riding into a 30 knot head wind is what was actually gonna decide the outcome of this race.

Our field was rather small with only 11 entrants, I noticed Brent Prenzlow and Anton Petrov were the two that I probably wanted to keep my eye on.  The start was rather tame and mellow as no one wanted to take the first pull into the headwind on the beach.  As soon as we hit the running section through the sand and up the small but o-so-steep hill the race was really on.  I quickly latched on to Brent's feet, knowing he has had great success here in the past he would be the one to watch.  After the tough up hills and sandy beach sections we passed the start finish line with Brent in the lead, myself in second and Anton not too far behind.

Seeing the space we got on Anton during the run, we started to work together to try and lengthen the lead.  We ended up taking turns pulling throughout the course and had a solid gap on the rest of the field.  It was actually pretty nice to be able to ride with someone else the whole race as this course was very tough!

Photo: Phil Beckman

I was in the lead going into the last lap, and asked Brent when he was going to attach, he said he wasn't sure yet, HAHA!  He put a nice little move on the run onto the beach, where I had a little bobble burying my front wheel in the sand which was all he needed.  I chased him up the beach into the wind as hard as I could but didn't make up much time.  I managed to put a few more seconds on the gap on the last couple small climbs in case he made a mistake through the sand.  But being the veteran he is Brent rode everything perfectly and took 1st 5 seconds in front of me.

All in all a good fun day of racing.  I really enjoyed this course and thought Celo Pacific did a good job putting it on.  It was finally a course where I really didn't want to do anymore laps at any pace let alone race pace!

Gettin' learned in cross

I wasn't even sure if I even wanted to do any CX races this year, but after racing in downtown LA I was all in.  I forgot how fun a cross race can be, once you get over the whole suffering part.  I decided to try to make as many cross races as I could the rest of the year.  Next stop spooky cross!

Spooky cross is the first local UCI race, which attracts top level riders from across the country (and Canada) Just lining up with these guys was intimidating.  I got up to the venue a little late on saturday the 20th, and barely registered in time.  Not to mention I had to buy my UCI license online beforehand, thanks Ellen for navigating US cyclings terrible website and getting that done with minutes to spare before registration closed.

Got my numbers, suited up and warmed up, made it to call-ups only to have bad luck of the draw and be last row, I expected nothing less.  My main goal of these UCI races was to try to sit in as close to the front and learn more about cross.  I was one of the last guys into the first corner after the bell, i did a little work on the stairs and other straightaways and managed to get into around 15-20 place, which would be awesome but considering there were only 30 or so starters, not that great.

On the second or third lap somewhere through the sand pit I managed to unhook my rear Canti brake.  It was decision time, i had decent position to possibly finish top 15.  Stop and hook-up the rear brake, possibly loosing a lot of time, or ride with only a front brake.  You don't need brakes in cross right?  I decided to be safe and pulled over on possibly the darkest part of the course (did I mention this was a night race) and started to try to re-attach the cable.  I must of pulled the cable to get it into the stop 15 times with no luck, ok what the hell is going on, I couldn't see anything and could barely breathe, and having gloves on trying to move little metal parts around didn't help.

FInally got everything re-attached and was in dead last.  I caught a couple guys initially, then pretty much road 4 laps by myself.  I kept thinking about dropping out, but what kind of experience would I gain doing that?  All I wanted to do was catch someone!  With about 3 laps to go I finally reeled someone else in and ended un in 24th, woo hoo $17!

Sundays race went a little better, I rode up with Gordon from Velo Hangar and he brought some challenge tires with him which made a big difference!  I had a bad start and raced mid pack with my buddy Gareth Feildstein with him and I doing most of the work out of a few other guys.  Gareth put a nice move in on the last lap and I got trapped behind a few other guys, he ended up 15th and I was stoked with 18th and $28.

This past weekend we had another set of back-to-back races, this time down at the San Diego Velodrome.  It was nice to get to see so many familiar faces down there racing.  Unfortunately there wasn't a huge turnout for the Elite race on Saturday, but still plenty of fast competition.  Anton Petrov ended up taking first, in front of myself with Brent Prenzlow finishing behind me after getting a flat on one of the first few laps.  Anton did a nice little write-up of the race for cycling illustrated here

Only a dozen or so riders at the start

Riding the velodrome

After riding the course on saturday and seeing Prenzlow put an amazing performance on his mountain bike to go from last to third, after his flat, B Gritters and I decided to start the race on our mountain bikes.  I had originally brought the mountain bike for a back-up pit bike, but after talking to Brandon and doing some laps on the mountain bikes we agreed it would be fun to start the race on them.

There were a few small differences between the CX bike and the Mtn bike.  The MTB was faster over the bumpy infield of the velodrome, and the rocky singletrack around the outside, but they didnt accelerate as quickly out of turns compared to a cross bike.  The deciding factor came down to the fact that  mountain bike should have less chance of a catastrophic failure.  If only.

Flat Bars...

After 8 laps completed with two to-go Prenzlow, Gritters and myself had a significant gap on the rest of the field.  I was content to sit in at third and watch them two duke it out as I continue to learn more about cross as it is my first year racing competitively.  After the log hop, which was only about 50 yards past pit area, I broke my chain and watched the leaders ride away from me.  I thought for a second about going backwards to get my bike, but was pretty sure thats not allowed so I had to run almost an entire lap to get to the pit.  All in all ended up 6th.  Phil Beckman did a nice little write up about the races.

Heckling at the barriers

Cyclocross is a ton of fun, and great for all skill levels, I encourage everyone to go out to a race and check it out.  Its been a fun little season so far and I am excited to be able to race at this level and learn more about the sport from our local hammers.

A weekend of racing

I was starting to get the itch again to do some racing, and this weekend happened upon a good time.  On saturday there was the CA state endurance championships up in big bear put on by the US Cup guys, and a CX race up in LA on sunday.

But first thing was first, had to make a stop into Velo Hangar on friday for my pre-race good vibes

Laurel the Velo Barista' awesome Latte!

I am by no means an 'endurance' athlete, but what better way to get in some good training by 'racing' 58 miles at altitude.  I got up to the mountains around 9 on saturday, and with a chill in the air wasn't feeling all that ready to race.  I rode around for a little bit with my down jacket on, like everyone else was doing, trying to get a little warm up in.  Headed to the start and was stoked to see that I would be racing against two time olympian Tinker Juarez.  Well theres one podium spot taken!

The start was pretty mellow up the road until we hit the dirt which is when everyone stared to go.  I hung-on as long as I could with Tinker, Joel Titus of So-Cal endurance, and another Bear Valley pro, but for some reason my legs were not letting me do anything.  I just about completely stalled out and started spinning the easiest gear I could, this is something I thought would happen around mile 50 for me not 5!  Luckily Ben Jones came motoring by and I sat on his wheel for a while and kinda got everything under control.

Caught a few more guys on the first lap, and decided I did some good work, and was going to just cruise the second lap and try to not cramp up and bonk.  Just near the top of the hardest climb on the course, at mile 50, I looked back and saw someone was gaining on me.  Crap, I dont really feel like trying right now, maybe they will slow down, but I didn't want to take a chance.  So I lit a fire under my ass and got to motoring up the rest of the hills towards the singletrack downhill finish.  Which I knew if I could make it there I would retain my positioning.  I finally realized that it was my buddy (and kick ass world champ) Leslie Patterson that was gaining on me.  So I started yelling at her to try and catch me, just like race pace laps!  I couldn't have been any happier to see anyone else.

Photo Credit: Ti Peng

I finished fourth in the Pro/Open category, way behind the top three guys, but had a blast riding the trails and talking shop with Ben, Leslie and Tammy.  Also good to know that I still have some work to do until next year.


Onto sundays CX race!  After seeing a fresh motorcycle accident on my way up to LA (still dont know if the rider was dead or alive) I was just so happy and thankful to be there.  I wanted to hug everyone I knew when I got there, and really lost a lot of motivation to race, but nonetheless gotta get work done.

I had planned on racing both Mens A SS, and Elite A's.  I pre-road the course on my SS bike a few times and was about 15 minutes to race start when my chainring litterally broke in half, bent, sheered three chainring bolts off and bent the spider on my cranks.  It was the craziest failure I have ever witnessed, I was literally soft pedaling back to my bag to get some water, not even pedaling hard.

Chainring FAIL!

Luckily Gordon and some awesome Celo Pacific guys talked me into taping the shifters on my Bailey CX bike, so I was unable to shift and continue on with the race.  I doubled checked with Dorothy on this and she said it is fine with her races, but definitely not UCI races.  I found myself at the back of the line for the start, and was in just about dead last as we went into the first turn.  Damn Im in for a long race if I want to do anything.

I made a few quick passes at the run-ups and first few straight aways and about halfway through the first lap I had gone from about 20th to 15th.  As the pack started to string-out in single file fashion I just started picking off riders through the twisty sections and run ups, and let whoever was in front of me do most of the work when we got to the straightaways.

By about the end of the second lap I had snuck into the top ten, and was pretty stoked.  At this point I knew I had to make a decision though, either get on the podium on this race, or back off and try to save yourself for the elite A race.  A believer on not waiting and getting my hopes up for false results I decided to go for it.  I started putting in a lot of hard efforts, catching people in the turns then passing them on the straights, all while getting heckled, beer and water thrown in my face at max effort, Ahh YES! Cyclocross baby!

By the end of the third lap I had moved into the top five.  At the end of the fourth lap top three, and we started to put a gap on the rest of the field.  With one lap to go the first two riders exchanged places a few times while I sat in.  I thought that I may have a bigger gear than them and be able to out sprint them out of the last turn to the finish.  Unfortunately we maintained our order and all finished within a second of each other, good times!

I proceeded to punch the winner in the stomach in the next picture

  I did one lap of the elite A race then pulled the plug, my weekend of training races was done, quit while you are still healthy and not injured.  A huge thanks to Ellen for letting me race my bike all weekend, the Velo Hangar for awesome support, and of course my coach and riding buddy(and boss) Trevor!