12/15/12 - CX of the North - State Champs

The last race of my 2012 CX season this year was mid December and the state championships in Loveland CO, since I just moved to CAT 2 I decided to race 35+ 1/2 on Saturday.  I had not been to the state champs in CO before and did not know what to expect.  It was dry and in the 30's at our 8:30 start time, we were the first group to start for the weekend.  The course did not disappoint, it was super fun, with a lot of tight turns, some straight sections, a huge jump, barriers, and a super steep run up.  I had a goat head puncture my rear tire right prior to the start, got it fixed and headed to the start line, this has become routine for me by now and I gave it little thought.  Though my rear tire had a little too much air I noticed after the start.  I had to start almost dead last in a field of almost 50 guys.  The first few twisty sections of the course really got jammed up and we lost a lot of time over the leaders.  Either way I was out to have fun not win this race, I battled with a few guys the first few laps and ended up in a group of 5 or so.  The course was really great, I choose to ride the run up at full speed and dismount mid flight, I almost fell backwards a few times, but that was the fastest way up.  Others dismounted at the bottom and ran it.  The huge jump was tough not to get air on, and sketchy when I got tired, but I managed to stay on the bike the entire course each lap, except the barriers and the run up.  The leaders were a few minutes in front of me, and the guy behind me was from the 35+ CAT 3 group that started 30 sec behind our group.  I pushed hard to not let him pass me and I think it helped him gap his 2nd place guy.  Either way I passed 3 of the 5 guys I was with and did not let the CAT 3 guy catch me.  Finished 32nd out of 41, does not sound great, but these guys are all CAT 1/2 mainly CX racers.  Little do they know I am a triathlete, ha ha, I am sure some of them road race as well.  But racing with them only gives me motivation for next season. This CX season was great 13 races, moved from CAT 3 to CAT 2, but most of all had fun doing it and with a little luck improved my bike handling skills and gained some fitness for triathlon and road racing in 2013.  Now for some time off over the holidays and back at it come January.  Sorry no pics, remember my photographer is a fair weather CX spectator.

12/8-12/9 - BR CX series 5 / Green Mt CX

It has been a while since I did a double CX race weekend and I was due.  Saturday did not go my way, and Sunday was cold but went much better.  The first race was at the Boulder Reservoir, the course was nothing but sand, sand, and more sand.  I decided to race the 35+ CAT 1/2 race, which I think is good for me since I seem to be mid pack there now.  Only room to improve from there.  I had a flat during warm up, but thought nothing of it, got it fixed and ready to race.  All the sand and tight course made it a very tough one, I was about mid back of the pack on the last lap and my rear tire went flat again. I had no choice but to make the long walk back to the pits.  I got my wheel changed and finished the race, dead last at this point.  Since then I have figured out that the rim tape was bunching up and causing the tube to get cut on the spoke holes.  Anyway now I have duct tape as rim tape, and seems to be a great fix.
The race on Sunday morning was in Golden and man it was cold.  Race time was 10 AM and it was 19 degrees with about 1/2" of new snow.  Warm up was really non existent, and there were only about 15 guys to start, which meant I as going to be in the top 20 for sure.  The course in golden was a good one, fast, with a run up and a few barriers.  I ended up mid pack and was trying to catch 2 guys the whole race, but they ended up pulling slowly away from me.  Still felt a little under the weather due to the kids coming home with various sicknesses last week.  I took 9th place in the end of this cold race, my toes took a few hrs to warm up.  Sorry no pics for these races as my wife is a fair weather CX spectator.  Next weekend is CO state champs and my last weekend of CX racing, should be fun.

12/1/12 - BOD

The first CAT 1/2 race for me just happened to be at our local stomping grounds at the bowl of death in Louisville where we have CX practice every Wednesday morning.  We took the kids over at 12 or so for the kids race and they got to ride one loop and one of the run ups on course, they loved it and asked to go again.  Riley was to top girl out there.  My race was not until 3:15, so it was nice to head home and then just ride over to to local race.  I was not expecting to be near the front at all, but my goal was to stay in the pack and not get lapped.  Well I did not achieve my goal, I just went out and got my ass handed to me for 60 minutes.  These guys were so much faster than I expected.  Danny Summerhill lapped me on his last lap, so I saw 2 to go then I was done, which was a welcome sight at that point.  The course was one of the toughest this season with 2 big run ups, and lots of climbs.  I ended up 23rd out of 30, so I did beat someone, but next weekend I think I may be racing the 35 plus open category.  It is quite another level moving up to CAT 2, but I will get there over time.  Yes I have two excuses, my front tire went flat during the race, causing a few spills, and I was coming off of a head cold, but either way it would not of made one bit of difference.  On the bright side I did take the whiskey hand up towards the last laps, which only made things hurt more, thanks Mike Hogan!

11/24 - Norge Ski Jump CX

Following a week of time spent with family and friends eating and drinking more than my fill was a CX race in Fox River Grove near Chicago.  This was to be my last CAT 3 race and what better way to do it than have my dad and one of my best friends there to watch.  The course was at the base of a full size ski jumping facility, no snow at this time though.  Russ was there as well so the CX race of triathletes was on.

The course was simple with a few run ups, 2 sets of barriers, and some technical sections.  It was a pretty cold day but the ground was not frozen, so it was setting up to be a fast day.  The CAT 3 field was 44 guys and I actually got a call up which was unexpected, but I will take it.

The start went well and I made the first few turns in the top 10.  Russ was in front of me most of the race.  I was impressed with my new Challenge tires as well, but maybe a little less pressure for the next weekend.  Throughout the race I was feeling pretty good, I think mostly attributed to the racing at lower altitude.  There were a few crashes around some slick turns, and I heard one guy crash trying to take me on the inside of the turn and I boxed him out.  That was close to where Brian and my dad were watching, Brian was laughing, I think he got a kick out of his first CX race race.  There was ample heckling and red licorice hand ups.  I passed Russ with 2 laps to go, he was in third and caught the leader before the last lap.  All I had to do was not make a mistake or crash for one more lap.  I managed to hold the 2nd place guy off and took the win, Russ took 3rd (the kid in the picture was picking up his dads 2nd place medal).

 I was surprised my average power was about 40 watts higher then racing back in the thin air of CO.  My last CAT 3 race, from now on its racing with the big boys.  Was a great Chicago race, thanks to Brian and my dad for coming to watch and Russ for the great race.

11/10/12 - Sienna Lake

Finally a race with no mechanicals, major crashes, or setbacks even though the conditions were by far the worst this year has brought to the CO CX scene.  Sienna Lake is in Broomfield about 15 minutes from Louisville, the day brought dropping temps, rain, snow, fog you name it.  Race time was early afternoon and the temp was about 32 degrees, snowing, and the course was a complete mess, but hey this is how CX goes.  Here in CO it is usually pretty well fair weather CX much of the season, hey it was 77 degrees on Wednesday.  There were about 25 to start for the CAT 3 race, the first lap was quite dicey with many slippery corner crashes, myself included.  I watched Craig literately run over one guys bike on the ground and keep riding, nice move.  By the third lap I found myself in 2nd place, on the 2nd run up the leader slipped and fell flat on his face and slid all the way down the hill.  I hopped over him and ran right up, the key to this race was toe spikes.  I kept pulling away the last 3 laps, only to be caught by one single speeder.  Over the course of the race my brakes kept getting looser and looser, only to find out by the end that the pads were completely worn from the sand, muck and ice.  On the 2nd to last lap I did run right into the tape as I could not stop in time for the turn, I had to back up and start again.  I ended up finishing right behind the single speed winner and 55 sec up on the CAT 3 group.  It was a great race, tons of fun, cold, muddy, snowy, what a mess, I was glad to take the win on a tough day.  Also with Lucky Pie and Sweet Cow on the podium, Louisville was well supported.  I got out of all my wet muddy clothes as quickly as possible and home to clean up, I was so cold.

Lap 1 08:15   
Lap 2 07:43   
Lap 3 07:40   
Lap 4 07:50   
Lap 5 08:00   
Lap 6 07:53           

Total - 47:24.43

11/3 - Schoolyard Cross

After a few setbacks in the last cross races I was finally ready for a good race.  School yard cross was in Brighton CO about 1/2 hr away.  I got there in time to get in 2 good warm up laps and dropped my wheels at the pits.  On the way to the start I rode through a rough field and picked up 3 goat heads in my tires.  I did not know this until we started, I started first row but quickly discovered my rear tire was flat and fell back.  The pit was only 1/2 mile or so from the start so I just rode the flat there.  Switching out the wheel only took about 1 minute, along with riding slow on the flat it left me 2-3 minutes or so behind the group.  I ended up chasing the whole race just like last week after the crash.  Manged to get back to 18th place overall but I think there were only 25 or so racing.  The rear tire on my pit wheels sucked as well, it was washing out on may turns, I will have to make that one into a training tire for sure.  One thing I did like was the course, it was so much better than last years with a few steep climbs, a flyover, and a fast surface.  Too bad I choose to ride through the field of goat heads, arriving home there was one in the front tire which I rode the whole race and 2 in the rear which flatted it right at the start.  Oh well its CX racing, there is always next weekend.  Craig ended up 3rd this race though great job, only beat by some speedy juniors.

10/28 - Boulder Cup

The Boulder Cup was the 2nd race at Valmont this year, this time it was a bigger race and UCI sanctioned.  There were many costumes in the race, I really should dress up next year.  Anyway there was a large cat 3 group and a huge crowd watching as well since we went off close to the pro race in the afternoon.  From the start this race was not going well, I did not get the call up I was supposed to, but started around 5th or 6th row.  After the start at about 200 meters out there was a crash with 3 guys right in front of me, I could not go right as there were guys there I could not go left which was the barriers.  So only one choice left, I ran right into them all and joined the crash.  It is not like I had any time to make the decision, it was going to happen.  Anyway I went over my bars and my bike when over my head.  It was somewhat graceful, if a crash can be as I turned around and my left arm found my bike and I was back on and riding again.  Everything seemed okay, I was just in last place now.  The course was a little slick and muddy from the recent snow.  I felt okay in the race as I have not been riding as much a usual in the last 2 weeks with the trip to Moab.  I went down again in a muddy 180 degree turn which left my left side all muddy and once again in the sand.  Other than those 3 crashes the race went well, I felt like the last lap I only passed a few guys and was passed as well.  I made it to 16th place, which I guess is okay for all those setbacks.  It was a fun race and I had more than a few folks cheering for me which is always nice to hear.  The only injury from the first crash, was a bloody elbow, some scrapes on my knee, and a little road rash on my rear.  Better than Phil, who ended up with a real bloody leg and a broken shifter, hope he heals up fast and is back out there soon.

10/14 - USGP

The USGP is the biggest cyclocross event in CO each year bringing out the best US riders in the sport.  I knew the Cat 3 race was going to be fast considering we were combined with the cat 2 field as well, a tough course, and a large group to start.  This was a two day event but on sat. I have a kids swim meet to attend, but I did make it over to watch the pro race.  It was great to see these guys race and clear some of the barriers riding.  Walter made the trip up with me Sunday to the race, warmed up a little bit and made it to the start.  We were both towards the very end of the 70 plus group.  The start was good with no crashes, but the entire first 2 laps was just trying to get around guys.  The last few laps I did not have more then one guy pass me and I continued to make my way up.  I did not feel all that good in this race, but managed to finish in 25th place.  Craig was yelling at me at the end and I was passed in the last 200 meters by a very young kid, Craig finished right behind me.  Walter finished a few more back, overall a great venue, weather, and race.

10/6 - Frisco CX

I was not planning on doing this race, but the colder weather in Boulder cancelled Riley's swim meet on Saturday morning.  It has been cold here in Louisville a few days of cold, dusting or snow, and 30 degree rain when Phil and I left to head up to Frisco.  I just figured it was going to be a cold muddy race, but to my surprise it was sunny and beautiful above the clouds in Frisco at 9K'.  Still a little cold, the bikes had a nice coating of ice from the ride up through the freezing rain.  It was getting warmer with the sun and it did not feel all that bad.  Phil and I did two warm up laps and headed to the starting line.  The start of this race is all uphill until the first turn, then it heads down by the XC country ski trails, a short run up hill, and a few high barriers.  I found my self around 12th in the first lap, but this big hill was going to be my advantage each lap.  I made my way through the course slowly passing guys each lap till I was in what I thought was 3rd by the start of the final lap.  I passed the last two up the hill and continued on my way, about 1/2 way through that lap I was passed by on guy I had not seen up front the entire race.  I tried to keep with him as I thought at the time he was in my category, I kept pace with him till near the end and he slowly put about 2 seconds into me.  I thought I was 2nd only to find out he was a single speed, but had a rear derailleur fooling me.  So I won right? Ahh still no there was one other guy way out front that no one ever saw, he won by almost a minute over me.  Well 2nd place was not bad, it was a fun course, I did not even get cold, and I won beer from Left Hand brewery.  I did wear super high socks though only because they look so cool.  Racing at 9k' though definitely made it harder.  Phil and I took a nice little ride around Frisco afterwards with the great fall weather.  On the drive down we went from almost 50 degrees and sunny to 30 and rain/snow in Louisville, above the storm was the place to race bikes yesterday.

 

9/30 - Adrenalin CX

After a flat tire the day prior taking me out of the Saturday race I was ready for Sunday.  The race was in Highlands Ranch about an hour away, it was a good course with 4 sets of barriers, one up hill, and 2 sets that were easy enough to hop, a little sand, gravel, and lots of bumps.  I am trying to find the right air pressure again this year, last weekend I ran 40 psi and crashed a lot, sat I tried 32 and flatted, today was about 37.  There were about 25 in the CAT3 field, I started 2nd row and took it easy at the start.  I passed people for the first 2 laps without any major issues and took the lead at the end of the 2nd lap.  All I had to do was not crash and keep pulling away.  One trip up over the uphill barrier hitting my elbow on something, it was a little bloody by the end. I felt good the whole race, though I did get passed by one single speed who started 2 minutes back.  I hit the rear rim a few times on the sand pit, but never flatted.  There were a few guys right behind to keep me honest, but I managed to take the win by 7 seconds in the end.  My first CAT 3 win. Walter Zitz from Sonic Boom took 2nd in the 4s as well, it was a good day for the team.

9/29 - Primalpalooza

Not much to say here, I warmed up for two laps was ready to race, did 1/2 a lap and pinch flatted in a gravel section on a large rock.  I was going pretty fast, but ruined my race.  Tomorrow an extra set of wheel will accompany me.  Maybe tubulars some day...

9/22 - Xillinx

Xillinx was the 2nd cross race this season, the weather was great and my race was early at 9:45.  All I can say about this race was 'Crash', in the 50 mins of racing I had 3 good crashes.  I started near the front and only fell off a little at the start.  The first crash was over a log that was just high enough to catch the chain ring.  I made it over each lap but the 2nd when I took a different line to try and pass another rider, I went over the bars and down the hill.  The 2nd crash was a little higher speed down a hill on a dirt path, I just lost the path and fell off the right.  The 3rd was a simple wash out around a turn, taking down another rider with me.  I also almost fell over a berm trying to get some air for a photographer as well, I rode around a few logs off course but managed to keep it upright.  I ended up 8th over all at the end.  Maybe a little bit less air pressure next week.

9/16 - Valmont CX

It's cross season!  That means racing every weekend locally starting at the Valmont bike park last weekend.  Last season I started out with CX and loved it, did a bunch of races, moved from CAT 4 to 3.  This season the goal is to increase my skills and place in the CAT 3 races through the season.  The CX races in CO have updated the start times this year, meaning my races start at 9:45 or so, this is much better than 3 PM like last year.
Valmont is a bike park here in Boulder with tons of jumps, skills parks, and trails.  They also are setup to host CX races, 2014 will be the national champs.  It is a tough course each lap has 2 sets of stairs and 2 sand boxes.  The field was a decent size and everyone was ready for the first race of the season.  I started pretty much in the last row with no call up.  I got caught up in a crash in the first sandbox with a group of guys, when I picked up my bike I realized I was dragging someone else bike too.  The first few laps I just tried to stay out of trouble and get past the main field.  I made it to about 12th place or so by the last two laps, and passed a few more to place 9th by the end.  We were supposed to race 50 mins, but it was only 40 mins this time.  I feel I should of pushed a little harder in the middle, but its the first race I needed to get my CX pants on.

CAT 3 - 9th place

The best part of the day was the pre-jr race, we had two competitors from our family, Riley 9 and Corrie 6.  Usually the jr course is cut a little short to make it easier, but not here they did a full lap.  I rode with Corrie and helped her carry her bike through the sand, up the stairs, and over the barriers.  Riley only needed assistance from Shanon on the stairs, and ended up taking 1st for the girls.  But the 2nd place girl was hot on her tail.  Corrie did great too, and was in the middle of the pack of older kids.
Looks like the kiddos will be coming to more CX races if they know that they can race too!

9/1 - 9/3 Steamboat Springs Stage Race

I decided to do the Steamboat Springs Stage Race this year with our Sonic Boom Team.  Shanon and the kids came with to Steamboat for the first time and we stayed in a condo, brought all the bikes along for the adventure.  We got the take in some of Steamboat attractions – the Strawberry Hot Springs, the Alpine Slide, swimming in the creek, biking around town and to the Botanical Park. 

Day 1 was the Time Trial, a 12-mile, hilly, out & back course.  With the last name being Anderson, I got the honors of leading the CAT 3 race.  After the start, I felt good and was pushing over 400 watts, but found myself unable to maintain a little over 20 mph. After the first mile, I was already passed by the guy behind me and miles, 2, 3, and 4 were respectively the same so I knew then that something was majorly wrong.  I could smell the scent of burning rubber.  When I looked down, I noticed the problem: my rear wheel had slipped (at the start) in the horizontal dropouts causing the tire to rub against the frame.  The harder I pushed, the harder the tire would push against the frame so I had no choice but to stop.  I stopped on the side of road and readjusted the wheel and got back on to continue my ride.  The rest of the TT was uneventful with good climbing, but I believe I lost about five minutes on a thirty-minute race.  Walter and Andy had a good TT and were well in front of me on the GC.

time - 35:10

distance - 12 miles

place - 41st

n watts - 337

Day 2 was the Road Race, a 82-mile, scenic ride through Steamboat Springs and into the surrounding area with almost 7,000 ft. of climbing.  Walter, Andy and I road with the pack for the first 55 miles or so until a long climb towards the town of Oak Hill, but Andy fell off, Walter was not too far behind and I tried to stay with the pack with about 15-17 riders.  I made it almost to the summit, but fell off hard right near the top.  After descending and going through the town of Oak Hill it was going back to climbing again.  Right after Oak Hill and the water station, I could see Walter and a group of about 5 behind me and I was still hurting from the last climb so their group caught me.  I knew I had enough in me to stay with their group so I climb to the summit with them and we were now about 12-14 miles with one last switchback climb up.  On the last switchback climb up, the group feel apart, but I was feeling better so I climbed ahead of them and could see 3-4 guys down the road so I sat my sights on them to catch before the end of the race.  With about 2 miles left, I finally caught up with them and we took pulls for about a ½ mile or so and on my last pull and I knew I could get away from them so I gave it what I had left to finish the day and put in a considerable gap between the groups and ended up in 12^th place for the road race. Walter finished a few places back and Andy only a few minutes back.  Overall, a good day for Sonic Boom.  None of the RMRC finished before me, which was a goal of our team.

time -3:56:08

distance - 82 miles

e gain - 6434

place -12th

n watts - 278

Day 3 was the Criterion Race, .8 kilometers around for 45 minutes near downtown historic Steamboat Springs.  Andy, Walter and I just had to finish within the main group in order for Sonic Boom Team to take the Rocky Mountain Cup for the season.  The course had one uphill, a gradual downhill, but was moßsßßre or less rectangular – the pace was fast right from the start and at about 10 minutes in, I decided that it would be fun to lead for about 3 laps, but was quickly pulled back in.  Andy did the same after about 30 minutes in and he too was pulled back in.  There was one crash on a straightaway, but fortunately none of us were involved and nobody was seriously injured.  45 minutes came pretty quick and soon we were at 4 laps to go and the pace picked up even more so.  I kept trying to find a way out in front, but soon ran out of time and laps.  There was a good sprint to the finish.  Walter and I were still in the main pack and finished with the same overall time.  Confirming the Rocking Mountain Road Cat 3 Team Cup for the season.

time -0:44:38

distance - 20 miles

place - 22nd

n watts -333

GC place - 20th

Overall, a great stage race.  Good time and memories with the family as well.  We will definitely be back to visit Steamboat again this winter to ski! 

8/19 - Keenesburg RR

Due to the wild fires in northern CO this year the state RR championships were canceled and moved to this Keenesburg.  I only registered a few days before the race, it was a long one too 92 miles, I had never done a RR that long before.  The CAT 3 group was supposed to start with the 1/2's as well but we ended up having 15-20 guys so we started 5 mins after them.  Walter rode over from Louisville with me for our noon start time, it was a 4 hour race flat 4 loop course on a hot sunny day.  The race was very well run, the only issue was that it was self supported, which meant only 3 bottles for 92 miles unless I wanted to stop.  Walter an I started with the 15-20 CAT 3's, the first 3 laps were uneventful.  A few breaks which I tried on each were caught quickly.  The 4th lap I was down to half a bottle of water.  At 12 miles to go 3 of us went on a break, one guy fell off so it was Steve from Foxtrot and myself for a few miles.  We worked really hard together to put in time on the group, one more guy bridged up Chris from RMRC, he sat in for a bit till he got his breath back.  The last 8 miles or so all three of us took pulls and steadily put a gap between us and the group.  I was hurting really bad, but so were the other two.  I knew I had to go a little earlier than them to win the sprint, at 500 meters to go I took off right in the middle of my pull.  I don't think they could react or just did not expect it at 500 meters, I got the win by about 3 seconds over Chris and Steve took third.  I was beat up and thirsty that was a very tough RR, but should put me in great shape for Steamboat in two weeks.

1st place
Time - 3:38:50
92 miles
24.6 avg
268 watts

Boulder 70.3 - 8/5

Well not too much to say here, great field of pro men to race and I was all aqua-bike this day.  With the stress fracture in my right leg I was obviously not running yet, the Boulder 70.3 is in my backyard so I decided to just do the swim and bike.  I thought I might as well train through it.  Swim I was 7th out of the water, through T1 the bike started out at a blistering pace.  I thought I was going to be able to hang no problem knowing that I was not going to run anyway.  But the pace proved too much and I could not hold on to the lead group up front.  It is a little harder to set a fast bike pace when training all week and not resting for the race.  Either way I biked a 2:11 which is very good for me, I still feel like my bike is much better this year.  Now I need to get healthy and back to running again.  It was pretty depressing having everyone cheering in T2, only to walk through, get dressed, and head out again with my bike.  I rode over to a aid station on the run where I had parked before the race for an easy exit.  I handed out water to racers, watched many of the pros go through, then headed home.  A good training day.

Swim - 23:59
T1 - 1:42
Bike - 2:11:01
T2 - n/a
Run - n/a
Total - n/a

Mt Evans Hill climb - 7/21

Mt Evans is a 14er on the front range that has a bike race every year to the summit.  I did this race last year without knowing the course at all, this year I thought I had a better chance.  Shanon decided to come up and watch as well.  Cat 3's were started last so around 10:30 we were off, I stayed with the lead pack for the first 12 miles or so.  After that things began to split up, I fell off the back and rode for a long time with two other guys.  We traded turns up front and after a while we were down to just two.  Past Echo lake and summit lake the air starts to get a little thin and it is very hard to maintain a decent power output.  With about 4 miles to go a few guys that were coming down said that the race was over and turn around now.  At first I thought this was just some sort of nonsense, but with about 3 to go the park service and the race director were turning racers around.  Apparently there was lightning at the peak and at 14k' this can be quite dangerous.  So we headed down to summit lake to pick up our gear bags, the gear bags were not there so we waited a little while then started a chilly decent.  It rained and hailed a little on the way down, so though I was a little disappointed I think it was the right call by the race officials.  Maybe next year they can get off the racers all a little earlier.  I ended my day 3 miles from the summit at 2 hours so I think a 2:20 or so would have been my overall time if I had been able to finish.  Either way I finished 14th place in the CAT 3 division. 

My injury plagued 2012 season

Well I am injured yet again in this 2012 season, this time a stress fracture in my lower right leg., in the spring it was my left hip with a muscle imbalance.  Here is how I think all this happened, kind of like the leg bone is connected to the hip bone type of thing.

            So in the spring I took my youngest daughter skiing one last time at Keystone, she was 5 at the time.  She skied I snowboarded, she headed into the trees on a trail and so did I.  I was getting going a little too fast right behind her and needed to slow, but the trail was too narrow, so what do I do reach my arm out and grab a tree.  This was not the best idea and I pulled my right shoulder back real hard.  This was the initial injury that little did I know at the time was going to plague my entire season.  So my shoulder did not really hurt on a daily basis, but after a long swim it was a little sore for months.

            The shoulder injury I believe led to my running all early season a little differently.  This led to my hip muscle imbalance after running with a sore shoulder, but nothing felt incorrect at all.  Then right before Oceanside after a long run I could barley walk with my left hip hurting so badly.  I was sure something was broken, after X-rays and MRIs confirmed nothing was I started resting again.  I raced Oceanside limping through the run and then took a few weeks off from running to recover.  I have been doing hip strengthening, lower leg strengthening, and weights, all this for injury prevention and healing. 

            This hip muscle imbalance eventually subsided and I was running again.  I raced Kansas and Lubbock 70.3 without issue.  Then last week the came the stress fracture in my lower right leg after a track session Sunday and a long run Wednesday which ended with a long walk back to the car.  I have not run since and now need yet more time to heal this injury.

            So my sore shoulder led to running crooked, which led to the left hip imbalance issue, which put more stress on my right leg which finally gave in with a stress fracture.  For now I will continue to bike and swim as those don’t cause all that much pain, running is out of the question for now.  I hope I can at least race the Boulder 70.3 in a few weeks, but it may be bike racing for now.  The late season races Austin 70.3 and Branson 70.3 I still hope to be able to recover from this season.

Moral of the story here don't follow a 5 year old into the woods skiing....but I think next season I will take what I learned here and take my rest time in the fall, then build slowly in the spring even if that means not racing at full fitness come the first spring race.

Lucky Pie Crit – 7/7

My bike racing team puts on a critium race each year right here in Louisville, the entire team volunteers to run the race.  I started at 7:30am and was a race marshal until 1:30PM.  It was not hard and it was nice to see all the juniors and women racing hard all morning.  We hosted the kids ride at 12 or so and both Corrie and Riley did their age group races, they loved it.  Being able to ride the race course that we were all riding all day was super fun for them.  My race started at 3:25 with a field of about 50 or 60 guys in CAT 3.  I started in the middle of the field.  The course was very nice less than a 1k lap with a uphill and a fast downhill.  Most of the turns you could take without hitting the brakes except for the last one before the finish.  I rode hard but could tell that I was a little out of shape after spending the week in Crested Butte with the kids for the 4^th.  I stayed near the rear of the bunch until the last 3 laps and I knew I had to do something.  I made a hard pull up the hill and passed a few more on the down hill, this put me in top 10 or so on 2 to go.  But as 1 to go came around I was getting tired again and guys passed me again.  I rode hard through the finish and ended up 20^th place in the CAT 3 field.  The good thing is even though I placed back a few in the field, and did not feel that great I still managed to hold 340 average for 55 the 55 minute race.  Granted this is a ctit so the power is up and down, but a good average for sure.

Lubbock 70.3 – 6/24

In 2011 I told myself that I was not going back to race Buffalo Springs seeing as the high for the day in 2011 was 118 degrees.  We got lucky this year the temp was only going to be just over 100 degrees.  Christine, Jason, and I set off from Colorado to Lubbock with all the gear on Friday afternoon.  The journey was uneventful but nice to be able to drive to a race.  We had a nice dinner with all the Timex crew and rested up for the race on Sunday.   I was surprised at the number of male pros at this race, about 20 which seems high to me for a $15k race.  But no excuses here just race my own race and see how it goes.

            Race day water temp was 75.9 degrees of course so it was wet suit legal, in hindsight I am going to be racing any warm water race in my speedsuit from now on.  The swim start was normal and I found myself up front in the first few positions, before the first turn buoy I had already taken my swim cap off  due to the heat of the water.  I swam a little slower than I usually do but that was simply due to the fact that I did not want to overheat in the water.  I came out of the water 3^rd or 4^th I think  and headed up the hill on the bike out of T1.  The bike I feel much stronger this season than last, but this race I did not get warmed up until the 2^nd half of the bike leg.  Good thing was I did not crash on one of the technical downhill turns as I did last year.  The wind was against us at the end of the bike coming back which I felt good on.  A little wrong turn at the end of the bike was my mistake, but I still came in to T2 in the top 7 or 8.  The run was going to be hot so I started a little too easy I think, Michael passed me at about mile 2, and went on to pass every other male pro for the win.  I was not quite as fast as him that day, I was hot and just trudged through the entire run.  At the finish in 9^th place I was happy with the day seeing as the pro field was pretty strong, but did not feel all that fatigued so I and think I did not leave it all on the race course.

Swim – 22:28

T1 – 1:15

Bike – 2:19.25

T2 – 0.57

Run – 1:29.30

Total – 4:13.35

9^th Place Pro divisions

Kansas 70.3 – 6/10

After skipping Wildflower I was ready to race a ½ again and this would be the 4^th time in as many years for me attending Kansas.  The geographical location of this race seems to work well for the Boulder folks as well as mid-westerner’s.  The course is nice, warm water in a decent lake, a few hills on the bike, and a two lap usually hot and humid run.  Owen and my sister Christine loaded up the wagon and headed over from CO Friday night after work and arrived sat afternoon just in time to setup camp and get to the race meeting.  Kansas is nice because you can camp right on the run course, get up late and walk right to the start.  There were about 15 or 20 pro men and about the same on the women’s side at this race.  It is a little smaller this year as the prize money had gone down.

            Race morning it was confirmed that this was going to be a non wetsuit swim for the first time at this race, even though the water was cooler than last year.  It seems if the water temp is close to 76 they call it wet suit legal, but this year they may have done it right.  So race conditions were windy larger waves and non wetsuit swim.  This is starting to shape up to fit my racing perfect.  Race prep was easy as I had my bike and everything ready to go at camp, rode down to T2 dropped my shoes and on to the start.  I had plenty of time to get ready and get in the water for a brief warm up.  I started on the outside as usual and swam out front with two other swimmers.  By the first turn I was in 2^nd, but the leader was swimming a little faster than I was going to go.  I let him go and swam the rest on my own, nice waves and the water temp was perfect.  I think this was the one of the most enjoyable swims in a while, because I did not overheat in warm water with a wetsuit and I kind of took it easy.  It is not worth swimming super hard in order to gain a few seconds in the swim, I have started to realize.  I came out of the water in 2^nd about 30 sec behind the leader, my Zoot speedsuit came off very fast and easy.  Got it all into my gear bag and I was off on the bike.  It was into the wind to start and would continue that way throughout the entire bike it seemed like.  The wind was strong and I was feeling pretty good on the bike, got in my nutrition and water.  I rode well and came off the bike in 4^th, averaging 313 watts.  On to the run now I was feeling good but the heat was coming on strong, the winds helped a little.  I was passed by one guy early and did not see anyone else coming up behind him until mile 12 when the one other passed me.  He was holding a much faster pace and I knew it was not possible to keep up.  I still felt okay though, especially coming off this hip injury, I wore the Zoot Ultra Tempo 5.0 that have a little stability and my feet were very comfy the whole run.  I crossed the line in 6^th just out of the prize money of course.  But I still feel like I had a good race for sure.  My swim was relaxed, my bike was strong, and my run is not back 100% but coming along well.  Overall a good time was had by all, Owen took 6^th in his age group and Christine was 7^th with a 4 minute penalty.  Next race in 2 weeks, I will just try to bring up the fitness a little and rest the last week, Lubbock is sure to be hot and windy as well.

6^th overall

Swim – 25.51

T1 – 1:08

Bike – 2:15:48

T2 – 0:42

Run – 1:24:02

Total – 4:07:31

Bolder Boulder 10K - 5/28/12

The largest 10k in the world is right here in Boulder, I did this race last year for the first time since we moved from IL.  I knew it would be a running race I would continue to do each and every year on Memorial day.  I am coming off an running injury with my hip which kept me out of Wildflower and hurt my Oceanside race.  I took 4 weeks off running after Oceanside and have been running again for 4 weeks building back up slowly.  I felt ready to race on Monday even though I had a big training day on Saturday.  I got there early and was starting with the first wave of sub 38 min runners.  I was feeling a little old in this wave as 85% of the people there looked like they were under 21 years old.  Either way the race was off and again Jesus was out with the devil in a full first mile sprint.  I settled in around mid pack passing folks for the first 2 miles or so.  It is still amazing to me how quiet is it running in a pack of fast runners all wearing racing flats, everyone runs on their forefoot.  My hip and lower legs were feeling pretty good the entire race, mile 4 and 5 were a little slower, but nothing too bad.  This is not a very fast 10k with an uphill finish and a few rollers on course, I was just hoping to go a little faster than last year.  I finished about 30 sec faster then the previous year, so I was pretty happy with that time coming of an injury.  Zoot sent me a pair of Kiawe racing flats, I think this made all the difference, these new shoes were great.  Even though I like to run in stability shoes, neutral racing flats are my choice for running only races.  The Kiawe are full lace and symmetrical, a little different than most of the Zoot shoes, they felt tight and fast around corners.  Anyway the 2012 Bolder Boulder is in the books and I was happy with my time, even though it placed me 183/55000.

6^th /453 in the 33 age group

183/55000

M1 – 5:43

M2 – 5:54

M3 – 6:10

M4 – 6:04

M5 – 5:51

M6 – 5:58

Total – 36:57

Superior Morgul Omnium – 5/18-5/20

Superior is the town right next to Louisville where we live and hosts a 3 day Omnium cycling race which uses many of the same roads as the great Coors Classic bike race from the 80’s featured in the film American Flyers.  I signed up for al three races the Friday time trial, Sat criterium, and the Sun Road race along with a great showing from our team.

TT – It was really nice to prepare for this race at home and ride right over after work and race.  The race went okay I started first for the CAT 3’s and no one passed me, but the guy who won only came in 30 sec or so after me and he had started about 2 minutes back.  The course was very hilly for a TT, I think I could have used a road bike with about the same results.  I was rethinking my morning 50 min run and Wed. weight session during this race as the legs were just not all there, but I am not resting for this race and should feel better by Sunday for the RR.  I ended up 7^th in the TT, not too bad for tired legs I guess.

7^th place CAT 3

Dist – 6.3

Time - 16:12.8

MPH – 23.3

NP – n/a

Crit – I spent most of Saturday with the family and getting things done around the house, the CAT 3 start was last at 4:30.  Problem was the afternoon was cold and rainy, I road over to the race again watched the 35 + race and tried to warm up a bit for only my second crit race ever.  It was 45 degrees and started to rain harder, so I found a tent to wait out the start of our race.  Looks like the first few laps will be warm up now.  By the time we were set to start it was only raining slightly and the sun looked like it may come out, but the course was very wet still.  If you are not familiar with cycling a criterium race is a short loop usually less than a mile long that you go around and around for 60 minutes in this case.  I started near the back and my goal was only to stick with the pack and not loose too much ground in the points race.  There were many falls since the corners were pretty slick, I was soaked to the bone, and my feet were sopping wet from all the puddles we had to ride through.  The race was fast by crit standards and the course was pretty nice with an uphill finish.  I followed each sprint and when the pace slowed I picked it up quickly as I knew I needed to tire these guys out if I wanted any chance at good position in the end.  I never took any of the bell laps, but with three laps to go I found myself in the lead.  I kept out front till 2 to go then I made my move.  I just stayed on the gas all the way till the end, took the last corner much faster than I wanted to, and sprinted to the line uphill.  I could hear everyone cheering so I knew the pack was close, I just kept my head down and drove all the way in.  I got very lucky because they caught me, and it was a photo finish.  I took the win by only inches.  After the race I was pleased to see Shanon and Corrie at there very excited from the close finish, I was sure they were not coming due to the weather.  She even got some pics and a short video, but it kind of makes it look like I lost the sprint.

1^st place CAT 3

Dist – 20.18

Time – 52.01

MPH – 23.3

NP – 362

RR – The last race of the weekend was the biggest point race and the longest race, it consisted of a 4 loop course around Superior and past of the old Coors Classic routes.  I was expecting to do pretty well with a lot of climbing and another steep uphill finish.  I was 2^nd at this point in the Omnium points race and thought I could be in the running for 1^st.  The plan for this RR was to sit in for the first two laps get to know the course then push the pace on the last two laps and hopefully split up the pack for the uphill finish.  Well it did not really go that way at all.  I had some mechanical issues which caused my bike to get a violent shimmy at about 45 mph at the exact same section of road on every single lap.  I had to slow to the point of loosing the pack each lap and play catch up until the climbs started.  I was thinking about pulling out because it was very dangerous to ride my bike when it was acting like this at high speed.  But choose to stick it out, I ended up loosing a ton of energy chasing the group over the course of the whole RR.  The last lap I caught them a little quicker, and pulled out front to try and see what I could do.  I lead the last few miles before the climb to the finish started, but once on the hill I did not have much left to stop guys from coming up behind me.  I ended up 29^th in the RR, and decided that a new frame is in order here ASAP.  The shimmy situation is caused my a multitude of factors, but the main one being a perfect set of scenarios, bike fame/fork, bike size, seat height, wheel selection, riger weight, wind,  and road surface to set it off.  In this case it was the road surface that set it off, but I am not willing to take the chance again, it was a very scary situation to be in during a race.  Anyway I lost what was supposed to be a good RR and fell down in the Omnium points race, but its bike racing and these things happen.

29^th place CAT 3

Dist – 55.18

Time – 2:27:11

MPH – 22.5

NP - 309

Deer Trail RR – 5/6/12

The Deer Trail road race I opted in for after I decided to drop out of the Wildflower triathlon due to some hip issues from running.  Usually the Deer Trail race in eastern CO has terrible conditions including snow and wind in May, this year was the exception with high 60’s and low wind.  I rode over with one of my teammates who was racing the 1/2 race right before our CAT 3 start and gained a lot of knowledge from Bill Campy a veteran in the CO bike racing scene.   We had a few other guys in the CAT 3 race, so we all warmed up together for what was to be a great day.  The Deer Trail course was modified and a little shorter due to bridge construction, but the general 3 loop course was the same.  Our plan was to sit in for the first 2 loop, challenge any breaks, and the hit it hard on the 3^rd loop.  That is pretty much exactly what we did.  Eric Flatted but somehow managed to get a wheel and catch the group again.  There were a few little breaks, but nothing major.  Really the CAT 3 group was riding rather slow for a RR, I was going to try and change that in the last 6 miles.  There was one guy off the front for the last 10 miles or so at about a 2 min gap.  At the last 180 degree turn with about 6 miles to go the group was all together, I knew I could not sprint with some of these guys so I needed to break it up.  I decided we would catch the lone leader, I put in some hard efforts up each hill, let the group catch again and then hit it hard again.  I did that a bunch of times and soon the group was strung out pretty far.  We caught the leader with a mile to go, but at 1 km I was pretty toasted and about 15 guys caught me.  I was able to get Eric up to finish in 3^rd but I got caught in a bunch at the final meters and only managed 11^th place.  I am happy with the race and glad to be the one to pick up the pace at the end for my team, great result at the end of the day.

11^th place CAT 3

Dist – 49.2

Time - 2:02:39

MPH – 22.4

NP – 318

Haystack TT and TTT – 4/21/12

The Haystack TT has become an annual event for me and this year I decided to throw in the TTT as well.  I have never done a Team Time Trial before and we had a great CAT 3 team ready to go so it was a no brainier.  Haystack TT is a 16.5 mile loop in north Boulder, pretty flat except for a few rolling hills.

 The individual time trial went well, I started first for the CAT 3’s and was passed by the guy that started 20 seconds behind me at around mile 6 or so.  Apparently I was not pushing hard enough going with the wind, I let him pass but was ready to hit it hard once we turned back into the wind.  I passed him again only a few miles up the road and he looked like he was hurting already.  I cranked pretty hard all the way through the finish, but only managed to put 12 seconds into the guy behind me, so he ended up taking the win by 8 seconds.  Was a good race but I had to get ready for the TTT in 2 hours.  I ate some lunch and found my team for a little cool down warm up with them.

2^nd place CAT 3

Dist – 16.4

Time – 34:40

MPH – 28.3

NP – 344 watts

Sonic Boom had a great CAT 3 team of 5 guys Andy, Walter, Travis, Eli, and myself.  The way a TTT works is your team gets to work together (draft) and your time stops when the 3^rd guy crosses the line.  There are various ways to strategize your team, ours was to ride the big guys out front with the wind going east, then let everyone pull for short intervals and finish strong.  The squad got out and practiced a few weekdays prior to the race to ensure we knew everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. We started the race with Andy out front myself behind him and Walter, Eli, and Travis behind me.  Andy, Walter, and myself took the pulls with the wind and soon we could already see the two teams ahead of us BRC and Primal.  Once turning south everyone took hard pulls out front keeping the pace very high passing the BRC team very quickly and closing the gap on the other teams ahead of us.  Travis took a hard pull right before an uphill section and soon fell off the back, Eli hit it very hard turning back west and he too fell off the pace.  We were left with Andy, Walter, and myself for the last 5 miles or so, we gave it all we had and made it through the line in first place by over 30 seconds on the 2^nd place team.  I was done after that second time trial in one day, but it was so much fun and a great team to ride with.  We rode the race exactly as planned and could not of asked for anything more, plus we took the win, great job guys really a team effort.

1^st place CAT 3

Dist – 16.4

Time – 33:40

MPH – 28.9

NP – 332 watts

Boulder Roubaix - 4/7/12

The weekend after Oceanside was my first road race of this season as a CAT 3, I was very excited to race the Boulder Roubaix.  This race is 70% on dirt hard pack, but very bumpy which yields for some tired riders, consisting of three 18 mile loops for a 56 mile total.  There were four CAT 3 guys from my team including myself in the field and we decided to help each other out where we could.  The first two laps stay with the group and the last lap see what happened, and nail it in the final miles.  That’s pretty much exactly what we did, I found it easy to stay with the group and match any breaks that happened.  There were lots of sketchy areas with all the dirt and mass of CAT 3 guys riding together.  We lost Travis and Bart on the end of the second lap, but Darain was holding strong in the third lap.  Towards the mid part of the third and final lap I think Darain started cramping and fell slightly back.  I lead the group a little too much the last lap, but no one wanted to take any turns up front, even though I was barley pushing 250 watts.   The last few miles I really thought about just pulling away and trying to hold a gap on the group, but did not know if that was the right thing to do.  It was inevitably going to come down to a sprint, and that is not exactly my strong suit.  So at the two mile marker I started to pull away, thinking I can sprint for two miles right?  Wrong, I created a small gap that was closed at 1 km to go, I was passed by over 15 guys.  I was like no way I was just leading this whole thing, I managed to keep sprinting and get back to 11^th place across the line still within 11 sec of the leader.  Darain came in the top 20, Travis, and Bart were just a little ways back as well.  I learned that I am not the greatest sprinter that I think I may be and also that if I want to win some of these road races I either have to make my move earlier or learn to sprint.  I think a little of both for next time, but over all a very fun and tough road race, Paris Roubaix on TV Easter Sunday the next day to boot.