Mo Racin'

It's been a month of more racing since I've posted anything. The most interesting race was CSI International, racing with 70 or 90 other racers was a great experience and a lot of fun.

The first day course featured a good long stretch followed by a very steep rooty run up. I had a descent start passed a lot of guys on the run up and then did a twisty section full of roots on the top portion of Look Park. I rode this section like shit every lap. Just couldn't get it at all. The bottom section and the up and down was fine.

I started row 8 so in the 60s and made it up to 36th.

Aly had a great race, starting in the 50s and made it up to 23rd overall, passing groups of riders each lap until she was sort of in no man's land on the last lap.

The second day I felt I had an even better start and rode well, no bobbles and had a hard, fast ride. It was harder to pass for me for some reason and I was around 29th but faded to 42 by the end.

Out of the month my best race was Parma, in Rochester. I just felt I had a really good ride.

In the middle of this I had a work problem to resolve that kept me off the bike to any great degree, this of course didn't help but I'm getting back in the groove a bit better now. I've been doing weights and some spin classes too, it's harder to put in hours on the bike this time of year.

The Romp in the Swamp this year was the muddiest race I've ever done. It took three washings to get the clothes clean.

All in all it's been a busy few weeks. I'm back developing the stuff I want to get done. I'm testing my virtual if/extract engine and re-writing some of the instructions to use less assemble and use higher level c code to be more portable and to get ride of as many endian issues as I can.

Coming up we have our first weekend off from racing since about September 11. So club rides and dinner out Saturday night and Club dinner on Sunday.

In terms of racing the next race is Albion / Angry Johnny's version on the 27th. I'm planning on giving it a real go in Master 2. My plan this year is to not really take any time off, but keep riding in some form or another and continue to do yoga and weights thru the winter months.

Anyway time for a ride in the dark and then weights at the Y.

Venue will stay course will change.

So I'm currently under the impression that the Venue for Nationals will stay the same but that the course will be changed using the "upper" section of the park, details to come apparently.

I still think parking will be a bit of a nightmare and this impacts people with young families and logistics but so be it.

I suppose I should have just quietly made my complaints about the course and venue, however, the "tech guide" was published as it was and that was the course. If I had heard on the quiet that the course was what it was, I would have quietly given my opinion. Since the information was out there, I e-mailed those who have some sort of say.

What is at issue is whether or not I want to go. There are a lot of options out there all of which we have fun at, and given last year and the logistics of parking and traffic etc, meh.

No news is?

I'm not one of those people in the know or have an inside track as to information about Nationals, but given the time frame I'm not holding out much hope that any change will be made and that the venue will remain the same. We are less than a month away now so who knows. I'm likely going to give Nationals a pass if it remains the same. It doesn't make sense to pay $50 dollar premium to race on a $10 night time training course.

I'd suggest to people a boycott, but believe people should make up there own minds, but this is a sad state of affairs if this is the best we can offer the country.

I like a lot of the people we've met thru cross and always love to see people enjoying the sport and improving, working on their skills, having good days, bad days and just getting out and that is what it is all about. I'm not that good at cross, body type and aerobic capacity vs anaerobic it's not my thing. I'm better at longer road races. Certainly, that is where I had more success when in the Caribbean and certainly on the longer training rides. This all out for 45 mins doesn't suit my body type, but I love a lot of the people out there and really like the atmosphere. So I race against myself for the most part and have fun. The good thing is that technically I feel better on my bike than ever and have learned a lot.

I feel bad for a lot of people who were looking forward to Nationals. I hope it's not going to be a cluster fuck and it will likely be ok, but it's not worth 50 bucks for me and likely not worth the 950 for those traveling from other parts of the country.

In some ways I guess I should keep my mouth shut about things and I've contacted the proper channels, but nothing seems to be happening and well I don't like to keep things inside so, well there it is.

Nationals Course

Late last week the park and course for the National Cross Championships was published and the course was looking pretty suspect and even worse the park was incredibly small and a parking nightmare. We decided stop by the park and look at the course and I was in shocked to learn that start was actually a downhill section with a 14 meter drop.

I took Aly's bike and Garmin and rode around the perimeter of the park. I did a little extra on top looking to see if there was some single track down the one side which added about 100 meters to my ride around the perimeter of the park. What I rode was on kilometer around but with the extra it was about 850 meters in total.


After getting home I realized that the start was in a parking lot and you would be going over a concrete curb at the end of the parking lot, descending down along a fence line with some scrub brush through a marshy area then along a fence line beside the soccer field. Then seemingly the course goes over the soccer field several times but the course map says that riders are not to ride over the soccer field.

The far side of the park has a play ground in the middle of it and there is a turn in the middle of the lower parking lot, which means that there will be no parking down there.

With the upper parking lot having only about 40 spots and twenty being taken up with RSVP parking and course etc, it's going to once again be a logistical nightmare just to attend never mind race.

I want to be wrong about this of course that it's not going to be a nightmare but given my experience and how I'm wired I know what is going to be at issue. I passed my concerns on to the OCA and CCA but I have not heard anything. I really would like to attend but feel that I can't really attend because I know what an ordeal it will be and for me the kicker is that I know how much it cost to fly from here to Edmonton to race Nationals. How can we ask others to do the same, to spend that money travel all the way to Toronto and this is the kind of course and venue we provide?

It's embarrassing.

I think the only option is to voice your concerns to the CCA or not show up and spend your dollars. I'm trying to do both.

Hill Billie Hustle

On Sunday it was time to do the Hustle. The HillBilly hustle up in Duntroon, near Collingwood. We drove up on Saturday night and got settled in the hotel. Went to bed and then was woken up nearly once or twice an hour until 4am.

I rode to the Nordic Center from the Holiday Inn for a warm up and then got my number sorted out and rode the course. I liked the course and found it a good challenge. I tried to ride over the three logs before the sharp short hill and found it faster to run up for me.

It was quite a bit colder than it had been in some days so I struggled with how to dress but figured it out. I was a bit late to the start, but things got going and I got up near the front fairly quickly.

I was on the new Nemesis with Rhinos just glued on and found them to be great, I wasn't having any handling issues. I followed for a bit and I didn't like the lines some of the other riders were taking, so I went to the front and pushed the pace. I was out front a bit but not getting the gaps that I really wanted.

I wasn't really breathing hard but my legs were a little flat, but I was still ok. With two laps to go the Team Chch rider put in an attack and I started to pick it up to follow when he dropped his chain. I pushed a bit, but again the legs were flat and then the breakfast wasn't really agreeing with me. I had to check up for a second to burp and almost puke, and that was all it took. I tried to close and got close heading into the single track, but couldn't close it enough, so I just rode in for third. Not really happy with how I felt.

Thanks to Lesley C for cheering me on and Rose! I was worried about Phil R, as he dnf'ed and said he didn't feel well.

Aly raced after and finished third. She struggled a bit with breathing as well, not breathing hard just lungs felt raw and wheezy. My legs were flat so perhaps I over did it during the week, or I just couldn't bring it all together.

I did some tempo riding tonight and felt really good, and really came to the realization that I wasn't really picking good gears so I tried to change gears less and just try to keep spinning more and keep the flow going.

In any case we headed out as soon as we could as we had planned to look at the park where Nationals were planned.

Good week of training...

After Rochester I wanted to ride a little more and get some harder training under my belt. I decided to head down to Emery Park with the Buffalo crew and did their night of training. The great part is that I was on the bike from 5pm to 8:30 and constantly riding. It was a lot of fun and variety, what a great park to train in and tons of grass, trails, road etc.

We did some intervals, then some skills then a 40 minute race and then I did a cool down ride with Lance and John after. I was starving at the end and splurged on a burger and fries and headed back home over the boarder.

Made for a long day but it was a nice variety.

Wednesday was another decent training session followed by intervals with the usual St. Catherines crew on Thursday. I rode to Burgoyne, did the intervals and rode home with my new Light system. I bought a Light and Motion vis 360 system and so far I'm really happy with it. It recharges via USB and it's very light and has a bright front light, two small yellow lights and flashing red and white lights on the rear, all mounted on the helmet.

Then it was just a matter of getting ready for the HillBillie Hustle.

Rochester weekend

Long time no update, but might as well get at it. We were up in the air as to what races to do, as we had Rochester Saturday, Sunday and Guelph on Sunday as part of the S-Cup series.

Long story short we decided to do both races in Rochester, the first day Aly had some of the women who would be racing in the UCI race so it was a good go for her. She rode to sixth and had a decent ride.

The next day she and Chris S, had a great race changing the lead a few times, each of them having a chain drop etc. Aly finished second and had a lot of fun racing. It was that whole thing of feeling like you have been in a race.

I ended up sixth both days, not sure how I really felt but it wasn't that great. I've felt faster and better in training so a little disappointed.

The good news is that Zander had fun in his ninja costume on Saturday and was interviewed by the race announcer on Sunday. I was just finishing up riding a section of the course and they were calling us over and Zander was answering questions about his career aspirations.

On the way over to the start though on Sunday I got stung bye a bee on my finger. Dang thing flew and got trapped underneath my glove and got me. My whole hand swelled up over the next couple of days.

In any case as mentioned it was fun.

Song called cyclocross?

I was on iTunes looking for Podcasts to listen to when I came across a song called Cyclocross by Alan Stuart. I bought it and I think he got the feeling wrong. I was expecting Speed Metal. :)

Second Weekend Success

 

So it was a typical two race weekend for us. Yesterday racing at our friends from Buffalo race out at Sprauge Brook. Interesting course, some roots and some sucking false flat but some interesting off camber and hills etc.

The 45 plus race was fun, first five of us, then four, then three and then just Fuller and me. The section after the barriers was fantastic fun and great cross section. The downhill off camber and other sections were not problem but the one straightaway up hill was a little boggy and just sucked the life out of me. I was making ground until that section or sitting in comfortably. After the 45 + I decided this time to not race a second race in the 35+.

We got home after a stop at tar-ghet, and I had enough time to shower do a load of laundry get a snack and head to Burgoyne to help do the setup for Conky's Cross Revenge. On the way I bought pizza for everyone and some drinks and we started doing mad taping and pounding of stakes.

We got quite a bit done, I think such that Natron only had a few things to do in the morning.

Home to bed pack for the day, oh and somewhere in there I started stretching my tubulars. I got up early and started getting ready to go. I decided to warm up by riding to the course from home and rolled in at 9:15 and got signed in and got my numbers. I was just getting ready to pin on when Aly showed up with the tape, so I taped my numbers and did a lap or two of the course. I didnt really need to brake that much during my hot lap so I knew I already had it down after just a short warm up. Next thing I knew they were calling for the start. Tony was kind enough to give me a spot on the front row, which I happily took as I knew I was feeling good.

Horn goes and after a couple of cranks I got clipped in and started hard trying to get the lead by the first corner. One guy from Lapdogs was looking to take the corner but checked up so I stood up and powered thru about three or four corners. Chown was taping nearby and said I had a gap, just go, so I started hammering out of a lot of corners but took my time thru the little single track and then out onto the course. I really tried to go hard and got about 20 seconds on the first lap and then just tried to keep it flowing.

I admit that I lost concentration a couple of times and got a little pissed and hit it hard again around lap four.

Next thing I knew it was bell lap and I again just kept the pressure on but trying to remain comfortable. My laps were pretty consistent after my initial 7:27 first lap.

Sadly it was over pretty quick, I had hoped to get another lap, but no worries. No back pain, a couple flubs and a lot of enthusiasm for the race, I really enjoyed myself.

The next race was m2 and women. I was more nervous for Aly than my race by far. She won handily on Saturday but we knew that today would be harder.

She raced well and hard and was second master and did well. I was really impressed with Kaitlyn Dundas, she was on a bike too big for her and still raced very well and I admire her for trying cross. We have offered her use of Alys pit bike to try?

I said something stupid to Emily Batty and Adam Morka which was dumb and didn't mean how it sounded, I feel stupid.

My cousin Anna and friend Simon showed up to watch Aly's race and a co-worker of Aly's was there as well. We chatted for a bit after Aly's race and we went to the car to clean up and get changed for podiums.

The M1/Senior Mens race was last and it was super fast. Adam Morka was flying around the course and had opened a sizeable gap in just the first lap, but then flatted or rolled a tubular. So now the race for second became a race for the overall.

Peter Glassford won with Nathan chasing hard and Peter Mogg in third. It was a great race to watch with some impressive lap times.

So all in all a fun weekend of racing, with Aly and I going 1,2 in two races.

Better

Had a much better week of training, lot's of coding and lot's of work at work and some success at Sprague Brook. A nice second in the 45+. Then home then setup for Conky's Revenge. Important note though don't hit yourself with a hammer the day before a cross race, not that I will be coming out of the big ring that much tomorrow.

First race and Reflections on Cross Camp

This Sunday we memorialized 9/11 with a cyclocross race, specifically the Colden Town Cyclocross race at Colden Town Park which was part of their weekend festival. While I wasn't quite happy with my races perse, the difference in racing with my new skills honed at the Cycle-Smart camp was remarkable. I never felt uncomfortable in any corners, remounts were faster and I consistently passed guys thru the sand pit and over barriers.

The bad news was my back seized up both races such that the power transfer slowly faded over time. I finished sixth in the 45+ and third in the 35+ and rode better in the 35+ but again the back was a factor. I'm going to alter my position on the bike and possibly my saddle and see how that works.

The biggest difference and benefit from crosscamp was in Aly. She raced during my 45+ but everytime I saw her she was railing corners like I knew she could. This translated to a win by about a minute, this despite a small crash on the first lap, which put her last but she picked the field off one by one after the crash and came up with the win. Even more interesting is that the women started at the same time as the 45+ and the S4s were 30 seconds up from us so she had to pick her way thru both groups. (I also had to move up thru 25 or so S4s as well and really felt confident doing so the whole time) Aly never would have had the confidence in her bike handling to do this before, but the camp really gave both of us a lot more confidence in our skills.

If you're even semi-serious about cross or even just want to have a less painful experience during cross then you need to go to the Cycle-Smart Cyclocross camp. Actually forget it, if you're racing against us, then the camp sucks don't go, it's a waste of time and money. :)

So a big thanks to Adam Myerson and the coaches at Cycle-Smart because even though the camp was 250 each we already made up half of that with prize money and swag. I might be exaggerating a bit but still it was worth it, just for the knowledge and confidence on cornering alone!

Last kick at summer

So after camp and a few days of training the weekend came and after a late Friday night I went to bed in hopes that I would be able to get up and make the club ride on Saturday morning but no avail. I rode Saturday, but I was slow and stupid on the bike.

Got home and we decided to go tubing and have a bbq with some good friends. It was in my estimation the last good day of the summer without something else going on so we decided to take advantage.

Sunday, I considered dong the club ride but again there was lot's to do around the house so I decided to get the Armstrong service course set up. I put up hooks for wheels and put new hooks up for the bike as the other ones were bending etc.

I also patched the front of the garage floor with quickcrete and so far so good. The holes were getting big.

Aly finished the living room on Sunday and hung the clocks and pictures etc etc. The house is pretty much 100% redone from top to bottom and ready for cross season.

Specifically I have one set up tubulars to glue up, some new super sekret tubs on Ambrosio Nemesis wheelset. :)

Monday I went to yoga and really felt the effect of tubing with sore muscles but wasn't bad at the club ride tonight.

Working on a new training program etc with a new coach, so lot's to digest.
Ah well back to work at 10 pm at night of course. :)

Please stop Dave

No offence to Dave Towles but his announcing always sounds like he's introducing the next stripper on stage. It just seems wrong what he does to announce a bike race.

Tuesday night club

Last night was the usual hilly Tuesday nighter and I was feeling the left thigh bruise from my de-skewering at crosscamp. Al asked how I was and I said I was a bit tired from crosscamp, and he asks about it and Chown naturally pipes up saying it was actually a cross dressing camp and Ben didn't go because he couldn't accessorize.

The conversation went downhill from there when we were asking Ben about his racing schedule leading up to Worlds.

The ride was typical A group ride with the Juniors, since we have three very high quality junior riders in the club and they typically like to hammer the crap out of each other.

Unfortunately, some of us got dropped on the second hill out on Roland, but at least I was in good company with Rick, Al, and Dale, all of us in and around 50 worked well to at least not get gapped too much. We picked up B and C riders in droves and mostly they would sit on and then tail off if we picked up the pace at all.

I think I should have been a little more conservative at the start but I always seem to be testing myself these days.

Cycle-Smart.com Cross Camp

I wrote some entries on how the Cycle-Smart Cross Camp was for me personally, but over the weekend I had time to observe the coaches at Cycle-Smart and think about how good they are with their brand and customer service and how that mirrored what I do at my software company.

I've long extolled the virtue of providing good, fast high quality support is what helps us increase the quality of our software products and remain in business. Being accessible, providing good information in well written articles and explaining complex topics in a clear and concise manner goes a long way.

Adam Myerson clearly gets this and is accessible and provides great information in a well written manner all on the cycle-smart web site. It was interesting to hear the emotion in his voice during cross camp. It is obvious that he gives a damn about providing high quality coaching in a sport that he lives and breathes daily. That my friends is a recipe for success both from you as a client and for Cycle-Smart.

I've decided to give them a try for the next 12 weeks or so. My biggest problem is maintaining form throughout the season and I am hoping they can help me with that. I've just started the process but no idea what to expect for me. Aly is already coached by them but I decided to give it a go myself.

In any case if you're looking for coaching or a great cyclocross camp then I highly recommend the Cycle-Smart camp.

#crosscamp Stage 2

The second day of cross camp was a little more subdued at the beginning of the day as the previous day heat and riding and core technique practice took it's toll. I was a bit stiff and a little flat but ready for the day after a bagel and coffee and some snacks on site.

My bike needed some repairs yesterday afternoon and the two mechanics at the clinic quickly got rid of some creaking noises and gave some advice on what may be at issue for the other lingering creak.

The first instruction was on bunny hopping. No this wasn't us suddenly learning to hop barriers six feet apart and 45cm high, but rather the type of hopping to save tires and avoid small obstacles.

Once again the message and technique was described, demonstrated and then we practiced the different methods immediately and got some immediate feedback. From bunny hopping we went on to starts, again simple technique and a checklist of things to get ready were gone thru along with demonstration. Adam went thru some of the tradeoffs and different techniques out there and gave good solid reasons as to why he does what he does.

Then we practices starts one row at a time, then two at a time then all of us. I tried some of the different techniques and different start legs. I have more to experiment with in terms of start position, on seat vs off but the rest I have down.

The rest of the camp was lunch and course evaluation, what to look for lines, look for places to attack, rest etc etc. We did a couple of ride thrus over various sections and got lots of valueable information. In the middle of this we had a fairly good downpour, which considerably changed the course so we re-did some of the sections.

Then we had an opportunity to "graduate" and do some hot laps to see what we would forget while under pressure. Unfortunately, on an uphill my rear skewer slipped and the rear wheel shifted and immediately stopped and I went over the handlebars while going up a steep hill. I must have whacked my elbow, because I was trying to lift my bike off of me but my arm was not obeying.

Coach Al helped me get going again and I had to chase for most of the two laps which was tons of fun.

In retrospect, my cornering improved significantly, dismounts good or at least better. I supermanned one remount, but nailed the next three. I found that if just kept aiming for the right pedal I would do significantly better on the remounts.

So that was pretty much the entire camp. I was a bit disappointed that we didn't all get to throw our helmets in the air, but c'est la vie. Seriously though if you're at all serious about your cross and cross technique then you need to go to this camp.

#crosscamp Stage 1

Got up at a reasonable hour got some food and loaded up and headed to camp at The Glendale Glide in Southampton. Easy to find and lot's of parking in a field on the left side of the road and the cross course on the other side.

Lot's of drinks and snacks available all day, which was great because it was pretty humid and you needed to drink all day.

The morning session was to cover Core Technique, which was Mounting, Dismounting, Lifting and Carrying. We were placed in the Advanced group due to experience. When we first started it was a bit disconcerting how rusty I was, but Aly and I both commented that we were happy we hadn't done some of our usual summer skill because it likely would have ingrained some bad habits.

First off the instruction from Adam was very good. Specifically re-mounting was a huge difference for me. I still got it a bit wrong in some instances in the hot laps the next day but percentage wise I am a lot faster and on the pedals earlier when re-mounting.

Dismounting, again the instruction was excellent with lot little tips and discussion on leg thru etc. The format of instruction, practice, feedback and discussion was excellent and really the only way to do this type of skill training.

The dismounting drill has made me possibly re-think my pedal choice as I was un-clipping and trying to pedal un-clipped and would clip in suddenly. It wasn't that much of a big deal but it is something to think about moving forward.

I worked to ingrain some of the things I had fixed and tried to have it become second nature as soon as possible and was really happy with the progress. The morning session alone made it worth the time and money investment.

Lunch was a huge burrito and lot's of snacks and drinks left you not wanting for anything. It was good to listen to various stories and get to know some of the people. It was great to see so many women in the camp and getting instruction from guys who know what they are talking about!

The afternoon session was cornering and although I wasn't happy with my cornering on the wide sweeping right hand turn that we started with, the tight off camber went better for me. Aly was making huge strides as time went on. Re-mounting was a big difference from the start to the finish of the camp.

After the day was done we rushed back to hotel, showered changed and went for Indian food before the 7pm talk by Adam at Smith College. The Indian food was great and the talk was excellent but my ADD and lack of coffee was getting to me and I had to go get some coffee to help me thru the night.

All in all Day 1 was and excellent start.

#crosscamp prologue

Just got back from the 11th Annual Cycle-Smart Massachusetts Cyclo-Cross Camp this past weekend. It was to a combined weekend of celebrating her birthday and getting some skill coaching in.

I was sworn to secrecy on her birthday and for once managed to keep my trap shut!

Arrived in Northampton / Hadley MA at 3:30 am, unpacked the car and collapsed into bed waking up at about 8:30 am. I was looking around for a do not disturb sign but couldn't find one, so I went back to bed only to have them come in the room at about 10 am and us explaining that we got in late and we were sleeping in and didn't need any cleaning that day.

We were both starving and in need of caffeine and we somehow stumbled into Bruegger's Bagel in Hadley, MA. I had a life giving Smoked Salmon and Aly had a PB and J with some coffee and we sat outside. This became our morning routine over the course of the camp, although not at the same location.

After, that we decided to go for a ride and we decided go for a spin for a couple of hours. We didn't know the area so we went on the Norwottuck Rail Trail which was right behind our hotel and went back an forth on the trail a couple of times and got the cobwebs out.

Then we got some lunch, did some shopping, back to the hotel and went out for dinner and went to the camp registration which was at a coffee place, but he had just closed and cleaned the espresso machine so no joy on some espresso.

We signed up, headed back to hotel and got stuff ready for the morning.

New Cyclocross Bike

So it's been awhile and despite risking getting "cut" from the Niagara Crossers Cyclocross team by Chown,(because of his disdain for blogs), I figured I should document more of what I do for cross this year, if only for review of what works and what doesn't and to help stay motivated.

The big news I that I got rid of the Ridley, it is a great bike but it was a little too big for me and I never really got comfortable on the thing. The Kona is different, comfy from the first ride and that was with Chowns components and setup. I have it built up with how I like it. The bike is ridiculously light and while that wasn't the goal it just worked out that way.

I retired the Cannondale road bike and had this great BB30 Cannondale Hollowgram crankset, so that was a no brainer. Chown had some Record shifters which I bought for the Ridley. With the Centaur front and rear derailleur and Campy cockpit on both bikes, I can rock out on either bike.

This weekend we are going to the Cycle-Smart camp in MA, and we are looking forward to it. Just a skill refresher and a chance to learn some new things and since I don't really take vacations, sort of a change of pace for me.

We will report on the camp either during or when we get back!