Pick your Picketts Poster...

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Mountain Bike Races...

in Oregon, and on the side of Mt Hood in April are hard. That said, there isn't much else I would have rather done with my day. There has been a lot of complaining about the conditions, but you know what, we were out racing mt bikes in the sun, the snow, the mud, the woods and it was a blast. It's pretty much what I expected, a lot of suffering, but a lot of fun. Maybe I am a little twisted in this way, but don't you have to be to enjoy bike racing, aren't we all a little addicted to the pain? Yes, there was a lot of snow, and we were all off our bikes a lot and running / pushing, but that's what racing is about...the unexpected.

I don't know how I finished exactly, I haven't seen results, but I know I went hard. I started a little fast perhaps, was riding well, enjoying the race for sure. I had a really good crash on the start loop. Mike was right behind me and got to see me come flying out of a rut and go straight over the handlebars into the bushes...I got right up and kept going (sans water bottle which I didn't realize till later). After climbing up the powerlines I was feeling like I blew up a little bit and ate some gels... I definitely felt like I lost some ground mid-race, but climbing out of the big descent somewhere in the middle of the race I started to move up a little bit again, passed a few folks and just kept pushing. The last bit of the race was pure suffering...huge climbs, muddy /slick roots, rocks, snow...I got a little cramping going (definitely the lack of hydration at this point was hurting), but spun through it and caught a few more folks, got into some traffic from the cat II racers, and finished with a last push. 30+ miles of trails and back roads, all good stuff snow or not.

It was good to see lots of familiar faces and to be back on the mt bike. Gonna have to do it again this weekend. It's been snowing in town since last night, snowed on and off most of today. I rode in the garage tonight, but I have been taking it easy. The legs have been slow to come around. I realize I need some more mileage to be stronger at the end of a 30 mile mt bike race. I was way more drained than after a 3 day stage race. Hopefully the weather cooperates for a longer outdoor ride tomorrow...

Went and saw Slumdog Millionaire tonight (I know I am a little late on this)...Awesome!

Mt Biking in Bend

It's really feeling like spring now, lots of trees starting to bloom and MOUNTAIN BIKING! It's been so rad to be able to go after school, and not have to drive to a trailhead. Did a 3 hour ride Mon around Phil's trail, short ride Tues, and COD on Wed. Barely touched the road bike this week. Here's a shot a Jesse got out at COD.

Methow River Poems

On a climbing trip in the North Cascades a few years back I came across a plaque on top of Washington's Pass (pictured). The plaque was at an amazingly beautiful spot and tucked into a little lookout a short hike from the road. On this plaque is a poem (A valley Like This) by William Stafford. I hadn't heard of Stafford or read any of his poems up until that point. (I would read a lot more later, both on my own and at Lewis and Clark where he had been a professor and his son now teaches...click the picture for bio). It was a great introduction to say the least, and the poem fit the scene so well. It turns out there is a story as to how the poem got there. In fact there are 7 poems all "published" on plaques in northern Washington (I've linked to each below). The story makes it seem like the rangers were supposed to be writing plaques that gave a little history or geography of the area, but they wanted to do something different and got in touch with Stafford who wrote poems instead. They were some of the last poems he wrote before his death and weren't published in a book till after his death. I have "A Valley Like This" hanging by my desk and I read it often. I thought today was a good day to share these poems. I really like them all and go back to them often, they each are important to me in different ways, but today when I read I thought I would share.

A Valley Like This

Sometimes you look at an empty valley like this,
and suddenly the air is filled with snow.
That is the way the whole world happened -
there was nothing, and then...

But maybe sometimes you will look out and even
the mountains are gone, the world become nothing
again. What can a person do to help
bring back the world?

We have to watch and then look at each other.
Together we hold it close and carefully
save it, like a bubble that can disappear
if we don't watch out.

Please think about this as you go on. Breathe on the world.
Hold out your hands to it. When mornings and evenings
roll along watch how they open and close, how they
invite you to the long party your life is.

-William Stafford

- Time for Serenity, Anyone? --where the Methow River meets the Columbia
- From the Wild People --between the towns of Methow and Carlton
- Ask Me --north of the ranger station in Winthrop
- Is This Feeling About the West Real? --also north of the ranger station in Winthrop
- Where We Are --near the suspension footbridge, south of Mazama
- Silver Star --in front of Silver Star mountain
- A Valley Like This --at the scenic overlook in Washington's pass.

If you enjoy these poems, they are published in a book titled Even in Quiet Places. . Lots of poems can be found online too, a bunch more poems here.

Eugene Roubaix

I came away with a win and some serious tan lines. Sunshine, beautiful scenery, and a good dose of gravel. This is one of my favorite races, I felt relaxed going in, just knowing that it was a fun race. I kept thinking when I was done that it was surprising I pulled off a win...Going into that final gravel stretch I wasn't sure at all that I would have a good finish. I had spent most of the race being fairly aggressive about position, but it had sort of fallen apart as people made moves on the gravel. I had been towards the front most of the race without doing too much work. It was a 4/5 field so whenever I found myself more mid pack I noticed the riding was a little more squirrely than I liked and worked my way back towards the front. The race itself was fairly uneventful. There were a few crashes, mostly rookie moves. We went at a reasonable pace most of the time, and even though we pushed it on the hill during the second lap, we never bothered to work the small gap we had created. Going into the gravel on the final lap people were getting anxious. I rode aggressively and made sure to maintain a good position going in. Once we got going though, people started going wide around me on the left and filling in (it was supposed to be centerline rule still, but there was no centerline). I did my best to keep in a good spot and was sitting at the back of about 10 riders as we neared the end of the gravel. I worked over to the right just before we were given both lanes. I saw a lane up the right side of the road past the group of ten and just took a hard pull. My plan was just to get into better position, however once I pulled through I had a little gap and saw the 200m sign, I decided to sprint from there, not sure if it would hold. I put my head down and pushed as hard as I could. I didn't dare look back. It worked. I pulled through the finish a bike length or two ahead of 2nd place. By my calculations enough points for an upgrade...Don put it well, it's been like groundhog day for me...the past couple road seasons I do a few races, do well, and then leave for the summer...not quite getting enough points, then I start all over the next road season, and the story repeats. It seems like most races I see friends or old teammates and they are all asking why I am not racing 3's and I go through the same story. So I made it a point this spring to do some more road racing. It's been good, and I feel like I have some of the best fitness I have had going into mt bike season.

I don't know if I'll do much more road racing this spring. It looks like the mt bike schedule is pretty full and we leave for Thailand right after school gets out.

Looking forward to riding some dirt. Bear springs this weekend. It's supposed to be in the 80's for the next couple days, then snow towards the end of the week. Lovely.

Focusing

I was doing intervals the other day when I noticed something. I noticed that when I was deep in the suffering, I was completely and utterly focused. The only thing I was able to concentrate on was the ache in my legs. I was on the trainer so music was on, but I could only seem to hear my breathing. As the ache in my legs grew and the pain crept in so to did my focus. The more I suffered, the more I was able to focus in on the ache and concentrate on keeping my legs turning over. Bit by bit, the time slipped away unnoticed and before long the digital chime of my watch had interrupted my concentration to announce that time was up. I couldn't really remember the previous minutes, time had passed, but I was unsure of what had been going on around me, just the focus and concentration of what needed to be done. It was a mental game I had played with myself. I shut down the voice that said, this hurts and instead focused in on the pain and tried to know it, understand it. I realize I was on the trainer and was able to simply put my head down and push...I didn't have to worry about the road, other cyclists, cars, gravel, potholes. Certainly, this helped the focus, but I know it's there when I race, and when I train hard. The focus, the mental games are present in other things I do and enjoy...kayaking, definitely climbing, running. I have always enjoyed the times when I can focus so completely on the task in front of me that everything else seems a blur. Cycling reminds me of this almost daily.

Cycling is very much a mental game. This is one of the many things I find so enthralling about this beautiful sport. There are a lot of factors that go into being a successful racer, but I think that the mental games we play with ourselves, the voice inside our head that can tell us enough or tell us keep pushing is the most important tool we have. This is true for racing, but it's equally important when training. In fact, I would venture to say it's more important when training. Training isn't very glamorous, it doesn't have the excitement of a race, it's the day to day work of turning the pedals over, the 9 to 5, the foundation that is laid and unseen. On each ride when the voice comes creeping in, when the legs begin to ache it's the conversation we have with that voice that seems to matter the most.

'So what' says the blinking cursor. Well, it's these moments, the focus and the inner monologue that make cycling so important to me. I am able to let worries, stress, doubt, and daily life fall by the wayside, if only for the moment and let the focus take over. I have to.

Spring in Bend

The commute home today...Guess I am gonna hit the garage for some intervals. Solid.

Thailand...

We've been watching the news from Thailand pretty closely. Things have settled down, but not much was solved. Still looking forward to our trip. We don't arrive in country till mid June, so we'll keep watching.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/

Just like cyclocross, RAD

...and quite possibly my favorite movie of all time. When we were kids we built a "hell track" in our back yard and timed ourselves racing around the house on our BMX bikes. I guess not much has changed...Derek, wanna race?

Photoshop

Not one of my typical posts, but I was trying out some cool stuff with photoshop, and was happy with how it came out...took these panoramas and modified them. One is a wheat field in Oregon, One of Boston, the other Bangkok skyline...

The originals.

modifications.(click to enlarge)

Catching up & Cobbles

Just hung around town this weekend. Housework, a bit of riding, playing with Phife. That was what's up. It was good not to leave town.

Was thinking about this...Boonen...Really thought it would be Hincapie's year.

Stage Races Are Fun

Damn I am still sore today, but that was a blast. 3 days and 4 races. Drove over thurs night in an absolute blizzard, hail, snow, wind...The racing weather couldn't have been better though. Not sure if I remember all the details, but what I will say is that it was by far some of the prettiest scenery of any race I have done. Screaming down from Rowena (pictured left) sunday on the historic highway was a blast. I was in the lead group so there were only 10 or 12 of us descending and I went to the front to have some room...what a blast. The descent definitely made the climb worth it.

Here's how it played out...
The first day was a windy one, that's what I remember. The back of the course we had a tailwind, but that first lap saw us just riding in a big pack without picking up the pace too much. The climbs were a crawl...there was a solid headwind and nobody was willing to go to the front and do any work...which was fine with me, I sat in and enjoyed the easy pace, staying close to the front, but never on the front. At the start of lap two a break of two team Oregon riders went off and it took the group a few minutes to respond, but we gave chase and a small gap formed...we were moving along with a tailwind, strung out in a single paceline...maybe 7 or 8 of us. We absorbed the two team Oregon guys and there was an attack again, I went. With maybe 5 or 6 of us I figured we might have a chance to make it stick...then we hit the wind...nobody wanted to be on front and work at this point. We played a few games, moving back and forth, but eventually we slowed down enough and the main field chasing us caught back up going into the final climbs...It was a group sprint to the finish so I made sure to stay out of trouble and not lose any time. I finished 9th with the same time as the leaders...I think 35 of 80 made the front group.

Sat morning of the time trial I was nervous...I had driven the course and knew that the first 4 miles would be tough (ever so slightly up hill) and that I would have to go hard and stay aero. (Chad hooked me up with some aero bars and a helemt which if nothing else made me feel faster). My plan was simple...Go fast, but not too fast, try and catch the guy in front of me, and don't let the guy behind me catch up...In hindsight I guess I could have gone a little harder on the way up, and there were a few spots where I should have pushed instead of shifting, but I noticed at the turn around that I had gained maybe 10 seconds on the guy that started in front of me, and that they guy behind was slipping back...I went hard on the way down and came across with a 21.00 even and a 17th on the day to move to 13th in the GC and 1min 22 back from the lead...I wanted to stay in the top 10, but I was only a few seconds off that so I was happy with the result.

The crit was uneventful, my plan was to stay in the group where I could see if any breaks formed, otherwise, just sit in. Besides one crash on the final lap that only involved one rider clipping their pedal on a corner, things went as expected. A few riders launched off for primes, but the group stayed together and I sat in for most of the race and never put out much effort. I watched to see if any breaks formed, and did one pull on the last lap to get towards the front for the sprint...another group finish and no time splits, I sat in for 25th place and no change in my time or GC placing.


Stage 4. Here's what I know. Going into the last day I wasn't really sure how the GC would change. The top 10 were a bunch of strong riders and I figured they wouldn't let a break get away, but I knew that some of them were not climbers and we would need to get away from them there. My goal was to find a way to break the top 10. The final stage was a 28 mile loop that we would do twice with two significant climbs and two good descents. (see the profile). I felt pretty rested and ready to go with whatever happened. I was 1 min 22 down so I knew I needed to get into something if I was going to make up any ground at all. I only hoped we left out some of the top ten if a break went. We started out slow, but the first climbing started only a couple miles in...and didn't let up till about mile 7. The field blew up right away when we hit the climb and I jumped into the front group that seemed to be splitting up. Before I knew it the follow car had slotted in behind us and we were gaining a big gap. I had my heart rate monitor on and was pushing 185 (awfully close to my max) we went over the top with about 12 riders and immediately got together to pull away. We worked to stay away (I heard we built up a 6 min lead on the field at one pt). We knew if we stayed away from the group going into the climb the 2nd lap we would be in good shape. We all looked around and realized that some of the key riders were not in the break. We had a few folks hanging on the back that were not working, but a little pushing it and we worked our group down to 9 of us who were all committed to working and making it stick. We worked a paceline and pushed the speed where we could. The pace picked up on the second lap and our front group splintered a little. When we hit the big climb I ended up chasing what became the front 6 with two others. Our chase group of three, went over the hill on the second lap about 30 seconds from the front 6 and we pushed it to catch up. Somewhere during the second climb out of Moiser our group turned to two and we did what we could to work together as we started passing cat 3 riders. We looked at each other with 1k to go and sprinted to the finish. A sweet day. I ended up 8th on the day and jumped to 8th on the GC breaking the top 10. I was really happy with the result. We had finished some 8 min in front of the previous race leader and some 10-15 min on most of the group.

A great weekend overall. It was cool to play the game of stage racing, which was new to me. Figuring out time splits, saving energy where I could, and going hard when needed. There were a lot of bike racers in the Dalles area and it was cool to see the communities come out in support of all the racers. Bend definitely represented with a pile of riders and some strong showings. Serena took charge and killed it in the time trial, building up a good lead going into the final day and hanging onto it to take the win in the cat 4 womens field. Solid!

Mostly it was just a blast to race bikes in some beautiful scenery, beautiful weather, and with a great group of folks.

Put it on your calendar for next year. An awesome race!
Check out the stage profiles and maps here.

Lots of photos here

I like this photo

Particularly because of how absurd the banner is hanging downtown the dalles... You can click it to see the larger version.

And here are some others I have found on the internets that give you a good idea of how nice the stages were... There will be more coming I am sure.

Cherry Blossom Classic Photos / Video

Photos here. I'll write up something in the next couple days.

Some video of the cat 4 womens crit start:

Images...

Are always very powerful to me...this one in particular (by Chris Milliman...really take some time to check out this guys work...stellar!) makes me want cross season to be here NOW...It's also the cover of the latest Embrocation Cycling Journal. It's reminds me of a model train set, but it's cross...now I could get into setting that up in my basement.