So, I originally started writing a post about this back in October, but never finished it… In it, I stated that I was considering combining two things I like, Japan, and ‘Cross into one absurd trip in November. See, the story would start with me hopping on a plane immediately after racing SSCXWC, and heading to Japan to do the Nobeyama CX Race. Then I’d bum around for a week and follow it up with another race in Saitama. When I wrote the post, I wasn’t even sure I was going to do it, but said that I was toying with the idea of bringing my bike on vacation and shattering the myth once and for all that all Americans who race ‘cross in Japan are badass and fast.
Well, I did it. I think I accomplished that mission. But that story will have to wait a little while. In the meantime, I’m back now and “racing” here. Since the last “Season So Far” report, I raced a few times! Long-winded reports for those races are coming, but the high notes were…
Surf City #1, the Halloween Race, at Aptos High School – Bike change 2 minutes before the start, lined up in the front row, climbed 200ft per lap, did pretty well!
Stafford Lake CX in Novato – Missed my start by 10-15 seconds and rode my way into the field. Still finished mid-pack. Rolled a tubie in the pre-ride and my index finger is still jacked up from the resulting crash.
BASP Sierra Point Night Race in Brisbane – Best Sierra Point course yet due to rain the day before. Rode a decent race too, but crashed and lost a few positions.
SSCXWC in Golden Gate Park… No wait, I got sick the day of the qualifier. Damn.
(Pictured: Not Me… But I’m sure a little hypothermia would have helped me get over that sickness before hopping on the plane to Japan!)
Okay, I’ve been slacking off. So before things get too out of control, I present to you my race reports for the early season. Too long, didn’t read? Have a look at the photos instead!
CCCX #1 – Fort Ord, Monterey, CA. Men’s B.
The first CCCX race is traditionally the first race on the Norcal calendar, and a great place to give the bike and the legs a shakedown for the season to come. Or, to put less of a brave face on it, it’s where I go to get the first-race debacle out of the way. You see, Fort Ord and I have a history. In 2009 I went ass-over-teakettle on one of the venue’s loose descents, then flatted immediately after the pit on my second lap. First race DNF. In 2010, I managed to bang my knee up bad enough the weekend before by slipping and falling in a train station, and wasn’t even able to show up. And that brings me to 2011… My first race of my second complete season as a B. I carpooled down with Eric at the wheel and the CX Magazine Cheap Bike (“Zeke”) on the roof, hoping for the best … But already signs of trouble were appearing when I “Joey’d” a barrier on my pre-ride, knocking the front wheel out of true and sending me scrambling to get it straight enough to not rub Zeke’s V-brake pads. A friendly mechanic sorted me out before the start and I lined up.
Right from the get-go, there was a 2-minute climb that brought me to redline and had me wishing for a slightly lower gear than the 1×9 setup on the Zeke, but not getting totally dropped. So far, so good. At the top of the hill, the course turned into a mostly singletrack descent, punctuated with a few loose sections (including my old nemesis from 2009, which my skills were better-developed to handle now). My teammate Ted had edged ahead of me on the climb (nice work!), and I settled in behind for the descent. I didn’t go around because I figured that with 29er tires and hydraulic brakes he’d be able to descend faster than I wanted. This wasn’t actually the case though. I should have asked for a point-by, or just gone for it. In any case, the race was young so it wasn’t much of a problem. It turned out that Ted and I would be battling the whole time, but due to circumstances I hadn’t foreseen.
The second half of the course contained a stretch of paved road with a U-turn at the end to form an out-and-back. I had worked my way back up and into sight of the front, when the pack came into the U-turn. Three wide. I was on the outside. A note for future reference: you know you’re in trouble when you hear the apology before the crash. And the crash came: I was pushed off my bike and into the pavement by a rider in red. I didn’t even see who it was (though I did see plenty of red after that).
The good news is that it had happened in the slowest part of the pavement, and that I wasn’t seriously hurt. The bad news is, I had just lost several positions, my bars and left lever were tweaked to the side, and getting crashed out in the first lap tends to take the spring out of your step. In any case, I hopped back on and banged the shifter back into place, but not the bars, and tried to get back into the race. And I was making pretty good time too, until a few (!) chain drop incidents dropped my position accordingly. Zeke’s 3rd Eye chain keeper was useless every time the chain dropped on the inside. I lost more time to this than to the crash, from what I can tell. At least having to stop to put the chain back on gave me a chance to straighten the handlebars!
In the end, I came through in a respectable 12th place, having neither had a successful race, or an utter debacle. And I tried to outspent a guy in red on the finishing straight, for justice! But I failed. And it wasn’t actually the one who crashed me out. Turns out, it was a friend of mine who did it, and all was forgiven when he handed me a beer by the finish. I came in 12th out of 19 riders, 4′:00″ behind the winner.
CrossVegas – Las Vegas, NV. Wheelers and Dealers Race
Sin City. Interbike. CrossVegas… The industry race. My second time. I don’t have a UCI license, nor am I “elite” in any sense of the word, so I did the industry race as a representative of Sheila Moon Athletic Apparel. The events leading up to the race itself were easily more colorful and had more of an impact on my result than anything I did on course, but that would fill up an entire post on its own. Suffice to say, with 23 rows of starters and going from the very back of 150-ish riders, it was utter insanity. My only goals were to go as hard as I could (which I did, results be damned), and not be lapped by Jon Cariveau.
Starting from the back is never great for success, but it barely mattered in this case. I was so compromised, and the first lap included an oval circuit to string the field out, and the course was so wide (UCI-legal, yo) that I wasn’t really caught behind anybody at the start. I rode hard, moved up some, and settled in for the race. The course was actually more technical than usual, given that there had been a few days of once-in-a-lifetime rain in Vegas to soften up the ground and even create the tiniest bit of mud underneath the legendary “Velcro-grass” of the Desert Breeze soccer complex. And so it went…
Success! I came in 105th, which means I passed 61 people. I suppose that means I did better last year, but you know, extenuating circumstances definitely had an impact on my race-readiness. I took a cooldown lap or two, wherein I tried to ride up the stairs, and got passed by multiple world- and national-champions doing their course inspection. Only in Vegas… Maybe the rest of the story will be told in another post…
Video Feature! It’s not about me at all, but if you have a spare 42 minutes, check out this awesome video feature by Sporza featuring Bart Wellens and Rob Peeters. It’s awesome, really. And will take you less time than to read this post.
And Then I Got Sick for like two weeks.
After Vegas, I promptly displayed signs of “Interbike Plague”, which put me in the hole for about two weeks or more. Screw that place. Again, My Vegas Strategy needs definite work in 2012. Coming back on Saturday after Interbike means I missed the Folsom race, and my sickness kept me from racing the weekend after at CCCX. It’s okay though, I thought, I’m pre-registered for the Lion of Fairfax! That’s a fun race, even though I have no shortage of “history” with it (last year: My love-hate relationship with my tubulars began when I flatted one on the bumpy, rooty section of the course. Whoops).
Intermission: In which I endure ridicule for being a roadie.
Levi’s GranFondo – Full Route + Willow Creek “Gravel” Option.
Wait, what? This isn’t a CX race… On the eve of the Lion of Fairfax, I got the opportunity to ride Levi’s GranFondo in Santa Rosa. After feeling like a sad sack for the prior two weeks, this sounded like an excellent idea even as it opened me up to condemnation from all my dirt-loving friends. Whatever. It was awesome, and I even met some of my internet friends like The Noodleator. She wrote up the actual event far better than I’ll ever be able to do, so check it that link if you’re interested!
In any case, I wanted to do more races this year than the last two years… But I started thinking about it, and realized that there’s more to life, even during CX season, than racing every weekend. Balance! In any case, I’d race ‘cross the next weekend, right?
Intermission Part 2: Medocino Fat Tire Festival
Jughandle Juggernaut XC Race – Caspar, CA. Men’s Super Sport.
No, it turns out I wouldn’t. Instead of going to Sacramento and/or CCCX the next weekend, I drove up to Mendocino to join about fifteen of my friends and teammates for the Mendocino Coast Fat Tire Festival. We rented a house, hung out, did awesome XC race on Saturday, and awesome fun-ride on Sunday. Due to a mix-up at the bike shop, I didn’t have Mr. Moots for the weekend, but rather a Santa Cruz Blur TRc. What an interesting bike that was… In any case, it kept me out of trouble and let me get at least 50% more rad over that weekend.
I also rode the prototype of Ibis’ new big-wheeled machine:
CCCX #4 – Manzanita Park, Prunedale CA. Men’s B.
Okay, we’re back. Back to ‘cross. I had given back Zeke the Wednesday before, so I had to get my Cannondale back into racing shape. I swapped the big ring to a Salsa 46t, and installed the other half of my Poor-Man’s Mini-V setup in preparation. Because, you know, the best time to do mechanical work on a bike is the day before a race.
CCCX at Manzanita Park. The course was the so-called “reverse” configuration (running the opposite direction of the week before, and the time I raced there in 2010). The advantage of the reverse direction was the elimination of the paved climb, which absolutely killed me the year before. This course was super fun! There was only one runup, with a barrier at the top, a shallow sandy climb, a couple of cool sections through the trees, some loose singletrack turns, and more 180-degree turns on baseball fields than I could count. And the conditions were “good”, meaning dry and loose, much different than last year’s epic slog.
There were definitely nerves at the start, since it was a flat dirt approach to a corner, and nobody wanted to go down there. I went out decently fast, but not fast enough to be in the front group, and just kept my pace through the whole race. I definitely got bottlenecked in the first narrow section, and it took a while to work my way up. Yells of encouragement from my friends told me that I was near the top ten, so I kept drilling it, eventually even catching up with and passing Jason, who had been hanging out at the front of the race at the start (and had placed 6th the week before, as well as at Lion of Fairfax). I got a lot of encouragement from friends on the sidelines, including Chris Matthews, who told me to “pass those three guys!”. People should tell me that more often, because I did. I eventually ended up working with Mike, the winner of the singlespeed race. We were fairly close in speed, at least in the sections where I couldn’t cheat with gears, so neither of us was really dropping each other. Later on, he told me that I was keeping his pace up by being there… Glad to help!
At the finish, I found out I was actually 13th, out of 32, at 2’36″ back from the winner. Top-10 would have to wait for another day.
Rookie cyclocross racerRand Miller also came in 4th in the Elite race, only 1’07″ back from Andy Jaques-Maynes (who was taking it easy after winning the 24 hours of Moab the week before. Slacker).
Later that week, I’d attend a clinic with rockstar Joachim Parbo…
He knows what’s up.
CCCX #5 – Toro Park, Salinas CA. Men’s B.
Double-race weekends. I don’t do them very often. It’s usually more driving than I want to do, plus I am a lazy bastard. And finally, this race was the day before the “big race”, so there was of course the temptation to save myself for the next day and concentrate on the Super-Prestigious race to come. Well, with BASP no longer being a points series, I decided that they aren’t any more of a priority to me than any other race. To prove it, I showed up to race in Salinas.
I arrived within minutes of Sasha and Marko, forming a three-pronged Moonie Attack on the lightly-attended field. It turns out that lots of people were saving themselves for BASP, because there were only 15 starters in the open B field. The 35+ B’s raced at the same time, so we were all going simultaneously. The course was pretty simple: A shallow paved climb that quickly turned sharp (very sharp, 15-20%), then veered off into haul-ass singletrack for about half the lap. Braap! Things were going pear-shaped from the start though, as I did not have the legs to keep up with the “kids” in my race. Sitting, standing, pushing my granny gear or not, I just wasn’t going hard enough to keep a good position in the first lap up the hill and settled into mid-pack. As the race wore on, I kept moving up, picking people off in the turnarounds, or over the barriers. As were approached the end, the front group was long since out of reach, and I was battling in a group of three or four.
I made sure to get in front across the finish line coming into the bell lap and gave a good effort up the steep climb, but as soon as my nemesis on the carbon Scott MTB came alongside for the 5th time, I just pulled the plug and settled in behind, figuring that I’d make my move in the latter half of the course. See, using energy up the climb was a tactically smart move, because the long descent provided ample recovery time, but I just didn’t have the legs to stay ahead of him (or couldn’t hurt myself enough to do it). So I waited. Down the singletrack, and into the right-hander through a gully that started us back on the gradual climb to the start (and contained the paved U-turns, the dirt U-turns, and the barriers). I don’t even remember where I made my move, but it wasn’t that hard to do considering he was slower than me on this half of the lap even without any turns. After that I just drilled it without looking back, and was able to stay ahead across the finish line.
I’m not sure who came in 6th, but I found out after the finish that I had come in 5th! My first podium since upgrading to the B’s… And the first time I brought home the berries. Definitely an awesome accomplishment for me, even with the lightly-attended field.
I was 5th out of 12 riders, 2’47″ behind the winner (John Elliot from The Team, who had a healthy 1’32″ gap on second place).
Sasha blew through his field and most of the open B field (including me) to win his first race. Nice work!
BASP #1 – Candlestick Point. San Francisco, CA – Men’s B.
Fresh off of my first B podium, I came to Candlestick Point for the first race in the “big show” of Norcal cyclocross – The Bay Area Superprestige series (aka BACX). The course was hot, dusty, loose and bumpy, and set a record for the amount of broken glass at a venue. The character of the course was somewhat like Sierra Point Squared: Mostly flat, but the course made you go up and down whatever hills there were as many times as possible. There was a single barrier at the top of an otherwise-ridable riser, as well as a double-set with a bumpy flat approach. There was a “sunup” on the course that was completely ridable, if somebody wasn’t screwing up in front of you. There was also the first appearance of the flyover, which was fun for racers and spectators alike, and a few really flat-to-downhill sections before the finish that were great places to catch people napping.
From the gun, Jason jumped out in front (capitalizing on a good self-selected start position… Mental note, hang out with Jason before the race) and I did my best to stay with the front as the race got strung out. As soon as the bottlenecks came (maybe the second corner) I was off my bike and running on the inside to gain positions. I don’t know if it cost me or won me positions, but by the time I reached the (ridable) runup, aka Heckler Hill, I was in 32nd place (according to Jenny’s video evidence, thanks Jenny!) and 30 seconds down during the first lap. After that, I was moving up again, and basically riding my own race… There wasn’t much going on tactically with me, unlike the day before. I was picking up positions though, up to and including the last corner where I passed a Fremont Bank guy who was approaching the final turn too slowly. The joke was on me though, as he grabbed on my wheel and easily came around me in a sprint for 18th. I guess he races road, with that kind of smart thinking.
Best video of the event, for sure!
19th out of 81 racers (or more, depending if you trust the results sheet or BikeReg). I don’t know the time gap because BASP doesn’t give them, but I’ve Strava-estimated myself to be about 2.5 minutes back from a podium spot. Not the top spot, though…
Coming Soon!
Tomorrow, I’ll race Surf City Cyclocross’s Halloween race at Aptos High School… After that, there’s one more weekend of racing (Possibly Sac CX in Folsom on Saturday, followed by Stafford Lake CX on Sunday) before the Sierra Point BASP Night Race… And then onward to SSCXWC and beyond. The season is still young, and I’m hoping to keep it up!
The 2011 Edition of the Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championships has been announced! San Francisco, November 18-20, 2011. Have a look at the Facebook page for it right here! What does that have to do with me? Well, take a look at the mascot… Looks like something I’d draw, right?
I’m like a proud papa. The scoop on the event is all on the newly launched website at…
So go check it out, and come on out and join the party. It’s a full three days of radness from November 18th-20th, 2011!
Of course, my history with SSCXWC dates back to 2008, where I signed on to an epic road trip in search of adventure. I wasn’t racing, but I went to the qualifier, the parties, and supported Jason in his quixotic campaign of racing singlespeed cyclocross on a Surly Big Dummy…
Possibly the luckiest shot I ever got of a bike race… Of course, riding in the Pacific Northwest takes its toll on us Bay Area types… I’ve included the comments section from that photo, because really, they nailed it.
In any case, I knew I had to come back and race it next year, and the 2009 SSCXWC was indeed madness… Racing in Portland is something else, that’s for sure.
I don’t remember much, and neither did my camera, having been thoroughly busticated from water damage incurred on the “Social Ride” the day before. That ride was also one of my most miserable days on the bike, ever. And yet I still speak fondly of it!
My camera took photos like this after the social ride. That just about sums up the water damage that both of us incurred.
We tried and failed to win the hosting rights for 2010, which went to those sneaky Seattle types, but San Francisco was able to finally secure it for 2011, and that brings us to now. It’s going to be madness. Will you be there?
So where we left off last time, I had just done the Foothill Circuit race, and even reported on it. Hell, Norcal Cycling News liked it enough that they got permission to repost my coverage of the Pro/1/2 race. I’m happy that they did, because I’m happy any time The Legend Of May Woo grows.
I went on a big ride, here are some medium photos.
Brought to you by Performance Bike Brand Chamois Cream. My review: It works!
The next weekend, I went out for an all-day ‘cross ride. All-day? Well, I left the house at 2pm and came back around 9:30. The theme of the ride was “No F’s would be given.” I was also, in a way, recreating the first “big ride” I did, way back in 2007 , when I rode up Highway 9, into Saratoga Gap and Long Ridge, then progressively used up all my water, food, and daylight by the time I made it back to civilization. It felt very adventuresome at the time, and it had been a while since I rolled out from my front door with big dirt in mind. And big it was!
UPDATE! I just found the blog post I wrote in 2007 about that ride. It’s rather awesome to read a few years later.
I saw a lot of views like this:
And a few like this:
And I found an arcade and ice cream in the middle of the wilderness, so of course I partook… Not only did it take off any pressure to set a PR up Highway 9, but I also got ice cream. That’s performance nutrition right there.
I kept on riding…
And saw more stuff like this…
It was pretty sweet. Check out this map, which doesn’t form a complete loop because my Garmin ran out of battery. In the end, it was about 65 miles and 8000 feet of climbing. Most of it was on dirt, and it was about 6 hours of moving time (7-ish hours total).
University Road Race Report!
Spoiler Alert: He didn’t, so I didn’t.
It’s Officially ‘Cross Season! (or close enough)
Of course, now here’s what I’m looking forward to… I regret the fact that the days of long all-day rides on Sundays may be gone for few months. We’re less than two weeks out from the first local race, which I may or may not do, but hot on its heels…
CrossVegas, baby. It’s going to be a fun week at Interbike, and I’m really looking forward to the race. And how am I feeling coming into the season? Pretty good actually. I’ve set some good times up the local climbs, and I’ve been riding a hell of a lot more dirt this year than last year. Will this mean it’s going to be any easier this year? Probably not, but I might go faster! I’ve gotten tested, and my swagger is up like 8% over last year.
Last weekend marked the return of the Foothill College Circuit Race Race, presented by Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club. And, amazingly, I was there! Race reports aren’t really my thing, but since Norcal Cycling News managed to write a weekend race report purporting to cover this race without actually writing about it (great photo notwithstanding), I will take up the slack. This is the first, and may well be the last time this year I lined up at a road race, let alone ”covered” one (my race coverage is as good as AT&T’s coverage in San Francisco).
Andrew Cathcart, destroys the field sometime around time this race was run.
The course: 1.09 miles, clockwise around the campus, 60(ish) feet of climbing per lap, several turns but no corners. So call it a crit, or call it a circuit race… But I called it a good warmup for ‘cross season. Although Foothill College has hosted a race in the past (see above!), the FCCR is essentially a new event run by Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club.
They started late. In fact, they started so late that I could have made it on time to race it, if only I was allowed to. Which I’m not. In any case, John Luk was easily recognizable in the pack by his extremely-aero-position and extremely-neon-tires. After the race, he said that he “didn’t need to do anything the whole time,” I think I’m learning about this road racing thing, little by little.
John Luk and his magnificent tires
Up front, “newbie” road racer Colin “Sup Dawg” Daw (Wheel Away Cycle Center) was laying down what I can only assume to be a conclusive smackdown on the field. I didn’t actually see, but considering all his Strava KOMs, I’m just going to extrapolate and say that he casually rode away from everyone and then probably did a few repeats on Bohlman as a cool-down*.
* I can also report that after Foothill, Colin made the move to the 3′s and promptly took second in the Patterson Pass Road Race. Nice!
Category 5
You know, the one that matters. First of all, I must thank the organizers for putting the 5 race after the 4 race. Normally. the scrubs are the ones that get shafted with the early start times, especially in cyclocross. But today we got that crucial extra hour over the 4s for some mysterious reason. I’m certainly not complaining.
At the start, Chris “Hot Lava” Evans (Webcor/Alto Velo) reminded me to reset my Garmin so that my Strava ride didn’t include my warmup. “I didn’t warm up,” I replied. I mean, I do all the warming up I need on the drive over, or in the porta-potty closest to the starting line (I once set a “PR” minutes before the start of the BASP Golden Gate Park race). In any case, we’ve all read the article by now that says that shit doesn’t work, right? I thought so.
The race was to be run neutralized for either “the first lap” or “until the fountain”, which was fine by me. The course ran clockwise around the campus, which is normally against the flow of one-way traffic, so it was (nearly) everyone’s first time riding the course. A little recon was definitely welcome. Even so, I thought the fountain “bottleneck” that they kept warning us about was much ado about nothing. Maybe the organizers wanted to avoid a Cat 5 freakout-into-yardsale. I don’t know! As soon as we hit the first climb, it was pretty clear that things weren’t neutral anymore, but since this was not cyclocross, people were happy to keep the pace down a bit. The first thing I noticed is that the steep-looking first part of the climb wasn’t so bad, but that the rest of the climb actually went on a lot further than it seemed.
I cropped this photo a little more dishonestly when it was on Instagram…
In any case, round and round we went, until three or four laps in when I found myself on a wheel that was headed off the front. After a few seconds, the guy made motions like he wanted me to work, so I obliged. Well, sort of. I actually just came around him and backside of the course, then opened the throttle. Of course, nobody chased, because that would be stupid. I mean, that guy is so dumb going off the front so early like that, right? Well yeah! I knew that I was far from the strongest guy there (ahem, Chris), and I sure wasn’t going to be the smartest either, so I decided to just have some fun. After all, most of us are going to finish mid-pack, so why not finish mid-pack after actually doing something? Around the back and over the start/finish line I went, without looking back, and then down the descent and around the fountain into the climb. At this point, Chris Evans (Webcor/Alto-Velo) appeared on my right.
“You know,” he said, casually, “I don’t think the chances for our break are very good.” Well, that was for sure. Shortly thereafter we were swallowed up, and I rode out the rest of the race with a few less matches, but the satisfaction of getting Sheila Moon Racing some TV Time. Afterwards, Chris remarked that he “just pedaled up” to me and “didn’t have to work” to do so. It’s nice to know that I posed that much of a threat.
Photo by Steven Woo. The disorganized finish!
I eventually recovered from the redlining I had endured while off the front, just in time for the speed to ramp up towards the finish. I didn’t position myself far enough forward before the last bit, so nothing exciting was going to happen. In any case, Jacob Jedlicka (Uzbekistan Express) won, followed by Jesse Mayberry (???) and Justin Balderston (Unattached, but let’s say Mike’s Bikes). I came in 13th, claiming that I “didn’t sprint for 10th.” I think Chris claimed the same thing, except that he actually did come in 10th. So there! (Also: Please upgrade).
I also learned that I can explain away all failings to secure a good finishing position by saying that I misread the end. So that’s what happened, and I’m sticking to it. Speaking of misreading the end, I just found another photo of the finish that shows what it actually looked like. Not even close! Well, maybe it was for second and third.
Masters 1/2/3
Things got off to a fast start in this race, with several attacks going off within the opening laps, including Matt McNamara (Sterling Sports Group p/b Sendmail p/b Himself).
McNamara wasted no time to take a flier!
This race was fun to watch, because it was obvious to my barely-trained eyes that “racing” was actually occurring. In any case, the break eventually got too big and the race came back together. Either too many passengers got on and slowed the break down, or maybe everybody “bridged up” until there wasn’t anybody left back in the peloton. I’ll leave it to somebody who knows what they’re talking about to make that call.
Then, something unusual happened. I was just being a layabout by the Start/Finish line (not unusual), when a rider came across the line with a flat tire, and having one available in the pit. So, in a much-less-amazing version of the should-be-famous Bobby Julich/Tour of California story, I volunteered mine…
Hey where’d my wheel go?
And with the free lap rule in effect, Josh Dapice (Audi Cycling Team) got right to work, sending himself and My Rear Wheel (Shimano Wheel Technology p/b Slonie) off the front for three laps in a row on his way to finishing in the top ten of the Cat 2 field. Well-played, Josh. We’ve collaborated on the next level of spectator excitement: Sending our own equipment into the race and watching it go around and around!
Oh, there it is! (Photo: Aki Yamakawa)
Matthew Carinio (ArtsCyclery.com/Wild Horse Win) won the race. Congratulations, Matthew! Looks like you had plenty of time to celebrate.
(Photo: Garrett Lau)
Pro/1/2
I actually missed the start of this one because I was out riding singletrack on my road bike and picking blackberries instead of paying attention, but I figured it was an hour-long race and would take a while to settle down.
Start of the Pro/1/2 race
Charlie Avis, presumably in Zone 2 for 45 minutes (Photo: Garrett Lau)
By the time I got back, the field was circling around, content to let the Charlie Avis (Trek Livestrong U23 Team) have a casual training ride off the front for the better part of the race. I think he pulled off after his workout was done, finishing last (but first Pro, which is pretty PRO, or something like that) and letting the guys with real jobs race. Among them was Bill Lloyd (Six Fifty Racing), whom I mention because I am incredibly biased.
Bill Lloyd shows up to put some hurt on the kiddos. (Photo: Garrett Lau)
When the pack was together, I took a little bit of time to think of something to heckle Rand Miller (Webcor/Alto Velo) with. Finally, I decided on “No donuts for sitting in!” but the pack came around again, he was off the front. Well, damn. Rand: 1, my attempt at heckling: 0. Twice over the course of his breakaway, lone riders bridged up to him with hopes to “Pull a Reaney,” presumably. But neither was successful in staying with Rand, who dropped each of them handily. I got the feeling that Rand would rather come in last than come in second in this race…
Rand Miller, not pictured
Vs.
An Angry Pro/1/2 field (Photo: Garrett Lau)
And, well, that’s what happened. The pack caught Rand at the bottom of the climb, and it was game over. William Myers (Fremont Bank Cycling Team), James Mattis (California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized), and Matthew Carinio (again! ArtsCyclery.com/Wild Horse Win) made up the top three in a finish I couldn’t see from my position at the most-sunburn-prone part of the course. It looks from this photo like it was very exciting.
William Myers Wins! Mattis and Cariano close behind. (Photo: Garrett Lau)
Josh Dapice (Audi Cycling Team) was also in the mix in the Pro/1/2 race, although he didn’t have my rear wheel anymore, so he didn’t win. Special mention also goes to Steven Woo (Third Pillar), who seemingly contested every single race (including women’s and juniors), while still taking photos of every race. I don’t know how he does it.
Steven Woo (Third Pillar) smiles, but not as much as May Woo (Sheila Moon, No Relation)
All in all, it was a great day. I finally met Yukie Nakamura (elusive as she isn’t), along with Spanky (and his awesome Porsche). Everybody I talked to seemed really happy with the race, and I hope that it has a long future. It also didn’t hurt that they invited Chairman Bao and a gaggle of other food trucks, proving that somebody at LGBRC knows what’s up.
Live in Norcal? Your CX Calendar is up! You’ve got hella races to do this season!
Live in Socal? Your CX Calendar is up! You’ve got a grip of races to do this season!
Live in Norcal or Socal? January 22nd is the second-annual Norcal vs. Socal CX race in Bakersfield. You might recall that I raced it last season and had a hell of a good time. You should too!
Don’t live in the US and still looking for a calendar? Leave a comment, I’d love to know. Also, if you could translate the Kansai Cyclocross calendar that would be great, because I really want to race over there. More on that later, actually…
Important Transfers
Make no mistake, Bay101/HRS RockLobster is a powerhouse team around these parts. Last year, at one very sloppy CCCX race at Manzanita Park, there was only one man that was able to walk away from the Josh Snead (and the rest of the field), adding insult to injury by riding the runup and bunnyhopping the barriers on said runup. That man is Aaron Bradford. It’s nice to have more guys on different teams that are fast enough to challenge the dominance of the one with “all” the fast guys on it, right? I think so too!
So naturally, Aaron has just joined RockLobster.
Well, crap. Truly, they are becoming the Norcal version of CannondaleCyclocrossworldCircaLastYear, WhenTheyHadAllTheFastestGuysAndWonEverything. Congratulations on the transfer, Aaron!
PS: If you’re offended that I said that all the fast guys were on Rock Lobster, leave a comment! (I’d be totally stoked to find out that Don Myrah reads my blog)
PPS: The Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld monopoly on the fastest guys has been broken up a little this season, with Jeremy Powers departing to Rapha-Focus to engage in some “epic” sepia-toned racing against his former teammates. Then again, it looks like they’re now importing national champions to fill up the roster. Wait a second, I don’t cover national and international-level racing here, why are you still reading this?
Speaking of Josh Snead, it looks like he’s currently building up his coaching business. This man will make you fast. Or at least, he’ll make you wonder how he gets so fast. Seriously, watch the video and marvel at the smoothness. Then, drop him a line and tell him I sent you. Hopefully he asks why I’m writing a blog post and not riding my bike.
Cyclocross Practice Rides
This is getting excited. CX practice rides are starting up. Everywhere. Right under your nose, even. Hell, if you can’t find one, hit me up and we’ll go ride.
By the way, I was going to label this “Cyclocross Training Rides,” but I’m not sure Daddy Friel would approve. I mean, these rides are fun! Unfortunately, the most mysterious and prestigious Secret CX Course is currently underwater…
CrossVegas!
Registration filled up in 11 minutes this year, again. I’ll be racing for Sheila Moon Athletic Apparel again, and am looking to improve my finishing position from last year’s 92nd place to something more prestigious. Like 85th place. So if you’re gonna be there, say hi! Or, give me a beer handup (remember, the overlords at the UCI just legalized feeding in CX races). It’s gonna be fun!
PS: If you have a UCI license, CrossVegas is not full. Go register for the Elite race. I think they haven’t started requiring national champion status in your country of origin in order to race, but I’m not sure. You should check with the organizers.
Meanwhile…
• Issue 13 of Cyclocross Magazine is out. Grab a subscription online, or get it now at your local bookstore (if they’re still in business), or bike shop. I even had a (very small) part in this issue.
• I don’t know what Specialized is on over in the paint department, but I want some of it.
(The pictured frameset, a 2012 Crux, is currently for sale. If it was a 56, it may have already been sold. To me.)
A few birthdays ago, I found myself with some good friends at Esther’s German Bakery for brunch. After ordering food, the proprietor asked what we’d like to drink.
“Three coffees and three Spatens please.” The proprietor hesitates for a moment, then replies.
“At the same time?”, with a hint of incredulousness.
“Yep… That’s what makes it brunch.”
And while my definition of brunch-at-large is unlikely to catch on in the general population, I hereby declare that when you ride with one bottle full of coffee and the other full of beer, that you’re on a Brunch Ride.
That’s actually a pretty terrible title for a post. It implies that I don’t have anything to talk about right here, and for once, I actually do!
I know nobody wants to read a post apologizing for a lack of updates, so I’ll make that part brief. I’ll completely admit to letting Flickr and Twitter conspire to absolutely murder my blog output. This phenomenon isn’t new, or unique. Flickr basically supplanted the original incarnation of my blog too! But last year, when I made a fresh start, I vowed that I was going to write, damn it! So I need to keep trying.
So, what have I been up to lately, besides maintaining a crippling addiction to the little blue bird? I’m glad you asked.
Hey Guys Lets Ride Bikes
Let’s have a look at the cold, hard facts:
As you can see, the drop-off in blog output directly correlates with too much bike! Note the last post occurred during the week that I couldn’t even sit on a bicycle saddle without feeling the effects of Boggs Butt, followed by radio silence (except on Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, street corners, etc) until now. I think the correlation is clear. I’ve been spending WAY too much time filling up those little green bar graphs. I blame Strava.
I rode more in May of this year than I did in July of last year (which, at that point, was my biggest month ever). Either I’m building myself a nice, solid base from which I will sharpen a pointy spear of fitness for the upcoming CX season, or I’m wearing myself down into a useless burnt-out nub. It’s too early to tell, but as long as I’m still smiling, more riding is better, right? As a precaution, I actually managed to put a rest week in at the start of the month.
But seriously, nobody wants to read a so-called training blog. And even though I’ve been banned from using “ironic” quotes around the word any more, I’ll never subject my dear readers to such a thing. However, hopefully I’ll manage to remember some of the more interesting experiences involving bikes and write about them here. Maybe even things that happened before Boggs, like the awesome mountain bike weekend in Mendocino?
But come on, that was all the way back in January! I may as well write about stuff that happened last year, like Cross Vegas!
This is the only photo I have from that race, but damn if it isn’t a good one. Most of the coverage of Cross Vegas centered on the Elite race, like this recap video:
So in case I hadn’t made it abundantly clear in the past, I’m really not satisfied with most of Cyclocross! A Comic. People often greet to this statement with statements like “but I like it the way it is!” or even “[the crappy way it's drawn] is part of the charm.” Well, you might like it the way it is, but I certainly can’t go to print with a rough draft. And trust me, I’m not actually good enough at drawing to eliminate the “charm”, no matter how much extra time I spend on it. So don’t worry!
So, a progress update! I meant to have it redrawn before the end of the season. Since that didn’t happen, I’ve been plugging away. I’m only a few pages away from having all the basic art done, and I feel that I’m actually getting close enough to scan in what I have and start assembling the book. I’m even going to use a scanner this time, instead of an iPhone 4 camera! I’m planning on having it assembled and ready to print by September. Please hold me to it.
The Kitten of Flanders
This deserves its own post, but I’m just going to say that quick sketch in the coffee shop came to life like few of my designs ever have…
Just ponder on that for a while. He’s got a Facebook page, too. Please go forth to the page and click “Like” on it, so that I can get a custom URL. Soon, I will have the flags available for purchase, along with other awesome items. It’s going to be sweet, until I get punched right in the face by an actual Flandrien.
The Rand Miller Bottle
Sometime last year, my friend Eric suggested that I check out the blog written by Rand Miller, a local road racer. Eric claimed that Rand was both “hilarious” and “wins races all the time”. In reality, I can tell you that he’s “pretty funny” and “comes in second” in races all the time.
If you liked that burn, you might also like Rand’s blog. See, I’m not nearly as good at talking crap (or racing bikes, or updating my blog) as he is. But after Rand was shamed into doing a cyclocross race last season, I had an opportunity to meet him in person. And there are some things that I am good at, like drawing to amuse myself.
So, some time later, during one of my patented Sketching and Twitter* (and coffee) sessions, I floated the joke (?) idea of doing a roadie sequel to the Cyclocross Comic, inspired by Rand’s exploits. In reply, he tweeted “I can only imagine how ridiculous I’d look” in the comic, and just a few minutes later, nobody had to imagine anymore…
Several hours after that, I had a version ready to go onto a water bottle. Several months later, the Rand Miller Breakaway Bottle™ is sure to be the hottest commodity in the cycling world!
*If it wasn’t for that second part, I might be a whole lot more productive with the drawing. Then again, I’ve had some really good ideas while mixing Twitter with drawing. Don’t knock it!
Secret Shit
Uh, it’s secret. But all will be revealed soon… If it doesn’t kill me first.
I’m starting a new thing here. You like Googling. You’ve got queries, and I’ve got posts that answer them. Or do I? Ido now.
I’ve got a lot of terms to catch up on before going into maintenance mode with “What are you searching for this week?“, so consider this the first in a series. A serious of awesomeness.
Bikes
i want a bridgestone rb-1
You’re in luck, it just so happens that mine is for sale! 1992, 57.5cm, yellow. $600 and it’s yours. Send email to my nickname at gmail dot com.
bruce gordon custom price
Bruce Gordon needs your help right now! It’s about $1800 for a custom frame, and there’s no waitlist as of this posting. What, you’re still here? Go get it!
van dessel whiskey tango foxtrot weight
I asked Van Dessel and they gave me the skinny. The WTF weighs 2700g, and the fork is 1250g. I believe that’s for a 56cm. It will make you strong like bull, they added.
van dessel country road bob
Never really clicked with me… I always found it to be ugly, myself. While on the other hand…
van dessel wtf roadtest
I haven’t ever seen one in print! Tell you what, I’ll volunteer to evaluate a Van Dessel WTF, and get back to you on this (as soon as Van Dessel sends me one). I’ll be waiting…
I’m not really good at these, but I keep trying. Maybe try some better lighting!
“outfoxies pcb” 2011
I’m not sure why you’re adding 2011 to your term, but Outfoxies is awesome, and it’s definitely worth your effort to track down the PCB.
is calorie mate unhealthy
Well, Calorie Mate is basically shortbread, marketed as “balanced food”. But it delivers what it promises – Calories! You need those to live. So maybe it’s not so unhealthy after all.
Plus, Jack Bauer really seems to enjoy them when he’s on holiday in Japan…
Well, that’s it for the first installment, join me next time when I answer more of your search queries!
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Well, let’s see if this thing still works.
I mean, the last thing I reported was the Boggs 8hr cross-country mountain bike race. And that wasn’t even a post, just an awesome photo from Nick Gaetano. Well in any case, that was the race. Here’s another!
(Photo by iBikergal on Flickr)
What you’re seeing is the creek crossing right after the start/finish line, which ensured that every rider’s chamois would stay wet, lap after lap, even though the course dried out almost completely after 7 hours of racing. This led to a condition that I now describe as “Boggs Butt,” but that’s a story for later.
Now, it’s been a while, considering this race happened at the start of April, so apologies for the lack of structure, detail, excitement, and good writing that you might expect out of a race report, or just a real blog entry.
At the last minute, Carlos and his band of fearless Bikemonkeys was forced to change the course due to record rain and snow, as well as some new management in the ranger station. This led to a total removal of singletrack, and shortened the course to a 4.3 mile fireroad loop (with something like 600ft of climbing per lap). Suffice to say, this disappointed many would-be racers who came to race on that sweet, sweet Boggs singletrack.
Plans were hatched to “do a lap, then go ride singletrack the rest of the day.” These plans sounded pretty good to me, in fact. But I’m nothing if not stubborn – Once I had turned in a lap, the “real race” was on for me. I was determined to actually ride the entire race. And I did! I played leapfrog with lots of friends throughout the day, as well as getting encouragement and support from yet more friends and teammates. Despite being “not fun” compared to the singletrack option, the course wasn’t really bad. Sure, it had fireroad climbing galore, but it also had fireroad descending galore. And after 7 hours of fatigue and all the lack of concentration that goes along with it, I’m not sure I could have handled a highly technical course. So I was having fun. You know, “doesn’t have to be fun to be fun” fun. At least I was having more fun than my intrepid friends riding cyclocross bikes…
(Photo by Andrew Yee on Flickr)
(Sorry guys, I just wanted to add more pictures to the post, and this one popped up! It turns out they were able to re-assemble one working bike out of the three they started with, and trade off on it to win the wrong bike award for the day, also known as the Cyclocross Category. But back to my race…)
Even though I was going at an “endurance” pace (to put it charitably), my laps were gradually getting slower. My first laps were around the 27 minute mark, but they had stretched out to 30 minutes after a few hours of riding. I mention this, because there was a 3pm time cut to start your last lap. What’s more, this last lap had to be finished by 3:30, or it wouldn’t count. What’s more, I was riding my 13th lap as the clock drew closer to 3. And let me tell you, I didn’t want to make the time cut. I was over it.
But just like I couldn’t start the race and not continue it, I knew I wasn’t going to quit if I happened to come across the line within the time cut. And lo and behold, I rolled over the finish line (and the butt-soaking creek) at something like 2:59:50, because I heard the announcer telling the next racer (and the crowd) that they had “thirty minutes to finish!”
Well, crap. Now I was in for it. So, I did what anybody who hadn’t been going hard enough the entire time would do – I lit. It. Up. I ground my way up the first climb at a quick pace, then attacked the descent like I hadn’t all day. I had an extra bit of encouragement from riding wheel to wheel with Chris, who had blown himself up making the time cut himself (but handling it fine), and my teammate Krishna, who had realized at the finish that he had to do another lap in order to secure victory for his 2-person team. Even though they were both racing in different categories than I was, we were all fighting the same time cut on the last lap. And despite my age-old enemy of cramping calfs, I was able to claw back minutes on those flat and descending parts, and turn in a 24-minute lap at the end, my fastest all day.
I found out later that I came in 16th in Sport, out of 38 starters. Of course, only 28 turned in more than a single lap! I had no expectations for this race, except for “finishing”, so I succeeded and then some. Specific props should be given to my teammate Mikey, who made sure to come through the finish line once before the time cut, for a single seven-hour lap. That’s owning DFL with style. After I came across the line, I enjoyed the best burrito I’ve ever had and an impromptu birdbath in the same creek I had ridden through 14 times already.
Team Sheila Moon also won the beard competition, taking three out of eight prizes, including the coveted Silkiest, Gnomiest, and Most Pirate-y awards.
(Pirate-y Xton, and Silky Ted)
And the next day, I got to ride all that sweet singletrack that I had missed out on during the race. Of course, I could barely sit on a bike at that point…
A bit 
