Monday, April 30, 2007

Don't ever turn down support

I finish 19th which was ok (I think cat 4 had over 40 riders), but I know I should have placed higher than I did. Following in the outlined format for this week, I learned 3 key things about my riding abilities.

No matter how good I feel I don’t need to take a turn upfront. On the last big climb I went to the front and set the tempo up the hill. I felt great until about a mile and a half to the summit then I popped. I thought the top was closer than it really was and as my tempo slowed down, around 10-13 guys attacked and I did not have the legs to go with them.
Don’t tell those who want to give support that they can’t (sorry Doug), only to see other riders getting needed food and water right before the big climb. I ran out of water and food around mile 44 in a 60 mile race with a 5 mile climb starting at mile 48. Not good.
A lot of riders can climb a lot better than I can. I road hard up the hill, but not hard enough. I was defiantly humbled.

I’m thinking about racing the island next week (40 mile Crit) and with the new knowledge I gained this week I hope to do a lot better next week.

Eugene Roubaix

Daren you were definitely busy last week. Three races in one week is pretty extreme. But sounds like you fared really well. Sutt how did you do on Saturday? I ended up finishing around 13th (I haven't checked the final results yet). I decided to follow Daren's format of things I learned this week.

1. Positioning is everything! I felt much more confident in the group this week, which helped as the pace was a lot more intense. The course was a 13 mile loop, with the final 3 or 4 km's of dirt and gravel. After the dirt it took you right up a steep hill, which was pretty tiring. Coming into the last dirt and gravel section I was in a great position, about 7 or 8th place. We caught down three riders who had a break away with 300 m to go. One of the guys tried to move into our group as we passed, causing me to have to swerve around him and fish-tail in the loose gravel. I tried hard to catch back up, but that quick side-step caused enough of a gap that I couldn't catch back up. I finished right behind the first group. Like I said positioning is everything!

2. Eat after a race. I didn't get the chance to eat for a while after the race and am still paying for it. My stomach is still in knots as I write this on Monday morning.

3. Some people are genetically gifted. Some people just have a motor that allows them to accelerate a lot faster than I could ever dream of.

4. Cat 4/5 usually have a huge group with people who don't know what they are doing. Again our group was huge. It wasn't as big as the King's Valley, but we still had around 60 riders. Some guy started in front of me and was all over trying to get to the front, he even had a commuter light on his helmet. We had a few flats and crashes on the gravel section, but I was fortunate enough to stay at the front and avoid any of those incidents.

5. Uphill TT start this week and I hope to be able to do a few of them. It is 5 km of torture. I will let you know how it goes.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

3 in a Week

Here' some observations from three races in one week, a lot for me. I had my ups and downs and I'm pretty tired.

1. In my mind, I'm only as good as my last race. I was fairly happy after Tuesday's crit, ready to give up bike racing after Thursady's TT and satisfied with a good effort on Saturday. My mood swings would make a tennaged girl proud.

2. I'm not sure how the final RMR results get determined. My last two races at RMR, I left thinking I was 7th and then I don't show up on the official results. I double checked with the official before I left because I fought hard for my 7th and I wanted to get the points. Apparently, something changed. I e-mailed Marek and he's looking into it, so hopefully, it will get corrected.

3. Majority doesn't always rule. In the B RMR race, a guy attacked half through the 3rd to last lap just as the A's were lapping us. Many of us yelled at him to sit up, but he didn't and ended up riding with the A's to the finish. The rest of the B's went netural for half a lap to allow a gap to open and then we raced the last 2 laps. At the finish, the guy who was up the road claimed to have gotten no help from the A's. He said he rode outside on his own. Even if this was the case, he didn't sit up for half a lap like the rest of us. In any case, there was a lot of protesting at the finish and the official agreed to let the group decided. The vote to DQ him was overwhelming. However, on the official results, he got the win. Too bad because the real winning was a 15 year kid who soloed the last lap for the win.

4. TT'ing is a learned skill. TT'ing is a whole different ball game. You have to be really strong, but you also have to be aero, have the right mindset, know how to measure your effort and be willing to suffer. The only thing I got right was the suffering. I was only 6 seconds faster than my 1st TT last year and near the bottom of the B's. I barely managed to average 24 mph for 7 miles. I was really bummed out and questioning why I was doing a TT at all.

5. There are many real fast guys on TT bikes. I was very impressed with how many fast guys there are at the TT's. There were a bunch of guys averaging in the 27 to 30 mph rage. I was one of the few without a disk wheel and aero helmet. These guys can fly.

6. Old guys are fast. I race the East Canyon road race in the 45+ group. This was my first race with this group and it was great. There were 30 of us and the race was much harder than the Cat. 3 race I did there last year. I would sit there and watch the guys in front of me and think, these guys look really fit and fast. I would then look at the face next to me and be surprised by the gray hair and wrinkles. I you don't look at the faces and hair, you'd think it was a Cat 2 field. The best part was that there are no bad riders and I never worried about crashing.

7. Ken Louder is my new hero. The man is 59 years old and he put a minute on me on the last climb. Pretty cool. On top of that, he's a pleasure to talk to in the race. I managed to finish 14th in the 45+ group and was pretty pleased. I was right there until the climb out of Henefer and gave it my all. I checked my time in the Cat 3's last year and I was about 3 minutes faster this year.

8. I can't wait for the next MTB at 5-mile pass Saturday. I'm ready for some dirt.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Utah Dual


This is the TT bike all set up. I've been working on the position a bit and I'm going to give the TT a try on Thursday. We'll see how it goes.
Saturday was a good Utah Dual for me. I missed the family ride but did a 4+ hour ride with the team up Emigration and big mountain. I felt not so good, but I needed another long one. When I got home, Tanner and I went skiing for the last time this year. The skiing was not too bad and we had a good time together. Tanner pretty much worked me over. My legs were letting me know I'd done a little work and the T-man took advantage. He won the "final run of the year race" from the top of the mountain to the bottom. He now thinks he's the best skier in our household. I'm still not sold.
This week has 3 races on tap. First up is RMR tomorrow followed by the Salt Aire TT on Thursday and then the East Canyon Road Race on Saturday. JoAnn just reminded me that she is a Saint. AT will be at the East Canyon Road Race putting the hurt on the cat 4's. I'm given the 45+ group a go and we start a few minutes in front of Adam. The goal is not to get dropped and caught by Adam.
Bubba, you're a stud for riding in the rain. There is a simple solution to your problem, move to Utah!
Race reports later in the week.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Jealous?


I decided to give you a glimpse of what it is like to ride in Eugene. Avery took a picture of me after my 2 and a half hour ride in the rain. It rained the whole ride. Actually it was a fun ride. I went and rode the course for the Eugene Roubaix race this coming Saturday. It is a flat course with some rolling hills. There is one section that is about 4 km long and it is a gravel road. That will make the course pretty challenging. The rocks are pretty big and the mud made it pretty slick. I will let you know how it goes next week.


Hope you all had fun on your ride. Take care.


Bubba

Thursday, April 19, 2007

We are a bunch of stars!

When I went to the Lotoja website to look and check the dates I decided to take a look at the event photos. The picture of us going over the bridge is one of the photos. We are pretty cool! Wish I could ride with you all.

Bubba

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

April 17, 2007

I have been tracking start times and route for Sat. ride. We are going to meet at Kim's at 9:00 AM. Our route will be 89 north to N.Ogden Divide road then west and south looping back to end at Kim's. We will make stops and my place and then at Adam's. So far it looks like Me, Kim, Adam, Daren and Tanner and Robbie Parker, Ritchie may ride from Kim's to Ogden. Russ has to guard the SLC marathoners so he won't be with us.

I was inspired after Adam's post on the divide ride. I was going to do it last night and started up into a hurricane head wind, I made it to the first corner and I decided divide 1 me 0.

Be safe, see most of you Sat. Bub drop down we need you.

Doug

Monday, April 16, 2007

Kings Valley Race

Daren I am glad to hear you are recovering after your race. Sutt have fun with that one. The divide is a brutal climb. If I did what I did in my race on Saturday I would barely be making it up the hill.

I wanted to give you an update on the race in Kings Valley. I got a little nervous on Friday because it was pouring rain. But race time it stopped raining, but was a little chilly. The guy giving the rules before the race said that we had the maximum number of riders allowed to race on the road in the state of Oregon - I think just over 80 riders. Needless to say it was a huge group. A lot of the race felt like we were sardines packed together in a small single lane road.

The course is a 19.1 mile loop and the cat 4/5's did 2 and 3/4 of a lap for a total of 56 miles. The course has many hills, none to long, but still steep. The first lap had some people trying to break-off. I got in with a group of 8, but two of the guys didn't know what they were doing and slowed us down. The second lap we just cruised along with not much action. In the final lap we took off and started pounding it. It was pretty fast! I was trying to hang out in the front, but with so many people it was hard to move around in the group. We did drop about half the group on the windy flats. The finish is an uphill steep climb, which we dropped another large amount of riders. Before the final climb someone in front of me slipped a peddle and I had to stand up and move quickly to keep up with the pace. Right after this my quad's cramped up and my left calf. It hurt pretty bad, I have never hurt that bad before. But I tried to gut out the final hill and finished 15th. The race took 2:26 with all the hills that was a pretty quick pace. I felt that I tried my best and I had fun doing it. There isn't another race for two weeks, so I will keep you posted.

Good luck on the riding!

Bubba

Saturday, April 14, 2007

North Ogden Divide

Divide 0, Adam 1
This will be an on going tally to see how many times I can climb the divide this year. I hope to climb it at least once a month (No hill points out west). I'm going to try and beat my time to the top every time and post my results. My goal is to make it to the top by 18 min. Might not happen, but its worth a shot. My first official time up the divide this year (4/14/o7) was an ok time of 20:53. I know it's not the fastest time up the divide, but it's a start. Robby and myself went up the mountain faster last year (Robby 20:20 I think and my best was 20:50) and I know Bub wil post some crazy time around 17 min this summer, but it was nice time to post this early in the year.

We need to set a time for the 100 mile ride next week (21st).

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Good & Bad

I think I've recovered enough to write. First the good. As Doug mentioned, Tanner had a great race in the Hotter than Hell Hurricane MTB race. It was a long race for juniors (25 miles) and he finished 2nd. He beat the kid that won the 1st race of the year, so he was happy. He was within 4 minutes of Doug's time as well. Doug was tough. For a new mountain biker, he's doing really well. It is a very difficult sport and I'm pleased he's giving it a go. Not many people are willing to try challenging new things at 56. He's my hero in many ways.

I had a near death experience in the race. A guy from Vegas threw down early and I had to let him go. I then rode in 2nd for 2 hours. However, even though I carried as much water as I could, I ran out. I went from 2nd to 6th on the last lap and really didn't care. I was cramping in my feet and just wanted it to end. I lost something like 18 minutes on the last lap so it was good I had a big lead on the rest or I would have been 15th. I pretty much passed out trying to get to the truck after the race and had to lay there for 30 minutes and not move or I'd cramp. I don't want to be like that again anytime soon. During the last 30 minutes of the race, I vowed to sell all my bikes and take up golf again. Fortunately, I've over-come that tempation.

There was some redemption last night. I raced the RMR crit in 25+ mile an hour winds. It was very hard and guys were getting dropped all over the place. I got away for a lap early, but got realed in. I rode with the lead guys the rest of the way and helped put the hammer down. In the end, I was not positioned well, but finished 7th, my best finish in the Cat 3 group. It was nice to not just be hanging on when conditions were tough. In the A group, Dave Z. Burke Swindlehurst and Jeff Louder were all there. Needless to say, it was carnage in the group. It's always cool to see DZ go by you very fast.

I'm off to ride the TT bike today. I finally got it set up. I plan to do some TT's this year, so I need to get comfy on it. I'll post a picture of it soon.

What's the plan Saturday? The Porcupine team is riding at 8am and I'm also considering an MTB ride. No race, so we should ride together.

Daren

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Nothing New

Sorry for the delay in the update. There is no news from Eugene. They start the local Tues. TT for this month, but I can't do it tonight, because we have training from the stake. Maybe next week? I got some clip-on TT bars and haven't even used them yet. I am hoping to do the Kings Valley Road Race on Sat. It is a 56 mile road race with 3 laps around a 19 mile course. I will let you know how it goes.

Bub

Weekend Review

Hello to family bloggers. I don't do this enough to remember how to get access, so needless to say I am glad I finally got in. Daren (Sutt one r) Tanner and I went down to the southern desert and made like sand lizards on wheels. It was quite the race course. We went down on Friday and pre-road the course. It is like riding through a sand pile with an occasional rock to climb or a raven to dive in or climb out of. The course was about 13 miles long and Tan I did two laps and Daren did 3. We made a few mistakes like not anticipating it being 92 degrees. I was out of water after one lap and was really feeling it by time I ended. Daren was doing great in 2nd place when the dehydration sent him into the LOTOJA tunnel of pain and incohersion. A few guys passed him for a hard earned 6th Place. Tanner had a great race and took 2nd. I kept my record going and took 4th, it sounds better than it is as only 4 finished in my age group. If you are my age and racing MTB you had to be good when you were younger, and the winner in my age group is last years national XC champion. I tried to stay with them the first lap but realized I was going to kill myself crashing or blow so I settle into a pace I could live with and smiled as all the ladies passed me. As you come to the finish there is a very steep short climb about 50 ft and I was sure I wasn't going to make it up but then all the people are yelling encouragement so I was to embarrassed not to make it up , I did. After 10 hours in the Tahoe and hours in the pain cave we all questioned our sanity.

We got in LOTOJA and it was none to soon as it is full already. We planned out our long rides a few weeks ago and I will post them so any of you out of townees can plan your trips. Be safe in your riding and props to Tyra and Bonnie for being able to get back out on the bikes. Ty got a Roub/pro and is doing a tri. Bonnie is going to ride the bike part in a relay at the same Tri in St George. Good luck ladies. Alissa got her first clipped in ride the other day and did very well. She has lost a lot of weight and is going to do a Tri as well. I'm going to Brady's in May so were anxious to get in a lot of rides.

Doug

RMR

Darren, just wanted you to know that until baseball is over I'm out. I was originally thinking I could get out of varsity games(Every Tue and Thur), but I was moved from the dugout to first. Now that I have a little responsibility I can't just leave in the middle innings. I'll be back at the RMR around mid May.
How was the mountain bike race on Sat(Darren, Doug, Tanner)? Bub, no race this last week? First thing I check every morning is the blog. I need your results. It keeps me motivated.

Think Blue

Friday, April 06, 2007

Sutt in Lights


I was checking out the Utah Cycling website when what to my wondering eyes should appear - Sutt's name! Sutt your a local celebrity.

Bub

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Dave Z


Well, big Dave Zabriski is in town for a few weeks so he showed up at RMR last night. It was pretty cool watching him power a break around the track. When the main group would get close to the break, DZ would pull for a full lap at about 33 and open the gap. Dave Harward of our team was in the break and on DZ's wheel most of the time. DZ pulled off a few hundred meters from the finish and DH was nipped at the line for the win.
My race was fun but no result, I missed the split when some of the B's integrated with the A's and were gone. The highlight was DZ pulling the break past us as we got lapped. We were going about 28 or so and he went by really fast. I just kept thinking "don't do something stupid and crash him!"


Daren

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

White Rim Trail

For those interested in doing the White Rim Trail, I got a campground reserved for Friday October 5th. We plan to leave Thursday the 4th after work and stay in Green River or Moab. We'll ride Friday and Saturday and return Saturday night or Sunday morning. We need to recruit a vehicle drive (Larry?) to haul our camping gear. The only campground I could get is about 2/3's of the way in, so the first day will be a long one, about 70 miles.

Plan your schedules accordingly. Bubba, I'm sure you need another trip to Utah about that time.

Daren

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Eugene Ice Breaker

It was my first race of the year on Saturday - the Eugene Ice Breaker. It was a 25 k crit. My race sounds very familiar to yours Daren. There were about 50+ people racing in the 4/5 group, it was huge. It had been raining the night before and rained after the race, but we got a lucky break. The wind was blowing very hard on the back stretch, so it made it hard for anyone to break off. I managed to stay up close most of the race. My friend was starting right next to me and as we took off he noticed his chain had fallen off. He spent to laps trying to catch-up, but finally stopped and waited a lap for us. He has beat after that.

Going into the final lap a guy didn't hold his line very well and moved me way out on a risky corner. Then I got stuck behind him and watched as the group moved passed me and I couldn't get in. I turned into the head wind trying to get back up to the front, but they had strung out the group pretty far. I sprinted as hard as I could, but only managed 11th. I was pretty disappointed, but that is the life of racing. I felt really good going into the final lap, but I didn't have much luck.

Let me know what you want to do with LOTOJA. Also, I will let you know when we will be there this summer so we can get a ride in together.

Bubba

Not a sprinter

Well, I proved once again that I'm not a sprinter yet. The RMR crit was fairly uneventful until the last few laps. There was a head wind on the drap strip, so it was pretty clear no break was going to stick in the B's. I tried to get across to one early, but everyone came with me. After that, I just sat in. I moved up to the top 10 without much difficultly with about 4 laps to go and stayed there until the last lap. I managed to come out of the last corner 4th and was set up great for the sprint. Unfortunately, I had no speed and finished about 12th a few bike lengths from the winner. I'm getting better at positioning, now I just need to finish it off.

Doug and Tanner rode out and back with me and the team. It was great to have them with me. Tanner did well riding with the big boys. The A race didn't go very well, but we managed a 6th and 7th. Our A team is not happy with anything other than a win.

Good luck with the LoToJa registration. I'll be thinking of you. We're heading down South this weekend to race the mountain bikes. Hopefully, another win is in the legs. I'll be taking it easy this week to prepare.

Daren

LOTOJA

How are we going to register?
Are we going to indivdually register, or try to register as a group?
Let me know.
Are we going to post all of our monthly ride plans as well from last sudays meeting?
SUTT