Glocester Grind

Now I may not be the most experienced bike racer out there, but one thing I have learned is that typically you don't want to drink margaritas and stay out 'til 3 AM the night before a race. However, knowing something and acting accordingly are two different things.

On the plus side, this immature behavior does add some great excuses to the already stellar cache I had this week. The pre-existing to the night-before-the-race-shenanigans excuses were: I had a cold this week which just started to clear up Saturday; I only rode 3 days; I decided the morning of that I was racing; my bike’s front brake decided it didn’t want to work; and I had a slow leak with left me with just enough air to get across the finish line. Whew, I think that’s everything. Oh, and, does, ‘I didn’t have a 29er’ count as a valid excuse?

Seriously though, I had a lot of fun in this race. The weather was perfect for a change, and after a week of half-ass wussy riding, I was more than ready to go deep into the pain zone. Glocester is a bike-handlers’ course, make no mistake about it. While I consider myself a proficient bike handler, I’ll be the first to say there’s some guys way more talented than I at riding in the really rough stuff. That, coupled with the fact that there’s basically no climbing, makes this race not really one I’ll probably ever get a really good result at. I’ve never been especially good at rock gardens, and man-alive does Glocester have rock gardens -- huge, dangerous, muddy, long sections of rock gardens. After attempting to ride some of the more outrageous ones on the first lap, I realized that it was faster or just as fast to just jump off the bike and run. Due to not really having any warm-up, the first lap I was huffing and puffing and had no chance of jumping on the leaders. I don’t know for sure, but I’m fairly confident my second lap was my fastest; I was able to follow the wheel of a couple good riders which on this course made a huge difference; plus after having one go-around I knew what was coming better. Third lap I started to run a bit low on gas and sure enough, and I noticed my rear tire was getting soft. Perfect. I just hoped and prayed it held together enough to make it the next few miles to the finish, and focused on keeping as much weight off of it as possible. Luckily I was able to finish on it. Oh, the finish – yeah, that’s another thing….because I was so smoked by the end, I forgot the sharp LEFT up the hill to go to the finish line. So I stopped, and casually rode for a few seconds before I realized this and then nailed it up the hill to the line. Definitely lost probably close to a minute because of that – oh well. I was good enough for a time of 1:34:56 and 7th out of I believe 10 Senior II riders - overall mid-pack for the Experts.

I also did the Sterling Road Race last weekend in the rain, which was a really fun course – rolling hills, and one steep short hill right at the finish/start line. I was at the front most of the race, but of course I wasn’t there at the deciding time, right at the start of the final lap after the hill, 3 riders attacked when everyone was recovering and got a gap. I missed this happening because I wasn’t on the front, and when I went back to the front had no idea there was a break. No one seemed to be in the mood to really chase them, so by the time we came to the finish they had put a minute into the peloton. I was third in the group sprint up the hill for the finish, passing a lot of guys, so I’m OK with 7th out of 30.

Massasoit Lung Opener - man, it’s been too long since I updated this! This race in a word: awesome. Seriously, this was like, the best race ever - a total blast. Probably my favorite race course ever, and perfect weather to boot. I had a crash on the first lap on a downhill because there was a sharp turn with a tree right there, and of course, my front brake decided it didn’t want to work. I was at the lead group until the crash, then it was just a matter of trying to get my mojo back – which I gradually did. Believe it or not, I think one of the things I need to work on most is going down the hills...some guys just blow past me on technical downhills – the same guys I drop going up.

But anyway, lots of great riding lately; including the Fells opening day/Trek demo day event with Gary Fisher - had a blast with Thom Parsons and his hammer ride. He took us on a bunch of trails I never even knew existed – pretty exciting stuff. Next week is EFTA NECS# 2 – the Weeping Willow at Willowdale Park in Ipswich. I'll start getting the excuses ready!

What a Long, Strange Trip it's Been

Springtime and the livin's easy. Hard to believe we made it through winter, but here we are. Getting some great riding in lately: did the loop up through Gloucester last weekend with Nate and Matt. I felt surprisingly good and was able to finish strong; this a first for me this early in the season to hammer for 60 miles and not bonk. Matt felt a bit sick by the time we got back, but nothing some off-brand Mylanta couldn't cure. I continue to love the Powertap. Before I had to just kinda guess if my fitness was improving, and by how much - now I can know exactly where I stand. As long as my numbers continue to go up, it keeps my motivated to keep training.

I'm officially a Cat 1 MTBer - it took over a week, but USA Cycling finally approved my upgrade so now I can race with the big boys. Because my upgrade was still pending, and I couldn't justify driving almost 3 hours to race 8 miles in the Cat 2 race, I skipped Hopbrook and made Winding trails yesterday my first race of the season. It was a blast! One of the most fun courses I've ever raced on (can you tell I'm becoming more of a roadie!?); really fast, NO rocks, a couple steep short hills but nothing too substantial, a few good downhills, and lots of tight twisty singletrack. I actually feel like my Anthem was designed for the course; the fast handling really helped. Because they kept us at the start line for about 10 minutes before actually starting, I (along with everyone else) pretty much lost whatever warm-up I had done, so the start was pretty tough. A few guys took off with an acceleration that I simply couldn't match and were not seen from a again. About 2 min in, a guy hit a log at an angle and went down right in front of me, but I was able to skirt around with no issues. Because the turnout was so big, the only time I was really riding by myself was the fourth lap, about the last half or so. This is also where I started to feel things in the 'engine room' shutting down...I think I didn't eat quite enough. My 3rd lap was probably my fastest, and I probably lost a couple minutes running out of gas and losing the train I was on...there were wide-open sections of fire-road with a decent headwind, so believe it or not, drafting actually came into play.

I got 5th, not bad overall, and a sign my fitness is pretty much where I thought it was. I definitely finished better than I did at Hopbrook last year, where I was 11 min behind the winning time; this race, only ~4 minutes.

Next race, next week: the Massasoit Lung Opener in Taunton. I'm Looking forward to it.

Shorts Weather

Finally the weather has broken, and all of a sudden it's not winter any more! Of course, after the one-two punch we just endured in this area, the trails are strewn with sticks and water-laden (and pretty much unridable until they dry), and the roads are riddled with potholes. On the plus side, it's been almost 70 degrees the last few days, and supposed to stay like that through the weekend. The transition from winter's deep freeze, and riding across frozen lakes, to riding in shorts happened so quickly it feels very surreal. Speaking of winter, it was actually a pretty not-bad one, as Massachusetts winters go. I stayed in shape, and did a solid amount of base miles.

I now am the proud owner of a SL+ PowerTap; I have ridden ~500 miles since January 3rd on my road bike; probably about 300 between my three mountain bikes -- that’s a solid base, and definitely the most winter riding I’ve done to date; and, as a corollary as having the PowerTap, I am now keeping a training journal, and able to see exactly how much – or how little – progress I'm making.


I love having a power meter – so far my feeling is that it’s been worth every penny. For instance, now I know that my average heart rate on the Boxford loop is 15 bpm lower than it was in January, while making about 10 watts more. That is progress! I also find having the it makes trainer riding a lot more bearable; breaking it down into intervals and blocks help the time to go by faster than just hopping on and spinning with no data for an hour or an hour and a half at a time.

Very solid 8 hour week last week, including two night road rides, a 3 hour endurance ride up to Ipswich on Saturday, and awesome ride – the first of the season -- through Breakheart. The recent storm had definitely left its mark on the trails; tons of down branches and even some massive trees blocking the way. Matt and I cleared what we could but there are two huge trees that are going to have to be left up to the DRC to take care of…I’m not holding my breath!

Some random blurbs:

-To do, as in, this week: apply for USAC license for ’10, and Cat 1 upgrade.
-I Still want to find a new road bike for this season. Keep searching for the right one to come along…right now the main contender is still a Cervelo R3-SL, but I’d also consider a Madone if the right deal came along.

I’ve also decided I’m going to go with a Raxter trailer hitch rack for the SI. As much as I cringe at the thought of adding ~50 lbs to my car, it’s far better than the alternative of a roof rack, and after considerable research, I definitely think Raxter has the best design as far as hitch racks go.


More to come as the season gets under way. First race on Mar 28th! Although, I guess technically the first race of the season was the tricycle race at the EFTA banquet last month, which I lost by a hair!

Ciao '09!

All of a sudden, I haven't ridden in over a week. What the hell? Oh, right - it's December. I had ideas for a grandiose super-update, but the words just aren't coming. It's surprisingly difficult to think of goals for riding, or anything riding-related when there's a foot of snow outside and I haven't even looked at a bicycle in a week. Suffice to say, since my last update in October, I've logged some decent miles, but nothing truly epic (hence the lack of update). My last ride was a week ago from Friday, in the the Fells. It was..cold. Very cold. About 15 degrees. The great thing about it being that cold is that no one else goes out; I had zero hiker run-ins on the ride, something which I can't say about my previous foray into holier-than-thou place known as Middlesex Fells.

Goals for 2010:
-Upgrade to Cat 1 for MTB
-Do more Root 66 races
-Do a (preferably many) road race.
-Do a (preferably many) cross race.
-Get a new road bike.
-Get a powermeter that actually works, and use it to do structured intervals.

That's it for now...I'm sure I'll think of more. Did I mention there's a foot of snow outside? Time to buy a (better) trainer.

Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground

Motivation to ride...slipping. Fitness...also slipping. It's not that I don't still want to ride, it's just that, after coming home from work, and it being dark before I can even collect my thoughts, it means every ride would have to be a night ride. I like night rides, but not as much as rides during the day. I’m usually only good for one night ride a week. It’ s just a lot of effort, and not as much fun. It doesn’t help that the past few nights it’s been down in the lower 30s. Like last night, for instance, I had every good intention of bucking the trend and strapping on the lights to hit up the trails, but when it came down to it, baked mac n cheese and watching House seemed like a better time.

My only real riding the past couple weeks have been on the weekends. Last Saturday I banged out a solid 75 miles on the road, going up to Newbury/Rowley and back through Georgetown/Boxford area. Atrocious headwind the whole way (somehow, despite it being a loop), and pretty chilly temps. Still felt good to get out, though. Weekend before last was a big one; 50-ish chilly, windy, (somewhat-hung-over) road miles up through Boxford, Breakheart (“full bitch”, or full loop for those unaccustomed do Team BH parlance), then a epic doubleheader on Monday, since I took Columbus Day off from work. First Matt and I hit up the Fells, then I rode home, crammed down a couple sandwiches, and headed up to Harold Parker with Nate. He showed me some an awesome new trail that someone (I’m guessing NEMBA?) had obviously built for mountain bikers and obviously put a lot of thought and effort into. Thank you, whoever is responsible for it! It is awesome, sweet berms, nice sheer drop off to the side at one point, and a super fun pump track - which I need to get better at riding ( I was never really a BMXer). In all, on Monday I’d estimate I probably put down 35-40 miles of trail riding, a solid day.

This may come as a shock to some of you, but I’m on the fence! I’m on the fence about getting into cross racing, but something that may have just pushed me off was coming across a sweet Independent Fabrications Planet Cross for sale in my size on Craigslist. If I can grab it, I will be off to the races. It looked like too good of a deal not to jump on, so I did. I’m hoping the seller gets back to me soon! I figure I’ll try a cross race or two…just having some kind of racing going on will help boost my recently flagging motivation to keep my fitness.

It’s tough staying fit when the daylight starts waning – I like Oktoberfest beer too much!

Fort Rock Revenge

To be honest, upon awakening to the sound of heavy rain at 7AM, my motivation to race was probably the lowest it’s ever been the whole summer, but with it being the last race at Fort Rock (the end of a 14 year era), and it being the last EFTA race of the season, I knew I had to do it. Having Nate to go up with also didn’t hurt. We got our free McDonald's coffees (which only meant we had to wait in the slowest drive-thru line ever for about 20 minutes), and headed up Route 95 through the chilly rainy morning towards Exeter. As I finished my coffee on the way up, I start to get excited about racing. The weather up north was actually not as bad; by the time we got to Exeter it wasn’t raining at all.

Turnout was a bit disappointing, but then I was reminded that the Vermont 50 was also being held today. Riding 50 miles on muddy trails in the pouring rain…jeeze, for once I’m actually glad I didn’t attempt the VT 50. My goal for this race was to clinch the EFTA title for Senior 1 Expert, which I was already pretty sure I was going to do regardless of my finish in this race, and second, to try to beat Brian from JRA, who has consistently finished 1-3 minutes ahead of me in every EFTA race this season (and most of last year). I got a good warm up in, heading down to Exeter center and back on route 85, and was feeling good. The race had a fun, relaxed atmosphere, and I was in a good mood. My race number was 13 - what could possibly go wrong!? I let a bit of air out of the tires, to put them right around 25, put a bit of air in the SID, and then it was time to line up. I was disappointed to see I was the only Senior 1 expert, but there was a strong showing from the Vet 1 and Vet2 field, and a lot of those ‘old guys’ are fast! They announced it would only be 3 laps for Expert, and a 4 mile course, so a total of only 12 miles, as compared to last year’s 18 mile course.

The first lap I didn’t quite get a hole shot, but was probably 4 or 5 bikes back from the front, and going at a good pace, keeping sight of the leaders until the first technical section where, of course, it bunched up. From then out, I was riding right ton Brian McGinnis’ rear wheel, until about the half way point in the lap, where I snuck by and hit the gas hard to try to put some distance between us. It worked. After the first lap, and going into the second one, I couldn’t hear the wail of disc brakes, nor see any riders behind me. I kept a pretty good pace going, but could tell the course was getting more slippery. I actually was really enjoying the course; although it was wet, it really wasn’t that muddy (no mud bogs ala Harding Hill), and other than one hike-a-bike section, the course had pretty good flow. Although they never showed the lap times, I’m pretty sure my first lap was my fastest. I’m not sure if it wasn’t getting enough sleep the 3 days proceeding, or if maybe I should have had a bigger breakfast, but I felt myself start to lose my technical edge about half way through the second lap; I was getting ragged around the edges. I think part of it was that the course was getting slicker, which started to affect my confidence in riding over the roots and slick rock faces.

Going into lap 3, I passed Elite rider Chris Gagnon, who looked to be having a bad day, I relaxed the pace just a bit, and focused on trying to ride everything smoothly and not crash. In retrospect, I probably eased-off the pace a bit too much, as about three quarters of the way through lap 3, I heard someone coming up behind me quickly, and, low and behold, it was Brian. He passed me almost like I was standing still, and I tried to keep contact, but bobbled on a rocky section after a wet bridge, and he got a gap. I knew the race was just about over, so I tried as hard as I could to keep him in sight. As we came out of the woods onto the approximately ½ mile double track trail leading to the finish, he was about 50 yards ahead of me. I gave it all I had, and closed the gap somewhat, but in the end it wasn’t enough, and he beat me by 7 seconds.

I didn’t beat Brian, but it was the most close I’ve come all season! Back at the Gloucester Grind in May he beat me by 6 minutes, in an equally technical, approximately same length race.( http://www.efta.com/PDF/results/2009/2009%20grind.pdf ) Overall the final race at Fort Rock was a very fun race. I got first for Senior 1 Expert (only person in it! ), and clinched my second consecutive EFTA Expert Senior 1 title. Next year I’ll be a Senior II, and have some very stiff competition, I’m looking forward to it.

With the mountain bike race season officially over, it marks the beginning of Cyclocross season and night ride season. While I’m avidly into the later; I have yet to get into the former. I’ve been keeping my eyes out for a moderately-priced Cyclocross bike. I did a road ride up to Gloucester this past Sunday to watch the Gran Prix of Gloucester, it definitely looked like a lot of fun.

Great night road ride last week, too. Did the Boxford loop with Nate. Left around 6:30, and within 20 minutes, it was time for the lights. With the super bright Planet Bike LED taillight, and my trusty Jet Halogen, at no point did I feel unsafe, or question whether cars could see me. Those quiet, dark (no streetlights) roads in Boxford are awesome to cruise down in the stillness of night. It’s just you, the bubble of light ahead of you, and the moon. The night scenery silently and effortlessly flies by, and it is simply, beautiful.

All the riding from here until the first snow falls will be for fun. No more intervals, recovery rides, or staying in on the weekends to rest for a big race. It’s the season of night rides, arm warmers, and beer. Bring it on.

Mt Snow Race Report , or: I went to Vermont and All I got was this lousy speeding ticket

A fairly uneventful race at Mt Snow this past Sunday. The most eventful thing was a Vermont statie bagging me on the way up. Note: do not speed in Vermont! I was only speeding because I had missed the exit off of 91, and had to double back...shit. There goes my perfect driving record.

Anyway, it was a rather disappointing turnout (see picture), I guess all those people that said they were going to boycott this, the third race at Mt Snow, weren't kidding. Well it sucks to be them, because the conditions were perfect. No mud. Yes, that's right, I said no mud - at Mount Snow. In fact it was downright dusty.

Hopefully this will be my final race as a Cat 2, as I'm pretty sure USAC will approve my upgrade to 1 next season, but alas, the field wasn't very deep for this race; total of maybe 20 Cat 2's?

The number one thing about this race that will stick out in my head was how...eerie it was. The weather was perfect, but there was just that sense in the back of my head, that I won't be here again for a while, and that the season is - except for Fort Rock next week - basically over. It was eerie because, other than the few Cat 2 racers (the Cat 1 race was earlier in the day and they had since cleared out), the place was a ghost town. Last time I was at Mt Snow it was Nationals complete with the festival atmosphere, and that's how I remembered it. I was expecting a much bigger crowd, considering the epic turnout of Landmine last week.

The ghost-town-ness of the venue and the course made for a rather lonely race. From the gun I took off and was shocked...5 seconds into the race and every one was well behind me and except for one fellow sandbagger who took right off up the hill and was never seen again - in the end he beat me by about 2 min, giving me second place. Speaking of sandbagging, the cat 2 guys didn't take kindly to me asking if we could do 3 laps at the start line...only 2? I know, it's a tough course, but c'mon - I drove three hours here! At any rate, I was by myself 90% of the race, except for the near end of the first lap where a guy passed me like I was standing still on a really rough downhill section, then we rode together through the lap point, and I slowly put a gap into him going back up on the second lap. Once at the top, I could not see him, and hopped I had put enough time between us on the climb, as he was obviously a better descender ( and it didn't hurt he was riding a Ellsworth Truth, what is that, a 5" of travel?) Luckily I did put enough time into him, as despite my sucky descending, I finished about two min ahead of him.


The course was pretty damn good, I gotta say. The downhills were very challenging, I need practice at extreme downhilling like that, as we don't really have anything remotely similar in this neck of the woods. I felt pretty strong on the climb, but man, is it brutal. All that fire road at ~20% grade in spots is demoralizing to say the least. I definitely could have done a third lap, and I feel like it would have been faster than the previous two just from having a better idea of the lines on the downhill. Oh well, so it goes.

Fort Rock next week, and then the fat lady sings for the '09 MTB race season..