Epic Racing around the World

Some are more betterer than others.

Sue had a great weekend…held her ground in the XC and in exciting news, is a hair away from making the final selection in the STXC. Short track racing is a battle. There’s little to zero pacing involved - its full gas, all the time. Because of this, tactics, instincts, and positioning become the difference between winning, losing, and finishing 8th. Tiny moments of hesitation or aggression can come back to haunt you…and what works last week might not work next week. Or maybe they do work. Either way, it makes for a good show, and bodes well for Sue’s cyclocross season.

On the flip side, after a solid XC placing on Saturday by Alders, STXC is a tough go for most guys. The younger you are, and the less consistent your results, the tougher your day will be in STXC.

Short track success is made far more obtainable by having a solid start position. From the front you at least the position is yours to lose, rather than having to gain time on the leaders from 5 rows back! But…such is the nature of the game. It takes massive and instant horsepower, aggressive positioning and maneuvering, and cojones. Not to say Mitchell or Bryan didn’t have these attributes on Sunday…but you either have a great STXC, or you don’t. There is no middle ground.

XC allows you to find your race…STXC demands you have instantly.

I altered this photo, obviously. Thin and Thinner, the Peterson brothers, couldn’t find the proper color thongs for their day cheering in the feed zone. If they’d have given me a heads up, I have a great purple T-back with sequins I’d have been more than happy to loan out.

There’s a saying….Scared money don’t make none.

To some this brings up images of irresponsible gambles and risks. To others it says if you repeat what you’re doing, you’ll get more of the same. To risk or not…neither strategies in life are without their respective caveats. I’ve been victim to both situations and while coming up short is never without its particular sting and residual bad taste, I think the flavor of having not tried lingers longer…and the taste is far worse.

Thursday was the U23 XC national championship race in Mt Snow, Vermont. Two youngin’s from MonavieCannondale were contesting the event, and each rider came in with drastically different goals, and preparation. Before you size up either their goals or the path the two athletes took to get this race realize that both journeys were an example of going big, living, and wanting it all.

Mitchell Peterson, like most of us that went to the BC Bike Race, dug deep during the event.

He, with a freshly minted ID that states his legal age of 21, likely dug deeper than the rest of us…but the BC race was as much a race for its pure experience as it was a massive gamble in training….you’ll either emerge unable to get out of your own way…or pave your own way off the front once recovered from the intense week-long effort.

And forge his way into the lead he did. Eyes on the big prize, THE jersey. The Stars and Bars of a national champion aren’t very often available, and even less frequently obtainable. Mitchell put every chip he had on the table on Black #5…the dead man’s gamble. Lead the race from lap 1 and see if you can hold on to it. That’s a strategy I wish I was capable of implementing at a national championship event.

Lap 1. Lap 2. Lap 3….Neither the baking grades of Vermont’s ski slopes nor the rooted and dank and dark forest downhills would compromise his lead…but the scent of betrayal was in the air. It could be tasted…chewed…but not spat out.

Lap 4….Fatigue.

A desperate man’s gamble, where you bet it all, and while you have nothing to lose…you have everything to lose.

Mitchell was caught. His lead, evaporated. Where empty space formerly existed…now it was filled with another competitor.

A revolt of massive proportions was brewing. Lactic acid. Low blood sugar. The taste of iron, of blood, dirt, and of the labor of an failed effort became harder to ignore. And then there was empty space ahead of Mitchell as the jersey rode away and into someone else’s dream, another man’s gamble. That silver medal might look not-so-bright in that moment, Mitchell, its an effort and result you should be proud of. We all are.

Blake…touring Europe for 5 weeks.

Epic rides, drives, views, experiences, and amounts of nutella…I’m sure you remember his photos. Not the best way to prepare for a mountain bike race, but would you hedge your bets on a mountain bike race against a trip of a life time? So travel and vacation he did…he trained, he traveled, he lived the life any of us would dream of…if we were brave enough to dream of traveling Europe on our own…getting lost, bikes stolen, boundaries challenged and obliterated. Which is the better experience? Which is living?

Both.

But I’ll say that either you pay the piper now…or later, when it comes to racing. The piper wants his training and Blake wasn’t enjoying having his time clock punched today.

Obviously, these days, anti-doping efforts are something we’re all supporting. Clearly, riding slow is a good way to catch the eye of USADA. “Sir..I’ll need you to provide a sample, please.“

Both stories inspired me while they were happening. Blake’s travels and Mitchell’s effort and aggressive racing…both should remind us of choices we’ve enjoyed, regretted, or wished we’d gone after…and the beauty of it all is that its only bike racing and there’s a sweet swimming hole not to far down the road.

Huck it!

Last weekend Bryan Alders and Sue Butler packed (did they ever unpack?) their bags and headed ‘back East for a little warm up at the NMBS event in upstate New York.

Going to the East for those of us that live west of the Mississippi is a return our roots on some level…and typically it involves the same things each year - sweating, some rain, bug bites, jet lag, and nasaly accents. That rather sounds like any random night in ‘Vegas, but back to the trip…and racing.

The Windham Mountain resort was a new course for the national circuit and from most accounts…was fun. An old pro once told me there’s no room for fun in mountain bike racing…but things seem to be changing.

Typically racing at a ski resort involves A) riding up steep gravel roads B) blowing up and going into oxygen debt (bonus points for any ski resort below 6000′)  and C) putting your race back together.

Sue and Bryan both found the going rough in their respective XC events. Sue gets a pass on her dead legs as a quick scan of the results sheet for both the men and women’s races shows that anyone who did the BC Bike race and followed it up with the Windham event suffered with tired legs. I’d say Sue’s 15th place was pretty good for doing a 30hour training (racing) block the week before to be pretty dang good. Alders…well 27th is better than finishing 57th, and both made progress in the following day’s STXC - 8th for Sue and 15th for Bryan…who was the last guy to get pulled. There’s little worse than being pulled…all that suffering and riding in circles in the dirt and dust only to not be allowed to ride three more laps under said circumstances…only to never catch the guy just ahead.

Looks like I was working with some bad information here. Alders got waxed and finished 22nd.

This week Alders and Sue have been joined by Mitchell Peterson and Blake Harlan, who will be racing in the U23 event on Thursday. Pro XC for the men and women is on Saturday.  On the Oregon front, I’ll (sager) will be racing the Gorge Games in Hood River, OR…STXC on Friday, XC on Mt Hood’s Ski Bowl is Sunday. In between we’ll be checking out the skatboard, kiteboard, and windsurfing events. I’m thinking wind power might be something to suggest to the Cannondale R&D department.

Rip it!

Blake Harlan checks in after his month-long tour of the Continent Europe:

Well now that the gelato coma is fading and the jet lag is wearing off, I think I can take a quick recap of the coolest places I rode in Europe. It started in the Czech Republic…..

Shredding Czech single track…

From Prague, we headed west into Germany. Wurstberg is a pretty amazing place.

From Germany we headed south to Switzerland.

Our second stop in Switzerland was to Speiz, one of my favorite stops of the trip. The riding was amazing. Story book views and roads.

From Speiz we headed south to Locarno, Switzerland. Here I did an epic mountain bike ride and even made it to the 2003 Mountain Bike World Championships course.

The view from the top of the world.

Euro 1 Track.

We also watched a stage of the Tour de Suisse. The vibe and energy at a European pro race is something that can’t be described…but I’d relate it to something along the lines of the NBA finals, but outside. And with shorter guys on bikes.

Next it was off to Italy to cheer on our friends and teammates at Val di Sole for the 2008 World Mountain Bike Championships.

From there it was south to La Spezia, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

After Italy we made our way to Andorra, in the heart of the Pyryness. Duty free shopping, for those into Cosco-sized boxes of smokes and liquor.

And then it was time for Spain. First stop, Girona.

Then Barcelona….the riding here was minimal. Too many siestas.

With three days to go in our trip we arrived in Valencia. Unfortunately, in the 15minutes it took for us to check into our hotel, our car window was smashed and all things cycling related stolen…including my MonavieCannondale custom painted scalpel. Keep your eyes open on ebay.eu for one of these floating around.

However, the squad came to the rescue…with only a hand full of days before National Championships in Vermont, I arrived home to a replacement bike. How’s that for service?!

Recap and the obvious: the trip was awesome. So many experiences, so many stories to tell. Thanks to the team for helping me out! I leave tomorrow for Vermont to race with teammates Mitch Peterson, Sue Butler and Bryan Alders in the US National Championships, should be fun….but I plan on taking the bike inside with me this time.

Leana writes in from the Deer Valley NMBS in Park City, Utah.

I raced my Cannondale Rize for the first time this past weekend at the NMBS national at Deer Valley. The national featured a dual slalom race on a new course built yards from the resort, which combined with the evening scheduling, drew in large crowds of spectators.

I qualified as the second fastest on Friday only beaten by the current World Champion, Melissa Buhl. The course was fast and boasted loose corners and a variety of jumps and obstacles, and qualifying times were around 20 seconds so times were close.

In the finals, I breezed through her first round against the 7^th seeded woman, and moved onto the semi finals were she was up against Lisa Myklak. The races between the two were some of the best of the night with the girls battling in both heats all the way to the finish. Lisa won the first heat by a knob on a tire and I won the second heat by about the same but in the end it was Lisa who took the win to move onto the finals by .004 of a second.

In the small final heat I was paired against South African Joanna Petterson, whom I typically battle back and forth with. Aboard the new Rize, I  was able to take both wins in the heat to secure 3^rd place finish at the event.

I had such a blast racing today, I may not have done as well as I had hoped but the heats were close, so I know I am in there. As I ride my Rize more, I can only get better and hopefully I can get a few wins at the upcoming nationals at Windham [New York], and Mount Snow [Vermont]. The Rize worked so awesome, we got it down to 26 pounds and it accelerates so well, I just wished the course had more corners for me to pedal out of.

I also competed in the downhill event, on a very challenging course and placed 5th.

Wrap ups. Cheesy music and montage slide shows….what do they leave you with other than drowsiness, a numb rump, and a glazed over look in your eyes?

I’ve often found that it takes a few miles between myself and an accomplishment to truly evaluate the experience….a view is often found from a distance. Looking back at the BC Bike Race will take some time, as currently the view of the forest is obstructed for all the trees….and fatigue, aches, pains, and the pile of laundry that has yet to be sorted through out in the garage.

Waxing nostalgic, what strikes me about the event was the nature of the team format that the race uses. 2 riders per team, and in our case, 3 teams racing, 1 team supporting. That’s a lot of folks, on and off the trail.

Tinker, Ohran, Bart, Sue, Keating, Mitchell, Jamin, Sager….8 of us…some of us rode bikes, others wrenched, others healed broken bodies, but each overlapped over the other and enriched the individual’s experience to blend the week’s team effort into what it was.

There are but a few singular moments of my own from the race. Sure, no one pedaled the bike for me, but the pedaling, that’s been done a million times from here to Istanbul.

Hard work on the bike is all the same.

What I’m carrying back from the Great White North is a camaraderie between my teammates, my competition, and terrain which always seemed dictating our effort and ushering us around like small kittens in the back of a dark garage.

Every day there were battles. Sometimes you’re battling the course, surviving, never conquering. Other times it was battling your partner, hanging on by a thread, or stretching them to their limits. Within those battles were micro-conquests…the teams that would usher in a resurgence of energy and motivation…they’re not beating us! or sometimes the guys you were happy to have escort you around their local rides, as was the case often, since the front group usually was largely comprised of BC local Canadian pros.

The week for me, is a blur of feeding with friends…

Riding with friends…

Helping friends…

Waiting around with friends…

Chasing with friends…

Dorking around with friends…

Sharing fatigue with friends…

Being supported by friends…

Givin’R with friends…

Conquering the unknown (and bizarre) with friends…

Living the simple lifestyle with friends…

And succeeding with friends.

I’ll leave you with this. Its 5:30am and likely you’ve drifted off into the deepest sleep of the night. The tent has finally cooled off, you’ve found the perfect balance of air pressure in the thermarest, and finally that guy two tents over has stopped sleeping.

And then this guy pierces your dreams. Time to make the donuts.

Next up…a little (or a lot) of rest, then the mtb National Championships in Mt Snow, Vermont, and Tinker’s 24 Hour World Solo Title defense in Canmore, Alberta. Back to Canada for us, eh?

I’ll check back in shortly with a break down of what we learned…equipment wise - tires, gearing, suspension setup, fueling, pacing,  and all the little in’s and out’s that you only pick up through experience (and often doing it wrong).

We’re all smoked from a week of racing, so I’ll let the photos tell the stories.

Bart G shredding the single track. Today was the rootiest riding I’ve ever seen. I loved it.

The start today was horrible. Straight up the ski slope on semi-groomed dirt. I have no idea how Hestler drags himself and his two enormous arms up those grades so quickly.

Bridges. The River Runs Through It trail is awesome. Unfortunately the race runs up the trail…rather than down the natural direction of it.

I’d love to come back, fresh, and not without arm pump and fried legs to ride this trail. Awesome bridges and stunts around every corner, the “flat” profile doesn’t do the difficulty of this trail justice.

One of the cooler bridge views.

We probably rode a few miles, cumulatively, of these wooden slat tracks.

Did I mention this one climb we did?

I’ll sum the week up later, now its time to sleep and let the arm pump fade. Sue and Matt held onto their 2nd overall in the Co-Ed category, we arrested our backwards tumble to hold onto 4th on GC.

</rant over>

Stage racing. I always call it “the bubble”. While you’re stage racing, little is known about the outside world. You forget what day it is, where you were yesterday, and are continually amazed at where your time goes.

But…the world keeps going, and the only reason we’re able to live in this bubble is because of the hard work everyone else is doing to make this race happen.

These guys…life savers.

Jamin and Ryan are our support crew. Bikes are fixed, re fixed, and then re-re-fixed without anything more than a smile and a jump to action…and Jamin leaves us on the table for so long I have to get up out of guilt rather than because the massage and body work has been wrapped up. Venue set up, food, water, parts, baggage, there isn’t a worry for us to…well, worry about!

Thanks guys…I can’t (and don’t want) to imagine embarking on this effort without ya’ll being there for us.

Alright, enough with the mushy hippie free love ass grabbing and pats on the back, Bart and I got waxed today!

I’ll tell you this, the most I’ve ever suffered in a race was when I was once doing a two-man team time trial. The guy I was riding with was faster, stronger, and feeling great..I was the polar opposite of each of those adjectives. So I know the deep and dark cave of pain that Bart has season box seats in this week.

Its been unusual this week in that the front group ebbs and flows a bit more than they typically do. Each team will have a rough day, a mechanical, a bad patch, a partner who misses a split or is challenged particularly more by a section of the course more so than his partner or the group. It becomes surprisingly tactical out there, especially with some of the teams doing the every other day program (lose 2hrs one day then pin it from the gun the next day). So..you have to pick your battles, evaluate your competitors, maximize your strengths and try to hide your weaknesses. Today we were on the back foot and the Aussies and Ticos knew it (and were having a good day themselves). They upped the pace at just the wrong point early on and caught us out…but even then, when trying to chase like a three-legged dog, you find the little battles, and like they said at our original rider meeting on Day Zero:

“If you’re going to fight a bear, win.”

Tinker’s riding well…but when I asked Mitchell, mockingly, if that’s all he had in the tank…he pipped back…”dude, I didn’t even bring the tank today”.

Matt and Sue punched in and did their job finally…putting the wood to CX’national champion Katie Compton’s team…by a few minutes. So maybe that’s not the wood but more like balsa. Good job, folks.

Today I didn’t bring the camera. I expected to be suffering and not in any position to play photo-hog. Turns out I could’ve but I paid in spades on the downhill for the pain I wasn’t receiving on the climb. Likely today was the first time I’ve ever PRAYED for a downhill to stop. I wonder if they make an Ibuprofen gel? Bart found his mojo and chased down the Gary Fisher boys like Charlie in ‘Nam…as well as guest rider Alison Sydor, un-chicking ourselves and taking a Fisher scalp in the process. Good on ya, Bart.

Pics.

Sue on the road climb. The photos will never do the place justice. If you’ve raced Mt. Snow before, imagine 80k’s of that course, but more roots, rocks, holes, bridges, the most huge’er’est forest you’ve ever laid eyes on, and thousands of feet of vertical at your disposal (up and down).

Bridges. Again, weak photo. The big ones require magic to navigate. My new name is The Wizard.

Laundry. Try keeping 6 rider’s clothing straight after 5 stages without washing anything. And, yes…we lost a few socks.

The start. Six days in and the starts are still semi-serious. What I’ve noticed changing is the willingness for folks to stand in line for the food….us monkeys are learning new tricks and arriving in waves!

Just when you thought you were out of the race and have brought your camera along to enjoy the ride…you find yourself 2nd on the stage and back in the hunt for the overall.

Today’s stage was a big climbing day and finished with one of the best downhill sections of trail I’ve ever ridden. Ever. 2500′ vertical drop over 10k…spread out over perfect dirt, dozens of crazy bridges and stunts, and enough twisty sections to make us forget we were bike racing. I hit my shoulder pretty severely on a tree but luckily at the finish had Dr. Gilliespie check me out and nothing’s broken…though it feels like it.

Time for Vitamin I(buprofin)

Everyone wants a play by play. I think those are boring but here we go.

They say go. Roll out of town rather aggressively. Every yahoo in the pack thinks they’re going to take the lead today despite over 2000meters of climbing 5 days into a stage race.

Finally a selection is made after about 15min and on the fire roads everyone chills until it turns up again. Canadian Olympian Seaums turns the screws and I rode up with them and the Rocky Mtn boys while Bart stayed in the main group digesting his breakfast.

At feed station 1 I regrouped with Bart and took a few photos. We have Trek, the Ticos, Aussies, Fisher, Kona, and MonavieCannondale…a bit more climbing, some DH, a missed turn, more DH…now we’re down to Trek and MonavieCannondale….team tactics are at play as Bart, Tinker, and I have the upper hand skill wise on the single track climbs…and Bart’s back with his climbing legs.

By the top of the last climb its juts Bart and I followed by Tinker…and its freeride time to the finish, flawless riding by Bart and one tree check by me.

Mitchell crashed and broke his seatpost…and was forced to ride the entire DH without a seat. Try it sometime and you’ll realize how much you use the seat/post as a lever to control the bike.

Ohran and Sue blew the socks off of most of the men’s teams and finished strongly behind the Kona and Spike teams…still holding onto second place but we have two more stages to go!

By bike, ferry, and…bus.