Epic Racing around the World

Lately its been rare for the traditional print media outlets to cover more than the same shallow and hollow story of what happens in the first two places of most events.

In the current issue of Velonews, Fred Dreier put together a pleasant article on Bart’s stand out performances are the national championships of his two favorite two-wheeled sports.

Congrats Bart!

By Blake Harlan

January 24th… and the off season activities are coming to end. I don’t think I’ve even finished all of last season’s laundry yet!

Monavie/Cannondale’s Boulder crew has started to pick up the winter training regimen which, thanks to an unsual snow pack, has consisted of activities such as yoga, running, weights, core workouts and of course riding bikes…for about an hour at time.

Bryan and I officially kicked off first dry roads of the month with a 100 mile ride to Carter Lake - choosing the warmest and flattest routes, of course. Not to say we took it easy - is a 100 miles ever not a challenge?

But…the hard work was appropirate. Though it seems very early, the first race of the season is only weeks away. Feb 16th will mark my first race of 2008. The race is the, Mas o Menos Desert Challenge in Terlingua, TX. It’s been awhile since I last raced in the Republic of Texas, my home turf, but it should be a great time.

I plan on riding the Scalpel decked out with the new Reynolds Topo C carbon clincher wheels and I couldn’t be any more excited. While the racing form might not be there, racing 100K at sea level should be a nice change of pace from Boulder’s frigid temps and gale force winds.

The 2008 racing calendar is coming together nicely for us here in the People’s Republic of Boulder. Top notch mountain bike events are on the radar, including the Medalla Light UCI race in Puerto Rico in 8 weeks time. The whole gang will be going out to that one, including us, and just in time for spring break! There’s nothing like racing in the tropical jungle followed by laying out on the beach immediately afterward.

But..before then, I have to crawl down the stairs with sore legs and windburned face for another bike ride. Time to make the donuts!

Which would you rather do - end your year poorly, or start it off as such?

That’s perhaps a bit harsh, but with travel and racing, often the measuring stick, and at times justifiably so, is in the results. There are few moral victory points in racing, but I’ll say its better to go out in a blaze of glory than to never have ignited at all.

Friday I escaped, solo, from the depths of winter in Portland to the endless summer of Los Angeles. Virgin skin and shielded eyes were singed by the glowing orb in the sky…how quickly in Oregon you forget what clear and unabated skies look like.

The race was a small affair offering a jump start on the ‘08/09 cyclocross UCI points standings. To race an early season cyclocross race, out of your region and seasonal timeline is put to your performance out there to be evaluated. An unfinished cake or project that merely is having its temperature taken somewhere along the way during its building process. For some, to peek in at the progress would ruin it. For me, I love to measure, evaluate and enjoy that return on the hard work that goes into getting back into race shape. We’re not there yet, but the fire’s been fueled and fed a bit.

And at least now I know which side of the oven is cooking more slowly than the rest.

Welcome to ‘08, folks.

It seems like just yesterday we were wrapping up the season…warm and tired in Moab, but looking forward to all of the calm and quiet that winter would bring.

Heading into winter, typically everyone’s full of high-fives and high hopes for next season’s races…it always seems like we have so much time to prepare. After all, July is a long time from now, right?

Well, sure, July isn’t even on the radar for quite awhile, but…the work started months ago. And now that its already mid-January, weeks and months of what was supposed to be a calm and restful winter, have already past. Last week, before heading back to school in Boulder, Blake stopped by the Sager Training compound in Portland to put in some quality time…in the rain, and cold. What else were you expecting? Sun? Fender up, soldiers.

In an effort to keep the cobwebs out of the legs and prevent my frequent flyer miles account from stagnating, an early season trip to Texas for some late season cyclocross was scheduled. Things didn’t quite work out en route when the red-eye flight was canceled without any solutions available…other than to sit the night out and head home on the first available plane. I ended up back in Portland before the re-scheduled Texas flight would have even landed.

While missing out on a pair of warm and sunny cyclocross races isn’t the best way to start the season, the aborted trip did have a silver lining in that, from the gun, I was reminded to roll with what life gives us, and make the best of it.

Either that, or learn to fly a 757.

It turns out, I was easily able to roll the Texas ticket into one to sunnier and warmer Southern California’s last (or first) UCI ‘cross race of the season this weekend. Texas is great, but I’ll take sunny LA over San Antonio, without too much arguing.

While things have been quiet here on the monaviecannondale.com site here for the past month, I’m sure the rest gave everyone the rest they were looking forward to. Stay tuned for a new look on the site, announcement of the moving and shaking the team’s about to unveil, as well as our ‘08 schedule of events.

Of particular interest…10 days in Puerto Rico in late March/early April, with an open invite for all.