Well, they don't call it 'America's Toughest Stage Race' for nothing! The Tour of Utah is the real deal and so was this year's field. It was pretty awesome to be able to race against guys like Oscar Sevilla and Dave Zabriskie, considering that just this spring I was banging elbows with the local Cat 4's. I went into the race as prepared as I could be, given that I had never competed in an NRC race before and not totally knowing what I was in for.
The first race was a prologue, 2.8 miles long. It was a steady uphill drag to turnaround and a superfast return. I started hard, hoping to make some time on the way out and just hang on the way back. I felt like I had a decent race but finished mid-pack. I was about 25 seconds behind Zabriskie... Not terrible for a guy who doesn't own a TT bike but I was looking for more.
Day two was a tough one. I was looking for something big on the several long, steep climbs. From the start, my teammate Dave Clinger and I rode the front. It was no problem to hold position into the first climb. I felt awesome... and then I blew a tire. I got a new wheel quickly from the neutral support but the mechanic tweaked my brake pad when he pulled my flat off and it took an extra minute or so to readjust and get rolling again. Knowing the course, I realized that if I didn't get back on the pack by the top of the first climb my race was over. I'd have to ride 60 miles solo... So I killed myself to rejoin, which meant riding a 35 minute climb roughly 90 seconds faster than an NRC pack.... Not an ideal situation... But I did make it back to the group and settled in for the next hour of rolling terrain. I was pretty blown but still hoping my legs would come back around. They didn't. When we hit the final climb I was cooked, it was all I could do to just pedal up the hill. I lost 20 minutes on the peloton. Rough start but I knew I was riding well.
Day two was a 50 mile flat drag around Utah Lake and a 20 mile climb to the top of the Wasatch Range, 5300 feet later! Same story as day two. I rode near the front, held my position fairly well until we got close to the climb. The OUCH train came through and drilled it at the front before I could get the position I wanted and I struggled to get into the top 20. As we hit the base of the climb, the pack strung out immediately. I was too far back and didn't have a chance. I settled into a pace that I could hold for the next hour and a half of uphill and started picking people off. I rode my way up into the 60's (of 160 riders) by the finish. It wasn't bad but it could have been a lot better if I had moved up earlier... Lesson learned. No messing around in an NRC pack.
Day three was a flat 12 mile Time Trial. It was a blast. It was held on a race car track. The pavement was like marble flooring and the corners were smoother than anything I've ever ridden. I rode hard but generally felt flat. My legs didn't have it to get up to 30mph without really hurting and as I neared the finish, I couldn't speed up. I ended in 90th. Not a good TT for me but still one of the most fun I've ever ridden (I've only done 5 of them).
Day four was the queen stage. It was really hot, 100+ degrees and the course was brutal. 99 miles and over 10,000 ft of climbing. The first bit was pretty aggressive as there were a lot of attacks at the front. Eventually the pack sat up and a break went. I moved up early to get a shot at the lead pack over the first major climb (~1hr long @ 10% grade). I got there right where I wanted to be. I hammered but faded at a critical spot and lost about 20 feet to the lead group. When we got to where the road flattens out a bit, I was solo and the leaders left me in the dust. I crested the climb within a minute of the front and was eaten up by the second group. Over the next couple of minor climbs I just sat in and on the last major climb of the day (40 minutes @ 12% grade) I drilled it. I rode great and was putting out some good power for the tail end of a 4.5 hour race. I reeled in a lot of blown riders and dropped everyone in the second group. I finished up in 44th place and was fairly pleased with the day.
The last day was the crit. I underestimated it. I thought I would just ride it like I've ridden every other crit this summer. Not so. Not in an NRC race. The pace is so fast and the pack is so tight that positioning is everything... It was a long and brutal day and I found myself near the back of the pack more often than I would have liked. I ended in 101st. It wasn't a good race but I survived and learned more in that 90 minutes than I've learned in any race this year. I can't wait to get another crack at an NRC crit.
So I finished up dead center of the pack on GC, 80th place of 160 starters. I was looking for better and had I not flatted on the first stage, things would have been a bit different. Overall, it was an awesome experience. As August comes to an end, all I want to do is figure out how to ride my bike faster... but as a professional nordic skier, it is time to figure out where my upper body has gone. The snow will fall three months from now and I intend on being ready...
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Tour of Utah
Well the last couple weeks have been fairly straight forward, lots of riding. LOTS of riding. There is only one way to prepare for the 'hardest stage race in America' and that's by riding the hardest stages of the hardest stage race in America.
The Tour of Utah is a 6 day race. The first is a very short and fast prologue time trial. Day two is a road race with two major climbs and two minor climbs. Day three is a fairly flat start and a 20 mile uphill finish at the high point of the Wasatch Range on Mt Nebo. Day four is a flat time trial at the Miller Motorpark. Day 5 is an epic climb with 4 major climbs and two climbs that are beyond major, they are huge and very very steep. The last day is a 90 minute crit in downtown Salt Lake City.
When I returned from my last trip I decided to take a real rest week. I took 3 of the 7 days off and the rest of the week did no more than 2 hr long rides. It felt great and it was much needed after the last two months.
Recovered, it was time to get back to work. I threw down back to back 28 hour weeks with intensity every other day. I did nearly all of my hard work uphill. I think I've hit every major climb within 100 miles at least a couple of times now. Things have really been coming together and I feel like I am in the best riding shape I've been in all year, good timing.
Recovery has been extremely important these last couple weeks as I need to come back from this block very quickly. I've done my best to get my legs into some cold water after every workout. Its not my favorite thing in the world but it seems to be helping a lot. I've also been practically living in a pair of compression socks. I can't decide it they do anything or not, but hey, I'll give them a go.
These last couple of days have been a bit easier. I was pretty low on energy on Tuesday and Wednesday and I started to wonder if I had gone too deep but on Thursday it all started to come back together. I've been feeling better and better every day now. By Tuesday I should be ready to rock and that is the day of the prologue.
Following the Tour of Utah I'm planning on taking a bit of a break from training. I will have done nearly 40 races this summer and I don't want to fade midway through the winter. My special ladyfriend, Crystal is headed to California next Thursday to begin a Masters program at UC-Berkeley and I may head out there for a few days to help her get set up and explore the East Bay a bit more.
After that its time to get on the rollerskis and relearn how to use my arms. Should be interesting given that my triceps have migrated south for the summer.
More after the ToU. You can follow results on tourofutah.com.
The Tour of Utah is a 6 day race. The first is a very short and fast prologue time trial. Day two is a road race with two major climbs and two minor climbs. Day three is a fairly flat start and a 20 mile uphill finish at the high point of the Wasatch Range on Mt Nebo. Day four is a flat time trial at the Miller Motorpark. Day 5 is an epic climb with 4 major climbs and two climbs that are beyond major, they are huge and very very steep. The last day is a 90 minute crit in downtown Salt Lake City.
When I returned from my last trip I decided to take a real rest week. I took 3 of the 7 days off and the rest of the week did no more than 2 hr long rides. It felt great and it was much needed after the last two months.
Recovered, it was time to get back to work. I threw down back to back 28 hour weeks with intensity every other day. I did nearly all of my hard work uphill. I think I've hit every major climb within 100 miles at least a couple of times now. Things have really been coming together and I feel like I am in the best riding shape I've been in all year, good timing.
Recovery has been extremely important these last couple weeks as I need to come back from this block very quickly. I've done my best to get my legs into some cold water after every workout. Its not my favorite thing in the world but it seems to be helping a lot. I've also been practically living in a pair of compression socks. I can't decide it they do anything or not, but hey, I'll give them a go.
These last couple of days have been a bit easier. I was pretty low on energy on Tuesday and Wednesday and I started to wonder if I had gone too deep but on Thursday it all started to come back together. I've been feeling better and better every day now. By Tuesday I should be ready to rock and that is the day of the prologue.
Following the Tour of Utah I'm planning on taking a bit of a break from training. I will have done nearly 40 races this summer and I don't want to fade midway through the winter. My special ladyfriend, Crystal is headed to California next Thursday to begin a Masters program at UC-Berkeley and I may head out there for a few days to help her get set up and explore the East Bay a bit more.
After that its time to get on the rollerskis and relearn how to use my arms. Should be interesting given that my triceps have migrated south for the summer.
More after the ToU. You can follow results on tourofutah.com.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Many more crits, one more cat and another crash.
I just returned from a good road trip and many successful races. I headed out mid-last month to Boise for a big NRC race called Boise Twilight Criterium. Its a downtown, late night kind of thing that thousands of people come to watch. Its a lot of fun to race in front of that many people... It was a hot weekend in Boise and when I hit the pavement for the start of my race, it was a balmy 108 degrees.
As with any crit, we went in circles a bunch of times. A lot of attacks went off but there was a strong team from Salt Lake in the mix that pulled everything back. I was keying off them, hoping to get in a move with one of their guys but they wanted to bring it down to a field sprint... and so we did... I lined it up as well as I could, fighting my way up to 4th wheel into the second to last corner. Into the last corner the guy right in front of my slowed up and I missed the jump ahead of him and lost the chance to win. I went fast down the finish and held on for 4th, which wasn't stellar but it was a deep field and it did get me a few more upgrade points.
The next day was the ID State Criterium Championship. It was in a far off neighborhood that looked like the set from The Truman Show, about 20 miles from Boise. It was another super flat course but this one didn't have squared off corners like the downtown crit. It was back and forth the whole way and somehow it made a circle. It was a nice change. There were a few pros in the field left over from the day before and when we started I was trying to time attacks to get into a move with a couple of them. Bingo. It worked. We split the field down to 7 off the front and lapped the rest of the field. From there it was a bit of a drag race. No one could get away until a crash near the end of the race and one rider split off the front to eventually win. I had another good sprint but ran out of real estate before I could pass 2nd place, I finished 3rd... More upgrade points, mission semi accomplished.
From Boise I headed back to Bellevue, ID, to hang with my special ladyfriend's parents for a few days. I did some training in the Sun Valley area and caught up with my coach who lives there as well. It was a nice couple of days. Crystal joined me mid-week and we drove out to Bend, Oregon for the Cascade Classic Stage Race.
It was nice to go back to Bend in the summer. I used to go to a ski camp there every June but have not for several years. Its a fun town.
The first race was a road race with a tough uphill finish. I liked my odds and wanted to get to the bottom of the climb at the front. Mid way through the race there were a lot of attacks going off and I was doing my best to cover everything I could. Unfortunately, one move I didn't make it into went away. That was that. The pack was lethargic and no one wanted to chase hard. I made a few efforts to bridge up to them solo but couldn't get away. I sat in near the front, out of the wind until the bottom of the hill and hit it hard. I got away from all but one guy right away and he and I pushed it up and over the top and I out sprinted him for 8th. First guy out of the pack, but 2:45 down to 1st place. Not an ideal start to a stage race.
The next day was a Time Trial. Not having my own bike I am always having to get used to different positions on different peoples bikes. The one I borrowed for Cascade was not my favorite. I didn't feel like I was pulling up with my legs very well and I'm not sure why. But that's why one should have his one TT bike. I rode pretty well on the way up but coming down I didn't feel like I was moving the way I should. It was really fast coming back down and I could have pushed a bigger front chainring. I chose a 55x11 but a 56x11 would have been ideal. I landed in 6th, 20 seconds out of 1st. That marked my first ever defeat in a TT. I wanted to keep that streak going.
That evening was a crit, another downtown one, lots of people, 4 corners and one really weird sketchy corner. I rode at the front of the 120 man field, staying out of trouble and monitoring what was going on. I didn't want to miss another break. Right away there were some attacks that were slow to be brought back and when a group of 7 went up the road, I sensed that it was a good move to be part of. I hit the field hard and bridged up with one rider on my wheel. When we got to the break, the guy who I brought up with me slipped in in front of me and proceeded to take the next two corners as hard as possible for no apparent reason. I couldn't believe he made it out of the first corner and then he went down on the second. I was 2 inches off of his wheel at 35 mph, bad place to be. I locked up my rear wheel and skidded out. I landed hard on my hip and hand, same side I crashed on a month ago. OUCH. But my bike was fine and I was mostly fine, just bleeding, and hardly clothed as my skin suit had a huge hole in the side.
I took my free lap in the pit and jumped back into the break. We held on to a 26 second lead an I just got nipped at the line for the win, 2nd was ok - all things considered.
The last day was a circuit race. 4 laps of the Elite Nationals Road Course. It was really tough and lots of up and down but nothing very sustained. I just rode at the front, staying out of trouble and making the split anytime the field fell apart. The finish was very fast and I just kept myself around 8th. Out of the wind and close enough to attack. As we rounded the last corner i moved a few places up and launched my sprint, passing another handful of riders and made it on the last step of the podium in 3rd. Two days in a row on the podium in a 120 man field, I was pretty happy about that. I picked up another spot on GC to finish 7th - the race was more or less over after the breakaway succeeded that first day.
I did some math on my upgrade points and I had my 30 upgrade points, +/-2. It was up to how they decided to score the circuit race (long story). So I submitted and a few hours later I got word that I was a CAT 1! 4 months and 4 upgrades. And now I am clear to race the Tour of Utah later this month.
So now I am back in Utah, via a few more days in Bellevue, ID on our return from Oregon. I took the majority of the last week off and today is the first day of my last cycling training block. Lots of uphills to be ridden in the next 10 days and not a lot of eating. I need to cut back a couple more lbs and get ready to fly. The Tour of Utah is a Pro/1 only NRC race, and the first of its kind for me. I'm not planning on being unprepared.
More to come soon.
As with any crit, we went in circles a bunch of times. A lot of attacks went off but there was a strong team from Salt Lake in the mix that pulled everything back. I was keying off them, hoping to get in a move with one of their guys but they wanted to bring it down to a field sprint... and so we did... I lined it up as well as I could, fighting my way up to 4th wheel into the second to last corner. Into the last corner the guy right in front of my slowed up and I missed the jump ahead of him and lost the chance to win. I went fast down the finish and held on for 4th, which wasn't stellar but it was a deep field and it did get me a few more upgrade points.
The next day was the ID State Criterium Championship. It was in a far off neighborhood that looked like the set from The Truman Show, about 20 miles from Boise. It was another super flat course but this one didn't have squared off corners like the downtown crit. It was back and forth the whole way and somehow it made a circle. It was a nice change. There were a few pros in the field left over from the day before and when we started I was trying to time attacks to get into a move with a couple of them. Bingo. It worked. We split the field down to 7 off the front and lapped the rest of the field. From there it was a bit of a drag race. No one could get away until a crash near the end of the race and one rider split off the front to eventually win. I had another good sprint but ran out of real estate before I could pass 2nd place, I finished 3rd... More upgrade points, mission semi accomplished.
From Boise I headed back to Bellevue, ID, to hang with my special ladyfriend's parents for a few days. I did some training in the Sun Valley area and caught up with my coach who lives there as well. It was a nice couple of days. Crystal joined me mid-week and we drove out to Bend, Oregon for the Cascade Classic Stage Race.
It was nice to go back to Bend in the summer. I used to go to a ski camp there every June but have not for several years. Its a fun town.
The first race was a road race with a tough uphill finish. I liked my odds and wanted to get to the bottom of the climb at the front. Mid way through the race there were a lot of attacks going off and I was doing my best to cover everything I could. Unfortunately, one move I didn't make it into went away. That was that. The pack was lethargic and no one wanted to chase hard. I made a few efforts to bridge up to them solo but couldn't get away. I sat in near the front, out of the wind until the bottom of the hill and hit it hard. I got away from all but one guy right away and he and I pushed it up and over the top and I out sprinted him for 8th. First guy out of the pack, but 2:45 down to 1st place. Not an ideal start to a stage race.
The next day was a Time Trial. Not having my own bike I am always having to get used to different positions on different peoples bikes. The one I borrowed for Cascade was not my favorite. I didn't feel like I was pulling up with my legs very well and I'm not sure why. But that's why one should have his one TT bike. I rode pretty well on the way up but coming down I didn't feel like I was moving the way I should. It was really fast coming back down and I could have pushed a bigger front chainring. I chose a 55x11 but a 56x11 would have been ideal. I landed in 6th, 20 seconds out of 1st. That marked my first ever defeat in a TT. I wanted to keep that streak going.
That evening was a crit, another downtown one, lots of people, 4 corners and one really weird sketchy corner. I rode at the front of the 120 man field, staying out of trouble and monitoring what was going on. I didn't want to miss another break. Right away there were some attacks that were slow to be brought back and when a group of 7 went up the road, I sensed that it was a good move to be part of. I hit the field hard and bridged up with one rider on my wheel. When we got to the break, the guy who I brought up with me slipped in in front of me and proceeded to take the next two corners as hard as possible for no apparent reason. I couldn't believe he made it out of the first corner and then he went down on the second. I was 2 inches off of his wheel at 35 mph, bad place to be. I locked up my rear wheel and skidded out. I landed hard on my hip and hand, same side I crashed on a month ago. OUCH. But my bike was fine and I was mostly fine, just bleeding, and hardly clothed as my skin suit had a huge hole in the side.
I took my free lap in the pit and jumped back into the break. We held on to a 26 second lead an I just got nipped at the line for the win, 2nd was ok - all things considered.
The last day was a circuit race. 4 laps of the Elite Nationals Road Course. It was really tough and lots of up and down but nothing very sustained. I just rode at the front, staying out of trouble and making the split anytime the field fell apart. The finish was very fast and I just kept myself around 8th. Out of the wind and close enough to attack. As we rounded the last corner i moved a few places up and launched my sprint, passing another handful of riders and made it on the last step of the podium in 3rd. Two days in a row on the podium in a 120 man field, I was pretty happy about that. I picked up another spot on GC to finish 7th - the race was more or less over after the breakaway succeeded that first day.
I did some math on my upgrade points and I had my 30 upgrade points, +/-2. It was up to how they decided to score the circuit race (long story). So I submitted and a few hours later I got word that I was a CAT 1! 4 months and 4 upgrades. And now I am clear to race the Tour of Utah later this month.
So now I am back in Utah, via a few more days in Bellevue, ID on our return from Oregon. I took the majority of the last week off and today is the first day of my last cycling training block. Lots of uphills to be ridden in the next 10 days and not a lot of eating. I need to cut back a couple more lbs and get ready to fly. The Tour of Utah is a Pro/1 only NRC race, and the first of its kind for me. I'm not planning on being unprepared.
More to come soon.
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