Cycle Racing

This morning we watched the Tour de France train cover some territory with which we are familiar, bringing back memories from three years back when we danced around in that section of the Pyrenees. Tomorrow the TdF will continue in that region giving us another opportunity to remember our experiences. But I do not think the TdF riders will face some of the obstacles we encountered in the area around the Col du Tourmalet. In Ste. Marie de Campan we found the road completely blocked by a herd of cattle and the herders did not seem to feel that moving their charges along was a priority.

Near the top of the climb to Toumalet we found a rather deep snowbank blocking the road about 100m from the top. I got to try my cyclocross techniques to get our bikes across this barrier. At the bottom of the climb we had been assured that the road was clear, bicycle accessible, but closed to cars. I am relatively certain that there will be no snow on the road tomorrow.

When you are housebound, for the most part, you have to live a bit vicariously. Tomorrow morning we get the opportunity to revisit part of our honeymoon, a cycling tour through southwestern France and northeastern Spain. The mid-part of that tour involved dancing across some of the high passes of the Pyrenees, a spectacular region I wished we had spent a bit more time exploring. Tomorrow’s stage 9 of the Tour de France will visit two of our favorite passes, the Col de Peyresourde and the Col d’Aspin. Look for the restaurant advertising crepes at the top of Peyresourde, where we spent some time chatting with an Aussie who was spending some months in the region having some fun. Time for some memories.

… training ride. That is what I had at Pescadero on Saturday.

A quick review of the year leading up to this. I was just getting some traction in racing this season, with a good effort at the Rondee von Brisbeen Circuit Race on March 30th, then had my commuter tip-over accident on March 31st leaving me with a broken thumb. That meant no racing for the next 6 weeks and no real intensity workouts for much of that. Then one good crit (EBC) and a couple of good nights of track racing leading up to Memorial Day and a crash in the crit then. That was less than 3 weeks ago, and I was without my racing bike for two of those. The road rash has healed, but there is still some bruising in the lower left back region that is a limiter for really hard efforts. That sets the stage going into Friday. I deluded myself into thinking that despite the paucity of intensity training the past two-and-a-half months, and despite being still a bit sore from a crash 19 days before that I could hang with the pack … at least for the first lap (28 miles).

Friday night as I finished packing for the early Saturday start to Pescadero it became obvious that something in my gastrointestinal tract was not right. And that became more obvious through the night as it kept me awake for a good chunk of the time I should have been sleeping. I gave in and got out of bed at 4:30A, and was doing the internal debate as to whether to trek over the hills to the race or not. The severe cramping was subsiding, so a bit after 6A I figured ‘what the heck’ and we headed for Pescadero.

A slightly late start hitting the road and the need for an urgent pit stop in Woodside led to a later than ideal arrival at the Pescadero High School. After another urgent pit stop and a quick trip to the registration desk, I loaded the extra water bottles into The Wife’s saddle bag and sent her on her way to the feed zone about 16 miles down the road. I then pinned on my number, got the bike ready, and did a warmup on the road between Pescadero and Butano State Park, an abbreviated warmup given our late arrival.

Our field lined up for our 8:50A start, but they were running late and kept getting later. We finally got the start whistle at about 9:12A and eased into the 2 miles or so of neutral promenade through the business district of Pescadero. After the motor pulled off the field picked up the pace slightly but kept things reasonable and I was content in my 5th wheel position on the narrow portion of Stage Road. As we neared the sprint prime point a few more guys, mostly from Synergy-Taleo, came to the front apparently ready to contest for the $15. It was not much of a sprint, three guys powering on the front, then everyone settled into getting ready for the climbs coming up. We hit the first of the Stage Road climbs and the pace was nice, much, much below what I had done on the pre-ride the week before. But the depleted body was, well, depleted and the legs had nothing in them. I could not push; in fact all day I had trouble even tickling the bottom HR zone 5, never even close to reaching HR max, but the legs and body had no push. And so I quickly slid back in the pack as we neared the top and was soon off the back.

For the next 12 miles or so I had visual contact with the pack much of the time, even on the twisty mountainous roads, so I deluded myself into thinking I might catch back on or at least catch some stragglers with which to work. I did pass some remnants of the Cat 4B field that started 20 minutes before us, but never anyone in my field. At the feed zone I told The Wife that I was now in a training ride as she reported the field was not that far in front of me. From the feed zone I had the 2.5 mile climb up Haskins Hill and making ground with dead legs was not in the cards.

I pushed on, not slowing down at all, and did finish the ride strong. I was never passed by any in the two fields behind me, which started 5 ( W P/1/2) and 10 ( W 3/4) minutes after us. I was amazed that as a solo rider on a tough course that neither pack was able to make up the ground, though the front of the W P/1/2 field was only about a minute behind me at the finish.

There were a couple of other interesting tales from the course.

• At the start of lap two, coming into the turn from Pescadero Rd. to Stage Rd. in downtown Pescadero a motorcycle was starting to try to pass me before the turn when a CHP car following squawked on his PA ‘do not cut in front of the bicycle, do not cut in front of the bicycle’.
• Near the top of the first Stage Rd. climb on lap two I was passed by the front of the men’s P/1/2 field. As they passed one of guys pulled to an abrupt stop and pulled up the halves of his Campy Ultra-Torque crankset; apparently the torque on the connecting bolt was insufficient and it had come loose and fallen out. Bummer!

Next year I will try to redeem myself and actually race at Pescadero. But for now I will finish healing and do some intensity work.

That is what I keep asking myself about the Pescadero Road Race this coming Saturday. Originally I was not going to do this race, but signed up for it when I missed the Wente RR due to my broken thumb, figuring I should do one of the hilly road races this year. But the time off the bike due to the thumb compounded with the recovery from the Memorial Day crash has not given me a lot of time to prepare for this sufferfest. And to compound the problem, my right ankle which was rebuilt some 40 or so years ago has been locking up regularly for the past week. I may start a race on Saturday, but end up with a long training ride.

The Wife and I did wander over and do a pre-ride of the Pescadero course on Saturday morning, joining dozens of others taking a look at this beautiful but brutal course. The attached profile is a bit mis-leading; there is only one summit on each climb, but for Saturday’s little ride I tested my climbing legs on each hill then descended back down to find The Wife and then climbed back to the summit with her. And it is just a partial profile of what the race will look like since we will do about 1.7 laps, with the finish at the top of Haskins Hill, the biggest of the 3 climbs on this profile. 47 or so miles, 6 climbs, lots of suffering. It was such wonderful weather on Saturday, and the area so beautiful, it seemed like racing through it and not enjoying it would be almost criminal. Sunday may have been an even better day, but knowing that the Tour de Cure was passing through much of the course area made me want to avoid that traffic jam.

Sunday I did get out for a bit of a ride, mostly trying to work out the ankle. Often when the ankle locks like that riding helps to loosen it up. But not this time; it was locked and painful the entire ride. If it is still acting up like that on Saturday then even the training ride aspect will be abbreviated.

This week I will try to front-load my efforts, and relax a bit at the end of the week. I had an unplanned 24 mile ride to work this morning (CalTrain clogged, again), and will attempt the Tuesday Night Crit tomorrow and track racing on Wednesday. That should be enough before Saturday’s main event, though at least one person has suggested that I should do the Friday night track races, too.

… is mostly back together again.

The road rash from the crash in the Memorial Day crit is rapidly healing. The worst spot is on the back of the left hand, which was itching up a storm through the night and resulting in me throwing in the towel and getting out of bed at 4:37AM (uggh!) since I could not sleep. Still a bit of bruising, but that is fading. All of the bodily parts seem to function.

Last night the Colnago was restored to some semblance of working order. The shifters are on and seem to shift fine. I wrapped up the bars, trying the fi’zi:k tape made of Microtex. Not sure about how it will feel or wear, but it is a pain to work with. Only thing that I have used that is more of a pain is the Brooks leather bar wrap.

This weekend I plan to get out and see if the body and bike will be up to the 47 mile Pescadero Road Race 8 days from now.

… it might be an equipment issue.

A few months ago the right Chorus shifter on the Colnago went out for an extended lunch break. I did the quick fix of putting the spare Centaur shifters on the bike and had the Chorus shifters there in the home office waiting to be rebuilt. But I never got around to doing it myself and never took them to a shop to have it done. The broken shifter from the crash on Memorial Day was the impetus to get it done, finally.

Today I dropped the Chorus shifters at a shop near where I work for the rebuild. The guy behind the counter asks when I need them, and I say that it is not a rush, but I want a couple of weeks before Pescadero to ride on that bike. He looks at me and asks what field, so I tell him 35+ 4/5. He asks if I am a good climber, and I say that I am an OK climber. So he bundles the shifters, hands them over to a guy in the shop and says: “Dmitry, make these work fine for a few days, then so that he can shift to the 53-11, only.” Guess I know at least one person I will be racing against that day.

That is what I was today, a human pinball. For about 2-3 seconds. Then I got a nice introduction: “Mr. Road, meet Rick; Rick, may I introduce you to Mr. Road.” Not exactly the way the script was written.

Today was day 2 of the annual race weekend put on by the club. I spent yesterday working at the finish line of the Mt. Hamilton Road Race, opting out of the logistical headache of getting from Livermore to Isabel Creek and back, in order to race today at the Memorial Day Crit in Morgan Hill. The plan was for me to cheer on the Cat 3/4 women, do my warmup, race in the 45+ 4/5 field, then work for a couple hours of course marshal and ride north towards home. At least that was the plan.

And the plan worked, up to a point. And that point was to about the 12 minutes left mark in our race. Things had been a bit sketchy a couple of times, notably some wheel dueling on the nice sweeping curve between turns 3 and 4. Coming into the very wide and nice turn 4 I was towards the right side of the field on a right hand turn, marking my inside guy as we came into the turn. Then about halfway through the turn someone came around me to the outside and dove in hitting my front wheel, I spun towards Mr Inside Guy, bounce back to the outside to hit Mr DiveIntoTheTurn …. and eventually I could not get it under control and went down. Fortunately it was solo. Unfortunately I have a nice bruise and road rash on my left hip, left hand, left elbow, right elbow, and right knee. And my helmet is toast, as are the gloves, my bib shorts, and left shifter. The jersey might be worth salvaging.

Thanks to Andrew, Joe, and Benson who came to help within seconds of the crash, and EMT Katherine who assessed the damage then cleaned and dressed the wounds. And to The Wife a big thanks for everything you did to assist, and all you will do over the coming days. And a big apology for not coming out clean.

* P.S. Apparently the fun continued; there was a crash in the very next turn. Can’t help but wonder if it was the same over-aggressive corner diver.

I got to take a weekend off of doing my own stuff to support The Wife, her team and teammates, and women racers in general in the Baking Fields^TM of Kern County for the 12th edition of the Kern County Women’s Stage Race. Phew, it was hot, “damn hot” to crib from Robin Williams in ‘Good Morning Vietnam’, most of the time. But those ladies showed their toughness, and went out and put on a display of some darn good riding. Eighty one entrants, 6 fields, 4 stages, and not a single crash! And a lot of good camaraderie, sportsmanship, and class shown by all. Kudos and congratulations to all.

My role at Kern was limited. Guys got to either (a) sit around, (b) pass out water and cheer from the feedzones, or (c) drive follow vehicles. I don’t think anyone opted for (a), and Robert twisted my arm to do (c) on both Saturday and Sunday. A very different perspective on the race. From the feed zone you get a brief snapshot of the status of all the fields as they pass. From the follow car you get a limited view of the action of the front group of one field throughout the race. And I found it is much harder to drive follow when you have emotional attachments to folks in the field, and easier when you know some of the folks but do not have the attachments. Either way, it was easy to admire their fortitude in getting out in that weather and to be impressed with their skills and tactics.

And one has to be impressed by the dedication that VeloPromo and Robert put into this race. It is a logistical nightmare for him, the officials, and all the participants. But it apparent that Robert puts a lot of effort and heart and thought into this event. Icy watermelon at the top of the hot, brutal climb, and him serenading the riders with his “it’s not a saxaphone” clarinet music 2 miles from the top? No wonder a lot who have experienced this event keep coming back in spite of the logistical problems. I am sure that The Wife has already mentally penciled it onto next year’s calendar.

I’ll have a few photos to post later, once I get caught up on things like shopping, eating, sleeping, and hydrating. But not so many; hard to take photos when one is driving along some distance behind the group.

It has become all to easy to commit, maybe over-commit, my time lately. The Wife, Work, house, races, training, track, BPAC, etc., leaves little time for anything else. I have fully committed all Tuesday nights from now through August … to just two (similar) activities. And both are just a couple miles apart just off US 101 in South San Jose.

This week it will be track night at the Hellyer Velodrome. Three or so hours of pain and socializing, courtesy of Larry Nolan, all in hopes that just a little tiny bit of the Nolan magic can rub off on little old me. This month it is all points races, next month scratch races, back to points in July, then scratch again in August. I will be making an appearance every other week through the summer, or at least that is what I have scheduled.

On the Tuesdays I am not at Hellyer I will be a couple miles further south doing the SJBC Tuesday twilight crit. Nice course, but getting a bit too much traffic these days. Of course, some folks do not like the course as much as I do, something to do with that nice little 90 ft or so climb on the east leg. Fun and games. And to make sure I get out to this, I have committed to working registration at them every other week from now until the end of the summer. Of course, the need to get so far south on a work night sort of means I will be working from home on Tuesdays; need to cut that 20 miles of commute down the peninsula from the travel task.

If you are in the area and want to have some good training, join me in the “Tuesday night highway 101 sufferfest”!

When I found out my thumb was broken and that it would be “three and a half to four weeks” before I could do serious riding/racing I was hoping that I would be able to keep my date with the Wente Road Race a bit less than 4 weeks later. As time progressed, and I assessed the amount of pain, I realized that was unrealistic so I looked at the local racing calendar for a ‘comeback race’, one far enough out that I was likely to be able to line up at the start. Panoche Road Race looked good, but that is during the Kern Women’s Stage Race weekend and I have commitments. Berkeley Hills Road Race was an option, but the relevant fields were full. So the fallback option was the EBC Criterium, in Pleasanton, on May 10th …. yesterday.

The week started out fine with racing at the Velodrome, the first real hard intensity on over a month. Then the club’s twilight crit on Tuesday, where I did a two lap (almost 4 mile) time trial at the end. But the rest of the week was tough, and the only riding was the daily commute to the office. I woke up yesterday with legs that were stiff and dead. A feeling that held through the warmup. My original goal for this race was very modest: finish. As I warmed up yesterday morning I wondered if that would be a stretch.

I lined up with the 35+ Cat 4’s yesterday, probably near the oldest guy in the field. Deep breath and we get the start whistle after a very brief set of instructions from Chief Ref Ryan. The course is a simple rectangle with 4 right turns; one sweeper, one a bit rounded, and two tight rights. It was a big field, with 100 registered but only 80 some odd guys taking the start. I held in good for the first couple of laps, but I had lined up on the right at the start, putting me on the inside of the turns, and the field was cutting the corners tight causing a pinch off of riders on that side. I was moving up on the first and third legs (the longer legs) but slipping back in all the turns. I was ready to launch an attack, just to mix it up, on lap 3 but then the president of my club took the front position and started to push the pace; not a good time for an attack. I finally did a small attack on lap 9, following a rider I was sure was heading out up the inside and getting clear off the front going into turn 4. But then I looked back and the other rider was not full committed, my heart rate was pegged (a few beats above my previous high HR), so I knew I was going nowhere fast. Time to sit up, fall back into the middle and get some recovery. I held in mid-pack, tried to move up a couple of times, but almost got taken out a couple of times on the last lap by sketchy riders. In the end I came in with the pack, officially 61st place. I did get one apology from one the riders who almost took me out, but the only thing I got from the other was a snot rocket sent my way. Sheesh! And the unofficial photographer captured me only once, after the race ducking under the caution tape along the sideline. Oh well.

Another two and a half weeks before the next official race, my club’s Memorial Day Crit, and then another crit on the 31st of the month, the Dash for Cash with an insane amount of primes and a $250 bonus for the first person in each race to lap the field. That one will be an wild ride. But mostly it is time to head for the hills and get ready for the rather hilly Pescadero RR in 5 weeks.

Kaboom!

After returning home from the crit I decided that I would ride some more but make it utilitarian. I hooked the Burley trailer to my commuter bike and headed off to do the weekly shopping. As I was crossing a freeway overpass I heard that sound that makes every cyclist cringe: Kaboom! I had a blowout on the rear tire in one of the worst places to deal with it in our area. Not sure what took out the sidewall of the almost new tire (maybe 200 miles max), but it was a nice large slash. I did a boot job, but even with lot of good boot material I could not take the tire about 30PSI without it bulging out and threatening another blowout. It was a nice trip home, mostly a walk.