Counting it down. It's almost here!!!

The new race season that is. It's been super cold in Reno for a long damn time now and the stupid snow just won't melt. I spent last weekend riding with the team down in the bay area. I was great to get some non freezing temp days in and the team is solid for next year. 11 guys in NOr-cal should give us some good tools to use to take on the juggernauts that are Yahoo, Webcor and Cal Giant.

We added two local guys to the team, Nate Freed from truckee and Michael Jacques from Reno. Both super strong guys and eager to do some damage in Nor-Cal. 3 weeks to go...

2010 NCNCA schedule

Quite a few TTTs and a cooperopolis stage race, that sounds painful.



> TENTATIVE NCNCA ROAD RACE SCHEDULE FOR 2010:
>
> Fri., Jan. 1st - Mt. San Bruno Hill Climb
> Sat., Jan. 2nd -
> Sun., Jan. 3rd - Early Bird Criterium - Fremont, CA
> Sat., Jan. 9th -
> Sun., Jan. 10th - Early Bird Criterium - Fremont, CA
> Sat., Jan. 16th - Folsom Criterium
> Sun., Jan 17th - Early Bird Criterium - Fremont, CA
> Sat., Jan. 23rd - Cal Aggie Criterium - Sacramento, CA
> Sat., Jan. 23rd - Early Bird Road Race - Patterson course
> Sun., Jan. 24th - Early Bird Criterium - Fremont, CA
> Sat., Jan. 30th - Folsom Criterium
> Sun., Jan. 31st - Early Bird Criterium - Fremont, CA
>
> Sat., Feb. 6th - Apple Pie Criterium - Napa
> Sun., Feb. 7th - Cherry Pie Criterium - Napa
> Sat., Feb. 13th - Cantua Creek Road Race
> Sun., Feb. 14th - Pine Flat Road Race
> Mon., Feb. 15th - Dinuba Criterium
> Sat., Feb. 20th - Berkeley Bike Club Team Time Trial
> Sun., Feb. 21st - Ronde Van Brisbeen Criterium - Brisbane, CA
> Sat., Feb. 27th - Snelling Road Race
> Sun., Feb. 28th - Merced Criterium
>
> Wed., Mar. 3rd - Merced Country Criterium
> Fri., Mar. 5th - MERCO Team Time Trial
> Sat., Mar. 6th - MERCO Grand Prix Criterium
> Sun., Mar. 7th - MERCO Road Race
> Fri. - Sun., Mar. 12-14th - Madera Stage Race
> Sat., Mar. 20th - Land Park Criterium
> Sat., Mar. 20th - Orosi Road Race
> Sun., Mar. 21st - Bariani Road Race - Zamora, CA
> Sun., Mar. 21st - Hanford Criterium
> Sat. & Sun., Mar. 27-28 - Copperopolis Stage Race
> Sat., Mar. 27th - Wards Ferry Road Race
> Sun., Mar. 28th - Gilroy Criterium
> Sun., Mar. 28th - Warnerville Road Race
>
> Sat., Apr. 3rd - Altamont Team Time Trial
> Sat., Apr. 3rd - Copperopolis Road Race
> Sat., Apr. 3rd - Napa River Velo Gran Prix Criterium
> Sun., Apr. 4th - EASTER
> Sat., Apr. 10th - Spring Hill Team Time Trial
> Sun., Apr. 11th - Spring Hill Road Race
> Sun., Apr. 11th - Menlo Park Grand Prix Criterium
> Thur. - Sat., Apr. 15th-17th - Sea Otter Classic
> Sat. & Sun., Apr. 17th & 18th - CHICO STAGE RACE - Chico, CA ;)
> Sun., Apr. 18th - Santa Cruz Criterium
> Sun., Apr. 18th - Cycles Gladiator Challenge - Napa, CA
> Sat., Apr. 24th - Slug Cycling Downtown Criterium
> Sat., Apr. 24th - Wente Road Race - Livermore, CA
> Sun., Apr. 25th - Wente Criterium - Livermore, CA
>
> Sat., May 1st - Cat's Hill Criterium - Los Gatos, CA
> Sun., May 2nd - EBC Criterium - Pleasanton, CA
> Sun., May 2nd - Sonora Road Race
> Sat., May 8th - Tri Valley Velo Criterium
> Sun., May 9th - Berkeley Hills Road Race
> Fri. - Sun., May 14th-16th - Kern County Women's Stage Race
> Sat., May 15th - Modesto Criterium
> Sat., May 15th - Winters Criterium
> Sun., May 16th - Sun., May 23rd - TOUR OF CALIFORNIA
> Sun., May 16th - Modesto Road Race
> Sun., May 16th - Scotts Valley Grand Prix Criterium
> Sat., May 22nd - Calaveras Individual Time Trial
> Sat., May 22nd - Golden State Criterium - Rancho Cordova, CA
> Sun., May 23rd - Golden State Circuit Race - Rancho Cordova, CA
> Sun., May 23rd - Panoche Valley Road Race
> Sat., May 29th - Folsom Criterium
> Sun., May 30th - Auburn Downtown Criterium
> Sun., May 30th - Mt. Hamilton Road Race
> Mon., May 31st - Memorial Day Criterium - San Jose, CA
>
> Sat., June 5th - Dash For Cash Criterium - Pleasanton, CA
> Sun., June 6th - Butterfly Criterium
> Sun., June 6th - Dunlap Individual Time Trial
> Sat., June 12th - Mt. Diablo Hill Climb
> Sat., June 12th - Murphy's Downtown Criterium
> Sun., June 13th - Salinas Criterium
> Sun., June 13th - District Time Trial Championships - Sattley(same as in years
past)
> Wed.-Sat., June 16th-19th - Tour de Nez - Reno, NV
> Sat., June 19th - Pescadero Road Race
> Sun., June 20th - Nevada City Classic
> Fri.-Sun., June 25th-27th - Gold Nugget Junior Stage Race
> Sat., June 26th - Benicia Town Criterium
> Sat., June 26th - Corporate Center Santa Rosa Criterium
> Sun., June 27th - Benicia Individual Time Trial
> Sun., June 27th - Burlingame Criterium
>
> Sat., July 3rd - Leesville Road Race
> Sun., July 4th - Davis Criterium
> Mon., July 5th - Oakland Grand Prix Criterium
> Sat., July 10th - San Rafael Twilight Criterium
> Sun., July 11th - Lodi Cycle Fest Criterium
> Sat., July 17th - Colavita Grand Prix Criterium
> Sat., July 17th - Watsonville Criterium
> Sun., July 18th - Berkeley Criterium
> Sat., July 24th - Cal State Circuit Race
> Sat., July 24th - Carson Diamond Valley Road Race
> Sun., July 25th - Auburn Oldtown Criterium
> Sun., July 25th - Carson Minden Criterium
> Sat., July 31st - Cal State Circuit Race
>
> Sun., Aug. 1st - Timpani Criterium
> Sat., Aug. 7th - Warnerville Time Trial
> Sun., Aug. 8th - Patterson Pass Road Race
> Sat., Aug. 14th - Dunnigan Hills Road Race
> Sat., Aug. 14th - NCNCA Team Time Trial Championships
> Sun., Aug. 15th - Suisun Harbor Criterium
> Sat., Aug. 21st - San Ardo Road Race
> Sun., Aug. 22nd - University Road Race
> Sat., Aug. 28th - Winters Road Race
> Sun., Aug. 29th - Vacaville Gran Prix
>
> Sat., Sept. 4th - Challenge Challenge Road Race
> Sun., Sept. 5th - Esparto Time Trial
> Mon., Sept. 6th - Giro di San Francisco Criterium
> Fri.., Sept. 10th - Folsom Individual Time Trial
> Sat., Sept. 11th - Folsom Criterium
> Sun., Sept. 12th - Folsom Circuit Race
> Sat., Sept. 18th - Henleyville Road Race
> Sat., Sept. 18th - Mt. Tam Hill Climb
> Sat., Sept. 25th - Fremont Peak Hill Climb

F@ck it's hot

Vacaville District Elite crit championship:
We had 5 guys in the race but Webcor showed up with more as did Cal. I wasn't feeling very good but was happy to flog my self for the cause(getting JD or Joe the win). An early break went and stayed out there nearly the whole time. It hovered around 10-15 seconds and wasn't really gaining. when the gap came down to about 10 seconds 40ish minutes in I went to the front just before the hill to hopfully get it close enough for JD to go across. BOOM. I exploded, it felt like someone filled my jersey with hot water and I just cooked, even got goosebump I started feeling so bad. I can to a near stop on the hill and pulled out. The break came back on the last lap and Ryan Parnes of Webcor made the right counter to take home the jersey.

Stage Race+

Ok so I rounded out the stage race race with a 1-1-2 finish. Felt pretty good but still lacking. After that it was in the car and off to So-Cal. Spent 3 days down there with no bike but did have a nice night on the beach at sunset where I proposed to my girlfriend. She had no idea. Good way to spend the weekend without a bike. Boca 1-day championship tonight. Won't try to win since I got mine already but will try to help a buddy win it if I can.

Keep on rollin

So Suisun didn't hurt as bad as I though. JD, Joe and I were very active from the gun making moves but nothing worked. A break finally went clear but without us in it. We chased but Webcor had a lot of guys and kept disrupting the chase sitting second or third wheel. A lot of work for nothing but good to get racing again.

Yesterday started the Twilight stage race here in Reno. The first stage was a 7.75m time trial out in Washoe. Great conditions made for some fast times and I was able to set a new best time for the course by 24 seconds but still about 20 watts lower than I'd like for the effort. Tonight is a road race out at boca and a crit tomorrow. After that it is in the car and down to so-cal for the weekend to visit some of Megan's family for a party and a quick turn around drive back. 16 hours of driving in 50 hours. Suck.

What's that thing over in the corner?

So it's been 8 weeks since my last race and this is all i"ve done:


Work has been crazy busy which is a good thing(need Heating or Air done? Climate Master or Facebook) but finally I can look at teh bike again. My form has regressed to Mid-December but what ever will be will be. Suisun crit this weekend for a whole lot o suffering.

Tour De Nez:
fast, technical and gasping. Just couldn't get any air in or power out all weekend. The races were hard but i just wasn't recovered from my illness and antibiotics. three days of disappointment and getting pulled. I loved the downtown Reno course at night, it was like a blacked out roller coaster.

The worst part about tanking a local race is all the people you know cheering you on around the course while you know it is just a mater of time before you get pulled. :(

This ends the race report with no placings and no detail cause I just don"t want to remember it. Next year......

Twilight #6 Aircenter

2 days till the Tour De Nez and the goal is to sit in and just ride it out for participation points(9+ ges same points) in the series. Well, less than a full lap into it I put in a little dig for a first lap prime and found myself off the front with a Natural Grocers elite rider also in town for TDN. We kept working together and stayed away for the whole race. Always nice to have a class rider with you that just looks over and say "prime split" and instantly you are on the same page, stay away and win. I took a final dig on the last lap and rolled in solo while Bubba took the field sprint for 3rd. I have the series locked up now with a couple rounds still to go. Good moderate effort and I'll find out tonight if it was a little to much effort.

@#!$% time trials

1 sinus infection + 2 long(ish) Time trials= a whole lotta suck.

Dunlap TT:
Went out WAY to hard into the head wind at about 120% of threshold and blew sky high 30 minutes into it. Suffered through the last almost 12 minutes for 10th but had to even ride sitting up on the base bar for a bit, no bueno.

Doing the quasimodo sitting, hunched up and gasping for air.


District TT:
Poppin antibiotics all week trying to kick the bug before Tour de Nez, I'm going to skip it, I'm going to skip it, I'm going to skip it. I wore up at 5:30 loaded the car and went to sattley. I hurt within minutes. I went out to hard again but backed it off a little quicker this time. Suffered through for 7th in the elite men's open but 30 seconds slower than last year and less watts.

Oh well, 1 more local crit on tuesday and then 4 days of suffering with the Nez and Nevada City. Good times.

Ok lets get caught up real quick:

Cold Springs TT(14 mile)-
The Tuesday night race this week was a TT and I haven't ridden my tt bike in a month. Thunder storms and rain kept it interesting but where it was time to go the roads were dry, wind free and awesome. It went pretty damn good and my power was right there. Set a new course record by about half a minute but it hurt very badly. Just after the finish it started pouring again.

Golden State/Spring Hill RR-
No comment, these races never happened and that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Auburn crit-
Like a mini Nevada City, epic and sketchy at the same time. Oh the pain. Lots of suffering and I got popped off with about 8 top go on the climb but Joe hung in there to take third. Gerlach solo'd about half the race for the win.

Folsom Crit-
Again Gerlach(and Sayers) was the main protagonist in the race and i was very close to getting the most aggressive rider away. I just couldn't seem to get the right makeup for a break to stick. Joe finished strong in a bunch sprint for 4th.

Modesto RR-
Attacks went right away but without us so we had to do a nice TTT to bring it back and Aaron made it into the winning break of the day. He finished 6th but fellow reno hommie Jermey Holdway took the win, nice.

Modesto Crit-
Attacked right from the gun and Clif Bar was great at getting in anything. Gerlach brought back a couple breaks before the winning break went away. It had JD in it and he took the win. Awesome.

Hot Hot Hot

Gettting ready to head down to Modesto and it is going to be 109. Damn.

Twilight #4 Ferntucky Raceway

Huge shocker as tuesday rolled around and the wind starts howling. Oh well, I grabbed a six pack of keystone light, loaded up the 78 el camino and headed out to ferntucky. I love the opportunity to race on a closed course prefect pavement car track so no matter what the conditions are I'll go. I was the first guy there followed shortly after by Nate from truckee. If I just raced the Gila like Nate I wouldn't even look at the bike for another week or so, such a tough looking race.

I started my warm up and hit the hill for the first time straight into the head wind. Suck. Rolled back to the start after about 40 minutes of kite surfing in the wind and ready to roll. The distance from Reno and the wind kept the field small to about 20 guys. I wanted to get a break going early so was very aggressive in the first two laps. After i tried about a dozen failed attacks/bridges Bubba finally countered and was slightly up the road just before the hill. I bridged up to him and Nate quickly followed. We worked together and the gap grew. With Bubba in the group I knew Clover would let it go. On the final lap neither Nate or I wanted to drag bubba to the line so we attacked the hill and got a gap. Touch and go till the last corner as Bubba valiantly tried to get back on terms but we stayed away and I took the sprint thanks to Nate still being a little fried from Gila.

Twilight series rd #3 Geiger HCTT

I have mentioned it before and will again, I hate climbing. It was hella windy and a little chilly but I decided to go take my beating anyway. I went out too hard(like always) and just about exploded 14 minutes into. After settling in to a more reasonable pace it was hard but tolerable. Fortunately for me all the skinny little climbers stayed home and I was able to take 2 minutes off my best time and add about 35w from my previous best for the win. Top three were all over 165lbs. Go fat guy power :D

I hate climbing

So last Tuesday was a chilly first Boca RR of the season and you could tell people weren't killing it just yet. All last season I would get dropped hard or just gaped off by the top of the wall. This time while I did have a nice 40w increase over last years best I went over the kom first and had Jeremy 5 seconds behind and the majority of the pack about 20 behind him. Huh? Well I grouped up with Jeremy and we stayed away till the end. This week is the Geiger hill climb and oh how I despise that race. I hate climbing. If that isn't bad enough the race this weekend is Berkeley Hills RR and it isn't tremendous climbs(short power hills) but the pace will be relentless. No fun but good training.

Twilight #2 Air Center crit

I attacked from the go and the 3 wild cherries/cyclepaths guys had the same plan quickly making it group of 4 with a gap. 2 of them were still stinging from hard efforts last weekend at sea otter and didn't hang around. Nate and I kept trading pulls and held on to a tentative gap. Next up came Buckley and Matt Ream. They rang the bbell for a powerbar prime(which they were also giving out free before the race)and Matt went for it. The three of us continued to work together and leave Matt. Bubba came across and the 4 of us worked very well together and no one jumped the primes, just rotated through and whomever was on the front took it(As it should be in a break). Buckley started the attacks on the back side of the last lap and bubba was quick to jump on him. I calmly moved onto his wheel and waited. I should have countered and not give him a chance to wind it up to speed but that is hindsight. Bubba kept going and going and going and finally I tried to make a pip at the line with a bike throw but missed it by half a wheel. Amazing he can win races never getting out of the saddle at 39mph, what a diesel.

Hats off to Bubba though, he earned it.

Race#1 1st
Race#2 2nd with a first and third in the points primes

Good start to the series

Twilight Series #1 Franktown ice TT

The first race of the twilight series started yesterday and in true Reno fashion it was 70 last weekend, almost 80 this weekend but yesterday saw wind, snow and temps in the low 30s. Prefect weather for a time trial ehhh.

The course is nice and quite with very little traffic. The outward leg is about 3 miles of flat to slight downhill followed by a right and rolling hills to the finish. With a tail wind on the way out I was humming along at 35+ to the turn. Needing to break for the turn I realized I cant feel my finger anymore. As I started to head into the wind and uphill I began to thaw out and felt like they were on fire. Suffer till the end and ended with a time of 16:49 I think which is good for the course but I wanted more. Oh well Next Tuesday is the aircenter crit.

Napa Gp

Why would we knowingly sign up for a course that is unanimously thought to be sketchy as hell and has tons of crashes, well, cause we(bike racers) are all a little twisted in the melon.

Napa GP is .8k with 5 turns and a funky 160 degree P turn which has plenty of extra coating by the end of the afternoon from all the fresh skin donations. A Time Pro took off on the 2nd lap never to be caught again and I was still trying to find my lungs from a recent illness. It was fast but not crazy, the real damage was sprinting out of the P lap after lap. I clipped my pedal on one lap hard enough to un-clip my foot and barely save it. Thanks to whomever I bounced off of to stay upright. Nearly 40 sprints later and I was fried, waving the white flag and happy to be driving home with all the felsh I traveled down with.

I'm begining to think the suffer face is the only face I know:

Getting caught up

Land Park crit:
I HATE RACING IN THE RAIN!
Started raining just before the start and it sucked. a group of 3 got away and I tried everything I could to bring it back for JD but without much sucess. Kind of a sucky weekend.


Madera:
Stage 1: Ben Hur Hill Climb

This was described as a 10 miles TT with the first 6 being rolling(uphill) and the next 4 a steeper climb(1300ft in 4.5 miles) but run full TT setup minus the disc. I did and I regret it. I would have been much more comfortable on my road bike with clip-ons as would have been may others. I did the first 6 miles hard to catch my 1 and 2 minute guys but blew at the base of the climb. Ben Jacque Maynes set a new course record and I was 5 minutes down already, fark. I went up the climb suffering in the 39/23 and while rolling back down I watched a Kelly Benefits guys rolling it in the big ring and aero bars, double fark.
Suffering on the hill:


New goals for the weekend now that the stage race is over, have fun and get training

Stage 2: Sharron TT

Flat 10.2 miles with a good amount of wind. This is much more my style of TT. 1 and 2 went to Ben and the Kelly guy again but 3rd through 14th were less than 15 seconds apart. I was 13th in a strong field and content with the result. My power was better than I expected for both TT's give my current level of fitness.

Stage 3 crit:

Pretty boring 4 corner crit with some bad road and wind. I tried a couple attacks very early on but Bissell or Cal Giant hopped on anything that moved and shut it down unless it had the right guys in it. I didn't have the fire power riding solo to find out which combo that was so I tucked in a waited for the last lap and same time.

Stage 4 RR:

This was the one I was worried about, very rough roads and a "roubaix" section. Last year as a 3 I flatted 2 wheels in the first 10 miles. We rolled out at 8am and it was very cold but warmed up fast. After a neutral couple miles to get on the course it started. Attacks went from the gun and the pace was high. So many flats it was amazing. Ben flatted and all of a sudden you see a bunch of bissell guys pull to the sides and drop back. The pack was flying but still together, nothing escaping for much more than a minute or so and people only dropping out with flats or mechanicals. Third time through the course you start praying for a flat just to end the jarring. On the fourth lap I was tucked in toward the back as I started to develop a twinge in my knee. I was looking down and trying to pick as smooth a line as possible through the rock pile called a road surrounded by a couple guys high up on GC that I knew would be there in the end when I looked up and there was a split in the cross wind section. Alarms start ringing and 20m turns into 100m and bigger and bigger. We chased for a bit but to no avail, race over, such a stupid mistake.

Berkeley TTT broken wheel goodness

A day I'd like to forget. We had a VERY EARLY start time of 8:02:30 which meant the sun still hadn't burnt off the fog and I couldn't see for the first 20 minutes since my glasses had dew on them. I wanted to go out hart but not pop cause I knew our 30 second guys were going to be the team to beat in the P/1/2. About 11 minutes in I hit a pot hole at thought I blew the rear tire. I yelled at my partner that I flatted and were done. I rolled along and the tire seemed to still be holding air so I bounced it off the ground a couple times and it was. I then figured the disc was destroyed cause it was bouncing something fierce but still rolling. I fiddled with the brake release and opened it up(still rolling along) and we kept going. Thanks Russ for dragging me around. We went on and finished with a time of 40:57 but I know we dropped at about a minute futzing with my wheel and having to be very gently with it when going up the hills. The position felt pretty good so hopefully I can do ok at madera.

Money brings out the super freaks

Merco GP and RR is this weekend and with good sized payouts the start list is looking formatible. BMC, Bissell, Cal Giant, Davis, Webcor, Colivita all have a lot of guys in the race and a couple of other Rock and the like. More speed work, more out classed.

Snelling RR

Coming into this I knew it was going to hurt. We have had less than ideal weather for the past week with rain and snow. The race is a neutral roll for a couple miles(yeah like a bike race is ever really neutral) followed by 11 mile loops. THe race was fast right from to go and never let up. We had 120 starters in the p/1/2 race and 90 finished on a basicly flat course and a calm day. The final 3k of the course is absolutly horrible. It was so rough it bounced your hands off the bars. We finished what was supposed to be a 86 mile race(but was short) in just under 3 hours. Good speed work but not up to snuff yet.

Flyin one week, crashin the next

Last weekend at Land Park I felt fantastic, this week not so much. Cherry Pie was yesterday and it was 10lbs of suck in a 5lb bag. I wore my hr strap for the race which I usually only wear in training and it caused some sever cramping on my side. It took about 40 minutes after pulling the strap down for the pain to go away. What was happening during said 40 minute time frame? I was holding down the oh so prestigious tail-gunner position and working way to hard to keep contact. Finally the pain subsided and I went to the front to try and give JD some help and get something going. Unfortunately my legs were not cooperating and the race ended with a whimper. Oh well, it's only February.

Nice suffer pics though:

Let the season begin

Nor-Cal race season officially begins this weekend with the Cal-Aggie crit. The kits came in just in time and the bike is almost done. I need to swap the set back post for a straight one but other than that it will have to do for this weekend and Paskenta on Sunday. Nothing like a 100 miles ride/race to test a new bike.

Hell Yeah

Christmas in January

Kits will be here by the end of the week and frames are in route. Here is a pic Dylan just sent out of the frames.


Just in time to be decked out and looking fly for the first race of the season.

3 weeks to go

With just 3 weeks till the first real race of the season(points/placing race) I decided to take a quick review of my training this year vs. last from October to new years day. I knew it was less but it is a solid 40% less than last year. Why? Well a bunch of things but that's not important. I have been focusing on being ready for what will be most of my racing, crits. Racing will definitely be my training this year or at least the first part of it. Kay serah, serah. On the bright side, all the team stuff is rolling in and we will be decked out by the end of the month. The Clif Bar salsa frames are en route and I hear the Capo gear is very nice. I picked up a set of 09 Mavic Carbone sl's and am itchin to start racing again. Pics to be added soon of the frames and kits.