US National Championship

Mid-pack in the XC (13th out of 30) and Pulled in the Short Track. Not a stellar performance, but fun nevertheless. I will get a full report up this weekend.

Until then, check out this video of me riding with the Discovery Channel Team here. Lance is slowing down in his retirement. ;-)

Blue Star

Floyd Landis Speaks

I went to see Floyd speak at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park yesterday. It just so happens the store is at the bottom of my regular hill climb, so I found it sort of surreal listening to a guy who "won" the Tour de France last year just a few hundred yards from my usual training route.

He spoke for a couple of minutes, before opening the floor to questions. His introductory remarks were mostly about the beautiful weather and the good riding in Seattle. He seemed somewhat surprised by the number of attendees, several hundred. Then the questions came at him for about the next 45 minutes. The inquiries ranged from the benign, "Shimano or Campy?" to the serious, "Explain the Greg Lemond situation?"

I found he came across as a pretty genuine guy. He was clearly not all that comfortable with public speaking, but once grilled with questions he came into his own. He definitely had an aw shucks vibe about him when he received a standing ovation as he walked into the book store. He was funny and often cracked jokes before delving into a question more seriously.

Over the past few months, I read the briefing from his arbitration and hearing that his legal team posted on the Internet. I was struck by the discrepancies in the science, especially the margin of error between the two tests on the same sample. The standard deviation between the test results is clearly a red flag. Floyd mentioned during one answer that the Chatenay-Malabry laboratory has a significantly higher number of positive tests for testosterone than any other lab in the world.

Do I think he will prevail in his arbitration? I think he just might. Do I think the French lab screwed up? Absolutely. Do I think he doped? I just don't know. So many Pro Tour riders have confessed to getting some medical "help", it's hard to know what to think. SLR, on the other hand, thinks they all dope or were doping.

In the end, it doesn't really matter to me, because I find the most entertaining thing about bike racing is the beauty of the sport. Carbon and alloy machines gliding along through the majestic scenery of the French countryside and rising up through its high alpine peaks. The buzz of the freewheel, the whirl of carbon rims on pavement, the clicking of gears. Chearing fans on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. The snaking of the peloton as it winds through narrow switchbacked roads. It is simply, beautiful. For me, drugs cannot detract from that.

Padden Mountain Pedal

The Padden Mountain Pedal was unique in many ways. First, the pro/open and expert men were started together, but not before a show by several belly dancers for all the spectators and racers to enjoy.



Second, the race start wasn't the usual grid of racers 5 wide and 15 deep. It was a big curved single file line of racers across a baseball field. The chaotic part of it was we were all shooting for the woods 100 yards in the distance and the entrance to the trail was not wider than 10 feet between a tree and a concrete pole. 150 fast bike racers aiming for a hole shot is scary. Add in the fact the promoter offered $100 to the first person through onto the trail made it VERY VERY scary. My goal was to stay upright and not break my bike. With a shout, "GO!", the mania was on and the whole field of pro and expert men charged through the field towards the trail entrance. Many racers crashed. I got stuck mid-pack and had to wait my turn to get into the trail while racers untangled themselves from twisted bikes and bodies heaped at the entrance to the trail. I don't think this was the best way to start a race, but I'm sure it was interesting for the spectators to watch. Maybe it would garner some ESPN coverage if this was the standard protocol. Americans love carnage, right?



Third, I was really fast! After my less than stellar start, I had to play catch up to many riders that were way up the course by the time I got onto the trail. No problem. I was motoring and passing guys at ease. After passing what seemed like 50 guys on the initial climb, I settled into a pace I thought I could hold for the 5 laps. After a while, I stopped seeing expert numbered racers around me and it was only pro/open numbers around me. I even held back a little on the last lap in anticipation of a last lap surge from one of my main competitors that regularly has a strong kick at the end of a race. I never saw him or any other expert guys for that matter. I won! Victory is very sweet, especially when it's been my objective for so long and I've come so close, finishing second on several occasions over the last couple of years. I earned my top spot on the podium (cooler).



Fourth, I won something in the raffle. I've gone years without taking a raffle prize. This winless streak came to end with the announcement of the numbers "0-4-7". I won a sweet set of FSA K-force carbon cranks that have an MSRP for about $500.



All in all a great weekend! A real morale boost going into the Mt. Snow National Championships. In Vermont, I plan on turning my self inside out and leaving everything on the race course. As my high school basketball coach would say before big games, "Pain is temporary, glory of victory is forever!"

Blue Star

1st Place

I had a great race on Sunday up in Bellingham, Washington. It was the 15th Annual Padden Mountain Pedal that drew over 300 racers to the small but beautiful Lake Padden park southeast of town. I took the win in the Expert 30-39 category and was one of the top experts overall. I'll post a full race report and some photos this evening. Until then, take a look at the Bellingham Herald front page article regarding the race: Dry Padden course draws 300 cyclists

Blue Star

Green Mountains on My Mind

I'm starting to feel like a bike racer again. The legs are finally good. On the 4th, A-dog and I ripped the 1-track and the road climb on Tiger Mountain for 3 solid hours. The key sign that I'm getting back to normal is that I recovered quickly from such a hard effort. Also, the back pain is all but gone. Giddy up!

Now that I'm feeling fast again, I'm starting to get amped up about the National Championships at Mt. Snow. Rocks, roots, mud. A true test of the the MTB skill set as well as the lungs and legs.

This video from last year's race captures the essence of the XC (warning it's big): 2006 Mt. Snow NORBA XC.

And this one demonstrates why I don't race the DH: Yard Sale Crashes.

Blue Star

The mountain is out

My training today consisted of an easy spin over to the eastside and back. Just under 2 hours of riding. The weather today in the Seattle area is perfect. It is the type of day that almost makes me forget those wet winter training days I suffered through in December and January. In Woodinville, I noted that the majestic Mt. Rainier was looking down on me as I rode.

1-Track Rehab

I found my legs yesterday on a little over two hour road/mtb ride. I rolled on the Truth from the casa to Saint Eds State Park in Kenmore via some good roads and a short stint on the Burke Gilman trail. SLR joined me until we reached the Burke, where she continued on to get her road fix while I headed off to enjoy some dirt. The trails at St. Eds are mildly technical with a few roots, log jumps, and lots of quick direction changes. Due to the park's small size and urban location, you have to keep the speed in check because you're never sure if there is a hiker, biker, dog, small child, etc. around the next bend. I rallied the 1-track and slowly but surely my engine started to fire on all cylinders. Luckily the trails were nearly empty today. I put in some hard efforts and I was finally able to get my HR up over 180 after spending the last few weeks maxing out in the 170's, including the Winthrop race. Some fun trail riding seems to have gotten me back on track. Hopefully, the check engine light stays off and I can keep the fitness moving in a positive direction.

Blue Star

Update: Fewer Mt. Snow Laps

The lap count sheet on the Mt. Snow Nationals site has been revised. Instead of 5 laps, experts are now slated to complete 4 turns on the famous Mt. Snow course. Thank goodness! Lap times on the course are in the neighborhood of 30 minutes (or slightly less if its dry) for Experts. 5 laps would have meant about 2.5 hours or more of racing. That's a long race. I excel in races that last between 1:45 and 2 hours, so the dropping of one lap suits me well. Some good fortune! Now all I need is some rain and cool weather on race day. A little moisture on the roots and rocks would weed out the fair weather racers and play right into my Pacific NW skill set.

Blue Star

Recovery Week Cont.

The impromptu recovery block continues. I put in just under 2 hours in the saddle on Friday after work and I had stale legs. I thought the staleness was probably the result of spending only a few days riding during the week. I had 2.5 hours of high intensity MTB time scheduled for Saturday. I rolled up to Tiger mid-afternoon after sleeping in late and having a solid breakfast. Again, the legs were flat. I tried to push through it and crank out some hard efforts. The legs weren't having it and I just got more tired. Even my handling skills got sloppy as I tried to push myself to go faster. I ended up pulling the plug after two hours. The mystery that is my fitness continues. I decided to take today off to get another day of R&R in hopes of recharging the batteries. Hopefully, the legs will come around soon. If you see my fitness out and about, please let it know to come back because I need it for the next couple of weeks.

Blue Star and Nola checking the World Cup results. Nola likes recovery weeks. :-)