Soulville

To celebrate three years of mariage, SLR and I have these coming to the stable soon.

His...


Hers...


A little less lycra, a bit more soul. Bring on the coffee and beer runs.

Blue Star

Cycology

Now that I'm over a week removed from the trip back to Vermont, I've reflected enough on the race to pull a post together. I wasn't nearly as fast as I hoped I would be. My goal was to pull a solid race out of the bag (i.e., top-20) and put on a good show for the large Blue Star support team that was strewn about the course. It didn't happen. I was back of the pack fodder. The course, although dumbed down a bit over year's past, was still a blast to ride and I had fun. But I left the beautiful Green Mountains feeling a bit down, like I suck and questioning my presence in the semi-pro ranks.

The best way to describe my racing is mercurial. Some days I have it, some days I don't. Coach Thomas and I pour over the variables and we just can't seem to figure it out. Maybe it's all about what is between my ears. The "cycology" of bike racing is one of the most misunderstood aspects of sport performance. After returning to Seattle, I took some time to relax and avoided any serious training. I feel recharged and had a great ride on the road bike yesterday. I guess the bottom line is a I love to ride my bike in the woods more than just about anything and I'll keep on doing it (whether I'm fast or not) for as long as I am able.

The Western Wanderer was on the east coast taking stellar pics of the event. Here's a teaser until I post a full lot sometime soon.



Thanks a million to the huge Blue Star cheering section. I couldn't help but crack a smile when I rounded the corner in the woods and the trail erupted with cheer and noise makers. Also, a race can't go by without expressing gratitude to the super-soigneur, SLR. She could support a Tour de France team without skipping a beat. The legs were stale, but I clearly won the best supported racer award.

Thanks for reading,
Blue Star

BC Bike Race Recap

Following the finish of the BC Bike Race, SLR, AV, and I spent the weekend in Whistler chilling and otherwise catching up on some R&R before returning to real life. I promptly got a bit of a cold and so did the majority of other racers that took part in the event. Walking around Whistler village over the weekend, it was easy to spot racers because they were all sniffly, carrying lots of tissue, and were not walking very fast. Whistler is an amazing place in the summer. Bikes dominate and there are free riders, DHers, trail riders, and even some XC racers everywhere. I had the itch to stay until the snow flies, but all good things have to come to and end and on Sunday afternoon we drove back to our real lives in our fair city of Seattle.

Now that I'm back pushing paper instead of the pedals, I've had some time to reflect on the "ultimate singletrack experience." It, indeed, lived up to its billing. I enjoyed just about every km we covered (somewhere around 540km) even the full day of fire road of Stage 2. Some of the 1track was the best I have ever ridden in North America. The descent on Stage 5 from Seschelt to Langdale was particularly enjoyable and I know I will go back again in the future.

Next year? Yep, I'm already registered to do battle with my friend Robbin. He owns Arrowsmith Bikes in Nanaimo and is a fast dude on a bike. I think we can crack the top 20.

With that, here are some photographic highlights and a video taken by SLR during the week.

The start on Day 1. A few bikes and that was only the first half of the field.


Cooling down after Stage 1's 90+ degree temps.


Massage was critical for recovery. So were ice baths later in the week.


Mafia opted to utilize local hotels in lieu of tent city.


Lining up for Day 2.


Mafia on the prowl.


Ladies ride.


Parade lap around the track.



SLR and Amecita take in the trees.


And the coast.


The Mafia boys stoked with our best finish on the week. 23rd overall.


Boat 1 at sunrise of Day 4.


Catching some zzz's on the ferry.


The support rig loaded up.


Views from Boat 2 on Day 4.


The start of Day 4 right out of the ferry landing.


All smiles for now.


Chopper getting video footage.


Knuckles at the finish of a tough Day 4.


Seschelt coast.



RCMP escort to start day 5.


Riders following close behind.


SLR taking the support rig from Langdale to Horseshoe Bay.


The Reservoir Dogs walked on the next ferry after finishing a fun Stage 5. Note AV walks to the beat of a different drum.


Surrounded by some good company on Day 6. National CX Champ Katie Compton. Endurance Freak Nat Ross. Etc.


Race marshal's car ready to lead to way.


All smiles after finishing and a near DNF.


See that hose wrapped around the bar, it is supposed to go to AV's front brake.


"It was epic!"


Recounting war stories post-stage.


Happy July 4th!


Grande Americanos and the Mafia Boys.


Descending off Whistler Mountain into Creekside.


Heading out to wrap up the last 20km.


The finish.


It's medal time.


The coveted finisher's T-shirt.


Happy to have a new belt buckle.



On the gondola up to the top of Whistler for the awards gala.


Quite the adventure to say the least. I expect the photographers that were all over the course each day will have some riding shots that I can post in the near future.

Thanks to SLR for the pro support job. She could work for a professional cycling team no problem.

Now it's time to train and get ready for Mount Snow.

Thanks for reading,
Blue Star.

Day 7

D-O-N-E! Stick a fork in me, because my legs are crispy fried. We finished today's killer stage from Creekside to Whistler in just over 5 hours. I had some great legs and was ripping some of the amazingly challenging 1track that featured many option sections with man-made North Shore style features. I pushed AV as hard as he could go without cracking. He did visit the depths of a deep dark place known as the pain cave. I'd be surprised if he remembers half the stuff he rode his bike over today. As we crossed the finish line, we were handed Finisher's Belt Buckles and T-shirts. A much deserved prize for doing battle on our MTB's for 7 straight days.

That's it for now. It's time to head up Whistler Mountain in the gondola for the post-race party and awards gala at the Roundhouse Lodge. It's going to be a fun night for sure.

I'll post a more detailed recap of the week with lots of photos sometime soon. Until then, keep checking out the BC Bike Race website for great photos and updates on each of the stages.

Thanks for reading,
Blue Star

Day 6

Today is the day that defined our race. It could have been the end for Mafia Racing in the BC Bike race. 20km into a 65km stage in Squamish, BC, AV crashed on a serious steep and loose descent. He went over the bars and managed to wrap his cables around his head tube thrice over. In the process, he severed his front brake hydraulic hose from the caliper. No front brake for 45km on some of the world's most challenging trails could have meant a DNF and no finisher's medals for us. AV gathered himself and kept on riding. He even managed to bang out some solid tempo on 9-mile climb (yep it's long) and the Lava Flow climb (think nasty loose rock) despite having dead leg syndrome. We were bombing the Rip downhill at 25 to 30mph (keep in mind AV has no front brake) over rock and root drops when calamity number two and three struck. Something kicked up into AV's derailleur and wheel because he suddenly came to a stop. He broke a spoke in half in his Mavic wheels and twisted his chain in a spiral and it wrapped around his derailleur. The repair took some time, but we got him rolling with about 3 gears and he was limited to the small ring up front because the chain was so short. Next up, the famous Powerhouse Plunge trail. A super-duper technical trail that drops over some of the most rocky, rooty, logged covered, switch backy, north shore bridged trail you could imagine. AV managed to ride it, run it, and otherwise demolish it, as we even managed to pass 5 teams in the process. We limped through Crumpett woods with only having to dismount and run a few times. When we dropped onto the Squamish residential neighborhood pavement outside Crumpett Woods and I knew we were going to finish this stage. A huge smile crossed my face as I churned my big ring at 17mph while riding one handed and pushing AV along with the other (he couldn't get over 12mph on his own power because of his limited gearing). We crossed the finish in just over 5 hours and I was so happy I rolled over the line with a crossed up wheelie manual. Yep, it was a near disaster, but we persevered and finished. No doubt, it was our BC Bike Race defining day.



Tomorrow's stage is 45km on some sick 1track up in Whistler. We are close, I can smell the finish, but we still have work to do. And after today, I won't be counting any chickens until I'm sitting on a gondola heading up Whistler mountain for the finisher's dinner.

Thanks for reading,
Blue Star

Day 5

We had another sub par outing today. AV's legs didn't recover from the hard efforts we laid down yesterday. My legs had some go at the beginning and the end of the race today, but the middle was the doldrums and I wasn't complaining that we weren't making rapid forward progress. The trail today was amazing though. The last 15km or so was all downhill and really fun. The finish town today was in Langdale and we took a ferry over to Horseshoe Bay. Now I'm sitting here in our A/C hotel room hoping that I can recover to have a decent ride tomorrow. At the moment I'm a bit worred, because my body is starting to shut down and the legs feel like dead wood. I'm hoping an ice bath and my compression tights will remedy the legs. That's it for today.

Blue Star

Day 4

Another day in the books. A hard one to say the least. Awoke at 4am to catch a shuttle bus to our first ferry of the day. On this boat we had breakfast which was followed by everyone involved with the race being taken to the top deck while a photographer and film crew were hanging out of a helicopter to get footage and shots of all the racers on top of the ferry. Up next, a short drive to the next ferry landing where our driver proceeded to hit another bus in the caravan. A slight hiccup, but I was asleep when it happened and it jarred me awake. We made it across to Earl's Cove and the race start arch was on the end of the ferry dock. Promptly at 11am, the race was on with some steep climbs on the stunning sunshine coast. The course today featured some spectacular 1track. AV and I got a good start and we were settling in close to the competitors that have surrounded us that last few days. We were bombing a very fast descent that went through a river crossing and AV flatted. Together, we made quick work of the change, but it was still early in the race, so many many many teams streamed by us as we made the change. With the flat repaired, we were off again, but stuck behind many slower teams on a course that did not offer lots of opportunities to pass. I put it in full on XC mode and coaxed AV to dig deep to pass as many teams as possible. We put in some solid work and passed 20+ teams in the process. With about 15 miles to go, I thought we were golden because we had caught some of the teams that we were racing with before the flat. A mistake to say the least. The last 15 miles featured some spectacular but super technical 1track. With the fog of fatigue setting in on AV and I both from the hard chasing effort we quickly began making handling mistakes that cost us time. I hit my rear derailleur on a rock and dented my rear rim on another rock. AV wasn't having a much better time of it. He hit is head on a low hanging tree and knocked himself a little loopy. After that we had to dial down the pace and limp the last 5km to the finish. We only gave up a few places in the finishing order, but lost a bunch of time on some of our competitors and dropped a spot in the overall ranking.

That's it in a nutshell. Sorry for the lack of pictures and the stream of conscious writing, but I'm just too tired and fatigued to write something more entertaining or deal with uploading photos. SLR may be posting in the next day or so with some photos of her adventures following the caravan of the BC Bike Race.

Thanks for reading,
Blue Star