No.wHere

Winter is steadily approaching Seattle. Fall has settled and the temperature is staying low, with rain coming and going as it pleases. Last year I rode in the crap weather quite often. It wasn't very fun or comfortable, although I'm certain I gained some pretty good handling skills and toughness to race in equally poor conditions. The downside is that I was definitely under-dressed and without proper North Western cycling equipment (ie, the rain stuff). I made it a priority to make sure I didn't make the same mistakes I made last year so I've outfitted a vintage Colnago, that Ted (a dear friend and teammate) gave me, with the full fender set up, saddle bag, lights... the obvious stuff. Team sponsors have made some of the most recent investments more attainable than in the past such as a thermal jacket, rain jacket (that fancy Castelli plastic bag), Louis Garneau Power Seal booties, LG gloves warm & warmer, caps and of course, embrocation.

This "off" season I intend to enjoy my time in the saddle regardless if it's 34* and pissing rain or not. I finished my first base period and easily reached my 15 hour goal without any problems. Although Thanksgiving pretty much screwed up the start of my second base period, so I'll have to chalk it up and start fresh again next week. Just the other day Mike reintroduced me to Dan Harm's blog, Chasing After 2012, where I read a bunch of really helpful crap I wasn't ready to come to grips with. You see, he's an Elite racer and I am not. I want to be. I will be. It's just that I have some habits I need to break to allow myself to truly reach my full potential. And perhaps there are a handful of habits I should probably pick up. Someone who has already gone through all of this is exposing the essentials and I aim to use this to my advantage. I am also self-coached, you should know. With all of that being said, once this gorgeous bag of coffee depletes from our kitchen I will begin a 2 week detox that will prohibit the consumption of caffeine and alcohol all while monitoring my caloric intake. I suck at all 3 of those. Wednesday also marked the first day of core and upper body training. I'm pretty out of proportion when I see myself naked. Mostly just great legs, tiny torso and lanky, scrawny arms. Whipping my upper half into shape is painful so far but will pay mad dividends by spring. This detox in conjunction with core workouts should make me faster than I currently am or were. Atleast that's the idea.

I WILL BE A CAT 2 BIKE RACER BY JUNE 2012.

This will happen because when I believe I can do something well, I actually do it well. For example, the week before the Tacoma Twilight Criterium I went on Twitter and said "I am going to win the Tacoma Twilight Crit." A week later this happened. That was my first win. I can certainly do it many times over with the right fitness and confidence. The other racing related strategy I'm going to try out this year is focusing on stage races. These are multi-day events that best simulate those crazy tours you watch on tv like the France one with the yellow jersey and the Italian race with the guy in the pink everyone is chasing all month. It's also a quick way (potentially) to earn upgrade points. I recover pretty quickly so I'm holding out on this idea of racing 3 days in a row and still performing well.

Its 11pm and I really want to ride my bike before I go into work at 9am, so I'm going to leave you here. I just felt compelled to share a few new ideas that have been floating around in my head for the past couple days. Thanks for reading. I'll try to be a little more consistent, if not just for my own sanity in these dark and short NW days.

End Base 1.3 Cycle

Today marks the end of my first Base Training period, thus making next week all about recovery, WOOHOO. May goal was 3 hours today to lock in a 15 hour training week. I did 2.5, cause I slept in. Close enough right? I wanted to see what my body was capable of as I started my training again so I tapered my hourly workouts as follows: Week 1, Base 1.1 = 9 hours Week 2, Base 1.2 = 12 hours Week 3, Base 1.3 = 15 hours Week 4, Base 1.4 = 7 hours I am only doing 3 hour increases for this first period so that I can jump start my fitness. We'll see if it works out for me as I drop it down to 2 hour increases in my upcoming rides. I think all is well with my body, since I've felt fine; no knee pain or abnormal muscle soreness. Also, I went to the doc's to get a full physical with bloodwork to make sure I'm a healthy vegan. Results tomorrow, how exciting. For me atleast. I won't leave you hanging, so here are some more pictures I snapped on my ride this afternoon. Seattle is so beautiful, gah'damn.
Downtown Seattle from the Burke Gilman, Fremont.

Lake Washington Blvd, see the volcano?

Mt. Rainier close up, via Lake Washington

One of my favorite descents in town, Dexter.

Thanks for looking. Off to Ocho to cook tapas all night.

Base Training 1.3

This week is the third week of my "base training" for the 2012 season, which will include 15 hours in the saddle. Since I typically like to make Tuesdays and Thursdays my hard days, I kept it at a "tempo" pace, meaning just pushing the threshold of anaerobic and keeping it there. It was a freezing cold, foggy, yet sunny morning in Seattle with no chance of rain so I decided to ride the Masi. Amazing bike. Nobody was available to ride with me today so I just took my camera with me and did the ever-beautiful South Lake Washington Loop including Mercer Island. From Ballard this took me a little over 3.5 hours. Here's some of flicks. Burke Gilman, U-District

Lake View

Under 1-90 Bridge

Wetlands

U-District is that spec of buildings in the center

Mercer Island, so beautiful

Grassy knoll before leaving MI

Looking North from the back side of the Central District

Burke Gilman trail, Fremont

Interbike and Cross Vegas 2011

This is a bit late, bare with me. I went to Interbike in Las Vegas this year to represent Team B+R and hopefully nail down a few sponsors for our 2012 road season. I missed out last year, and made it a priority to get time off (which almost fell through). So glad that our team DS hooked me up with everything to make this trip possible. Thanks again, James. Im not going to bore you with stories about trying to eat in LV as a vegan leaving you with nothing but Chipotle 3x a day, all the sweet bikes/parts, celebrities, free swag, free beer (lots of it), 'cross racing, friends and all around bike nerdery that one would be engulfed in at a trade show like this. So, instead, I'll just share a few pictures I snapped while I was there.

The Molly Cameron

Until next time.

Product(s) Review: Masi 3VC Carbon

I recently upgraded my race bike from my (former) trusty steed, Trek 2200 Ultegra, to last year's Team Becher+ Radsport 'team bike', Masi 3VC Carbon. A HUGE thank you to James Becher (our team Director Sportif) for going the extra mile and making this upgrade happen for me. I am forever thankful. Before I get into my thoughts on the frameset and components, here's some eye candy (and yes, she rides as smoothly as she looks):

SPECS:

'09 Masi 3VC Carbon 58cm (compact)
Campagnolo Groupset:
-Centaur Aluminum Power Torque Crankset
-Chorus shifters/brake levers
-Chorus front/rear derailleurs
-Record front/rear brakes
DT Swiss RR 1.1 Wheelset laced to Campagnolo Record hubs
Ritchey PRO stem
Ritchey WCS bars
Masi Carbon seatpost
Masi bartape
Fizik Arione saddle (yes, I can touch my toes)
Speedplay pedals (not shown)

Unloaded, I'm sure she dances close to 16lbs. So light. There is nothing about this frameset that I don't like. It's "laterally stiff, and compliant" as they like to say. This frame was dubbed the "workhorse" and I completely agree. Although I take special care of my bike, I do, so to speak, "ride the shit out of it". She gets raced on and trained on 14hrs a week. I tend to be more of an aggressive racer so there's a little more force being delt out, if you will. I have noticed more than anything how quickly the bike accelerates, thus affirming it's nickname. Strong and quick. Upon first glance I feel like the steatstays stick out, quite a bit. I don't mean wide either, I'm talkding about that unique slope that seems to be the opposite shape of most frames out on the market today. The idea behind the slopped seatstays was to eliminate wheel-skip when braking hard by redirecting the force of your inertia equally throughout the frame. When I first heard about this, I thought it was a crock of shit. You can quote me on this, but I have yet to lock up my rear wheel since owning this bike and putting over 1000 miles on it. Keep in mind, I live in Seattle where the hills rival the infamous ones in San Francisco, which means I am very familiar with having to stop quickly after descending a very long and steep hill. Nothing. I've locked up countless times on my Trek. I'm not saying that it's impossible to skid out, just that I haven't yet. That should say something about the craftsmanship over at Masi. Theres one more thing I found rather crucial about this 58cm compact frame, no toe overlap. I'm 6'3" 160lbs and wear a size 47 (12-usa) shoe. Yes, this frame is probably a little small for me, but the fact of the matter is I have big feet, and race this machine. Having more rake on the fork allows for full range of motion without worrying about the tyre hitting my foot causing me to eat shit infront of miscellaneous strangers. Having more rake on the fork also keeps the bike from being too responsive thus creating that "squirrelly" effect we're all familiar with. I've ridden frames that were probably too big for me and still experienced the complete opposite. When you're racing crits to road races, it's important to feel in complete control with your bike and know that you can rail that corner at irresponsibly high speeds without worry of wiping out. I'm very pleased with the geometry of the 3VC Carbon, and only hope that they continue to use innovative design to produce bikes that exceed the already sterling reputation they've had for decades. Aside from the impressive specs and handling of the Masi 3vc, I can feel good looking around at races and group rides knowing that I've got the only one around. Theres something special about having a rare and tough carbon frame set, if you don't know that feeling, I hope you will soon. But don't take my word for it, check out more unbiased opinions over at Masibikes.com. ;) If you made it this far, thanks. And go easy on me, it's my first real race frame. I'm still unsure whether that warrants me the right to do an unofficial "product review".

Race Report: Seward Park Season End Classic

I love this course.

8/29/2011 9am
Cat 4/5
1k circuit, 50' elevation gain per lap, 22 laps.
8th place of 49 riders

This was the last race of the NW road season, and given the prior day's race was a flop to say the least, we needed some serious redemption. I am a firm believer that every racer has a type of course that suits them perfectly, Seward Park is Ted and I's. The Thursday Night Crit Series takes place here from April - September as a non-sanctioned training race. It's perfect for keeping that "race confidence" everyone desires. It's also a fun weekly challenge because the experienced folk around here swear that a break will never stick on this course. At Seward, the direction can change depending on the weather or how the officials are feeling that day:

Clockwise = "The fast way" single 50' punch climb (dry)
Counter-Clockwise = "The safe way" two 25' steps (raining/wet)

To level the playing field, the last race of the season was to be ridden counter clockwise (so the sprinters would have a chance at victory). Also, after the 2nd lap, the winner of each of the remaining 20 laps would receive a vile of Nuun Electrolyte Tabs. Cool stuff. Since it was only Ted and I that would be racing, we decided to replay what we did at the Tacoma Crit so that I may pay him back for what he did for me. That being, sit in, maybe launch a few small attacks, then with 2 to go, Ted jumps on my wheel as I dump all my gears into the hardest of lead-outs, giving him a solid win. However, Ted and I have sort of a reputation up here for making a seemingly easy race really fast and difficult for everyone else. This was completely solidified when we were stretching by the staging area as we heard 2 passing racers chatting. I waved with a smile (I don't really know them, I was just being friendly) and after they passed, one says to the other "and those 2 aren't going to make things any easier..." Matter of fact, there were countless moments as we were perusing around the course when we'd catch people staring at us and start whispering and what not. Ted looked over at me and asked with a grin "do you think anyone has us pinned?"

Yes. Yes they did.

Whistle blows to start the race, we rock the first 160* hairpin w/o a crash, good, then fly down the hill. At the bottom were the surges usually begin, I'm feeling fresh and overly confident so I drop 5 gears (I have Campy now, it's dangerously fun) and throw the first attack down. Two guys start chasing and catch my wheel at the start/finish line. I pull until the bottom of the hill, then Ted goes. He strings it out big time for a couple laps, then at the same spot I go even harder. Then he goes after I'm caught. Then I let it rip after they catch him. The winner of the LWV #3 (day before) chases me, he catches me after a lap, then its just us. He pulls, and keeps flicking his elbow (that means, "please come around me and take a pull in the wind, I'm tired"). I don't. I just let him burn all his gas 5' in front of me. Then I attack him, he grunts and tries to catch me. We play cat and mouse for 1 more lap, now 13 to go, before the peloton catches us. Just as they swallow him and start to roll up on me, Ted comes blazing by me like I'm standing still and disappears up the hill. Nobody even tries to chase. I sit 3rd wheel and wait for a chase to form. I lead the hill climb, then slow it down big time b/c I can tell everyone is burnt (really, I'm blocking and they don't know it yet, they just think I'm tired.) Finally after 2 laps with no Ted in sight the official on the climb says he's 15 sec up so 4 guys attack, and I counter. For another 5 laps, I play this game where I make everyone go fast where they want to go slow, and go slow where they want to go fast. It works so perfectly because Ted gets to escape, they are tired by the time they get to the "fast" part and most of them don't know I'm doing it on purpose. with 5 to go, this dork on Byrne/Invent p/b MadFiber, informs the rest of the group that my teammate is soloing up the road and that I'm not actually going to do any work to bring him back. Good job, gold star. Ted is now 23 sec up the road. The teams, for the first time this season (in the Cat 4/5's) start to strategize a little team work and form a chase group. I can't have this happening so I bridge the chase group after a speedy recovery and then attack them. This really seemed to piss them off because they just started yelling at eachother not to let me keep doing this.

That made me smile. After the race, some of them even said they thought it was funny I was smiling during the shenanigans.

2 to go. I sit 3rd wheel just incase Ted starts to pop so I can go save him. Nobody attacks, on the hill I ask the official how far up my boy is "20 sec, you guys gonna let him get away?" Nobody responds. But I smile again. Final lap, I'm 3rd wheel then some insanely dangerous/wreckless leadout blows by everyone scatters but doesn't crash, and I chase the field sprint for 8th place. Ted wins. Mission complete. Although, we strayed quite far from the plan ;)

Team B+R takes all primes, Top 10 and a 1st place.

Race Report: LWV #3 Carnation Farms Circuit Race

Sorry yall for the delay, but here I am to fill you in with some exciting news: The (North Western) road season is over, and Team B+ Radsport went out with a BANG!

To start things off, I give you my Lake Washington Velo Circuit Race Series report:

LWV #3 - Carnation Farms 8/27/2011 9am
Cat 4/5
6 laps, 30 miles
22nd of 59 riders

Jake picked up Ted and I and drove us through a foggy, cool morning out in the beautiful forests of Carnation, WA. Pretty rad conditions for a "Kermesse" style race if I do say so myself. Of course, like many of the other races the Rain City squad of Team B+R has attended this season, we barely made it on time. Don't ask me why, but no matter what time we plan on leaving, we usually have enough time to register and roll up to the start line, no warm up, just attack until we feel fresh enough to breakaway. Not very PRO, but we're young and it works for now.

The course was flat, and technical so the plan was to breakaway after the first lap and get Ted a win. We were unfamiliar with the reality of the course, so it turned out to be easier said than done, especially racing in the amateur category (4/5). It just so turned out that the roads were incredibly narrow and janky (which is cool, but not when your opponents cant handle their bikes very well and aren't nearly as fit/fast as you). There was really only one section of the course to move up on and that was a sketchy two-lane country road with no real visible painted lines, so naturally everyone launched attacks/ or surged to move up in the pack thus taking up both "lanes." Let me get a little more specific with this particular road: pot-holes, dirt, windy, foggy, 2-way, looks like a 1-way country drive way. Badass, right? Well, it was until the 2nd lap when the "plan" was to take place. We were all stuck in the back of the pack (b/c we showed up late, thus lining up in the back), so we started moving up on said road, Ted comes around the outside pretty hard and Jake and I slither our way through everyone else. Just as Ted disappears into the front of the pack I see a huge grey Chevy Silverado driving half on the road and half on the grass trying to slowdown as they realize there really is a bike race going on just like the lead car's sign says. Before I know it, a racer on the outside (oncoming traffic) smashes into the front of the truck at 25+ mph, his bike snaps into pieces, blood, then his body ricochets off the grill and lands 5 in front of the truck. Two or three other riders that were right behind him laid their bikes down to avoid collision. This all happened in a matter of seconds and no more than 10 feet to the left of me, I was certain I just witnessed my first death. As Jake and I slammed on the brakes and turned around to analyze what we just saw, the official in the follow car assured us we didn't want to see it and they had it under control. The race stopped and we rolled back to the staging area a couple miles out.

Once we got there, everyone was already lined up to continue racing after we waited for the ambulance to take care of the situation. I can't speak for Jake and Ted, but as we waited off to the side, I really was sick to my stomach and didn't want to race at all. We probably waited 45 minutes or so before the official told us he was alive and lectured us about the yellow line rule. At that point, I had been distracted enough with conversations not regarding the accident that I accepted the fact we paid money to get here and race, so we agreed to sit in and see what we could do. The race restarted, and as I suspected, we were pretty much stuck in the position we started the race in. With all these slow-pokes doing the "yo-yo" deal on narrow roads, where could we possibly move up? I waited for the open road at 200m to see how far I could move up but couldn't cover enough ground to top 10 from the back. This was the first race that I literally couldn't move up in, and I fancy myself a skilled pack rider. Pretty frustrating, not to mention having the image of a racer colliding with a truck permanently seared into my skull. Bummer race. I honestly think if the pace was hotter, then having the pack strung out would provide ample room to move up if you were fit enough, which we are.