Surf City #2!!! First race of a double race weekend.

Surf City, back from the near-dead, but just as good as ever. And Halloween, to boot!
Well, Surf City has used the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds as a race venue many a time over the years, and it's always a good course. This year was no different. I was excited to see another great course laid out in a way I hadn't yet seen at this location, especially as a follow up to the BASP #2 that was so much fun to ride. The cats and kittens at SCCCC put together a great course with some flat power sections, some fast straights, some tricky turns and a fun ride/run-up! I love these NorCal CX events! The organizers do a great job of laying out courses that combine speed, technique, and handling ability perfect for cross.

This weekend I had my girlfriend with me to help do race support, which is always awesome because it makes it easier to get ready for and focus on racing. So she helped me port my newly built B bike and spare wheels to the pit, while I headed out to warm up on my freshly glued carbon wheels.

Let me take a moment to just say a couple things about carbon wheels. First, Cane Creek made some badass wheels, and still do, only they have limited themselves to track wheels only, much to my sadness. Second, if you haven't ever used a set of nice carbon tubies, do it. They are amazing. Light, stiff, aero. VERY FAST. Unfortunately, it's the rider, not the bike, that determines the placing.

So I warmed up, having paid much better attention to my hydration and eating this Saturday than I had the previous Sunday, and got to the line feeling pretty good, and very happy to be racing. I started about third row (top 18) and had a decent first 1/4 lap, staying around 17th. After about a half lap I started to drift back. I slid back two spots or so before the end of lap one. I found myself continuing to slide back for about three laps when I realized I just wasn't making my legs hurt. So I started to visualize how I rode on my last hard training day and started pedaling harder. It felt kinda good, so I kept pedaling hard.

Well, it was a good call, because not only did I stop drifting back, but I started moving forward! I managed to move myself up around four places over the last half of the race to 23rd. I was pretty happy with that and was looking forward to the next days race. Me and my gal packed up my 'Yota wagon and headed home.

I gotta catch up on race reports! This one is for BASP #2

First of all, let me just say the guys at Pilarcitos put on an excellent race, with a new twist on an old favorite. The race was held at Coyote Point near Burlingame, CA on October 25.

It was a beautiful fall day in NorCal (as in mid to high 70s and sunny) and the course was fantastic. I mean great! It was wide, with lots of places to pass, it had some road, some loamy dirt, some sand, a sand pit, grass, short climbs and descents, lots of turns (some of them very tricky, loose and offcamber), a short run up and a set of barriers. The course essentially stradled the top of a hill mostly covered in eucalyptus trees. It took advantage of the existing bike/pedestrian paths as well as the sand pit, grassy fields, and large parking lot. A well done cross course!

So I warmed up, pre road the course, and went to line up for the start feeling pretty good, and actually happy to be racing. After a week of soul searching I felt like I had started to rediscover my love of racing. They called up the top 20 from the first race, which did not include me, and so I ended up starting in about 30th place or so. Unfortunately, only about five local guys can start faster than me if we line up on the same row. So at the gun I ended up getting pushed back temporarily by a couple slower starters that had beat me at the first race. But I was thinking happy thoughts like I was Peter Pan and immediately started being agressive and moving forward! It was great! I moved up to around 15th in the first two laps and was feeling good riding with Aaron O'Dell and another dude who both usually whoop my ass. So I was pretty stoked to be up there and feeling comfortable and confident.

Right about half way through lap three I decided it was time to put in an attack and see what happened. So just at the top of the run-up, where most crossers suffer most, I remounted and launched my attack on my two fellow racers. It was very effective, playing to my strengths as a runner, and their weaknesses as cyclists. Unfortunately, it didn't last long.

About a minute after that effort my legs lost all power. I mean, from feeling strong to feeling feable in two pedal strokes. What was going on? I decided it would be best to go tempo and try to limit my losses. Well, I spent the next 30 minutes limiting my losses, realizing that I had not fed myself enough and was dehydrated. I managed to put in a solid last lap and a half to catch three other racers, but still finished a lap down in 28th or so.

I've never been so happy with getting lapped! I realized that had I fed and watered myself correctly I could have done much better. So, knowing that I was coming back into some decent fitness, I was encouraged to keep up the good work and be better the following weekend with nutrition and hydration.

Lion of Fairfax.

I car-pooled with my buddy Jeff from SJ to Fairfax, which was great. We had fun chatting on the way up and arrived with time to spare. It was a warm sunny day and the course was fun. A ride up, a run-up, fast sections, technical turns a touch of mud, grass, pavement. It was a great course.

On our way to sign in we spotted Ned Overend. AKA Deadly Nedly, aka The Lung. Multi-time world and national XC mountain bike champion. A living legend of bike racing. I had to stop mid warm-up just so that I could shake his hand. We chatted about the course and then all went back to warming up.

We lined up for the start and I was in the second row. I had a great start, putting myself in about seventh place, one or two back from Deadly Nedly. I was pretty happy about that. I slipped back about two more spots and got on a good wheel. I managed to stay in that spot for about three laps, but on lap four I managed to loose control on the descent and rode off course into some bushes. I didn't crash. But when I got back on track I had lost five or seven places, along with my desire to keep racing. I dropped out a lap later. That is very rare for me.

So after that experience, along with the constant waffling about racing and training for the last few weeks I decided to take today off and skip CCCX #3. We'll see how things go over the next couple weeks.

Surf City #1

Well, it's been a week since this race, so the short version is on order.

I was stoked to be racing a Surf City race for the first time in over a year, especially with this being the first time in three or four years that Surf City is a full series. So the first one was held at Soquel High School, a great location that is always a killer course. Lots of technical turns and lots of fast open sections, a short fast descent and a nice run-up starting with three barriers.

Well, I started in row one, had a decent start, and then proceeded to slip backwards through the pack. My legs just didn't feel strong and I still wasn't feeling mentally strong. Well, it was fun, but I wasn't particularly happy about my race. I finished around 21st or so. My highlight for the race was certainly the run-up. I managed to crush the run-up every lap and it always pleased the crowd that had gathered there. I let the performance slide because it had been my first consistent week of training in four weeks and that always leaves me feeling less than stellar on race day. But this week, well, that's for the next post.

Bay Area Super Prestige #1

McLaren Park, San Francisco, or Daly City?

Sunday morning, up and ready, packing the car to head up to the first BASP of the season. Bay Area Super Prestige is put on by Tom Simpson and his Pilarcitos crew. These guys are great. They put on fun races with lots of good crowds. They have become the biggest series in the Bay at this point. Part of that went along with the virtual disappearance of the Surf City series, which is now back in action. The first Surf City is next Sunday, so I'll have a write up on that next week.

First, I didn't get out the door as early as I had hoped, so I barely made it to the race with an hour twenty to get ready. I managed to get in maybe 20 or 30 minutes of warm-up, which wasn't quite enough, but worked ok. The course was great! Starting with a short cut directly into a long steep run-up, then a slight climb into a dusty switchback descent, then a short climb, into a bumpy dusty descent, into a hard left hand turn onto a paved climb, hard right back onto dirt, climb, right sweeper, super dusty, soft descent that caused several crashes, short paved riser, right onto dirt, a couple sweepers into a longer sandy straight away, paved descent, grass, barriers, back through the start, right hand U turn, left, sweeping right, hairpin left, and muddy grass into the run-up again. Hard, fast, and fun!

I ended up three rows back at the starting line thanks to some confusion about the start and call ups. At the whistle we launched from the start and I was in a really good race head. I immediately started trying to move up the field. With only 200 meters to the run-up I didn't have much time to do that. I continued to push through the field, grabbing wheels and pushing them out of my way on the run, then remounting and pedaling hard to move up. I even threw a couple elbows to assert my positioning on that first switchback descent. I was having fun and racing with a smile. I managed to move up to somewhere between 10th and 15th place. I was able to race there for a while feeling happy about my position and pedaling hard to keep up my speed. Then, on that super soft and dusty descent at the top of the course, I took a spill. Well, I wasn't hurt enough to notice, but my handle bars got scooted to one side. So I rode with my bars crooked to the pit and straightened them out. Unfortunately, this caused me to drop back a good 15 or more positions. Doh! So I finally jumped back in the race and got to pedaling. I was able to bring back a few guys before getting lapped by the leaders as they finished their final lap.

Overall, I'm happy about the race. I rode hard and had fun. Now I'm motivated again to ride hard and race some more. I'm also really excited to see the return of the Surf City Series. Big ups to SCCCC for getting that up and running again!

CCCX #2

Last Sunday was my first of the bigger local series races. Central Coast. This series got started in the late 90's and is a great cross series. They often have fun courses that are well laid out with just the right mix of technical and fast. Last weekend's race was no exception! The Fort Ord East Garrison course is always a good one, and has been one of my favorite local courses since first starting to race cross. It's got some sand, some asphalt, a short climb, a short descent, a good run-up and a couple of logs that are very bunny-hoppable.

I got there much later than I usually would due to a supreme lack of motivation. I had to convince myself to go. I barely had half an hour of warm-up, which for me is about 1/3 as long as I'd like to have. But oh well. I had just enough time to preride the course three or four times, then get to the starting line. I ended up third row at the start. At the whistle we took off, tearing up the short hill to the first set of barriers. I managed to put myself in about ninth place, a pretty good start for me. I was riding near Dave Wyandt and Aaron O'Dell, a couple local strongmen. I felt pretty good about that, knowing that those two usually finish top five.

I had come to the race with the intention of just riding so hard that I was sore on Monday, so I tried to keep pushing myself to pedal hard. After two laps of that I cracked, mentally. I just got to the top of a short ride-up and soft pedaled. What was I doing here? Why had I come? Why did I care? Should I drop out? And then my eyes started burning.

I pulled over and squeezed my eyes shut, realizing that the dust from the course must've gotten into my contacts and was causing my eyes to feel like they were being burned out with a magnifying glass. After my eyes teared up and cleaned out I was able to start riding again. So I did. I started push on the pedals and felt ok. I spotted someone up the road and started chasing. I spent the rest of the race slowly picking people off and moving forward. Coming into the finish I managed to catch up to one more guy. The last set of barriers on the lap was about twenty meters before the finish line, he hit them about a stride before me. I knew he would try to remount, so rather than remount at all, I ran past him and sprinted to the line while he fumbled with his pedals. I felt good about having switched from fighting for motivation to riding and having fun. The more fun I was having, the faster I went. I ended up finishing 18th, which was much further back than I thought I was, but oh well.

Lessons learned: Have more fun and don't wear contacts to dusty races.

I don't wanna!

That has been my feeling towards any kind of training for the last couple weeks. It started just before my travel weekend to Star Crossed. I've been feeling low on motivation. Last weekend I had too convince myself to go race. Not the usual. I've come to realize that I'm not having fun out there anymore. I've become to serious and too worried about winning or getting results. So I'm making some changes. I'm going to start having more fun and worrying less about how well I do at the races. I'm not going to train seriously, I'm just going to ride and do the things that I enjoy doing.

I'm considering picking up climbing again, learning to surf, learning to snowboard, getting a downhill mtbike. Maybe finding some ballet classes, some parkour classes, or some martial arts classes. Maybe buy a guitar. Or maybe all of those. It's time to do the things I've always wanted to do but haven't made time for because I was focused on racing bikes.

I guess I sort of feel like I'm in a state of flux. Racing has been a central focus of my life for a long time, and now I'm moving it out of the spotlight. It leaves me with a lot of mixed emotions, but when I think about taking up all these other things that I've wanted to do for years, it feels like the right decision.

So, I'll probably still do a few mountain bike races, and probably a few crits, and of course, several cross races, but not the way I have been. I've got some ideas on which bikes I'd like to buy and I'm working out what order, then on to other stuff.

I guess I knew this day was coming, I just wasn't expecting it this year.

Pete's story has moved.

I moved this to a different blog because it made more sense to do that then mix it with bike stuff.

The Blank Page

So basically...

Last weekend was all business, as far as racing goes, and I don't have fun when I'm all serious, and that leads to burnout. So it's time to find a way to stay fit, get faster, and keep having fun. So I'm gonna work on that.

Photos from Rad Racing GP

"The top of the run-up is up there."



The reason it looks like the run-up is so long is because it's freakin'long!

This was taken from about halfway up the run. Yes, only halfway.

Photos from Star Crossed

The Starting line.




Scrambling for warm clothes. AKA: Jenn's favorites.



All photos, courtesy Jennifer Smith.

Remembering why I do this. Sometimes easier said, than done.

Seattle, WA. My first taste of UCI racing this season...I had headed up there with high hopes. Perhaps a top 15, maybe even a top ten. That was after having checked the registered athletes to see that ten of the guys signed up were paid pro riders. Including the Swiss National Champ, Dutch National Champ, US National Champ, and two or three former US national Champs. I was intimidated to say the least.

The Saturday race, called FSA Star Crossed, was a night race in Redmond, WA. It was held at the Marymoor Velodrome and the Elite Men category started at 8 pm. It wasn't raining when we got there, but it certainly was when the race started. It ended up switching from pouring to no rain and back more than once during the one hour event. I had an ok starting position, but was so intimidated by the field that I didn't ride aggressively enough at the start. The most important part of the race being the first ten minutes. I'm pretty sure I have the fitness to hit a top 15 in that field, but was definitely not mentally ready to do that. I ended up getting lapped with 15 minutes to go, which, despite not racing to my fullest potential, is still better than I've done in the past when competing in a field like that. The course itself was quite fun, lots of off camber sections, a couple sets of barriers, no real run up, lots of slippery turns thanks to the rain, and a couple completely dark corners (it was a night race, after all). Definitely a fun event!

It did, however, deal me a serious mental blow. My confidence was shattered along with any motivation. I had come in with the knowledge that my fitness was at a level where I could do well, but been dealt an unexpected blow. So Sunday, when it came time to head out to the Rad Racing GP in Lakewood, the sunshine was little consolation.

I hauled myself down to Lakewood, my gal accompanying me full of moral, emotional, and number pinning support. I had a mechanic straighten my rear derailleur hanger, which had gotten bent when I crashed in a slippery corner the night before, then started warming up. My legs felt terrible, my head was not in race mode, and I didn't feel like facing another day of being crushed by the other racers. But I got myself ready and headed to the starting line.

My start was better than the night before, I was more aggressive and tried to move up immediately, I managed to not loose many spots, and over the next few laps gradually moved up, passing guys one at a time, but still ended up lapped with 15 minutes to go. Another disappointing day.

After getting stomped twice in a row, it's been hard to motivate this week. I didn't ride yesterday, and have been struggling to get motivated today. But the thing that I remembered, simple as it may be, is that I do this because I like it. I like pushing my body, to see what I'm capable of, and I usually have fun doing that. So really, what I have to remember, is to enjoy racing for the sake of racing, instead of for the sake of results. Results come and go, but I can always have fun racing.

Living the Dream

Tomorrow I travel to Seattle, WA to compete in two UCI races. It is only September, the beginning of the cross season. I have dreamed of this for years.

Another race, another mechanical. Oy.

Well, it's been a week, which means it's time for another race update. Last weekend there were two races to choose from on the NorCal calendar. The race at the Folsom Cyclebration, and the second LARPD. I decided to do the Folsom race because it would give me the chance to see my Dad, in Sacramento, and I could race a short track mountain race on Sunday on my CX bike and get two races in. This would also serve as a good warm up to the following weekend, which would be back to back UCI (Pro level) races in Seattle.

So I got there early, signed in, and started warming up. I felt pretty good, coming off a normal training week, aiming for 19 hours total come Sunday night. Late in my warm up I noticed an odd creaking noise in my bike. I thought it was the bottom bracket I had just installed the night before. But that seemed odd because I knew I'd installed it properly and with plenty of grease. Strange, but no big deal, on to the race.

I lined up front row, knowing that with the competition that was there I could definitely be in the top five, and if I was feeling good and racing smart, the top three. Well, the guy that started to my left stuck his bars in front of mine off the line, then missed his pedal. Luckily neither of us crashed, but this put me around 12th, a long ways from where I wanted to be with a lot of turns before any real chance to move up. But I stayed calm and collected and moved up one spot, here, one spot there, all in the first half of the first lap. We hit the run up and I powered up it, passing two guys with ease and drawing a few impressed comments from spectators. I leapt onto my bike and immediately started sprinting out of saddle to try to get up to speed and regain some of those lost spots.

Suddenly I heard a loud cracking noise, something like a spoke breaking, but a touch louder, and my bike became very wobbly. I thought it was a spoke, but no, my brakes didn't rub. A broken chainstay? Nope, it was my down tube. Broken frame, on lap one, with no B bike to swap to. OH MAN!

Well, I got off my bike, jogged the remaining 200 meters to the start/finish and yelled, "Anybody got a bike I can borrow? I just broke mine." A few spectators spotted the break and "Wowed," but no one had a bike. I went to the tent of a local shop, only to be jokingly offered duct tape. I remembered a guy I know that rides about the same size as me had a spare bike. I ran back to the start/finish area.

"Mike! What size is your bike?"
"Oh, it's a 52. It'll fit you."
"Sweet! Can I borrow it?"

So I took his bike, a single speed with a gear suitable to Mike, who is 60 or so years old, and my broken rig, and went to the pit, where I took his pedals off, took my pedals off and put them on his bike, and jumped back in the race, now two laps down. UGG. I rode strong, spun my legs off trying to make up ground. I finished 11th out of 12 thanks to a DNF. The DNF was the guy that hooked my bar at the start. At least I got a good workout.

LARPD CX #1 Livermore, CA Cyclocross!

Well, last Saturday was the season opener for NorCal cyclocross. It was a lovely day at about 85 degrees and the course layout was fun. It was a very twisty course on grass and hardpacked dirt with only one section of barriers, and one very small hill. More like a large lump. Anywho, it was a great layout, especially considering what Shane, the dude who runs the LARPD series, had to work with.

I started out the day prepping for departure at about 6am. Planning on eating, dressing, showering, shaving the legs, and washing my bike. All before picking up my girlfriend and heading to the race.

Running late, I head out, skip washing the bike, pick up the cutie, and head to Livermore, about an hour away. Get there, check out the course, get warmed up, chat with some buddies I haven't seen since a year, maybe even two years ago when I last raced CX in NorCal, and step to the line.



At this point, I've only had one recovery day between the race and three hard days of riding in a row. I'm not fully recovered. So I figure, what the heck, I'll line up second row, and see what happens. The whistle blows and we're off. I find myself around 12th position out of 45 or so riders in the mixed category of Men's A's and Master A's (35+ yrs old). Feeling pretty good, I bridge up to the main chase group of four guys, who are down from the leader, who is rolling solo, and a pair of guys behind him. I'm feeling pretty happy about that because I've never been in such a good spot at this point in the season. But I can feel the fatigue of doing four hard hours on Tuesday, three hard hours on Wednesday, and two more hard hours on Thursday.

I'll sit in! Perfect! I figure if I suck wheel until about 20 minutes to go I can then try to make my big move up to the first chase group of two guys. So I'm drafting, staying on, thinking, good, Ben, keep this up and you'll be ready to make your move later. Then, at 30 minutes in, I flatted my front tire. I had to ride half a lap to the pit, lost probably ten places, and had to swap my front wheel from my light weight race wheel, to my tanker training wheel.

Well, I jumped back in, and fought as much as I could. I think I brought back about five guys in the last half of the race. I finished 8th out of 12. Overall, I was pretty happy with what that race indicates about my form and fitness at this point in the season. I'll be posting more race reports next week as I plan on doing two races this coming weekend. Wish me luck! And happy riding!



Photos Courtesy: Jennifer Smith. First pic is Shane Huntoon, then the start of the Men's/Master's A's group, and finally of me bridging to the chase group of four.

Downhilling in Tahoe.

Let's start with Northstar at Tahoe. It was a blast! Four guys from the shop and I all headed up to the Northstar resort for the Fox Clothing release event for their 2010 lineup. It was amazing. I had recently gone to Mammoth Mtn, where I did my first ever downhilling session. I'd never done anything like it before and it was super fun. Well, it was also a great prelude to Tahoe. The runs at Mammoth are longer, and often rockier than what we saw at Tahoe, but Tahoe had more burms and jumps, which was fantastic. I couldn't pick one over the other for fun factor.

Favorite trail at Mammoth: From the top hit Skid Marks, then find your way over to Velocity DH. The lower section is rad, with a wood wall ride, a couple killer burms, and some fun jumps and drops.

Favorite trail at Northstar: Live Wire. Jump, jump, burm, jump, burm, burm, jump, burm, jump, jump...all the way down. So much fun! I was stoked when I started clearing table top jumps and railing burms completely sideways.

So, overall, both locations had great things to offer. Mammoth has the all-day, 40 minute plus top to bottom run action, and the legendary Kamikazi. Tahoe has a bit more variety, but mostly shorter runs. Plus side: you can hit several runs in a row for the day, a bit easier to get to know the trails.

Next entry: race report!

Season opener for NorCal is this Saturday!

And really, who's not excited about that! The LARPD series opener has been the first race on the NorCal calendar for the last three years. It's a low key, super fun series out of Livermore, CA. Run by Shane and Karen, the series is a great time and those two folks are solid gold. Not to mention, Shane is a hammer on a bike, and definitely knows how to catch air on a BMX!

I'm hoping my fitness is there and I don't get beat up on too badly by the other Men's Cat 1/2/3's that roll out this weekend. This week is the first of three 19 hour training weeks for me, and my last week of Power Phase weight lifting, so I might be a bit tired on race day. Not to mention I haven't raced cross since January and the first race of the season is often a mystery. Anywho, can't post too much, gotta go prep my bikes and hit the gym today! Gluing tubulars, here I come!

The season is coming...

Here I am, ten days away from the first cross race of the season and feeling pretty good. I've been putting in 17 hour weeks for the last three weeks, mostly easy riding, but with some good solid intervals, some running, and some weight lifting to get ready for the coming season. Since I'm not planning on peaking until National Championships I'm still building up to my really hard workouts, but I'm feeling pretty happy about how my fitness is coming along. This week is a recovery week for me, which is much needed. I'll be doing a lower volume of hours, as well as a lower volume of intensity before upping the hours and intensity again starting next week. I've been doing a lot of investigating and planning for the season as I get ready to embark on my first season including a decent amount of traveling to UCI races (internationally ranked). I'm pretty psyched to start the season as I've been looking forward to the cross season since last January. This year looks like it'll be a good one with lots of good local racing, a good portion of national caliber racing, and even National Championships in Bend, OR. But first, to get ready for Seattle.

Seattle is where, or at least near where, the first two big cross races of the season take place. The first is a night race called Star Crossed, the second has the longest run-up of any cross race, measuring 80 meters, the Rad Racing GP. It promises to be an exciting and challenging weekend. I plan on dusting out the cobwebs at a couple NorCal races before flying out to really test my fitness against the pros at Star Crossed, and trying to crack some people on that Knapp Time run-up (named for ex-pro crosser Dale Knapp, who now coaches Rad Racing Juniors). See, I'm one of very few cyclists who actually likes running, so I will definitely have an advantage on that run-up, but it's only a small portion of the course, so we'll see what happens.

Alright, I'll be checking in again next week. Until then, happy riding!

Big news in the bike department!

I just got an email from one of the companies that I sent my sponsorship packet out to. They have decided to sponsor me with some killer parts!!! Origin8 has decided to help fuel the Ben Dodge cyclocross train. I'll be posting pictures of the parts as soon as they come in, as well as pictures of the parts after installation.

Click here to check out Origin 8's website

Also, keep checking back here for updates, race reports, and photos from the season!

Pete's Story

Suddenly Pete fell silent.

"That man who likes you is following us." He said as he looked out the passenger window of Jane's blue Corolla. The image of the man's face surfaced in her mind.

"Yes, that man."

"Perhaps it's just a coincidence, Pete." Jane said it mostly to calm herself.

"No. He wants to...he's thinking bad thoughts."

Jane's skin went clammy. She was, at this point, completely convinced that Pete could read minds. She wondered if she should ask Pete what kinds of thoughts.

"I said! Bad thoughts! He wants to hurt you! He wants you to cry! He wants..." Pete began to cry into his hands. What he was saying now had put her into a cold sweat and she could feel the vinyl of the steering wheel become slippery beneath her hands. She wasn't sure what to do.

Regrouping.

So as anyone who's been checking has seen, my road bike was stolen a couple weeks ago. The biggest bummer there is that I was planning on transferring most of the parts to my cross bike for winter racing. Well, now I'm working on saving up to get some new parts so that I can still have two cross bikes this winter. I'm looking forward to cross, and will start getting ready for it starting this week. In the mean time, I've been running and riding mountain bikes.

I've decided that next season I will focus on mountain biking, with the intention of earning my Pro upgrade on the trails, and attending National Championships. This decision feels incredibly right for me. I've always liked mountain biking more than road riding, and I've had more success on the mountain than on the road. So I'm pretty excited to make the transfer to being mountain focused rather than road focused. This doesn't mean that I won't also be racing road, but that I will be focused on mountain races, with the above goals in mind.

In the mean time, it's almost the beginning of the cross season. Just a month and a half away from the first race of the season. I'll be getting tubulars repaired and glued soon, and setting up my A and B bikes for the season by end of August. It promises to be a good season.

And my bike got stolen.

WTF? My bike got stolen out of my car, in front of my house, in a quiet suburban neighborhood last night.

Butterfly crit. Where I take out my anger on 25 other bike racers.

So after the Memorial Day Crit I had thought that I had enough points to get my Category 2 (aka semi-pro) upgrade on the road. So I sent in my upgrade request, and got to training. I was riding high for three days, thinking things like: these are the legs of a semi pro racer. I'm a semi pro. I've been working for this for years and I'm finally there. Lots of excitement and positive thought, and pride in my accomplishment.

Until I got my rejection notification. WHAT?!? Denied?!?

Turns out the points I had thought I was getting according to the USA Cycling website weren't upgrade points. Just points to rank me against other racers in my category. Because I give a crap about that. NO. I don't. So where I thought I had collected 27 of the necessary 25 points, I had only 9. Well, I was a little angry about that. And with good reason. I'm already a Cat 2 for Cyclocross. I'm already a Cat 2 for Track. I'm already a Cat 1 for Mountain biking. Clearly I have the fitness, experience, and pack handling skills to race at a high level. But I haven't finished high enough, consistently enough, to be eligible for an upgrade. Well, that left me a little bit pissed off.

By the time I got to the Butterfly crit, just six days after racing with the pro/semi pro field, I was out for blood. Now at this point, I had never stood at the top of the podium at a road race or a criterium. Second had been my best to date, and third was my best as a Cat 3. I wanted the win. I wanted to prove that I deserved the upgrade I had been denied. And I was going to do it.

Five minutes into the fifty minute race someone attacked off the front. I decided to bridge, so I jumped out of the pack, hoping to bridge the gap and work to stay off. Someone came with me and the two or us made contact and started working with the Berkeley guy that had initiated the break. We had been working together for about fifteen minutes when the guy that had come with me decided to "steal" two primes from us, instead of just working together and sorting out primes later. This is considered very bad form. You don't attack the break until much closer to the end of the race unless you think you can win it solo. You do not steal primes in a break. You take turns winning them and work together to stay away, otherwise you get caught by the group.

So I unleashed a little anger on the guy. I told him if he wanted to be the hero, that's just fine, he could pull us all the way to the finish. He tried to explain that he was "just getting the primes" to which I responded by repeating myself. He pulled. For a lap and a half. And then I attacked.

I launched as soon as he stopped pulling, trying to open up a gap. The Berkeley guy, Neil, came with me. Neil and I continued to work together, keeping the pack at about 30 seconds down, for the remaining 25 minutes or so of the race. Coming into the final lap I knew that Neil was going to attack me, and I figured it would be on the small hill near the end of the less than one mile long lap. Sure enough, that's where he went, but I was ready and I got on his wheel immediately. We rolled across the line, hearing the bell that announces one lap to go, still 30 seconds up on the pack, fans screaming. I knew were I would launch and hoped that my plan would work. Comming out of the second turn, as soon as Neil pulled to the left to let me take my pull I attacked. I sprinted to the third corner, trying to hold him off. I new I had gapped him with my initial attack, but he wasn't far behind. I came out of the final corner and sprinted toward the line. I could feel Neil just barely behind me, hear hims sprinting, felt the burning in my legs as I hurtled toward the line. I shifted up and continued to sprint, felt myself running out of gear, shifted again, Neil still hot in pursuit. The line was drawing closer, the crowd crying out in excitement, I pressed hard on the pedals and found myself flying across the finish line one bike lenght ahead of my competitor, well ahead of the rest of the field. I yelled out in victory, not even a word, just a noise. Part anger, part release, part triumph.

It was almost surreal. My first victory on the road. I have now won on the Track, in Cyclocross, in Cross Country mtb, and on the Road. This victory gave me another five points towards my upgrade. With 14 points racked up I'm only 11 away from Semi pro. On to the next race.

The next race report, or two, really. Memorial Day.

So, this was the race I did on Memorial Day. It was also a crit, and I actually raced twice in one day. The first race was the Elite 3's race.

It was a pretty standard four corner, flat crit at a business park, with a field of almost a hundred railing around the course. I was surprised at how good I felt after having been dropped the day before in Auburn. I was going in breaks, chasing breaks, and feeling good. It was a fun race in that the 3's weren't just waiting for the finish. People were almost constantly attacking and counter attacking. I had fun chatting with some friends in the pack, and when my teammate came to the front with two laps to go I was feeling good. Aaron (my teammate) took a good long hard pull on the front for a lap and a half, trying to string out the group and keep me relatively protected on his wheel so that I would be in a good position to sprint for the win. Well, he died off with about a half a lap to go and the group started swarming toward the front of the pack, so I vied for position, trying to stay near the front as much as possible. I knew if I came around the last turn close to the front I'd have a chance. I came out of the final turn in about 15th place and launched my sprint immediately. I hurtled toward the finish as fast as I could go, but only managed to take 8th. Still, not bad. I hung around for a few then changed clothes and headed to work at the bike shop. We were closing early and I was planning on heading back to the race to do the Pro 1,2,3 race.

I got back with just enough time to warm up for about 20 minutes before the start of the race. There were two paid professionals in the race, one from team BMC, the other from team Bissell. This race was much faster and more aggressive than the first race. The pro/semi pro men are much fitter and more willing to work hard for the win. There were lots of hard, fast attacks with guys trying to break away. I was able to go to the front of the pack and try to help block when one of my Cat 2 teammates was in a break. Then, later in the race, I was able to go to the front and do some chasing to try to help bring back a breakaway that didn't have any of my teammates in it. It was really fun to finally get to use some team tactics! I felt particularly good when one of the Cat 2's complimented my racing, especially when I thought about having raced once already and worked for four hours in between. I wasn't sure at the start if I'd have the fitness to finish, but clearly I wasn't going to have a problem with that. When the final sprint came around no one was off the front, partly thanks to me, but I had spent my legs with my previous efforts and ended up rolling across the line in 74th out of 100. All in all, a pretty fun day. It made me really want to race with the pro/semi pro field. The riding is so much faster, and everyone is riding nearly knuckle to knuckle, and guys will shoot into gaps with total confidence. It's so exciting! It's the way I was taught to race by my coach.

Story time or race report? I think I owe a race report.

So, let's start with the first race I did after getting back from visiting family in Tucson.

It was a criterium, which is a short distance road race, usually around one mile per lap and each group races for a certain amount of time and does as many laps as possible in that much time. This particular crit had a hill in it and several turns, including one hard left hander in the middle of the downhill. Yes, in the middle of the descent you had to suddenly hang a hard left. So the course was technical, especially for a crit, which are usually flat and have four corners. I usually like more technicaly crits with hills because you can't just sit in the pack, soft pedalling, and wait for the sprint, you gotta work.

So this crit, in Auburn, starts and finishes on a hill. Really the start/finish line is just after the start of the hill. Well, you should have some back story, I had spent the last week not riding, eating lots of delicious food with my mom, sister, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins, and only one of the three weeks before that training. A hill was not what I wanted to see with only one week of training in the last three. I figured, either I'd be well rested and feel like superman, or I'd get dropped on the second time up that hill.

After a half hour of warm up I hit the starting line next to my buddy Nate, who happened to be racing with me, feeling happy to be back on my bike and nervous about my fitness. To add to that another racer that knew me, who I couldn't place but liked, started hounding me about having one some big mountainbike race just a couple weeks earlier. Well, I assured him he was mistaken and then the race rolled out.

So, sure enough, after three laps I was feeling pretty good, and I felt like it wasn't going that fast, and it sure would be a good course to go off the front in, so I attacked at the bottom of the hill. Well as I attacked the promoter rang the bell to announce a prime (pronounced preem) lap. For those who don't know what that is, it means the first person across the finish line on the next lap wins a prize. Could be a pair of socks, or $10, or $300, depending on the race. Well, I didn't get off the front in my attack, but I was at the front. Coming around the final turn I was in second wheel and feeling good, so I sprinted for the prime and won it. Yay! Then the rest of the pack jammed past me going up the hill. OUCH! I gave it all I had just to stay in the group of 24 starters that was already whittled down to 18. I fought to stay in for the next eight or so laps before I got dropped from the group.

Well, before the race I had told Nate's girlfriend that if I was off the back, as I now was, that she had to cheer extra loud for me. I told her I'd make it worth while. As I came through the start/finish she held up her end of the bargain and cheered loudly. I had intended to drop out of the race at that point. But I had made a promise. So the next time around I came through swatting at the back end of my bike as if urging on a horse. This got the whole crowd going. So the next time through I did a little breakdance move with my arms as more people began cheering me on to my OTB (off the back) finish. The promoter even stuck out his rump as if he expected me to give it a swat as I came by. At this point I was having lots of fun and getting a great workout. My heartrate maxed out at 196 beats per minute on that course. So, I finished the race, OTB and one lap down, but happy.

The best part, besides having had fun despite poor fitness, was when I went to collect my prime and it turned out to be $50! That was great because it covered all my gas money to and from the race, and little extra.

Well, stay tuned, there are four more race reports that I need to catch up on, and a new one to be remembered after this Sunday. And I'll keep working on that story.

First Draft.

This is the start of a story idea. Feel free to critique. Try to be gentle.


"That man thinks you're pretty, miss Jane."

"How do you know that, Pete?"

"I can hear it."

Jane looked at the large youth in puzzlement. His slightly chubby face showed no signs of joking, his tone had been incredibly matter of fact.

"What? What do you mean you can hear it?"

"I can hear it."

Asking for a better explanation from an eighteen year old with the mental capacity of an eight year old rarely yielded clear answers. Jane regarded the six foot three adolescent as he sat across from her in the more than half empty cafe before proceeding.

"What do you hear?"

"I hear his brain."

"You can't hear someone's brain." She scoffed.

This was a bad idea. Pete was 230 pounds of, more or less, a child, and he began to get angry at the sound of Jane's derision. His protests immediately drew the attention of other patrons.

"Okay! Okay! What can you hear from my brain?"

"You think I'm lying, but I'm not!"

People were beginning to stare. Jane needed to calm him down. She had only been working with Pete Jacobs for three weeks and hadn't yet had to face him in a state of agitation.

"Okay, Pete, I believe you. But can you show me again? Can you listen to my brain again?"

"Sure." he said, calming down a bit.

Jane immediately thought of something completely unrelated to anything in the cafe or the conversation they'd been having.

"Oh!" Pete said, excitedly, "I want nachos!"

Jane gave him a look of incredulity. She had thought of nachos, thinking there was no way he could guess that.

"Miss Jane, are we going to get nachos for dinner?"

She was still not sure what to think.

"Yeah. Yeah, we can go get nachos."

On the drive from the cafe to the taquería Jane continued to test Pete's mind reading.

"Cheese cake. A fast car, it's red. An old lady, your mom, she's dead now. That's sad. June 18th, it's your birthday. A giraffe." He was never wrong. As soon as she jumped from one thought to another he could say what it was.

I'm going, going, back, back to Cali, Cali!

Ok, so I'm actually already back. But I'm getting more and more reestablished here in the wonderful San Francisco Bay Area. More specifically the South Bay.

I've finally got a car. A sweet little Toyota Wagon from '88. It's a five speed manual, and once I get a roof rack on there it'll be one sweet little bike race mobile.

Also, I've got place to live, stating in June! And to sweeten the deal, I'm moving back in with my old housemates from before I moved up to Portland! So I'm pretty pumped on that action.

As for my injured knee, it's getting better. I'm able to ride pain free now, at least when I'm going easy, so I'll be riding easy this week, and will probably test out some light weight, high reps lifting in the gym to see how it goes. I think my knee can handle it, and I know the resistance training will help strengthen my tendons and help minimize any chance of future injury. Also, I'm gonna start stretching more regularly, also to help minimize future injury. Preventative maintenance, yay!

In other news, I'm officially one upgrade point away from my Semi Pro (Category 2) upgrade on the road. Which means, really, one more race and I'm there. I'm pretty excited about this because it means that at most of the races I'll be doing I'll be racing against pro riders. This will only help me to get stronger as a racer.

More about what is Cyclocross.

Cross, as you should now know, is a Winter sport. The Belgians dominate on the international scene. It is done on a bike that closely resembles a road bike, but with different brakes, knobbier tires, and a little bit beefier frame and fork. The courses are usually around two miles to a lap and consist of varying combinations of road, dirt, grass, mud, and sand. We race in all conditions shy of deadly. I've raced in sunshine, rain, and snow. Along the course there is usually, but not always one or more short hills that are considered unrideable, either because they are too steep, the approach is odd, or there are wooden hurdles about 18 inches tall at the top and bottom of the hill. There are also often other spots on the course where two or three of the aforementioned hurdles are in sequence and you have to dismount and carry your bike over them. You do this as fast as possible, running over the barriers at 15 to 18 miles an hour, bike in hand, then leap back onto your bike again. It's rad. The link below is a great montage of cyclocross. And the music is pretty good too, Here it Goes by OK Go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWGnM_1ViZA

I've got good news, and bad news...

So the bad news is, I don't know if my knee will be good to race on for this weekends famous Cat's Hill criterium. For anyone who doesn't know it, it's a great race. Super fun, technical and hard. The course is an hourglass shape featuring a one block long 23% grade hill, which ends in another few yards of false flat uphill. If I'm feeling good to race, I'll be doing twenty laps. I think the pros do 30 or more, that will be me next year.

The good news is, I am officially four points away from my semi pro upgrade. That means, more or less, 7th or better at my next race and I'm allowed to upgrade. So here's hoping that my knee is good for this weekend and my instincts are on point.

All said and done, the knee feels really good after about 3 hours of spinning today. So, hopefully, I'll be ready to roll come Saturday.

Wish me luck!

More cow bell.

So I did a three hour spin, and it was great for my legs. The knee felt good, and after I stretched I felt even better. I guess not stretching is taking its toll. Better get back on that.

The ride itself was ok. It's lonely riding solo, even with an iPod. I found myself wishing I could be on some trails. Riding on dirt is somehow so much more satisfying to me. It makes me feel like a kid. Like I did when I was 13 and I took out that $250 GT mountain bike and rode it off a curb. I felt like a Greek god. Like someone had given me winged sandals. Wind in my hair, I took that bike and rode it to death. It finally got retired when the crank arm broke during a dirt jumping session. An activity well beyond the bicycles intended scope of use.

All that to say, simply, I'm dying for cross season to start and it's still four months away. Oh well, I have plenty of things to finish in preparation for the season anyway.

Today's workout will be three to four hours of easy spinning. This will get me some solid hours toward my weekly goal, but not stress out my knee.

Let's get this party started.

I've wanted to race cyclocross at the professional level for the last eight years. I've trained literally thousands of hours, competed in hundreds of races (only counting 'cross), but I've never done well outside the local scene, in fact, I've never done particularly well at the local level.

This year will be different. This last year has been a lifechanging one. I've been through some major life upheavals and have come to the conclusion that: A, I have the potential to do well locally and possibly have decent showings nationally, and B, if I want to stand any kind of a chance at achieving any sort of pro level sponsorship I need to go out and whoop ass this season.

So, a little about cyclocross. It's a Winter sport. The season in NorCal starts in early September and runs through February. The bigger races are generally on Sundays and the second teir local stuff is on Saturdays, or will fill in for the bigger local series on a Sunday when no one else is running a race. I plan on racing roughly 40 races during the season. Six of those races will be UCI events, which are ranked internationally and will draw much tougher fields of competition: actual pro 'crossers. These races are located around the country and have larger prize lists than local races ($500 for the win vs $60, yeah, big difference). But more importantly these are the only races where a racer can score UCI points, which determines your starting possition at a UCI race, National Championships, or World Championships. I also plan on attending Nationals, which are in Bend, OR this December.

At this point in the season, I'm already racing and training plenty. Last week I put in 17.5 hours of training, including a criterium (short distance road race). I'm working on getting my Cat 2 (semi-pro) upgrade on the road. In eight races I've managed to pull down 20 of the 25 points that I need for that, but haven't had a win. I have never won a road race. I've won on the track (velodrome), the mountain, and even cross, but not on the road. I'd like to get one win under my belt before I upgrade.

This week my training goal was to be 19 hours including track racing tonight and another crit this Saturday, but Monday I did something to hurt my knee and have been riding slowly and very little so far. My knee feels great today, but I will not be racing tonight. It's more important to heal up for this weekend and be ready to get back to normal training. In the next week or two I'll be adding on some weight lifting to start preparing for cross.