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!