Kenda Cup West Sagebrush Safari 2010

After a few hard weeks of training, last week I was happy to take the week off. I did one ride midweek, and otherwise spent my time resting and chilling out. It was a much needed break both physically and mentally.

Unfortunately, the forecast for Saturday was grim. Pretty much rain and wind and cold temps all day. Justin and I got up around 7 to steady rain. We got together breakfast (devil grains!)



and then while I packed up some things and worked on our tax return, he was out in the garage grinding away at the mess that is 6.5 years of parts and tools. It was around 10:30 or so when I realized there was some blue sky outside. I rushed to get dressed and make bottles, and urged him to do the same.

Once we got started the roads had somewhat dried. 13 minutes in to the ride we started to get dumped on. That continued, then it dried out a little, then we got drizzled on for about an hour or so. Got to a decent climb, and it was feeling warmer. That didn't last too long, though. After the one descent we hit it was really coming down. Crazy cross headwind and just pouring rain for about 20 minutes. Most of the rest of the 3+ hours we spent riding into a headwind.

It was awesome to have my legs and body finally come around and work together. Everything felt like it was re-aligned and ready to go! Overall the ride was pretty stellar. Didn't get cold until the end, and energy levels were solid despite probably not eating or drinking as much as I would have on a non-rainy day.

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing final prep for the first race of the year, and some house cleaning (finally!).

Sunday we got up bright and early and headed south to Lake Morena for the race: US Kenda Cup Sagebrush Safari.

We didn't know it when we pulled in, but got a prime pit spot!







I hadn't had time to ride my new 2010 bike from Rock N' Road Cyclery at all! Did a parking lot test Friday night and that was it. Was stoked to have the new XX bling, but had no idea how the shifting or gears were gonna work out!





Brand new white shoes and mudfest?



Justin and I got suited up and headed out to do some warming up a little after 10 am.



Since we both raced at 11, no race photos!

I sort of expected a bit higher turn out for Pro Women, but in the end it was Pua Sawicki, Rebecca Tomaszewski (Niner Ergon SS!), Anna Fortner and Dot Won from Team So Cal (CX). At the start, I knew Pua would lead us out on the long flats to the first climb. A small gap opened up right away between Rebecca on her SS and Pua, and I worked hard to close and pull myself back to Pua. Was ok sitting in, but there were a few rollers and I realized I had a really long race, so let off the gas a bit, and the gap continued to grow. I didn't see any women behind me at all, so just kept my pace strong, but steady. Pua disappeared up into the men's class once the climb started, and I set out to catch up to my SS buddy Mark Scheetz! Finally got him at the top of the climb.

I was STOKED to hit dirt on my new bike. I was having so much fun pumping the singletrack. I talked to James post-race, and it's so easy to forget you are racing on this stuff! Just had a blast riding my bike. Unfortunately not too much later I was faced with a massive hike a bike section! It just keeps going! Made it up that, then was sort of trading places here and there with other racers on the rollers up top. Temps were colder for sure.

I got down past the muck pot at the bottom, and just as I hit the fire road to climb back up to four corners Brian Crooks yells, "Grab my wheel!" Well ok then! He did a monster pull for me all the way to the pavement where I finally felt awesome and put in some efforts. Got back to four corners and was stoked to hit dirt again. Legs were definitely starting to feel it by now. I hadn't done much in the way of hard efforts yet period, much less 1.5 hours plus of racing! Tried to keep my pace solid and kept moving. Once back to the hike a bike the other classes were out as well, so I offered encouragement and cheers where I could.

Back to four corners one last time, and I was ready to enjoy the final descent. There was some mud here and there, but it was pretty groomed compared to last year (freshly graded and DUSTY) so I just had a blast railing the descent and pumping the rollers at the bottom.

Was stoked when a Cynergy racer came around me just at the pavement and I sat on his train back to the creek crossings where I slowed up (still got inundated!) and then to the finish line.





Overall, it was an amazing day to race! My bike was flawless, race went about as expected. I was glad that I was able to put in a strong weekend!

Despite not feeling "right" with the trigger positioning on Friday night, and not having any idea how going from a 3x9 to a 2x10 would work out, everything came together worry-free once the race started. Felt like all the "gears" fell into place and I had no issues with a brand new bike or brand new shoes. Out of the box the gear just fit and worked as well as I knew it would!

Thanks to Rock N' Road Cyclery and Ergon for the support this year. Also, big thanks to Tim from Troupe and Crankbrothers for hooking me up with a set of SHOE SHIELDS. If you wear carbon-soled shoes and don't use these - seriously consider getting a set. Talk to your LBS and have them start stocking them. We needed two sets last minute Saturday and out of 4 shops locally only one shop had one set; the other shops didn't even know what they were.

Big thanks to Team Big Bear, Sho-Air, and all the people involved in putting on the race. Course was great and well-marked, results were pretty quick. Can't wait for the rest of the series!

I rinsed my shoes off with a SUN SHOWER (not a high pressure hose or towel) and here's what they look like:



I love Specialized!! Great design not making any of the fabric white. Stellar.

Kenda Cup West: Santa Ynez Race Report

I thought Sea Otter was a whirlwind! Justin and I got home late Monday, and were up and at'em early on Tuesday for 4-days full of work. Mid-week we traveled west to partake of a cool group ride with Ergon and Crankbrothers and that made for another really late night. Super on track for back to back race weekends! :)

Friday we got stuff packed up for an early Saturday morning departure to head north to Santa Ynez!

Podium bottle I got free from Sea Otter (thanks Camelbak, Garmin, and Clif!)



We got to the venue in the early afternoon, picked up our registration packets (series plate #5w, stoked!), chatted with Ty and Davey in the Sho-Air RV, and headed out for our pre-ride. The course was shortened a bit from 2008, but still included some fun sections. The course was both in better and worse condition than last year if that is possible? It seemed like it hadn't been used a lot, so the cows had been enjoying the trails, but I don't think the dirt had been soaked as much and then dried out, so there wasn't a lot of caked/broken earth like last year.

There were a few sketchy corners, but otherwise everything was in great condition.



It's all about product placement!



I'm trying to switch over to exclusively using E2Hydro drink mix and the E2 ProCharge recovery. Hopefully I can continue to use this stuff (I'm running sample packets at the moment). I've been really happy with the E2 Hydro on hot days (wish I would have tried it last weekend at Sea Otter, actually). I've struggled with Cytomax in the heat quite a bit. It just isn't really drinkable. With only one bottle cage on the bike I've got to have a mix that I can drink no matter what the temps, and something to wash the gel mix down with! I was really happy with the E2 Hydro on Tuesday in the heat on our lunch ride, so used it this weekend. The ProCharge ice cream tastes great with both water and milk, and is chock full of protein mix! Mixing it with milk I think ups the carbs a bit and gives it a nice blend of nutrients. Follow that up with PB&J and I was good to go!

Driving back to the hotel through Solvang we were scoping restaurants. There wasn't much for seafood except in Lompoc (according to the Garmin 705 "Where To? Feature), and neither of us felt like making the drive. We decided on AJ Spur's Steakhouse. The food was great, but we got a little more than I had bargained on! No worries - meant I didn't have to make lunch last night! It was the happening place to be I think. It was half empty when we got there, but full when we left!

The rest of the evening was spent preppin bottles and food (me)

The set-up



and going through the bikes and changing tires (Justin). He switched out my front tire to a brand new Specialized LK. It was great for Sunday's main event!

Despite trying to sleep in, it was an early morning for us (we're usually up before 6). We got to making breakfast and playing online, but it was pretty quiet! We anxiously awaited word on Luke's finish up at the 8 hours of Hurkey since he raced solo and was going for the big "W".

Eventually around 9 we figured we may as well head out to the venue, so packed up and off we went. The Cat 2 and 3 riders were just finishing up warmups, and we watched the waves take off as we chatted with Jason and Heather from So-Cal Endurance.

After some relaxation and race spectating it was time to suit up!

We did our warm-up on the hill that was used to shuttle downhill riders up to their start last year. This time they were using the "old" course, so the shuttle trucks weren't using it. There were quite a few others warming up there as well. The wind was picking up, but otherwise the weather was pretty good.

Justin went back to the truck to fiddle with his shifting, and I put in two more efforts and rode the finish chicane. We met back on the line where XC Pro and super supporter Robert Herber was set up with our start line/lap 1 bottles ready for take off!

The "call up" was kind of random, and I wound up on Joy's right side up against the barriers. Despite the series ranking plates, the call-up didn't seem to go by series placing. I knew it was going to be a weird start, and one or more of us was going to get squeezed out. I think I wound up 6th or 7th off the line; not a great place to start on the singletrack. The pace was smoking fast from the get-go as I think Amanda led us out for the first mile or so with Kathy and Zephanie right on her wheel. I moved up a few spots and I think was sitting 5th behind Krista as we made our way to the first singletrack climb. Passing is tough on a lot of the course since it is a lot of bench-cut singletrack. I put in a few efforts to try to move up, since I wasn't sure if the Kenda women had any tactics going into the race or not! The 3 of them held the top 3 spots all the way up the climb and I knew Kathy was putting in efforts to create an early gap.

Eventually I settled into 2nd and kept Kathy in my sights. Near the end of lap 1 I bridged up and sat behind her for a bit. She sat up to feed and I went around, but that didn't last long! She moved around me again on the ridgeline and I just tried to keep the gap manageable.

I had a bit of miscommunication in the feedzone and was not sure where Robert was, and I slowed up way too much. He was at the end of the line in a clear position (no one in front or behind him, so clear spot), so lesson learned. Keep it moving the ENTIRE time! Jason told me to make a move as Kathy was pulling more time! I kept her in sight for most of lap 2, and saw Amanda closing in on me.

They were both riding really strong throughout.

Lap 3 I was slowing down big time. General body fatigue was setting in and everything hurt (especially my legs!). Justin caught up to me and I tried to enjoy the windbreak, but couldn't hold his wheel at all. I yelled to him to go after Matt who wasn't TOO far ahead, and eventually he took off up the singletrack climb to try to bridge up in his class.

Amanda passed me easily near the top of the first singletrack climb, and my body wouldn't respond to hold her wheel. I settled in to a pace, trying to recover and make up time on the descents. Eventually I noticed my HR just wouldn't climb back up to race pace, so it was all about damage control and making sure to keep the pace just enough to hold on to 3rd.

The wind on lap 3 was downright brutal, but I tried to put in a final effort on the flats back to the venue to stay in 3rd, and just tried to finish strong.

Super tough race after Sea Otter last weekend. Gotta get the body used to these back to back hard race weekends!

Everyone raced and rode really strong and I was definitely pushed a lot. Had a blast out there racing. The course was a lot of fun.

I tried to spin for a bit, but I was pretty shot. Wound up doing a little loop with Heather, Joy, Krista, and Justin post-race and had fun hanging out and chatting! Definitely makes it worthwhile when you can hang out with other racers and get out of race mode. I've noticed there's not much time to chat when we're out trying to rip each other's legs off during the race!

Overall, great weekend. Definitely looking forward to backing off the racing and getting back to solid miles on the bike at a bit slower pace.

Pro Women podium



Pro Men podium



Cat 1 30-34 men

Pics from the Ergon-Crankbrothers ride!

I forgot to put up pics earlier this week...

Carlton leads the way!



Self-portrait



Justin right behind



Group shots













Sweet dinner!

SRAM-tacular

The SRAM order finally shipped last week! Not in time for Sea Otter or this weekend's race, but I do look forward to rocking/rubbing/rolling the goods soon!



Got a chance to utilize my sweet new Crankbrothers shortie socks last night! Ran out of evening time to hit up a short dirt ride, so on the trainer it was for me.



I inadvertently left my snaps from the ride earlier this week on my home computer! D'oh. More pics later from Tuesday and Wednesday's riding.

Happy Friday!

Want to lighten up? SCRUB some

I got in my order of Scrub Components brake rotors tonight.

They are sweet!





We had no idea how light they were, but after putting them on the gram scale it's clear they provide a massive weight savings!

Scrub Rotors:



Avid Rotors:



So, I've now shaved an additional 94g from the bike!

Every little bit helps. We weighed the bike with Candy 4Ti's and it was set at 21.8lbs. By saving an additional 31g with my new set of Eggbeater 4Ti's I'm up to having lost 1/4lbs from the bike. Should be around 21.5lbs now.

Trying to save where I can cause when I get the Ergon's in it'll probably add some weight. However, that's totally fine by me, cause the stock grips are NOT comfortable. 1:20 of ride time this past Sunday and my hands were already sore and begging for some Ergon love!

Justin has just informed me I'll be dropping another 60-80g with a non-setback seatpost and flat bar.

I have no idea if the Sram X.0 stuff will wind up saving me weight, but I doubt I'll gain any there.

We'll see if I can get 'er down to 21!!

SLK here I come!

No Laundry List

The "excuses" started first thing Saturday morning as I huffed my gear in trips over to our pit area. "I haven't trained so far this winter…I'm just happy to be riding my bike." That means he'd only gotten 20 hours the last 2 weeks, right?

I decided really late in the game to hit up the 12 Hours of Temecula, and it showed. I didn't change my weekly training at all.

If you want to know how the race went, let me break it down: I was chatting way back at the start and didn't even know the race had started! No joke. When the people right in front of me started taking off I realized I should've been paying more attention!

I passed a few people on the parade lap, and felt like I was holding back while racing. HR was high on lap one, cause it always is. I cleaned everything (except for the log jam short steep following the pits - only time I didn't make it all day) and was stoked on that, and on lap 2 I settled in to my endurance pace for day. Wound up spending 2 hours in Z2, and over an hour each in Z1 and Z3. Yeah, out of 5:45 ride time I only had about 45 mins anywhere near threshold.

Around lap 4 I was coming up with excuses in my head. I started making stupid mistakes on lap 5 and I realized the more I kept riding the worse off I was making it for myself for my Tuesday drills set, my Thursday tempo day, and my big day for this coming Saturday.

Coach had warned me on going out and racing this one too hard and we spent a lot of time talking about it all week. I'm mid-base, and only have so many matches to burn. I could've gone the distance, but would've had very little matches left over. I had already scheduled for this coming Saturday a really big ride. I'm going after one of my annual goals for the year and the longer I rode on Saturday, the less prepared and ready I'd be for that. Was it worth it to blow an annual goal? Nah. I pulled the plug after 6. I was disappointed in myself a bit, but I knew I had other things on my plate.

When I woke up Sunday morning and spent over an hour cleaning house I knew I'd made the right decision. I can't clean house and look forward to a ride the day after a 12 hour effort.

We got to the trailhead a little after ten on Sunday morning to head out for some recovery. I wanted more time than I got, but put in some harder efforts trying to stay on Luke's wheel throughout.

I was stoked to be on the Epic again and can't wait to really hit the races on this bike.

I finally got to try out my new Sworks shoes as well. They are comfy. Luke was asking about the Crankbrothers socks. The best thing I can say about the shoe/sock combo is I totally forgot about my feet entirely. My feet were warm, comfy, and I didn't notice a thing. They must be a perfect combo!





The first bit was fairly easy paced recovery stuff.









Luke showed us a trail we hadn't been on before that was a blast. I'm looking forward to the time change so we can get in some solid time on the dirt out here in March/April. Nothing technical and no real climbs, but it's a lot of high speed fun singletrack/doubletrack.

We turned around before the neighborhood, and as soon as I took off my saddle slammed nose up. I stopped and moved it back to level. Then I sat down and jammed nose down. Then I scooted and it went nose up. Ugh.

I pedaled out of the saddle for about 1.5-2 miles back to the car. I couldn't sit on the teeter totter saddle without difficulty.

Luckily Luke had his tool box, so Justin tightened up the seat post clamp and we went back out. I led off this time, wanting to go fast.

I hadn't been having a stellar time on the bike. The legs felt good with little to no soreness what-so-ever.

The thing about the Epic is that you can't go cruise and have a great ride on it. I hammered off and stayed out in front for awhile and this bike just likes to scoot. If you're out for a hammer fest this bike will leave you grinning ear to ear.

Luke and I switched off and on leading out chasing each other and having short recoveries. Justin finally decided to do a recovery ride instead of hammer, but he was never far behind.

I had SO.MUCH.FUN. We got near the end and were totally hammering. The Epic accelerates like its got rocket boosters. It moves out. The power transfer goes straight to the pedals and it just books.

I was grinning and having a total blast going along the rolling trails at speed.



Note to self - this isn't a Sunday cruiser. Ride it like you stole it or leave it at home!

The Dos is going to continue to be my high mileage bike, but I hope to save up for some parts and re-paint it and turn it into a SS for next winter. I'm actually way too excited about that for it still being January of this winter.

FWIW, I loved the Dos out at Vail on Saturday. That bike and I have ridden the trails out there soo much in the past 9 months or so. 8 laps in June, 10 in November, 6 this past weekend, and countless Thursday nights. The Dos rails the trails like it was built there, and we know every nook and cranny. I know how it responds, I know how to position myself for the steeps, and where I can hit the rocks and drops. We go together like peas and carrots.

Some day I'll feel that way on the Epic, but for now I'm just enjoying pushing my limits while riding it.

I hope to have a good report after next Saturday's goal attempt. It is a good goal, IMO, because I'm not at all sure I can meet it. I'm going to do my best. I know that playing it smart this past weekend at least didn't hurt my chances.

Besides, it's hard to miss out on a great event that is well-run, well-organized, and well-attended!

Parting thought: it's great to finally have jeans that fit again.

Happy Monday.

All About Getting the Edge

I had typed up a blog post on Tuesday during some of my internet issues, and I didn't publish it (for a few reasons). The first of which is my incredibly spotty internet at work. Some people are unaffected. Others, like me, have barely been able to load anything for a week now. Just luck of the draw, I guess.

The other problem was that Monday, and unfortunately Tuesday, were rough days for me. Monday's have been lately in general. I think Luke was spot on when he told me to take Monday's off from riding/exercising to rest/recover from a full week of work and the big volume weekends. Monday's just have been sucking. It's not even that I'm sore (I don't mind being sore, particularly - it means I'm working hard), it's just I'm usually tired and stressed out. I'm used to having hours in the evening to de-stress, watch TV, sit on my computer, do my exercises, hang out, and hit the hay around 10.

Well, lately it seems like I get home, eat, make lunch, clean up, and it's 9:30 and I haven't gotten anything done. I've actually taken to making lists of what I need to get done every night just so I don't leave anything out. I almost forgot to put laundry in the dryer last night I got so pre-occupied doing other stuff.

This is all without me even sitting at my computer or watching TV other than when I'm eating! It's been hectic.

Monday just sucked. Nothing bad happened. Justin said, "Have a bad day" as parting words (as a joke). It was my own fault for being a jerk that morning to begin with. Then I had no internet at work. I'm a creature of habit. If you take away my daily rituals I don't like it. So, it was a tough transition.

We got home late Monday, and I just have been sleeping like crap. We picked up a humidifier so Justin could breathe better at night and that coupled with our loud ass upstairs neighbors (who keeps 2 year old kids up until midnight? Seriously?) just have had me not being able to fall asleep. Then I'm up at 5 in the mornings to train, cause work has been crazy and we've had other stuff going on in the evenings...

So, I got all set up for my Tuesday drills, got up Tuesday and went to hop on the bike.



Garmin turned on, but I couldn't get off of the searching for satellites screen. My "Mode" button was no longer there. I should have just waited for the unit to say "Use without GPS" and gone from there. But, I was somewhat on..."edge" anyway, so Justin offered to take it apart. Now it's been 10 + minutes and I'm not on the trainer. He opens it up and says the "Mode" button has been smashed to smithereens. I have no idea what happened. Sunday it was fine. Tuesday morning it's not.

So he's messing with the unit and says again, "It's broken." "I don't need the 'Mode' button this morning, it's fine." "No, it's broken now." "What do you mean?" "The screwdriver just went through the board. Here, take mine."

I broke down. This really should have been a simple thing; to hop on the trainer and kill my legs with drills before work. He left the room frustrated and not working out, and I set about being able to use his unit for workable information. It was now almost 6 (30 minutes later than I should've started the workout).

I finished the workout and was left sore, but not dead and felt good for the day once I got breakfast in me.

Got to work and still had no internet and no real reason why not or when it'd be resolved (it still isn't, but it's slowly getting better as they turn off more and more websites available to us). But, at least I had a few things to keep me busy. Had dinner with dad after work (FYI - BJ's will do pizza without cheese! Way less greasy and it's gotta be healthier. Unfortunately the toppings do not stick to the bread, but it was good anyway).

I've surpassed week one without alcohol. I think my last glass of wine was 1/13. I'm pretty sure if I can go another week or so I'll be past the hump and not care anymore. It's like anything else; if you want to ween yourself it takes about 2-3 weeks in my experience for the body to stop looking for it.

For example, I don't taste Panda Express and have that heightened sense of YUM in my mouth when we drive by one. I don't crave Chipotle every week. And soon I won't get home and "want" that glass of wine with dinner.

So far I don't know that cutting it out has made any difference what-so-ever. My weight hasn't changed (I didn't cut it out to lose weight, but those 200~ calories a day could go to something filling and nutritious), and I seem to be eating the way I did before (i.e. I haven't added in those calories). So, I don't know. I'm not sleeping well (coming close to overtraining? I don't know - I feel good today). Legs feel fully recovered after my efforts, though. Not sure if that is affecting anything or not.

Saturday after our near century we had Recoverite, food, and then strong coffee, and I felt really good on Sunday. Tuesday after drills I had my normal morning coffee. We'll see how I feel if I get to put in some efforts tonight.

Not sure what the consensus is on alcohol. I guess it's also another $10 every 2 weeks I can spend on food? :) Anyone else cut back/cut it out and notice anything? Keep it in?

So, my Edge... I spent the morning yesterday calling around So Cal to find an REI that had one IN STOCK! You'd never believe how hard they are to find. The San Diego store had one, so I put it on hold. Since Justin is the best husband ever, he went and picked it up so we could get home and get stuff done last night.



Now I've got THE EDGE (705). I had THE EDGE (305) before. I honestly didn't want to have to purchase this, but it was the easiest/best option (e.g. I don't need to change anything on my system for a new program, and I don't need to relearn a new unit and its software). I have many many complaints about Garmin products that stems from us never having one that hasn't had an issue. I hope Garmin got it right with this iteration...

Justin loves his, and the color screen and street maps I think will be useful this year. Also, power! Not that I have a Power Tap, but it's on my long list of "wants".

At any rate, starting with yesterday my week was looking better. I picked up my Crankbrother's order. The 4Ti pedals are SWEET!!! Looking forward to trying out the mini-cleats that were included (seriously! They're like half cleats!).

Sportin' the shirt today!



Here are the pedals (sticker(s) courtesty of Interbike in 07)



Okay, now onto a few food related topics...

We picked up some Almond Butter at Costco a few weeks ago. I've never tried it, but thought I'd make one sandwich with it this weekend to try out... anyone use it instead of peanut butter? Almonds are a'ight (I eat them weekly), but I prefer peanuts. It also has no salt! The horror! I looove salt.



Also, we eat canned turkey chili every now and then, and while not totally unhealthy, there's a lot of sodium and not a ton of flavor. We've been buying packages of 4 containers of ground turkey at Costco, and I also just picked up some dried lentils and barley...

Sooo, anyone have any good chili recipes, or even recipes for something like stew/soup to include the turkey and lentils/barley?

I tried some beef barley soup a few weeks ago and it was killer. Just looking for healthier/athlete recipes!

Lastly... my home gym continues to grow. I need to learn how to use the foam roller.



Happy Thursday. Here's hoping we don't get hit too hard by the rain this evening. I'm itchin' for dirt.