Thursday, May 29, 2008

Mid week fun!


On Thursday I had planned to go to the port ride but then I heard about a new short track mtb series put on by Summit Bicycles up in San Rafael. I grabbed the Superfly and went to check it out. After the start up the hill in the picture here, It was a big hour glass shaped course around two peaks on the hilltops with a bumpy loose downhill, a long pavement climb and a shorter but very steep dirt climb. Technical and fast.


It was a cool vibe. Lots of kids and they seemed pretty stoked to be there. For the (A) group there was a decent turnout of 8-9 guys for a first time, grassroots series. The race is in a park that amoung other things--has a skatepark. Very cool! I might have to bring the board sometime and hit the bowls. I don't remember a time when there were so many choices for rides/ races in this area. I managed a 5th place and it was fun. Good times.....

Monday, May 26, 2008

Tamarancho MTB race:

I ended up not going to CCCX on Sat. I don't know what was going on but I was not feeling myself. I'm not very forgetful, yet I had to go back to my house twice to get stuff I forgot. I was just not feeling good and sort of edgy. As I write this my stomach is not a happy camper. Maybe I ate some bad food or something? I dunno... There are 2 throw out races (of 9) for the CCCX series so it won't make a huge difference in the overall. However, I did want to race at Toro park again. Last round was hard but fun.


Expert/ 3 laps of a 5 mile loop with over a third of a lap being very technical narrow single track... Tree dodging fun big time. Sunday I was feeling better and decided to go up to Fairfax in Marin to do the Tamarancho race. This was my second ride/ first race on the Superfly.



There was no pre-riding the course so while I new it would be technical, I was going in sight unseen. Pro /Expert started together and was a undulating/ downhill fire road start--hectic for sure. Some guy piled it right in front of me. I had to stop to avoid running him over. The top 15 or so guys were in full sprint. Crap.....

The trail started to get faster and I started passing guys to move up as far as possible before the single track. Which I managed to accomplish. The switchbacks and roots provided plenty of excitement and the narrow (2 feet or less) paths necessitated using the "Force" to stay on the trail. Failure to do so, had you off the trail and down the slope of the hill.

I was moving up and passing guys . On the 2nd lap I was playing yo-yo with a friend Keith that I usually race against on the SS. I figured we could tag team and on lap 3 and have some fun. On one of the steep switchbacks I shifted to the 34T and the chain went into the wheel and jammed!!! Oh SHIT. There was hardly enough room to stand on the side of the trail to fix my bike. I ended up having to pull out the wheel and un-jam the chain.... Knowing I was in the top 10 while fixing my chain issue and losing 5 places sucked. 3 of those I made up before the end but was having a tough time afterwards as the shifting was not working to well. Later I found out I smacked the derailleur on a rock or something cuz it was scratched and the hanger was/ is bent! Probley why it over shifted into the wheel.......

I finished somewhere around the top 10. The results were all messed up and I didn't want to wait around to see if I was 10th or whatever?? I did a time of about 1:24 which was decent especially having not ridden any real technical single track at speed recently. Dispite everything, the Superfly was awesome and with a little more dialing I see some super-fun races in my future.


HR avg171/ max 186/ 3 laps-25km

Monday, May 19, 2008

Lake Lagunitas

Rubbish....

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

BHRR and other news.....

Whats left of the M1/2/3 field on I believe lap 3.... I'm tucked away in the middle (white helmet)




The registered field was 56 I think it ended up being more like something just over 40 guys. It has been 2 years since the last time I did this race and it was as a Elite 4 (3 laps). My track record with road races, no matter what category hasn't been that stellar. On the climbs is where I was suffering and getting popped in past races. Well, this year I decided to revert to "old school" Nick. When I rode my SS mtb in the late 90's I was a good climber especially for my size. This is the basis of my training this year. It seems to be working. I finished Wente RR and placed 23rd @ Berkley Hills. I stayed with the main group and think I would have finished with them if we hadn't gotten split with the E3 field. On the last lap a was in a group of guys (8-9) guys and we worked together well all the way down San Pablo Dam Rd. but once on the rollers the impetus had left the group. 23rd place is a small victory for me and confirms to me, that I am on the right track training wise. Cyclocross in only 5? months away ya know....



HR Data for Berkley Hills 158 avg--




On Wednesday I did a 4hr mtb ride out to Mt Tam. super hot temps and nobody out. I had the trails all to myself. after the beat down on Sunday I was surprised I felt as good as I did for this ride. My recovery time is improving! Maybe its all the extra veggies I ate this week? Who knows :)


Monday, May 05, 2008

Cat's Hill Classic

E3/ Place: 28th/ 60+
20 Laps

Well this was the second time for me doing this race. I did it once before 2 years ago but as a E4 and we only did 12 laps. This time as a E3, we got to do 20 laps. I went into this race feeling prepared and confidant that the hill wouldn't cause me any worries. Josh and Tyron were in the race, as well as, Andy/ James/ Cullen/ Henrick were in the E4 race. Pretty good team presence.

I felt good for this race especially on the hill. I made a huge effort to stay near the front and was doing fine until around 3 to go when things got messy. I ended up getting out of position and with 1 lap to go I was in the group but couldn't really get out to GO. Legs good no real estate however. At this point I would have just drilled it to string things out and take whatever placing I ended up with. Sometimes I just want to kick guys out of the way. I've been a little to conservative in the last few crit races when it counts. This will change I just need a few more races under my belt. The biggest disappointment was I felt I had a good sprint in my legs and I wanted to see what I had. Oh well next time.....

Josh and I hanging in...


It was good to see some familiar faces from CX (Aron and Jordi among others) mixing it up. So this Sunday is Berkley Hill RR. Once again I did this race 2 years ago as a E4 and this time around... GULP I'll be in the M 1/2/3. 77 miles. I do what I can to finish with the lead group or at least just finish!

See you on the start line!

Oh ya... the hill. No problem--








Friday, May 02, 2008

Mid-week assignment.



Hill Repeats were the order of the day for my mid week tuneup, in preperation for Cat's Hill this coming Saturday. Well, living in SF gives me a lot of choices to find a good hill to simulate the climb. I ended up with the last bit of Argulleo before hitting the Presideo. The 3's race is 20 laps. So I did 24 laps of a one block loop. Felt pretty good for the most part. I got over 1000 wts twice in the last few and hit a max wts per/kg of 14+. We'll see how it goes on Sat!