2003 Sacramento CX #8

What I hoped was simply some bruised ribs turned out to be much worse. A doctor friend told me that bruised ribs will get better every day while broken ribs will only get worse for about a week. I experienced the much worse scenario. Man, breaking those little bones really hurts.

After the crash last Saturday I rested for a couple days. I thought maybe I could get back out there on Tuesday. I attended our normal CX training ride with some of my Rio Strada teammates. It was a high-intensity ride that more closely resembled a mountain bike ride on CX bikes—rocks, mud, singletrack, and some steep, technical climbing. I hung tough because of my fitness right now, and my fresh legs because of the time off, but the pain was very intense. Pulling on the bars on steep climbs and running with the bike hurt like hell.

On Wednesday I was completely wrecked. It hurt to breathe, sit, walk, lie down, everything. There was no escaping the pain. That training ride was a really, really bad idea.

So I have these broken ribs. I tried to come back but could not. The last race was today and I was not there.

I really regret skipping race five now, since I have only five race results to everyone else's six. Grass Valley was a hilly course, like the ones I usually excel at. Just six points for a fifth place would have moved me up significantly.

Even so, a top 10 is cool all things considered.

Maybe next year.

Later.

2003 Sacramento CX #7

My race didn't go so well yesterday. I was involved in a pile-up right off the start and just couldn't continue. A guy landed on me and put his elbow right in my ribs and knocked the wind out of me.

It sucked. Still does, actually.

It was pretty much the fault of the organizers in my opinion. We were lined up for the start waiting for the whistle to go off when a couple people started moving early. That prompted about half the field to jump also. The rest of us assumed there would be a restart, but they just let them continue. Those of us who actually waited for the whistle that never came were screwed.

It really caused a panic in the field as we worked hard to pass as many people as we could up the first hill. Then came a short decent. On the next climb an idiot tried to pass by going off the trail, but then swerved back to avoid an overhanging tree branch and knocked another guy over who in turn knocked me over. That probably would have been OK, as we weren't going that fast, but then a couple more people piled into us, and one fell right on top of me elbow first. He was a really big guy.

I must say, it hurt pretty damn bad. He got me about an inch below my left nipple, and I felt my chest compress quite a bit. A couple people, including the guy who fell on me, said they heard something snap. I didn't hear it, but they may have been right because I do suspect I have a cracked rib or two.

Anyway, I rolled around on the ground for a few moments unable to breathe. No matter how many times that happens to you, each time you still wonder if you are ever going to breathe again. I did get up to continue, though, only to find my front wheel bent and my handlebars tilted down. Race over.

What sucks is if they hadn't blown the start I would have been up towards the front, or even leading like last time, which was my plan. It was such a huge advantage in race #3 to hit that first decent in front that I was determined to do it again this time. Oh well.

Today I am experiencing some uncomfortable soreness, and it hurts to take a deep breath. My breathing is clear, though, no rasping or rattling, and none of the pain is so sharp that I wince. I could go to the doctor, but even if there is a broken rib they won't do anything besides give my painkillers. 

I'll just take it easy today and watch some football.

I assume I will fall out of fourth place in the series, which is a bummer. I really felt I was going to do well yesterday during my warm-up. I had good legs. There is only one race left (in Vacaville next week). I think the best I can hope for is fifth in the series, which was the goal I set before the season started.  Still, I wanted more.

Later.

Hey, Thanks

Thanksgiving was pretty cool this year. It started off with a ride in the morning with 100 of my closest friends. This is the annual Thanksgiving Day ride, or as some call it, The Turkey Ride.

Most of these guys are racers or serious roadies. There were even a couple guys decked out in their US Postal Service kits complete with a fancy USPS car. I'd never heard of either guy, so they must be on the developmental squad or something. Anyway, we rode from the coffee shop in Fair Oaks to Rancho Murrieta and back, which was 50 miles. The roads are pretty bad out there, so you have to stay on your toes. There is always a crash, and this year was no exception.

We were riding in a double paceline, and there was a crash in the pack. Pothole. Luckily, Ron and I were representing Rio Strada and taking a huge pull on the front when it happened. We had to laugh because up until then our six Rio Strada guys had been bringing up the rear all day. We got motivated just in time.  Nobody was hurt badly, but hitting the pavement is never something to give thanks for.

When I got home, Jenn's mom Gina had already arrived with some food. We ate and visited for a while, then rested up for a bit after Gina left. Later in the evening we went to my Aunt Sue's for dessert. It was great to see everyone.

Well, it was a long day and I'm going to bed.

Later.

2003 Sacramento CX #6

I skipped race number five for a number of reasons. First and foremost, my son was born only two days before the race, and he played hard to get. It was a long, long labor and ultimately he had to come into this world via C-section. All is well, though.

Two, Grass Valley is quite a drive from my home. And three, we get to drop a couple races, so I thought it was no big deal to drop race five. In hindsight, just like last year, that wasn't a great decision.

Race six was again at Granite Bay. I rode a good but not great race. When it was clear I wasn't going to be a factor, I buried myself on the last road section into a fierce headwind to set up Gordon. We blasted by a couple guys on the last lap and he came off my wheel to coast in for fifth. I never recovered from that effort but managed to hold on for sixth and scored a few points for the overall.

I go back a long way with some of these guys. Dave Burke is a current Rio teammate but we go back to the '80s with ABC (Anonymous Bike Club). Craig Petersen was also an ABC guy. Don Metzger rides single speeds with us old ABC guys, and is also hitting our Rio Strada training rides on cross bikes. He is strong and getting stronger each week.

Later.

2003 Sacramento CX #4

Race number four took place at Negro Bar. This course typically uses some grass. Like sand, it seems to be tougher for the skinny guys.

This was a pretty flat course with a bit of running and I struggled with it.

Truthfully this one is a bit of a blur. My mind was definitely elsewhere (we have a baby due in a few days) and I pretty much just rode in circles and suffered.

I ended up 10th, which was good for one whole point in the standings.

Later.

2003 Sacramento CX #3

Race three took place out at Folsom Point, a venue that I really like due to the hills. As luck would have it, I had my climbing legs, so I didn't even have to use my AK. I gotta say it was a good day.

The course was the hardest I have done yet: 1.4 miles, very hilly, rough, rocky and technical, with little running. All of this was to my advantage as a mountain biker.

After poor starts in my two previous races, I decided to make a point of getting out fast. We would start at the very bottom of the boat ramp and ride up the long asphalt climb before turning left onto dirt and going down a bit before continuing to climb more. I took a spot a few rows back from the front and waited for the gun. We started and within a few pedal strokes I found a gap and made my way towards the front. Suddenly there were only two guys in front of me. I thought, hell, I'm going to try getting to the corner first so I can go down the hill dust free. And within a few more strokes I was on the front. It seemed too easy. I looked behind me to see a gap. I figured, well, might as well grab the first lap prime.

We turned onto the dirt and I rode a strong but not hard tempo all the way to the finish where I did indeed grab the $10 prime. It kind of cost me on the next couple of laps, where a few guys passed me. I backed off the gas just a bit and kept going.

Lapping Gordon, who would DNF.

For a couple laps nothing really happened. I hovered around 6th to 8th place. I was cruising along in my own world, not really racing so much as riding.

As guys started getting tired they were crashing and making mistakes. I just tried to ride hard but under control, and I started reeling them in.

Doing a decent job on the barriers.

On the bell lap, I had two guys within striking distance, so I just put my head down and went after them. I caught them about halfway through the last lap, rested for a few seconds, and then attacked with everything I had up a hill. I got a five-second gap and held it all the way to the finish for second place.

My man Curtis took 11th.

The payday was not too bad. Along with the $10 prime, I was awarded a water bottle, arm warmers, leg warmers, socks and a nice bottle of locally produced olive oil.

With nine points for second, I am sitting at second overall behind Gordon and back in the thick of the series.

It's always nice to get a shout-out from a teammate:

Later.

2003 Sacramento CX #2

Granite Bay was again the venue for race number two, but this time on the north course. This typically entails a lot of riding and running through sand, which I suck at, and today had plenty of sand. And I unsurprisingly sucked.

Dismounts are not my strong suit and today there were many. Riding in sand is tough for me as a skinny guy, and we had that. Running is by far my weakest skill, and we had two different running sections in deep sand.

That's me in the lower left watching the big guys power away from me.

It was a struggle from start to finish. I couldn't get going, couldn't maintain momentum, and there were no hills to speak of for me to make up time. Every time I even began to feel strong there was another section of sand to run.

Here's Rio teammate Curtis also struggling.

In the end I took a very disappointing 13th place. Gordon again won while Alex took fourth. Curtis finished right behind me in 14th.

I have some work to do to get back in this series. We have a break in the schedule, so hopefully I can start peaking and work on my technique.

Later.

2003 Sacramento CX #1

Race number one of the 2003 series was a great one. The Granite Bay south course has been good to me, and today was no exception. My buddy Steve came out to watch and manned the camera. After the race he assured me that he took lots of "sweet pics," but this was the only one on the camera:

Sweet, indeed. Not sure what button he was pushing, but it obviously wasn't the shutter.

After taking second in the series last year in the Cs, behind Alex, this year we both moved up to the 35+ B class.

Race wise, I took off and hovered around second to fifth place most of the race, ultimately taking third at the end. Gordon won and Alex took sixth. It was nice to grab eight points right off the bat. Hoping for a solid race number two next week.

Later.

Ready?

The first cross race of the season is tomorrow. I think I have prepared as best I can considering all the recent life changes.

So far I have commuted home five times this month, which is my main training tool right now. Do difficult 35-mile rides with tons of climbing translate to success in 45-minute cyclocross races? Time will tell.

Today I did 20 miles on the bike trail with a few hard efforts on dirt and gravel trails just to get the feel of going fast on different surfaces.

Tomorrow should be fun. My buddy Steve is coming, so that's always great motivation for me.

Later.

Boot Camp

Cyclocross season and the birth of our son are both fast approaching. Jenn and I decided to head up to Tahoe for a week for some R&R (both of us) and some high altitude training (just me).

I brought both my new mountain bike and the cyclocross bike. Even though I was excited to ride my new Santa Cruz, I was focused on the cross bike. Over the course of eight days I rode seven times, and four of those were on the cross bike.

The first three days I did cyclocross rides of 22, 27 and 31 miles with lots of climbing and intervals. I was feeling pretty good.

In the afternoons we would go for walks, sit at the beach and have nice dinners.

On day four I finally took the Blur out for a ride. I was a little tired and had some difficulty adjusting to the new bike. Full suspension feels weird and slow.

I rested on day five and spent the whole day relaxing with Jennifer. It was good.

On day six I took the Blur out again and I suppose it was better. I don't know. It's fun to go downhill but climbing sort of sucks.

Day seven was another cross ride.

On our final day I again rode the Blur. The ride wasn't much to get excited about, but on the way back to the condo I almost hit 55 miles per hour on Country Club Drive.

That evening we took a dinner cruise in South Lake Tahoe. It was great.

Jennifer had that expectant mother glow.

Fannette Island:

Vikingsholm:

We headed back earlier today to avoid tomorrow's Labor Day traffic. It was a great trip.

Later.

Blurry

I have been mountain biking now for almost 20 years, and technology has come a long way. I thought perhaps it was time to try full suspension again.

My first dive into full suspension was in 1994 when I was racing for Dean. It was an AMP Research rear end mated to a Dean front triangle. Many companies utilized the AMP rear end for their FS bikes at the time.

That design left a lot to be desired. The main problem was there were only two attachment points for the rear end: At the shock mount and at the crude pivot behind the bottom bracket.

This led to a wildly flexible frame. My friend Doug also had this frame, and I remember riding behind him on a downhill in Auburn and marveling at how the front and rear wheels were rarely even close to being in the same plane.

Thankfully I broke the seat tube before the bike broke me.

Now, almost a decade later, I am going to try it again. This is my new Santa Cruz Blur.

I finished it just in time for our trip to Tahoe tomorrow. We will see how it goes.

Later.

Settler

After knocking out 600 miles in June, I fell off quite a bit in July with only 348 miles. Selling my house, moving up to Shingle Springs and riding in a completely new (and somewhat dangerous) environment caused the mileage to drop significantly.

Now it's August. Jenn is cool with me racing cyclocross again even though we know our baby will arrive sometime during the season. If I am going to do it, I need to get busy.

I rode from work up to my new home for the first time yesterday. I took the direct route up Green Valley Road and I will probably not do that again. During rush hour there are simply way too many vehicles going way too fast. It was very uncomfortable.

Today I took a different route through El Dorado Hills, which added more mileage (36.5 miles versus 32 yesterday) and climbing.

I don't know what the total climbing is, but our house is at 1670 feet and work is at about 70 feet of elevation. You climb over a number of hills with descents, so I am going to say around 2500 feet.

Working a full day and then riding home for 2.5 hours is pretty tough, but that's the only way I can get some real training in right now.

Later.

S-Works

I am selling my Stumpjumper S-Works. It was a good bike but I need the funds for a new project and my Litespeed is a better bike anyway.

That said, it is really hard for me to give up anything orange. I do love an orange bike.

Later.

Trucking

 Last week we bought this:

Our current two-truck situation wasn't really a long-term strategy for family success.

We needed more room and a safe place for a baby seat.

Here Bill urinates on my front tire. In his culture, this is a gesture of respect and good luck. I feel blessed.

Unfortunately that means we have to say goodbye to a truck. We are opting to keep my two-wheel drive truck because it gets better gas mileage.

It was a good truck and we will definitely miss it.

Later.

Alive and Kicking

Today is my birthday, and these little milestones often provide the catalyst to reflect. I have reached 36 years old, and sometimes I wonder how on earth I have made it this far.

I narrowly escaped with my life on Saturday. After five days, I'm just now getting to where I want to talk about it.

I was descending the hill on Deer Valley Road—a narrow, quiet country road I use often—doing about 35-40 miles an hour. I was in the middle of the traffic lane, as the rough surface dictates you need options right and left because of the broken pavement, patches and potholes. There was nobody anywhere behind me, so I felt safe and comfortable. It was a warm, sunny morning, and I think I was probably smiling a little as I flew down the hill.

I came around to the little S-bend turn at the creek crossing and a car was coming right at me with all four tires in my lane. All I can remember is it was a maroon sedan with a chrome bumper. They were doing about 70, tires squealing, and probably misjudged the turn. Unfortunately we met right at the little bridge, which narrows so two cars can't easily pass. The guard rail prevented me from bailing into the ditch. I hit the brakes hard, locked up the rear end a little, and angled to the right, squeezing as close as I could to the railing.

The driver saw me at the very last instant and cranked the wheel. All I remember seeing was the oncoming bumper. It went right past my left shin. So close. I barely cleared the guard rail and went into the ditch, crashing into some scrub oak and bushes. Thankfully, it was a fairly soft landing. I jumped up and shook my fist and screamed a little, but he/she/they were long gone and out of my sight line.

No license number, make of car, anything. It happened too fast.

I was really angry, and that anger carried me all the way home. It wasn't until I got home, went upstairs and hopped in the shower that the seriousness of the situation really hit me. I was a bit shook up. It was a very close call. Very close.

The collision could have killed me simply because of the combined speeds. At the very least I would have lost a leg or two. I have to think my handling skills saved my ass. It really was a nice maneuver, if I may say so.

Anyway, I only received a small scratch on my forearm and skinned my knee. The sidewall on my rear tire is cut, and there's a little flat spot from skidding. The rear wheel (brand fucking new!) needed a true job. That's about it for damage.

The incident prompted me to order my Santa Cruz Blur. I have been going back and forth for months trying to decide if it's the right bike for me. Now I figure it's time to get back on the trails and do more dirt riding. The roads get crazier every day.

I realize that the incident could have happened anywhere, even my old favorite roads in Auburn, but I am now even less enthused with where I am now living. Narrow roads, rednecks, speeding SUVs and cyclists just don't mix. I can't quite put my finger on it just yet, but the people here in Shingle Springs are different. Every ride I feel like a foreigner. They do not want me here.

I drove down to Folsom and rode on the bike trail a couple times before I finally got the nerve to go out for a local road ride again. Once I got out there I didn't really trip out on it too much; it was fine. I rode the Jergens/Luneman roads. The ride was nice and hard, and that kept me from thinking about it too much. I must admit I crept down those steep hills, though. I was no Paolo "Il Falco" Savoldeli, that's for sure.

Anyway, that's the story. I didn't really let on how close it was to my mom or Jennifer, although Jenn definitely knew something was wrong when I got home. Man, I already miss that boring WeeFun bike trail. 

Like a very wise man with big, big hair from the legendary band Cinderella said: "Don't know what you got, 'til it's gone . . ."

Later.

Errand Boy

Although I was just there five days ago, I made a quick run up to Incline Village to conduct some business for my dad. He rents out the condo occasionally while he lives in Germany, so I was getting it ready for a new renter.

While I was there I took the opportunity to ride. I wanted to do a longer route since it would probably be my last opportunity to ride in Tahoe for a while.

I started with the climb up Tunnel Creek and rode the Flume Trail "backwards" from normal, meaning south.

The Flume isn't that exciting from a riding standpoint. It's flat and mostly sandy.

No, it's all about the views.

After the Flume you end up at Marlette Lake.

Then you begin the grind up Marlette Lake Road.

At one point you reach a place where you are about 1500 feet above Marlette Lake, which in turn is about 1500 feet above Lake Tahoe. The illusion makes it look like one lake.

The road eventually crosses the Rim Trail, and I turned west and continued climbing towards Marlette Peak on the incredible singletrack trail.

Towards the top you climb above treeline, opening up more incredible views.

From this point it's a whole lot of downhilling back to the condo. The Rim is twisting singletrack through boulder fields with switchbacks and dropoffs. It's incredibly fun, but tiring, both mentally and physically. Then it's a high-speed drop down Tunnel Creek.

I finished up with 31 miles and I felt good about my productive day. Sometimes running errands is pretty fun.

Later.

Lake of Fire

We headed up to my dad's condo for the Fourth of July weekend. On the way there we stopped at Emerald Bay to goof off.

The next morning I did a nice 22-mile ride. I rode up Highway 431 and took the Rim Trail south.

Washoe Lake:

Eventually you hit Tunnel Creek and start heading back down.

Selfie stop:

In the late afternoon we headed to the lake to claim our spot for the fireworks. Rock on!

Eventually it started getting dark. Luckily kids never seemed to get bored of the beach.

Almost there:

Boom.

The next day I did the Flume ride. It was fine.

Earlier this morning we went on a hike up at Tahoe Meadows.

We hunted for trout in the creeks and found a few.

After that we cleaned up and headed home. It was a nice visit and a fun Fourth, and we escaped the heat for a few days.

Later.