Category: bicycle racing

Cross Crusade – PIR

Sunday, I arrived in “race” mode at Portland International Raceway for the first time in over a year.  I had stopped racing the weekly bicycle road racing series relatively early last season over concerns about the safety, and my last car race there was in August 09. 

A Challenge: 

The grassy areas outside the north and west ends of the track, where the cross course is, hold a lot of water.  PIR is a city park and was originally built on land that had been the City of Vanport.  Vanport had been built to house workers at the Kaiser Shipyard during World War II but flooded when a dike broke during a big storm – it is low and near a big river.    

Storms are normal in Portland during the fall and this Sunday wouldn’t be an exception.  I knew that the conditions would be tough for me, but that I would have an advantage in that PIR is one of my “happy places”.  It would be wet and muddy, but I spend a lot of time there and I could think of that as a home field advantage.  And, I could call upon non cycling related experiences to help me here. 

A Psychological Advantage?: 

A few years ago, my friend Garth Stein wrote a novel called “The Art of Racing in the Rain”.  Rain can be a “happy place”, too, and for most of my driving career it was.  A few years before that Garth had organized a racing clinic that, in addition to being a boon for Northwest Spec Miata drivers, was a research exercise for his book. 

The leaders of the clinic were Don Kitch and Ross Bentley.  They are both highly regarded proponents of the concept that mental preparedness is a massive part of success in sports – particularly auto racing (and I say bicycle racing, perhaps even more).  They are both gifted communicators and I left those two days with a new respect for the discipline required to become successful in sport. 

I suppose that’s a round-a-bout way of getting to the point that PIR is on my happy place list and I would be racing in the rain – that’s good.  I think it is in Bentley’s “Inner Speed Secrets” book that all the hocus pocus, voo-doo, “be the ball” stuff is discussed – I’m a believer, and as such, got on with the task of preparing for what could be my day. 

To paddock near the cross course at PIR it is necessary to arrive before racing begins at around 8:30.  The start / finish line is just behind the turn 7 grandstand and the course runs out past turn 4 (between the track and golf course) on one side and down toward the center of the back straight on the other.  I set up the Ten Guys Named Alex compound directly adjacent to the cross course, near start finish in the grass, and settled in for a long day of racing.

Big Mike, Slugging it Out with the Big Boys

The first race I was interested in was the Clydesdale race where TGNA teammate Mike Hall finished 3rd and a couple of my friends from Hood River also did well.  The wind and rain came and went all day.  Ken Sutherland was out again to see some bike racing, and as with any car race, we continuously observed the weather off to the west and discussed tire pressures – I wish I’d had some sway bars to disconnect. 

The Race: 

The course was a mess by the time my 11:40 start arrived – the wet grass becomes muddier with each bike that passes.  3 races, times 5 laps, times 200 racers – yes, 3,000 bikes.  The weather, however, had temporarily become very nice.  And, I had finally earned a call-up by climbing to 13th in series points at Sherwood.  It seemed if ever I was to do well in a sloppy race, that this was the day. 

Well, not so fast…  The start went well enough and I rode the first half lap with my Hood River nemesis’ Gregg and Jeff but had a minor pedal problem that I might have dealt with a little better. 

After the first run-up everybody’s shoes become packed with mud and I couldn’t re-engage my cleat after remounting the bike.  I spent too much time trying to make it work.  It got worse after the section that was so sloppy that it became a run-down.  The gap became large and by the time I was able to work it out I was in danger of falling out of the points. 

I needed to focus and remember the plan I had made for such a situation – there is an art to racing in the rain… but, how the hell does this part go???  The solution was to start riding through some of the many big puddles – this would rinse the pedals and shoes.  It kind of worked.  So, I got on with just riding the bike and trying to get some positions back.  The racing was good and I think my “adverse conditions” riding is improving.  I wish Ross would write a bike racing book…  He could call it “Hey Dumb Ass, Most Race Cars Have Roofs and You Could be Warm and Dry Right Now!!!”  Anyway, this isn’t “my thing” and I think he could help me change that. 

Next: 

I’ve got some ideas about how to attack some of the issues I’m having with these sloppy courses.  Arriving early and camping near the start / finish line helped me mentally – and that’s half the battle.  I rationalize that it has been just over two years since I did my first cross race, and I missed almost all of last season  – patience.  This reminds me a little bit too much of my return to auto racing in 2003 – I want to win now, but there are a bunch of guys that have other plans.  I worked that out last time… 

Technically, this IS girls fighting in the mud... That's good, right?

I do think that I’m done with Cross Crusade, for now.  I’m going to do some racing up north and see how the courses and format there suit me.  A big part of bike racing is figuring out how one’s skills can best be utilized to achieve success – I’ll need a broader base of experience to work that one out.  There are some long time cross venues in the Puget Sound area and I’d like to see them, for starters.  

The class structure is different in the Seattle Cyclocross series, too.  They have a 45+ Cat 3 (like B’s in OBRA) – I think I might be okay there.  And technically, I’m a Cat 4 – do I want to race, or do I want a trophy…?  They race at Steilacoom on Sunday.  

I hope it’s really wet and muddy – my new happy place.

Cross Crusade – Sherwood Forest Cyclocross

This cross thing has been a bit of a challenge for me so far this year – almost like “real” racing…  Well, it is real racing as it turns out, and that has made it easier for me to swallow the pill of no race driving for now.

Everything was going quite well until I got hurt at the beginning of last season.  I battled bronchitis early in this season, which kind of sucked.  Finally, Alpenrose went pretty well, and Rainier wasn’t horrible.  But, it wasn’t until Sherwood that I finally had a result that matched what I was expecting each weekend last year.

There are some things about bicycle racing that can be frustrating.  Amongst those things are the lack of confidence I have in the way scoring is done, and that some other important rules are vague, non-existent, un-published and / or change without notice – but, we are expected to understand and comply with them, anyway.  The difference (for those that haven’t figured it out yet) between a bike race and a bicycle ride, is rules.

So, I made the decision to not be bothered by all of that pesky rules and scoring stuff and to just show up and enjoy the day.  I would spend Sunday at the Sherwood Forest Equestrian Center for a race / ride – depending on my mood at race time.

Saturday night I had attended a Miatacage.com team meeting in Portland and slept on the sofa of the meeting room (surrounded by empty pizza boxes and beer bottles).  I woke up at about 7:30 and drove straight to Sherwood.  As I was there early, I had the opportunity to visit some friends and teammates, drink some coffee (thanks Chris King), eat some oatmeal (thanks Bob’s Red Mill) and to see some racing without being in a rush.

Steve, Sean, Brian and Big Mike – Ten Guys Named Alex

“Big Mike” Hall (Ten Guys Named Alex teammate) has been on the podium for all of the Clydesdale races (dudes over 200 pounds) – we call him Monster Mike now.  The start line of the Clydes race is a crazy sight.  Those guys are big and a bunch of them are built like NFL linebackers – it’s not just a bunch of fat guys.  Mike nearly won one this time, but some big fast dude that used to be a smaller fast dude beat him – again.  I had teased Mike beforehand about not bothering to talk to me after, if he didn’t win – this is the email I got from him on Monday (shared with permission):

Dude, I could not seem to find a solution for Coker. However I will continue to try. He even flatted and somehow caught me. I hate him…I really do. I don’t understand how a Pro 1,2 rider can race Clydes. Especially since he’s already competed with the Mstr. A’s. Shouldn’t it be the other way around. Like shouldn’t you start in the Clydes (provided your fat ass qualifies you to do so) and then move up to the A’s as you get stronger???  WTF?

On one redeeming note, he is most definitely taking me into areas of suffering I did not know I was capable of. 

I was gonna come talk to you after my race but you told me I couldn’t unless I won. Well guess what? I didn’t win. Why? Because I suck. I can’t tell you how bummed I was to not be able to converse with you. It was only til now that I could bring myself to send you this e-mail.  

In fact all I really wanted to say was congratulations on your top 10 finish before the OBRA scorers decide to drop you a few spots cuz someone emails them and says “Hey I finished before that Towey guy”!  

Cheers.

Rivalries are great and my money’s on Mike to climb to the top of that one.

Parkers and Pumpkins: 

I have some rivalries, too – so do you, even if you don’t know about them yet…  My favorite rivalries have always been with good friends.  In auto racing, most recently, the rival was Ken Sutherland, who has come to watch two Cross races this year – we had many epic battles.  In Cross, I currently measure my results with the other old guys from Hood River – Jeff Parker and the Mountain View Pumpkins.

I sold a motorcycle to Jeff almost ten years ago, and rode a bicycle with him for the first time recently.  I used to ride in the Mountain View kit and there are 3 left in the Masters 50 field – they’re orange and they look like pumpkin camouflage.  They are all good guys, and I want to crush them – like evil pumpkins deserve.

Jeff had a great ride at Rainier to leap frog both me and Ed T. (who I don’t know – because I think he is a mountain bike guy and they don’t socialize with roadies), and Gregg Leion has simply been killing it every week.  All three of them were in front of me in series points when the race started Sunday.  They also all have “call-ups” which means that they would start the race in front of me, as well.

The call-up rule is one of the “secret” rules that I haven’t been able to locate yet – as near as I can tell somebody decided that they would call up 15 (I am 16th in points).

The Race: 

I got a great start and was battling with Gregg through the first series of turns.  My plan was to start fast to avoid the cluster at the run-up and then settle into a steady pace.  Gregg eventually secured his position in front of me and began to make a gap.  Last week Jeff had instructed his son to turn me into a fence line – a task he executed flawlessly causing me to become separated from my bicycle.  This week, Jeff was in front of me as we approached the barrier before the creek.  He slipped and augured into the plywood – I only stepped on him once.

Pumpkin Hunt – Chasing Gregg at the Start

Jeff caught me on the next lap – he started a conversation, no doubt to remind me that he was there.  We got on with the task of grinding out the laps – Gregg continued to ride away.

What normally happens (ask any Cross racer about it) is that riders will go out too hard and then drop through the field like rain soaked oak leaves during a big fall storm.  My former sports car racing rival, Ken asked before my race if there was any information that would be useful to me – I asked for time gaps and got them on the big climb.  I thought that it might help me with my discipline.

The information helped me to keep the pressure on and with each lap the number of riders in front of me shrank.  The race was six laps long and my middle four were all within 6 seconds of each other (three were within 2 seconds) – the last was the quickest of all and I was within two minutes of the winner.  I am happy with the final result (9th), but consistency through the race is the most encouraging and more important in the big picture.

Making Laps – Beautiful Day and Lots of Grip

Even more important than any of that, however, is I was able to regain contact with and eventually pass Gregg (for the first time this year) having gapped Jeff and Ed.  That means victory in the “Category Old Dudes from Hood River” race (ODHR – you can look it up on OBRA Results) – which is a pretty tough crew.

Speaking of tough, Sean Becker (TGNA) has been racing in Masters A and was in one of the lead groups for half of the race.  Apparently he went “wet leaf” in a big way sometime after the midpoint.  He did relay that while being passed by some tall skinny guy that a spectator yelled at him to pick up the pace because he was catching Ryan Trebon (former National Champion).   Looking good, Sean – Bravo!!!

Debrief with Ken – Just Like the Old Days…

In addition to the teammates and other cycling friends, Ken, Carrie (the photographer), their daughter Emma (the cowbell shaker) all made it for the start.  All of the support is appreciated and motivating – and contributed to the result.  And maybe, next week, the secret rules will mysteriously allow me to have a call-up!!!

A Big Week

There has been plenty happening lately (I am bicycle racing some and I’ve done some driver coaching), but I haven’t taken any time to write about it.  This, however, was an important week that capped off an unusually strange year…

Last Sunday was my first visit to Alpenrose Dairy since I broke my femoral neck there, almost exactly a year ago.  I managed this while previewing the opening race of the 2009 Cross Crusade bicycle racing series.  Thursday, I strapped into a race car for the first time since before the cycling mishap.

Part of the fall-out of the cycling crash was the necessity to make some difficult decisions.  The first was to yield my place as a driver in the Miatacage.com effort to win the 25 Hours of Thunderhill in December – it was the best thing for the team, but also put me on a path that lead away from being reliably effective as a race driver.

Working Out the Bugs at an Early Season Cross Race

The nice part was that it allowed me to focus on rehabilitating my injury and regaining some of my fitness more quickly.  I was racing the bicycle again at Tucson in March (5 months after surgery) and I feel very healthy – that is a reasonable accomplishment with which I am very pleased.

Return to the Scene…:

Upon arriving at Alpenrose on Sunday, we walked toward the place on the course where I had fallen.  There is a concrete stairway on the grounds that makes an interesting (but totally treacherous, in my view) feature for a cross race.  As last year, the morning was a bit damp and at 9:30 (before the start of the second race) there was already lots of wet dirt on the black-top where riders must dismount their bicycles.

I stepped onto the course and ran my foot across the dirty surface where the racers would leave a grass area to make a 180 turn on the approach to the dismounting zone – F*** ME, it was super slick!!!  I didn’t need this – let the two hour long freak-out session begin.

My race (Masters 50) would start at 11:40.  We watched the start of the Clydesdale (200 plus pounders) and Cat C (like Cat 4 on the road) race and observed the carnage.  Every third rider was hitting the ground – HARD.  How smart would it be for me, knowing how dangerous this course can be, to race here?

Searching for Grip…

There was a break scheduled for after the Cat C race, so I returned to the car to get kitted up and prepare to have a look at the rest of it – but especially the stairs.  Everybody and their brother (and sisters and all of their kids) was out there.  It was mostly okay, but the course also utilizes the famous Alpenrose Velodrome which is concrete on the apron and is painted on the smooth banked concrete surface.  So – lots of hard surface with dirt and / or mud on it (or wet paint).  Perfect…  Even better was that because of the slow movement of the preview caravan, I was diverted from the course before reaching the stairs.  So, I wouldn’t have the peace of mind of some perspective and having done one low speed dismount there prior to lap 1 of the race.

I had, by now (and sensibly), managed to persuade myself that racing this day was a bad idea.  Ken, Carrie and Emma Sutherland had come out to see about this sport that was filling the void left by auto racing, and I informed them that I would be able to explain it to them during my race, because I wasn’t going out there just to entertain the Portland hippies.  Carrie was understanding, but Ken thought it would be good if I started at the back and just rode around – after all, I was entered and everything…

I did have a pretty good starting draw for riding around at the back – so, what the hell?  My number in the “starting lottery” was picked seventh of ten.  What that means is that everybody with a number that ends with a “2” would start together about two thirds deep in the field.

I’m glad that cross is popular, and eventually it all sorts out, but it can be frustrating (and a bit dangerous) when lots of guys that haven’t been on a race bike since last December are starting in front of you.  No, I don’t have a plan that you would like and that would also solve the problem…  But, what this means is that the faster guys starting at the back (like my friend Gregg Leion who drew the eighth number) would be blowing through the field at the start.  Gregg is retired so he doesn’t have to bother with being at work Monday morning and therefore can take big risks…

It all turned out okay – some of the 130 Master B’s that started 2 minutes ahead of us ended up on the ground before reaching the first turn (or the actual start line), but we were fine.  I had a good race and after starting somewhere around 60th of 84 old dudes, I not only stayed upright, but I also made it to 17th place – which gets me 2 points and a call-up for the next race in the series (meaning that I start nearer the pointy end).

That’s one demon slain.

And then, back at the race track…:

The Miatagace.com Race Team has been preparing for the 25 hours of Thunderhill pretty much since, for the second year in a row, we led most of the race only to have a mechanical failure within sight of the finish.  Part of that preparation has included renting the car to other drivers so that the team budget can be supplemented – money fixes everything…  Well, the car has been knocked around a bit as a result, and it would be useful to run it.

As this weekend is the final SCCA Regional Race of the year (two of them, actually) at Portland International Raceway.  Race weekends always begin with an un-official test day, which would be Thursday.  This would be the best last chance to do any testing before Thunderhill, and there were some new suspension bits to try and decisions to make.

Drivers Will Schrader and Jonny Davies would handle that task along with crew member Josh McKinney.  Chuck Hall had made lots of changes to his Spec Miata for this season, but had only run it once.  He was in town to evaluate any other changes to make over this winter.  He invited me to come out and do some laps so that he could have a second opinion.

I suppose that driving a Spec Miata, for me, is a bit like riding a bike – it’s not a sure thing that I’ll do it properly…  The car ran well earlier in the year, but we would have the challenge of running on two sets of questionable tires (a mostly used up set of R-888’s from last year, and some RA-1’s from 2003).

The good news for me is that I’ve spent a lot of time racing on tires that others would have thrown out (or had).  We started on the 888’s which some guys didn’t care for, but I liked the couple of times I raced on them last year – they feel a bit more like “real” race tires.  We did air pressure and ride height adjustments to get the balance right and the car was a comfortable “loose-ish” – just like we want it.

One of the coolest things I saw all day was an old (mid – late 1970’s) March Formula Atlantic car.  In my first session, it passed me leaving the chicane and it was neat to see the massive rear tires (those cars were only low 200’s on horse power).  All of that mechanical grip made them a blast to watch when there were fields of 50 of them “back in the day” – aerodynamics, schmerodynamics.  Cool stuff.

The Business End of a March 76B Formula Atlantic

The first laps on the nearly eight year old RA-1’s felt like the dirty, damp concrete surface at Alpenrose.  After a half dozen laps they began to gain some grip and the lap times started to come down.  I ran a good series in the high 1:32’s and low 33’s with a handful of laps within 2/10ths of a second – I was pleased with the consistency and the behavior of the car, so we called it a day.

Perhaps the most interesting thing to me was that I was comfortable in that particular car.  I’ve spent a fair amount of time in it over the years, and the driving position and mirror set-up have always been a challenge.  Cyclists can think of this as a seat being too far forward, or handlebars that you don’t like the feel of – it makes a difference.

Today, however, everything was fine even though the car hadn’t changed.  I think that not having the recent perspective of something that I was used to contributed to that.  This makes me think that I could have done better adjusting to such changes in the past.  I learn something every time I go to the race track.

Thanks Chuck.

Cherry Blossom Classic Stage Race

The Gorge kind of has it going on… It might be something in the water…, or the mountains – whatever “it” is – it inspires some clever ideas.

One of those ideas is that this would be a good place for a bicycle race.  So a local guy, Chad Sperry, some years ago started the Mount Hood Cycling Classic.  He’s turned that idea into a full time job, which means more bike races near home – last weekend it was the Cherry Blossom Classic.

Cherry Blossom is the “easy” one.  It happens relatively early in the Northwest cycling season and in conjunction with the longstanding The Dalles (a town 20 miles east of Hood River) tradition of a Cherry Festival celebration.  Cherries are a big deal in The Dalles and they have a party about it – and now, a bike race.

This would be my first real race with a new “team”.  Ten Guys Named Alex is made up of about ten guys who are mostly from Portland, and some of them are named Alex.  Because all of them are younger than I, the option of running Masters wasn’t ideal – I didn’t really care to have a “Cascade” experience this early in the season, anyway.  Tucson was fine in Master’s (could’ve included x-pros, for example), but this was going to be hard enough even at Cat 4 pace (will include teenagers with undeveloped self preservation instincts, for example) – pick a poison…

The Ten Guys Cat 4 squad this weekend included Alex Hughes, Aijiro (Japanese for Alex) Suzuki, Sean Becker, Mike Hall, and me.  The race also included our friends on the Mountain View team (where I raced last year) with Tony Dirks, Andrew Hayes, Eric Moody, John Kenny, Gregg Leion, Rob Dobrey, and Brad Ryhlick.  My brother-in-law, Joe Kolling, also came from Southern California to race with us, so pretty much everybody I spend any real time riding with would be in the same race – some older guys and some younger guys.

Sean and Mike prepared for the Friday Road Race

Sean and I got to talking about our “place” in the bicycle racing world.  We came up with a windsurfing analogy – we are like the relative newbie’s who haven’t quite figured it out yet and wander aimlessly around the Hood River Event Site asking other confused windsurfers about what size sail to rig.  In cycling though, it’s a fitness and physiology thing – it just isn’t possible to spend too much time on the bike and even at this level it is usually hard.  In a nutshell – I’m not very good at this, yet…

The Race:

The point of mentioning the different categories of racing (and our place there) is so that non bicycle racing people can get some sense of the challenges we have.  Fitness has been decided when you show up, but there are still a lot of decisions to be made both on and off the bike, and like auto racing it’s always best to make as many as possible before hand.  This was an unusually active race, especially given how short it was (the road races were both around 40 miles).  Like auto racing, I always debrief myself after a race so that I can be better next time, and there was plenty to debrief about with this one.

I could write pages about the little stuff, but in big picture terms the important take-away from 2010 Cherry Blossom Classic is that there are always some unbelievably fast Cat 4’s working their way up the cycling ladder.  The most important reminder is that young guys are young guys and do the same kind of stupid stuff I did when I was a young guy – and they took all of about 30 minutes to show us.

At the top of the first climb on Friday’s 38 mile road race, a young rider who had apparently done quite a lot of work to be near the front at the top of the climb, had decided that he wanted to protect himself from the wind during the long descent.  Two team mates were nose to tail at the front and this third rider wanted to be in the small gap (less than a bike length) between them.  The second rider tightened the gap, rather than widen it, and they touched.  Everybody stayed upright until the young guy again forced the issue and put his rear derailleur into the front wheel of the second bike – that’ll show him…  The second rider had overlapped his team mate and was now trapped between them.

I was near the rear when this happened – the above description came from Joe (who was slightly behind and left of the young guy and had barked at him about his riding after his first attempt to force in).  The first clue I had that something was wrong was when Joe darted to the left, across the centerline, to be clear of the developing disaster.  We were riding at 35 miles per hour.

I’ve never seen a worse peloton crash even on television – think of falling dominos – a lot of them.  I was, as usual, riding near the centerline which is why I was able to see the reaction of Joe before I heard or saw the bodies hitting the ground.  I immediately moved left to avoid being hit from behind and went hard to the brakes.  As I approached the far shoulder the crash continued into the oncoming lane and completely blocked the road.  I knew I was going to make it to the pile but was now more concerned about those behind – a quick rearward glance confirmed I was safe and I stopped gently against the newly placed human road block.

A bit of a note about the crash – this is my opinion and I’m curious what other (more experienced) riders think of this.  I believe that primary responsibility for safe movement lies with a rider that is trying to move into line or move forward.  By description of this mishap, it is likely that the first two riders were from Hagens Bergman – it would have been nice if the second had yielded, but he is not obligated. 

So, in a nutshell, it has always been my belief that if a rider is occupying a space (either line-astern, or side to side) it is incumbent upon those that would change position to do it safely – not the other way around. 

And, while I’m at it, if you dive-bomb down the inside of a corner it’s a good idea to leave room for the riders you’ve just passed at the exit of that same corner.  Please consider what effects your movements will have on the other bikes around you – we’ll all be safer for it.

It was a group of about 20 that had rolled through safely – I climbed back on my bike and started moving in their direction.  4 of us got together and tried to bridge, without success.  The “break” included Joe, Sean, Alex and John – this was a horrible way for it to happen, but this was the kind of scenario we had wanted.  A group of 12 -15 caught us and it would now be easier to reduce our time loss. 

Sean flatted and Alex ran out of gas – both ended up in my near 20 man group that also included Tony, Andrew, Eric and Greg.  It was kind of like any other Saturday Hood River group ride…  A dozen of us finished on equal time between 16th and 27th position and 3:34 down.  Joe had finished on equal time with the leader, but we had lost Aijiro, Brad Ryhlick and Rob Dobrey to the crash.

Andrew, Tony and Eric with Brad and his broken collar bone

That all turned out better than the first reports which had Aij with a broken elbow, Brad with a broken collar bone and Rob with a punctured lung.  The elbow wasn’t broken (but now contained a bunch of embroidery) and Rob’s lung was intact.  The whole thing was completely unnecessary (stupid), however, and I wasn’t too crazy about what the next day could bring.

Saturday’s race was 7 laps of a 6 mile orchard circuit that went, up and down with a couple of dangerous turns and some time into a pretty good head wind.  I rode around near the back of the group (and centerline), my priority being a finish with all of my skin still attached to the fleshy bits.  I was dropped early and finished with a group that had fragmented to 8 by the time we made the turn to the uphill finish – I was 24th on the day and on equal time for the race with Alex, Tony, and a Pacific Power guy with Eric only a few seconds back.  That meant that the next day would be somewhat decisive in a battle for a coveted potential top 20 finishing position…

Joe and I drove the Time Trial course before the race on Sunday.  Joe has been working pretty hard at his TT skills and we discussed strategy for the 10 mile climbing out, descending back race.  Joe finished 6th (placing him 8th in GC) and I rode my best Time Trial ever to finish 22nd and consolidate 21st in GC at the front of the group I had been mired within.

Sean and me rolling around during the Crit

The Criterium in the afternoon was unusually safe, as these things go.  The course was well marked, swept and didn’t leave me feeling like a Gladiator sent to entertain the privileged Roman’s.  We all finished with the same time and capable of walking, without serious difficulty, to the beer garden – success.

The most inspiring story of the weekend was “Big Mike” Hall.  I just met Mike recently and a year ago he was, by all accounts, quite a big guy.  He took the decision to get back into shape and he now has completed a multi-day bicycle race – awesome!!!

I think that Tony Dirks and Andrew Hayes of Mountain View rode the best races of their lives – continually clawing back to obtain good results – Andrew’s Time Trial, in particular.  There were some really great de facto intra-squad battles between the Hood River team and the Alex’s.  Alex Hughes nipped Tony by 3 seconds in the TT to finish one place (and those three seconds) ahead of Tony in GC.  I had a brief spin with Tony yesterday and there is a fierce look about him that says Alex all over it.  Final General Classification

I suppose that those are some of the reasons that I keep coming back to be abused.  The lifestyle of preparing to do “just a little bit better next time” is a good thing and is some of the common ground that we, at the bottom of the bike racing food chain, have to push us onward.

An Alex named Alex and Sean

There were also three Alex’s that had recently upgraded to Cat 3 and this was their first stage race with that group.  Will Laubernds, Dennis Petross and Ben Weaver all finished their first stage races in the higher category – well done, boys!!!

Also, all of our friends here that put on these races have spoiled us with some excellent organization and spectacular race venues.  Everything isn’t always perfect, but compared to what I’ve observed in other places, Chad and the crew at Breakaway Promotions are amongst the elites of bicycle racing organizing – thank you.

Oregon Cycling Action Story and Photos

Tucson Bicycle Classic

I think of the hobbies that people have, in addition to having simple physical and mental health benefits, are also great ways to travel and see new places in ways that are unique.  A side benefit to a trip I made to Infineon Raceway  in Sonoma a few years ago was that I was privileged to go for a short airplane ride with friend and fellow competitor Dan Mairani.  I saw a whole bunch of the Napa and Sonoma Valley’s – I’ll never forget it.    

Cycling has been a great pleasure in that way also.  Whether participating in a large group ride to the Oregon Coast, or one of the Saturday rides that happen each week from Hood River, I’ve seen a lot of really cool stuff that I otherwise might never have seen.  It happened again to me this past week.     

I flew to Orange County Wednesday night so that I could drive to Tucson with my brother-in-law, Joe Kolling, for the Tucson Bicycle Classic stage race.  Joe had just acquired a 24 foot motor coach with which to simplify the logistics of his racing this year.  Also, he had pretty much, single handedly, ridden me back into shape from my hip fracture and it was time to pick a first race.  Tucson made sense for me because it would be a fun road trip and because it would be a nice sized Masters field without much climbing and no criterium.     

Just past the town of Boulevard (east of San Diego on I-8), where I have had a scenic, but otherwise unpleasant road race in the past, I noticed a lot of boulders sitting on top of other boulders by the side of the road…  like, 10 ton kind of boulders.  How did all that get up there?  – the same space aliens that built the pyramids did that, I’ll bet.  It’s one of those simple things that is just cool.  They were reminiscent of old western movies and Road Runner cartoons I watched as a kid, where the dudes with the black hats and Wile E. Coyote (why wasn’t his name Stu P. Coyote?) would try to roll  big rocks on their nemesis – “let’s head’m off at the pass!!!”.  Now I see how that could have worked…    

Arizona is cool, too.  Cacti are kind of messed up looking and prickly, specifically in a way that I wouldn’t want to crash a bike into one, but seeing them scattered on mountain sides just like pine trees in the Cascades was awesome.  And the opportunity to see this place from my bicycle, I began to realize for sure, was fantastic.    

Anybody who reads this blog regularly also understands that my ability to be self critical also extends to friends, family and other random experiences – like racing a bicycle in Arizona.  During the nine hour drive “home” from Tucson to Newport Beach, Joe and I discussed how the Tucson Bicycle Classic rated, as a bike race.    

Likes:    

  • The Time Trial Course
  • The place we camped the first couple of nights
  • The weather
  • The chance to ride bikes through the Arizona desert

Dislikes:    

  • A couple of busy body officials
  • The “Race Bible”
  • The lack of real officiating (perhaps because of busy bodiness)
  • Ivan (a big jerk riding with us in the Master’s 45 field) 
Saguaro Cactus and Sunrise from Camp

I don’t have a lot of experience with USCF (United States Cycling Federation) racing.  But, I have driven several stages in the “Comm 1” car at USCF Pro Races (this is where the head official rides and does things like, officiate).  So, I’m not a complete idiot when it comes to this kind of stuff and I’ve even seen how it’s supposed to be done – imagine this, I have a bit to say about how it went down at Tucson.     

First, about Ivan (his real name was Marco, it turns out) – I’m just riding along, rolling downhill during a pretty mellow (and mostly well behaved) road race, and this big dude who looks like a Ukrainian Car Salesman on a road bike blinged out like a Tijuana pimp’s 1973 Cadillac El Dorado, goes blasting down the oncoming lane like a school bus full of nuns looking for the runaway truck lane.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat….      

As he was once again backing his way through the field like grandma trying to get out of the bingo hall parking lot after six gin and tonics, I mentioned to him that he was riding like a 15 year old Cat 5.  He promptly launched into an apparently rehearsed diatribe about “Marshall’s” and how it’s his business, not mine.  Well excuse the f**k outta me you freaking clown show – if you are going to attack your fat ass off the back on every little gain in elevation and then come blasting back down the outside only to barge your defensive lineman sized self back into the front of the field, it kind of IS my business…  The problem was simply that we didn’t have an official following the race – they were busy making sure that nobody put anybody else’s name on the sacred sign in sheets (the ones the nuns were hurrying to go protect).  And, it also seemed that this sort of thing must be normal around there because nobody else was giving Ivan any grief about it.    

The series of official race communiqués (which I was able to read after the race – the “Bible” didn’t say anything about where these communiqués would be available, by the way) did address centerline issues, but the “big threat” to disqualify riders never materialized.  The yahoo, Ivan, attacked from the back, and over the centerline, with about 2k to go on the last lap of the Circuit Race (and after the aforementioned communiqué).  I confirmed that an official had witnessed it and also saw them having some conversation afterward, but there was no relegation – Ivan did blow up on the small rise to the finish though, so I guess it all worked out…    

Anyway, back to the race organization…  Driving to the start of the Road Race (we had the late start, so there were riders on course as we arrived) it was apparent that there were a lot of opportunities for cars to cause problems – that sort of stuff is bad sign regarding course control in general, and always makes me uneasy.  The big intersections were well controlled, however.    

The miraculous thing about the Road Race course turned out to be that we were able to find it, at all.  The directions in the packet (which we had also printed from the event website) and included the “Race Bible” didn’t even include the name of the town the race was in.  The directions all started “From Tucson”.  So, even with a satellite  navigation system, we had little more useful info than Lewis and Clark did when they first headed west – hey Meriwether I think we’re lost, yeah but look at all the cool cactus.  Is that Tucson? – let’s start there.    

Our home near Saguaro National Park

The race itself was fun.  The Time Trial course was spectacular and just outside Saguaro National Park.  This is also where we parked our “home” for the first two days we were there.  The Road Race course was nice enough and close enough to Mexico that the mileage signs on the Interstate read in kilometers instead of miles (that’s not how they do it in Bellingham, by the way)…  The Circuit Race was very near town and on mostly pretty good roads – it was a convenient launch point for our long ride home.    

My goal for this race was simply to finish with all of my skin.  The best case scenario would be for me to finish in the peloton in both the Road and Circuit Races.  I finished the Time Trial 63 seconds behind the leader (on a conventional road bike) and couldn’t have ridden it much harder than I did – the power numbers were really good.  I was able to ride the Road Race in the pack without much drama, and the 6:38am Circuit Race was quite comfortable.  I didn’t contest the sprints and finished a very safe 28th in GC.  Mission accomplished.  Final Results.    

Joe was 23 seconds down after the TT in 13th and missed the break that finally got away in the Road Race.  We rode around together in the Circuit Race – just like a Saturday group ride.  He finished the weekend in 12th.      

Overall it was a lot of fun.  I saw a lot of cool stuff and confirmed how lucky we are in the Northwest to have so many well organized Stage Races.  Preparation for Cherry Blossom began today, and I’ll never forget my first trip to Arizona.

Recovery Complete!

So, today is exactly five months from “the fall” and I am now able to spend pretty much as much time as I can get on the bike.  I’m a little bit of a fair weather cyclist, so February and March are usually kind of tough around here.  Not so much this year, though. 

I’m sitting in my office looking across the sun bathed Columbia River at a bright white Mount Adams and thinking this should be my sixth day in a row of “fair weather” winter riding in Oregon. 

It’s likely not to be, as I must work and then make it to Portland International Raceway for the SCCA Oregon Region Racing School this evening.  Who woulda thunk I’d be stressing about miles on the bike in March after a hip fracture in October?  

The concern is because I’ve been “tricked” into riding the Tucson Bicycle Classic next weekend.  The idea was that an early season race would help my motivation (read fear) and it sounded kinda like some good fun, anyway… 

I will get on the plane next week, and I will fly south.  Regardless of the outcome in Arizona – victory, this time, is mine.

First Real Test of a Repaired Femur

January 4 was exactly 3 months since I had (at the moment it happened) what seemed like a minor crash while  pre-riding the Alpenrose Cyclocross race course.  As it turned out, I had broken the femoral neck of my left leg and would be subjected to a forced rest from bicycle riding (and a bunch of other unpleasant experiences – like 10 days without a real shower).

I had planned to spend the week between Christmas and New Years in Southern California with family and friends, and importantly, riding a bicycle for the first time.  I am extremely fortunate to be able to ride there with my good friend and brother-in-law, Joe Kolling and his coach Paul Deem.  It may have been more fortunate that I arrived at the beginning of an “off” week for them, so my suffering would be somewhat mitigated…

I rode 300 miles with Joe and Paul that first week, and did two sessions in the gym.  We rode another 150 miles over 3 days to end my visit which also included another day of circuit training.  I had been a little bit anxious about how I would react to riding in groups containing other riders, and for the most part, I’m okay with how that went, also.

There was one minor situation / test when a group of mostly Motor Tabs riders went by us near the end of a 70 mile ride, which had already been my biggest effort of the trip.  The “situation” that I struggled with was that they were rotating at about 30 mph.  The “test” was of my heartrate, which did come up and I was able to stay attached for 8 minutes (which is about when Joe and Paul moved toward the front and forced the pace even higher).  I soft pedaled in, and my rehabing hip felt great.

So, less than 3 months after an accident that could have resulted in an extremely long recovery, it seems that maybe everything is going to be okay.  I suppose now I have to get off of the couch and get to work….

Tony Dirks (one of  the Mountain View teammates) has already started harassing people about early season races – WTF?  The Cherry Blossom Classic Stage Race in The Dalles starts April 23 (which seems reasonable) –  there’s a lot to do between now and then.

Pedaling and Covering Ground

It was exactly two months ago today (61 days, but who is counting) that I hit the ground just a little bit too hard, oops.

I’ve been riding on the indoor trainers for a few weeks now, and as it was a beautiful day here.  So, while the guys were doing some little tweaks to the car I snuck out for a short ride.  Other than Gary Bockman jumping out from behind a porta-potty to scare me (and nearly tip me over), everything went very well.  I did a couple of small efforts and had no pain – my heart rate came up easily (and as expected). 

back on the bike within 2 months!!!

All is well in my bicycle world.

Rehab!!!

Finally!  That was friggin brutal.

5 weeks and 1 day after being released from the hospital, the surgeon has given me the “green light” to transition off of crutches to full weight bearing and, most importantly, to start riding a recumbent bicycle trainer.

If you came in late, this is how it happened: That Wasn’t the Plan

I drove straight from the doctor’s office to the gym and spent 45 minutes spinning – that was so cool!!!  I felt great afterward and walking (with only one crutch now) is slowly beginning to seem more natural.  The first time you try to put weight on something you haven’t used for 5 weeks is an interesting experience – totally, 100 percent, completely counter intuitive.  I’ve just spent 5 weeks perfecting a new skill, and now I must forget it!

Having to use two crutches to get around is kind of difficult, too.  It’s never happened to me before – no broken bones, no visits longer than 3 hours to the hospital.  Yes, even though I just spent 5 weeks as an immobile dependent, I still consider myself lucky, as I am now turning the page on an interesting life experience.

3 screws
I'm Screwed

While I was waiting for The Doc, the x-rays were put up on the display in the examination room.  I’m no expert, but they looked pretty good to me – the deck screws still freak me out, but…  I was kind of proud of how “un-broken” the bone looked (kind of like a perfectly fitted crown molding), so I took a picture.

One of the benefits of this experience is that I haven’t felt compelled to shave my legs since a couple days before the “incident”.  I hate doing it (I don’t like shaving my face either, btw), but it did make surgery less complicated (okay, very, very slightly) and it is nice (very, very) to have shaved when you have road rash – but it doesn’t work unless you do it before (and it’s tough to plan for that)…  I suppose it would have been cool to have the pretty nurse shave my upper thigh, but there was some other stuff going on at the time to distract me, so maybe I wouldn’t even have noticed – that would suck.  I think I’ll wait until my left leg has recovered to the same size as my right leg again – I think the hair is good camouflage for the skinny one.

For  what it’s worth, pretty nurse told me I wouldn’t remember our conversation that started when I awoke from surgery and lasted until I was secure in my regular hospital bed (complete with morphine drip).  We both have brothers that are recently retired Marine Corps Aviators – but, siblings of Marines are typically quite proud of their brothers and sisters and morphine isn’t enough to make us forget things like that.  Morphine, shmorphine – what else ya got?

I was thinking about other things that happen when you don’t shave your legs.  For example, when I go have beers with my friend (and hairdresser) Fenn Bourland, who owns Urbaca Salon in the Pearl District, I won’t have to wear long pants.  If I wear shorts we look way too much like a gay couple – especially if it’s just after a hair cut – I appear to be far too well groomed…  I haven’t worked out whether that makes it easier to meet the beautiful girls that are wandering “The Pearl”, sometimes with no apparent purpose beyond their quest for the perfect  martini, or not.

Maybe it’s time to give Fenn a call and do an experiment – you know, for science, and the children.

C’était un Rendez-vous

I’ve been meaning to write something about this video for some time – just because I think it’s so outrageously cool that I want people to see it. I thought about it again last Saturday morning when I received a message from my buddy Russ that he was on his way to “Cars and Coffee” in a Ferrari 275 GTB – Russ knows that I like old Ferraris and that I think the 275 GTB is one of the prettiest cars ever built.

Ferrari 275 GTB
Ferrari 275 GTB

The story behind this short film is that French director Claude Lelouch filmed the early morning run through Paris and that the car used was a 275 GTB driven by an un-named Formula One driver.

Lelouch later claimed that a large Mercedes carried the camera and that the sound of the Ferrari was dubbed over – I am somewhat skeptical, but I suppose an Oscar winning director should be able to accomplish a task like that.  I thought Star Wars was cool when I saw it, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t real… In any case, the film and sound are amazing.

The Route
The Route

The route that Lelouch chose also passes by and through many famous Parisian landmarks, including the finish line of The Tour de France (so there’s a bicycle racing connection), and places where my sister worked and lived in the time she spent there (so there’s a family connection).  The speed of the “Mercedes” has been calculated (and independently agreed upon) to have been 190 – 200 kph on the Champs-Élysées – and that will get you to church on time…