Tentative 2010 race schedule

Rough schedule of the primary events targeted for 2010

3/27 - Moab Adventure Race: will be reaching back out to those of you that indicated interest on the email thread to get teams organized in the near future. If you weren't on the thread but want to go, looking like we'll have a small group of 5-10, let me know and we'll get you included.

4/10 - Tour of the Depot - Toelle

5/8 - 12 hours of Mesa Verde - Thinking this one could be a fun dude's trip, race all day and then recount stories over some Blackjack at Ute Mountain.

5/29-31st - Iron Horse Classic - Durango: One of my favorite races in one of my favorite places.

6/3-6th - Teva Mountain Games - Vail: Yes, between the Iron Horse and this one, we'll probably just go live in CO for a few weeks. Will also put in some paddle practice this year, at the Moab adventure race at a minimum.

7/31 - Butte 100 - Butte: Thinking I need to go check this one out after Brad's rave reviews of this years race.

8/14 - Leadville 100 - Leadville: Have a score to settle here after the last minute injury this year, assuming I can get in. But, am actually a little more excited for the Butte race I think.

9/4 - PCPP - Park City: Endurance XC Mtn biking looking like the dominant race type on the calendar next year.

9/25 - Xterra - UT: Also missed this one due to the broken hand, look forward to getting back to the Xterra scene next year.

Will fill in gaps with some Icup, additional local road races, probably an additional triathlon or two, and cyclocross of course.

Need to drop about 20 pounds over the winter.... the time on the sideline late this summer/fall wasn't good to me.

Vacation ramblings

Not sure if it's banking specifically, the economy, missing the best part of the race season with the hand injury, or just a bad attitude in general, but I'd been in the worst funk I can remember being in for the last few months - work had turned into a serious grind, I had little patience and had become short with people, and was just flat out burned out - of pretty much everything, including stuff I usually like. Annie, who's virtues exceed mine by quite a lot, had to have needed the vacation more than I did, but hadn't resorted to being crappy to be around.

So we got out of dodge to get some carefree time on a family road trip. A few take aways from this years trip which included stops at Zion, Disneyland, and Vegas.

• I'm very conscious of not taking important things for granted, but one occurrence that happens on occasion is the kids asking me to play, usually in some fantasy world that their little imaginations have drummed up, and I'll either engage them for a few minutes thinking the brief, half hearted granting of my time will trick them into feeling like they got some asked for attention, so I can get back to whatever it is I'm treating as more important - or, I'll tell them just a minute, which, more often than not, is a dishonest way of ignoring their request. The best thing about getting away for extended days off is getting away from those distractions that too often trump the imaginary world my kids invite me into at their age. The kids loved having undivided attention and full engagement in whatever world they wanted to pretend we were in, and I was reminded that there's not a better therapy for a parent than to let their little imaginations teach me how to get away from the grind. It's one of their greatest gifts to me. I've let getting into a rut rob me of this on occasion - good to learn to watch for it and limit it's causing me to miss out on some of this stuff going forward.


• Kylie is borderline of having grown past the innocence of the imagination and precious freedom from self consciousness that you get with the first few years. She started the trip being a little too cool for some of the childish fun, but to Annie and I's delight, realizing we were getting some last glances of her most innocent years, reverted to letting imagination overtake self image for most of the trip - we were sad to realize it, she's our oldest and therefore first to grow out of that stage, but sure were grateful for the time away to be able to get just a few more memories and be able to sit back and enjoy Kylie the little girl before she's not anymore.


• Really enjoyed the goof off time with Annie, away from the day to day demands at home - can't imagine life without her...

A few photo's from the trip:

Met the Laroza's at Zion for dinner and some hiking the next day - took the kids to the Emerald pools. Passed a youth group on the way back, and heard several of the teens complaining about the distance and percieved exertion required for the hike, and had to laugh as I looked back at Brock, the two year old who had hiked the entire thing himself, declining several efforts by me to pick him up and carry him to speed things up.
One of my favorite things at Disneyland are the Dole Whips at the Tiki room - pineapple ice cream in pineapple juice. Brock discovered that they're also one of his favorites. One of our favorite pranks on the trip was abusing Brock's fondness for the Dole Whip's - did the fakie with the spoon for what must have been 20 reps, and he chased it every time thinking the deliciousness was going into his mouth, only to see it turn sharply into my mouth at the last minute - much to the delight and laughter of everyone but him.
This is my favorite photo of the whole trip. Partly because I'm so photogenic and this is a very handsome picture of me sleeping while standing, partly because Chesney hit the right of passage height to be able to ride most of the rides and this is right after her first run on Splash Mountain, but mostly because it caught the knucklehead doing his thing. He couldn't do the ride, so isn't familiar with Brer Rabbit or diving into the briar patch - but somehow decided to reenact it - if you look closely, you'll see him, at least the bottom 3rd of him, exiting the right side of the frame. It was exactly as graceful as you might be led to believe from the picture.
Here's the sequel - he's shaking out the cobwebs from landing right on his face.
Chesney being trained as a Jedi - she did great till Vader shows up, then she got scared and bailed back to dad's lap.

Had a full 5 days of this excitement and frolicking at Disneyland - it was a really great time. We put Disneyland on a rotation of once every two years, seems to be the right frequency for it to maintain it's magic with both mom and dad, and the rats of the rug. Tried it annually early on, and it wasn't quite as new/good.
Annie and the kids hottubbing and getting some vitamin D intake in Vegas where they had a generous go fish table.

Pretty great what getting away with the family can do for the soul - feel recharged, refreshed, and ambitious again - renewed some perspectives and enjoyed the heck out of the family. Makes a guy feel good.

Rarely discussed race tips - racing off the back installment 2,

Writing from Springdale, Ut - west entrance to Zions National Park - one of Utah's many crown jewels.

The ever critical start: first a refresher on last weeks tips which included two options here - Either go off the front when you have no business being there, which should blow you up in about 60 seconds, or a more moderate pace of pushing right past your limit, which is also very moderate, by taking about 5 minutes.

Tested a new one last race that also worked real well, if not better. Miss the start entirely. Show up about 20 seconds after the groups gone and then try to catch it. It's great, you get the anxiety of missing it, the panic of running to the line and starting with the running remount rather than on the bike, and then the ensuing redline effort chase - right smack out of the gate. Legs were squealing like they had the pig flu. The problem with being at the back is that they're squealing despite the fact that your not going very fast.

Here's one that may actually be productive: As you break down, and you will (racing back to back days will further facilitate this), pay attention to the sequence that your form begins to fail. Just remember the first few, it will start to snowball pretty quickly turning into not so much a sequence as a total meltdown. I've got some specific spots that will be pin pointed and hit hard with the reformers this winter. One spot that was actually strong before the injury but is real weak now - must be fairly specific to cycling, maybe just at intensity.

Exertion does not equal perception: Had my wife and some friends laughing at me right after the finish for what apparently appeared to them to be joyriding during the race. When I told them I was riding as hard as I could go, they laughed harder. Seriously, some days, your hard effort just ain't gonna translate to looking like one, resultswise or to your buddies. Remember the integrity required to race at the back - better to get laughed at harder for trying hard but still being slow, than to bear the cross of going slow because you cracked and quit trying. If your best that day happens to not be very fast - own it.

Regards,
Mr. still owning it, but trying not to for too long.

Cyclocross weekend photos

Photo's from our weekend at the cross races. Commentary next post, it's with mixed feelings that I say/admit the I have some more tips for racing off the back.

Rarely discussed race tips - racing off the back

Last Saturday brought to the surface a reality that I've been repressing for about 70 days. It was the first "race"(I'm excluding LOTOJA as it was only 25% race, 75% limping home) back from the hand injury this summer, that I conveniently managed to use as an excuse to go fairly inactive, gain some weight, and in general, fall impressively out of shape. If there's a better way to expose this type of conundrum than a cyclocross race - I don't know of it.

But it will afford me with what may or may not be some valuable experience over what I suspect will be the next several weeks, if not the remainder of the year, to share some rarely addressed racing tips - specifically - strategies for racing at, and in some cases off, the backside of the race. Or in other words, how to compete for the DFL podium, or if you prefer, the DFL implodium. These will be specific to cyclocross, and I'm anticipating that you can expect a few posts with some decent substance dedicated to this over the next few months.

Tip 1 - Physical output: In managing your effort during the race, it's best to get into position early. Best done by going to deep to early - and by deep, I mean get it to a state that you can't recover from, sometimes referred to as blowing up. I've found that if you can do this within 5 minutes from the start, the next 45 minutes should give you a solid chance to work into position for the DFL hole shot. If it helps the medicine go down easier - go ahead and go off the front at the beginning of the race. You might be able to cut the time it takes to reach said state down to 60 seconds or so, which is all the better - and you'll have the sensation of leading at one brief and early point in the race to be the only memory you take away and tell people about, and use to motivate you for next week. If it doesn't help the medicine go down easier, then stay the hell out of the way and take the full 5 minutes to blow yourself up.

Tip 2 - Race Course Management, or, in laymens terms, don't let a DNF rob you of a DFL: While riding yourself out of your limit, you need to ride your bike within the limits of the course and conditions. There are some who are too fast to heed this tip, and when in position to win the DFL, will purposely DNF. I'm hitting the BS button on that scenario. If your going to compete for the DFL that day - then own it like you love it, anything less is vanity at the capital BS level.

Now - with that having been said, if you've succeded with tip 1, you may very well, and probably should, spend the remainder of your race hoping for some mechancial to cause a DNF. There ain't no shame in hoping. But assuming your not a quitter, your still racing, and one legit strategy of racing at the back is to make sure you ride a clean race to beat those DNFers. If a legit mechancial or crash happens during a legit race effort, then congrats, you lucked out with a legit excuse to bail early, no shame there. But there's nothing more shamefull than an intential DNF to avoid a DFL win. Yes, the DFL ranks above the DNF on the final results - and course managment can mean the difference between the two. Remember - own it like you love it..... but don't really love it. And if you lack the inner fortitude, see Ken Chlouber about a motivational download available that will ingrain the mantra of "I commit, I won't quit" into your race mentality, by the clever method of repeating it over and over, and then repeating it some more, and then lot's more. I think he may have one other title also available, but can't remember it off the top of my head, not enough repeats I guess, or maybe too many.

Tip 3 - Top end work, or maintaining skill while the eye's are glossy: Top end capacity on the DFL end of the race is different than top end capacity at the front of the race. Don't let this dynamic go to waste. Your going to get passed, and your going to get passed a lot. Assuming your maintaining the integrity required for tip 2, and still racing hard, each of these passes presents a good interval opportunity. When the faster guy comes around, try to get on his wheel and stay there as long as you can - probably won't be long, but try. It will bury you deep, and bike handling and technical skill is a little different when you can't see straight from fatigue than it is when your fresh, and... practice in this state translates to improvement just the same whether occuring at the back or the front. So don't get content with winning DFL, always look to improve your capacity to function on the bike when seeing stars.

Tip 4 - Race psychology: If you didn't go off the front at the beginning and get a taste of being the leader - you may have one more chance. There is a magic sweetspot in the race where you can get far enough behind that most of the crowd can't tell that your winning the DFL race, and then... you act like your winning the whole thing. Timing is critical - as you need to be approaching lap meat status at the part of the course where the crowds are thickest and loudest. It's a fine line to balance. With the real leaders approaching and briefly in tow, punch it when riding into sight of the crowd - most of whom, you hope, won't know your fighting off becoming lap meat, and will acknowledge you as the leader who's ridden off the front of a group of real fast guys. You need to look intense here, and be going fast. Take it to another level by asking "how far back are they?" or asking for a time gap while riding through the populated area of the course. If you want to give up, and you will, just remember you only have to hold it until your out of sight of the crowds. There, didn't that feel cool? Don't worry about the next lap around, few in the crowd will notice the change in order that riders come through, most of them are just there to see a crash or two anyway.

Tip 5 - Asserting control on the race: If your cooked, and timing doesn't work out for you to make the glory sprint detailed in tip#4, you can save yourself a lap by finding somewhere else to let the leaders get by you. Remaining laps are based on the number of times leaders have come through, not you, and as crazy as it sounds, the DFL competitors can retain their position while getting away with riding one less lap than the rest of the racers, if they get lapped at some point - absolutely no penalty to official finishing place/position, it's like stealing candy from a baby.

So, there it is, a fairly well rounded basket of things to think about while off the back. More to follow as the revelations unfold.... and remember what Ken says - don't quit, and if you brought your DFL game - then own it - but try not to own it too long.

Sincerely,

Mr. trying not to own it too long

New convert to Cyclocross

There's a new convert to cyclocross in the White house. Annie rode her first race today and ripped it. Rode a clean race to finish 2nd in the Women's C, passing several B racers and waving to the kids on the way. Check her out....

One of my favorite things about Annie is her desire to squeeze quite a bit out of her life, which is inclusive of trying just about anything. This race made her almost as nervous as her first Mtn Bike race in Vail this year - The course was the scary thing for her in Vail. Here, it was more the bike, which feels a little more squirly on the dirt than her mountain bike. She took her first spill over the bars earlier in the week trying to get used to it. She got settled in quickly during the race, and never looked back. It was cool to see her confidence growing each time she hit the barriers, remounted, and gunned it up the woodchip hill. I'm a proud and lucky guy.

It was fun to be back on the cross scene and see friends I hadn't seen since last season - it's a cool crowd.

I went out with the B group later in the afternoon, and it went as anticipated, I got shelled. The hand was a non-issue, in fact, it was great. But, have lot's of work to do to get back some form in all other areas. No better way to try and race yourself into shape than on the cross course though, and as much as it hurt, it was still a riot. And the new bike - it's awesome! Have a few tweaks to make, but it may be my most favorite bike.

Already looking forward to Wheeler next weekend - and giving the legs another shock session - they had no idea what the hell was hitting them today.

Random stuff & signs of the times

One housecleaning item. Those who know her know it was a joke, but for those that don't and have commented via email and in person - Annie wants me to make it clear that the deal made for the new Yeti cross bike was not real - it was a play on a forced withdrawal I was under due to a procedure and, had that not been the case, she wouldn't be any more agreeable than I to such a deal, thankfully.

Speaking of the Yeti - it got here Saturday. Here it is getting put back together. I love it. Need to give it the tubeless treatment to be race ready - healthy year for goatheads on the Draper course, and I suspect they'll be thicker at Wheeler - but it's been a joy to ride thus far.

Sign that size doesn't matter: Below is a photo of one of four new tires that the Xterra just got, and one tubular tire for a bicycle. Retail price is almost identical for the two.

Sign the recession has really started to hit home: The following email recieved yesterday from the managers of the building that WF leases my office space in:

"Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 9:51 AMTo:>>>>>>nSubject: New Soda Pricing Good afternoon everyone! Due to the economy, soda will now sell for .75 cents instead of .50 cents. Snacks and waters will be same listed price. We appreciate all your support while we continue to assist you all in every way we can. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance to you! Kind Regards, "

You know that looming inflation you keep hearing about? It's started, with the soda.