Category Archives:Blog

It’s not often that I get to get away for a weekend without the thought of training on my mind. Although training didn’t completely escape my mind this past weekend, it was a nice treat to pack up the mtn bikes, camping gear and dogs for a short getaway to Salida. I’d been waiting for some “free” time this road season to hit the dirt and I finally found it last week…a couple days on the CX bike and a couple more on the mtb. Very refreshing to say the least.

The Rainbow Trail in Salida is beautiful. On Saturday Ben and I spent about an hour climbing up fire road until we hit some sick singletrack that ebbed and flowed up and over water crossings with rock gardens, through dusty pines along the ridge and wind swept, high desert terrain. It was my first day out on the mtb this year so I was a little bit shakey and hesitant but loved it nonetheless. I have to admit I wasn’t thrilled with the leg torturing climb to start things off (my legs felt like absolute crap) but the fast singletrack and awesome scenery made it worth the burn.

Sunday’s ride was even sweeter, faster, more beautiful. From Salida we took Hwy 50 to Poncha Springs and then drove out on 285 to 200 where parked near O’haver Lake. We rode out on the fire rode for several miles before hooking up with the trailhead to the Rainbow Trail (obviously a different section then yesterday’s ride). This time Haka and Kohi joined us and they were going nuts from the get-go, so happy to be able to run free on the trails. I did warn them that they better save something for the end because it was going to be a long day, but did they listen? Noooooo, they were off and running in total ecstasy.

We had just entered the edge of the San Isabel National Forest so we were surrounded by fresh pine and the invigorating aroma that comes with it. It was hard to not stop every couple k’s for a photo op, especially when we’d roll into a clearing and see yet another peak, most likely one of the ubiquitous 14′ers, jutting high into the sky. Luckily for the dogs there were many water crossings for them to take a quick ice bath and drink. It wasn’t the hottest of days but the cold water was refreshing for us, too.

Towards the end of the ride both of the pups started to slow down considerably. Ben took the lead and I pulled up the rear so that I could keep an eye on them to make sure they were doing ok. I was starting to get a little concerned for Kohi because she was really dragging. On walks at home she’s usually the one scrounging for food rather than running after the ball so she’s not the fittest of the two so she’s the one to slow down first but she was way off the back now. Once we got down to the bottom of the switch backs (which would have been screaming fast except Kohi kept my speed to a slow crawl) I noticed that Kohi’s paws were bleeding. Upon close inspection I realized that her pads, and Haka’s, were completely raw. Running on the sandy trails and over the rough rocks had ripped their padding right off. No wonder the poor kids were creeping. The decision was made for me to wait with them at that spot while Ben rode another several miles to get the car and pick us up. They were smoked but I’d like to think that they would do it all again if given the chance. Although next time they’ll be running with booties on their paws so as not to get so raw!

On the way out of town we stopped at Amica’s Pizza and Microbrew for a finger licking good pizza and cold beverage before driving back to the Fort. If you are ever in Salida you must stop at Amica’s. Besides offering a plethora of good food and drink, the owner of the restaurant, a charming woman, not only sponsors the Salida Omnium but also a local team. She said to us that sponsoring the event and the team was the best marketing decision she has ever made because cyclists know good food and beer!

You also must stop at Absolute Bikes. Thanks to the gracious employees there we found wicked singletrack and a perfect camping spot.

Ahhh, I needed that little get away on the mtb – it did wonders for the head!

Last week I packed up my new LOOK 595 into my car and headed down to Denver to meet Todd Carver at Retul for a bike fit.  Last year I was riding a 585 but this year I have been given a beautiful 595 painted in red, white and blue.  The only trick is that the geometry between the 2 bikes is different so I was feeling a little off, so to speak, on the new bike.  And because I hadn’t had a proper bike fit in years, I figured it was about time to get myself fit right rather than try to made adjustments that weren’t best for me.

On April Fool’s Day I met Todd at his trendy Denver studio where we spent the first 20 minutes talking about all the connections that we have in common, from his PhD advisor to friends here in Ft Collins.  Amazing what a small world this is. Once we got down to business it was, well, all business.  Retul uses 3-D motion capture technology, an active system (compared to passive systems which use reflection to track markers) which uses LED’S placed on different points of the body to track a position quickly and accurately directly from the source.  My bike was also mounted on a trainer that allowed Todd to manipulate the power output.  As the power increased he was able to track changes in my position, such as knee extension and knee wobble.  All this was going on while I was able to watch a stick figure version of myself pedaling away on the big screen. We made several different adjustments to my saddle, bars and cleats until we were both satisfied that we had dialed in the right fit.

In the end we made quite a few changes, changes that no doubt feel better and will help my performance.  If you’re in the market for a bike fit, look on the Retul website to see if there are certified Retul fitters in your area. You won’t be disappointed. If you’re in Denver you know you’ve entered the right place when you see jerseys and pictures on the “wall of fame” from the likes of super stars like Alison Dunlap, Kelli Emmett, Chris Wherry, and George Hincapie.

Just over a week ago we began the 2010 edition of the Redlands Bicycle Classic.  It started with a vicious uphill TT/prologue that put us into the hurt locker for about 11 minutes.  The course started out flat and fast, kicked up pretty hard after the first turn, gradually took us up a steady grade to the next turn where we had a bit of a breather before it kicked up long and hard again, then we hit a “wall” which really made the legs burn before we wound our way up the last 500m to the finish.  That sucker hurt….a lot!  In some ways it was kind of like a ‘cross race because of the dynamic way in which you have to attack it – from smooth and steady to attacking hard and fast.  Luckily I found my climbing legs that day and wound up with a decent finish in 6th – just 32 seconds back from the day’s fastest climber, Amber Neben.  We ended up with 4 riders in the top 20.  A better day then we had at the San Dimas TT.

The 2nd stage at Beaumont proved to be a boring race.  Not much happened out on the roads, despite us trying to get something going in the closing kilometers, besides Ina taking all the time bonus sprints to move her into 2nd overall (she’s magic on a bike) and Brooke taking 2nd on the stage to Ina.  Yup, that’s pretty much it.

The crit on day 3 turned out to be our shining moment.  TIBCO ended up with 3 riders, Jo, Brooke and Rebecca, in the break which gained just over a minute on the field.  Although we didn’t win the stage Jo and Brooke took 2nd and 3rd, respectively, and the time gap moved Rebecca, Jo and Brooke into 3rd, 6th and 7th overall.  We had 4 riders in the top 15, who were all within striking distance to move into the top 3 overall, meaning we had a lot of cards to play on Sunset, the final and hardest stage of the race.

We thought for sure fireworks would be going off because we weren’t the only team who were within arm’s reach of taking the overall or even a podium spot.  Sure enough, the first time up the energy sucking climb sparks started to fly and a break motored off the front which contained the most dangerous riders, including Rebecca and Brooke.  This break stayed off the front for a lap or two before being reeled in.  Gruppo compacto.  Game on again.  Now we could get back to our game plan of trying to shake things up, however we never got the chance to put the plan into action because the race was too consistently fast.  See, the tricky thing about this course is finding a good place to attack because it’s really all about the climb – one side of the course goes up, the other side goes down and it goes down fast before we hit the climb again.  There is no such thing as a flat section of pavement on this course so you have to be on your toes when the climb comes around again.  And Mara and Amber kept everyone on their toes by drilling it on the front each time up the climb.  Sometimes they attacked, other times they just rode a hard tempo, but whatever their MO rider after rider got popped off the back.  The peloton shriveled in size each time up the climb until the group was reduced to 10 riders.  Unfortunately for us I was the only one left in the group from TIBCO.  Had I made the break in the crit I would have been sitting in 2nd overall and the situation would have been perfect for us.  However, I was only in 13th overall and not much of a threat by myself.  Rebecca was the last one to get dropped on the 8th lap of 9 and I had to make the decision to stay with her or stay with the front group.  I knew she was hurting and was afraid that if I dropped back for her neither of us would make it back to the front group and then we’d have nothing.  Plus, I was hoping that our teammates behind us could help her get back.  Right or wrong decision I stayed with the front group hoping that I could at least get us another stage podium spot.

Before the final time up the climb Ali Powers attacked and was off the front solo.  On the climb Mara and Amber laid down a hard tempo and only Kathryn Mattis and I were able to follow (was I surprised that I was able to follow their lead?  YES!).  Mara and Amber did the bulk of the work on the climb and then Kathryn and I started rotating in to help them bring Ali back when the climb leveled off a bit.  We finally caught Ali and the 5 of us began the screaming fast descent our way to the finish.  Behind us Evelyn Stevens (aka the Energizer Bunny) was being the consummate teammate as she trashed herself to keep Ina in position to keep the yellow jersey (she did this lap after lap after lap).  I knew it would be hard to hold off the charge from behind since it’s such a fast descent and Ina can nail a descent with speed and precision, and I was right.  We were caught about 7km from the finish, but the racing wasn’t over yet.  Attacks went left and right but I was holding my ground, only following wheels, since I was alone.  Nothing got away until Evie made the most well timed attack about 1.5km from the finish.  She stormed away from us like a woman possessed.  Ali Powers responded and I jumped on her wheel knowing that I had to be in good position for the last few corners.  We were closing in on Evie but it was too late, she had it locked up so we were racing for 2nd.  I tried to jump around Ali and Carmen Small with about 150m to go but immediately cramped up.  Sooo, I had to sit right back down and roll across the line for 7th.  That was disappointing since I had been riding strong and felt like I could get a better result.  But, that’s bike racing and all I can do is hope for better next time.

All I can say when I think back on that last day and the race as a whole is hindsight sucks.  For me there were several mistakes I made that I wish I could change. For example, I should have gone to the pit in the crit for a wheel change. I was riding a tire that seemed like it was rolling off the rim through each corner but I wasn’t sure it was flat. I was afraid if I went to the pit and it wasn’t flat I wouldn’t get a free lap so I ended up riding the crit like a total sketchball instead – total rookie mistake.  Instead of riding at the front ready to follow the moves, I was sitting midpack because I couldn’t hold my position through the corners. Had I made that break things might have turned out differently.  Or not…who knows?  At the time the situation was perfect for us with such strong riders in the break and their subsequent move into GC places.  Who knew that Sunset would turn out the way it did?  We did what we could on Sunday but if the legs don’t respond there’s not much more you can do to change the outcome.  So we’ll roll with the punches and come out swinging again next time.

After San Dimas we drove about 40 min east to Redlands. Since we were here several days ahead of our first race day, we’ve had lots of time to relax. Life has not been bad to us.