Race Report: SRAM Tour of the Gila - Stage 1: Silver City - Mogollon Road Race

Just got in from stage 1 of the Tour of the Gila and so far it is beyond epic. Today's stage was a 73 mile point to point race with one major climb. We rolled out of Silver City after a parade lap around town and were instantly faced with a few miles of climbing. After climbing out of the town we rode down towards the Gila River basin. It was mostly downhill with a few rollers at that point and it was around mile 10 where two riders broke off the front. Near the first feed-zone which was around mile 20 we were told by a race official to continue on the road we were on instead of taking a right and climbing up a short hill (which is where we were supposed to go). The two riders off the front had climbed up the hill and done the additional loop and by the time the race officials had made a decision about what to do they were about 5 minutes behind us. We were then forced to ride neutral for about 20 minutes to allow them to catch up. It was pretty frustrating (although certainly not as frustrating as it was the the two in the break) but everything seemed to get a least a little sorted out.

After we crossed the Gila River we starting gradually climbing although it was mostly rolling. The course was pretty flat and, except for a four-man break away getting away, the race was pretty uneventful until the end. The last 7 miles was the Mogollon climb. This is where all the excitement happened for the day. The road began to steadily pitch up and there were a few sections that went u[ to a 13% grade. This section was only about 2 miles long but it really split up the group. The course then flattened out for about 1.5 miles before the start of the final climb. It was there that I found myself with about 10 other riders in the lead group (minus the four that were still in the break-away). The final climb started with 4 miles to go and pitched between 7 and 19%. In the first 2 miles of the climb we caught the break and the group I was with whittled down to 4. It was at the 2-mile-to-go mark where another rider put in an attack, my legs were already screaming at me and I was left behind. I kept the group in my sights for a mile but I was already gasping for air and loosing steam. I lost sight of them with about 0.5 miles to go but finished just behind them and somewhere around 5th place (it was hard to tell who was in our field as we were passing some straggling masters).

It was a pretty awesome day and I felt really good. I'm sitting pretty high up in the GC and am looking to hold onto as much time as I can. Now I'm eating some food and drinking a whole bunch of water to get ready for a huge day of racing and climbing tomorrow. Tomorrow's race is around 80 miles with 6000ft of climbing.

Sorry that this post is void of pictures. I will add some once I get them.

Race Report: Deer Trail Road Race

I just finished up with the first race of the season: the deer trail road race in deer trail, CO. It went very well considering that I was trying to take it super easy as stage 1 of the Gila is on Wednesday. The course was very boring. Two out and backs that we did twice totaling 60 miles. It was super flat with a few rollers and dead straight. It was snowing lightly which made it a little less bland and more epic. With about 20k to go the pace started really picking up and the group diminished in size. Coming into the final 2k I felt that I had great positioning and was gearing up for the sprint when a group of 7 broke off the front. I found myself just behind them with two others and a completely shattered peloton. My group of 3 wasn't able to reconnect with the leaders but I made it to the line before those guys for an 8th place finish. I worked hard but was never concerned about blowing up despite riding away from about 40 other guys. I'm feeling good about my fitness and am really looking forward to seeing how I'll fair at the Gila and through the rest of the season. Also, the race wheels kicked ass. I was astonished at how much faster and lighter I felt on them

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Fruita Trip and the New Bike

About a week and a half ago I went with Kate and a bunch of folks from Ubikes to Fruita, CO for 3 days of mountain biking. The terrain and trails in Fruita were spectacular and world class but totally different from the style of riding that I've done in the past. The trip was wonderful for so many reasons other than experiencing the trails in Fruita. The first was because of the bike I was on. We received some Cannondale demos from the Cannondale rep including the new Jekyll and the Scalpel Ultimate. I was riding the latter which was tricked out with SRAM XX and weighed about as much as my cyclocross bike (around 18.5-19 pounds) which is totally insane! They keep the weight so low firstly with the carbon Lefty fork. That is an instant savings of about about. Beyond that they keep weight down by going for the expensive/weight saving equipment wherever possible and removing the pivots from the rear triangle and allowing the frame to flex to create rear suspension. The bike was unbelievably punchy and climbed superbly. It didn't have quite enough travel for what I was trying to do with it but it was not created to excel at taking big drops. Another reason that the trip was so sick was because of the fact that it was a company trip. Kate and I are both so happy to have come to Colorado and are amazed with Ubikes and the way in which they care for their employees.

I also finally got my road bike for the summer and it is sweet! I went for the Specialized Tarmac Comp over the Expert that I had last year in order to save a few bucks. My friend, Zach, convinced me that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the SL2 and the SL3 frames and he was absolutely right. I also swapped out the 105 that came on the bike and put on my Ultegra that came on the Expert and then was on my Ridley for the CX season. I'm definitely going to be testing the longevity of the Ultegra gruppo as I'm planning on putting it on my CX bike this fall as well and then hopefully finding an inexpensive TT frame to put it on for next year. The big improvement in my equipment this year though is definitely the weelset. They were custom-built by a mechanic at Ubikes named Chris and they are 38mm carbon tubulars with Dura-Ace hubs, DT-Swiss Revolution spokes, and I'm gluing them up with Challenge Strada tires. the tire is super interesting as well as it is a 24c with a max of 200 PSI. I'll let you know what I think of them once I get them glued and race them.

All-in-all everything is awesome. I've been spending a lot of money recently trying to get my equipment together, which is not sweet, but I'm really looking forward to this road season and am very excited about my team, the races on my schedule, and where I think I'll be able to take my fitness this year.

The Team Kit is in

The new team kit is in and I went on an epic ride with Kate in it today. We rode north on 36 to Lyons, up through St.Vrain Canyon to the Peak to Peak highway to Ward and then back down. It was about 65 miles with a little over 6000 ft of climbing. The route was amazing and super scenic. Check it out: EPIC RIDE

On the team kit. It is sick. I was really worried about the colors originally but found them to look way sweeter in person. Kate and I stopped at Spruce once we got back to town for some espresso and food and she took this photo of me eating my blackberry and chocolate scone. Kate got a lot of food....she bonked a little.

Keeping it fun

Base miles are great. Sometimes, however, they are arduous and inexplicably painful. Recently I've been feeling a little bit more of the latter than the former. I've also been fighting a light cold which just makes me feel terrible whenever my HR gets over 165. Because of this I've been breaking slightly from my workout regimen in order to spice things up and put an end to the long, flat miles. Two days ago I went mountain biking with Kate and DH out at Hall near Lyons instead of doing 2.5 hours on the road bike. This was pretty killer and the climb was super technical and challenging. We did a loop at the top of the climb and then descended the same technical route we had ridden up on. It was at this point (me riding a hard-tail Specialized Stumpjumper Comp 29er) that I slammed into some boulders and went OTB....twice. Kate got to witness the more impressive of the two instances when I got jammed between some boulder and was still clipped in hanging upside-down. I'm still hurting but it was super worth the break in the routine. Today was quite warm and I had 4 hours planned on the bike. I started in the morning and headed out in the valley towards Lyons and Hygiene as usual but the further north I went the colder it got. Since it was so warm (about 65 degrees) in Boulder, I decided to head back south and head up Lefthand canyon for some climbing. I missed heading up the canyons and it was really great to be in the mountains on a bike again.

Featured Product Archive: February - Winston's Brand Hot Ebrocation

This month's featured product is Winston's Brand Cycling Skincare. Namely: their hot embrocation cream. I purchased this embro at the end of this past cyclocross season to see me through late November and December racing and was quite impressed with the product that they're producing. It is currently being made in small batches by two folks from Fort Wayne, IN. Although many embrocation cremes can keep you warm there are a few things that set this embro apart. The feel of the creme is clean and light and it doesn't leave an oily residue. It also lasts for quite a long time and smells great (a lot like pine). Most importantly though is that at Colorado CX states, when the temperature was near freezing, it kept my bare legs warm and cozy and propelled me to a 10th place finish despite having a terrible start and needing to pee the whole time. The next time you're looking for some Belgian knee-warmers I would definitely recommend skipping the mass-produced stuff and going for some Winston's. They have four heats of embro and also make chamois creme. http://www.winstonsbrand.com/

More Base Miles

It is now March and the season is really starting to loom closer. I've been spending huge amounts of time riding the past 3 weeks and am definitely relieved to finally be getting a little R&R. I took this photo a few weeks ago when we got some snow and I decided to put on the CX tires and go for a ride instead of sitting on the rollers. It was totally worth it. My first race is about 5 weeks away and it is time for me to get my equipment together. My rims came in and are ready to be built up. I placed my order for my Team Hotel San Jose kit today. We should also be having a team meeting soon where I'll learn about what bikes will be available to me so I can make my decision. There've been a lot of rumors about what the bike options will be and they seem to be ever changing. The possibilities are: Gary Fisher (Trek), Trek, Cervelo, Felt, Fuji, and Scott.

I've been putting in some really epic rides recently. I've ridden Carter Lake a few times in the last few weeks as well as a killer ride with Graham out to Fort Collins and back hitting up some of the route from collegiate nationals from a few years back. This photo is from the sandwich shop we ate at in Fort Collins where they had a Velonews where they reviewed aero road bikes. This got me very interested in the Cervelo S-series. Everything has been a lot of fun and I'm definitely looking forward to my last base period.