A week in California 2 of 2

After taking it super easy Thursday, I was anxious to get back out and ride on Friday. I rented a car for the weekend and drove to Fontana on Friday to pre-ride the course. If Bonelli is a punchy, European, newer UCI style, then Fontana is old school, super fun, and more about riding awesome trails than just thrashing your legs. Having said that, it’s still tough, and required a lot of mental focus and technical skill to really move fast. Overall, I love the course, so much fun to ride. I didn’t get any pictures during pre-ride, but my uncle got a few during the XC, below.

Ben and Tim were both in town for the race so we got a nice little ride in together. The pro course and the cat 1 course were different though so we didn’t do too many laps together. Both those guys were riding well, and both of them had good results. Tim was second in his age class and ben was 4^th. I did a lot of laps, 5. After taking Thursday off, I wanted to really open up. I also really wanted to ride the course, it was that much fun.

On Saturday I got up, went through the routine and headed to the course at 11. When I got there it was a little overcast with the sun threatening to come out. By the time our race went off, it did, couldn’t ask for better weather. I warmed up a little longer than normal, as I noticed that I was riding best after about an hour during the week. I normally warm up for 30 minutes so I split the difference at 45 minutes. I lined up pretty far back once again, back in the 5^th or 6^th row. Really there were three things of importance to talk about from the race. First is that the exact same issue I was having last weekend. I’ve got the ability, but just not the racing form right now. It’s a little frustrating, but I understand why, and I understand the bigger picture too. The negative is that I’m not crushing the races like I know I can. The positive is that I’ve got some huge improvements to make that are not really fitness or strength based, but just pure speed. I’m not going to get much stronger, but I’ll get a whole lot faster. Looking forward to that. The second thing is all mental. I interpreted last weekend sensations as I just wasn’t strong enough, but after looking into it a little deeper, I am strong enough, just not fast right now. Knowing that, I was able to take it up a notch by remembering that while I don’t have the intensity to follow hard efforts, I also don’t have the intensity to make myself tired. I could just hammer and hammer and nothing made me blow up. I was losing spots in the start, but pulled a lot of guys back in the last 2 laps. So mentally, I think I grew a lot. The third thing has to do with equipment. I absolutely love that Elite 9.9. It’s a pure race machine, so fast, so nimble. But it is a 26er. This has really never been an issue. After riding a few 29ers, I can say that for the most part, the 29er isn’t that much faster, but it makes going faster easier. But on the Fontana course the brake bumps on the descents were wicked and those little wheels were getting caught up in them this caused me to go down 3 times, in the first 3 laps. Not ideal. But really it’s the first, maybe the second time I feel that those little wheels were a significant disadvantage. Needless to say, I’m looking forward, like you cannot believe, to swinging a leg over my new Trek Superfly FS in the next couple of weeks. I’ll be a kid on Christmas.

I finished a little better this time around, 52^nd. I was much happier with my effort and while I still didn’t get the placing I was hoping for, I walk away happy with where I am and excited for where I’m going.

Lambo Murcielago

The short track on Sunday, I was starting to feel the week’s big rides. I haven’t been posting much on strava, but I came into the STXC with 20 hours in the legs from the week. But they always say you can do anything for 20 minutes (and 5, and 1 and any other amount of time, haha). I didn’t warm up as much as I should have but I think looking around, everyone was feeling a little tired so I was in similar company. Mentally, I put all I had in, absolutely blasted myself and came out in 22^nd place. Happy again with that, but I finished completely destroyed.

So what is the best thing to do? Go out and smash it again on Monday, haha. With my flight on Tuesday, I was going to have to head out Monday and knock out a tough workout. But motivation was high because it was all about getting some speed in the legs and working on higher intensity. It took me a little longer to get going, but I still got in 5 hours. I did about 2 hours of threshold and VO2 max work and then settled into a hard endurance pace for 3 hours, and 1 mountain pass. I thought I was tired after the short track. I’m currently sitting, writing this, one because I know I need to get it out now or never, but two because I don’t think I can get up. But on a serious note, very happy to be able to go out after 10 days of hard training and still smash it. I owe a big thanks to Mikes Mix Recovery and Sports drink for that. A good recovery starts with staying well fueled during the ride. Between some clif bars and shots, Mike's Sports drink and a huge helping of the recovery mix after, I was able to do it.

Saw a ton of nice cars Ferrari 458

But what an amazing week. I had my own little training camp, found some awesome roads, made some friends and did some superb racing. Big thanks to Scott Tedro and Sho-Air for putting on a top notch event and really injecting some new life into MTBing in the US. There is a certain electricity around, everyone is excited and pumped to be racing. I’m excited for what’s coming next and I’m hoping to spread some of the enthusiasm back in the Midwest and specifically within Wisconsin and the WORS series. And of course I have to thank those who got me out here. Team Wisconsin, and KS energy services, Brent and the whole crew at Emery’s, Speed cycling, Mikes Mix, and of course the bike that was with me for all 400+ miles I rode these last 9 days, my Trek elite 9.9.

Next up is probably Sea Otter, but definitely looking forward to the WORS opener in May. Getting pumped for some good ol Midwest racing action!