Cyclocross season is over, sort of.

This past weekend was the MFG Subaru Cyclo-Cup in Lakeville, WA just south of Seattle. With no Jingle Cross out here, I choose this as my Cyclocross season end. It’s been a pretty quiet season for me, staying mostly local and racing just enough to have an excuse to stay in shape. But let me take it back to the last race and tell the story.

Rolling Thunder and the CX season thus far

This past weekend I went over to Missoula for the Rolling Thunder Wild West Series Race. It was awesome and hosted by Big Sky Brewery. The Saturday race was at night under the lights, and went through the brewery. But before I get a head of myself, let me set up the CX season thus far.

Cyclocross has taken a little bit of a back seat to Mountain Bikes this year, as I'm really trying to have a break through season and need to focus on the training more. But I'm still getting out and racing some CX. I live in the middle of 2 series and only a few hours from a couple more. So there are a lot of races to choose from. I've got the Inland Northwest series, very local. I've got the Wild West Series which stretches from northern Idaho and Montana. Then if I want, I can drive to Seattle and Portland areas where there 3 more series, Cross Crusade in Portland, MFG and Cross Revolution in Seattle. I'm taking the early season to stay a little more local. I spent the first weekend up in Sandpoint, ID for the Crosstoberfest. A great course, very technical and challenging, good crowds. A friend and fellow UCI racer was there, Kevin Bradford-Parish. We are usually pretty close in the UCI races, but this he's definitely got a little more of an edge than I do. We had an excellent battle day 1 in Sandpoint, came down to the last couple laps, but he got me, and day 2, I was a little off the pace as I'm just not in the shape to handle day after day.

Chequamegon: Not so special legs for one special race

Another year and another Chequamegon has come and passed. Not to make it sound like a chore, it’s something I look forward to every year. I’ve been going since before I can remember and haven’t really missed a single year, as a spectator or as a racer.

Steve Tilford gave a pretty good account of the race. If you’re interested, his post is here.

http://stevetilford.com/2015/09/21/chequamegon-2/

A Case for Training Scientifically

As a coach, I am usually the person, or type of person, that someone comes to when they decide they want to start training more seriously. So I see a lot of people who are considering taking the step deeper into the world of cycling and all the factors that go into that choice. I’ve seen people decide to train seriously, and I’ve seen people who’ve decided that the serious training just isn’t for them. Obviously as a coach I believe that the best way to train is scientifically, but I also see the challenges. What I’d like to do in this piece is to make my case for scientific training, in the way that an academic might. What is the difference between training seriously and scientifically? What are the benefits of training scientifically, what are the problems and how do you deal with them? What role does the coach play and what role does the athlete play? Why a person might chose to train scientifically, and why might someone choose to avoid it?

Tips for Traveling

With the summer time here, so is the travel. Whether you’re traveling across the state, or traveling across the country, it’s going to be a departure from your normal training routine. Here are my 5 top tips for making travel a little easier on you.

11      Pack as efficient and light as possible. The more stuff you bring the more you’re going to have to worry about. But at the same time, you want to make sure you have everything you need. So how do you reconcile these two? Do what you can to use as much as you can for multiple purposes. Separate all your stuff into groups; essential stuff, things that would be nice to have, and things you don’t need. If you don’t need it, don’t bring it. If you need it, bring it. But you’ll find that most of what you bring falls in the middle. And things in that category can usually be consolidated. A good example is a pump. You don’t need a pump, but it would be nice to have. What’s the compromise? Bring a frame pump or small pump and a digital pressure gauge. It’s much smaller than a floor pump, but you can still set your tire pressure just as well. So what are my essentials? Helmet, shoes, bike glasses, gloves, kit, socks, food and water.

22   Bring a piece of home. As much as you want to pack light, on longer trips comfort becomes an issue. So make room to bring a small piece of home with you. Something to entertain you, or something that comforts you.

33     Keep you daily routines consistent. Your body works best when you keep a consistent time schedule so do your best to maintain your normal rhythm while on the road. Try to wake up at the same time, get to bed at the same time. And do the same things you normally do when you wake up, and the same things you normally do before going to bed. Keeping that consistency will help you save energy and keep calm.

44     Keep your motivation by keeping it fun and exciting. Traveling is a lot of fun, but it’s also a lot of work. Make sure that you enjoy it as much as you can because when you’re having fun, you’re going to go fast. The excitement will help you stay focused and stay motivated.

55     Have your schedule planned out. As much as you want to keep it fun and spontaneous, make sure that you have the important stuff, the race, the drive, the reason you’re traveling in the first place, all planned out. Not having to think too much about making plans will help keep your mind clear and keep you relaxed. If you plan things out well, it will help you relax and it will help you have more fun.

Racing in the Southwest, Part 1

I’m sitting here in the back of an SUV, next to my bikes and bags, getting ready for bed. It’s at the end of a long road trip and it’s got me thinking what the heck am I doing here? Tonight, and for the next 4 nights I’ll cuddling up with carbon, as I sleep in the back of a car, to save some cash. I wouldn’t say it’s ideal, but there is something about it that gives me a sense of commitment to my goals.

At the end of long training blocks, or long racing trips, or anytime that I’m specifically tired, I get very thoughtful. Sometimes it’s with a big grin on my face, thinking, “how in the hell did I manage to have such an awesome trip”. Sometimes it’s a little less enthusiastic, “how did I mess that up so bad?” This time it’s somewhere in between, fitting, because I’m somewhere between where I was and where I’m trying to get to.

Repairing ESI Grips

I’ve talked about ESI grips on this blog before, so you know that I’m a huge fan. I’ve been running the grips for as long as I can remember, and I wouldn’t run any other grip. And now that they’ve come out with their road tape a few years ago, you can bet that all my road bikes will be decked out with ESI as well.

Big Day in the Sky

Short post today, about today's ride. It's been a while since I've really felt complete pain and fear on a bike and Saturday's ride had both.

https://www.strava.com/activities/279420975

Here are the numbers

172.4 kms
5:38:10 time
2028 meters elevation gain (6653 ft)


A big day for sure. But the real lessons had more to do with the location. I left for the ride from Pinetop, AZ, a town at about 7,000 ft. I've been staying here with a friend and getting some training in between US Cup races. The ride took me up to about 9200 ft give or take (google and strava say different things). I've been up to 10,000 ft before and my body didn't like it much. But I've been ok here at 7,000. Number were low all day, as expected from the elevation. But when I got to the Mexican Hay Lake Climb, it was something different. The climb started just outside of Eager, AZ at 7,040 ft. It was an amazing climb. I didn't get a chance to get any pictures. I was pretty focused on my 2x20s up the climb. But as I went up, up, up, the legs started to really hurt. More than I thought they could. But it wasn't just my legs, my whole body was getting weak. I went into survival mode. We all have our mountains to climb and Saturday, mine was literally a mountain. When I got to the top, I felt relieved, only to find that there was a strong head wind across the top. The next 25 miles, I pushed through the wind that felt like I was riding through thick sludge. When I finally made the turn, I had 15 miles of cross winds to deal with.

Introducing my 2015 Racing Program

With the move out to Pullman, leaving Saris, Wisconsin, and my race team for the past 3 years , Team Wisconsin, a lot has changed. But change doesn’t have to be bad. It’s been a good amount of work, but I’m happy to announce some details about the coming season!

Before I do, it’s worth acknowledging how much of an amazing opportunity it was to ride with KS Energy Services/Team Wisconsin. Without the support and their belief in me, I wouldn’t even have dreamed of where I am was possible. When Dave Eckel talked to me a little more than 3 years ago at State CX champ in Hales Corners, I had no plans for racing in the future, but though it would be so amazing to get to race all the time. So thank you to that team, and the people that made it up.

I made it to Pullman!

Its been a few weeks now since I’ve made the move out to Pullman, so its time for a little update.

Monday is Big Ass Beer night. 1 is good enough.

The drive was both difficult and wonderful at different times. The day I left, Madison was getting hit with a little snow which by the time I was packed and ready to go, turned into 5 or 6 inches. Not sure exactly how much, but enough that my car was getting stuck, without the trailer. So getting the trailer hooked up and getting out of there was a lot of work. But I made it out only to drive on the highway covered with snow as well. My car isn’t tiny, but it’s a little smaller and the trailer was testing it. With the snow, the car would wobble pretty bad above 40 mph, so it was slow going on the highway. Normally to get to La Crosse it’s 4 hours or so. It took me nearly 6. I had to stop a lot to check the trailer, because it was all over the place. But I stayed calm, and drove smart. Once I got out of Wisconsin, the snow started to let up and I made it about half way through South Dakota before I stopped for the night. The next day was pretty uneventful. I stopped at Wall Drug, which was pretty fun. I bought some tea and a bumper sticker, totally worth it. But besides that, I listened to a lot of public radio and music, but stopped for the night in Butte. The final push was pretty short, and I had made it to Pullman safely. Starting out so crazy, it was nice that the drive only got easier and less stressful as I went.

Season Essentials

This cold weather has me thinking about what clothing is truly important. Whats the stuff that I’ve come to find makes the difference between an awful ride and bearable one. Whats the difference between comfortable and uncomfortable? Beyond winter, whats the most essential piece of clothing for each season, what could I not go without? It’s tough to narrow it down to just one, but here goes.

Training Routines

A dimension I’m looking to add to my blog is some training advice. Now, if you want to the point, personalized training advice, then I am a coach and I suggest you check out my page on that, but if you’re looking for some “lessons from the trenches” so to speak, then this is your place to go. Little things.

So the first thing I wanted to talk about is the importance of establishing routines. I’ve always been on the fence about regimenting myself too much. Every cyclist knows that person who is so highly regimented that one little thing goes wrong and the train comes derailed. I never wanted to be that type, so high strung, so stressed out about little things. But as a reaction to that I had become too unregimented that I couldn’t count on my body, myself, or anything to be a certain way. I had no base line. So one thing I’ve learned is to fine the middle ground and use what works best for you. For instance, I started with one thing every morning. Then added more and more until I was doing everything I needed for the day. But not just getting it done, doing it consistently, on purpose, in a focused way.

The Big Move

So I’m excited to say I’m moving out to Pullman, WA. As I said earlier today a lot of people knew this was coming, but I’m happy to make it official. A few things are still up in the air, but plans are to be leaving the last week in January. Pullman is a pretty small town on the border between Idaho and Washington about an hour south of Spokane. It’s mostly a town built around Washington State University, but it’s also got some pretty good riding both locally and in the area. But that’s not why I’m moving.

I’m moving first and foremost, to be with my girlfriend. But that’s not the only reason. I was faced with the end of college this year and where I was going in life. I saw two paths to follow; professional cyclist or professional engineer. I really love engineering and I know that it will be there when I stop racing, but I’m young and talented enough, and driven enough that I wanted to take a stab at racing my bike for living. Moving away presented an opportunity to jump in, take the leap, and race my bike.

There is a part of me that is terrified to be moving. I have made a pretty good life for myself in Madison; I have a ton of good friends and have a good job. Madison is a pretty awesome place to be, but I feel that as a cyclist, I’ve grown about as much as I can here. One of the pillars of my personal philosophy is to never stop growing by always challenging yourself and by always pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone. I’ve grown comfortable in Madison and it’s time to break out and scare myself a little. So yes I am a little nervous, but I am by far more excited in what the future will hold.