Thinking About 2011

Now that the Colorado State Cyclocross Championship races are over, that pretty much ends my 2010 racing year. I know there are a few more races the ACA is pushing in January but I’m not sure I’ll make it. It’s hard to hold that high end fitness through the holidays. It will likely be a day of the race decision and if it’s wet and below freezing, I’m out, I really don’t have the clothing for that. I wouldn’t mind racing at the two remaining Colorado Cyclocross Cup races for points for next year. But that will depend on the outcome of the ACA annual meeting this Sunday. This season, the previous year’s points (2009) were good for the races in September and early October. But now the ACA is looking to have every race worth some points. If the points from the January races won’t carry over to next year then they’re not worth anything to me, since I upgraded mid season and I’m not worried about any kind of overall placing. So I might as well spend my time on other priorities. I have some jobs I need to get done around the house and it’s a good time to get them done.

I’ve been thinking about the types of rides and races I want to do next year as well as changes in my training strategy. One of the areas I think I’ll spend a little more time is racing the mountain bike. I’ve done some of the Winter Park series the past couple of years. I even did the entire series two years ago and a couple of races this past year. It’s never been a priority and I’ve never done that well. This year I’d like to improve my performance. I’ll still plan to do some road races but I’d like to see if I can improve my mountain biking. It goes without saying that the ultimate goal for 2011 will be cyclocross, I would very much like to see if I can grab some of those points to get a better starting position, then we’ll see if I can at least see the front of the Cat 3 race.

As for my 2011 training changes, I think I’ll get a little help. I’m not going to have any more time to train compared to last year but I want to make sure I maximize that time. There were too many times this past year that I spent wondering and worrying about if I was doing the right training. In the end I managed to have a killer cyclocross season but I think the earlier season could have been better. So for this next year I’m going to try having a coach help me out. I currently have everything lined up and I’ll let you know how things go. So far there’s not much going on but we have time.

Thanks for reading.

SM 3 CO CX Championship

After a whirl wind of activity at the house to get everyone out the door Sunday morning I left a little later than I wanted for the final day of racing at the Colorado Cyclocross Championship. I arrived with just enough time to get ready and get in a few laps before the course was closed and the racing began. I road two laps at a pretty slow pace, I didn’t race for a couple of hours and I didn’t need to start warming up yet. I just wanted to remember the course and get the legs moving. Everything was exactly the same as the day before. If anything it was burned in better, making it even faster. I knew how I was going to ride it, this time I was hoping the body would feel a little better.

We set up the team tent near the start and I watched the SM 4 race and cheered for my teammates. I got everything setup and basically just tried to stay warm. Sunday was much more festive around the tent. A number of the cat 4 racers stayed around after the race, the single speeders were in full force and there was a much better vibe compared to Saturday. A couple of non-racing team members showed up just to “check it out.” After the cat 4 race I hopped on the trainer and started getting warmed up and focusing on the race to come.

I’ve raced with the 3’s a couple of times but hadn’t earned any call up points so I had to start at the back of the pack. Again, I found myself in the last row. Even a few of the racers that had upgraded with me this year had managed to get some points and were called up. This time there were only 58 racers. The whistle went off and I was ready for the first laps silliness. This race however was different, when I saw a gap I could move up into it. I was able to find a number of gaps and I kept moving up.

Soon things were getting strung out, like they always do. I just focused on the racer in front of me. Close the gap, pass then focus on the next guy. I intentionally tried to not sit on any ones wheel for long. I figured I would keep this up for as long as I could. Soon I was passing familiar faces, I thought they were sticking to my wheel but it turns out that wasn’t the case. The race was hard but I my body was able to put down the power. During the last lap I began to notice that not many single speeders had come around me. I understand this is a bit of a success indicator for the 3’s, when you’re not passed by the single speeders that start 30 seconds behind us. In the final straight away Carlos, a powerful Gates Carbon Drive rider came by. By staying in front of him for so long I knew I must have had a good race.

In the end I finished 26th but having started last I felt pretty good that I passed 25+ racers. I ended up finishing right with racers that had been called up and received good starting positions. The racers that started with me were still in the back of the race. This is a race where I wish we had lap times because I bet I was competitive with at least the top 15. This felt like a great race, in the end I raced the same number of laps as the 35+ open race the day before, however I did it 2:15 faster and 3 bpm lower. Just as it has been all season, I was much better the second day. It felt great to finish on a strong note and gave me high expectations for next year.

You can see how far back I am in this first lap video

Colo state CX championships - SM3 Lap 1 early from Dale Riley on Vimeo.

Later on the fist lap, check out Brad (the guy in front of me) take it in the chops.. ouch.

Colo. State CX Championships - SM3 Late Lap 1 from Dale Riley on Vimeo.

35+ Open CO CX Championships

This past weekend was the Colorado State Cyclocross Championship Races. They had a little different format, in that not all the races were held on the same day. This provided me the opportunity to race both days. I didn’t have particularly high expectations for the races as I just upgraded and didn’t have any Colorado Cyclocross Cup points, starting positions are determined based on the number of points a racer has acquired. Since I didn’t have any points, I knew I was going to start in the back. Starting from back there, even if I had a killer race I wouldn’t see the front. It’s just the game you have to play to do well at cyclocross.

Saturday I jumped in with the SM 35+ open category. This was a first race I’ve raced with this group and I anticipated they would be flying. There were 88 starters and I was in the last row. There were some racers I knew and would be gunning for but they all started in front of me. At least I’d have a rabbit to chase. The gun went off and it was like we were shot out of a cannon. Being in the back of the pack I knew we’d get stacked up badly on the first obstacles and I wasn’t disappointed. Fortunately everyone was pretty level headed and no one, that I saw, ended up on the ground. It took a while for things to thin out enough that I could think about moving up.

The place to make up time was certainly the long flat grassy sections. A lot of the terrain ended up being like a fast grass crit. I certainly felt comfortable railing the corners but when things opened up I found myself desperate to grab a wheel, I just didn’t have the flat out power I needed. I felt pretty good the first two laps but then started getting bad sensations. I tried to push though it but it made for a hard race. The last few laps steadily improved and I was able to make up some positions but it was way too late in the race. In the end I finished 65th out of the 78 that finished. Not a great result but I was able to move up from my last place start.

The best part of the day was hanging out with the entire cyclocross team. I had the two fastest racers (Todd and Michael) in the pit for me during this race. It was helpful to have them yelling while I was trying to push through my low points during the race. We brought out the team tent and BBQ. It was a great time to hang out, eat a veggie burger and enjoy the racing. After the race I felt pretty good, really good actually. The legs were opened up and I felt energized, not sore or tired. I tried to rest and recover; Sunday I would tackle the SM 3 race. So far this year, day two has always been better.
I go by at the ten second mark

Colo. State CX Champs - SM35+ Open - Start from Dale Riley on Vimeo.

I'm almost 2 minutes back at this point

Colo. State CX Champs. - SM35+ open - Lap 1 end from Dale Riley on Vimeo.

For more on this race, check out 303Cycling.

Nearing the End

The holidays are in swing and as I predicted I’m spending more time enjoying friends and family. Thanksgiving was fantastic. I was feeling a little burned out at work and needed a break. We spent time with my parents on Thanksgiving Day and then spent the weekend in the mountains with my wife’s family. While up at a cabin over the weekend we took all the kids sledding and tubing and enjoyed some adult beverages. We all had great fun and ate way too much, my wife even made a nice vegan dish for each thanksgiving meal to help keep things under control. In the end we came home tired and refreshed.

The holiday weekend was interrupted by the news of a local cyclist, Chuck Coyle, being busted for doping. I knew of Chuck, seen him at the races and had ridden with him at the Boulder Velodrome. I didn’t know him personally but it did hit home to know someone busted for doping. His response to the charge was, in my opinion, weak but it's crazy enough to make me think you can’t make this stuff up. Either way, it’s sad. Sad he was somehow involved and sad he’s now suspended from racing, the one thing he’s done his whole life. It must be like coming home from work to tell the wife you were fired for checking porn sites at work…. performance enhancing?

The days have gotten short and finding time to ride outside during the week is almost non-existent. I’ve been on the trainer a few times and have been running, but nothing serious. Just trying to remind my body I have a few races left but my fitness is dropping off and I’m starting to look forward to a change. I’ve started thinking about goals for next year as well as looking forward to getting in some time on my other bikes. It was always my intention to have a stronger middle of the season, in an effort score well in the point’s competition as well as work on upgrading to Cat 3. Both of those were successful.

Two weeks ago I race the Alpha CX #2 and the Cyclo-X races. Both were a lot of fun. I was coming back off a business meeting at sea level the week before so things didn’t go great but it was fun. Things I’ve noticed about the 3’s, everything is more competitive. Racers have similar abilities and speeds, unlike the 4’s were some racers just get blown out quickly. I’ve actually been surprised by the skills or lack of skills some of the racers have. They are crazy fast when things open up but I am certainly hanging with them or gaining time when things are technical or require some CX finesse. I’ll have to work on my flat out speed if I ever want to become competitive with this group.

This weekend is the Colorado CX Championships. I’m going to race the 35+ open on Saturday and SM 3 on Sunday. My goal is to enjoy this last major weekend of racing. The weather is looking dry and nice, too bad since I never did have a muddy race this year. Going forward, I’m not sure I’ll hit the three remaining races it will be a day of or day before decision.

Thanks for reading

Welcome Old Man Winter

Well friends, the weather has made its change. It went from mid-70 highs to just above freezing with some snow thrown in for good measure. In combination with the weather, the daylight savings time change makes it cold and dark when I'm not at work. This is the inevitable change that signifies the end of most of my outdoor activities.

The change feels like a bigger bummer than normal, I was having a lot of fun riding outside and keeping the fitness up. On the bright side, it should make the upcoming cyclocross races more interesting. I enjoy racing when it's cooler out but below freezing is cold. Upper 30's low 40's is my goldilocks zone for cyclocross. Wet and mud are fine, even preferred but racing in the wet in the low 30's quickly becomes uncomfortable and not as exciting. Honestly, we only have a few races each year in these conditions so I really don't have the cold weather clothing I need.

Now I've been reduced to riding on the trainer which will be tricky this year. I have many excuses but since my sister is currently living in my basement/pain cave, 'scheduling' is a bit of an issue. My workouts also never seem to be as hard on the trainer compared to outdoors anyway. That's something I should work on.

My thoughts are starting to drift to the holidays and next seasons racing. I'm a little surprised and sad how quickly my motivation appears to be fading. Of coarse my fitness appears to be doing the same thing.

I wanted to share a short video of some "Wednesday Worlds" rides that take place during cyclocross season. This one is in Boulder but I've been having a lot of fun riding with a group in Denver. These are the kinds of things I'll miss now that it's dark when I'm not at work.

Wednesday Morning, Boulder from jamie kripke on Vimeo.

School Yard Cross

This was going to be my first attempt at a Cat 3 race. I was looking forward to the race. I didn't do too badly the week prior. I believe, however, the outcome to this race began a few days prior to the race. Last week I was at a Wednesday evening worlds ride, which has been a lot of fun. We were doing about 30 minute "hot" laps. I was feeling strong at the beginning of the efforts but quickly tailing off, the legs were tired and sore (after the hard racing last weekend I wasn't surprised). Hey, it's just practice so I sat up and took it easy working on skills and flow in the corners. I took Thursday off and had a one hour mountain bike ride on Friday to open things up. This has been the basic schedule for most of the season.

Now fast forward to my race. The Cat 3 race is much later in the day compared to what I'm used to. The late race was actually a help for the family, I got some work done around the house, hung out with the kids and had fun. We got out to the race early so the kids could play at the beach and I could get warmed up. The weather was crazy warm, 70's in November. The dust was so thick and there was no wind (a rarity for the afternoon at the res). Warming up I knew the legs were not 100% but I was excited to get my first Cat 3 race on.

The ACA did their call up then called racers up by their registration order. I had a second row start behind my friend Peter who had upgraded earlier this season. The start was pretty good. I wasn't super aggressive as I wanted to see how this group raced, nothing to sketchy but everyone was certainly stronger. I stayed in the mix through out the first lap and a half. There were a lot of corners and some nice sand to keep you on your toes.

After those first laps I might as well thrown out a boat anchor. My back started hurting for the first time all season. I simply couldn't put any power to the peddles. The wind stopped and before long the dust was so thick it was hard to breath, I felt like I had a mud pie in my mouth. I was determine to do as well as I could. So I muscled on purely on will power.

When the race was done I was physically wrecked. My placement wasn't terrible but I knew I could do much better. I went out to a nice dinner with the family and began to wonder what I was going to do to salvage my fitness. I down loaded my heart rate file from the race and it told the story. First 10 minutes I had my typical race output but things dropped off as the back and muscle pain limited my output. Not good.

All in all I'm calling it a success, it may not sound like it based on the description above but I got in the race, completed the race and more importantly I didn't break anything (it's been a problem for some upgraded racers lately). I'm looking forward to the next one.

Photos from the race are from Jim Heuck SixDegreestoSlush

Update:
Crossresults.com says this was one of my worst results all season. No kidding.

Skills

Yesterday I took my just turned 3 year old, that took his training wheels off 3 weeks ago, to the Schoolyard CX at the Boulder Res. He road the practice loop multiple times and had a great time.

Today he surprised me with this!!

I didn't show him how to do it, he was just watching at the race. That's a perfect remount!

I'm blown away.

Going Out on TOP

Guess what came in the email last night.

Upgrade in CX
From: Yvonne van Gent (ACA)


To: Brian
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian
You have been doing really well in the SM 35,4 and have 19 pts. I realize I can't force you to upgrade till you reach 20, but think it would show better sportmanship to your peers if you upgraded now.

Let me know your thoughts.

Yvonne

Here are my thoughts:

I only need one more point (before I was forced) to upgrade. I currently have the highest number of upgrade points of all Cat 4 racers. I am currently the number one ranked racer in the SM 35+/4 (the biggest racing category each week) according to the Colorado Cross Cup Competition.
My results have helped put my team well into the lead in the Colorado Cross Cup Team Competition.


Originally my plan was to pickup my last upgrade point this weekend. But this weekends races aren't Cross Cup races so I wasn't going to increase my lead there. I could skip racing for a few weeks to get to the next points race but .... I want to race and that doesn't feel right.


Overall, this had been a exceptional season for me. I've won a CX race (not everyone gets to do that before they upgrade), I've received the first call up in front of 100+ racers for my first place in the CO CX Cup. I've been on the front. I've also debated about upgrading previously, prior to being forced to upgrade. I mean, what's the goal of a Cat 4 racer? To improve, become faster and upgrade out of the beginner group.

So, I'm going to upgrade. I'll move up the the Cat 3's mid season and be stuck back of the pack. My results are going to suck... just like they did when I started CX racing. But I'm sure I'll improve with time.


I'll tell you how it goes. Thanks for Reading.

Boulder Cup

This was a new venue this year, at the Flat Irons Mall. It was held in this retention pond/park between the mall parking lot and highway 36 going between Boulder and Denver. It's actually a very interesting and resourceful use of the land. There is a sidewalk that goes through the 'park' but there really isn't anything there. The DBC Events crew did a fantastic job putting this one together. There was a video that went on the web to describe the coarse, I like that there was a video but it really did a poor job getting across what the race would be like. People said it would be a dirt crit road race. I can assure you, it was a lot more difficult than people anticipated.

We took over a quarter of the Mall's parking lot for the race. It would start and circle around then drop onto the grass hill. There were a lot of steep off camber grass sections and difficult climbs. There were also two steep run ups to keep people at their limit.

I arrived early to pre-ride the coarse before the racing began. There was nothing overly technical but it was long and with the elevation change it was going to be hard. After a the warm-up I took a brake to get everything else ready for the race day. When the women's races started I followed with another warm-up lap. The condition of the grass was already changing. The grass and chunks of grass were getting ripped out of the ground. Now tires were riding on ripped out loose grass, especially in the places were racers had to turn or brake, these were becoming extremely slippery. A steep descending switch back section on the grass hill was already starting to become technically challenging.

I arrived for our call ups about 10-12 minutes before our race time. The race officials however were late. Our start time came and went. I was starting to get physically cold waiting to go. They finally showed up and I received the first call up due to my points in the Colorado Cross Cup competition. We got all lined up and they quickly got us started. I had my worse start this year. I was cold and I missed my pedal 3-4 times. I went from front row to around 20th. I was behind Brian G., which is actually a good place for a draft. Anyway, I had my work cut out for me if I wanted to salvage a good finish.

I steadily worked my way up the field passing on the climbs and on the run ups. During the first lap I somehow managed to drop my chain twice. Once I got it back on while peddling and the second time I had to stop and put it back on. I never had a clear idea of my placing so I just kept fighting to get to the front. Lap after lap I tried to pick the fastest lines, stay off the brakes and find the rhythm of the coarse. I passed two more guys on the final lap, one within 100 meters of the finish. I ended up 5th. I really wanted to get on that podium but considering the couple of mishaps I had and the terrible start, 5th was an exceptional result.

See more details about the race on 303cycling.com

Not many photos of the early race except the start.

Proof of the technical/slippery descent, this is Todd eating it his first Cat 3 race in the off camber switch back descent of death. (I heard stories of more than one person getting hurt on this tricky section)
All in all I really liked this race. It was well run, well marked and a coarse people will be talking about for a while, good or bad. I hope they do it again next year as it was certainly better than the old Harlow Platte Park Coarse!

CO CX Classic

This was an exciting weekend, perhaps the biggest for Colorado Cyclocross. Dare I say bigger than States, perhaps for some. This is when the big boys and girls come to Colorado to rip it up in Boulder (and Bloomfield this year). Saturday was held at a traditional Boulder location, the Boulder Reservoir. Personally I like the location but it always seems to be used a little too often. Hell, there's another race there this next Saturday, 7 days from the last one; come on Boulder aren't there other locations? I'm looking forward to the Valmont Bike Park.

Anyway, after my teammate Todd upgraded I had the first call up and was lining up on the front with the cut throat competition. Well not exactly, a lot of them have become good friends. I actually look forward to a few minutes of conversation before the race gets underway, but when the whistle blows you'll find no solace.

For this race I had a great start. I ripped out of the starting blocks into second place and streaked down the road. We had a barrier section close to the start and I didn't want to get hung up in the traffic. We were flying through the opening lap and into the first set of sharp loose turns when one other rider passed me. I didn't recognize him so I let them go and got into my own groove.

The first sand cleared some people out, I love the photos below. If your going to race at the beach you'd better have the power and skill to pull it off.




Sand, long straight sections and areas for running. It was a hard race and I was at my limit for most of it.



Towards the end I could see my friend Brian from Blue Sky closing the gap. I tried everything and thought I had a big enough lead. Unfortunately I didn't and was caught going into the final lap. Unable to hold his wheel I thought I'd catch him in he sand. Sadly I let my self get distracted by a lapped rider and I let my front wheel dig in, sucking my power away. I had to run the entire sand section causing me to loose time.

In the end I had a great result, 4th out of about 100 racers. But it was the first place off the podium. It was hard to watch the podium presentation but I was glad for my friend that made it to second. Perhaps tomorrow would be a better day, as it has been so often this year.