Hit the Ground...Running

So I've dusted myself off from the Masters Worlds. My "rut rash" and stake wounds have nearly healed. It's time to start anew and dream about a new year with new goals.

So I got sick of people knowing that I run, then asking me if I was running the Pig. I always say that I use the Heart Mini for early season fitness, then I just go out and ride a bike because that's fun. But after seeing the Pig last year and watching the Boston, New York, London, and Stockholm marathons on TV I got all siked to try one out.

So I've been running for the past month, taking the typical 5k's I run during Cross season and slowly ramping them up. I've been doing a lot of trail running because I feel it makes your legs stronger due to muscle confusion, and the impact on trails is softer on your joints.

I have big goals, let's see if I can achieve them!

I went to the dentist today. They said my blood pressure was 130/73 (with a pulse of 54)... I'm a bit worried about that. It's a tad high.

This week I took off to recover, but I've been working too much, not sleeping and drinking a lot. These are major causes of the high blood pressure.

I'm planning some changes for the new year with my diet. Last year I realized I was typically not eating enough calories to build muscle. So I began to eat more, and eat more protein.

But I got into the bad habit of cramming a bunch of food down my throat. Sometimes it was salty or fatty food, and I started to eat quickly again without thinking of what I was eating.

So I want to cut back on salt, eat more veggies and I plan to try some radical new diets. Stay tuned in!

Stop! Jump!

I tried to alter my JumpStop chain catcher so it won't let my chain bounce off the top. I flipped it upside down, and bent the former bottom so it's over the chain. But I also had to flatten/bend the former top so it wouldn't drop the chain into the frame, like it did 7 times during my race (not an exaggeration)...

Race #115: For Pride and Nation

Photo by Joe Becerra

I just finished my first Nationals cyclocross race. It's been a great year, I got a win in my age group for Ohio Masters age 35-39. I got 3rd in the Midwest Regionals. So now I'm representing Ohio in Nationals, and representing the U.S. of A. in the (Masters) Worlds.

I remember being a Cat 4 in 2008 and being intimidated by the big races. And I should be, the fields are large and loaded with talent. But over time I embraced these races, they're kind of like the playoffs and you have to get amped up for the big game. Unfortunately I haven't had much luck in these races. Maybe I get overwhelmed, maybe even awestruck by the amount of talent and fanfare these events attract. But at the end of the day you feel 1% Pro, you had to travel, live out of a suitcase and only worry about racing your bike for an entire weekend.

After the OVCX (Ohio Valley Cyclocross Series) ended I chose just to go out and ride my bike and have fun. I feel like I've had some killer training but not racing since early December may have taken an edge off my game. I still didn't let this bother me. I know at Nats and the big races there are a ton of variables you cannot control so I just wanted to go out and do my best for 45 minutes. My wife, Bjet the killer cross racer, stopped racing at the end of the season and is a little upset with me that I'm still going, blowing money on races. And she was a little peeved about having to drive to Madison, Wisconsin in January. But, she was 100% supportive. She got my bike fixed up, letting me swap out my broken parts for nice ones from her road bike. And she let me use her sweet CX bike as my pit bike, and she pitted for me! I love her so much, I know she didn't want to be there but she didn't let me down!

I got to drive up and stay with my Sis in Chicago on Friday night. I went out for a late nite warmup spin on the Lakefront Trail and saw the skyline and moon shining over the lake. Next morning, a hectic 3 hour commute to the race with a couple small detours that cost me some warmup gear adjustment time.

Warm up was fun. The Pro Women were out on the course and I got some pointers from Sue Butler. Then I cleaned off my bike and warmed up. But I did make 2 mistakes: 1, I didn't get to double-check or lower my tire pressure; 2, I didn't get to watch the race before me and see how they attacked the technical sections of the course. But I felt like I did a pretty good trainer warmup, really focused on hitting my different zones and ramping it up.

So I got to the start of the Masters age 35-39 race with just enough time to get cold again, and BANG! The start. I actually started well! I was holding my midpack position around the first bend, with riders 5-8 rows wide going around the turn. I heard my friends Ben, Andrew, Zach and Enzo shouting at me. I was churning through the ruts, still in the pack, when my bikes just started accelerating and veering off course. Evidently there was a bit of icy frozen tundra at the bottom of the rut. I ended up slamming into a big wooden stake holding the caution tape.

I took a second to make sure the chain was on and the caution was not in my cassette and took off again. But I was in last! So I started racing my ass off. The only problem is sometimes you get a bit too aggressive and take a lame line that winds up slowing you down. I was chewing myself out inside my head, and I was embarrassed to drag Bjet along and to perform so badly.

The Nationals course in Madison is sweet. It's this big prairie with a hill in the middle. You ride up it, with the last bit being a steep wall. Then you descend, come back around and run up a bunch of stairs. Then you descend. Then you run up barriers. Then you climb some more. Then you come back down and go through some mud and sand. It was a blast!

I think I got about 3 laps in. On my third I was chuggin up the big hill and I just completely blew up! I made a mistake on the climb and ended up running a bunch of it and that pushed my heart rate over the edge and I seriously nearly threw up! I ended up dropping a couple spots trying to recover. Damn! That rarely ever happens, I guess I just asked for too much on a challenging course.

I rolled in 45th, which means after my rough start I was able to claw back about 20 guys. I was pulled early and was down 2 laps on the leaders, I think they only let the top 30 finish. My friends Christian, Cooper and Ben all said I did a good job pulling people in and I stopped kicking myself.

Later I looked online at a race predictor and it ends up they predicted me to finish 45th? Weird. That was my whole season, there was the potential result, and then there was the actual result...

I was so happy to have my sister Julie come and watch, and her boyfriend Joe took some killer photos of me! We went back to the hotel and I watched the Bengals blow the big game and I could really identify with them. So we went out for dinner on the town. The next day Bjet and I woke up early and we did a bit of sightseeing. I ran 8 miles around Lake Manona training for the Pig while Bjet rode.

We went to lunch and then we went to watch the Pro get crowned National Champions. I think it's so cool that if you win you are the only one who gets to wear the National Champion's Red, White and Blue for a year. Wow. Watching the race was such a blast, and Bjet finally was happy she came. I'm going to edit some video to post later. Killer!

Long and Boring

Sometimes riding on the bike path can be boring, sometimes it's like Mac 'n Cheese and it's totally comforting because you don't have to deal with traffic.

Here's a 93 mile loop that links some cities and bike paths that I haven't ridden to before. MIght be fun for some base miles next year or if the spring turns out to be wet.

Kind of structured this idea around Lebanon, got some homies living up there.

Hour, Power, Wower

I don't own a PowerTap. But years ago I bought one for my wife Bjet after I scheduled our wedding and the another second family reception during the two most important UCI CX weekends. So here and there I borrow it and collect targeted data.

After the OVCX season ended I really wanted to keep racing to keep my fitness and skills sharp for Masters Nationals and Masters Worlds. I don't typically do these races but they are so close this year. Well, I was burned out back in November. Bjet was done racing and preferred that I not go off and disappear all day and waste money on races and gas. So I decided to stay close to home and put myself in the hurt locker. I've been having a blast going out and getting miles in, I'm pushing myself to ride more than I did during CX season, but I'm having fun doing it.

The nerdy data chart above shows the tests I have done this year, and highlights from past tests. I'm very excited to see the results get better and better. I was a little scared when they declined after Thanksgiving but my test today was the best average yet! Now it's time to rest and recover and get ready for the big races!


So to get some speed endurance fitness I like to go out and hammer for as long as I can. What I don't do enough is test myself against the hour. I've only done this a few times. I've been using the bike path because it is relatively flat and there are not many people on it during weekdays or in the winter. The only trouble is the slight change in gradients and the intersections...

So today I went up to try another and I borrow Bjet's full bike, not just her powertap wheel... Well, a chain link broke apart and got caught in the derailleur, ripping it off. It's a beautiful gold Seven Resolute road bike, and the chain scratched the seat stay. Now I am in the dog house! I feel horrible. It didn't even happen during the Hour attempt, maybe it was a good thing I was pedaling easy because I could have gotten hurt or damaged the bike even more.



I have annihilated every personal power record this year. Except for the 5sec, which I set when I sprinted against my homie Bill Meek up a hill. Maybe we have to do that again next year! I need to get that 5sec power up to 1200w soon, I know if will help my racing.

Local Parks become Battlegrounds

One of my favorite things about cyclocross is that you can turn any space into a race course. Cyclocross is kind of the "Parkour" of cycling and any steps, logs, hills, fields become fair game.



Since I started racing cross I turned the park down the street into a practice course for myself. Each race where I fail at some technical aspect, I just throw it into the course design and try to make myself better at it here in my Bramble Park Cyclocross Laboratory. Lately I've been trying to get some fast laps in before work, trying to ready myself for Natz and Worldz.




This year I have had the fortune of riding with some of the Lionhearts Juniors at Armleter. It is so fun to see them progress, and I am amazed at how focused and experience they already are. I have had a blast battling with some of them, they are really quite fast and I can never let my guard down! Alex, Nathan, Zachary and Enzo are a group of really smart kids, and I am glad that we can share an activity and learn from each other. It turns out that a few of them live in my neighborhood so they came over to Bramble park for some fun laps the other day. Quite fun!