Race Report: NCCX Cary/Raleigh

Ouch. Not the team, but how cyclocross feels! This past weekend was the year's first NCCX races, in Cary on Saturday, then Raleigh on Sunday. I really only did one race last year, wasn't prepared, nor trained properly. This year, I have a great bike (thanks Jeff and Trek!), wheels (thanks I9!), and training (thanks Andy!). The only thing I seem to lack is skills . . . OK and experience. Taking the above into consideration, my goal for the weekend was a tentative top 10 both days. I wasn't sure of the fields or how I would do.

Saturday started leisurely at my friend, Alan's house where I stayed Friday night, celebrating his recent engagement! Jess was hanging with her friend up in D.C. and shopping for maternity clothes, so I was on my own for the weekend! I got to the race in Cary about 90 minutes ahead of time, changed and hopped on the bike to pre-ride the course with my friend, Jon. Jon won both days, so he's a pretty good guy to pre-ride with! The course started with a flat grassy strech, got a little curvy, and then dumped us into the woods. I got a good start and was top 5 on the first lap. I was trying an interesting experiment and put my heartrate monitor on for the race. This was a little pointless as I kept looking down and seeing 180-something beats per minute! Not good when your max is 190 . . . Oh well, lesson learned! The course spit us out of the woods, sent us through a sand pit, over barriers, back across the grass field and up a wooded hill on the other side of the park. Then is was through some off-camber mud and down a sharp decent to the finish, but not before an up-sloping S-turn; FUN FUN! While I got a good start, my skills, the almost 80 degree heat, and high heart rate combined to put a damper on my fun about halfway through the race. I took a lap 'easy' and lost about 3 spots. This combined with a couple more earlier in the race left me in 10th - just inside my goal! It was a fun race, but boy was I hurting afterward!

That's me in Raleigh at the start. Too bad it wasn't me finishing in 2nd!

Day 2 found my in Raleigh, pre-riding the course with Jon again after a night with another friend (Pete and his wife). Sunday's course was a little more 'Chris friendly' as it had more pavement, and what I thought was less technical portions. However there were still 2 wooded, twisty, rooty, sandy sections, one set of barriers, and lots of tight turns! I had an even better start, but instead of going out hard and trying to hang on, I ratcheted back into about 5th place and tried to settle in. A group of 4; Hamblen, Wyatt, Livermon, Noah, Lees Mcrae took off and I tried to keep it steady. I ended up in the 'chase group' of 4 for most of the race. While the course seemed better for me, my fatigue from the previous day didn't allow me to move up on the hill or the pavement sections the way I normally could, and I would lose time through both wooded sections. Not a lot, but 5 seconds a lap adds up! After getting tailed off the group with 1.5 laps to go I ended up 10th - AGAIN! Oh well. . . The great thing is with a bit more practice and conditioning I feel that I'm capable of top 5s in these series. I learn A LOT each race and more importantly am having a blast doing it. It's a cool group and NC is an awesome place to race cyclocross!


Check out the rest of the series here: http://www.nccyclocross.com/index.html (I'll be at the races in Salisbury, Hendersonville, and Winston-Salem.)

Thanks to all of our great sponsors: Industry 9, Trek, Hutchinson, Liberty Bicycles, Rudy Project, Honey Stinger, Dr. Miller, PML, Eco Concepts Realty, ABRC, Champion, Velosports, and Affordable Home Inspections

The Best Cities to Raise an Outdoor Kid

http://www.backpacker.com/august_09_the_best_cities_to_raise_an_outdoor_kid/destinations/13126


1. Boulder, CO
2. Jackson, WY
3. Durango, CO
4. Flagstaff, AZ
5. Juneau, AK
6. Seattle, WA
7. Colorado Springs, CO
8. Burlington, VT
9. Fort Collins, CO
10. Lebanon, NH
11. Asheville, NC
12. Portland, ME
13. Hood River, OR
14. Manchester, NH
15. Harrisonburg, VA
16. Eureka-Arcata-Fortuna, CA
17. Sevierville, TN
18. Bozeman, MT
19. Rapid City, SD
20. Brevard, NC

More regulations could help keep Western North Carolina's air clean

While I'm not a huge supporter of regulation, anything having to do with keeping air/water safe is fine with me!

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091021/NEWS01/910210313

Review: Trek Top Fuel 9.8

I got one of Trek's demo bikes back in July, and absolutely love it!

Check out the review here: http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/kelly-magelkys-trek-racing-co-op-trek-top-fuel-9-8

By:

James Huang

Kelly Magelky (Trek Co-op Racing) took his Trek Top Fuel 9.8 to an impressive second-place finish in this year's 24 Hours of Moab.

Consider the following numbers: 386km (240mi) and 6,630m (21,760ft). That's how far Trek Racing Co-Op team rider Kelly Magelky rode and how much climbing he did during this past weekend's 24 Hours of Moab, which also served double duty as the 24-Hour US National title race. Though Magelky ultimately wasn't able to catch eventual winner Josh Tostado (Bach Builders), he did push Tostado to his physical – and mental – limits, finishing barely one lap behind and with the confidence moving forward that he can one day win.

Like most elite 24-hour solo riders, Magelky's bike is a decidedly standard machine with none of the fancy ultralight bits typically found on dedicated short-course cross country bikes – durability and reliability are more important over the long haul here, not shaving a few grams. In fact, everyday riders will be comforted to see that the bike is a nearly 100 percent stock Trek Top Fuel 9.8, not the top-end 9.9 SSL.

Though the 9.8 shares all of the 9.9's features and suspension technology – including 100mm of travel, the one-piece magnesium Evo upper link, Active Braking Pivot rear end and carefully tuned Full Floater dynamic shock mounts – the OCLV Black carbon fiber blend (instead of the 9.9's Red series mix) and workhorse Shimano Deore XT componentry (instead of the 9.9's XTR and custom FSA two-ring carbon crankset) obviously add some weight.

Substitutions and upgrades from stock are also few and far between, including a matching Deore XT cassette and Shimano chain, ESI Racer's Edge silicone foam rubber grips, and a faster-rolling Bontrager Revolt Super X rear tire. Magelky has even retained the bigger – and heavier – 180mm-diameter front rotor in spite of his wispy 65.7kg (145lb) weight, if only because he couldn't be bothered to make the switch.

Total weight is a reasonable – but far from superlight – 11.44kg (25.1lb) complete with his requisite spare tube, CO2 canister, rear light, and bottle cages.

But don't think the extra weight slowed him down much: Magelky's 1:03 first lap was the fourth-fastest of all participants – multi-person pro teams included (Tostado was just four hundredths behind) – and the conservative parts pick netted a mechanical-free run throughout the race. And don't forget that that first lap also included Moab's traditional Lemans-style start.

So no, kids, while super tricked out bikes are undoubtedly nice to have, they're clearly not an absolute necessity to go fast.

Traininig Races and Epic Rides

Since my last race report - I haven't done much official 'racing'. Only 2 training races in Fletcher Park outside of Asheville, split by a trip to Austin for a long weekend, and a bunch of training, and a little head cold to round out my schedule!

The last two races in Fletcher Park I ended up 3rd both times. The first was behind Will Black and Nathaniel Wyatt on a more technical, muddy course that took me about half the race to 'get it'. Then I was able to start making up time on Nate, while Will was out of sight. However Nate went about it pretty smartly and let me catch him, sat on my wheel, and then waited until I bobbled to sprint by and open a gap - well done! Two fun races.

Last weekend I'd scheduled the weekend off from call so that I could head to Greenville to race in the annual Greenville Classic, which got canceled! So Jess and I headed to Atlanta instead to go furniture shopping . . . YAY! Anyway, we had a nice time, having dinner at Cakes & Ale in Decatur (http://www.cakesandalerestaurant.com/) and then the "World's Best Pancakes" at Ria's Bluebird.

Jess was sweet enough to drop me off in Candler on the way home and I headed up 215 to the BRP. It's a beautiful road, and when I hit the top I was greeted by pea soup-thick fog! It was rather cool to ride through though and I stopped at a couple of overlooks and could see the sun making it's way around the clouds in the distance and lighting up the changing leaves. It was absolutely gorgeous! However it was rather slow going, made slower by my slowly leaking rear tire (which I augmented with my CO2 cartridge). It was so slow that I stopped at the Mt. Pisgah Inn and tried to hitch a ride down the mountain. No one was going my way, so I kept going until the bridges scared me too much in the rapidly decreasing light and cold. I was lucky that a former WCU runner stopped and gave me a hitch back to W. AVL! I will say that my shortened ride was still quite 'epic' due to the beauty of it all.

My parents were in town this weekend, so I got out for a quick, cold, and wet ride in Bent Creek on the 'cross bike yesterday followed by a ride through Mills River with Chris and Jacob today. Man was it windy today! While neither yesterday nor today were super-long or hilly, the conditions made both rides tough mentally. When you're riding down the road just trying to keep your bike in a straight line as the wind whips around you it's pretty intense! That being said, the sky was beautiful, as were the leaves and it was great to get out with some friends and enjoy the local roads. I hope you're doing the same!

Next weekend are my first 'official' cross races of the year in Cary and Raleigh. Wish me luck and have a great week!

Dopers Suck

This guy's an asshole (he's the one that won the FBCC RR): http://velonews.com/article/98978/houston-based-amateur-accepts-doping-suspension

Houston-based amateur accepts doping suspension

By Charles Pelkey

Published: Oct. 6, 2009

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced Tuesday that Houston-based Category 1 racer Mitch Comardo (Bike Barn) has been suspended for two years after testing positive for several prohibited substances.

A urine sample collected out-of-competition from the 22-year-old Comardo by USADA on August 24 contained Tamoxifen and its metabolite 4-hydroxytamoxifen, Anastrozole, Letrozole and Clomiphene, each of which is in the class of “hormone antagonists and modulators.” The sample also tested positive for human Chorionic Gonadotrophin (hCG), which is in the class of “hormones and related substances” and is classified as an anabolic agent.

While the tests revealed the presence of several prohibited substances, Comardo told VeloNews that their only possible source was a commercially available supplement he would only describe as “a natural testosterone enhancer.”

Comardo said that in August of this year he made “an uneducated mistake” in taking a substance “based on how my body was feeling at the time. I should have known what was in it, but I didn’t.”

“That’s not an excuse,” he said. “I made a decision to use something and I have to deal with the consequences. It’s my duty as a cyclist to know what it is I’m taking. I didn’t do that.”

Each of the substances is prohibited under the USADA Protocol for Olympic Movement Testing and the rules of the UCI, both of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code (“Code”) and the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.

According to USADA, Comardo admitted the rule violation and accepted a two-year suspension after learning of the results. By not contesting the case, Comardo avoided a longer suspension for aggravating circumstances based on the presence of multiple substances in his urine sample.

Comardo said, however, that his willingness to accept the penalty and not challenge test results had nothing to do with the possibility of a longer suspension.

“I pled the way I did because I accept that I made a mistake,” he said. “I know it doesn’t look like I’ve been honest, but honesty is what drove me to accept the suspension. I did something wrong and I have to accept the consequences of that.”

Comardo’s two-year period of ineligibility began on September 24, 2009, the date he accepted a provisional suspension. As a result of the doping violation, Comardo has been disqualified from all competitive results achieved on and subsequent to August 24, 2009, the date the sample was collected, including forfeiture of any medals, points, and prizes.

Comardo said that he will continue to ride for the next two years and focus on staying fit. He will be 24 years old when his suspension expires in 2011.

"Racing is a passion and racing is what I do,” he said. “It’s going to be tough two years … but I’m not looking for sympathy when I say that. It’s my mistake. I have to be willing to accept the consequences of my actions, both for myself and for cycling. We all have that responsibility.”

Austin City Limits '09

Each year for our anniversary my wife and I go to a different location for a long weekend. Our first anniversary was Asheville, second was Napa for a bike tour of the valley, and this year was Austin for Austin City Limits music festival! We stayed with Jess' friend, and former roommate, Lisa. Such a gracious host, she had homemade scones waiting for us when we arrived! As soon as we got there Wednesday we headed for bed to rest up for our long weekend ahead.


Thursday, Day 1, saw us head downtown to the Visitors' Center for a tour of Austin. We'd booked a Duck Tour, and were, by far, the youngest on the tour. We are a little lame like that. However we love walking tours or this type of thing to get a quick idea of the feel and history of a city, and the Duck Tour didn't fail us. We got to see downtown, complete with historic buildings, monuments, UT, Lake Austin, etc. It was cool to hear about Texas and Austin history and to see some high end real estate! After the tour we headed to South Congress Cafe in the South Congress district, otherwise known as SoCo for it's shopping, eateries, and art. Fantastic meal! Afterwards it was on to Mellow Johnny's - Lance Armstrong's bike shop. This was on my list of places to see in Austin and it didn't disappoint. While I've been a luke-warm Armstrong fan over the years, I've really come to admire what he's done in the last few years and was really impressed by this place! Upstairs was a sweet bike shop, retail area, cafe, and pseudo-museum with Armstrong's yellow jerseys, pictures, and bikes. I even ran into Stephen Roche while getting a coffee! Downstairs Kevin Livingston has his training studio replete with Computrainers, as well as a pro shop with wheels and assorted $5000+ bikes. We rolled out of Mellow Johnny's and headed back to pick up Lisa for dinner at Chuy's - another Austin landmark. Chuy's serves authentic Tex-Mex in a laid-back environment and I started with a margarita before moving onto a dinner of a stuffed avocado (hell yeah) and a Shiner Bock. For dessert we head back to SoCo for ice cream at Amy's, browsing the tents at First Thursday, and checking out some of the freaks (I felt like I was back home in Asheville)!

Friday we slept in before getting in a nice workout before grabbing a quick lunch and then taking the bus downtown to ACL. We decided to only hit one day of the festival since the three day pass was expensive, the weather unpredictable, and there was more for us to do in Austin than just music. However Friday turned out to be the best combination of music and weather with a high of 80, partly sunny weather, and bands like Pheonix, John Legend, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Kings of Leon playing. We got to hear several bands, sample some more great Austin food (chicken Avocado cone anyone?), and see way too much pot being smoked . . . The bands were awesome, the crowds massive, and the porta-johns full. The worst part of the day was trying to get home on the re-routed bus after the show and we ended up phoning Lisa's sister for a lift home.

Saturday I was under the weather - literally and figuratively as we awoke to rain, and I woke to a sore throat and swollen glands. Probably a combination of the year's highest mold counts in "The Allergy Capital of the World" and all the dust I inhaled the day before! Jess and Lisa head to The Salt Lick for some of the best BBQ in Austin and I rested for a couple of hours. After they returned we resorted to plan B for the day (Plan A was to hit the lake with Lisa's parents) and headed back downtown. First up was the Texas State History Museum which was quite interesting. Seeing how Texas came to be over the years was pretty amazing - 6 countries laid claim to the state at one time or another! After information overload we headed to Whole Foods' flagship store for a smoothie, and to walk the acres of the store; it was unbelievable, and actually had a map to help you navigate! After a brief recharge, Lisa showed us Livestrong's new LEED-certified headquarters in the 'up and coming' East Austin. Jess was interested in the architecture and it was cool to see something that has come to mean a lot to me - Livestrong. Afterward we headed home to get ready for a dinner at Wink and drinks at Six Lounge. Wink is a phenomenal restaurant that serves food from local vendors and farmers and has a cool ambiance. I had venison, Jess the quail, and Lisa a lemon sole. All outstanding! It was the perfect end to a great trip to Austin.

We flew out first thing Sunday morning, but we will surely return. A big thanks to Lisa for her house, her car, and her company!