How to ride less and be able to ride more:

www.marksdailyapple.com/i-hate-running/#more-10668

'Warm' Weather & Spring

Yesterday marked my first ride outside of 2010 as 'warm' weather returned to WNC! We got almost the whole team out, and I rode my 'winter beast' equipped with a rear fender to keep the cold, icy road spray off my butt. Unfortunately this bike isn't ideal for climbing and I was paying for my warm, dry rear end on a 20 minute climb out of Bat Cave as my teammate Jason and Will Black set the pace up the climb. I wasn't going to repeat my mistake of last year (when I bonked), so I just settled into a comfortable pace and cruised up the climb and the rest of the ride.

This week also marked the start of childbirth classes (holy sh!t). So between work at the hospital, getting ready for the baby, and normal duties, I've been fitting in a couple of days of intervals as well during the week. At least 2 days a week I've gone back to riding Powercranks. While, like weight training, I'm not 100% convinced that they definitively are a training advantage, I think that the 2-3 months out of the year when I'm not racing, lifting and Powercranks have a place and help to make the most of the 3-5 hours of training time that I have. Of course I'm doing intervals on them!

What I can't wait for is the warm Spring days that allow me to get on my new Trek Madone that's about 10 lbs less than my 'cross bike set up for winter and has real cranks as well! This should coincide nicely with the birth of our first son. Like my wife's pregnancy, the hard work during the winter will yield results and happiness come Spring time!

Happy New Year!

After a month long break from the bike, and a sweet trip to Las Vegas with my (pregnant) wife for New Year's Eve, I returned home and started to get caught up on everything. I opened the training calendar from my coach, Andy Applegate, and read 'Back at it!' under the details for my intervals. Oh boy!

Along with a return to structured training and the accompanying schedule, I also needed a revamped diet, a new bike for 2010, new team kits, organize team camps, plan a race schedule, order clothing and equipment, and finalize the team roster. Whew! Fortunately January is a mellow month travel wise. However February will start off with a bang with a team training camp, and then races shortly there after. March is more of the same, until our new addition arrives in about 10 weeks! Holy sh!t!

So we're about two weeks into 2010, and I've crossed off most of the items above. New bike has arrived and is dialed in for training, along with a mix of time on the Powercranks, TT bike, and in the gym. I like to start off the training year with a fair amount of 'sweet spot' rides, at a fairly low cadence, along with maintaining time in the gym and on the trails for balance. It's rough getting used to waking up at 5AM again, but it's satisfying to be done with a great workout and in the hospital by 7:30 each day. After a month of this, I'll start to increase the intensity to get ready to race, and then it literally is 'off to the races' once again!

I wish everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2010. May it be your best year yet!

Here's a good article on 'base training': http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=7901&status=True&catname=Latest%20News

2009 Season Recap

2009 was perhaps my best year on the bike ever! That's a hard thing to say , since 1998 was a fantastic year with a lot of great results. But that was a different 'era' in my life so to speak. This year was well-rounded with wins on the road, TT, AND cyclocross bikes. Some highlights included 13 top 10 results (out of 25 races), a new PR at the River TT series, a win in the McMinnville RR (with my teammate in 2nd), another top 10 at Nationals with a 10th place in the RR (the hardest race I've ever done!), a win at the NCGP cyclocross race in Hendersonville (my #1 cyclocross objective of the year), and top 10s in every 'cross race I did, leading to an upgrade to Category 1 on the 'cross bike! All this, combined with some fantastic trips with my wife and team, a new house, pregnant wife, new PR in power numbers, a great year at work, and our new life in Asheville made 2009 the best yet!



Road Results:

2/22/2009: GTS #2 - 10th
3/8/2009: GTS #6 - 9th
4/4/2009: Rock Hill Crit - 10th
4/18/2009: GA Cup TT - 2nd
4/23/2009: River TT #1 - 3rd
5/16/2009: McMinnville RR - 1st, McMinnville TT - 5th
5/17/2009: McMinnville Crit - 2nd
5/21/2009: River TT #2 - 1st
6/6/2009: Roan Groan RR - 8th
6/13/2009: NC RR Championships (30-39) - 2nd
6/29/2009: Nationals RR Championships (30-34) - 10th
8/30/2009: Chimney Rock Hill Climb - 3rd


Cyclocross Results:

9/9/2009: Fletcher Park Cyclocross Series A Race - 2nd
9/20/2009: Bent Creek Cyclocross P/1/2 - 5th
9/23/2009: Fletcher Park Cyclocross Series A Race - 3rd
10/7/2009: Fletcher Park Cyclocross Series A Race - 3rd
10/24/2009: NCCX #1 Cary P/1/2 - 10th
10/25/2009: NCCX #2 Raleigh P/1/2 - 10th
10/29/2009: High County Cyclocross Series - 5th
11/8/2009: NCCX #5 Salisbury P/1/2 - 9th
11/21/2009: NCCX #7 Hendersonville 2/3 - 1st
11/22/2009: NCCX #8 Hendersonville 2/3 - 8th
12/6/2009: NCCX Finals Winston-Salem P/1/2 - 3rd

Of course a special thanks to all our 2009 sponsors, without you we couldn't be doing what we do!: Trek, Industry 9, Hutchinson, Liberty Bicycles, Rudy Project, Honey Stinger, Dr. Miller, PML, Eco Concepts Realty, ABRC, Champion, Velosports, and Affordable Home Inspections

Race Report: NCCX Finals Winston-Salem

December is a tough time of the year to race a bicycle! (Thank goodness this weekend marked the last race of the season for me!) It's cold, the days are short, 99% of the racing is done, and the holidays are all around you. My motivation was so-so before the race and it wasn't a smooth morning as we were coming from a Christmas party the night before in Raleigh. Kudos to my great wife for putting up with my attitude! This was reflected in my worst start of the year as I had an OK starting position, yet missed my pedal and ended up mid-pack going into the first set of turns. During the race however I was able to steadily move up from about 10th after the first lap to 3rd. There were about 30 guys with Travis Livermon, Jon Hamblen, Will Black, Noah N., Nate Wyatt, Andy Applegate, etc. there.


I liked the course and, although it wasn't as fast as it could've been if it was totally dry, it worked for me with a grassy, wide lane leading into a long paved uphill section to start. The course then headed downhill, through some turns and mud back to the pavement, before turning back uphill for a power section through grass and uphill barriers. My technique wasn't fantastic through the muddy section after this, but I seemed to make up for it through the wooded, fast turns on the backside of the course before heading back into the grass field for chicanery heading toward the finish.

After my start I heeded Jon Hamblen's advice and did all that I could to make it to the front group over the course of the next lap. I drove it hard on the paved section as well as through the back stretch and through the field until I was with the chase group. I tried to sit in and recover for a bit, but felt good and figured I'd have a go of it. I attacked up to Scott (Inland Construction) and then kept going until I finally caught Nate about halfway through the race. I crashed going over the barriers which took me about a lap to recover. Nate and I hung together for a few laps and we could see the 'field' of about 10 behind us attacking each other. About 3 laps to go a couple of guys crashed on the slick mud coming off the grass onto the pavement, with Andy Applegate being one of these victims. Fortunately he was OK and was able to work his way back through the pack. I tried to work with Nate, but got antsy again and attacked him with about 2 laps to go, before catching Noah on the last lap, about 1k from the finish on the 180 section. Amazingly after not a great couple weeks of training and what I would say was a poor attitude in the morning, I felt like I really wasn't going hard the whole race. I just felt smooth and in a nice zone that I could've ridden all day. I ended up 3rd, which put my in 11th in the series - which isn't terrible, considering that I did the bare minimum number of races. Overall I think that was my best day on a 'cross bike yet!

NCCX Series 2009 Tanglewood Park
Clemmons, NC
12/6/09

1 53 TRAVIS LIVERMAN 1:03:30
2 4 JON HAMBLEN 35 WINSTON SALEM NC 1:04:33
3 23 CHRIS LARSEN 32 ASHEVILLE NC 1:05:18
4 10 NOAH NIWINSKI 25 BOONE NC 1:05:32
5 24 NATE WYATT 1:05:43
6 7 SCOTT FREDERICK 36 RALEIGH NC 1:05:45
7 38 ERIC WONDERGEM 33 JOHNSON CITY TN 1:05:46
8 65 WILL BLACK 43 ASHEVILLE NC 1:06:11
9 33 ANDY APPLEGATE 1:06:11
10 22 ERIC MARLAND 39 BOONE NC 1:06:13

See more pictures here: http://www.themobgallery.com/MOB%20Cyclocross/2009%20Fall%20CX/CX%20Fall%2009%20Tanglewood%20Finals/index.html

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

Race Report: NCGP

The weekend started with a less than ideal late pre-ride of the course Friday afternoon with my coach, Andy Applegate. I'd only ridden about 2 hours all week since work had been busy. I felt fresh though and just wanted to open my legs up. The course was in a great shape and seemed like a good fit for my fitness and skill set. "Ironically" I ended up shattering my rear derailleur on the same dip that I broke my rear derailleur during last year's race! A stick jumped into my rear wheel, snagged the rear mech and left me to walk back to the car after a 15 minute ride. Andy told me to not let the situation affect my head and 'go fix my bike!!'. A big thanks to Matt at Liberty for straightening my derr hanger after closing, truing my wheel, and getting my bike back to rideable!

Saturday morning was spent cleaning the house and getting ready for Thanksgiving company, before heading over to the course with my teammate Jacob in near-perfect conditions of 60, sunny, and DRY! I was both nervous and excited at the start as I wasn't 100% sure of what to expect. Looking at the start list I noticed that there wasn't anyone in the race who I hadn't beaten previously, however that doesn't assure anything! I didn't get a call up to the start as they call up anyone in the top 10 of the P/1/2 or Cat. 3 fields, and not having done enough races, I barely got a spot in the second row. A solid start placed me top 10 going into the first set of turns, and as soon as we hit the first long pavement section I sprinted towards the front and settled into second place for about 15s before a rider from Lees-Mcrae attacked. Everyone looked at each other, so I bridged the gap and the two of us settled into a rythm over the next lap. He began to sit on and look back for his teammate, so I decided to attack after he bobbled in a turn. I drilled it for a full lap and heard Andy yelling that I had a solid 20s gap. I settled into a comfortable rythym and slowly grew my gap while staying smooth through the turns and technical sections. My only fear was getting caught by Drew, the 15 year old who was chasing me! It was great to get a solid win after several months of hard work! Jacob barely missed the top 10, with a solid 11th place, and Chris Emory didn't crash (his goal for the day)!

Today (Sunday) was like a whole different world: 45 degrees, raining, muddy, sloppy, muddy, raining . . . you get the idea. I got a good warm up on the trainer under the CTS tent (a little sneak preview of our sponsors for next year!), opted not to pre-ride the course, and hit the line. Jacob lined up with me as well today, and I figured that his skills would complement my fitness nicely. He got a great start and we both hit the 'hole shot' in top 5. Unfortunately shenanigans ensued from many other riders who slid into and in front of me, which let me to go backwards quickly on the first lap. I chased back to the front group, but my fitness couldn't offset my lack of mud-skills, and this turned out to be the story of the day. I would chase, catch a group, put time into them on the flats and uphill section, then lose twice that time on the off-camber part of the course. Fortunately it was the exact opposite for Jacob who was gaining time everytime we hit the off-camber portions. He rode himself to an excellent 5th? place (I didn't stick around to check the results), and I was about 8th? Andy Applegate kept saying "the more fun you have, the faster you go". I kept thinking "the faster I go, the more fun I have". Well, I wasn't going quite as fast today as yesterday, so you do the math ;)

Thanks to CTS and 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

Race Report: NCCX #5 Salisbury

Another great day to race! 75 degrees, sunny, hard, fast course. I was a little unsure of my fitness and not super-confident after a 2 week racing hiatus and just feeling kind of flat. However it seemed like a good course for me with a fast grassy start, grassy turns, 2 sets of barriers, not much mud or super-tight turns and a nice wooded section that allowed me to use my fitness to keep it rolling. Again, about 40 riders lined up for the Pro/1/2 race and some big hitters like Jon Hamblen, Will Black, Travis Livermon, and the other usual suspects showed up. However I had my secret weapon - my wife and unborn baby cheering me on!

I crashed warming up when I hit a stump in the woods which threw my rear wheel out of true, so I switched to a pit wheel, which I failed to tighten fully in my rush to get to the line! I'm sure that it was rubbing for about half the race until I figured it out and stopped to tighten it, losing about 10s. I got an OK start but again, like the first two races in the series, I ended up tailed off of the front group by just a few seconds. I clawed my way back towards 10th where I had to stop for the wheel issue, only to crash in a turn when I slid out! After that I got pissed, caught the chase group, went through them, caught Hekman and Wyatt, and ended up 9th on the day, 1
spot better than my last race.

Digging to get back after my mechanical and crash

In the next race (Hendersonville) I need to be MORE aggressive at the start as my endurance seems to be improving, and I was actually passing people on the run up (which I practiced a lot this week), where this has been a weakness in the past. Although I felt a lot better after the race and am really looking forward to the NCGP!

Check out the rest of the series here: http://www.nccyclocross.com/index.html (I'll be at the races in 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