The past month has been a wild one of travel, adventure, racing and triumph on and off the bike. June began with a whirl wind trip to Austin, TX to pick up the new to us Kavy Adventure Wagon. After years of pondering Sara and I made the bold dive and purchased a Sprinter Van that had been converted by Sportsmobile into an RV. This purchase was made for many reasons but none so important as helping facilitate Sara and Amelia joining me in my travels as I speak and race across the states.
The maiden voyage in the Sprinter was entirely utility in getting the vehicle back to Bozeman in time for our departure to Bend, OR for the 2010 US Cycling Road National Championships. Two things that were evident in this first trip in the new ride were that the Sprinter was the perfect family ticket to destinations unknown and that Texas is crazy big and I must admit bit boring. Thanks to a brief pause in Denver to catch up with Dallas and Josh as well as log some miles on the dirt the trip was bearable.
Back in Bozeman for the mad scramble to kit out the Sprinter began. Packing and repacking became a daily norm as we stuffed it with necessities, and possibly a few kitchen sinks, for 2 weeks on the road. In total we managed to fit in Amelia’s haul of equipement, hiking gear, all my race gear including two bikes, and alas the family while still managing to see out that back window. The Sprinter can swallow some gear which I must admit post trip is a bit overwhelming when it comes to unloading it all. The itinerary for our trip would include a stop in the Seattle area to visit family and do a little work and then move on to the coast via the Olympic Pennisula for some family fun and exploring while I polished of my training for Nationals, our ulimate destination in Bend, OR.
Nationals would conclude my 2010 bid to be selected to the US Para-cycling World Championship Team as well as an attempt to be crowned a National Champion. I was registered to contest 3 different events: The road race on 6/22, the criterium on 6/23 and the TT on 6/25.
Departing on 6/10 we made our push to Seattle/Bainbridge celebrating, my cousin, Jackson’s graduation from high school and my sister’s pending wedding with a shower. With 4 days of RV’ing under our belts in the safety of my uncle’s driveway we shoved off for the unknown and a little boondocking. We first stayed at Crescent Lake in Olympic National Park were Amelia tasted were first pine cone and some good old dirt. Then it was off to the Hoh River Rainforest were Sara packed a sleeping Amelia on an 8 mile hiking journey of the river valley ala Kavy style adorned in shorts and Chaco’s as the suburbanites decked in REI purchases scoffed at our preparedness.
We closed our time in the Olympic National Park with a brilliant night perched above the Pacific Ocean. Sara and I relished in the fresh air and sense of adventure; completely removed from cell phones, internet and outside distractions.
Not forgetting about racing I slipped away for a few rides along the cost adhering to my detailed training plan of alternating hard days with easy days. Amelia was as sweet as ever adjusting to life in the Sprinter with little complaint. These few days of just the three of us were just what we had hoped for allowing us to reconnect as a family and enjoy some of the finer things this life affords us.
As our route led us closer to Bend we stopped off in Cannon Beach, OR to join friends in the 47th Annual Sand Castle competition. Despite being complete amateurs, our team of builders managed to impress the judges with our recreation of JAWS capturing the “I can’t believe Sand can do that” award.
Sunday, June 20th broke a bit soggy in Cannon Beach as we embarked on our final push from the coast inland to Bend, OR. Hours later having climbed to the high desert of Eastern Cascades we pulled the Sprinter into the Para-cycling headquarters for the National Championships. Sara quickly busied herself in her new roll of Team Mom, cooking team meals, shopping, and generally keeping us all on task for racing. I joked once before that when I was first invited to race the World Championship in 2006 I thought the invite was for Sara because of how much work she did for the racers. As always her impeccable planning, organization and general commitment to me and the rest of the team could not be overstated in helping us all arrive on race day in peak form.
In the days leading up to racing we previewed the various race venues. The road race was going to utilize a lollipop route that included 5 km circuit offering a few punchy climbs that would total nearly 1000 feet of climbing over the duration of the race. The climbs came early on in the circuit loop and were short and punchy in nature lasting no more than a minute or two, with the final climb immediately followed by a fast downhill in to a sweeping left hander which made for a good adrenalin rush. As for the TT it was an out and back coarse 24km in length that demanded the rider tackle 600+ feet of climbing on the way out. The beginning of the coarse was on newly paved roads but shortly after the climb started the surface diminished to typical mountain road pavement, that is to say it was rough, bumpy, and riddled with potholes. My initial impressions were the coarse was going to be a big test not only in fitness but bike handling especially on the way back when speeds would exceed 40 mph in the aero bars. The criterium coarse was set in the Northwest Crossings neighborhood of Bend consisting of a short and tight turn filled 1-km loop on new pavement, making it a great venue not only to watch but also to race.
As race day neared anticipation was high in the house with each athlete actively resting in peak form ready for the gun to go off. Each of us had arrived here in hopes of being selected for the 2010 World Championship Team as well as a desire to walk away National Champions. Competition would be high over the next few days.
