no LIMBitations

We are now in France after a great weekend of wet racing. I must admit when I was invited to race in Spain and France I never thought to look into what the weather was going to be like. I mean bike racing in Europe is living the dream. So much so that I only assumed it would be sunny and 75-deg (the weather condition of my dream world). Well the surprise is on me. The weather is actually very Montana like with temps in 40 to 50’s with lots of spring rain.

Due to the rain racing this past weekend in Spain was a bit crazy at times with several crashes taking place through out the weekend as riders played the game of risk. The first stage of the race in Spain was a time trial that started with a short up hill stretch followed by a super fast twisty downhill before turning around and racing back up to the top. As the starting line judge counted down from 10-sec to my start the heavens opened up and began unloading all they had on the roads I was about to race my 20mm wide inflated to 160-psi racing slicks down. Saying I was bit nervous would have been and understatement but racing is racing. Tentative as I was on the downhill I made my legs burn on the uphill stopping the lock 24 sec off the lead putting me comfortably in 2nd place for the overall.

By the time the 2nd stage time trial rolled around things had dried out and the coarse was primed for fast times. The start  order of the afternoon TT  had me being chased by the winner of the days earlier time trial.  I would also be chasing 3rd place leaving me plenty motivated to get out to a good pace. On ”GO” I was quick to get up thing rolling but eased into full speed in order to prevent myself from blowing up in the first few kilometers. As time began to tick by I felt myself becoming more confident in my strength and consequently I dug deeper as if I was being fueled by the burning I was feeling in my legs. By the half way mark I had caught the 3rd place rider whom had started 30 seconds in front of me, and again I twisted the throttle. As I came speeding through town to the finish line I was pedaling on fumes but also feeling pretty good about my effort. Turns out I was not just feeling like I was riding well; I was indeed rolling fast. Once the final riders finished my coach confirmed I had won the TT for my category but I had also set the fastest time of the day on the coarse for single bikes. Combing the times from the first two stages I was 2nd in the general classification a mere 8-seconds out of 1st.

Eight seconds seems like a short time on the surface but when their are 15+ Spanish riders and one of them is beating you by only 8-seconds those become long/hard seconds to overcome. Sunday was the road race and on que the rain began in full tilt 30 minutes before the start of the race. As we rolled out of town a pack of 80+ plus riders the number one question was not are there going to be crashes rather when and who….and it did not take long. By the time we had completed the first of five laps there had been two crashes and several avoided in the group, hence there was only one safe place to ride the front of the race. Fortunately for me I had no choice, I had to be on the front in order to cover the endless attacks from the Spanish as they tried to unseat me from 2nd place, I was a marked rider to say the least. Try as the Spanish did,  I bridged and covered each attack despite the fatigue building in my legs and as if putting salt in my own wounds I attacked over the final climb 3-km from the finish.  Marking my last  hope of gaining back the 8-seconds I needed to win the general classification. I was able to get a gap over the final climb only to have it pulled back by the Spanish Armada in the final 500 meters. With my tank on empty and my legs cement heavy I sprinted for the finish but could only muster a 4th place.

As the rain slowed, I was left gasping for air having secured my 2nd place overall. Not a bad start to the year I would say…racing begins Friday here in France with another stage race.

I will keep you all posted once I recover from the oxygen debt I will soon be in.  Ohh and there are pics for proof but I have yet to receive them from my teammates.

The race went great overall…Saturday was the TT and afternoon Crit. In the TT I placed 12th and was the only rider in the field not on a tt bike riding training wheels and no aero helmet I was happy with this result but most happy when I passed a rider rocking full aero gear on  new Cervelo P4 less than 1/3 of the way into the race. I would have liked to bring my TT gear but turns out Amelia comes with a lot of accessories when you road trip consequently Dad and Mom are forced to pack light.

Unfortunately, I did not call the race organizer ahead of time to inform them I was bring Montana’s winter with me  thus many riders were a bit unprepared in this desert oasis. Consequently, Saturday’s afternoon crit was canceled after a rider was knocked off his bike by a tumbleweed collision aided by 60+ mph wind gusts and the waves of snow…maybe that was not exactly due to being unprepared after all. Having been caught on a few to many occasions in those conditions while training this year I was not to disappointed to have my race canceled.

Sunday’s road race was greeted with clear skies but 20+ mph constant wind and a pretty cold start temperature. The wind would prove cagey when it came to ever turning it into a tailwind, like any good headwind it seemed to always be a step ahead of us. As we lined up for the neutral roll out of the race it was pretty evident most racers had wondered why they were letting the handicap guy ride with the group. I over heard one guy mention to his riding buddy that he would be surprised if I made it the first couple of miles…I will admit I was a bit  nervous at the start because I did not know any of the racers but I was pretty sure I would make it past the first couple of miles.  Not being in the race to get a result, my objective was all about riding myself deep in to the pain cave…and deep I went.  Over the first two major climbs I punched it with a front group of 15 shooting half the pack out the back then while rotating on the front and getting blocked from responding to an attack  I chased for nearly 20 miles solo, eventually I made it back to a few chasers and dragged the group to the top of the final 8 mile climb weeding the group down to 3 before suffering a mechanical in the final minutes of the race.  As I reflected on the depth in which I had explored the pain cave I was encouraged by the fact I had logged some peak power records, I had opened some eyes to what is possible as an adaptive athlete, but deep down the most satisfaction came in the early miles of the race when I dropped the rider that had doubted out loud that I could finish.

Despite the weather hiccups the race was run exceptionaly well and the coarses were made for great venues, I hope to be back.

Following the race I had just enough time to get cleaned up unload the car at a home we had rented with friends for the following week and then pick my ladies up at the St. George airport to begin our week of family fun…more on that later

Recently, I found myself in some uncharted waters. It was not my surroundings that caught me off guard rather it was my familiarity with the surrounding that put me in this unusual place…leading the pack on the final climb on the final day of winter training camp.

 As I mentioned in my last entry, while I enjoy climbing on my bike I have never considered myself a climber. With that said, winter endurance camp this year found me riding with the front on many of the climbs, and to my surprise on a few occasions dishing out a little pain of my own.  While I was more than happy to explore these newly acquired climbing legs I was not going to fool myself into thinking I had a crack at winning the final training day’s mountain stage that was being billed as EPIC.

Indeed the day was to be epic but not in the ways many of my teammates had envisioned but none the less epic in a single way in which I found myself right at home.

The day started as all the others earlier in camp had quick descent into the adjacent valley followed by a few hours of climbing our way back out of said valley to yet another descent to yet another climb. As we approached the final climb we had all managed to soften each others legs a bit pushing the pace when the terrain suited each individual’s strengths. With approx. 40 miles covered and some 3,000+ feet climbed the beast known as Kitchen Creek Road began to flex some muscle. Kitchen Creek consists of an approx. 5000 feet climb over 13 miles much of which is covered on a gated road leaving you unsupported and thanks the broken terrain lacking cell phone coverage.

 As the road pitched up so did the pace with the true climbers sitting on a the front driving a pace that in the past would have left me waving good bye. But with my new climbing prowess I dug in…then it happened. SNOW, yes that’s right as the elevation climbed patches of snow began to encroach on the already narrowing road. Soon a light dusting lay trackless in front of us. All of sudden we were on my home turf, playing my game, finally an epic last day of training camp I could win.

As the snow deepened our riding turned to short burst of crud busting surfing until at last all traction and forward progress was halted. Always the optimist I was sure things would clear up just around the next corner. Plowing forward with my bike slung over my shoulder hunting out the most efficient way up the mountain in mid-shin deep snow, clad in lycra and a smile from ear to ear, at last I was on a solo break, set to take my first mountain top victory.  As the march up Kitchen Creek continued the distance grew as I felt my competitors/teammates succumb to my superior preparation. Approximately, 3.5 miles later I topped out on the climb with plenty of time to zip up my jersey throw my bike over the 5 foot tall snow bank and celebrate my victory to the amazement of a half dozen crazy cycling fans …or maybe they were shocked teenagers on a sledding outing.

As the rest of the team came trickling it was apparent the day’s ride indeed was epic but alas it was an epic day that played to my strengths, strengths that have been crafted and tuned on the winter roads of Montana.

 I must admit hindsight is 20/20 and while everyone survived the Kitchen Creek ride, it certainly will not be billed as the best example of good team decision making. Namely, that crazy Montanan, blinded by the thought of his first mountain top victory, should have stopped and encouraged the group to retreat. I suppose that would have been the sane thing to do, but alas being a Montanan predisposes me to a bit of insanity.

While training for the 2010 cycling season started in early December my 1st formal outing with the National team for the year began yesterday with a bang in Alpine, CA. Typically our training camps at this point in the season include new potential riders to the program, and thus the pace can be tempered with their inclusion, that is not that case this time around. Instead all the riders here are National team riders and being the first time we have seen each other it would seem we all have a particular interest in how the off season has treated the others.

Now a sane person would suggest that we simply ask the individual how off-season and subsequent preseason training is going, but it is the competitor in us all that would prefer to find out in a series of challenges we like to call throwing down or drilling it or…. in short each person takes their swing at going as hard and fast as they can in hopes of dropping the others. What this all amounts to is little in regards to answers and/or conclusion on one off season..no no it generally just leads to an all inclusive trip to the pain room rendering each and every one of us thoroughly burnt toast.  Two days down just shy of 120 miles logged,  many of them at all out race pace, and four more out in front of us I imagine burnt toast will be putting it lightly. 

All of rides start with a 25 to 30 minute decent from Alpine, CA at 35mph  and end with an hour or so climb at 8 mph. Yesterday was a bit cold particularly on the downhills which there were plenty of because there was plenty of uphill climbs. Today, was a perfect Southern California day and what lacked for in number of climbs we made up for in length, grade and intensity.

As it sits right now I must say I feel pretty good about my climbing. While I enjoy climbing I have never been considers a good nor particularly strong climber. In the past, I have not been able to really consider getting over the top of the big climbs with the front group but all that is changing. Yesterday, I hung with the front group on all but the steepest grades and even then I was only hanging a few seconds off the back. Today, the legs were a bit heavy and the climbs had a little more meat to them but again I managed to hang and even did some time on the sharp point of the stick. So, it can be said that I am pleased at the improvements and performance this early in the season. Now with that said I still can not say I am climber nor that there is not tons of room for improvement. But I do know the road I am on is the right track, a track that rewards hard work and digging deep.

I am excited for what the next few days hold. I have a good feeling about this year…the journey continues.