update

is this thing on?

Fort Ord Road Race

Did some racing. Got in some good training.

Did not crash.
Did not quit.
Did not finish last.

What's up?

Started the cyclocross training plan a few week ago. The ankle is about 90% now 8 months later after my crash.

I've done a few races with my team and plan to do a few more before the cross season starts in September.

The main goal this year is to finish the season healthy.

Back in the saddle again!

After three months off the bike and four months of rehab and PT on the ankle I feel strong enough to start putting pressure back on the pedals. It's just long slow base miles now. I'm hoping to be able to ramp up the intensity next month after I put 500 miles or so on the legs.

Bugger!

I went down in a slow speed crash training for an upcoming cyclocross race the other day.



The doc says it's a grade 2+ ankle sprain. The recovery time should be 5 to 8 weeks. The good news is nothing looks to be broken, The bad news is this ended my cyclocross season. I am really bummed out because I was having a great season and had a good shot at winning the Central Coast Cyclocross series in my category.

As I sat on the ground after my crash looking at my ankle twisted to the side I knew my season was over. I thought why after all the training and suffering did this have to happen to me and why now? I guess this is part of racing having to deal with injury and disappointment. I know several people that have had worse injuries this year and have come back to have a successful cycling season.

This year has been a year of exploration and learning different types of racing. The year of Road, Criterium, Track, Mountain, and Cyclocross racing has been a fun journey. I would not have been able to get this far without the support of my wife Suzanne and the local cycling community.

See you on the road in 09.

Surf City Cyclocross

Evel and me ready to race the costume race.

Now on to the real racing.

This was one of the shorter races at 30 minutes. I attended a race clinic the day before so my plan was to use the tips I learned in the race and not worry about results.

2008 October 26 Surf City CX C Soquel Lap 1 of 4 from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

The start was the usual fast all out. I knew I wanted to be near the front going into the first turn so I drove to the front and was able to go into the turn third. The next goal was to stay near the front going into the first choke point and a short uphill. Approaching the choke point I was still in third and all was going well until the 1st nad 2nd place riders went down in front of me half way up the short hill. Nothing to do now but get off and RUN. The rest of the 1st lap went well with out any more incidents around me. Starting the 2nd of four laps I was around 5th place.



During lap 2 I took the advice from the clinic the day before and used certain parts of the course to "rest". This worked well and I was able to start the last lap with still some go juice left. Going into one of the sharp off camber turns I washed out and went down in one of those slow speed crashes. By the time I got back up and on the bike over 10 people has passed me. It's always the small mistakes that make the difference. I was able to pass one person on the last lap and finished 12th. It was a good fun race.

CCCX #3

Race: Central Coast Cyclocross Series #3
Where: Laguna Seca
Weather: Sunny, Cool, temp 52
I'm glad I don't do this for a living. This is what went through my mind when I finished the third CCCX race of the season at Laguna Seca.

Dang that course was HARD! Cyclocross is difficult but you throw in a 150 foot climb every lap and, well that's just plain cruel.

My goal this race was to place in the top 5. I got a call up so I was able to start at the front for the start. I was able to maintain 2nd spot going into the long climb and into the second lap. The second time up the long climb two people passed me. I tried to stay with them but near the top I almost blew up so I throttled it back a bit. The rest of the course was a bunch of off camber turns on loose gravely hardpack. Staying upright was a major challenge.


off camber sillyness.

The start of lap three I found myself in 5th place. Starting the climb a rider passed me. I tried to stay on his wheel but the legs just did not want to respond. The remainder of lap three was spent trying to recover from the climb while at the same time trying very hard not to go down in any of the tricky turns.


only three barrier sections were on this course.

Now on the bell lap I looked around to see where the other riders were behind me. The next rider was about 30 seconds back and the rider in front was about a minute ahead. I knew I could not make up a full minute on the rider in front so I just tried to stay in front of the rider behind me.



The last time up the climb I gave it everything just to keep the wheels turning. At the top I still had a 30 second lead from the rider behind so I played it safe on the way down the twisty section. Once on the downhill straight I kept the fingers off the breaks and let it fly. I came into the finish 6th.