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.
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.
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.
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.
What: Central Coast Cyclocross #2 Where: Fort Ord Weather: Cloudy 65 degrees Laps: 4 Time: 40 minutes Field: 26 Finished: 5th
All photos by Rick Rasmussen. Thanks Rick Relaxing before the start.
This is the second cross race of the season and my 4th in my short cyclocross career. I was excited about this race because for the first time I had a teammate Duane from Velo Club Monterey racing with me. Our race was the first race of the day which is good when you race at Fort Ord. By the end of the day the sand just gets deeper and deeper.
A few minutes later all 26 of us are off.
Since this was Duane's first cross race I gave him a few tips. 1. Pace yourself 2. Allow yourself two bike lengths from the rider in front of you. If he make a mistake or goes down you can pass him with little or no problems. (advise I did not follow on lap 1) 3. Give it all on the last lap. Don't leave anything on the course.
Duane on the climb (lap 1)
The start as with all cross races was fast. I was able to get into the top ten going into the first set of barriers. Since I crashed at about the same time into the race the week before I was still a little cautious. Once I remounted and started climbing I found myself in a group of 5 with a gap back to 6th place. I finished 6th last week so my only goal was to finish 6th or better. The 5 of us kept the gap on the backside of the course and across the flat pavement. Up and into the single track again we kept the tempo high enough to keep the gap from the other riders. Coming into the third set of barriers I was able to dismount and run across the barriers clean and remount the bike. However, After I clipped into the peddles and looked up the rider in front of me had gone down and I rolled into him and went down in a spectacular slow speed crash. All I wanted to do was not step on or fall on him. I was able to fall off to the side and after I pulled my bike off him and made sure he was ok we resumed racing. At this point the three riders we were with were now long gone and the 6th place rider was right behind us.
Lap 2 of 4. Trying to stretch out my lead from the 6th place rider.
Going into lap 2 with still a bit of adrenalin flowing from the crash the two of us 4th and (me) 5th tried to drop the 6th place rider on the climb. This worked until we hit the paved section on the back side where he was able to get back into striking distance of us. I was able to recover a bit and at this point I was thinking how my teammate Duane was doing. The 6th place rider was able to get on my wheel at the start of lap 3 now it was the three of us racing for a podium finish 5th.
Now on lap 3 of 4 it's a battle for 5th and a chance to medal.
On lap 3 since the top three rider were now well our of reach all I wanted to do was try to recover and watch the two riders in front of me and take advantage of any mistake they might make. As it turns out we were all playing it safe so nobody made any mistakes that would allow one of us to take advantage and get a gap. We traded place a few times then we started the last or bell lap.
Coming into the last barrier section on the last lap. I try to remember what my dad told me about running. Keep your knees high.
Remembering what I told Duane about not leaving anything out on course on the last lap I kicked the heart rate up to 91-93% of max or around 182 to 187 bpm. I knew from training the I could only hold this pace for 8 minutes or so and that each lap was around 10 minutes it was going to be close is I blew up or not. I figured I could recover a little on the downhill and draft on the paved sections so I thought it would be ok.
Now with less than half a lap to go the three of us were still racing for 4th, 5th, and 6th it was time to think about a move. On the last barrier section I came in a little fast but was able to get over the barriers cleanly and remount the bike and clip in on the first try (first time ever). I thought Shit! I'm in 4th place now all I have to do is not make a mistake and I'm on the podium. Coming into the last turn I went too wide and the 5th place rider passed me. I dug deep to keep his wheel and to keep the other rider from passing me. Now with less than 100 meters to go the sprint to the line was on. The two of us finish with the same time but he was able to get a half a wheel on me for 4th and I finished 5th.
First podium finish.
Here is a video my friend Stene Woo took on the first lap. I can be seen in the first 20 seconds of the video in the blue NOAA kit.
The road racing season has come to a close, Tuesday night track races are done for the year. So what's a person to do?
A. Take a few months off and wait for the road racing season to start. B. Work on that landscaping project you put off during the summer. C. Start racing Cyclocross.
If you chose C you are correct!
Last season I raced a couple cyclocross races here in Monterey and quickly became hooked. The local series Central Coast Cyclocross is well run and the people are great to be around. Perhaps the best part is that the races only 15 minutes from my front door. No more waking up at 4 AM and driving hours to a race.
The first race of the 2008/09 season started at Fort Ord today. The groups were a bit larger than last year. This is mostly due to the fact that most of the racers are just coming off the road racing season and still have good form. It could also be that cyclocross is becoming more popular. Could CX be the new MTB?
2008 CCCX #1, Sept 21, Fort Ord, C Lap 1 of 4 from Steven Woo on Vimeo. My Flickr friend Steven Woo captured this video of the first lap. I can be seen passing Steven at about the 5 minute mark . It's a good thing Steven was in front of me the first part of the lap because coming into the second set of barriers I ate it.
Le Ouch
The rest of the race went well with only a few mistakes. I passed several people during the 4 laps but it was difficult to tell what place I was in during the race due to the fact that other people were warming up on the course at the same time.
On the last lap two people passed me on the road section. This was ok because I thought I was in the middle of the pack. I kept pace with these two until the last climb up a sandy section. I passed one of the riders halfway up the hill and tried to keep the other in my sights. As he increased the tempo did not think I could keep up so I let him go.
Coming into the last set of barriers before the finish my rear wheel hit the first barrier and the bike bounced up above my head. I was able to hold it together over the second barrier and finished in 6th out of 26. I found out later that I was just one spot out of the prizes (A flat of Cal Giant Strawberries).
6th?! I thought I was mid pack. Oh well, Lesson learned. Race to win.
September 17th was the last "Tuesday Night Races" of the year at Hellyer. The previous races were two 24 lap "points races" with sprints every 6 laps. This time we were treated to two 48 lap races. Since I am not a pure sprinter the longer distance was better for me.
Friends came to watch and cheer.
I felt move comfortable on the track this time out so my goal was to get into the sprints and race for some points. The first points race I wanted to watch the other riders and pick up some tips and tricks on how to race a points race.
The tips must have worked. I finished 3rd on the first race and 2nd on the last race.
This was my last race of the 2008 road racing season.
The race was 24 laps (18 miles total) around Levi Plaza in San Francisco.
Only one little hill was on the circuit.
Then a slight downhill to recover. This part of the race was littered with wheel devouring potholes. I hear that one racer had his $1,500 wheels eaten by one of these holes.
The race was so fast that I did all I could just to hang onto the back.
This is what it looked like inside the pack from Steven Woo's cam
By about lap 18 of 24 I tried to move up but the pace was still too high to move up more than a few places.
I did manage to move up enough to see the front...
...but quickly faded to the back again.
When I though I was in difficulty all I had to do was look around and see what the other riders looked like. I felt better knowing that I was not the only one in a spot of bother.
Here I am showing my "no pain" face to a rider.
The sprint finish.
Looking back on the race and the racing season I am happy to have come out of it with experience that I can use for next season.
My racing season would not have been such a succsess without the love and support of my Wife/Soigneur/Photographer Suzanne. xoxo
Yes, is says %101 of max heart rate. I guess I have to increase my MHR to 199 bpm on my HRM.
Distance: 46 miles (2 laps) Category: 5 Field: 50 Placed: 6th Time: 2 hrs 7 min. Average Speed: 22.2 mph Average HR: 154 Terrain: rolling north, flat on the way back Weather: Sunny, 76 degrees, Light WNW Wind
I did this race with fellow teammates from Velo Club Monterey Duane, Ernie, and Josh. Our goal was to help a local Monterey racer Sean (VOS) finish near the front. Sean not only finished near the front he WON! But I am getting ahead of myself.
The course is 23 mile loop run clockwise with a small hill just after the start then rolling hills for 10 miles or so then a right turn near San Lucas across the Salinas River then a flat 10 miles back to San Ardo.
We rolled into San Ardo shortly before 8:00 AM. Our race started at 9:20 so we had plenty of time to get our race number, use the restroon, and get in a nice 20 min warm-up. The race started on time but I immediately lost 20 places as I missed clipping into my right pedal. My right pedal came back around and hit me in the chin (OUCH!) I think I used a different word. After leaving San Ardo the field crossed a narrow bridge across the Salinas River and began climbing for about 1.5 miles. We would come up this little climb two more times. The finish line is about 200 meters after the climb followed by a left turn.
The pace through the rollers was a little brisk as most had some nervous energy to burn off. The pace settled down after about 20 minutes. Around mile 8 Ernie flatted so his race was done. At the top of the course as we crossed a narrow bridge across the Salinas River a couple riders near me started grabbing breaks, swerving, and basically everything you dont want to do in a group of 50 riders on a narrow road with no way out. I took note of these riders and made it a point of not to ride behind them. The 10 miles back was flat and fast with an average speed of 25 mph.
When we reached San Ardo to start our second lap I began to make notes of where the best places were to move up since the road was so narrow it did not leave much room to pass. While crossing the narrow bridge out of San Ardo starting the last lap I knew I wanted to be near the front the next time across because it did not leave much room to pass before the final 1/2 mile to the finish. The next 10 miles over the rolling section was uneventfully with plenty of time to eat and drink. Once on the flat section a few accelerations happened as riders tried to get gaps to form. Each time the pack came back together. With around three miles to go I started to look for opportunities to move up into the top 20. The whole field was spread out over the entire lane with no room to move up. A rider in front of me started looking around for a place to move up as well so I decided to watch him and when he made his move I would move up with him. Less than a mile later he started moving up on the debris strewn shoulder. I could follow him and move up and risk getting a flat tire or stay where I was and try to move up later down the road. I decided to take the risk and move up with him. By the time we finished we had moved up a good 20 positions into the top 10. We were now only about a mile away from the town of San Ardo and the narrow bridge then the small hill to the finish. While rolling through San Ardo the group bunched up so I took the opportunity to drive to the front. As I neared the front I passed Sean (the one we wanted to finish near the front) While I did not want to tell him to grab my wheel I slowed down enough for him to see I was here. With the bridge in sight I shot to the front and got onto the bridge first with the whole field behind me. I knew I could not keep the pace up for long so I eased up just enough for two riders to pass me so I could get a draft to the base of the hill to the finish. Once on the hill I kept the pace high until I hit the left turn to the finish. At this point Sean passes me so now I'm racing for myself. I could feel a rider on my left coming up close, WAY TOO CLOSE. We brush shoulders ala Robbie Mcewen with a bit of adrenalin now flowing I put all I had into the pedals and pipped him on the line to finish 6th.
Only the first 6 finishers receive the coveted Velo Promo T-Shirt. I was very surprised to just squeak in with a 6th place finish. photos by Steven Woo
So last night was my first track race. I did two 30 lap Points Races. Points are awarded to the top placing riders in a series of sprints contested at various intervals during the race. The winner of a Points Race is not necessarily the first to cross the finish line, but rather the rider who has accumulated the most points during the race.
Around 10 people were in my race category (C) over half of them women. We (men) were told not to sprint for the points and to let the women race. This was fine by me considering this was my first race on the track.
The tempo was nice and fast. I was even able to help a few riders bridge back up to the pack after the sprints. One of these efforts took me 3 laps to get the riders back into the pack. I was able to recover just in time for the next sprint that had me hanging on to the back for dear life.
I also took this opportunity to see how the new NOAA kit looks while riding. A few areas will need to be tweaked before the "official" NOAA cycling kit is made available.
This race was 17 laps (.75 miles per lap) with many turns, dips at the corners and a small hill to the finish line. I was joined by two other Velo Club Monterey teammates and a few other Monterey area locals from different teams. The total number of racers (CAT 5)were around 40 or so.
My goals were as follows: 1. don't crash. 2. stay with the front group. 3. finish with little to nothing left.
I am happy to say that I was able to accomplish goals #1 and #3 so it was a good race.
As with any criterium the race started out fast. After a few laps the pace leveled out. The many turns on course made it difficult to keep the momentum through the turn (lots of breaking the first 8 laps) At 8 laps to go the pack started to break up and I found myself loosing contact with the front group. I was able to battle my way back to the front group on the next lap. Now all I wanted to do was recover and wait for the attacks to come. In order to stay in contact with the front group I made it a priority to stay out of the wind on the backstretch. With 6 laps to go the attacks started. I was able to hold on for half a lap but once a gap formed I was unable to bridge it. The last four laps were at around 95% MHR so if I did make a move it would not last long and by now the front group was over a block away. I kept the HR around 95% the last two laps and then sprinted for the line with all that I had left in the legs.
This past weekend I took part in the Memorial Day Criterium. This was my third Crit ever and it was a little sketchy.
Going into a turn with six other riders at 25 MPH that only had room for five. Really? is this how it's going to be? I was so not into racing like that for 40 minutes so I drifted to near the back and tried to stay with the pack. The pace was steady until the 35 minute mark when a rider went down in front and to the left of me. The only thing I could do was to keep my line and not make any sudden moves to take other riders around me out. The race immediately went neutral and stayed that way until the rider could be taken care of by the EMT's.
After a few neutral laps the race was on again. At this point only 10 minutes remained and the pace started picking up between 25 and 30 MPH. I was staying out of the action up front and was safely tucked in behind a few of the many bigger riders.
A month ago I signed up to race the Panoche Road Race. Had I known it was going to be HOT and windy I might have stayed away. However, This is bike racing so you have to race in all weather conditions.
So I teammate and I from Velo Club Monterey decided to give it a go. Since this was only the second road race for the both of us we only had a few goals. 1. Don't crash 2. Stay with the pack. 3. Have fun.
I was only able to do 1 of the three. The good thing is it was #1. The course was a 40 mile out and back with 2000 feet of climbing. The climbing didn't really start until mile 10 or so. I was able to stay with the pack on the first climb. When we hit the second climb the pack was getting strung out and the pace was picking up. I went hard for about 5 min but that was all I had. At that point I knew I still had about 1000 feet of climbing ahead so I decided to fall back to the second group. When I was unable to stay with this group I decided to just go at my own pace and finish the climb and try to catch a few riders on the way down.
As I continued to climb I saw the lead group of about 8 riders already on the way down. A few minutes later I saw my teammate pass me already going back down. My only goal at this point was to reach my teammate so we could work together through the headwind in the last 10 miles. At the turn around I was able to hook up with another rider and we worked together to catch up with the next group on the road. After about 20 minutes we were able to catch a group of two (including my teammate) At this point all we wanted to do was to finish and get some cold water, The temperature was around 85 degrees (too hot for a coastal bum like me)
The last 10 mile seemed to drag on as we fought through the heat and headwind. The four of us finished near the back. I'll have to wait to see who was the red lantern when the results come out later this week.
