Back to the Blog

Racing season must have started again because I'm back to updating the blog. Tons has happened over the winter, there are a bunch of posts I started writing and then just let die. Perhaps I'll resurrect them over the next week, perhaps not. They're kind of old news now anyway.

This past weekend was the King of Burlingame MTB TT. It was also the first race of my season last year and I like the tradition. My only wish is that the held it again at the end of the season - it would be fun to track progress (or lack thereof) over a season. I suppose I could go down there myself and just do it.

This year proved to be a little warmer than last although there was a brutal wind blowing across the lake - hard enough that there were some good whitecaps. Fortunately, for most of the race in the woods, the wind wasn't a factor - another check in the "Pros" column for mtb'ing over road riding. ;-) It had rained a bit over the past week so the course was fairly wet and muddy in spots. I didn't get a chance to pre-ride it except for the first 1/2 mile or so but pretty much knew what to expect from last year.

The first two miles or so is the most technical section: a few muddy rock gardens, a couple of stream crossings and more logs to ride over than last year. Most were rideable but a couple were tall enough to be a challenge to climb over. One of the guys at the start heard Kristen and I discussing one of the larger trees that were down and said there was a build up on the far left of the trail so it was indeed rideable. And he was right - although it scared the crap out of me when I did it. :)

The start seemed to take forever. Experts went off first, then all the sport men, then my group. We kept doing a few laps up and down the road to keep warm as we waited about an hour for our turn to come. The starter had what I thought to be an Irish accent and a great sense of humor that managed to keep us entertained as well. The first 100 yards is a fast, flat, sprint on hard pack dirt with a downed tree to get over (in view of all those waiting to start). My fear is always that I'll sprint really hard and biff it on the tree. Most of the men were able to just fly over, bunny hopping the log. I contemplated trying it but chickened out, slowed, lifted the front wheel and rode over. At least I didn't biff it. :)

I rode the technical bits in the first two miles way better than last year - in fact, I rode almost all of it unlike last year where I did get off to walk in a few places. I think that played a big factor in my time savings over last year. I was more prepared when I came to the terraced section and didn't come in too fast - no fear of falling off the back of the bike this year. Once I got to the fire road/bridge section, I still had enough energy to put it in the big ring and really crank, unlike last year where I had nothing left. How much I eat, what and when was a real problem for me last year as evidenced by all the bonking. I'm trying to pay more attention to that and one of the lectures at the LUNA summit really helped. I have to admit, though, that I don't think a bottle of champagne, a loaf of bread and some brie was what the nutritionist had in mind. But we had a bit of a celebration the night before since S found out she was admitted to the best MPH program in the country at Hopkins. Who cares if I'm racing! Give me another glass of that bubbly!

I still need to work on my head, though. How was it possible I forgot it was a time trial? I kept thinking I just didn't want the women behind me to pass me (I started first) but totally forgot it wasn't a typical XC race. I definitely could have cut at least another 30 sec had I been thinking that and pushed a little harder. Doh!

Anyway, turned in a time that was approximately 5 min faster than last year (10% improvement) which was good enough for 2nd place and a sweet pair of Smith sunglasses. A nice way to kick off the season.

More Work Stuff

I've been doing lots of video research lately at work - this is why I love my job sometimes. Getting paid to figure out where video is going, how the internet and broadcast will converge over the next couple of years is pretty damn cool. Anyway, came across this video search engine and some of their embed code. So here's a quick search of all the videos of MTB crashes on the web. I wonder if some of my own YouTube videos are up there. ;-)

Will Row For Beer (or Tequila)

It's January and that means I always have the freedom to really mix up my workouts. I've vowed to stay off the rollers or a spin bike until February. Riding my bike is fine, as long as it's outside. If I have to do an inside workout, it's going to be something different.

Back in December, the dreaded email showed up in my inbox announcing the Concept2 Virtual Team Challenge. It's a month long virtual team race on the erg (a.k.a. The Punisher) - basically how many meters can your team (minimum of two) row in 31 days. I debated about reminding S about it because I KNEW what would happen. While I am somewhat competitive, she's off the charts. And I think that due to her recent injuries, she hasn't had opportunities to relieve some of that competitive spirit.

And secondly, I'm not a rower. In college, not only was I too small (or I guess would have made a good coxwain) but I also lack the drive to push myself super hard (a wuss, I guess.). I remember watching my college roommate (and rower) do sprint intervals up College Hill. Someone had spray painted a few words of encouragement along the way up the hill topped with "Puke Here." at the finish. This is also why I'm a lousy bike racer. When it hurts a lot, I tend to fold. It is also why I like mountain biking. I'm so busy studying the trail I'm not feeling the pain. It's a good distraction. Sitting in a boat, pulling on a oar and staring at the back of someone's head would just be the death of me. My team would be pitching me out of the boat faster than you could say "Power 10!"

And so now I find myself on a virtual rowing team without even the water and shore view for a diversion. Just me in the basement with some music, staring at the walls or sometimes I'll turn on the TV. First, S and I were just a team of two and based on average meters were doing quite well (top 10 of two person teams and top 15 overall). Then we got an email from a guy in New Zealand saying he liked the name of our team (the title of this post) and wanted to join. So we had to decide...Do we be nice and let him play? Would he row enough meters? Could we keep our top 15 position? Heck, I was just doing this for fun and to have a goal for January, how did I get coerced into rowing at least 12,000m a day? Stop the madness! So now Kiwi makes three...we let our new, similarly alcohol motivated friend on the team. Currently, we're 13th out of 201 teams in average meters so we're still kicking butt.

And speaking about butts, you'd think my back, arms, or legs would be burning from all this rowing. But noooo.....it's my butt. I can ride a bike all day and have a happy ass but an hour on the erg results results in exquisite pain. PFFC suggested bubble wrap. Tried it this morning and am much happier! Although having some of the bubbles pop while rowing was a bit disconcerting. :)