Island-Hopping

On Sunday we completed our annual Recycled Cycles Racing training camp on Whidbey Island. This camp is always challenging because the topography there is nothing but hills … plus a few guys are always quite fit in February and ready to make everyone hurt.

I remember riding there back in 2006 (or maybe ‘05) when Tom Peterson was still riding for Recycled Cycles. We did this 110-mile route on Saturday with RT following us in the shop truck. Any time we stopped for a flat or a food/nature break, Tom would just keep riding. Sunday’s ride was a war of attrition.  The group was whittled down to just five guys – Peterson, Matt Frost, Phil Huber, Andrew Howell and me. Howell and I got dropped and RT motor-paced us back to the leaders a few times … eventually we both ended up *in* the truck watching the other three ride. Tom broke away and then took a wrong turn. We chased him down in the truck and then followed him back to the other two guys. Just watching him climb that day you figured he was on his way to bigger and better things. He was probably 18 or 19 years old at the time!

This year’s camp was a bit more mellow, by comparison, but there is no easy riding to be had on that island. Tim “Angry” Ellis, Adam “Turtle” Jablonski. Brian “Rookie” Wachlarz and Mike “Ol’ Dirty” Brown pushed the pace … I was up there a bit, too, of course. I logged about 200 miles over the course of the weekend with a good deal of intensity.  The intervals on Friday were especially painful. It was nice to get away from the regular routine and just ride/eat/sleep for three days. I had no cell phone reception at the house so I didn’t even check email for two days!  There is a lesson in there somewhere.

Saturday’s elevation profile. 92 miles.

Bellingham Training Camp

Last weekend I participated in Recycled Cycles / Raleigh's annual Bellingham training camp.  The weather was significantly better than last year, when snow cut Saturday's ride short.  But the icy conditions this year did cause a bit of carnage. 

Thanks to RT for hosting us and for driving the van and to Tyler Blake for organizing & cooking some great breakfasts and dinners.

Saturday's ride was relatively uneventful.  We did 94 miles with a lot of rolling hills and a lot of flat ground ... much flatter than Whidbey, at least!  It was great to have RT (and eventually Bianchi) in the team van to hand up water bottles and assist riders who flatted or had other mechanical issues.  We only pushed the pace for two short stretches and basically rode as if we knew we were riding 100 miles the next day.

On Sunday "Hot Carl" Hulit and Adam "Turtle" Jablonski went down on an slick stretch of road and Turtle dislocated his shoulder.  After the rest of the group got rolling again, we got split up near a small town called Everson after Rookie, Smoothie, Tyler Blake and I rolled off the front and chose a different route than the rest of the team.  I felt strong on Day Two and was able to pull the train most of the way back to Bellingham.  Tyler Blake and I took turns pulling the last few miles on the Mt Baker Highway and we held 26-28mph the whole way.  The work that Matt has me doing on the trainer has really helped my efficiency, stability and durability on the bike.  Woot!

A few of us had taken the day off work on Monday to squeeze in a third ride, but the roads were still slick at 10am and we decided that discretion was the better part of valor.  So we packed up and drove back to Seattle and I did my Monday ride solo.

Matt Bianchi did a write-up of Day One on the Recycled Cycles / Raleigh team blog.  He will probably add more pictures and commentary from Day Two. 

Sally from Raleigh wrote an entertaining post about Sunday's ride on the Raleigh site.

How to Race Like a Chucklehead

I had a lot of fun at Team Group Health's Independence Valley Road Race this weekend and also showed why riders like me don't win bike races.  Here are some tips that can make you into a strong perma-four, just like me:

1. Train a lot. Be one of the stronger riders in the field so that you're able to hang out near the front of the group where other riders will notice all of your stupid tactics.
2. Don't contest the bunch sprint.  Ever.  They are dangerous and a crash could take time away from your training.  Besides, who wants to win anyways?  Winning is for losers.
3. Launch a plethora of hopeless attacks over the last five miles.  Make sure that even if you're somehow near the front at the 1k to go sign and have forgotten Rule #2 that you won't have the legs make anything happen.
4. Taunt others.  If somebody is boxing you in on a climb, call them a fat fattie who needs to get a granny gear to carry his fatness over the hill.  If somebody doesn't pull through with riders off the front in the final run-up, question their manhood.  Call them a coward.  Ask if their mom races bikes... or their little sister.  It probably won't affect the outcome of the race but at least you'll make some friends.
5. Corner like a scared little girl.  This one didn't get me at Indy Valley (probably b/c I actually practiced cornering this week -- oops) but it is a good one to keep in your hip pocket, especially with crit season just around the corner.

If you have your own favorite tips for losing races and having a good time while doing so, feel free to leave them in the comments below.

Old Man Winter

The highlight of my last week of training was the Recycled Cycles Racing Team's training camp in Bellingham.  We planned to get in a long ride on Saturday and another long ride on Sunday but the weather didn't cooperate.

Saturday was one of my coldest days ever on a bike.  We started in a cold rain with 35-degree temperatures.  About 10 miles in it started snowing and soon we saw half an inch of accumulation on the roads.  We celebrated this turn of events by riding on a dirt road that was littered with potholes…  About 20 miles in, I still couldn't feel my hands and so I tried to get fresh gloves out of our team van.  I couldn't even put the new ones on.  I wasn't riding hard enough to get a good training effect and that I was getting a bit loopy from the cold so I decided to do the smart thing and get in the van for awhile.  I didn't make it back out onto the road.  About half the team (the tough guys) rode their bikes back to RTs while the wimps thawed out in the van.  Check out some fabulous pictures of the experience on the Recycled Cycles Racing blog.

Sunday was much better -- 33 degrees but dry and partly sunny.  The wind was ferocious at times - we got lots of practice riding in echelons.  I rode conservatively for the first 40 miles and then started taking extra pulls in the second half of the ride.  After riding along the Canadian border - literally a few feet from the Great White North - everyone was happy to turn south and ride the tailwind back to the 'Ham.  Mike Brown and I had some nice attacks and counters between miles 60 and 70, and I felt great almost the whole way.  All the spirited riding finally caught up to me around mile 75 but Rookie and I cruised back into town at a moderate pace and all was well.

Summary for the week:

• 5 swim sessions - 20500 yards
• 2 bike rides - 100 miles
• 4 runs including two track workouts - 31 miles
• 2 strength sessions