FURIOUS GEORGE

Transistion #3 - Business End

The "Steeplechase of Cycling" they call it.  I was a steeplechase runner in high school and college, and the name fits.  The races are short, but brutal.  Even at the back and slower than the business end of the race, it hurts.   I call it cross lung post race.  Things come up from the depths of my lungs.

The last two races were pretty lackluster.  I see my friend's in good form.  I am not.  I have a million excuses, but they don't make me fit or faster.  I have learned to race smarter, but the race has changed a bit for me.  At this point since 2005, I have logged more races on a single speed in CX than on a geared bike.  I forget what it is like to race gears. 

Some images of the last few years.  The good , the bad and the ugly.  I still love cross.

 

I have made some great friends and have a great team I am on.  Like minded cyclist that balance being competitive and having fun.  Real lifestyle cyclist.  I am honored to suit up and race with these guys.  We had 9 guys in the Single Speed race Sunday.  In search of that Nana Cup.  Our own team competition for the that coveted single speed CX crown.

Future racer?  Max dropping ledges at Edison Elementry.

Transition #2 - Death Ride for Cross Base Training - It's On Sunday Sept 4th - 6:30 AM

 

Sector 1 - Peak 1 - North Table Mountain
Rooney Trail Head to Golden up 93 to North Table.  Up North Table to via NTL, Mesa Top to Rim Rock (Peak#1),
descend to east side via Mesa Top to North Table Loop to Mesa Spur.  To road to Easly, beofore Easly take Irrigation
Fire Road to Tony Grampas.  Through Tony Grampas to 44th Ave.  44Th Ave to McIntyre to 32nd Ave.

Aid #1 - 44th and McIntyre Gas Station

Sector 2 - Peak 2 - South Table Mountain
32nd East to Country Club, up Col de Winger to Foothills Rd trail acces to South Table Mtn.  Up North trails Acient Palms Trial to Basalt Cap. 
Head west to a "secrect" trail loop that will dump us to the Castle Rock (Peak#2).  Decend trails (TBD) to South Golden Rd.  Secret cut through to Rooney Rd.
back to the RR TH. 

Aid #2 - Route 40 Gas Station at Rooney Rd.

Sector 3 - Peak 3 - Green Mountain
Take Rooney Valley Trail up to the Green Mtn Trail to Radio Tower (Peak 3).  Decend to W. Alameda (TBD).  Head to Morrison Road to access Bear Creek Park.

Sector 4 - Peak 4 - Bear Creek Park
Depending on entrace on the North Side, ride the cross country course (or the Carbon Cross Course) to Mt. Carbon (Peak 4) and decend to complete loop. 
So many options to ride in the park.  We will decide on the fly.  About 10 miles of trail.  Exit Park at Northwest entrance via bike path, take bike path
back to the Rooney Rd. Trail Head.

Aid #4 - Conoco Gas at Morrison Rd and Bike Path.

Ride Rules-
Anyone welcome.
We will ride as a group and meet at any junctions if there are any gaps.
We will obey trail and road rules. It's Important to keep these trails open to bikes!
Route can be subject to change if group would like to change route.
Any bikes welcome. Cross or Mtn will work.  Gears or SS.
Pushing or Shouldering bike on climbs allowed (it's a Cross Ride!)
Plan on 4 hours of riding.
Plan to have fun and get in shape for Cross!

 

Transition #1 - Base, Singletrack and Chariots.

It's July and almost 100 degrees. I am watching the tour and inspired by the efforts on the big climbs. Base training has started to become more "formalized" and I am back in PT/Core Training to get my back back in race shape. 

 

Who thinks about Cyclocross in July? Lots of us. The many that have focused in the fall to be the season to turn yourself in side out. Cliche, the "Pain Cave". I love running in the heat. My running buddy, my one cattle dog, Sadie likes to run with me. She knows no race called Cyclocross. Just piss, poop and fermenting cherries on our route in Highlands.

 

I love racing in the nastiest weather. I have an thing for adverse conditions. It started long ago. Last season was "dry". I never got dirty. This fall could be wet. Wet is good. Muddy is good. Dry courses that are dirt crits are bad. I don't say this to be so Jens, but my best results have been in really shitty weather. 

 

Bikes are in pieces waiting for new parts and reconfigurations. I think about gear ratios. I continue to ride up hill and suffer to get in shape and loose the beer weight.

 

I am now in the Cat 3 group, but will continue to race single speed. The season is much longer this year. September until January. 

 

Can you endure until January?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rocks Make Me Smile

Since January, I have been battling a hip that is a issue every season. This year it hit right after cyclocross season. A block in January put me in the gutter. I am clawing my way back. At least I am not off the bike. Riding the mountain bike is better right now than the road bike. Higher cadence and position I guess.

 

I painfully ride lots of lunch time 14 mile rides squeezed in. I am finding the silver lining on riding the back roads of Adams Country. Thornton is no known for being "bike friendly". I do have a bike path that is great. Out and back 14 miles of no cars and a mix of bird watching and a low flowing South Platte.

 

Things are slowly getting there. My long rides have been on the dirt. We have been lucky this late winter to have clearing trails. I did one of my favorite trails yesterday. Up Chimney Gulch - Down Apex - Up Apex - Down Chimney. My favorite ride close to home. 15 miles of fun single track and lots of good climbing. Riding out and up Apex I burned some matches. Lack of sleep, high IPA consumption, and first real off road climbing in 2 weeks caught up. Descending Chimney was dessert. I saw Darren from the old shop climbing up, I always run into Darren. All the players are coming out to play as the trails shape up.

 

A few weeks to the Mead-Roubiax. 

 

Rocks make me smile...

Super Cool New Trails?!?

Check this out - Maybe some new trails in Coal Creek. Connect up White Ranch to Walker could be cooler than disc brakes....

 

http://coalcreekcanyonprd.org/trails.html

Stations of the Cross

The weather has turned toward spring, and the mountain roads are getting a bit more manageable.  Everyone is headed into the western hills to find their winter climbing legs. 

It's tough transitioning from CX racing and  2 months of short climbs and roller rides to head into the mountains.  A week of life getting in the way left me beat up and I was not exactly ready for an extended climb.  The trails are still socked in, but temps in the 60s and clear roads made for a good day to head up to higher ground.

Not a well traveled climbed, but it has been on my rotation for some time, either as a supplement headed to higher ground or back from my old friends "Grapevine".  Often it is a nice 35 miles out and back.

Just a few miles up highway 40 is the Mother of Cabrini shrine.  The climb is short in Colorado terms.  Only about a mile or so.  It has a few steep graded sections and it is treeless, odd for a climb at elevation of just about 7200 ft.

It feels very European or "euro".   Steep right off the bat from 40 and then is a gradual zig zag switch back to the top.  Along the way are signs of religion.  The blessed mother, crosses, a stream of Catholics in cars head up to visit.  No bumper stickers that say "climbing for Jesus"

Today was a typical spring day, "in February".  Sunny, warm and windy as hell.  I make it to the base of the road and I am out of the saddle.  I make the transition and start spinning on the less steep sections.  The wind is a bear.  In form, the climb is like knocking of a rosary for penance in grade school, knocking out a steady tempo of Hail Mary's and Our Fathers.  The beads run fast through the hand like a steady cadence.

Today it is more the Stations of theCross for me, February form, wind, and virgin climbing legs of winter, I am hurting.  I make it to the not so pearly white gates of the entrance,  they are more like chain-link grey.  I pass the old stone structures.  I do my loop around the visitor center and gift shop.  Take a long pull off the bottle and zipper up for the descent.  On the saddle from the center to the entrance, a majestic view of the plains and the city of Denver appears.  I feel high up, I sit about 2000 ft above my house, sixteen miles away.  I fail to take a picture, but I have it saved in my mental file.  It's wonderful.

I descend in the wind back to 40.  Without breaking and pedaling, the decent is a fun bomb that hits speeds in the mid 30s to 40 mile per hour.  I make it to the gas station that is my staple stop on the way home from Gennesee, Kitridge or other mountain towns off of 40.  A 95 cent can Coke is always on the menu.  I get back on the bike and more descending back to the city.

I love being a Denver urbanite.  I can leave my house through the old neighborhoods of North Denver and spin for 10 miles before the "mountain" climbs begin.  I can see the city from high above and return home in less than 2 hours.   Best of both worlds.

If  you find yourself needing to mix it up, go see the Mother, you will not be disappointed.

 Ride Log - Feb 19th

 

Rehab, not the Linsey Lohan kind

If anyone has ever had a sports injury, you know how much it sucks to go from good fitness to injury and the long road getting back. January I got the pain again in the left hip.

 

Being a masters racer, this becomes more common. In my youth running, all the way into college, this was a "once in a while" occurrence and was well managed back to racing. 

 

One step forward, four steps back. I am still shooting for April to race. The Mead Roubiax is going to be one hell of a race. Recon ride on Monday when it was 19 degrees and fog was not a pleasure, but fun to be out. It got hot by the end of the ride at 32 and sunny.

 

The course is one big roller with sketch dirt. The last 5 miles of the circuit you hit County Road 7, which has the most steady climbing. A longer road climb and then a set of dirt climbs that are hard due to the loose gravel, soft sand and washboard hell at the start of each up. I cracked my saddle in half that day in the last dirt climbing sections. I termed these 2 last climbs the "Twin Hitlers". Just when you thought you were on your way home from the loop, the last 5 miles of the circuit are going to kick you in the nuts.

 

DBC has made this course fit the term "Hell of the North". 

 

New saddle and gator skin 25c tires are going on the road bike this week.

 

Early Spring

Not even close yet, but it is 60 degrees and I am sitting at the edge of Sloans Lake, snow covered, panoramic view of Green Mtn, the foothills, and my summer tick list climb, Mt. Evans. The sun is hot today. Little Man naps in his BOB. People ride past in shorts. It will be nice later today in knickers. A few months until the roads will be clear and trails ready in the high country.

 



I must be patient, slow now, fast later. Little deposits opposed to unloading the entire clip in one ride. Two hour rides at touring pace can be a pleasure if you let them be.

It's alright to have February fitness in February.

Making a List and Checking it too many times

I hate to actually put a race schedule on paper because it always gets off course, so to speak.  You get sometimes derailed by injury, sickness, lack of motivation, having a kid, work stress, etc, etc. 

But half the fun is setting goals and race plans is half the fun.  If I can hit just some of them, it’s a good spring/summer.  I was disappointed last year when a giant gash in my front tire put me from sitting 2^nd place in the Battle the Bear in the SS class to DNF.    To add insult to injury, I got hit by a downhill rider that sidelined me from racing in June and July.  I still rode all summer, but I didn’t race until CX in September.

I really would like to do some racing this year and I have to be realistic with time to train and travel.  So here is the list.  This is what really sparks my interest and sort of fits the formula.  RME Series is offering a “half marathon” race which really changes things this morning in my mental planning for the summer, because it’s doable and just what I am looking for.

There is no way in hell I will all of these, but if I get to race once a month, that is a big win.

Mead-Roubaix Road Race                  April 8th

RME Voodoo Fire Half Marathon           April 23rd

Koppenberg Road Race Circuit            May 1st

Battle the Bear SS class Circuit Race   May 8th

Mike Horgan Hill Climb                  May 22nd 

RME Ridgeline Rampage Half Marathon     June 12th  

Winter Park Super Loop                  June 25th 

WildFlower Rush (XC maybe FT40)         June 26th

Winter Park Valley Point to Point       July 9th

Winter Park King of the Rockies         August 7th

RME PV Cycle Derby Half Marathon        September 4th

Peace - Furious George

 
Circa 1992 - RT320 Coverbridge Trails, Downingtown, PA

 

Yeah cross is over, time to plot out...

I am overwhelmed with the amount of schedules now being released for the 2011 mountain bike races to road race season.  So many to choose from , but so little free time to train and race.  My formula for choosing a race has been driven by family life.

Less than 45 min drive + ease of access to event + no shuttle needed + fun course + single track and/or dirt road race  = on the hot list

Mead Roubaix is on the top of the list this year.  As the Boulder Roubaix always is a fun day in the saddle of barreling into gravel road descents in corners with an inch of gravel, I am sure the Mead course will not disappoint this year.  The course has about the same amount of dirt to road transitions and less places to hide from the wind.  I plan to recon soon once Minnesota leaves the front range of Colorado.

Crossniacs took a podium spot for the Single Speed Colorado Cross Team Cup coming in 2nd.  Not too shabby for a bunch of hooligans going up against the Gates Carbon Drive powerhouse team.  I had some luck and scored some points for the team in 2 races.  

 
Xilinx Redemption Race #2 - finally a top ten in SS Class - Blue Sky Velo CX

More plotting to do...until then it's the cross bike  and rollers until the snow melts a bit.