Riding Buddy

I've been taking Marlow to work three times a week, but today was the first time we rode in by bike. We have a couple of bags for carrying him around, but I prefer our Sherpas backpack. There's a flap for his head to stick out and enjoy the ride. He doesn't squirm much or seem agitated, so I guess he enjoys it.

Skyline Park Mountain Bike Race

I've decided to do the Skyline Park Mountain Bike Race this coming weekend. I only found out about last week through a friend, right before doing the SoNoMas race. You may think I'm a bit nuts for doing another race so soon afterwards, but I think they're a lot of fun and a great way to train for Leadville. I learn more about myself with each race I do. Plus I decided to forego the Wilmington Whiteface Leadville qualifier in New York the following weekend. Too much traveling and not enough planning.

The course takes place on trails that have hosted UCI World Cup races in Napa. It's not quite as grueling as SoNoMas with three laps of eight miles. This time my wife will be able to see me in action as well as help me out with any nutritional/technical needs as well as moral support. Not sure what the elevation gain is, but I imagine it won't be too easy, but that's the edge I'm counting on. Now just waiting on my new tires to arrive so I can make the swap before the race.

SoNoMas Race Recap

I raced the SoNoMas this past Saturday, and finished 17th out of 59 in the expert class (cat. 1). Not too bad. I was off the top ten by six minutes and 15 minutes from 1st place. It was 34 miles of great single-track, with a total elevation gain of 7,000 feet, so it really felt like 50 miles by end of the race.

It was hot that day, so I opted for my CamelBak instead of bottles. Such a wise decision. I learned my lesson at the Sea Otter Classic. I was well hydrated throughout the day, but in the end I barely had enough energy to make it across the finish line. I also paced myself better this time than my last race, where I throttled the gas too hard early on and paid for it. I knew this was a race of attrition, and had to play it smart from the start.

This was also the first time my wife saw me race, and that was exciting to me. She took the picture above right before the start. The only bad part is the course was a long loop, which wasn't very spectator friendly. It was really great to see her at the end of it, though, along with our dog, Marlow.

My start was pretty good. There was a neutral rollout for three miles on the road, where I sat behind the wheel of pro racer Anthony Sinyard, son of Mike Sinyard, founder of Specialized bicycles. He was riding a crazy aqua blue and hot pink S-Works Stumpjumper. Beside me was a riding buddy of mine from San Francisco, also racing in the expert class. He's much faster than I am on the downhills so my goal was to pace him at those moments. That tactic didn't last very long as the climb kept going and going. It went on for about eight miles before it peaked-out.

Within the first few miles of that climb I crashed really hard going down a very steep and rutted descent, followed by an even steeper hike-a-bike section. I was carrying too much speed and thought I could ride it out if I picked the right line. Cutting across from the left to right I found myself flying into a series of ruts. Before I knew it my handlebar had spun to the right, and I was flying over into a rock bed.

I banged up me knee pretty badly and put a nice gouge on my top tube. Luckily it didn't crack the frame, but it had messed up my shifter. The worst part is having to slowly get going again as people are passing me while trying to hike the run-up soon after. It took me a couple of minutes for the pain to subside before I could get back into a rhythm. Just a few cuts here and there, but relatively unscathed. At these moments, like the one I had at the Sea Otter Classic, I always think about calling it quits, but somehow I just shake it off and keep going.

I think part of my crash is due to the poor tire choice. I ran the super fast and ultralight Specialized Renegade tires, but they didn't do a great job of gripping, quite honestly, anything on trail. Lean into any corner and I'd have to catch myself from flying off the bike again. Much of the course felt like I was riding on ball bearings. The first crash really had me spooked so I ended up riding rather conservatively on all of the downhills, conceding my position to a lot of competitors, but catching them on the climbs. I'm switching back to the Fast Trak tire, front and rear. They roll just as fast with a slight weight penalty, but have so much more grip. I ordered a 2.2" for the front, so we'll see how they hook up for my next ride.

The latter half of the race was pretty epic. It was a true mountain biker's course in that it really called for technical skills in addition to having great fitness. There were a lot of ups and downs, literally and figuratively; steep run-ins through creeks followed by a super steep incline, slippery switchbacks overlooking the beautiful lake below, but don't take your eye of the trail or you'll find yourself flying off a cliff. Quite stressful. The trail snaked around Lake Sonoma over some very diverse conditions, from dry and dusty to shady and forested single-track. Definitely one of the most fun courses I've raced on. The only problem was that racers from the short course eventually got rerouted onto the long course towards the end of the race, making it more difficult to pass and carry momentum.

Considering my crash and the place I finished in I think it was quite successful. I could have shaved off another five minutes or more if I had attacked the downhills with more confidence, but that's hard given that I haven't ridden the course before, especially one that didn't offer many passing opportunities. Levi Leipheimer holds the course record under three hours and some change. I finished 30 minutes over his time, and I feel pretty good about that, considering I'm just an enthusiast and not a pro. Overall it was great to race a course that felt like the good old days of mountain biking, everyone suffering together but having so much fun at the same time. The event had a very grass-roots feel to it. I'll definitely be out there for the next one. In the meantime, gotta recover for the next one, which is next weekend!

The Calm Before the Storm

We stayed up in Geyserville, CA the night before the SoNoMas race, and had some amazing pizza from Diavola. It was quite honestly the best pizza I've ever had. Perfect pre-race food. It was also the first time using the bike rack on our new car. The drive up was gorgeous, as the race venue is deep in wine country. Full race recap coming soon.

Back on the Trainer, Again

Today was my first day back on my CycleOps trainer. I haven't been using it in over a month. Rightly so since I just moved out to one of the best cycling cities in the country. There have been no shortages of good roads and trails to ride. However, there's nothing quite like the disciplined nature of doing intervals, watching your average wattage go up and down, keeping your heart rate zone in check, and seeing how long I can keep a high cadence. Yep, I'm fully wired to my bike. Most of the time it's painful and boring, but the amount of fitness I get in return is worth it to me, especially it being my first Leadville year. I'm also optimizing my week prior to my race this weekend in Sonoma, CA. I want to go in with the best fitness I've got as well as being well hydrated and well rested. My goal is to maintain a sense of balance between having fun out on the trails while seeing my fitness improve.

15 Hours of Driving

My wife and I drove up to Portland over the Memorial Day weekend to visit my family. It was a lot of fun, especially when all we did was eat a lot of really good food. We maybe had a full day in Portland before we had to drive back. We took highway 101 south all the into San Francisco. The last time I did that must have been 10 years ago. I forgot how beautiful the southern Oregon Coastline was.

We stopped along the way for fish and chips and scored a few pieces of driftwood to decorate our apartment. I drove for 15 straight hours, one of the longest stretches I've done in a long time. Our new car did us well.

How is any of this relative to the blog? Well, sometimes it's nice to take a break, from work, from training and even riding.

Sonomas

I pulled the trigger on signing up for the Sonomas epic in Sonoma, CA. The course profile looks pretty challenging with 7,000 ft of climbing over 34 miles of Northern California trail. I won't make the same mistake I made at Sea Otter by staying better hydrated before and especially during the race.

The exciting part is that my wife is going to see me race for the first time, well at least for the start and finish. I also have a few riding buddies entered into the race in the same category as me. Both of these things will take the nervous edge off.

Portland Road Trip

No riding for me this weekend. My wife and I drove out on Friday evening after work up to Portland to visit my family for the holiday weekend. It's our first real venture in our new car. We made it as far as Yreka, CA. Wish I had more time to ride. Watching the sunset over Northern California hills and mountains is enough for me. It'll be a nice mental break from work and training. Now I'll settle into my nice food coma.

The Great Highway

I was up way too late on Thursday evening, and had to bail on a new riding buddy. We planned on doing a Marin Headlands loop early in the morning, but I didn't wake up till 7:30am. Instead, pressed for time, I did a shorter loop out to the coastline and through the Presidio. Oddly, the Great Highway was closed off for a good section. Either it's a regular thing or maybe it was due to the high winds the night before, but there were many sand drifts along the road.

The great thing was that I had the entire highway all to myself. I fought a mild headwind on the way north before cutting inland. It's so crazy to have this stretch of coastline just minutes away from our place.

Road to Leadville

Here's an update with where I am in my training for the Leadville Trail 100.

Since moving to San Francisco I feel like I've fallen off the strict workout schedule set by my trainer at Carmichael Training Systems. It's hard to tell if my fitness is improving or declining. I've been under a lot more stress with the move and new job, even though I've managed to find time to put in some good miles and hours during the week.

One of the key ingredients to gaining fitness is to allow your body to recover after each effort. Lately I feel like I've been riding recreationally, which there's nothing wrong with that, but my focus is just somewhere else, mainly my job. I get up a lot earlier than I'm used to, and work pretty hard during the day, not to mention commuting to and from work. So by the end of the day I'm completely wiped out. I keep telling myself things will get back to normal, but that normal is so different now.

At the very least some buddies I ride with have ridden Leadville and have passed along some good advice. The Marin Headlands are a perfect place to train, despite being at sea level. I remember my first time riding up those hills thinking OMG. Now I don't even think about it. At least it's a sign I'm trained mentally in regards climbing.

Wallpaper

I really love the wallpapers provided by Rapha. They've started to rotate their images every season now. To get the rest you have to be a registered customer. I have a large on linked above. Hope they inspire you to ride as much as it does for me.

Top of the Morning Y'all

So I've been lagging quite a bit with my daily posts. I've been so busy with work the past week it's been hard finding the time to reflect. However, when I do have time I ride for the hills, even if it's 6:30am. The photo above is at the top of the Miwok trail in the Marin Headlands. It overlooks Sausalito to one side and the San Francisco Bay on the other. It's truly one of those moments in my day where I'm completely at peace and clear-headed.

Neighboring Mountain

One of the more distinct features of the San Francisco's skyline is the huge radio tower that sits up on Mt Sutro. Our apartment sits at the base of this hill, and on Sunday I decided to climb up it. What a hill! It's only blocks away from me and it goes up for nearly a 1,000 ft. in less than a mile, perfect for climbing repeats.

Fort Funston

So our dog, Marlow, gets walked every day by our new walker who takes him on these hikes at Fort Funston. She told us it's an amazing place for dogs because it's all off-leash. People also do hang gliding from the cliffs. I had to check this out, so on Sunday I did a recovery spin down the Great Highway along the coastline and before I knew it I was there. It's so close to us. I can see why it's such a popular destination.

Sunday was also the day of Bay to Breakers, a crazy foot race from one end of town to another. Drunken people either dressed up in costume or nothing at all partying pretty much all day. We checked it out early in the morning, but didn't spend too much time gawking.

Full Week of Commuting

Friday marks my first full week of commuting to work by bike in years, probably not since my days in Seattle back in 2002. My commute then was 20 miles each way, while today's only four miles. I only wish it was longer! I've been lucky to have great weather all week.

Mission Cycles

I joined another morning group ride on Thursday morning, but this time with the Mission Cycles crew.  We did a quick loop through the Headlands by climbing to the top of Hawk Hill via the backside. Didn't quite know what to expect from the group, but as soon as we hit the hill it was a full on sprint to the top. I managed to keep up with the lead riders, but eventually fell back a few spots. I think I went too hard just getting to the rendezvous point from my apartment, otherwise I'd have fresher legs. I'm definitely going to keep riding with them from week to week.