House Location

Here's a map of the area where we are building. The mountain bike trails of Rockburn Park and Patapsco Avalon are right next door. All of that green area is park land. Our road branches off of Ilchester Road.





Here's a sat photo of the area. It's zoomed in a bit more than the map. Rockburn Park is in the lower and lower-right portions of the screen. The trail is out the backyard and across the creek. E-Z trail access.







map and sat photo courtesy of Google Maps

Tuesday Ronde

The first Tuesday Ronde was a lot of fun.
The idea is to have a fast, spirited training ride through the hills of the Patapsco River Valley and Ellicott City.

We kept the group together as we discovered the route and determined the sprint/kom points. As the ride gets more established and everyone knows the roads we won't wait to regroup when splits happen.

There are a lot of hills...some steep and some gradual, but there are really no flat sections. It looks like the course will be ~ 44km (27+ miles). With the difficulty of the hills that should be a good distance for about a 1.5hr training ride.

Werk

working

This message was sent using PIX-FLIX Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/getitnow/getpix.

To learn how you can record videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/getitnow/getflix.

To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime 6.5 or higher is required. Visit www.apple.com/quicktime/download to download the free player or upgrade your existing QuickTime Player. Note: During the download process when asked to choose an installation type (Minimum, Recommended or Custom), select Minimum for faster download.

Tyson's Circuit Race

Tysons 2005
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

Here's a good shot of the corner leading into the downhill.

Tyson's photos courtesy of teammate Mike O'Hara. www.phattire.net

LSV/Kelly Team at Tyson's

zkellyteam
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

It was a chilly and very windy Sunday at the Tyson's Corner Circuit Race.

I went down to C-ville to do the Jeff Cup

I went down to C-ville to do the Jeff Cup;
My goal was to ride well and not to throw up.

The changing forecast was cause for distress,
First sunny and warm, then a cold rainy mess.

My warm up was brutal,
The first effort felt futile.

A week full of rest
Does not lead to the best.

At staging we dithered;
Tried to drink while we shivered.

When finally we got going
The adrenaline was flowing.

The thrill of the race
And the fast early pace,

Got the blood moving
And the legs felt like grooving!

First time up the hill
Was a pretty big thrill.

My legs felt good,
Better than I'd hoped they would.

Down the rain slick descent
I must have hit a road dent.

'Cause my full bottle of Extran
Ejected and ran!

Oh me, Oh my...
I'm going to run dry.

With only half a bottle
I can't go full throttle.

Through the feed zone we speeded
I begged and I pleaded.

But no one could think
To give me a drink.

I decided to ration
And just race on passion.

The miles ticked by
And the pace remained high.

Some guys had fragile nerves
When anyone would swerve.

On the penultimate lap
The power suddenly sapped;

Sending me from the front to the back
Like a sad, sorry sack.  8-(

I dug in my heels
And chased after the wheels.

Catching back on
Before the pack was gone!

I struggled up the hill
On sheer force of will.

Over the top I stared at the gap;
Heart wanted to ride; Legs wanted to nap

I flew down the hill at incredible speed
Hoping the pack had pulled over and peed!

But try as I might
My legs said good night.

Another Jeff Cup off the back
I'm clearly a hack.

But it could have been worse
I didn't have to see the nurse!

I'll show em who's boss
When it's time to race cross.

Baby shower self-portrait

Baby shower self portrait
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

Self-portraits are one of the quirky things that we do. Even if there's someone around to snap the photo we always like to get a couple of shots doing the extendo-arm thing.

This one was taken as we were in the middle of opening gifts. We are now loaded up with cool baby gear...thus the happy faces.

We've run out of space in our condo so we're building a house just south of town in Ellicott City. By the end of this year or early 2006 we'll have a lot more space for our 10 bikes and mountains of baby accessories.

Did I mention that we'll be about to hit the mountain bike trails right out of our backyard?
That was a key consideration in searching for a new home...priorities.

Oh, and the schools are great. 8-)

Baby Shower

Cake
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

Our friends and family hosted an amazing baby shower yesterday. It was more of a party really with a lot of great friends and family there to celebrate. We had a fantastic time and were blown away by all of the great baby gifts we received. I thought that cycling was a gear-heavy endeavor, but having a baby tops everything for gear and supplies!

p.s. The cake was incredible and well worth a bit of extra trainer time!

Full suspension road ride

Chris, Bob, & I tried to do a mtb ride yesterday thinking that if we rode early enough the ground would still be frozen.
We were on our bikes rolling into the trails at 7:00am, but it was immediately clear that it had not gotten cold enough to freeze anything overnight.

The entrance trail was very sloppy. This was a big bummer, but since we were already out on our bikes we turned off onto the road and put in 2.5 hours of road riding on our mountain bikes. My new Fuel EX9 has the pop-lock control on the bar that allows you to lock out all of the suspension on the fly. This will be great for races like the Shenandoah 100 that have a fair amount of road and hard-packed sections. Fully locked out the bike did very well on the road, moving efficiently up the climbs and handling some tight hairpin descents confidently.

We did a nice tour of the Ellicott City hills, Oella, New Cut, College, & Beechwood. We rode the hills at a solid pace for a good tempo workout. That area is great for training rides.

When we returned to the cars our bikes were clean & we felt good about sparing the trails more misery. They'll need a good stretch of warm, dry weather to dry up. Thankfully, we didn't see any other riders heading in.

Cycling.tv

Check it out...

www.cycling.tv has LIVE coverage of a bunch of the big euro races this season.

I'm sitting on my couch, drinking a cup of coffee, and watching Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne LIVE on my laptop.

Too cool.

Word.

Jury Duty

I have jury duty today.

Amazingly the courthouse does have wi-fi so I'm able to enter this blog entry from the jury room.

I'm in the "Quiet Room" but that's not stopping some people from chatting.

There's too much excitement...I just don't know what to write. 8-)

The Nursery

IMG_1237
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

The nursery is just about done.

Coffee Shops & Cafe's

Props to Gwadzilla for inspiring this post with his entry this morning.
(click on the link in the title to go to his post)

A coffee shop where the community can hang out and enjoy a good brew is a beautiful thing.

In Paris and other European cities the cafe is a social hub where people gather for fellowship and reflection. Chilling at a cafe in Europe is one of my favorite things in life.

We have an amazing shop in our neighborhood complete with comfortable couches, shelves full of books, and board games galor. Plus, the food & brew are tasty. You'll see people spend hours there reading the paper, working on laptops, playing scrabble, chatting, and enjoying each others company.

I dig Starbucks too. Yeah, they seem to be ubiquitous, but they provide a needed service and they do it well.

Now, when it comes to my favorite cup of coffee Peet's is far and away the best. I'm enjoying a big 'ol cup right now with my oatmeal as I fuel up for a 5 hour ride up around Prettyboy Reservoir.

It's gonna be a good day. 8-)

Surviving intervals on the trainer

Post Trainer
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

Last night I did the first LT intervals of the year.

The trainer kind of sucks for doing intervals. I'd much rather be riding outside...go figure. However, a good race video really helps the brain get through the mental suffering.

I dialed into a stage from the '04 Giro that climbed over the Passo del Mortirolo and some skinny, goat path roads over the Passo del Vivione.

Simoni attacks his teammate Cunego in a long distance break with Garzelli, but Cunego plays it cool and holds onto the jersey.

The best part of the video is the SICK descending scenes that the insane motorcycle-cam drivers get zipping down these skinny roads, slick with snow run-off.

Riders were overcooking turns and taking incredible risks to get to the bottom. Popovych, Cunego, and Mazzoleni put on an incredible display of descending. Several riders crashed trying to keep up with them and the camera was right there giving the viewer a first person perspective of the action.

I let out a yelp more than once as riders flirted with disaster. That's some good stuff.

Belly 28.5 weeks

Belly 28.5 weeks
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

This is the Belly at 28.5 weeks.

Snow Ride!

Each year we get 1 or 2 snow mountain bike rides. Usually the snow is pretty deep and tough to ride. Thus, we end up doing as much running as we do riding.

Well, this year the conditions were just about perfect. Earlier in the week we got about 3 inches of snow followed by very cold temps. Enough riders got out toward the end of the week to pack down a nice path along the trails. The kicker is that the forecast for this morning called for a big snow storm to begin around 10am.

This allowed us to ride a traction-rich layer of snow in the middle of a snow storm. That doesn't happen very often & it sure is fun!

We started out just before 9am under cloudy skies and 19 degrees fahrenheit...chilly. The crew was Me, Bernie, Sean, Morgan, and Dan. We ran into Brian out on the trail and he hooked onto our group for most of the ride.

The snow had good traction, but was just slippery enough to make it interesting. The main challenge was the cold. Derailleurs and rims were freezing very quickly. The ideal bike for such a ride would be a singlespeed with disc brakes.
I had the singlespeed, but my rim brakes were useless after creek crossings.



After a high speed crash into a tree when my brakes decided to stop working I decided to walk the rest of the creeks and keep my rims dry, and ice free! That did the trick and the rest of the ride was a lot less stressful with working brakes. 8-)

Heading up the cascade falls trail I stopped to take a photo of the mostly frozen waterfall.



We covered a lot of ground over the course of 4 hours and everyone had multiple snow & ice related crashes, except for Sean, who managed to keep Yellow Bike upright the entire ride! Bernie was the tough guy of the day, riding his 'cross bike over tough terrain in extreme conditions. Don't pick a fight with that guy! Morgan's bike was an ice-magnet & by the end his rear wheel was barely turning due to the ice build-up. Dan was the only one with disc brakes, but that didn't keep him from crashing...once trying to ride a newly fallen tree with a big drop on the back side & the others due to tires that had almost no lateral traction on the slippery stuff. After 3 pretty jarring crashes my saddle came loose, but we tightened it back up even though we didn't have the right size allen key. Yes, there was carnage & plenty of bruises, but I think we all came out ok.



For much of the ride the snow was coming down quite heavily. In the photo above, you can see the snow stripes on my fleece cap where the snow collected through my helmet vents.

On the drive home the roads were really bad. At the Russell St. exit off of 95 a tractor trailer had slid out and was blocking all but one lane. I had the 4 wheel drive engaged, but I still took my time. My bike was encased in ice and slush by the time I got home.



We ended up with about 6 inches of snow, so the trails are probably not all that ridable today. I'll avoid more bruises and ride the trainer today.

The South

We're in Atlanta all weekend visiting family.
It's a nice break to come down here and just relax.
That means no riding, but we did get out and hike up Kennesaw Mountain yesterday.

This was the site of an historic Civil War Battle as Sherman made his way to Atlanta.
The hike is about 40 minutes up a somewhat steep trail.
I was visualizing riding the climb on my mountain bike. That would be a good workout.
The descent would be pretty sweet too.

The view from the summit was spectacular as it was a clear day.
To the North were the north Georgia mountains.
To the South was the skyline of downtown Atlanta.
To the West was Stone Mountain rising from the ground.

It was chilling to think about the fighting that took place on the slopes of the mountain.
Some of the trenches were still visible and a number of cannons were still in place near the top.
A lot of blood was shed.



Speaking of the Civil War....
One thing that is immediately noticable is the absolute duplicitous absurdity of some Southern attitudes.
You get amazing hospitality and friendly folks on the one hand.
You also hear a lot about religion, Church, and being a good Christian.
Then, in the next breath, you hear negative comments about Martin Luther King Day.

While there is a lot of racial diversity down here you really don't see a lot of interaction on a personal level.
I think that people live in such a cultural cocoon that they are ~afraid~ of anything different.
Their defense is to attack and disrespect those different from themselves.
This applies not only to race, but to any difference in culture.
The intolerance of anything different is astounding.
Get out and travel....open your eyes...experience life!
You can't learn if you arrogantly assume that everyone else is beneath you.
Practice what you preach.
Is humility extinct?

I rode my bike today

I rode my bike today

I rode my singlespeed to the Whole Foods to buy groceries

I bought a piece of monkfish

They call it poor man's lobster

I don't know who the heck "they" are but it was pretty tasty

I also bought some fruit and some olives and some cheese w/walnuts in it and some walnuts

I still had the toe spikes in from 'cross season

I made a funky tapping sound with every step in the store

I listened to The Streets "A Grand Don't Come For Free"

British Rap Concept Album...yeah, strange genre

I think the cashier was frustrated because I couldn't hear her

But it was a good song, the one about the clippers needing a shake

Or maybe it was the shoes

I tried to get massive air jumping off the curbs

At least I didn't crash

Those olives are good

I gave into my sweet tooth and ate 14 m&m's after dinner

How will I ever get to 7 Watts/kg eating like that???

I drove my car for 0 minutes today

I rode my bike for 19 minutes today

Please help as you can

Before you head out on your New Year's day bike ride please help the victims of the Indian Ocean earthquake/tsunami.

There are a lot of people in need. Many of those have lost just about everything.

I have friends in Thailand and they can hardly describe the magnitude of the disaster and the number of people in need.

Every contribution makes a difference.

You can go to www.amazon.com and make a quick and easy contribution to the Red Cross.

Thank you & Happy New Year.

Inner Harbor Sunrise

Here's a shot from my camera phone of the sun rising along the Inner Harbor as I walked to work this morning. I like my commute.

Eyewitness Report from the Tsunami

This is an email from some very good friends of mine that live and work in Thailand.
I was very happy to hear that they escaped unharmed.

> Br. Bass,
>
> Thanks for the e-mail and happy holidays! We're all
> safe. We (Me, Eleanor, Miles, Eleanor's brother, his
> wife, and her parents and brother) were all together
> on one of the islands that got hit. Everyone is fine
> and we are now back in Bangkok. We were on an island
> called Railay Beach which is about 40 miles from
> Phuket. Railay Beach is only accessible by boat and
> there are no cars/roads on the island. Phuket is the
> beach resort town that has been in the news that got
> hit hard. Eleanor was on one of the beaches when one
> of the big waves hit. Fortunately, we were staying on
> the east side of the island that was well protected
> and not hit. The west side got hammered. People were
> badly injured and some people were killed. We had no
> warning that a tsunami was coming because it is such a
> freak occurrence. As soon as the waves hit, we were
> told to get to higher ground. We were on a hilltop
> from 11:30 A.M. to 9:30 with about 1,000 other people.
> It had the feel of a refugee camp, but the spirit was
> great. People were helping one another out, sharing
> food and water. It was a nice thing to see. The reason
> we stayed up there so long was because people were
> afraid of after shocks and more tidal waves. Every
> half hour we were told that the "Big One" was coming!
> I felt like Fred Sanford waiting for the "Big One."
> Fortunately, the big one never came. At 10:00 El,
> Miles, and I went back to our place. I must admit, I
> slept with one eye open the entire night on the
> lookout for water. Fortunately, none came.
>
> We had a 2:30 flight back to Bangkok today. The hotel
> arranged a boat for us to get back to the mainland
> where the airport was. When we got to the airport and
> we started talking to people, it became even more
> apparent how blessed and fortunate we were. Eleanor
> spoke with a woman who only had the clothes she was
> wearing. Everything else she had was gone and her
> hotel was destroyed. I spoke with a gentleman who was
> staying on an island close to us and he said all of
> the hotels on his island were destroyed. He spent the
> night helping the hotel staff. The only thing we had
> to contend with was being displaced, hungry
> (everything was closed), and we were without power
> most of the day. Other than that we were ok. It's
> great being back in Bangkok. When we went to bed last
> night the death toll was 11,000 now it's up to 23,000
> unbelievable. Miles has been a real trooper! He has
> been wonderful throughout this entire ordeal. He' s
> slept, he's played, hasn't been fussy. We are so
> blessed. Thanks for thinking of us.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Ryan

Christmas 2004

Christmas 2004
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

We had a nice time at Jon & Sally's new house last night! The house, lot, and neighborhood are all fantastic. It makes us yearn for the day when we are out of the city. We're still enjoying city living, but space is becoming an issue with a baby on the way.

In the morning Mom made her breakfast casserole which is always a nice treat. After eating we exchanged gifts and went out to a movie (that other Christmas tradition). We saw "Meet The Fockers" and it was hilarious!

Friday was Melanie's birthday and after she had a relaxing facial (Thanks Mom and Sally!) we went to The English Garden for fancy tea. That's the first time I've been to a tea party and it was really nice. It's amazing how many of those little sandwiches and cookies you can go through while putting away pot after pot of tea!
Yum.

All in all we had a very nice Christmas...and even made it home early enough on Sunday to get in a mountain bike ride!

Gotta Ride

I can't stand it. After almost 2 weeks off the bike taking it easy I'm craving a ride.

It'll be a slow and very mellow trail ride on the 'cross bike this morning so this is NOT training.

This is fun.

This is a mental break from the craziness of the holidays.

Then I'll do my Christmas shopping.

Once I'm done I'll celebrate with cold beer on the couch!

Living!

Capital Classic Cross Photos

Fitness Concepts Capital Cross Classic UCI
Sunday, December 5, 2004
Lake Fairfax Park, Reston, VA
B race


Pre-Race

Before the race all was good. The weather was a balmy 60 degrees and sunny. The course was generally very fast with a lot of surface transitions, quite a bit of climbing, and some tricky technical spots. I arrived plenty early to ride some slow laps getting to know the course.



When the race started it was all business and I was focused riding hard and staying with the front group as long as possible. I started fast and stayed on the tail of the leading group for a couple of laps before I had to back off just a bit to avoid blowing up. The pace was very fast and I had pushed my limit at the start. This strategy paid off because by the time I went out the back of the group there was a big gap back to the next riders on the course.




Everyone found the ~secret~ line on the right side of the gravel. There were few spots on the course to get any recovery, but as you can see we were looking for any draft at all. The faster paved sections were good for group riding, but the group I was in was splintering as the attacks came from riders looking to get clear and into the top 10. Each time up the road someone would jump and force the rest of us to try to latch on. This took it's toll...



I'm gasping for breath as John Hostetter catches me after the hurdle hill. At this point I'm in survival mode. I held John's wheel for a lap, but was gapped as he was riding the technical stuff flawlessly and powering away on the grinding sections. The gap was around 15 seconds the last two laps, but I kept riding hard to hold off the rider behind me, who seemed to be getting closer.




Luckily I had a lot of family and friends cheering me on, including SUPERFAN and little brother Scott ringing his monster cowbell every time I came by! I was tired and suffering but the cheers kept me pushing myself, especially on the last lap as I caught back up to John on the final climb.





Just after the finish my heart is still pounding, but I'm pretty excited to have caught up to John on the last lap and taken him in a very close sprint. I ended up 16th, my best finish yet in a MAC race. In fact, our whole crew rode great all season long, getting better every race. Most importantly, we had a lot of fun practicing and racing.



Here's to a fun day and a fantastic 'cross season. I'm happy to have some time to relax and get away from training. I'm glad that everyone came out to check out the race.

MABRA 'Cross Championships Photos

Me and John slogging through the mud.



Preparing to remount after the hurdle run-up.



Approaching the steep drop-in.

Midpack Mayhem in Highland Park

Highland Park Cyclocross
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Highland Park, NJ
B Race, ~70 starters


Over the hurdles

The Course

~150 meter flat road section, hard left onto soft grass, short/steep muddy run-up, right back down on soft grass to a relatively high speed double hurdle. ankle deep mud past the pits and onto a wet sand baseball infield, back onto more deep muddy grass. paved walking path, 180 degree right onto combo of slick dirt singletrack and soft grass. soft grass winding back by the pits, more soft grass onto a short stretch of road to more soft grass to a chicane at the base of another short/steep muddy run-up on the same hill. steep muddy rutted drop back onto soft grass winding around to the road for the finishing straight. i was off the bike 5 times per lap.


The Race


It's a double race weekend...
so I'm drinking lots saturday evening to stay hydrated
Sleeping on an air mattress on the floor makes standing up for the late night pee's
agonizing after those steps at beacon! Yikes, the quad demons are haunting me!

Wake up, take stock of body and mind...
Mind strong & motivated to race. Legs shaky and look like they've been at it with a
cheese grater, but they're still there!
The stomach is another story.
I'm questioning eating TWO french dinners, especially gallette # 8.
The vittles were good, but sacre bleu dem belly is bubbly!

Time to check bike and gear.
There's no mud, just sand everywhere.
A quick 'n e-z clean and we're ready to roll.

Warming up I see the course morphing before my eyes.
First time around everything is ridable, even the hills.
This doesn't last for long as the combination of wet turf and bike tires turns things
pear shaped in a hurry.
The deterioration is quick as the course goes from nondescript to epic within an hour.

I head to the road to continue the warm-up as more laps on the course will only drain the
already shaky legs.

It's almost time to start and I score a spot mid-bunch and anticipate the brutality that
will soon follow. All of a sudden we get the 15 second warning and we're off!
I spy a gap immediately and zip up onto the wheels of the leaders.
Seconds later i'm spinning out my 39x12 as we approach the left turn.

Knowing the first hill will be FUBAR i give it full gas on the lead-up to the slop.
Things get surreal now as the guy on my left goes over the bars on the uphill! wtf!
That was sweet! A massive traffic jam ensues, but i find a clear lane up the inside.

I'm back on and closing in on the leading group.
Over the barriers and ready to close it down.
But wait, I'm not going anywhere in this muck!
Stubbornly I continue to grind past the pits and into more muck, going nowhere fast.
Awwww muck! the leading group of 15 or so is just ahead but i feel like i'm sinking!
Note to self: run this mess from now on, and I do.

Onto the paved path and i'm at the front of the second group, just seconds behind the
tempting draft of the front runners.
This is the part of the course where i need to get a quick recovery but it's not
happening this lap. As we make the turn around the tree I'm starting to go from
redlined to meltdown mode...not good.

I back it off just a touch and immediately I'm passed by two or three groups. I try to
latch on, but I've started too fast and need to settle in.

Dusty comes by and I ramp it up again to get his wheel. Riding with someone you know
makes the pain more bearable. We get into a good rhythm and start to pick off riders.
We're flowing now, measuring our hard efforts and taking what the course gives us.


Dusty and I on the run-up


And on the soft grass

Now we've caught a good group and make continued progress, but the group is a little big.
FJ drills it along the river every lap and it's back to survival mode.

Our group has splintered and I'm gapped as we come by the pit. In a last ditch effort to
maintain contact I take the left line after the pit and all of a sudden I'm back at the
front of the group. Yeah!


The group

The adrenaline boost from that bit of luck gives me the juice I need for the last lap.
Over the barriers I really focus on taking long strides and breathing as I lope through
the ankle deep mud and goose dung. I have about 5 pounds of it on my bike, not to
mention in my eyes, ears, and mouth...mmmmm organic foie gras.

It's the last lap and I'm hanging on as our group keeps the heat on and eyes each other.
Down the trail and onto the soft grass we push, chests heaving and legs mashing the
pedals without elegance. The left line does the trick again and I move up to second
wheel as we hit the short stretch of road.

Back onto the grass and I move to front, but slide and almost go down in the process.
I try to keep the pace high as I consider my options. Undergeared with a 39T single
chainring I'm thinking that I don't have the winning hand in a sprint.


Last lap as I'm moving to the front of the group

That leaves a late attack. The chicane leading into the final run-up seems like a good
place to get a gap as it squeezes everyone into a single file line. I gear up and give
it a last burst into the dismount and get the bike shouldered cleanly.

The legs are screaming, but the toe spikes gain traction and I'm really moving up the
muddy slope. Back on the bike and I'm back in my pedals immediately (love the Candy
SL's!). I'm committed now so I start pedalling and drop down the hill fishtailing, but
making it through the ruts cleanly.

I'm really hurting now, but I know I have a small gap so I keep giving it full stick.
A quick look back and I see the others are driving it, but the gap should be enough.

I make the transition back to the road without going down and now I'm giving it one more
effort up the road to hold the gap to the line. As I approach the finish Richard Fries
is making a wisecrack at my expense, but it's all good. I love ya Richard!

Crossing the line I'm exhausted and elated at once. I finish 24th, so why am I so happy?
Yeah, I scored my first MAC series points in the B's (woohoo!), but it's really just the
joy of racing and competing.

In 'cross, no matter where you are in the pack you're still racing, trying to catch the
rider in front or hold off someone behind. All race long you're locked into these
intense micro-battles. The combination of this level of competition and the wonderful
community that comes together for the season makes 'cross the best thing on two wheels.

Thanks to everyone that makes it happen and extra respect to my fellow mid-pack dwellers
who race with such passion and intensity week after week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Chris

Beacon 'Cross

Beacon Cyclocross
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Bridgton, NJ
B race, ~65 racers


The Sand Pit

The Course

The start was up a nice slightly uphill road stretch of about 300 meters before a sweeping right onto the hardpacked sand trail system, wide enough for passing but pretty crowded on the first lap. The trails were fast and twisty with loose sandy turns that were fun to slide through at high speed.

The high speed trails dumped you down a fast hill leading onto a lakefront beach. This was about a 100 meter running section of deep sand ending with a tall step to exit the beach.


Me and Sean exiting the beach run.


This is how the pro's do it.

This brought you by the double-sided pit before bending right and heading onto another section of fast and fun trails. At the end of a particularly fast stretch a 180 degree left fed into a 180 degree right and a set of double hurdles. Once back on the bike you hit a steep off-camber drop onto a short section of road running parallel to the finishing straight.

This was downhill and led you back onto the turf for a quick run down to a hard left turn into a sand pit. When entered at speed this was ridable, however most of your momentum was taken by the end making it faster to run for some.


First lap traffic in the sand pit. I'm about to dismount.

Exiting the sand pit brought you past the pit before a left turn into a short, steep dirt climb. At the top you did a 180 and dropped back down into a hard left into the "Amphitheatre of Pain". This was a series of 8 'steps' each roughly 16 inches high. This was painful for everyone and doubly so for those with short legs.


Sean and I on the stairs.

After the remount and a short trail section you dropped down a steep dirt embankment immediately into a paved right hand turn back onto the finishing straight of road.

The Race

I got a spot about 4 row back and worked hard to move up on the road section. I made pretty good progress, but ran into trouble as we approached the right turn. The line of guys I was following got cut off and had to slow dramatically. After watching riders pass me on both sides I found a hole jumped to the right. This got me moving again for about 5 seconds before we hit another logjam at the first tight left turn. By this point the front group was gone.

Once through the turn I got out of the saddle and hammered in an effort to improve my position. I saw Sean and Dusty up ahead and set my sights on making up to them.
By the time we hit the beach the first time I could see them just up ahead. I gave it all I had on the run and made it up to them as we exited the sand. This was a big boost psychologically.

We ended up with a big group barrelling through the sandy trails picking off riders one by one. Dusty, Sean, and I were all staying near the front trying to keep the pace high to whittle down the group. John was also in the group, but further back, and eventually got gapped by another rider messing up one of the sandy turns.

After a while we looked back to see that the group had disintegrated. It was just me, Sean, and another guy. Dusty had been the victim of another blown turn by another rider. Sean and I kept the pace high and worked really well together to share the work. We kept it together very well until Sean dropped his bike at the start of the stairs. I was leading and didn't realize that he had bobbled until we hit the road.

I eased up to get the other guy on the front and left him to pull up the road section to start the final lap. I was hoping that Sean would catch back on, but at the least I was getting a little recovery. Unfortunately the guy got a gap when we hit the trail and I didn't respond. I had him in sight the rest of the way, but finished 6 seconds back in 26th place. Sean rolled in for 27th.

This was my best finish yet in a MAC B race, though 1 spot out of the series points that go 25 deep. The race was very fast from start to finish and a whole lot of fun. After our race we watched the Elite Men's and Women's races. These were part of the Crank Brothers US Grand Prix of Cyclocross and they attracted the top riders from across the country. Read about those races at www.usgpcyclocross.com

At the end of the day we drove to Sean's cousin Phil's house in Northern NJ and ate two dinners before falling asleep!

Baby Outfits

Yesterday we ordered a crib, glider, and footrest. It was actually pretty cool.
We also picked up some baby clothes...

Another cool day

It's a boy! 

We had our 17 week sonogram today and learned that our baby is a boy! He was really moving around in there. What a cool experience.

Making the most of days

Yesterday we had the day off for Veteran's Day so we honored our Veteran's by enjoying our freedom in the outdoors. The weather was wonderful with sunshine and temps in the 50's.

Mel, Bob, and I met up at Loch Raven for a nice, relaxing Fall mountain bike ride. The trails are very tame up there, relatively smooth and flat. This is a perfect spot for a mellow ride. Mel did the first two hours with us as we cruised some gorgeous single track along the water, before winding our way out to Providence Rd. and looping back to link up with another nice stretch of narrow twistyness.

After Mel headed home for a nap Bob and I explored the other side of Providence, getting a good workout on the fire roads before dropping down a stairstep descent that dumped us out below the dam. From there we climbed back up to the T-intersection via the road. We decided to explore a lollypop loop that was marked on the map, however this ended up being pretty dull as the trail was not only superhighway wide, but completely covered in leaves. Nevertheless we got more miles into the legs and enjoyed the outdoors, which was the goal in the first place.

After this excursion into the trail equivalent of Soviet apartment blocks we needed a hit of something stylish and interesting. That meant another run through the singletrack of the Sam's Grave loop. Perfect! This is the essense of mountain biking! We looped back out and decided to hit Sam's Grave again on the way out. Usually repeating sections of trail is a bit dull, however this was just as fun and exciting as the first run through. In a way it was even better as we could anticipate a lot of the tight turns, and thus carry more speed. I got a little carried away with this and clipped my handlebar while squeezing between two trees. This led to a quick spill into a soft bed of pine needles. Allgood.

In the end we were out for 4 hours, an excellent day of riding. Our legs and backs were ready for a break since we had been on the singlespeeds. This was a fantastic way to enjoy the day that honors the men and women that have served to ensure our freedom.

Today we awoke to a steady rain outdoors. Sometimes the weather works out just right to allow us to make the most of days.

Faces of Pain

Here are some photos from Saturday's race in Camp Hill, PA. As you can see, I was suffering...c'est cyclisme.

The Run-Up


Negotiating the steep off-camber switchback


Looking for traction on the off-camber


Grimacing at the top of the run-up


Digging on the run-up to hold off the group behind


"When will it end?" Another time up the run-up

Lower Allen Classic 2004

Troy Wells, Jeff Weinert, & Josh Snead rock the off-camber in pursuit of Jed Schneider and Todd Wells.

Saturday, November 6, 2004
Camp Hill, PA

The B race had over 70 racers and as usual it was chaos from the start.
I didn't have great legs, but I kept riding hard to the finish.
In the end I finished 32nd after huge amounts of suffering for 45 minutes.
The course suited me well with numerous tight turns and off-cambers, but I never had the power to do anything other than defend my position.

After the race I felt awful, tasting blood and fighting nausea. As usual, 30 minutes later I felt fine and had forgotten how hard the race had been.

Take a look at this photo from early in the B race!

Evolution Cross Start

I'm on the far right side of the photo about to make my way to the front.
From there I dropped my chain about a minute later. 8-(