Pilarcitos #3 - McClaren Park OR "Yes, I finally found my legs!"
Pilarcitos #3
McClaren Park (Crocker Amazon)
11/05/06
Elite Men (It's like a tell people, just because I race in the elite cat. it doesn't mean I'm elite)
Place 17\30 (not including DNF)
Results
Finally, finally I actually felt like I was racing and not just surviving. In otherwords, I felt like I had game. I had a stratgey, I was collected, I was efficient on the bike and the technical style of the course suited my mountain biker abilties.
The last few race I've been slowly, but steadly building my fitness. As part of trying to improve my form on the bike, I recently went to Revolution in Fitness for a bike fit\cycling evaluation. For a couple years I've felt like I've not fit properly on any of my stable full of bikes. So to make matters worse, the improper bike fit had induced biomechnical issues in my body. Essentially, Curtis Cramblett confirmed what I felt, my left leg was functionally shorter. This was due to muscle knots both in my back and in my hip flexor. I couldn't help but laugh as the literal pain in my side was finally explained to me in technical detail and suggestion were made on how to fix it! Finally peace of mind!
In the end Curtis basically game me some stretching and strengthening exercise, along with adjust my bike and giving my some pointers on my pedal technique. One of the coolest tools was the pedal efficiency analysis. With the aid of a CompuTrainer and some software he was able to determine that my left leg, although outputting more power, was less efficient than my right let. While the left leg was very efficient and smooth thru the pedal stroke. But I digress...back to the race report.
So, I got in about a 30 minute warm up and then did one lap on the course. By that point it was time to line up. I didn't really get to do enough intensity in the warm-up, but figured I'd start a bit slower than usual and then ease into a harder pace.
I lined up pretty much at the back of the pack. The whistle is off and I slowly click in and accelerate. I quickly find myself moving up a few place on the pavement and then continue to pass a few people as we hit the grass area. As we approach the first set of barriers, I cut to the left to pass a guy and just as I pounce over the first barrier I see my team mate Phil hit the deck. Apparently he misjudged the height of the barrier. Head back up, bike on moving from hands to shoulder, I hit the run-up with some speed and manage to finagle a few more place as I push my bike in front of some more people.
At this point, I don't feel too bad, so I settle in and allow my legs to warm up. We hit the first descent and man is it frick'n bumpy. I stay off the brakes and hold on to my hoods for dear life. Any attempts at pedaling are greeted with the bumpy ground fighting back, so I decide to float over the bike until I hit the pavement. There I stand to accelerate and ride the short steep dirt section before the big log, I hop on my bike and steal a few more places. As the hill gets steeper and looser, it's just a frick'n cluster f*ck, so I get off my bike and run along side a couple people, while my team mate Jesse rides by me. I remount and hop onto his wheel determined not to let him drop me. Since it's mostly a descent back to the finsh I'm able to keep him in my sights. Then we hit the right hander on to a bumpy little singletrack that end up leading you back to the parking lot. Crap that was the hardest frick'n section. It's kinda like a false flat, where you think no big deal, but your pedaling and not really making forward progress to quickly. I grunt thru this section, enjoy the short descent to the parking lot and then hammer on the paved section.
I can already tell that yesterday's(saturday) ride has affected my top end as I'm not really able to sprint on the paved section as I'd like to. I hit the sweeping left turn and burst through the barriers. As I hop back on my bike I hear a horrible crack, crunch sound come from my seatpost area. Crap I bet I broke my saddle or seatpost or something. Turns out I just landed on the back of the saddle causing it to shift nose up...ouch, but not too uncomfortable. Next I try to manuever my way the the wicked tight s-turns leading into the start-finish area. I nearly layed down my bike a couple times.
Finally, I hit the pavement and again try to put in a hard sprint, as I've been doing in weeks past, but it's not there so I sit and apply power to the pedals. My spin feels great and I actually feel efficient on the bike for the first time in a really, really long time. I come past the Ritchey tent and I'm feeling pretty good. Since I'm feeling pretty good, I decide to pick up the pace and try to move up.
Well today is obviously a good day, because I'm not blowing up and I'm catching people not being caught. I even caught a couple of friends\rivals (Aaron and Jay)who've been beating me regulary by a few minutes. As I passed them I made sure to accelerate as I wanted to keep them behind me. I'm riding along and I can see my teamate Jesse, Ben Dodge and Nick ahead of me. Another set of friends\rivals that have been consistenly beating me. I feel good, so push harder. Soon I can see that Nick is getting closer and soon I actually catch him. I'm thinking holy crap now I know I'm having a good day. I move past Nick and accelerate once again, hoping to put enough distance between us so that the motivation to chase me is squashed ;-) (sorry buddy).
So now I'm thinking, you gotta be smart, don't blow up, be efficient, oh yea and breath, breath in, then out! As I make my way up the run up, I focus on breathing in and out and keeping my feet moving. The part of run-ups that usually kills me is the pause and whammm, you've lost all your momentum. As I head back up the bumpy hill to the even bumpier descent, I focus on pedal stoke and breathing and think to myself, god I haven't felt this good on the bike since I was doing well in the expert mtb ranks. I was pegged at a certain level of pain, but the fact that I kept my wits about me, helped me to maintain focus on breathing, pedaling and relaxing my shoulder. Wow, I'm actually frick'n racing, not just surviving. Subsequently, this is about as hard as I've pushed myself all season, but it is also the first time that I've had the fitness to push myself this hard. Suuuhhhweeet. Training is finally paying off ;-)
I continue to chase Jesse and Ben around the course all the while keeping them within line of sight, but never able to bridge up to them. The rest of the race was basically about holding my position and listening to people's cheers as slobber exits both my nose and mouth. Really the only other thing I remember is Meredith yelling at me as I hit the run-up. She shouts, "run god damnit run" and the crowd bursts into laugher. Even thru the pain I crack a little smile ;-) (thanks cutie!)
I approached the final paved section and put in one final sprint. I crossed the finished line completely spent...on the verge of vomitting and passing out. Even though I was like 5-6 minutes away from the podium it didn't matter. I finished the racing knowing that I gave it everything that I had and I couldn't help but pump my fists (ala any road racer winning a stage) in the air.
Thanks to Pilarcitos and Roaring Mouse for a brutally hard but fun course!
Pictures and heart rate analysis to follow!
Cheers!
--------------
As promised..HR plots galore ;-)
HR for the course...including a bit of time afterwards as I bumbled around trying to get my bike on the trainer to cool down ;-)
HR comparison between McClaren(ave/max-172/190)and Candlestick(ave/max-178/187):
I'm beginning to realize that an HR monitor alone is not enough to really gauge my progress. My HR was not all that different at the two races, but I felt a hell of a lot better at McClaren. I think it maybe be time to really geek out and invest in a PowerTap. Anybody got one for sale?
McClaren Park (Crocker Amazon)
11/05/06
Elite Men (It's like a tell people, just because I race in the elite cat. it doesn't mean I'm elite)
Place 17\30 (not including DNF)
Results
Finally, finally I actually felt like I was racing and not just surviving. In otherwords, I felt like I had game. I had a stratgey, I was collected, I was efficient on the bike and the technical style of the course suited my mountain biker abilties.
The last few race I've been slowly, but steadly building my fitness. As part of trying to improve my form on the bike, I recently went to Revolution in Fitness for a bike fit\cycling evaluation. For a couple years I've felt like I've not fit properly on any of my stable full of bikes. So to make matters worse, the improper bike fit had induced biomechnical issues in my body. Essentially, Curtis Cramblett confirmed what I felt, my left leg was functionally shorter. This was due to muscle knots both in my back and in my hip flexor. I couldn't help but laugh as the literal pain in my side was finally explained to me in technical detail and suggestion were made on how to fix it! Finally peace of mind!
In the end Curtis basically game me some stretching and strengthening exercise, along with adjust my bike and giving my some pointers on my pedal technique. One of the coolest tools was the pedal efficiency analysis. With the aid of a CompuTrainer and some software he was able to determine that my left leg, although outputting more power, was less efficient than my right let. While the left leg was very efficient and smooth thru the pedal stroke. But I digress...back to the race report.
So, I got in about a 30 minute warm up and then did one lap on the course. By that point it was time to line up. I didn't really get to do enough intensity in the warm-up, but figured I'd start a bit slower than usual and then ease into a harder pace.
I lined up pretty much at the back of the pack. The whistle is off and I slowly click in and accelerate. I quickly find myself moving up a few place on the pavement and then continue to pass a few people as we hit the grass area. As we approach the first set of barriers, I cut to the left to pass a guy and just as I pounce over the first barrier I see my team mate Phil hit the deck. Apparently he misjudged the height of the barrier. Head back up, bike on moving from hands to shoulder, I hit the run-up with some speed and manage to finagle a few more place as I push my bike in front of some more people.
At this point, I don't feel too bad, so I settle in and allow my legs to warm up. We hit the first descent and man is it frick'n bumpy. I stay off the brakes and hold on to my hoods for dear life. Any attempts at pedaling are greeted with the bumpy ground fighting back, so I decide to float over the bike until I hit the pavement. There I stand to accelerate and ride the short steep dirt section before the big log, I hop on my bike and steal a few more places. As the hill gets steeper and looser, it's just a frick'n cluster f*ck, so I get off my bike and run along side a couple people, while my team mate Jesse rides by me. I remount and hop onto his wheel determined not to let him drop me. Since it's mostly a descent back to the finsh I'm able to keep him in my sights. Then we hit the right hander on to a bumpy little singletrack that end up leading you back to the parking lot. Crap that was the hardest frick'n section. It's kinda like a false flat, where you think no big deal, but your pedaling and not really making forward progress to quickly. I grunt thru this section, enjoy the short descent to the parking lot and then hammer on the paved section.
I can already tell that yesterday's(saturday) ride has affected my top end as I'm not really able to sprint on the paved section as I'd like to. I hit the sweeping left turn and burst through the barriers. As I hop back on my bike I hear a horrible crack, crunch sound come from my seatpost area. Crap I bet I broke my saddle or seatpost or something. Turns out I just landed on the back of the saddle causing it to shift nose up...ouch, but not too uncomfortable. Next I try to manuever my way the the wicked tight s-turns leading into the start-finish area. I nearly layed down my bike a couple times.
Finally, I hit the pavement and again try to put in a hard sprint, as I've been doing in weeks past, but it's not there so I sit and apply power to the pedals. My spin feels great and I actually feel efficient on the bike for the first time in a really, really long time. I come past the Ritchey tent and I'm feeling pretty good. Since I'm feeling pretty good, I decide to pick up the pace and try to move up.
Well today is obviously a good day, because I'm not blowing up and I'm catching people not being caught. I even caught a couple of friends\rivals (Aaron and Jay)who've been beating me regulary by a few minutes. As I passed them I made sure to accelerate as I wanted to keep them behind me. I'm riding along and I can see my teamate Jesse, Ben Dodge and Nick ahead of me. Another set of friends\rivals that have been consistenly beating me. I feel good, so push harder. Soon I can see that Nick is getting closer and soon I actually catch him. I'm thinking holy crap now I know I'm having a good day. I move past Nick and accelerate once again, hoping to put enough distance between us so that the motivation to chase me is squashed ;-) (sorry buddy).
So now I'm thinking, you gotta be smart, don't blow up, be efficient, oh yea and breath, breath in, then out! As I make my way up the run up, I focus on breathing in and out and keeping my feet moving. The part of run-ups that usually kills me is the pause and whammm, you've lost all your momentum. As I head back up the bumpy hill to the even bumpier descent, I focus on pedal stoke and breathing and think to myself, god I haven't felt this good on the bike since I was doing well in the expert mtb ranks. I was pegged at a certain level of pain, but the fact that I kept my wits about me, helped me to maintain focus on breathing, pedaling and relaxing my shoulder. Wow, I'm actually frick'n racing, not just surviving. Subsequently, this is about as hard as I've pushed myself all season, but it is also the first time that I've had the fitness to push myself this hard. Suuuhhhweeet. Training is finally paying off ;-)
I continue to chase Jesse and Ben around the course all the while keeping them within line of sight, but never able to bridge up to them. The rest of the race was basically about holding my position and listening to people's cheers as slobber exits both my nose and mouth. Really the only other thing I remember is Meredith yelling at me as I hit the run-up. She shouts, "run god damnit run" and the crowd bursts into laugher. Even thru the pain I crack a little smile ;-) (thanks cutie!)
I approached the final paved section and put in one final sprint. I crossed the finished line completely spent...on the verge of vomitting and passing out. Even though I was like 5-6 minutes away from the podium it didn't matter. I finished the racing knowing that I gave it everything that I had and I couldn't help but pump my fists (ala any road racer winning a stage) in the air.
Thanks to Pilarcitos and Roaring Mouse for a brutally hard but fun course!
Pictures and heart rate analysis to follow!
Cheers!
--------------
As promised..HR plots galore ;-)
HR for the course...including a bit of time afterwards as I bumbled around trying to get my bike on the trainer to cool down ;-)
HR comparison between McClaren(ave/max-172/190)and Candlestick(ave/max-178/187):
I'm beginning to realize that an HR monitor alone is not enough to really gauge my progress. My HR was not all that different at the two races, but I felt a hell of a lot better at McClaren. I think it maybe be time to really geek out and invest in a PowerTap. Anybody got one for sale?
Comments
as we were packing up our tent, we saw the ritchey guys sitting in a big circle in the grass. what were you doing, singing kumbaya or something?
i've got a powertap sl setup that i'd sell you if you want it. talk to me at ggp this sunday.