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:: Nate Marsh
:: 9-5 - Mechanical Engineer
:: Semi-pro DH/DS/MX
:: Sport XC
:: 33
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Fluidride Cup #6
Government Camp, OR
September 27-28
DH :: 9th
Fluidride Cup #5
Government Camp, OR
September 13-14
DH :: 10th
Fluidride Cup #4
Port Angeles, WA
August 23-24
DH :: 11th
Crankworx
Whistler, BC, CA
August 9-17
Garbanzo DH :: 6th
Roslyn MTB Festival
Roslyn, WA
July 27
XC :: 1st
Fluidride Cup #3
Government Camp, OR
July 12-13
DH :: 8th
Shiloh Challenge
Government Camp, OR
June 21-22
DH :: 9th
Fluidride Cup #2
Port Angeles, WA
May 10-11
DS :: DNQ
DH 18th
Sea Otter Classic
Monterey, CA
April 17-20
DS :: 25th
DH :: 47th
Indie Series Round #1
Des Moines, WA
April 6
XC :: 18th
Burn the Winter Coat
Olympia, WA
March 16
SD :: 16th
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2007 Results
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Indie Series Round #1
Belfair, WA
February 24
XC :: 9th
Indie Series Round #2
Capitol Forest, WA
April 1
XC :: 15th
Sea Otter Classic
Monterey, CA
April 12-15
DS :: 26th
DH :: 34
Indie Series Round #3
Des Moines, WA
April 22
XC :: DNF
Hood Series Round #1
Shiloh Spring Fling
Government Camp, OR
May 5
DH :: 3rd
Beacon Blowout
Spokane, WA
May 20
DH :: 6th
Hood Series Round #2
Shiloh Cyclery Challenge
Government Camp, OR
June 9-10
DH :: 6th
Willamette Pass DH #1
Oakridge, OR
July 1
DH :: 8th
Crankwork
Whistler, BC
July 21-29
Garbonzo DH :: 8th
Willamette Pass DH #3
Oregon State Championships
Oakridge, OR
August 12
DH :: 5th
Hood Series Round #4
Scotty Graham
Government Camp, OR
September 1-2
DH :: 6th
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2006 Results
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Highlights
Crankworx Garbanzo DH :: 6th
NORBA :: DH Series :: 32nd
Sea Otter Classic
DH :: 34th
DS :: 27th
Fontana NMBS #1
DH :: 24th
Mt. Snow NMBS #3
DH :: 33rd
Deer Valley NMBS #4
DH :: 46th
SD :: 6th
Sonoma NMBS #5
DH :: 26th
SD :: 10th
Crankworx
Garbanzo DH :: 6th
World Masters Sun Peak
DH :: 33rd
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Fluidride Cup #4
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Racing in the mud. Seems to be my theme for the past two races. After riding in what has been just great sunny weather for what seems like all of July and most of August, I raced my second mud race in three weeks and this one was quite a bit different from Garbanzo DH. The Garbanzo course is well established and when wet is really just slippy. The FR#4 course was actually MUDDY. Still, if it sounds like I'm complaining, I'm not. I love riding in the mud, it's the cleaning of the bike and gear that I could do without. Anyone who has repacked BB bearing for the 2nd time in 3 week knows what I mean.
My race run itself wasn't all that great. After running a 3:34 in qualifying in a light rain, I ran a 3:40 in my race run, good enough for 11th place. In the 3hrs that had passed since qualifiers a steady rain had fallen and turned what was a fresh new upper trail (King Diamond) into a mud-fest. Guess that means I am going to have to do a little more training in the mud (sorry bike).
Thanks to the riders, promoter, and anyone else who worked on the FR#4 course. The new section was great as was the race organization.
Up next is the Capital Forest Super-D on September 7th. Here's to hoping it stays dry!
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Crankworx - Garbanzo DH
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Garbanzo DH - need I say more? Fun course to ride, rough course to race especially when wet as it was this past weekend. Rain on both Saturday and Sunday made the top part of the course an "adventure" to ride.
First the bad news, Fowler went down in practice Sunday morning and broke his arm/wrist. I haven't heard the official report but rumor has it he is headed back for more surgery this Friday. Bummed for sure. Heal up buddy!
For me the weekend went pretty well. Saturday was spent riding the lower part of the hill with Kelly, Alex and Ty first in the morning and then the top with Ty in the afternoon. It was a good time just casually riding with friends! Saturday evening the group of us along with J, Raman, and Tina stood out in the wind/rain and watched as Fowler rode his way into 4th place in DS. Nice work!
Sunday morning racing was the focus as I ran up top for a quick practice run before racing. Things couldn't have gone better on the practice run. Clean the whole way and for the most part in control. At this point I was looking forward to the race run. After getting a run or two in with the gang on the lower hill I headed up for my race run.
Out of the gate things felt good but about 5 minutes in I was feeling the burn. I probably did a bit too much riding the day before looking back at things but oh well. Hanging on through the In Deep I had several instances where I should have been tossed but wasn't so when I finally hit Freight Train below the Manager and did get pitched down I wasn't surprised at all. I had a crash coming for awhile... After running down the hill to collect the bike I headed off to complete the run. Within the next 1/2mi I passed Matt Patterson (flat) and from there to the finish it was smooth sailing. Finished with my quickest time to date which was good enough for 6th place.
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Roslyn MTB Festival
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Made it out to Roslyn today for Indie Series race #6. This marked the second XC race of the year for me and first since early April. It also marked the return of Kelly to racing XC! Kelly raced several years back when WIM was running a NW series but hadn't really gotten back into it since that series died. She'll tell you she was last but she wasn't and just finishing this course was no small feat.
Meeting us at the race were Tina, Raman, & Audrey, Paul & K, Carl, Tiffany, & kids, and friends of Sarin's (sorry, I suck at remembering names). Don was a no show with the rumor being that he wasn't feeling well. Missed you out there Don. Overall it seemed like a good turnout for an XC and fun to see P529 family members that we don't typically run into during the DH season.
The race course for the day was a roughly 4.5mi loop w/ 800ft of climbing. What wasn't written in the course description was that the majority of that 800ft of climbing was going to take place in the first mile or so of the course. Can you say brutal? It wasn't so bad on the first lap but even as I crested the first time I knew that the second lap was going to be a bugger. Once up the main climb it wasn't all fun and games either. Loads of what seemed to be fresh cut single track wound UP and down the ridge line with several more short but steep climbs.
At about the 3.5mi mark the real fun started with a ripping single track descent back down towards the start area. All I have to say about the descent is that I need to ride my XC bike more than twice a year. Riding with the seat up and clipped in really seemed weird after spending so much time this year riding the V10. I didn't crash but there were a couple of times when both feet were unclipped in the middle of a slide and I was looking for a soft place to land.
So the first lap went pretty well and as I pedaled off towards the second lap I knew that there were a handful of riders in front of me and even more behind. Tackling the climb for the second time I paced myself with the intent of riding the entire thing. As I neared the top I heard the haggard breathing of a rider closing in. Not knowing if he was in my class or not and also not wanting to get passed after making the climb I put the hammer down and sprinted the short climbs in the fresh portion of the track in an effort to break free. It worked and good thing as it turned out the rider was the guy who would finish 2nd, not very far behind me. I never did catch the guys in front of me and will have to wait for the final results to be posted to see what class they were in and how far they had gapped me.
Final results will be posted in a couple of days on the Indie Series site and I will have to update then. As of press time all I can remember is that Tina finished 5th, Carl I think was 5th, and I won.
Thanks to Tina and Raman for bringing the tent, food, and drink!
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Fluidride Cup #3
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Back to Government Camp for Fluidride Cup #3. This time racing in Skibowl rather than pedaling down the Bridal Falls trail. Snow shortened the course to just the lower portion of the mountain and could have even effected the race on the lower portion if not for the volunteers who came out the weeks previous to shovel snow and rebuild the trail. Thanks guys and gals! The course was snow free and had been revised, adding several new features in the woods.
This race marked the return of Carl Ledbetter to racing following a shoulder injury that occurred last year. Great to have Carl back at the races! Andew and John also joined the fun along with all of the regulars (Clinton, J, Ty, and Eric) to bring the P529 contingent to a total of 8 riders. It was a virtual sea of yellow bikes.
Saturday's practice was pretty uneventful until late in the day when news came down to the tent that J had crashed and injured his shoulder. Updates came as J was checked at the first aid tent with the rumor circulating that he had a cracked shoulder blade or perhaps a broken collar bone. After sendinghim down the mountain with Alex to Portland and update came back that nothing was broken and he would be healed up in a week or two. Good to hear as it appeard for a bit that he might be done for the year.
Following a breakfast of uncooked oatmeal (long story) the team straggled over to the course for morning practice. One run was all that was needed to find that the course had taken a beating the day previous and was blown out in a number of locations. Something to remember during your race run.
The race was run in a "best of" two run format. My first run went okay as I ran a 2:41. Not nearly fast enough to win but I had been very slow in the upper rock garden and knew I could go faster. The second run was quicker with a 2:39 to move me up to 8th place. The rock garden went great. Only big issue was a slipped pedal in the woods that required me to sit down and reposition my foot just prior to the first log double. Still would not have been on the winning time but an improvement over past efforts
As a team we had a pair of podium finishes. Andew won his class and Eric finished 3rd in Elite and was very cloe to the win. Good work guys! Andew, it might be time to move up classes...
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Shiloh Challenge
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Bridal Falls - Flats, farts, racing and new teammates. Like last year, Mt. Hood race #1 took place on the Bridal Falls trail due to snow levels at Skibowl (snow extending down to the lodge). Arriving late Saturday afternoon w/ Clinton & J, we had time for three runs down the the course.
Meeting us down there was Eric Loney and his wife Sam, newest members of the P529 family. Welcome onboard! Thanks again for the post practice burrito meal Sam!
So Saturday night I learned a valuable lesson. Never, and I mean NEVER, take a top bunk if Clinton is sleeping below you. You can be sound sound asleep and wake to a loud noise only to start gagging on the stench two breathes later. It was something else....
Sunday morning started good w/ a solid practice run. I was having so much fun riding the course that I decided to take one more practice run. Bad call. 200yds into my second run I had a rear flat. Not sure what caused it but the first part of the course is a bit rocky before darting to a smooth track through the woods. Knowing that my 1st of two race runs was coming up quickly and not wanting to damage my rim I ran down the entire course and back to the fan. A quick tire change later and I was on the shuttle up to the start.
Even though I had flatted in practice I was still pumped to go race. My fitness has been getting better and Bridal Falls is all about pedaling. With teh 6th beep of the horn I as off on my 1st race run. Zipping down the chute and pedaling along the double track things felt great. Made the turn in the roods and hmm... that felt weird. Oh well, keep going. Over a little jump between a tree and stump and CLUNK, the bike hit a bit hard on the landing. Maybe just a rock or something? That's what I was hoping. Next corner and one huge slide later and there was no doubt. - another flat tire. 8+ minutes later and the run was done.
One more new tube and this time swapped the tire. Knowing that I had hit something the past two runs in the top seciton I took things pretty easy didn't really start to pick up the pace until I was in the woods and knew the tire was holding air. From there to the bottom things went wll but not nearly fast enough. Finished 9th and more than 20 seconds out of the running. Guess that's racing.
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Fluidride Cup #2
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Fluidride Cup #2 held in Port Angeles, WA was the first real DH race of the year for me. Sure Sea Otter has a DH race, but racing down a Monterey hill has little in common with racing in the PNW.
Beyond the first real DH, it was also my first time riding at speed on a rough course since last September at Hood. Dropping in the first time on Saturday was a bit of a wakeup call. A couple of runs later things were coming together. Not fully up to speed but at least I wasn't turning rotors blue... Felt good to have the V10 on a course with it could really work.
A bit about the course. It was vintage PA riding. I hadn't been out to the Dry Hill area in a couple of years but it didn't take long to remember that they build FAST trails with an emphasis on carring corner speed. Coonditions were good Saturday and great Sunday following showers Saturday night that added enough moisture to make the dirt perfect.
Riding the course on Saturday was so much fun that I just about forgot to about qualifying for DS. By the time I had the Blur-4x out of hte van and ready to go there was only 5 minutes left before qualifying. I mangaged to get one run down each course before gating up w/ Fowler for timed runs. Two runs later I knew that I wouldn't be riding the combined semi-pro/pro 16-rider final later that evening. Ah well, going to have to work in teh small bike skills a bit more. One bright side of not making the final was getitng to watch Clinton race his way into the round of 8!
Sunday's DH race started with a qualifying run for semi pro & pro riders. I made a couple of mistakes, most of them due to trying to increase corner speed, and ran a 3:10, good enough for 14th. After seeing other qualifying run times I knew that winning was probably out of the question and decided a reasonable goal would be to better my qualifying time. My race run went well, running a 3:06 and in the process knocking 4 seconds off my qualifying time. Goal accomplished.
The winning time in my class was a 2:53 so there is obviously a lot of work ahead. That said, it felt good to make progress all weekend. Can't ask for much more than that.
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Sea Otter '08
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Just returned from the 2008 Sea Otter Classic down in Monterey, CA. We left the track at give ore take 2pm Sunday afternoon and pulled into the driveway at around 4am. 14hr road trip... Check the home page for links to photos from all 4 days of riding. Here's how things went down over the last 5 days.
Wednesday - Packed up in the Project 529 van at 7:30am with both Fowlers and Ben Storrar. Ben rides for the Sobe Cannondale team and hitched a ride down with us. 15hrs on the road later we were checking into the Best Western in Seaside, CA.
Thursday - First day of DH practice and practice starts early at 8:30am. Rumor had it that there had been revisions made to the track and sure enough there were new jmps in the first straight and a bit of new course at the bottom. I had no problems iwth the new stuff at the bottom but took most of the first practice session before jujmping the new doubles at the top. Pretty straight forward once you commit to the line.
Almost forgot, Thursday was HOT! Coming from 40F weather in WA to 70F+ weather in CA was a bit of a shock. Pretty sure everyone in our crew had a bit of a sunburn by the end of the day.
Friday - DH practice again in the morning and more practices on the doubles. Still not clearing the jumps to the transitions but figured it was good enough as I was longer loosing significant time to Clinton in practice. Not to self - spend more time practicing jumps. The new changes have made it fun to ride the race course. Still a lot of pedaling but for the first time since I have ben going to Sea Otter I was actually bummed when practice was over.
Saturday - Dual Slalom (DS) day at the Otter. That means small bike (Blur-4x) ridingn for me. Typically not a strong suit as I do not have the BMX backgroud that a number of other rides do. My goal going into the event was to qualify for the field of 32 and I did that by qualifying 25th. The actual racing didn't go well for me as the 7th place qualifer bumped me out in the first round winning by 0.8 seconds on the first run and about the same on the second. Ah well, relegated to the sideline where I watched Clinton race his way into the round of 8, taking out the #1 seed on the way. Nice work!
Sunday - DH practice in the morning and then race time. It is always a bit of an adventure seeing with the Beginner/Sport riders did to the course the day before biwth the weather dry all week, the changed very little. Practice went well and by the timemy start time came around I was ready to go.
Felt pretty good the wholeway down. Hit my lines, pedaled where I wanted to and didn't make any big mistakes. Rolled through with finish with a time of 2:33, my best time at Sea Otter by 2+ seconds but good enough to jus slip inside the top 50 riders. Dang! Going to hvae to work a bit harder to run competitive times at this level.
So that is the wrap on the 2008 Sea Otter Classic. Time to go unpack the bags and clean the bikes. Need to check the schedule but from what I have heard, the nex race is Fluidride Cup #2 in Port Angeles.
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Capitol Forest Super D
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Mud. More on that later. This past weekend I made my way down to the first Super-D of the year at Capitol Forest. The race was hosted Friends of the Capitol Forest (FOCF) and they did an excellent job providing both a well run event and FREE FOOD! Thanks guys and gals. Check their site for info on the next race coming up in September. http://www.capitolforest.com/races2008.htm.
Back to the event. First off I should have done a little more research before heading down to the race. Had I done a little digging I would have learned: A) the course was 4.5+ miles long and B) it was going to be muddy. Knowing that either of those things I would have brought my Blur-LT with a set of Maxxis Medusa tires. Instead I raced my Nomad with a 2.5 Minion front an 2.35 Highroller rear. A great tire combination for just about everything but clay/mud slop up to 6 inches deep. Did I mention there was mud? My first inkling that I might be in trouble was seeing some of the faster riders warming up wearing goggles with tear-offs. Oh oh...
The race was run as a best of two run format. My first run was a 17:53 and my second a little quicker at 17:43. That dropped me deep in the Open class field. As a comparison to my time, the winning Open class time was a 14:23. Got room for improvement.
ONe that was painfully obvious was the need to improve my cardio fitness. Mud tires and a shorter travel bike would have helped but it really came down to who could keep the pedals turning. Going to increase the leg work at the gym and see what the results are at Sea Otter.
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Indies Series #1
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It has been a busy last couple of weeks. As some of you are aware, both Kelly and I have been studying to take the professional engineer's exam. Think bar exam but for engineers rather than lawyers. 8ths of testing broken up into two 4-hr sessions all in the same day. We both took the exam last Friday and ar now waiting for results. Should know more in 3 months...
Unfortunately the exam fell on the Friday after the first Fluidride Cup and while I really would have liked to have been racing DH, I spent most of the weekend studying for the exam. The remainder of the week was spent doing what else? Riding!
After studying for 4+hrs Saturday morning Clinton called and asked if I wanted to go ride at SST. Tough decision... Got in a couple of hours of jumping before heading home to do more studying.
Sunday morning brought decent weather and the first Indie Series event of the year down at SST. XC racing is not my forte but I figured racing XC was better than not racing at all. I met up with several of the XC guys and spent the morning riding around in cycles getting passed by guys in spandex. The high point of the day had ot be the moon shoot delivered by Don. Check the home page for pictures. Not sure where I finished but am pretty sure it wasn't last.
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Moto - Halloween Scare (Oct 28th, 2007)
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Things I had forgotten or learned about motorcycle racing this past weekend at the Tag Team Harescramble in Spokane:
1) Changing a tire on a motorcycle sucks. It took me about an hour to change the rear tire Thursday night and that included swearing at the bead-lock & tube.
2) Getting a shitty start and entering turn one buried in the pack somewhere around 25th makes for a difficult first lap.
3) 6 inches of moon dust when disturbed by the 24 motorcycles in front of you makes a dust cloud so thick that you can't see.
4) 12 inches of front fork travel is not enough if you hit a football sized rock buried in moon dust on corner exit. This occurred on my last lap, 3hrs into the event and resulted in a pretty cool lawn dart as the bike went hard left and I went straight over the bars. Luckily the YZ stayed running so I just picked it up and took off again. Strangely though 12 inches of fork travel is just enough travel to jump 28ft of a 30ft double...
Overall a pretty good time although the start pissed me off. Took me about half a lap before I could see well enough to start picking guys off. Ron (next door neighbor) and I finished 3rd in our class and 45th overall (about 110 teams).
Pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/quadrille161/2007HalloweenScare
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Scotty Graham Memorial (Hood #4)
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Last weekend it was back to Ski Bowl at Mt. Hood for the Scotty Graham Memorial DH (Hood Series #4). Having missed Hood #3 as a result of a conflict w/ Crankworx, this was the first time racing off the top chair this year.
Dropping into the top of the Cannonball for the first time will certainly shake off any cobwebs from the drive down. For those that haven't been there, the Cannonball is a double track section of the course that drops elevation quickly and allows a racer to go as fast as they feel comfortable. Of course large rocks litter the road, keeping the ride interesting while at speed. All told I've got at least 3 new dents in the rear rim plus a pretty good impact mark on the bashguard. Nothing smooth on the race course at Hood.
Sunday's race was run as a combined event with both race runs counting towards a total time for the event. Both of my race runs were with second or two but I would have sworn my second run was faster. Funny how as a course gets rougher a slower run can feel faster. All told I finished 6th, right behind Clinton. This is the second time we've finished 5th & 6th and the third straight race at Hood that I've finished right behind him. You'd almost thing we trained together...
Big news of the event? Alex Fowler, competing in her first DH race, roared to a 20 second victory! Congratulation Alex!
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Thursday Ride at Tapeworm
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Got out and rode the Blur-LT w/ the folks from Kelly's work at Tapeworm (aka Tower's of Power) in Renton on Thursday. First time I've ridden with a long stem for the last two months and wow, what a difference in how the bike handles. Between the longer stem and the steeper head angle, I felt a bit out of control for the first 1/2hr of riding. Actually clipped a tree ducking through one of the corners that woke me up and focused me for the remainder of the ride.
With all the time I've been spending on the V10, pedaling the Blur was a real treat. Nothing like a sub-30lb bike to make the legs feel alive. Two laps of Tapeworm and probably could have done a third but the group was ready for dinner and drinks at the Whistle Stop.
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Crankworx 2007
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Crankworx came to an end last Sunday and for the first time since I started attending two years ago, the team came home healthy. No small feat given the amount of riding that was done.
Due to work schedule and the after effects of the crash two weeks ago, I limited myself to racing the Garbonzo race the first weekend. I considered racing the Canadian Open the following Sunday but after riding the course several times Friday and Saturday, I decided I wasn't quite up to running the pace needed to be competitive in the event.
The Garbonzo event was an adventure... It had been raining during the week and continued to rain right through to Sunday's event, leaving the course muddy and slippery. Compounding the slick conditions was the mud that covered the goggles and limited vision. During practice it seemed like you had to stop every 30 seconds to wipe things clean just to see the next portion of the trail. Come race day the race had slowed to a mist and Clinton and I had borrowed tear-offs for our Spy goggles from J. This is the first time I've used tear-offs and what a life saver! Kelly had loaded me up with 6 tear-offs and by the bottom I was wishing I had 1 more. As far as the run I was a bit too careful up top on the slick roots but opened things up on the bottom half of the mountain. Could have been a bit quicker but overall I was happy with the run. Can't say enough about how well the Santa Cruz V10 works in the rough stuff! Point and shoot.
With last the event being the Canadian Open on Sunday, I had hoped that Monday would give Clinton and I short lift lines for a little fun riding before Kelly and I headed back to work. Unfortunately it seems that we weren't the only ones counting on short lines on Monday. After waiting in line for more than 1/2hr, I knew I had time for one good run and then needed to hit the road. We headed up the Garbo chair and made solid run from the top back to the Condo. Kelly and I hit the road around 3pm and got home just a bit past 8pm.
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Whistler, Willamette Pass, etc
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Well it's been a while. I'd have updated sooner but Raman has kept me
busy answering questions about how to assemble his V10... Just kidding,
good to see you rip it up at Whistler last weekend Raman.
So here's a question. How many people do you know who have managed to
bruise their... umm... we'll say groin area, to the point of certain things
turning black? Maybe it's not the sort of thing that just comes up in
conversation but I'm the only person I know to have done it and I've now
managed to do it TWICE!!! I won't go into the details but let's just say
it involves a V10, baggy shorts, and a desire to stay low over jumps.
Recipe for groin disaster...
Other than the instance noted above, Whistler was great last weekend.
Saturday started off earlier than needed after someone (cough Clinton)
decided the lifts started at 9am rather than 10am. No worries though, we
headed over to the DJs and Clinton
proceeded to get his flow on in the middle groove.
10am and the lifts opened up. Time for gravity riding. Clinton
was riding the Blur-4x and wanted to practice mountain-cross course so we spent
the morning ripping the park. Just before lunch we caught up with Greg
and got a run in before heading down for lunch.
After lunch Clinton
pulled out the V10 and we headed to the top with Greg. Holy smokes!
Trail conditions were awesome! Goat's Gully was outstanding! I had
an issue last year with one corner in Goat's but not this year, first time
clean through. Not even some dude crashing in front of Clinton
and forcing me to bail off the side of the trail rather than smashing into Clinton
could ruin the day.
Sunday was another great day but with the fatigue from Saturday setting in
on the hands, Clinton and I decided to ride the lower mountain. Highlight
for me was finally cleaning jumping the 4x course! Not bad for a guy
that's a better rough trail rider than jumper.
Next up is Willamette
DH#2. At this point I'm questionable to race. Still have some
significant swelling even with icing and quick movements make the lower abs
feel like they're on fire. Probably give it another day or two and then
make the call.
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Shiloh Spring Fling
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What a great weekend for the Project 529 DH team at the Shiloh Spring Fling! Clinton and I finished 2nd and 3rd respectively in the Elite (semi-pro) class while J powered his way to a 3rd place finish in the Beginner 19-39 class.
Arriving in Government Camp around 11:30pm Friday evening the first thing J pointed out was the layer of snow on the cars in the parking lot. Oh oh... We raced in snow earlier this season and I for one wasn't looking forward to another frozen ride. Luckily the weather cooperated and other than a cold start to the morning, race day weather was mild.
With snow covering the normal DH course at Hood, the first race of the year was run on a trail called Bridal Falls (I think). Requiring about a 10 minute ride from the shuttle to the start, the course itself was a fast winding single track decent taking about 4.5 minutes from start to finish. Compared to a local trail, I'd say the course was like descending at Tiger without all the tree roots. In other words, fun!
The race itself was a 2-run format, counting only the best run. My first run was good but my legs were burning at the bottom so I figured I needed to make some changes for the second run. With the seat raised on my Santa Cruz Nomad and the knee pads left in the van I managed to knock ~3 seconds out of my first run and slip into 3rd place, about a second by Clinton and another 2+ seconds behind Matt Jagger.
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Indie Series Rd 3 - SeaTac (April 24, 2007)
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Well that was something... I've been fighting off a cold for the past couple of days and didn't really give it much thought on race day but it came back to bite me. The start went well and by the 1/2 way point of the first lap I had settled into the top 10 and had my heart rate under control.
2.5 laps into the 4 lap (they added a lap at the start) race, my body just decided it was done pedaling a bike. Enter the dry heaving. Strange because: A) my heart rate was ~150bpm (just fine) B) I has hydrated and had been eating. I pushed through the next lap but by the time I was 1/2 way through the 3rd lap I was stopping every 10 minutes and figured it was time to shut it down.
Thanks to Chris for handing me food and Ty for sticking around and loading the car. I was out of it by the time I pulled off. 4hrs on the couch last night and 10hrs of sleep and I'm feeling better today. I'm planning to lay off the training for a day or two just to see how my body reacts. Hopefully this cold is just a 5 day thing and I'll be over it by mid-week.
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'07 Sea Otter Classic (April 17, 2007)
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Another Sea Otter Classic comes to a close after a 15hr marathon drive home Sunday evening/Monday morning. Checkout the homepage and Clinton’s blog for links to just some of the pictures taking during this 4-day trip.
Wednesday
Wednesday is spent on the road. We left Bonney Lake around 7:15am and several stops and hours of mind numbing driving later we checked into our hotel around 9pm. I forget every year just how long it takes to drive to Monterey.
Thursday
Thursday was the first day of riding and started of clear and sunny! This year we had just Clinton, J, and myself racing and with riders in only the Beginner and Semi-Pro classes, it was much easier to keep track of who was going to be where. After picking up our numbers at registration, Clinton and I headed off to a morning DH practice session.
After last year’s mudfest I wasn’t sure what to expect but found the course in pretty good shape. The deep mud ruts from last year had solidified in places to make the course a little choppy but the Rock Shox Lyrik on the front of the Nomad just took it all in stride. Can’t say enough about how impressed I am with this fork.
Friday
Friday was another morning practice session for DH and brought with it another great day of weather. Clinton and I both took a handful of runs, trying out different lines. Early on the shuttle lines were short but as the morning session progressed the lines got longer. Sitting in line isn’t all that fun but it does give you chance to catch up with other riders who made the trip down. Good to see everybody still out there giving it a go.
Saturday
Saturday brought the first racing of the weekend. Dual Slalom time. The schedule this year had us practicing for 2hrs, qualifying for 2hrs, and racing for 2hrs. Of course no race can go off as scheduled…
After a beautiful morning of practice the rain came in just in time to dump on the course before qualifying. When I say dump I mean torrential downpour w/ ice junks that had riders huddled in a mass at the top of the hill and fans running for the nearest cover.
After more than an hour delay they reopened qualifying under sun shine but shifted it to just one run down the course. Make a mistake? Miss the race. As expected the course was nothing like it had been in the morning session. Rain soaked the entire course taking what had been a dry dusty track and turning it into a slick course top to bottom.
Knowing the course was going to be muddy, Clinton and I took the opportunity during the break to switch tires over to a Maxxis Swamp Thing/Medusa tire combination. It was a good call. As I dropped in for my qualifying run I was bit unsure of how the tires would hold on the off camber muddy turns but with each gate, I grew more confidant in the grip. Qualifying ended with a 22nd place for me, a 5 position improvement from last year’s race.
The race itself was a bit of disappointment as I won the first heat by ~0.6 seconds but then dropped ~0.8 seconds in the second heat to lose in the first round by ~0.2 seconds to the #10 qualifier . An improvement over last year but it would have been nice to get into the round of 16.
Unfortunately for J, he raced DH after the downpour and had to contend with a course that was nothing like he had practiced on. That’s two trips to Sea Otter for J and both have been raced on a muddy slick course. Hopefully he’s got better luck next year…
Sunday
Sunday is race day. That means up to the track early and ready for practice at 8am. The rain from the day before had transformed the track into a tacky 2ft wide strip where you could almost do no wrong. Fun! Clinton and I took several practice runs and then focused on the top section where Clinton gave me a couple of pointers and then towed me through to help with the rhythm.
My race run went okay but I ran out of gas at the bottom and didn’t finish as strong as I would have liked. While only about two and a half minutes long, this course is all about pedaling and I just didn’t quite have enough. Still the highlight for me had to be finally nailing the jump section at the top of the course. After struggling all week to get it right, it just came together on my race run thanks to Clinton’s advice.
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'06 Seattle Cyclocross Finals (Dec 10, 2006)
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Kelly and I braved the rain this afternoon to watch as Craig Fowler wrapped up the Seattle Cyclocross Series with a muddy 7th place in Men’s Cat 3 at the Finals held at Kelly Creek. With his finish, Craig wrapped up 4th overall in the Series and a spot on the podium. Congratulations Craig!
Craig leaves this week for Providence, Rhode Island where the U.S. National Cyclocross Championships are being held December 15-17. Good luck!
Check out pictures of the event here (right click and Open in New Tab): http://picasaweb.google.com/quadrille161/KellyCreekCyclecrossFinals06
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New Bike (Dec 8, 2006)
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Added a new bike to the collection this past week. It’s a 2000(?) Cannondale Saeco CAAD4 frame w/ Campagnolo Chorus components. Weights in at around 19lbs with Shimano pedals.
This bike was purchased by the original owner for the Seattle-to-Portland event and was used for exactly that. Once. All told it has about 250 miles on it and has been hanging on a garage wall for the past several years. Other than a fine coat of dust, it looks brand new.
Looking forward to do some training on the road for the upcoming ’07 race season.
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Nomad vs. the Worm (Dec 2, 2006)
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Took the Nomad out to Tapeworm today for it’s inaugural trip after receiving a fresh coat of Team yellow paint (no more orange Nomad). Along with the fresh paint I was also trying out my new Polar 720i cycling computer.
Trails conditions were good. There was still a little snow left on the ground making Crop Circle crunchy but for the most part Tape was clear. The snow has forced some of the brush to lean into the trail so keep an eye out for limbs just waiting to smack your frozen face.
I’ve been using the 720i to record heart rate info during my workouts at the gym the past couple of weeks but this was the first time using it with the speed sensor on the bike. Of course in my rush to go try it out I left the heart strap at home. Still I was able to record speed data and found that during the 45 minute ride I averaged 6.4mph with a peak speed of 19.2mph.
Looking forward to setting baseline times one some of the local trails (Sawyer, Tiger, Tape, etc) and then using the 720i to monitor my training progress as the ’07 season approaches.
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