March 2012 Blog Posts (10)

DISCLAIMER: I am self aware of how neurotic this paleo thing might sound to some, although its not for vanity or narcisim, but, rather, to up my race performance. Yes, I am a 30-something married father with a full time job, and will likely never win a Cat 1 race...but why not try, right?

Well, the paleo for athletes thing is coming along, but still not sure how much is attributable to paleo vs. heightened consciousness of what I eat. Also not sure the no dairy and gluten…

CORRECTION: With an open start time, the official results now show me 9th overall. A hand full of riders appeared to have started after I did and roll across the finish later then myself with shorter times. Still quite respectable.

 At the third aid station at mile 113, my friend Karl insisted that I eat quickly and so that we could ride out with the 'fast group of guys' getting ready to roll back on the course.  

The first hundred or so mile was a blast, carried along…

Cool was fun this year!  Not easy for me but that can be expected.  Perhaps similar to our buddy Mike, but even more so, I am not prepared for this season.  Time eludes me and my priorities are still not aligned with racing but I'm going to keep working on weaving it in and maybe next year this report will be different.  After taking 2011 off from racing (and most of 2010 - my last race was the Tamarancho Race June '10), I felt better at the end of this race than I felt last time &…

Well, getting in mental therapy and training miles this past week/weekend has been tough, with all the rain and my son's 3rd birthday party...but I got out Saturday afternoon for what I thought would be a nice 40ish miler road ride with a friend. It was the windiest conditions I have ever walked, run, hiked, biked, driven, etc etc in-ever. Decided to go out and over the Marshall Wall from Novato, then down to Pt. Reyes and back in through Nicasio Res. WOW, felt like 40+mph gusts straight on…

  Thanks for the great posts from team members. I recently decided to start biking/racing after spending the last year trying to be a rock/ice climber. Both require significant dedication to do well. I haven't told my climbing/skiing partners yet so they think I am cross training with the mountain biking. However I do intend to ride with greater purpose as Jim described it and be competitive in my age group. Actually it is fairly easy to be competitive in my age group as long as you have a…

This might be worthy of a quote in one of those "sh*t cyclist say" videos on youtube, but it is a fact that the more power to weight (bike and rider), the faster you will go (bikehandling skills removed). I am not ashamed, haters hate, but I want to get faster and I am going to do an experiment over the next 60 days involving paleo eating.

The backstory: I am 6'1" and currently 178lbs; fit and conditioned. At times in my life I have been a bulky 215lbs, and as light as…

This is a first of firsts...my first Call Up blog post, first time riding at the Cool, CA Olmstead Loop, and first race with Summit Bicycles out of San Rafael. It was a blast. I moved to Norcal from Indianapolis a little over a year ago, and have steadily increased my fitness, bike handling and overall ability on the bikes...and have had a blast doing it and exploring California at the same time. What a difference having such beauty to keep you motivated and year round outdoor training…

Opening day for the XC race season. Cool usually delivers a fast and often muddy course. 

Light rain in the forecast. Three months of putting in the volume and month of starting to work the high end. A good place to gauge my fitness. 

Out of the gate, I got bunched up with a group of bumbling riders. Immediately, I was back 20 plus places. My typical less-than-stellar start.

As expected, the legs had the go but the heart rate lagged and my breathing was labored. Just…

Cool often represents the first "real" race of the year for our team.  Usually muddy, often cold, always a lot of fun, and a cash payout for pro class.  Almost the whole team made the trip this year:  Carl, Shiloh, Mike, Paul, Mandy, and new team member Ryan all joined me for the trip in the Summit Bicycles van.  The time change forced an early start, but we made our way to Cool as the sun rose and the clouds gathered.

The course conditions were actually very good, despite the light…

Training has been moving along steadily in preparation for my first priority race grouping in April.  Today, I travelled to Roseville to race on the Granite Bay course for the first time.  It was another miserable winter day in Northern California - 75 degrees and sunny.

I arrived early to ride the course a little and familiarize myself with the terrain.  It was fast and flowy, a lot like the Ft Ord CCCX courses.  I could tell from past results that we would be doing about 32 miles in…