Ryan Gibson's Blog (21)

Its been awhile since I posted, and a lot of great stuff has happened. Life is busy with family and work, so just getting around to a write up.

While I have had some decent results this year, my focus on enduro prevented me from being able to do as many XC races as normal, and had me on a different training plan. A big break in the enduro race scene and some added flexibility at home and work allowed me to ramp up my training mid-summer for the Bike Monkey Annadel XC race in…

Where to begin...this was really one of my all time most fun bike weekends. Ever. Not because of the result, which was okay, but because of the people and trails and location. Boom.

Much of "the crew" decided to drive up mid-day Friday to get a jump on the weekend. I had prior commitments, so drove up early Saturday morning with Matt Erbentraut. This turned out to be a good call, as Aaron, Ethan, Christian, and Jordan got stranded about 15 miles out from China Peak when the…

Now that results are finally up for the first Oregon Enduro Series race in Hood River, OR, I figured I should write an update on that race and the second (of four) California Enduro Series race in Los Olivos, CA.

This year has been great so far, although much less races due to family committments (a one and four year old). Plus, the races I am doing are taking me further away for full weekends, rather than the local XC racing that I focused on last year. The enduro scene is…

Yesterday was a perfect NorCal mountain bike racing day! The 20th anniversary of the Napa Dirt Classic at Pacific Union College in Angwin saw perfect weather with sun and high 70's. Dirt was good too-while a little dry and dusty, it was better than prior years mud.

My training has been pretty consistent and this is a big target race for me and the Summit team every year (Jim Hewett won the Pro class last year). Hoping for better results than the three flats dnf I had at my…

Yesterday was tough, no way around it. It was one of those days that you hope to not have, especially for a race that is a season target, but at least lessons can be learned and experience taken from it into the future.

The Cool XC just outside of Auburn is in its 21^st year and a fun event that is traditionally a muddy race of attrition. Last year was pretty dry by historical standards leading up to the race, but the promise of mud came through at the last second…

HOPPER! Wow, what a great event! I have raced many XC events, a CX, a Super D, and several other big road events (some timed) (e.g. Death Ride, Ride Across Indiana), and the Chileno Valley Grasshopper was right up there in terms of EPIC fun. A combination of amazingly beautiful scenery, tough climbing, super fun descents, and some REALLY fast guys (Trek Bear development team, Berry Farms development team, Mikes Bikes road team and others, including top pros) made for a great day of comradery…

Well, further exploring different bicycle racing disciplines led me to the final CCCX Super D race in Salinas (next to Monterey) Dec 16 for one last final race of 2012. What a blast!

A local…

All I can say is WOW, CX is a blast! Short version=10th/33 in Pro/Elite (Cat 1/A), and super fun.

I have been interested in CX for several years, but have not had a CX appropriate bike, the time (young kids), and have always had an excuse. Not this year...figuring its a good fun way to keep motivated through the winter and try something different, I bought some really racy mtb tires (Specialized Renegades) and a rigid fork and converted my hardtail Santa Cruz Highball to be…

Well, this race was certainly a surprise on two fronts...I had not planned on racing until two days prior, and I certainly did not expect the result.

I hope my wife does not read this, but I was planning to race the Lion of Fairfax CX race Saturday...until I was reminded of the Novato Mother's Club Halloween kids party that my wife had chaired the planning committee for. Thanks for the Lion of Fairfax organizer for taking mercy on me and allowing my registration cancellation.…

22 miles never felt so long! With the knee injury interrupted 2012 season, I am still pretty hungry for some racing, having missed Downieville and a few others in the middle of the summer. I have been training regularly, and while still a little heavy, feel good. In the weeks leading up to TDC I put in good time on the road and trails, and even had a few early morning rides counterclockwise at Tamarancho to scope out the course. Sunday drew closer and the temps started climbing...three laps…

This past weekend was a great homecoming to racing, as I competed with 699 other racers in the Annadel XC.

If you have read my prior blog posts and/or know me, you know I had a massive knee injury on Father's Day weekend in mid-June, which resulted in two surgeries and a month off the bike. While I resumed road riding gently after about four weeks, it has been a process to rebuild my atrophied leg muscles and recondition my lungs and heart. I am still not fully recovered, but…

Well, my training regime working to recover from an early season peak and get back to peak form for Downieville XC was interupted this past Saturday with a fluke road bike accident. In all my years of road riding (10 years/several thousand miles per year), I have never crashed my road bike, and hoped I never would.

It was a beautiful morning on Father's Day weekend as I rolled out Lucas Valley Road with seven other friends to do at 50sih mile ride around west Marin. As we…

Well, I have finally recovered from a disaster of a race at Sonomas. Lesson learned the very painful way...too much sodium and electrolyte/carb supplements are no bueno!

Having placed 2nd in Cat 2 U35 last year (second to a Cat 1 roadie weighing about 135 :), I was hopeful to place top 10 Cat 1 this year. My fitness, bike handling and experience have all improved markedly from last year, and I was finally starting to feel an upward trend of recovery and performance since…

"The hits keep on rolling" is how to best sum up this past weekend at the BikeMonkey Boggs 8 hour XC race in Bogg's Demonstration Forest outside of Cobb, CA.

I decided to do this race many months ago with my friend…

What a week! My very pregnant wife finally popped last Thursday, April 19th, giving birth to a happy and healthy girl, Arden, weighing 6lbs 7 oz and 19". Blue eyes like her brother, 3yr old-Owen, but with lots of dark brown hair like her mother. No less moving and emotional the second time around, and we were again blessed with an easy and no-drama delivery. My…

Wow, what a fun race! Jim's write-up captured a lot my experience too, but I have to say that this is a really well managed event. Having showers after the race, especially one as muddy as yesterday, was great.

My race was another "what could have been," similar to my last race at Cool (where I had a flat that cost me 8 mins due to forgetting my tube and air...appeared I could have won that race without the flat).

I knew that this course could reward my climbing…

Well, I am def getting faster (at least uphill, with several  big climb PRs and KOMs-like Big Rock Ridge segments to teh towers from queenstone and burger king, both over 2000'), but have hit a wall in terms of weight at 173lb for the last week. Going to keep at it and hope to start to peak for the Napa Dirt Classic, which is quickly followed by Sea Otter and Boggs 8hr. The new bike is also going to be ~5lbs lighter than my Tallboy too, so that should help, although I might have to revise my…

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…

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…

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…