All Blog Posts (398)

I showed up on Sunday for the 2011 Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships in Golden Gate park ready for business!  Dressed for success, from my double vented tropical wool suit, to my Zegna shirt and Faconnable tie.  I left the brief case in the car, though.

The rain had been falling all night, and the…

As luck would have it, the San Francisco installment of the SSCXWC happened to be while I was racing cyclocross.  I love to ride single speeds, so I had to overcome my distaste for "ironic racing" and check it out.

Saturday was the qualification process, as they had hundreds of people that wanted to race and only 150 spots for the main event.  I was encouraged that there was a qualification process, as that did suggest a level…

My older brother called me up last week and asked me if I wanted to do a dual slalom race.  I thought about it for a minute. I hadn't done a dual slalom race sense 2005.  What the hell, I told him, I'll give it a shot.  My Brother, Auric, has been racing with the Santa Cruz collegiate mtb team.  This was the final race of the collegiate season, there had been an xc race the day before and there was a short track race the next morning just before the slalom.  I didn't race the short track and…

Like last week, rain the day before the race cleared to create pretty good conditions on race day.  The course at Sierra Point was a little soft, but the weather was ideal for a race under the lights.  The men's A race was going off at 8:00, so I took a nap in the middle of the day then made my way down for the festivities.

A quick reconnoiter of the course revealed lots of corners.  They do the best they can with this venue, which is a large flat field of landfill with a small hill…

Today was the first cyclocross race ever at Stafford Lake Park in Marin.  There were other races in the area, but many racers from San Francisco, Santa Rosa and Marin made it out to show their support for more cyclocross racing in the North Bay.

I volunteered for course setup Saturday, which gave me a chance to check things out before the race.  The course shaped up pretty well and I rode a few laps before the rain came Saturday afternoon.  The terrain was bumpy in places, and thick…

I travelled down to Aptos for the first of the Surf City races because I knew the Santa Cruz locals would be there and I had heard good things about the courses.  The weather was warm and dry, which seems to be standard for the first half of the 'cross season in Northern California, and the course was a lot of fun.

I arrived and began preriding well before my race.  The laps looked longer than our usual races, probably between 7 and 8 minutes long, and there was actually a decent…

After straining my calf at CCCX #4 last week, I didn't hold much hope for racing the first of the BASP races.  I was on crutches Monday, then shuffling around without them Tuesday and Wednesday.  Thursday I rode a bike for the first time with minimal pain, though I couldn't really drop my heal.  Running was out of the question, but riding was manageable.  Friday was a little better, and walking up stairs only hinted at the possibility of sharp pain.  I decided to take it easy Saturday and…

Early in the week I learned that my grandmother had died and I made hasty plans to return to Georgia for the funeral.  I wasn't able to ride Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Instead of training I would have to settle for sitting on an airplane.  I arrived home Saturday night about midnight and questioned the wisdom of racing the next day.  I decided that it would be worth it for the race-pace training, as the first BASP race would be the next weekend.  I also knew that a few of the fast guys…

A few days of rain last week followed by nice weather had created ideal conditions for offroad riding in Northern California.  I was tempted to stay at home and ride the trails, but also eager to get in more training for racing 'cross.  I travelled to Prunedale to race the CCCX race at Manzanita Park, a new course for me.

It was fun to race the 35+A and then the Open A at the last CCCX race, but it had left me less than fresh for the latter.  This week I figured I would focus on the…

Saturday was the Lion of Fairfax cyclocross race at White's Hill School in my home town, Fairfax.  I was excited to have such easy access to the venue, though my attempt to pre-ride Thursday was thwarted by a middle school XC track meet.  I made my way over to the venue Saturday morning and got my first look at the course.  I had raced this race two years ago, and the course was similar.  Bumpy and loose, through the school on pavement and concrete, around the ball field on bumpy grass. …

After a couple more hours in the car on Saturday morning, I arrived just in time to register and warm up a little before the 35+ A's race started.  I lined up with a group of 20 or so and we proceded to race CX.  The course was pretty cool, with…

Since I missed the latter part of the XC racing season, I guess I should do some 'cross racing.  Part of the preparation is getting used to the pacing and relatively flat and fast nature of cyclocross courses.  The earliest chance for that is the San Francisco underground race series put on by DFL.  Vague details are distributed by word-of-mouth, usually a time and place.  Racers show up and many begin to don their "cross-dresser" attire, from a simple tutu over the kit to very elaborate and…

Sometimes the best made plans, fail to produce the expected results.

This was to be my last race of the season. A final jump into the big pond at Marathon Nationals in Bend, Oregon. My fitness from a full season of training and racing seemed on on par with the the level of competition that I would expect at this venue. I had to give it a go to see what I had in me. The objectives were straightforward: show up, pay attention and engage the event.

A week prior, by chance…

This morning I ventured to Mill Valley to start my third consecutive day of racing up Mt. Tam - this time on foot.

A group of about 100 people gathered for the Mt. Tam Hill Climb, a traditional labor day race from downtown Mill Valley to the door at the lookout on top of East Peak.  I've never actually done a running race but this was the third stage of the Triple Crown, so I thought I would give it a go.

We left at 8 o'clock and immediately hit a long flight of steps.  I got…

I felt pretty good as I rode over to Ross through Deer Park to start the mountain bike stage of the Mt. Tam Triple Crown.  I was excited that I was not too fatigued from Saturdays road effort and, of the three ways to climb Mt. Tam (road bike, mountain bike, on foot), climbing Eldridge Grade on a mountain bike is my preferred mode of ascent.

I have done about 6 good attempts at time trialing from the start of Eldridge (Phoenix Lake intersection, bottom of Fish Grade) up to the gate at…

I'm starting to feel more fit and thought the Mt. Tam Triple Crown would be some good fun and training.  I did the dirt section of this a couple of years ago, but this year I'm doing all 3 stages:  road bike, mountain bike, and run.

We met early in Mill Valley and I was happy to see a couple of familiar faces from mountain bike racing.  Mark Weir, Taylor Smith, and Den Satake were there, as well as many people I don't ride with much.  I'm not the fastest guy around on a road bike, but…

I've missed this relatively new race so far.  It always come so late in the season and I'm usually done with racing by August. As luck would have it, a large break in the middle of the season put me in a training period and fit enough to do it this year.  This would be my first time on the trails that go around the lake since I raced a singlespeed-only Grasshopper there in 2006 (?).

I knew there would be some pretty fast guys out for this one, as there is money involved (!) and it…

Hello.  It's been awhile, but this is a race blog and I have not been racing since Sea Otter.  Work, family, life - they all got in the way of training and racing my mountain bike.  It happens.

I've been getting some decent hours in for the last 6 weeks or so and I am finally fit enough to show up for a race.  I have always enjoyed the Howarth Park Dirt Crits in Santa Rosa, and I figured a 20-30 minute race like this would be a good chance to see how the fitness is…

That one cost me.

I cracked. Found my edge. Left more than I cared to by the side of the trail. 

Despite taking a wrong turn in the first 10 miles that cost me 15 minutes, back-tracking up to the course, I was holding on to 7th position past the Mad Cat Aid Station at mile 64. I was confident that I could catch a few more riders for a top five finish.

Then my gut began to rumble on the first single track section of the Western States Trail that we would now follow for…