Hi All! Well today I competed in the Santiago Canyon Time Trial. This is still one of my favorite events of the year, at least as time trials go. Since I haven't been on my TT bike since April, I decided to just run the course on my road bike. It's not the worst decision to make, since there is quite a bit of climbing on the course, but if you're really concerned about running the fastest possible time, a TT bike is needed. Needless to say, I entered the Cat 4 category, and my only goal of the day was to break 30-minutes for the 11-mile run up Santiago Canyon Road. I managed to pull out a 29:10, which was good enough for 3rd place, and a bronze medal. Funny story about the medal. In the four years I've raced this event, I've never stayed around for the awards ceremony. I've finished in the top five a handful of times, and came close to winning once. Today as usual, I packed the car up and walked over to check the results. My wife, goddaughter, friend, and I, stayed for the awards ceremony, and watched as all the categories were called, and the medals were given out. We noticed the 4/5 category wasn't mentioned, I told my wife they probably did that category first. No big deal, I said...let's go get lunch! As we walked away, my friend decided to hang back and ask. Sure enough they did do the 4/5 awards first, and they gave out medals to the top three finishers. THE BRONZE!!! Makes me wonder how many medals I left behind at this event! Today's race officially marked the end of my season! Now it's riding to just keep a decent base, keep the weight down, and enjoy the scenery. Then, December will be all about base miles and endurance. January the intensity will work its way back in to the program, all in hopes to be fit, fast, and ready for Boulevard, the tradiitonal first race of the new season! Tomorrow's plan...not sure yet, but at least three good hours in the saddle. Hope all is well, until next time...
Hi All! How's it going? Sorry, nothing new and exciting to report in this post. Work has been going well, slow, but going. The riding has been about the same as well. I'm still waiting for the results of the Death Valley Stage Race! I really don't know what's taking the promoter so long to post the results of a field of thirty riders total! Ahhhhh! This last weekend was good. Saturday morning I loaded the bike in the car, planning on riding home from Mission Bay Park, where the wife and I went down to watch our good friend compete in a Cross Country meet for Palomar College. It was the first time I've ever watched a running meet, and it really was an exciting event! Running, in my opinion, has to be the "purest" of all aports out there. Think about it...all that's required are a shorts and a pair of shoes! Maybe it's just due to the fact that I compete in an endurance sport myself, but I really appreciated watching the runners laying it out there that day. Sunday, I met a good training partner of mine, Mark, doown in Rancho San Diego, and we hit the hills and rode the Great Western Loop. Great day of riding...42 miles, 3800ft of climbing, and 1500 calories. The legs felt better then ever, another sign that all the hard training Bailey had me doing to get ready for the DV Stage Race, is still paying off even a month later! This coming Saturday, I'll be racing in the Santiago Canyon Time Trial. This WILL be my last race of the season! I don't mean to sound like I'm tired of competing, I'm actually getting more excited and anxious as the week goes by, and can't wait to pin on another number and lay it all out there! Don't worry, I'll have the race results the same day! LOL! Hope all is well! Until next time...
Hi All! How's it going out there? Good here. Well, to sum everything up...I'm still waiting the results of my race out in Death Valley! The training, or I really should say, riding, is still happening. I've just been staying on the bike to keep a level of fitness, definitely not to prepare for any events, or try and keep the high level of fitness I achieved late in the season. In fact, none of my rides have been much over a couple of hours at a time. November 13th, I do plan on racing in one more event for the year, the Santiago Canyon TT. Tradionally, I've almost always finished off my season with this event, and usually have actually kept the trraining up so I'd be ready for at least a top five finish, but this year, after all the high intensity, disciplined training Bailey had me doing in order to prepare for my last couple of races, I'm just not that motivated to really keep pushing for this TT, in fact, I wouldn't even be racing it if it wasn't for the fact my wife and goddaughter were making the trip up north to watch me hurt myself! Yesterday, I made the trip up to Camp Pendleton to watch the "Storm the Beach" cyclocross race, sponspored this year by none other then Bailey Bikes! The field was stacked to say the least! Chris Horner, Sid Taberlay, Brent Prenzlow, and the Bailey boys to name a few. It was some great racing action, kind of predictable as far as the results were concerned, (Horner 1st, Taberlay 2nd, Prenzlow 3rd, Behrens 4th, and Bailey 5th), but still a great place to go watch some cross action! Hope all is well out there, here are some photos, and I'll talk to you soon! Until next time...
Hi All! How's life? Things have been good here. For all the readers (reader! LOL!) of my blog, you'll know I competed in the Death Valley Stage Race last weekend. I've been waiting to post a race report, (along with pictures and videos), until I receive the official results, and unfortunately, I'm still waiting for them! I don't want to jinx myself, so I'll reframe from providing any information on the event, but I will say, what an incredible race! I'll definitely be back for more, and plan on keeping my focus next year strictly on RR's, and include more "climbing" focused events such as the Death Valley races, Everest Challenge, etc. Stage 2 of the race was last Sunday, and I haven't ridden my bike until today, this Sunday. Don't worry, I planned to do that, just to give myself a physical and mental break from all the training in preparation for the Death Valley event. It's been a nice break this last week, but I'll tell you, my life's routine really gets out of whack when I disrupt it with something like taking the bike completely out of it. It really has made me realize just how much of an integral part of my life the bike is! Kind of scary!!! As I mentioned, I did get back out on the road today for a little over two hours, with no real purpose, other then just riding. That's probably what the rest of this month will be in the way of riding for me. Wherever, whenever, and with whoever, just go with what life allows me in the way of riding right now. My priorities right now are family, cafe, new business, bike. Pretty much in that order. Wish I had more to tell you, and I promise I'll provide the race report as soon as it's in stone. Hope all is well! Until next time...
Hey All! Well, the countdown has begun! Less then a week now until I head up to Bishop to compete in the Death Valley Stage Race. There's a very good chance this will be my last race of the season, and judging by the past write ups on this event, and given its location, I think it's going to be high on my list of favorite events. So far there are only three of us Cat 4's registered, and I'm desperately hoping the other two racers are guys who love to climb, and excel at it. I'm not assuming I'm going to walk away with a win, but because of the extremely small field size, it's not going to be difficult to keep track of the comeptition and know how well they're doing. So, I leave Friday morning for Bishop, spend both Friday and Saturday nights there. Day one of the race starts just outside of Big Pine, and day two starts smack dab in the middle of Lone Pine, and then proceeds up the hardest rated climb in California, Onion Valley Road! I've never ridden up in that area, but if time permits, I'd like to drive Onion Valley on our way to Bishop. It's always a good idea to recon the course before you race it. This weekend I managed to get some fairly good training in, but truth be told, my body is getting tired of all these hard workouts, even after a rest week not too long ago. I left the house Saturday morning, and made my way up Highway 395 to Rainbow, then down Rice Canyon Road, up Cousar Canyon Road, up Valley Center Road, down to Escondido, then through Elfin Forest, and finally up and over San Elijo Road. I made the fatal mistake of not consuming enough calories on the 2300-calorie ride, and paid the price coming in. I weighed in at 151 when I left, and 142 when I returned! Not good!!! Needless to say, I still felt the effects of that ride this morning, so I headed straight to the coast via Palomar Airport Road, made my way down to Solana Beach, then headed inland home, via Rancho Santa Fe. A good ride, pushing it in places, but not too hard. This week is going to be all about short intense efforts, keeping the legs moving and tuned up. A nice "opener" here Friday morning before we get on the road, then race Saturday and Sunday. I'd really like to end this season with a win, so wish me luck! Hope all is well, until next time...
Hi All! Well, the weekend has come and gone, was it long enough for you? Never is for me! This last week, I managed to get myself back on track with my training, after a rest week that lasted a bit longer then it should of, but ultimately, probably did more good then harm after all the extremely hard workouts I completed prior to it. After a week of trainer interval workouts, and a week of extremely high temperatures around San Diego, Saturday's plan was to head out to Palomar for some repeats, but the forecast of possible thunderstorms with lightning, put an end to that! I decided instead to take a ride down the coast to La Jolla and back. I rode at a fairly good tempo pace, and as usual, came across a few riders who, as I was passing them, always latch on to my wheel, and sit in my draft. Most of the time this doesn't really bother me, but as I was approaching the base of the Torrey Pines climb, this one particular rider who had been cat & mousing me all the way through Del Mar, running red lights just to stay ahead of me, proceeds to sit on my wheel right up until the bottom of the climb, then decides to shoot around me as the road pitched up. I could tell by this guy's build that he wasn't going to be able to hold the pace he was setting up the beginning of the climb, so I just sat on his wheel and waited for him to blow up. Before this happened, two riders came up on the outside of us, one a rider from UCLA, and the other a Swami. They went by us a good 4 or 5mph quicker then we were, and I immediately jumped in behind them, but intentionally staying a good twenty feet back. It didn't take long for the Del Mar wheelsucker to blow up, then it was just the two other riders and myself. About halfway up the climb, the UCLA rider went around his Swami friend, and up'd the pace even more. The Swami rider had a climber's build, but the UCLA rider looked more like a sprinter. He was putting out some serious power, and I just kept hanging on. Not long after, the UCLA rider pulled off, job done, and the Swami kept the pace up, climbing hard! I just kept my distance, but not losing any either. I looked down and noticed my heart rate was at 182bpm, and I was definitely feeling the hurt! A couple of times, I had the urge get out of the saddle, and attempt to overtake the Swami, but the level of suffering I was experiencing was just enough to keep me at bay. We both reached the top, still twenty feet apart, and as my heart rate settled back down, I smiled. There's nothing like a good battle up a climb to get the blood pumping! All in all, a good day on the road, 48-miles, 3600ft, and 1400 calories. Today, a new PR of sorts. Again, I skipped Palomar because of an unfavorable forecast, but still wanted to get some good climbing in, so I decided that hill repeats would be the plan for the day. San Elijo and Twin Oaks. Great weather for repeats, overcast, high 60's, a light wind, bring it on! 8x San Elijo, and 2x Twin Oaks. Pushed fairly big gears, and kept the heart rate between 150-160bpm for the 2:45 ride, and another 1400 calories. Legs are feeling heavy tonight! Thirteen days until the Death Valley Stage Race! Can't wait! Hope you all had a great weekend, until next time...
