Saturday in the park, I think it was the 4th of July

It was actually the 3rd of July, but still it was an exciting Independence Day parade in Brownsville, VT. Penguin participated in the parade with a very creative float, and we're not just saying that; the Penguin float actually won "most creative float" in the parade. Eric may have greased the selectmen's palms for that honor. Just kidding, Eric and Raina created an incredible float. Check out some pictures:

View from the ice-breaker front.

Alix and Annabelle go down the slide.

A wee penguin slides

Baby penguins staying cool with popsicles


Of course there were bikes involved. I swear I smiled a lot, I'm just trying to look like a bike cop for this picture. Jesse can't hide how he's feeling though.

Side view of the iceberg

Sunapee and Sandwiches

If it weren't for bike racing I'd be a blimp. Food would try to stay away from me, but I'd seek and devour every tasty morsel within reach. With cycling and specifically bike racing, I have something to keep my mind occupied. The engine I've got doesn't need a whole lot of extra weight to slow way down. But I still love food. And food is there for me when the bike racing part of my life doesn't pan out quite the way I'd been envisioning it on all those training rides. John and I signed up for the 37th annual Lake Sunapee Bike Race. On the ride down we mostly talked about mountain biking and cyclocross and how relaxing both endeavors can be. Something to keep in mind while in a pack of 100 nervous cat 4 riders bombing around Lake Sunapee. The race was a disaster in general, but John and I both finished without crashing. As Eric wrote, great things at Sunapee=not crashing.

I got spit out the back on the last climb around an hour and forty minutes in. There was probably twenty minutes left in the race when I popped. I was pissed at myself. I don't think it was a lack of fitness, more a lack of aggressiveness. Actually that was another subject John and I discussed. To do well in the cat 4s, it helps to be an a-hole, and to be ignorant of said assholishness. There were a couple exemplars of this during our race. Anyhow, I rode alone through Newbury and back along the lake when a cop car went flying by me at, I would guess, 70mph. Hmm, I thought. Then I came upon the traffic circle. What carnage. Uhhh...it looked like a warzone. I counted four guys down and not moving, a couple more sitting, and many more standing with scrapes and damage on the side. Fortunately, no sign of John. John was in the middle of the wreck and did wear his tires bare but somehow made it through unscathed. Well, got to say it feels good not to physically hurt, but the ego is another thing.

Back to food, food helps my ego. I know it is only a temporary fix, but when things go bad on the bike it frees up my restraint and I chow! So tonight, the day after my ego bruising, I'm hankering for a snack. I look in the fridge and find a little grilled chicken. Straight up chicken sandwich? No, let's get loco. I already had some Stonyfield yogurt out on the counter. What else? There was some roasted garlic I hadn't used from pizza the other night. Parmesan cheese? I love the parm. Spicy Asian chili sauce? Oh look out. Any greens for this beast? No. But, there was a nice head of brocolli. I can make that work. So I've got chicken, bread, parmesan cheese, chili sauce, roasted garlic, brocolli and yogurt. Seven things I like. Would I like them together?The cyclist in me only allowed a half sandwich. The glutton side was upset, but I have a short memory and who knows the Claremont points race may restore my delusions of bike racing grandeur. I toasted the bread, with parmesan cheese sprinkled on the surface and the chicken sliced and laid out on one side.I sliced the roasted garlic clove and placed the slices all around one side of the bread. I used a chef's knife and shaved off the sprouts on the head of the brocolli. It makes for a decent green substitute in a sandwich. The only issue is it doesn't stay together that well. I put the chili sauce on the chicken. It looked hot. Hopefully the yogurt would cool the chilis down.
Mmmm...looks good. But how do I get it together? That took a little finagling, but I made it happen. I was a bite or two in before I sat down.
The concoction was decent. Not too fattening for that nagging cyclist side, and not too skimpy for the gluttonous side. If I had to do it all over again, I'd put in less chili sauce. Oh, and also stay with the group and sprint like a bat out of hell just before the Sunapee traffic circle.

Winter Wild #2

The second race was at Ragged Mountain on February 6. I didn't do so hot. After the race I wasn't feeling as jazzed about the whole idea of uphill racing. Earlier today was the third race of the series at Whaleback and I'm jazzed up again. My enthusiasm may slightly have to do with my results, but not entirely. I'll slog through a quick report of the second race at Ragged.

I went into the second race at Ragged feeling pretty pumped up. I even preregistered! Which meant I spent an extra $2.50 due to runreg.com's fee. There is no day of charge. Doh! Ragged is about an hour away. Jesse Norris picked me up at the crack before the crack of dawn. I drank coffee, talked kid stuff and bikes with Jesse, and pondered domination for the day.

That morning (February 6) was very cold. Unfortunately, it had not been cold leading up to the race. So I hadn't been skiing much and the trail we were supposed to go up on at Ragged had been closed down. The race director, Chad Denning, changed the race course because the planned course was too dangerous. What was an ascent up a green circle became an ascent up a blue square and much steeper trail, though I had no idea as I got a front line starting spot.

The gun went off and I cooked it along the flats with some runners and the other skate skier. First race I held back and had to go around too many people. I thought I'd take a different strategy at Ragged. We got through the false flats and hit the vertical. Lactate, lactate, lactate BAM! And I am herringboning (not a word) because I can't move the skis without sliding backwards.

I watch the runners and the skate skier (Bill McGandy) move up and away from me. I tried to move up the hill with my skis in a V and my knees almost touching the hill. I even missed a pole stroke. I kind of looked like this guy except with skis strapped to my feet and not at all intentional. Lots of people came around me. Was it skills or strength that were lacking? Probably both. McGandy kept skiing up the steep, but I just couldn't get forward movement.

The top finally came, but I was defeated. I cruised down the slope mostly in a snowplow. I had become a complete wuss after my pathetic attempt at getting uphill. I came in 17th overall. But I came in 2nd for the track ski division even though I finished four minutes behind the leader after only being a minute behind him at the first race. Still fun, but a classic case of squashed hubris. I thought I had a chance for glory that day.

Offseason Uphill Racin'

Going uphill fast in order to go downhill faster is essentially the idea that spawned the modern ski industry. Initially people had to climb a mountian if they wanted to ski down. Eventually the rope tow was concocted, which beget the chair lift, which beget the high speed quad/gondola which beget boredom, coldness, and long lines which beget the uphill racing series I took part in on Saturday. An uphill race at Whaleback Mtn in Enfield, NH is how I would begin my day Saturday, not to mention competition in 2010. The race was the first of the Winter Wild series, www.winterwild.com

The races have four options: Open (running or snowshoes), tele gear, heavy metal (bring up a snowboard/alpine skis) or track skis. I decided, after some hand wringing, to go with nordic skate skis and compete in the track ski division. I would have to put my V1 into action and then barrel down a mountain on skis without edges. I can do that. I brought along the yaktrax just in case I wimped out, but I listened to myself commit to the skis once I got to registration at 6:15 am.

The race was scheduled for a 7 am mass start. Start time got pushed back a few minutes because day of registrations kept coming in. The field consisted of over 80 competitors. One of which was Justin Cox, my cross nemesis and fellow Lebanon resident. Justin was on his short tele/touring skis.

A countdown began and at 1 the field surged towards the uphill. I double poled for the first 100 meters or so and then began skating. I'm on the left side of the first picture. Helmets were a requirement, but they threw it aside for the first race. I went with one anyhow as insurance for what was sure to be a sketchy downhill on nordic skis. Thanks to Evan Dybvig for the photos


The first stretch was the steepest. It was steep both in grade and because the trail is part of Whaleback's terrain park, so there were mounds of snow that had been stacked for enormous kickers. I got through that section in the top ten. Two skate skiers and five runners were ahead of me. I dared not look back yet. The hill turned right towards the top, luckily the trail hugged the backside of Whaleback rather than going straight up. The grade got a little gentler, but my legs and lungs were smoked from the first section. So were most others I figured. Until I heard Justin give me a cheer. He didn't sound winded.

The experience was reminiscent of the Ascutney hill climb. I kept on looking at turns in the trail and initially hoping it was the last and that the top was near. And then I would immediately suppress those thoughts the best I could because the top comes when there is nothing more to climb. Not when you hope to be done climbing. I hadn't done any recon on the hill, so I didn't quite know when it would come. Anyhow, the trail meandered up, twisting and turning. Justin was behind me. Justin made his move on me and I trailed him for the last third or quarter. I stayed near.



Finally the top came into view. I could see the chairlift's apparatus as I turned towards the summit from the backside of the hill. The turn to go down was off camber. Justin had to pause to take off his skins. I squeezed past him and started charging down hill. The downhill was hairy. I passed a pair of runners just after the top. A little farther down, two more runners. And then just at the trail's bottom the final runner was passed, he must have been cooking. I understand it was Tom Jacobs. I made the final turn and cruised through the finish line, the third person to cross the line in 14:35. I had been 9th or 10th to the top. The first two across the line at the bottom were skate skiers. Numero uno was Dave Cahill who is an avid nordic racer. He crossed in 12 minutes flat. The other nordic skier and I followed. Justin came next followed by the runners.

The awards ceremony didn't kick off until 8:30 so we had a little time to kill. The second race at Whaleback on February 20 is two laps so Justin, Jesse Norris and I decided to take a second lap for training. The second lap wasn't nearly as taxing. We went at an easier pace, but sill it wasn't too painful. I did take a digger on the way down. I realized I was lucky that I only had to pass runners on the way down during the race. They were pretty easy to go around.

All in all the morning was blast. I walked away with a coffee mug for my efforts. One of the two nordic skiers was in my age division so I placed 2nd in the 20-29 category. Which I realized after wasn't the division I was supposed to be in. Racing age this year is 30. Yikes. Got to get used to that.

I didn't fly the Penguin colors, but wish I had. I could have gotten away with a long sleeve and the jersey. The temperature was above freezing even at 7 am. Maybe Eric and Raina will see it as an advertising expense and get a batch of thermal jackets. OR!! Eric, John, Raina, Molly will join me at the next race at Ragged on Feb. 6 or the second race at Whaleback on Feb. 20. (Vinnie and Jess don't have to make the five hour drive for a thirty minute race).

Baystate Day 1 (and 2)

There were some ups in downs in the run-up to this race. On the up side, I had one of my better performances last year on this course, and day 1 was going to be almost identical to that course. On the down side, I hadn't ridden for 2 weeks and my last ride ended rapidly when my knee collided with a tree while mountain biking. This forced me to one-pedal out of the woods and resulted in my kneecap turning black and blue almost immediately. On the up side, if I was able to hold my relative placing in the 3s from Northampton, I'd likely be in the elusive Verge points. On the down side, I could barely even pretend to think that I was 'tapering' or 'recovering' into this race. With a fairly weak road season this year, combined with most of October off for the birth of my son (!), I have definitely been racing myself into shape this cross season. No races for 3 weeks does not help you race into shape. Also on the down side was vivid memories of watching David Rath take a really good header on the first lap last year.

John and I carpooled down for this one. Raina and Oliver decided to skip day 1 (more on that later). We got there with plenty of time to get a good warm-up. I had to keep reminding myself during the warm-up that I hadn't ridden in 2 weeks and I didn't want to use up the precious little tapered/recovered energy I had in the tank. After the masters race finished, I jumped on the track to go over the run-up and check out the horse jump. To my surprise, the wettest part of the course coincided with the highest elevation - that was curious. The downhill after the run-up was a bit soggy and rutted. I watched the guy in front of me nearly eat it due to the mud and ruts, though in retrospect, I'm thinking he just wasn't the greatest bike handler.

Fast-forward to staging. I couldn't remember when I'd pre-reg'd for this race, but my number was pretty low (so was John's). They gave call-ups to all the points holders (curse my desire to be one of you!) and then lined the rest of us up by number (per usual). I remember thinking: "wow, for having such a low number, there seem to be a lot of rows in front of me". Then I turned around - it felt like most of the field was holding at least 1 Verge point. Geez, there were only two rows behind me.

Fast-forward to the whistle. We're off - and I'm thinking about not crashing like Mr. Rath. Bad idea. It turns out that when you think about not crashing, you ride slow. I was probably 8th from last coming off the track. Bad idea. Luckily from my 'strategic vantage point' I was able to see that the 3rd or 4th wheel into the run-up had mis-handled the off-camber. Whoops! The whole field was backed up going up the hill and all of a sudden I'm back in contact. After a fairly leasurly stroll up since the pack in front of me didn't seem too concerned with letting everyone else get a little gap, we got to the top.

 First lap liesure (photo curtesy: lodri's flicker)

 
Quick check, hmmm, just a couple people behind me. Back on and down the soggy hill. Had I not seen the guy in warmups struggle mightily, I would have bombed the hill and scrubbed the speed right before the horse jump. But my mind had gone soft and I was on the brakes (!). Bad idea. Anyway, over the horse jump and I can't barely see anyone behind me. I was thinking to myself: "almost a reverse hole shot in a Verge 3 race, hmm, bad idea. I better go faster". Unfortunately or fortunately, the guys in front of me in the twisties right after the horse jump were not such great bike handlers.

Where the Penguin? (Photo credits: Geoff Martin)

Going slow, my frustration was building and when the course opened up a bit, I seriously dropped the hammer. Well, not so seriously...I passed one guy and then another. Then I 'smartly' decided to sit on the next guy through the pavement section. This was one of the high-wind areas (40 or 50 mph gusts) where a draft was much appreciated. Much to my chagrin this guy was a passenger when we got to the soft and lumpy 180 by the parking lot. The guys I'd passed took some noteably sketchy lines into the corner that still have me shaking my head. Had I been a bikelength further ahead, I would have been T-boned. Either way, I brake, a gap forms and away I chase.

By this point (about halfway through lap 1) I was frustrated and kicking myself for starting the gentlemen's drift before the gun. Damn. This lit the fire under my bum and I started racing - you know, the late-breaking, hard accelerating, serious cornering type of stuff. Of course, I was waaaay back when I started, but it was fun to be passing people. The laps were all pretty much a blur after that, but I was happy that I passed the guy we were parked next to. He was one of those folks that puts his number right in the middle of his back. Not to get on a soapbox or anything, but 'left side' or 'right side' does not mean which way the aerial camera will be oriented. Having worked with results from a few races, I suggest this for placement (though I like 5 or 6 pins for cross).

After the race I tried to count the people I passed. I could only remember about 15 but thought there might have been more. Results were taking longer than I had patience for - mostly because I was starting to cool down in a major way. I couldn't motivate to walk all the way back to the track from the car, so we left without checking.

A couple things are lucky for me: the timers and officials keep track of the finish order (!) and crossresults.com is doing the Verge points tallying so the races get posted same-day. A little internet checking showed a 35th out of 61 finishers. Not too shabby for totally sucking on the first half-lap. Some recorvery and a start-whistle attitude adjustment might actually get me into the points I so desire.


Day 2:

Raina and Oliver decided not to go on Day 1 so that they would give me incentive to go down for Day 2 since there wasn't anyone to carpool with on Sunday. Unfortunately, the plan backfired since I didn't want to drag them down for most of the day and had some work at home that needed to be done. Long story short: I bailed. Am I proud? No, but I felt pretty good about Saturday and I didn't get a chance to ruin it with Sunday.

24 Hours of Great Glen - Penguin Style

I was thinking it would be cool to get a few Penguin teams together for the 24 Hours of Great Glen race this summer... August 14-15, 2010.  We could have 4-person teams of guys vs girls (the girls would win of course).  Or we could pair up and have Penguin couples team (Raina & Eric vs Jess & Vinnie??) - although 2 person teams sound painful (12 hours of racing!).  Or we could do whatever mish-mash of teams we can come up with depending on who is interested.

It would be a fun weekend of racing, camping and hanging with family and friends. Anyone interested? 

Girls - if we go guys vs girls we'd need to find a fourth woman for the Penguin team.

Girls Rock! (& some late season photos)

For most of the Penguin racers their cross seasons are wrapping up.  Here are some photos and comments from some of the most recent races.  I just have to say that the Penguin girls rock and really raised the bar this year.  Next year when I'm back to racing I'm going to have to get my butt moving to keep the  bar set by the girl's team up where it was set in '09.

Molly raced at the Bethlehem Cup (NY) mid-November and got pretty muddy.  She did awesome in her first season of cross racing for Penguin.... as a cat 4 she stepped up and raced almost all open races (cat 1-4) with one win at Paradise Cross Frenzy (VT) and a very strong finish at the Northampton (MA) Verge race.

Molly muddy from racing hard at the Bethlehem Cup

I didn't get to see Jess and Vinnie in person at all this racing season (Oliver had other plans)...  but they were super busy tearing up the cross courses throughout the mid-Atlantic and even traveling as far as Wisconsin and Kentucky to do US Grand Prix races.  Jess sent a bunch of pictures of their season so I posted them on the team photo gallery.  Here are a few of my favorites:

 Jess and Vinnie showing off their new kits at Gloucester

 Vinnie at Mercer Day 1.  Photo courtesy of Cycling Captured.com

 Vinnie at Mercer Day 1.  Photo courtesy of Cycling Captured.com

 Jess muddy (and happy about it) at Granogue

Here is a great photo (courtesy of Jess) of George at Gloucester (MA)... (one of the many) mudfest races this year

Jess at Fair Hill.  Photo courtesy of Joe Mallis Photography

And here is a huge shout out to Jess for currently being ranked #2 for Cat 3 women in the US (earlier in the season she held the #1 spot!).... way to represent for Penguin... congrats on a great season!

Jess with a win at the Staten CX.  Photo courtesy of cycling captured