My highlight from Masters Road Nationals

It’s been a great week of racing in Bend at Masters Road Nationals, which kicked off Wednesday with the time trial. Kevin handily won his age group, Rob and Craig were both on the podium finishing 4th, and I was fortunate enough to score my second stars & bars.

Standing atop the podium to receive the champion’s jersey would seem like the obvious highlight of my week. But that actually didn’t happen until Dean and I lined up for the crit together yesterday, and he rocket the sprint to win his ag criterium national championship.

The crit is pretty much the opposite of the time trial where success results from talent, timing, nerves, bike handling and other skills that I still don’t comprehend. Yet my understanding of how the win culminated from years of dedication, and what it meant to Dean, was as clear as the S (for Specialized) on our jerseys. It was an honor to be the on the same course with Dean and part of the tremendous accomplishment.

I came to cycling from the solitary sport of triathlon. Being part of a tight-nit squad like Team Specialized Racing is something that endears bike racing to me. Seeing teammates win is as meaningful as doing it myself. Fortunately this week I’ve been able to enjoy it from both perspectives with us winning three national championships and three additional podiums.

Potatoes, Potatoes, Potatoes and Mystery Meat: Story of the 2011 UCI Track Junior World Championships

Moscow, Russia. 5885 miles from home, just being there was sure to be an experience let alone racing at the Junior World Championships! Going into the trip I could not have been more excited, except for the flight that seemed never ending. I am completely and entirely thankful for the support from Team Specialized Racing, The Northern California Cycling Federation (NCCF), the Northern California Nevada Cycling Association (NCNCA), the Northern California Velodrome Association (NCVA), in addition to the numerous individuals who made this once in a life time experience possible.

After surviving the roughly 15 hours of flights it was utterly amazing to be able to ride on one of the fastest tracks in the world along with experiencing world famous land marks such as Red Square and the Kremlin. The track in Moscow is a true 333 meter track made of Siberian Pine with banking of 11 degrees in the straights and 41 degrees in the turns. The track also features fairly short straight-aways for its size, creating very wide and smooth turns which contribute greatly to the speed of the track, along with the 10 meter width and the mid-turn, several stories drop  from the rail to blue band. But enough with the geeky technical information of the track, as some are probably asleep. Just understand this track is fast. The 200m record was set here (~9.5 sec)

I was in Moscow for the points race which would be 72 laps of fast, hard, active racing with sprints every six laps and to prepare for this I spent more time than I would ever want looking at the back of my dad’s scooter helmet and back than I would like. This proved to be extremely helpful as the race averaged a brisk pace of roughly 32 miles per hour, realize that that was for 24 kilometers with sprints every 2 kilometers.

Typically in a points race, the racing starts off a bit conservative but this was throttle on from the gun. I made it my goal to stay within the top 7 or so through out the race because the only direction this race was going was forward. The way racing should be. I also planned on keeping a cool attitude for the first half, roughly, to avoid having a weak finish as the last sprint in all points races serves as the tie breaker. However with a group of four getting off the front within the first 7-10 laps and cooperating and eventually taking a lap and gain 20 points along with the points they picked up along the way. This meant having to start racing aggressively a bit sooner than planned. However with the racing being so active and most break attempts not succeeding, choosing the right time to make the aggressive moves was tricky and required patience and precision, it was a track race after all. Then with roughly 34 laps to-go I went down (only my second crash on the track in seven years, perfect timing huh?), but thankfully was able to get back in with just some wood burn. By the time I got back into the pack it was roughly 27 laps to-go and another small group was off the front, and they would soon take a lap making seven people total taking a lap. I ended up finishing in the pack at the final sprint.

Although my result was nothing extraordinary, the experience most certainly was. It was fast as hell (pardon my French), aggressive, extremely tactical, and one huge adrenaline rush, along with one big continuous fight for position, resulting in a lot of close riding, huge emphasis on close.

Cheyenne Canyon Time Trial

Last weekend I raced the Cheyenne Canyon Time Trial in Colorado Springs.  It is one of my best results to date.  Second in the Pro1/2.  The climb is 5 kilometers long and the beginning isn't too steep.  But it gets steeper halfway up with the last kilometer over 10%.  I've won this race 2 times before (SM3 2009, 2010).  Bettering my time each time, this time I did the race in 15:30. Tom Danielson has the record and it is 13:34. The winner is a cat 1 and won the other hill climbs this year (Mt. Evans, Lookout Mountain and others).  He finished in 14:50. This happens to be the same climb that is used for the power tests at National Camp at the Olympic Training Center.  This is one of my favorite climbs anywhere and it was a pretty good race.  Every year I get closer to the record! 

-Dean Haas

Some Time Off The Bike

I am kind of going off the cycling topic for this blog, but
I have not been able to ride for the past couple of weeks because of a hip
injury.  Although it is disappointing
that I cannot finish up the racing season, it has been nice to take a mental
and physical break.  During this rest
period, I had the opportunity to go to  Maui.  It
was a very special trip because 12 members of my extended family all got to go.
 This is the first time that the 12 of us
vacationed together.  We stayed in North
Kanapali at the nicest hotel I have ever been in.  Every day, we all had a great time doing all
the typical tourist activities like snorkeling, going to a Luau and eating a
ton of food.  On one of the days we went
to the Grand Wailea for the most amazing brunch any one has ever seen.  It was impossible to go there and eat less
than 4,000 calories.     My
favorite thing about the trip was seeing some incredible sea life, while
snorkeling.  On every outing we saw at
least one huge sea turtle.  One time, I
even swam next to one for a solid 10 minutes or so.  This was a trip of a lifetime and it is one I
will never forget.

As far as my hip, I should be able to do some hard riding
soon. I have a Doctor's appointment tomorrow to get a MRI and I will know more
after that.

Kyle

Mt. Evans Hill Climb

While the 17-18s were racing the 43rd Annual Tour de L'abitibi, I was at home in Colorado racing one of my favorite races, the 46th Annual Mt. Evans Hill Climb.  Mount Evans is one 54 14,000 foot mountains in Colorado and it has a road that goes all the way to the top.  The climb is 28.5 miles long and although it is not steep it is extremely difficult and it can be below freezing at the top and snowing in the summer time not to mention the fact that the summit of the mountain is at 14,264 ft making it the highest paved road in North America.

Mt. Evans has been won by the likes of Jonathan Vaughters, Scott Moninger, Ned Overend and of course Tom Danielson who holds the course record.  This means that every year the race is going to be hard and it was just that this year.  The climb starts in Idaho Springs, a town just west of Denver, the climb starts with 7 miles up a canyon and then another 7 miles of steeper grades until the pay station for the Mt. Evans highway.  The second half of the climb is the hardest part because the pay station is at 10,000 feet.  Another 4 miles past the pay station is where the treeline ends and 5 miles from the summit is Summit Lake where there is snow all year round off the road and there is permafrost under the road.  After Summit Lake the starts to get hard because of thin air and cold temperature and steeper grades.  This is when road is actually on Mt. Evans and the road soon turns into a series of about 15 switchbacks in 3 miles that get extremely difficult a mile from the top.  Mt. Evans can be likened to Alp d'Huez with its switchbacks except harder.

 A few miles from the summit high winds are common.

Switchback at 13,000 feet.

Summit Lake 12,000 feet 5 miles from the summit.  

Training ride at the top.

Enough about the climb and about the race.  There aren't a lot of tactics in a hill climb especially one this long it is pretty much just being the strongest rider.  The climb up the canyon was very fast and when got to mile 7 there was an acceleration and until Echo Lake where the pay station is the race was fast and gets a little bit steeper and riders were getting dropped.  That day it was windy, windier than usual and the wind was coming from the South mostly instead of the West making some nasty headwinds.  The race stayed steady for past treeline and the road goes mostly South for awhile and stayed hard and although I was suffering I was staying with the front off the race until Summit Lake where there were some attacks.  After that the road becomes steeper again, it is pretty flat even downhill by the lake and I couldn't hold the speed.  Around a kilometer later I could see that race pretty exploded and there wasn't really a group anymore.  I finished 16th in the race in 2:01:27 slower than my time the year before when I won the cat 3 race in 2:00:30 and the winner did 1:57:37 making the times this year very slow.  Peter Stetina won in 1:50:00 last year and Tom Danielson has the record of 1:41:20 a record I would like to beat one day.

-Dean Haas

Cascade Cycling Classic 35+ race report

By Chris Lyman

This past weekend teammate Craig Roemer, Morgan Stanley rider Greg Anderson and I headed to the Cascade Cycling Classic for the 35+ race. CCC is a great event with four demanding stages attracting top riders. This year was no different with Northern Cal hardmen Chris Phipps, Andreas Gil, Jonathon Eropkin, Jason Walker, Brian Choi, Matt Carino, Hernando and others, along with Sam Krieg, who won Mt. Hood earlier this year plus numerous past RR and TT podiums at nationals.

I had a fairly hectic work week leading to CCC and arrived feeling like lousy. After a Thursday afternoon pre-race ride I started to wonder if I’d forgotten my race legs at home.

Feeling the same way on stage 1, I decided to stay hidden in the field until the climb to Mt. Bachelor. With numerous teams fielding a full contingent of riders, as long as a break didn’t get away with everyone represented I felt confident playing it safe.

With about 15k to go a serious attack got up the road with Andreas. Veloce, a local team, did a lot of work at the front and caught the break just as we started the last climb. The field was immediately reduced to about 20 riders as a solid tempo set in and I was hit with a nasty calf cramp, which left me struggling to hang onto the back. As it ramped up, Chris Phipps attacked (no surprise) and nobody could follow his surge. Jonathan Eropkin and Sam did a lot of the initial work on the front and kept Phipps :10-:20 in front of us. I joined in and took hard pulls trying to maintain our gap, knowing that if we did by the flat section then we’d be able to bring him back.

Unfortunately none of the 12 or so other riders chipped in when it flattened out and it was left to the three of us to chase until under 1k to go when suddenly all the wheel suckers found their legs. Chris finished :20 ahead and bagged a :10 time bonus, and I knew that was probably too much to give him.

Stage 2 was the TT that climbed 750 feet in about 5.5 miles. Once again my legs weren’t there and I struggled to find a good cadence for the climb. After a grueling 16:38 outbound leg the return was a merciful and fun 8:46 at 38 MPH. Enough to win but the stage but only take back :11 on a TT custom made for a climber like Phipps. That slotted me into 2nd GC with Sam just behind.

Stage 3 was a fast but uneventful crit won by Andreas Gil. Chalk up another W for Nor Cal!

Stage 4 was the Awbrey Butte Circuit Race, a guaranteed sufferfest with sharp rollers, a 1.5k climb and the infamous Archie Briggs, which ramps to something idiotic like 15% before leveling out to a more reasonable pitch.

Before the start I saddled up to Sam and we discussed both being there to win and not finish 2nd or 3rd. We made a truce to not chase each other in order to force a move, and our intent to go out swinging. Sam must have attacked 25 times and Jonathan and Jason continuously peppered the front with moves. While not trusting my legs, I decided to wait until when I hoped Phipps’ team would be softened up.

After a mental error on 3rd lap – going for a bottle just as the lead group surged and getting gapped off – Roemer put in a huge effort to bring me back to the front and I finally found my legs. I started attacking to see who would chase and then Sam and I got into a nice rhythm launching one big move after another. After two final all-chips-in efforts - one bridging solo to Sam as he was left to cook and another to Jason - I had done all that I could and was near the point of cracking. With the two climbs yet to come I tucked in out of the wind and kept my fingers crossed that I had enough to get over Archie Briggs.

Attacks continued but without any real snap as everyone was spent. A small group of about 15 made it over Briggs and headed to the line. I felt enough to reach back for one more effort and was trying to figure out where to make it when a few more guys made it back on and swarmed to the front. A moment of hesitation and the opportunity was gone so I rode to the line knowing and finished with the small group, preserving my 2nd GC.

Andreas did Northern Cal proud winning again while Jason Walker sprinted for 3rd and moved up to 4th overall GC.

Overall it was a great weekend, and ended up resembling an NCNCA event with a Nor Cal sweep:
Stage One - 1st, 2nd & 3rd
Stage Two - 1st & 2nd
Sage Three - 1st, 2nd & 3rd
Stage Four - 1st & 3rd
Final GC - 1st, 2nd & 4th

A special thanks to the O’Shannon family, our gracious hosts who put up with us crowding around the kitchen TV to watch the Tour as we ate breakfast each morning!

Looking forward to heading back for Nats in a few weeks.

Brazilian ramblings

How is it possible that dreams sometimes are prescient?

Even at my age, each day can bring a learning experience. Sometimes the lessons are hard.

Today started with excitement for me. I felt really good, like I’ve been feeling all this championship season. My warm up confirmed my race preparation was right. I toed the line as the first call-up to this year’s Master Mountain Bike World Championship in Brazil and the race started with an explosion, like it always does.

It’s the dead of winter here. I pre-rode the course for three days earlier this week but stuck to the trainer yesterday as once again it rained hard and I’d had enough of riding in the nasty stuff. The course was a muddy mess each time I rode it, not what I am used to in the dry dusty races I do in the Bay area. I wore my training pads and for good reason, I think I hit the deck 20 to 25 times in the mere six laps of the course I completed in practice over my three days outside. The pain of those times face down in the mud convinced me how to ride (nay, run) the dangerous parts of the descents. As a point of reference, those dangerous sections made up at least ¾ of all descending on the course. I expected these descents to be the daunting challenges come race day.

I was wrong.

Now common sense and good thinking suggested making sure all your equipment has been tested prior to a big race. I always do this, until today. After today, I always will.

As I always do for Mountain Bike World Championships, I bring two identical bikes, one for the race and one for training. This year I put an all new drive train on the race bike before I left home; chain, cassette, cables, cable housing, new wheels, tires, rotors and brake pads too. I wanted everything to be perfect, no worn parts. I rode it around on the road at home to see if everything was working, it seemed fine.

At the race venue, I always do one lap on the race bike at quasi-racing speed to do a final test. This year I didn’t. The course was too much of a mess and I was constantly crashing while practicing. I didn’t want to risk going down and breaking something on the race bike or taking a chance of gumming up the cables and risking bad shifting. Even at 56 years of age, we make bad decisions.

The first 200 meters of the race course is flat, the next 300 meters climbs on pavement at 20 percent, the perfect way to start a race for me. Somebody jumps by me as we hit the climb. No problem, I kick a little bit and drop him easily. Benny Anderson, the current Swedish National champ and reigning European champion pulls up beside me. He beat me for the first time in four tries two years ago in France when he won his first World Championship. I knew he was the one I needed to beat today to win.

I’m riding tempo and decide it’s time to test Benny. I shift down one gear and get out of the saddle to attack. Pop! My chain jumps a gear and tweaks on an angle as the rear derailleur lurches down the cassette. What the f@#* just happened. I put a little pressure on the pedals and realize I am about to break the chain as the rear wheel locks up. I stop and get off the bike, pick the rear end up with one hand and spin the pedals with the other, the only way to correct the problem.

Benny’s put 50 meters on me and I know he heard the crunching of my chain, opportunity knocks or should I say crunches for him.

I pedal and the chain jumps again on the cassette, and again, and again, and again. I realize that, at this point, I can ride nothing more than tempo as any more pressure than that yields the same troubling result. How do you win a world championship riding tempo???

We crest the top of the start loop and hit the first tricky descent. I can see Benny cautiously finding his way down to the start/finish line about 75 meters in front of me. I see his strategy given his knowledge of my circumstance.

To hell with it, I’m going to rip this descent and take my chances. My heart’s in my throat a couple of times but I get back to Benny by the bottom and we’re on to the first of two full laps.
Now I can pedal again but fear the outcome. Sure enough the problem persists, I need to make a barrel adjustment for the rear derailleur on the fly and see if it makes a difference. The first climb of this lap is 50 meters in front of me.

Twist the barrel adjuster, pedal. Nope, that didn’t work. Twist the barrel adjuster, pedal. Uh oh, I’m on the climb and my amateur attempts at a mechanic’s work have failed. Not only that, but I have adjusted my way out of even being able to ride at tempo on the climb. Even the easiest of pressure on the pedals is now unworkable.

This is an easy climb I can do in my big chain ring but with every pedal stroke the chain jumps. I get off the bike and start running as I watch Benny sprint away from me. I crest the climb and I realize that caution needs to be tossed. I scream down the descent, but this is the easiest of the 10 to 12 descents in front of me. I fear trouble lies ahead but what choice do I have.

Immediately I’m on the next climb, I see Benny in front of me climbing with speed. I have no choice but to run again and the first challenging drop is up next. I cut it loose and crash! Not bad but it shakes me up. Unhurt other than a trickle of blood down my knee and elbow, I remount and let it go again.

Next climb up, next piece of running and I no longer see Benny in front of me. Someone at the side of the road says he has a minute on me.

And so it goes. Run up each climb, take my chances on the descents. Other than that one crash, this strategy (it’s all I can come up with at this point) is working.

Through the start/finish and the bell rings. Again someone says “one minute to the leader”. A surge of adrenaline hits me as I realize I’m still in this race, in the last 15 minutes since that first crash I’ve haven’t given up a thing to Benny.

Now I know what Benny’s thinking as he has a friend out on the course who may have seen me running up climbs that make no sense to run, unless you have a mechanical problem. Benny climbs hard and takes no chances on the descents, probably off the bike on all of them. My only chance is that he continues this strategy while I take even more chances on the descents.
I now hit that descent I crashed on in lap one, this time though I go even faster.

Usually I act rationally, in fact, it’s been years since my days of irrationality.

This is the world championships and, given the circumstances, I need to take chances to even have the slightest hope of winning. It’s that slightest hope that puts rational thinking into the dust bin.

I make it past the point of the crash last lap but I am going much too fast and I’m headed for a tree. My front wheel is in a rut and I the brakes aren’t slowing me down. My choices are slowing down by putting my face square into the trunk of that tree or dive off the side of this descent down the embankment.

It’s not like you actually make a decision given those choices. Survival instinct takes over and I’m off the side of the trail careening downward. Suddenly I flip and come to a sudden stop. I’ve fallen into a 4 foot hole filled with vines and broken tree branches. I shake my head, neck seems okay. I move my arms, they work, legs work too. Okay, now what? I look up and my bike is across the top of the hole. I pull myself up grabbing vines until I get to my bike. I push up and throw the bike back onto the hill and struggle to crawl out of the hole. Suddenly the Columbian that finished third behind me last year after I broke my pedal is coming cautiously down the descent. I lost 8 minutes to a broken pedal and beat him by 3 minutes on top of that, this tells me just how costly my mechanical nightmare has been to me today.

He goes by me as I get back on course. Thirty seconds later we cross the road to start the next climb. The Columbian is 50 meters in front of me and Benny’s friend is there and tells me Benny’s 3 minutes up the road. Sounds like I was in that hole for about 2 minutes.

The race is over for first but damned if I’ll give up fighting for second. I am running up the climb with every last bit of energy I have. I catch the Columbian and push by him. I am seeing stars.
Now that I’m in front of him and bleeding from both knees and elbows , with many bruises I can’t even see, no more chances on the descents. I take them all cautiously, top tubing it. We’re back on the road and he’s back on me. Up the final climb of the day and I’ve gapped him with my running.

For some strange reason, I decide to try pedaling the bike as I hit the only gentle part of the last climb knowing the Columbian will be riding it much faster than I can run it. I put it in the 36 on the back but as I put it in the gear, I don’t let up on the shifter paddle, thinking that keeping the pressure on the cable might stop the chain from jumping. This only works at the top of the cassette as such pressure on the paddle in any other gear would just move the chain up the cassette. At the top, it butts up against the set screw and can’t jump. Why didn’t I think of this earlier? Sh#*!

My legs are fried from a race spent running up every climb. Constant pressure on the paddle is taking all my will power as my thumb is cramping but I am nearly to the top of the course and I’ve put another 30 meters on the Columbian. The last descents to the finish line are tricky and he’s behind me far enough that I think I can top tube each one.

I’m on the last tricky switchback drop before the finish and I see he’s ten meters behind me. Okay, get off the top tube and let it go!

Bad idea, down I go into the mud.

Just as I get back on he goes by me. Seventy five meters to the finish and one last dagger enters my heart. What a day or should I say night(mare).

Two days ago, I had a dream. It woke me up in a cold sweat. It was one of those dreams where you absolutely believed it was actually happening. I dreamed I was racing in today’s championship, I was battling it out for first, second and third. Believe it or not, Benny was in the dream. I had trouble with the details but Benny won, someone unknown to me finished second and I was third. I swear it took me 5 minutes to realize it was just a dream. How weird is that????