Gratitude For Bike Friendly Roads

It's true, sometimes, that you never know how good you've got it until you don't have it any more. Last weekend I took a trip to meet up with family in Eastern Texas. Originally, I had hatched an elaborate plan to rent a bike in Dallas, then take it with me so I could ride in the mornings in the warmth of a Texas spring. Sounds great, right? Well, here's how it played out in reality:

First, I wouldn't have traded any of those precious seconds that I had to share with my family, because, really, I can ride any time I want. I rarely get to see my family.

Second, riding in East Texas would have scared the Lycra right off my butt! The lanes we were driving on were way undersized for the vehicles, and the posted speeds were in the 70mph range! Not a good mix in my experience. It sure was beautiful, though, and sans large format tires, would have been lovely riding.

One other quick note... Don't step out in front of vehicles in Texas, even if you have a pedestrian crossing and pedestrian crossing signs. It's fine to wave, but don't try crossing the street. Wait until there isn't a car in sight!

I'm back at my home-based riding program again, and anticipating racing tomorrow morning at the Independance Valley Road Race in Rochester, WA. The route is mapped here:

Latest Bike Crush / Fostering Success

Since I got to see my new bike at the Expo, I've been thinking a lot about it. There is just something to be said for a new bike that isn't like anything else. I've pretty much loved every bike I've ever owned, except for one 35 pound piece of junk that I just couldn't stand for a minute, even though it was my only bike for four years! Anyway, been doing a little dreaming about racing next cyclocross season on my new ride.

I also want to expand on something else I have been thinking about since Saturday's presentation by Chris Carmichael. It is in regards to his comment about creating an environment around yourself that allows you to even consider the achievement of goals. He told a story about Lance Armstrong that demonstrates this. According to Chris, Lance would go out and check his bike and ride it around even after his world-class mechanics had already completed their meticulous work for the night. Sometimes all would be well, other times, something would be adjusted or changed in the set-up. How would you feel if someone like this was checking your work? What it offered him, though, was absolute confidence in the controllable factors of his game. Chris offered that lance's attention to these details was one of the factors that went into achieving his ultimate goal. It's also contributed to the unbelievable fact that he only had one flat tire during 7 consecutive TDF rides/victories. What does it mean to me if I have 7 flats during 1 ride? Something to ponder.

Inspiration at the 2008 Seattle Bike Expo

I spent all day Saturday in Seattle at Cascade Bicycle Club's Bike Expo. Among their guest presenters, I was there to mostly to see Chris Carmichael, but of course thoroughly enjoyed seeing presentations by Katie Compton (of cyclocross fame), Craig Undem (from CycleU), and Paul Swift/Dr. Katrina Vogler from BikeFit, and others.

One of my favorite presentations came from Chris Carmichael in a talk that he gave entitled "Achieving Unrelenting Excellence." Of course this was inspired by his work with Lance Armstrong and the other athletes that he coaches in his company Carmichael Training Systems. Here's the skinny, short and sweet. These are the characteristics necessary for achieving what you set out to do:

~Possess an Unrelenting Desire for Excellence
~Create an Environment of Achieving Excellence
~Never Stop Looking for Innovations
~Develop a Passion for the Process of Achievement
~Nurture Your Talents
~Don't Get Into a Position of Defense, Keep Moving Forward
~Provide Clear Leadership
~Fulfill the Promises of Leadership, be a Role Model

I also got to see my new cyclocross bike, which I should be able to get before summer starts. It's the CX1 by Norco.

Private Hilltop Crit

Last night I went out for a short ride of about an hour and found myself at the top of local Tumwater Hill. This area used to be covered with trees as recently as last year, but now is denuded with 360 degree views around the area. For the moment, you can see Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and the Olympics all in one sweeping view, with the Port of Olympia in the foreground. Soon, though, this spot will be covered with houses, as some parts of this development are already under construction. The grid of streets in the development have been paved, and these offered a chance to practice cornering, picking lines, and sprinting. I didn't do so badly in this race against myself, but I was glad nobody was watching.

Riding on the trafficked streets yesterday was a little bit of a bear. I changed my hours this week at the office, which should give me time to ride on Tuesday nights... but I forgot that it's bad lighting right about then, and I forgot my lights. Because of my previous work schedule, I can't remember the last time I rode in weekday traffic! When the time changes, the local Tuesday night rides start up and I will be able to participate in them now. It'll give me one more chance to ride with a group to keep developing my race riding.

First Race: Mason Lake # 1

Yesterday I completed my first road cycling race at the first of three training races around Mason Lake north of Shelton, WA. Our starting group (Category 5) was around 50 riders by my estimation. Within our group, I recognized several riders from my racing in the 2007 cyclocross season. We rolled out as a fairly tight group for about half of the first lap. Then, there was a single rider crash mid-group, probably from a touched wheel. Up to that point, there was a lot of stop-and-go jerkiness to the group, which could have easily led to this crash. He was about 5 bike lengths ahead of me, but those behind, including myself were able to ride between the bike and the fallen rider (Sorry, dude!)

I was able to sprint back up to the main group, and several others were left behind in a momentarily split group. We maintained a pace of about 24 mph around the rest of the lake until the last 1000 meters of the lap. At that point, the pace increased quite a bit, and I was left behind on the incline leading up to the start/finish line. End of Lap 1.

Laps 2 and 3 were fairly low key and consisted of trying to maintain a quick pace. I was overtaken at the tail-end of the second lap by the Masters C/D group which started about 5 minutes behind us. I worked my way back to the back of the group were I found a few of my group riding, which is allowed in these races. I stayed with them as long as I could, but they carried on without me, much as my own group did on yet another incline. What's with these inclines?

I was left to my final lap with another rider from my race who turned out to be not too chatty, or interested in working together to avoid some of the wind on the course. In the end, I sped up my pace in the last mile and finished the race about 200 meters in front of him, for whatever that was worth. At least by doing so, I was assured that I hadn't finished last... for whatever that was worth, too.

In the end, my two goals were met: First, staying upright for the entire race, and, second, finishing the race in whatever time it took, hopefully not last.