Port Angeles- Dry Hills XC- Indie Series #1 MTB Race

Cody Cupp:

After being out for about two weeks, the Dry Hills XC race was a great way for me to come back from a concussion. I was hit in the head during a collision at the plate in a baseball game on the 7^th. The concussion was serious enough to keep me off the bike for a little under a week but as soon as I was cleared to ride again I got back at it and trained hard. Following the schedule Salomon set up for me, I was able to train hard enough to grab my highest overall placing in the Open/Expert category ever. I won junior expert (since I was the only one) and I took 8^th overall. Needless to say, I was pretty happy with how I did.

The course was super fun but definitely the hardest race I have ever done. We raced on the Olympic Dirt Society’s trails, which are primarily aimed at downhill and freeride bikers. The race consisted of three, eight mile laps of steep grueling terrain. It seemed like each uphill pitch got steeper than the last and riders were barely able to make it to the top. Once we finally reached the summit of the never ending climb we were thrown into the epic downhill trail filled with root drops, gap jumps, and plenty of steep, torn up, switch backs that were loaded with mud and it was all I could do to stay on the trail. By the end of the race I was completely exhausted and covered with mud but I still had a blast!

Enumclaw Stage Race

Keelan Christensen:

The Enumclaw Stage Race consisted of a time trial Saturday morning, a criterium Saturday evening, and a road race Sunday morning. I had the convenient opportunity of staying at a friend’s house that was located a block away from the time trial, and directly on the road race course. Overall, I placed 15^th in the time trial, 10^th in the criterium, and 4^th in the road race out of a total of 30 category 5 men.

The time trial course was relatively flat on a scenic windy road about 10 kilometers long. I believe it was due my warm-up lacking intensity that lead to my muscles cramping up and tightening up right out of the starting gate. I tried to pedal through it, but you can never pedal as hard if you’re hurting like I did. Still, without an aero bike, aero helmet and good warm-up, I managed to hold a 15^th place. I learned that for a short race like that to incorporate a couple of snaps into my warm-up to prevent cramps.

About 4 hours after the time trial was the criterium. This was the race I was most nervous about because I’ve never tried to corner in a group of 30+ men. The Enumclaw Criterium course was an awesome figure eight loop with eight corners per lap. Throughout the race, I managed to stick with the main pack and not get dropped, and I felt really strong on the corners. With all that confidence, I thought I maybe had the opportunity to podium in this criterium. With three laps to go, I sprinted out to the front of the pack on a straight away and slid into third place. However, at the same time, the first and second place men broke away and I was left in third place leading the pack and doing all the work. I held this place until the final sprint to the finish line. By that time, I was exhausted from pulling the pack, so I lost the sprint and crossed tenth. Still, this was my favorite race I have ever done in my career, and now I know what I have to do to maybe podium or even win a criterium.

As for the road race, I had to do two steep climbs up mud mountain road and also two very fast descents for a total of 30 miles. The first lap wasn’t even a race, the pace was easy and nobody got dropped. I felt like I was expending too much energy trying to stay in the front of the pack, so I slid back to the very end and drafted comfortably. Then the second climb approached and the pace began to pick up. I made my way to the front of the pack again and was among the leaders for the whole climb while many got dropped by the pack. I knew I wasn’t as fast on the descent to I pushed it even harder on the climb to get a comfortable gap. Then the descent came. Two guys were out in front, and then there was me followed by a pack of 6. Luckily, one big guy caught up to me. He let me draft on the whole descent, and then we both worked to try and catch the leaders. Then maybe four other guys caught up, so we all formed a pace line. Once we were back in the town, almost to the finish line, there was an unmarked intersection. Out of the six of us, only one guy went the correct way, the rest of us flew by the intersection and had to turn around and go back. So at that time, there were three ahead, and the five of us still fighting for fourth place. When the one kilometer to go sign was in sight, I was still feeling very strong, so I tried a break away. It worked! The rest of the pack could not keep up and I crossed the finish line in fourth place.

Because this was a stage race, total times were added, not points for placement. It was my time trial that gave me the most time back from the leader, so overall I placed 11^th. This sort of marks the end for road racing this season, now I switch my goals to mountain and the Junior Development Camp in mid June.

Chris and Dave warming up under the Kona tent

Chris Casey:

This was my first time doing this race series. After heavy rain at the Wenatchee Omnium the weekend before, we were hopeful for good weather in Enumclaw. The rain mostly held off while we were riding, it was cloudy and cool the whole weekend. Dave A, Keelan C and myself represented the Methow at this well attended race.  Dave and I racing Masters C against a strong field of about 50 or so riders.

The time trial was a flat windy one way course on freshly resurfaced roads- it could not have been much sweeter unless there was a tail wind the whole way.... Times were fast, but despite my 25mph average this was still only good for 26th place... on reflection my intervals session 2 days beforehand seemed like a poor choice!

The crit was again a fun windy course, with multiple turns (rather than the usual rectangle that we seem to see). The pace was high from the get go and the 30 minutes seemed to take a lifetime. My get up and go was otherwise employed and I was hanging on for dear life until the last lap when I suddenly had no more oomph to give and was shelled off the back of the front pack, finishing alone 33 seconds down on the lead rider. Good for 31st place, but at least I finished upright and not too far back!

The road race on Sunday was a flat start with a significant hill stuck in the middle! 800 odd feet of fairly steep climbing which served to destroy the pack within the first 500 yards. I clung on to the lead group until the last 200 yards before imploding and watching them gradually pull away. I was able to chase with one other rider for the rest of that lap, but it eventually became clear that we were not going to catch a group of 25 guys working well. The rest of the race was trying to limit time losses and stay ahead of the decimated peleton behind us, which we did. Good for 29th place and an overall position of 29 out of 47 who first started. 

It was a disappointing performance for me, I figured I would be stronger, but I was likely not fully recovered from the Wenatchee race a week before and did not taper my training intensity as much as I should have during the week between- oh well, lesson learned.... maybe! Overall, it was a good weekend, good courses and a fun time watching my teammates do well and get pretty pumped about racing. In additon, nobody got hurt and it did not rain (much)... an added bonus!

Next up- Washington State Time Trial Championships in Tenino in 2 weeks... between then and now..... rest is on the agenda!

Well that's bike racing for ya!

Dave Acheson:

The reasons to race bikes are as varied as the people who race them.  It’s easy to enjoy it when you get a high placing and your friends are telling you how well you did, but for me some of the most rewarding races are those where I’ve had nothing on paper to point to when all was said and done.  This past weekend at the Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race was such an occasion.  The Enumclaw race is a stage race and unlike an omnium where points are awarded in each event based on finish places and totaled for the weekend, all that matters is the total elapsed time for the events for the rider.  Ride a great time trial and don’t lose any time in the criterium or road race and you’ll have a high finish.

My time trials are usually solid and this year was no different with my ride giving me a 12^th place finish in the Masters C/D field of 47 riders.  As for the weekend’s other events, my previous attempts at this race have left me wanting in the “don’t lose any time in the criterium or road race” department which has led to bottom half of the field finishes for the weekend.  Road racing is full of moments where you are challenged to push just a little harder or hurt a little more to stay in the race.  Ease up in those critical moments and the suffering goes away, but so does the pack and any chance of finishing well.  

For me, criteriums are full of those moments.  The races are usually about 30 minutes long and the middle third is the hardest and where the most doubt creeps in.  In the beginning, you’re fresh and have enough energy to hang tough.  Somewhere in the middle though, the strength begins to fade, the finish is still a long way off, and it would just be easier to let off a little and let the pack drop you.  You have to battle through these moments, possibly several each lap, and keep telling yourself it’s just a little bit more until the finish.  Make it through that middle third of the race and the finish is close enough, you can take a little more hurt and get the job done.  This year I successfully battled through and lost just 11 seconds to the leaders when a crash caused a split in the field early in the last lap.

The next battle was the road race.  The race consists of three laps of a 14.5 mile circuit that features a long, steep climb up Mud Mountain Road.  In previous attempts, I haven’t managed to top out on that climb with the field even once.  I have managed to chase back on before being dropped for good, but all previous attempts have ended in big time losses.  Each trip up the climb is a lot like that middle third of the criterium, lots of suffering and struggle while hanging on a few meters at a time trying not to worry about the miles to come.  As the top of the first trip up the climb approached, I was fighting for all I was worth and although beginning to lose the battle, I crested the top within easy reach of the pack and caught back on within a quarter mile or so.  This was a significant step in the right direction.

The second lap saw me lose contact about two thirds of the way up the climb and then join five other riders in a full throttle chase for the rest of the lap in an attempt to regain contact.  We worked very well together and managed to rejoin the main field a mile or so before the final trip up the climb.  The chase had left me drained and as soon as the final climb started, I lost contact when the front riders pushed the pace in their bids to set up victory.  As the climb went on, the pack’s pace moderated and I actually began to close the gap a little.  I was never able to rejoin, however, and was left to trail in a little over four minutes behind at the finish.

 
The results sheet shows that I finished 23^rd for the weekend out of 47 starters in the Masters C/D field.  The real story though, is that this was my best effort at this race and probably my best full weekend of racing in a couple years.

Team Posts Great Wenatchee Omnium Results!

Keelan working hard!

Keelan Christensen - After a disappointing game in districts, I had an hour and a half to drive across Wenatchee to race the Wenatchee Omnium criterium. This being the first crit in my racing career, I had plenty of questions for Dave and Jake. However, looking pretty awesome in the new team kits, I managed to place first in my category and third overall in Junior A and B. My strategy was not the greatest, but this race was a great learning opportunity for me. After the first lap, two JL Velo kids and I had pulled away from the other juniors. I was out in front for the first 4 laps. These teammates then pulled away and began drafting off each other, and I was left in third place by myself to fight to catch up with them. On the final corner of the last lap, I managed to catch up and surprise them, however one of them blocked me and the other pulled away sprinting. Because of their strategic 

block, I lost the sprint. Still, I learned how fun crits are and some strategy for the next crit in Enumclaw.

The following day was a 20 mile road race in some of the hardest rain I've seen on this side of the Cascades. The two JL Velo kids from the crit, Jake, and I were the only juniors signed up. The course was a super steep climb with 2500 feet of elevation gain over 8 miles. Us four juniors stayed in a consistent pack for the entire duration of the climb. But I knew I had the advantage on the downhill. Because of junior gearing and the steep sustained decent, I lost them on the downhill - probably because I’m guessing I weigh 30-40 pounds heavier. After the decent was 4 miles of flat road to the finish. I won my category and also won junior overall! Next weekend consists of the Enumclaw Stage Race and then I joined a Ski to Sea team racing the road bike leg.

Keelan cornering in the crit

Dave Acheson - This was my fourth time participating in the Wenatchee Omnium.  It consists of a time trial and criterium on Saturday and a very challenging road race on Sunday.  Racers receive points based on their finishes in the individual events and the highest point total for the weekend wins.

The time trial in Wenatchee is usually a windy affair and this year was no exception.  In fact this year was the windiest that I have experienced.  As a bonus, it was cool and rainy too!  The 9.5 mile course is oriented in such a way that you blast out to the turnaround with a big tailwind and then battle the headwind all the way back to the finish.   With the wind at my back and my new Easton TT wheels (this was my maiden ride on them) I pushed past 40 mph a couple times on small descents during the outbound leg.  The return leg as you might expect was slower, at times I was down below 15 mph.  I was very pleased, however, with the stability of the wheels even with their deep cross section in the buffeting wind.  My time was good enough for 5^th in the Masters C category and got my weekend off to a good start.

I headed back to the hotel for a nap dreading a wet criterium that afternoon.  I was very happy to see the sun shining and dry pavement went I looked out the window after my nap.  I usually struggle with the speed of criteriums and this one was no different.  For the criterium and the road race the Masters C field would be combined with the Masters D field but be scored separately.  I survived about two-thirds of the race before being pulled out by the officials, but still managed an eighth place and a few more points towards my total.

Sunday morning brought the return of the rain.  It was going to be a soggy, challenging day on the bike.  The road course consisted primarily of a loop that featured a five plus mile long climb that is very steep in spots and would be completed twice.  Being a larger rider and not really a climber, this road race is always a case of riding my own pace up the climb trying to limit my losses and bombing the descent to the best of my ability to regain time.  I felt that I struggled a little more on the climbs than usual and maybe had a bad day, but still managed a seventh place in the weather induced small field.

Speaking of the weather, it’s not as fun to race in the rain, but on these miserable days, I always think of the volunteers and course marshals that make it possible for us to go racing.   As racers, we tell tales of battles in epic conditions, but the volunteers stand in the rain and cold for hours with no recognition or tales of glory.  I always make a point of thanking them as I pass by and I hope that the other racers appreciate them as well.

As for my final weekend placing, I ended up 6^th in the Masters C field.  A pretty good result, but I would have liked a faster time trial and to have felt better on the climbs.  Five days of recovery and I’ll do it all again at Enumclaw.

Chris Casey - Competing in what was probably the wettest conditions I have ever voluntarily/ or involuntarily ridden my bicycle, Dave A and I completed 44 miles of the road race course, which for the Masters C/D group, meant a group of 30 or so soggy riders working hard not to drink the spray from the rider in front. The new team kit was quite dashing- even when dripping wet and the wind jacket probably saved me from hypotherm

 

Starting with a 5 mile out and back, the course included 2 laps up a long (5 mile) and periodically quite steep climb. (Certainly by the second lap, the last pitch seemed much steeper than the first time around and it was a relief to see the top section eventually arrive.)  As usual, the pack splintered on the first part of the climb- 7 or 8 folks off the front then my group of 5 (most of whom were Masters D), which worked and stayed together through the whole race. We stayed clear of those behind, picked a few of the lead group off as they 'fell by the wayside', but never really came close to catching the faster guys. The descents were quite fast for the conditions (my max speed was 49.5mph, which in hindsight seems insane, but at the time I was just hanging on, trying to see ahead of me in the pouring rain and spray!) The last 8 miles of rolling and flats back to the finish were made easier by the 'train' I was in, but by the time we crossed the finish, I was pretty spent, managing only to out sprint one of the group for a 4th place finish in the Masters C division.

 

Overall, miserable conditions without doubt, but a good result for the first race of the year. Next week, Enumclaw for the Stage Race- hopefully the rain stays away for that one!

Thanks guys- love the team kit (the shorts rock!)

Pedaling hard into the wind!

Jake Harrop - The races on Saturday were really fun, not too rainy just some light rain here and there. I kicked off the day with the time trial and I felt good and rested, I felt like I had a really good TT it was slightly windy on the straights but fast in the curves. Later that day I had my crit, my crit was an awesome race, I was racing with keelan and we stuck together until I got dropped off the back and ended up riding my own race. I felt like I had a solid race though. Sunday I participated in 20 mile road race and it was absolutely RAINY. Even though it was hammering I still kept a can do attitude and stuck with it. I was riding with Keelan until about 6-7 miles into it when I got dropped. I placed 3rd in all three events, overall I think I raced a solid Omnium this year and I'm looking forward to improving for next year's event.

Jake pulling his group in the crit

Cody Cupp Chainsmoker Race Report

Chain Smoker Race Report

                I’m finally feeling like I’m getting back into bike shape. This was the first race of the year that I’ve really felt good in and by the second and third lap I was having a blast. It started raining in the middle of my race (cat 2, age 15-18) and it made the course muddy and super slick. The short, hard climbs on the course gave me a chance to finally break out the climbing legs and, thanks to Salomon’s training plans, I felt pretty good, punching up the climbs fairly quickly.
               My start was really strong and I was able to pass quite a few of the racers who started in the group ahead of me before I even got to the trail. I think I spent most of my first lap trying to back myself off while also riding through the bushes on the side to get by people who started in the earlier categories. By the second lap I was able to open up on the downhills and try to blast through the few technical sections. On my third lap I was pretty much just trying to stay on my bike through the slippery turns while also pedaling hard to catch the one remaining rider ahead of me. Unfortunately I was not able to catch him but my time was still fast enough to take first overall.
                I ended up also taking first in my age group and I’m pretty satisfied with first overall for the cat 2s. I was really happy to finally get out and win a race this year but I was a little disappointed I couldn’t race cat 1 (I had to get back to Pateros for a baseball game). I’m definitely feeling a lot better than I did in the beginning of the season but I can still improve on my leg strength, strategy, and technique.

Team Riders Qualify for 2011 USA Mountain Bike National Championships!

Karla and Julie at Blue Star on the way to the Chainsmoker

Jake, Karla and Joe post race

On Saturday May 6th, eight Methow Cycle & Sport - Blue Star Coffee Roasters team riders competed in the Chainsmoker Mountain Bike Race at Squilchuck State Park in Wenatchee. This race served as the only Washington State qualifier for the USA Mountain Bike Nationals held in Sun Valley from July 13-17th. While the weather was cold, wet and windy, the fun course and depth of competitors made for a great event.

I'm pleased to announce that five MCS - Blue Star Coffee riders have qualified to ride in the National Championships! Stay tuned for race reports to follow!

Jake and Karla--happy to be done!

Washington High School Mountain Bike League State Championship

Keelan Christensen              

Last weekend I drove over to Ft. Lewis to race in the Washington High School Mountain Bike League State Championship in the varsity category. The course was very twisty with a mixture of doubletrack and part of it was around a baseball field. Even though I have yet to race cyclocross, the course looked to me more like a cyclocross course than a mountain bike course. Many others I talked to said the same thing. However, once the race began, the steep sprint climbs and tight corners made it into a fun race. The races I tend to do better in consist of a long steady climb, and a long descent.  This race was the opposite of the races I tend to excel in. As a varsity (expert) racer, I had to do 5 laps, with not much elevation game at all. I ended up placing 3^rd in varsity, only 30 seconds away from the 2^nd place finisher after about an hour and a half of racing. Still, this was good to get me back into the racing spirit after almost a month of no races. Now, I set my focus on the Chainsmoker in Wenatchee, and then a string of road races on each of the following three weekends.