Enumclaw Stage Race
Dave Acheson

The Enumclaw Stage Race is my favorite race of the season.  It has great courses, is well run, and usually has strong fields.  Because it is a stage race that is scored on total elapsed time rather than on points like an omnium, my time trialling ability  usually keeps me in the thick of things.  Entering the weekend, I was sure my time trial form was pretty good but was unsure how the criterium and road race would go for me.  The weekend began with all sorts of good omens.  When the time trial start times were posted, I discovered I was to be the final rider off in my category.  And as I rolled into town late Friday night, a shooting star fell shot across the sky, surely a sign of good fortune.  Saturday morning dawned clear, sunny, and with little wind and I rolled to the start line quietly confident.  The time trial went very well for me and I posted  a personal best for myself on this course.  The time was good enough for second place and I only missed my first win by two seconds!  Having placed myself near the top of the standings, now the key was not to lose time in the criterium or road race.

After getting a call-up and getting to start on the front row due to my time trial result, the criterium started well.  As the race progressed, I thought to myself, this is one of the most civilized criteriums I’ve ever ridden.  The pace was very steady with little in the way of surges due to attacks, etc.  I avoided being caught up in or behind any of the handful of crashes and finished safely in the bunch with the same time as everyone else.  The overall leader for the weekend picked up a 3-second bonus in a sprint, but other than that no major time lost in the criterium was just what the plan had been.   Day one of the stage race could hardly have been better for me.

Sunday’s road race was going to prove to be a different type of experience.  It was dry when we woke up, but by the start of the race, a steady rain had started that would be with us the rest of the day.  I still felt good and optimistic as I had focused a little more on my nutrition this year and was five pounds lighter than last season at this race.  Surely that was going to help me on the climbs.  The race rolled out uneventfully towards its first trip up the Mud Mountain Road climb about 7 miles into the race.  I settled in near the front of the group and as we headed up the climb, felt comfortable (as comfortable as you can be climbing a steep hill in a race!).  The pack was steadily shedding riders and as we reached the steepest pitch about ¾ of the way up, only about half of us remained.  Suddenly, I went from being comfortable to being powerless.  I popped off the back of the group like a sinking stone.  It was an odd sensation, there wasn’t any period of struggling.  One moment all was fine, the next moment I had blown and was crawling up the hill.   After topping out, I tried to gather myself and hook up with other riders for the chase back on.  I had very little power though and found myself having to skip pulls to even stay in contact with the chasers.

As we hurtled down the descent, I smacked a pothole and my “food” bottle of Perpetuem bounced out of its cage and was gone.  I now had only a single gel in my pocket to get me through the race.  I continued to struggle and eventually lost contact with the chase group.  As a final insult, I managed to drop my remaining gel while trying to open it.  All in all, a day to forget and one that thoroughly scuttled my ambitions for a high finish for the weekend. 

Echo Valley Rally

Keelen Christensen

Well the first race of the year was a pure learning experience for me.  I decided to race Open/Pro category which entailed 3 laps of a grueling long climb up a hot and dusty mix of gravel roads and
double track trail.  I did not know how in shape I would be for this race because baseball has gotten in the way of me doing any races before.  Because of this I was incredibly nervous for this race, not just nervous of where I would place but also nervous of how much it would hurt.

I tried to stick with the main group for the first lap, which was a bad idea.  I went way too hard
too early and was worn out by the first lap.  Also on the 2nd lap I started getting cramps in the lower back and hamstrings.  They went away on the downhill but at the start of the third lap, they came back and I couldn’t get rid of them.  I was discouraged and worn out and unable to cope with the cramps so unfortunately I dropped out of the race on the third lap.

Like I said, this was a learning experience and now I know what to do in this situation next time.

Here’s what I learned:

1. Carry endurolytes to take during the race and take more before the race, especially if it is hot out. 
2. Race at your own pace, especially if it is early in the season.
3. Don’t get discouraged if you aren’t where you want to be, especially if it is the first race.

Despite this, I enjoyed getting out on some new trails to race my bike.  I enjoyed the challenge of
racing Open/Pro and plan to stay in this category for the rest of the series.  It was great to get some
racing in my legs and I feel a lot more prepared for the races to come.  Next up for me is the Enumclaw Stage Race next weekend.

Cascade Time Trial Series
Sate Warm Up Time Trial

Dave Acheson


This past weekend saw Karla and I headed to Tenino for the final event in the Cascade Time Trial Series, a 40-kilometer test on one of my favorite courses.  This course has been used in the past and will be used again this year for the State Time Trial Championship.  We both had done enough in the previous events of the series to secure podium places for the series, the only question was what step would they be on.  I needed a second place finish on the day to secure second place in the series.  With that in mind, I fired off the start line and got to work.  Within 5 miles, I’d caught the two riders who started 30 seconds and one minute ahead of me and had closed to within 30 seconds of the rider who started a minute thirty seconds ahead of me.  I felt pretty good the whole ride and it was definitely the best I’ve felt on the bike yet this year.  To my annoyance, I never did quite catch that other rider, but he made a very good “carrot” to keep me motivated and focused throughout the race.  When the finish finally came, I had posted a time under an hour and good enough for second place on the day.  The day’s finish enabled me to secure second place for the series by a single point.  Now my focus will shift a bit with the next event for me being the Enumclaw Stage Race in a couple weeks, then it will be back to Tenino for the State Time Trial Championships.

Green Valley Time Trial

Dave Acheson

This past weekend was the fourth event in the new Cascade Time Trial Series and once again, Karla and I loaded up the car and made the long drive to the west side of the mountains to Auburn to participate in the Green Valley Time Trial.  

Although slightly longer than the first event in the series, the Icebreaker Time Trial, this event took place on the same road so it would provide an easy comparison as to how our form had improved.  So much goes into riding a good race and this day it seemed like it was finally coming together.  I had a full and good warm-up and rolled to the start line relaxed and focused.  I felt fast and powerful on the way out and on track for a good ride.  Soon the turn came and I headed back towards the finish.  Partway back, I had a real ragged patch and struggled with my pace and focus.  I snapped out of it when the rider that started a minute behind me came past like he was on a motorcycle.  I got my head back in the game and finished off as strongly as I could.  My time ended up being good enough for second place in my group on the day and the result moved me into third in the series standings.  As for improvement, my average speed went from 24 mph at the first race to over 25 mph at this one.  Better, but there is still work to do.  Next up is the final event in the series, a 40-kilometer time trial in Tenino on the same course that will be used for state championships later in the season.

Beezley Burn, Ephrata, WA

Solomon Woras

Well, first real race of the Mt. Bike Season in the books. It always feels
good to get it out of the way without any serious mishaps, unlike Joe
(Hopefully he writes up an account of his very strange pre-race crash).

There is no such thing as a completely mishap -free fist Mt. Bike race of
the season though, and as it happens one minor mishap can lead to a chain
reaction of larger problems. Case in point:

Having a water bottle bounce out in the first 500m is not a huge problem
unless it is the only one you have. This is also not a big deal when you
have a teammate willing to hand you up a bottle, unless you don't realize
the bottle is gone until after passing your opportunity for a replacement.
18 miles of a 27 mile race with no water is no problem if you happen to be a
camel.... which I am not.  If you, like me, are not a camel then you may
experience some of the following symptoms.

1.     Dry dusty mouth

2.     A slight sense of panic

3.     An overwhelming compulsion to stop on a descent and walk back on the
trail to pick op someone else's discarded bottle full of strange hot orange
liquid.

4.     Cramps in one's back, hamstrings, calves, and feet.

5.     The inability to pedal up steep hill, resulting from cramps.

6.     The inability to walk up steep hill because of cramps. Resulting in
the activity of beating on one's muscles with one's fists, while in fetal
position on side of trail.

Lucky for me 75% of the symptoms above happened with only a couple miles
left in the race so I was able get across the finish line before any one
could see me in my embarrassing state. I guess that is what you call getting
the kinks out.