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.

Skagit Valley Race Report April 14 and 15

Karla Segale
 

This past weekend Shuksan Velo in Bellingham hosted three races that teammate Dave Acheson and I attended.  Saturday was a two-fer —an 8 mile road time trial on Saturday morning followed by a 2 mile hill climb time trial in the afternoon.  On Sunday we suited up again for the road race—26 miles for my category.

Having had time to review my TT performance at Icebreaker, I came to the conclusion that I road too conservatively. This time I knew I needed to put more into it from the start.  My goal was to keep my heart rate at threshold on the way out and push harder from there.  After that it was a question of settling in on the saddle and focusing on my pedal stroke.   The road TT course started out with a slight climb followed by a quick descent and then settled in to a long, flat section that traversed Padilla Bay.  Fortunately there wasn’t a cross wind.   There was a pretty steep hill near the finish of the course and I opted to sit, pick up my cadence and see if I could spin up it.  I definitely lost my rhythm and did not finish strongly, but I am improving.

 

The afternoon hill climb was race # 3 for the NW Time Trial championships.  There are 5 total races where points can be accumulated leading up to the State TT Championships in June.  This was my chance to pick up some points for the competition.  The hill climb started out with some good size rollers followed by a slightly steeper pitch and a rollout to the finish that looked like the Great Wall of China.  My main concern was not to drop my chain as I geared down to sprint to the top of the hill.  I finished in 7 minutes 28 seconds and picked up 1st place in the Cat 4 category.  Dave took third place in his category, so it was a good day indeed for Methow Cycle and Sport-Blue Star Coffee Cycling!

The road race was on Sunday.  The last sanctioned road race I did was in 2008. The one before that was 1987. Needless to say, I was nervous.  There were maybe 20 in the field and several of them were very twitchy. And this was in the first five minutes! A few stern barks from the peloton followed by the aforementioned rollers of the hill climb TT and things got quiet.  Attrition is a beautiful thing. The backside of the course had a relatively flat section that preceded a pretty steep climb.  Coming in to lap 2, I noticed there were five of us off the front.  As we rounded the corner to the back side of the course, one rider dropped a chain and we were down to 4.  #4 shed at the top of the next hill.  The three of us worked successfully to keep the pack away on lap three.  Then it was down to the last section -- a repeat of the hill climb course, Great Wall of China and all.  We stayed together over the first roller, but that pretty much cooked my legs.  I ended up third overall for the day, and I was thrilled!  

This past weekend also marked the debut performance of my new Shimano custom fit carbon cycling shoes.  Living proof that shoes DO make the woman!

Dave Acheson

This past weekend offered up some serious opportunities to test the progress of my training with two time trials on Saturday and a challenging road race on Sunday.  With the TT and road bikes on the roof of the car, Karla and I made a quick stop at Blue Star in Twisp to get a couple of iced coffees for the road and after some encouraging words from Meg headed off to the west side to see how far we’d come since the first race of the year six weeks earlier.  First up on Saturday was the Skagit Valley Time Trial held on a course overlooking beautiful Padilla Bay.  Conditions were nearly ideal with sun and temps creeping into the 50s and very little wind.  I had raced on this course three years ago, taking a second place that day, so I was hopeful of a good ride.  Of course that race was mid-season and this one was early on, but hope doesn’t trifle with details like that!  I had a solid ride and felt pretty good, definitely better than the first effort of the year.  My time was nearly a minute slower than my ride of a few years ago, so I wasn’t too sure what the results sheet would say.  It said 6^th place for me.  Faster than most, slower than some.  Five seconds faster would have gained me a couple places, but I was pretty satisfied with the early season result.

As with the morning event, the afternoon event, the Northshore Hillclimb Time Trial was part of the Cascade Time Trial Series.  I was not sure what to expect going into this one other than pain.  It would be the second time trial of the day and was nearly all uphill and under two miles in length.  It would be intense.  I decided the road bike was the correct bike for this test, but installed my deep section carbon Easton EC90TT wheels on it.  Their lightweight, stiffness, and aerodynamics were just the thing for this event.  As I warmed up, I was pleasantly surprised to find my legs responding and not feeling too hammered from the morning time trial.  Soon my start came, and I shot off the line across the short flat section before the start of the main climb.  The bike rocketed along, but soon the hill approached and the speed began to bleed off.  The course was not a steady climb and even had a flat to rolling section midway.  As I came off the steep parts, I really appreciated the lightweight of my wheels and how fast they accelerated.  Soon, I was in the final 150 meters, a very steep pitch, clawing my way to the finish.  I had survived one of the most painful six and a half minutes I have spent on a bike and began the wait for the results.  I was stoked to see that I had managed a third place with my effort.  My results from the day’s two time trials had moved me into sixth place in the Cascade TT Series standings after three of the five events.  The last two time trials are courses that I should be able to do good rides on, so a high finish in the series is in reach.

We closed out the weekend with the Northshore Road Race on Sunday.  The course in the hills along Lake Whatcom in Bellingham is a classic and challenging eight mile loop with two substantial climbs per lap.  My group was slated for 4 laps plus one more trip up the first climb to the finish at the top.  This race quickly turned into a training ride for me, as my legs were fairly trashed  from the previous days efforts and I was unceremoniously dropped about halfway through the first lap.  I eventually hooked up with another couple of riders and we worked well together throughout the rest of the race picking off stragglers as best we could.  The results placed me an even 50^th of 61 riders.  Certainly nothing to be excited about for that race, but given the results of the previous day though, the weekend was a success.

Ephrata Gran Fondo, March 30, 2012

“To say the Gran Fondo Ephrata is a hard ride is an understatement, even on a nice day. This was not a nice day. It was a day that any sane person would avoid outdoor activities. They surely would not consider riding a bicycle on 80 miles of primitive Central Washington back roads.”

                                                                                    Jake Maedke

                                                                                    Race Promoter

                                                                                    Ephrata Gran Fondo

The race promoter for the Ephrata Gran Fondo promised the ride would be “epic”.  For starters, this is an 80 mile ride at the end of March in Eastern Washington.  That alone is a recipe for epic.  Add to that the fact that roughly half the ride took place on gravel roads or muddy hard-pack, and your epic experience is guaranteed. 

So on Saturday, March 31^st, at approximately 0-Dark Hundred, my teammates Joe Brown, Jake Whipple and I threw our bikes on the top of Joe’s car and aimed for EPIC.  Clutching our coffee mugs, we bowed with gratitude as we passed Blue Star Coffee Roasters on our way out of town.   Always good, often necessary.  This was one of those times.

A Gran Fondo is a timed event, not a race.  Tell that to the participants.  There were clearly people who showed up to race—or at the very least put in a good time.  For my part, I had no idea what to expect from this experience.  My goals were to finish and keep the shiny side up. 

Just as we rolled out of town, we encountered the first climb—a steep mud-and-rock infested section of hard-pack.   My plan to stay in low  zone 3 went out the window.  I redlined. Once the climb was over, the course returned to pavement.  The pack was scattered, the faster riders long gone, the rest of us spit out to fend for ourselves.   There were little clumps of three or four riders, but mostly ones and twos.  I was riding solo.

I have ridden many centuries and ultra-distance events, but never one like this.  There were no packs, at least none that I saw.  Nobody worked together-- more like survival mode. This was later confirmed by both Joe and Jake, who, while finishing way ahead of me, also road mostly solo. As pavement turned to gravel and gravel to mud, I would encounter a couple of people riding together, but no groups, no pelotons, no pulls.   Much of the terrain would have made for dicey pack riding anyway, but make no mistake.  On a day like this, misery loves company.  And on this day, there was no company to be had.

The ride had one aid station at the halfway mark.  I re-fueled and quickly hopped back on my bike to avoid letting hypothermia have its way with me.  Twenty miles from the finish, I caught a guy’s wheel (finally!) and we rode in together.   It was nice to share the hailstorm with someone.   Such as it was, we ended up “working together” and managed to pick off five or six riders.

My new buddy and I finished in 6:10, and I was happy to have accomplished my goals.  Best of all, no flats, and no mechanicals.  I ran Schwalbe Marathon Cross tires and they saved me!

81 riders started the day. 67 finished. 5 of those were women, and I finished third among those five.  It’s shaping up to be an epic year!