Rapha Focus Grand Prix & Starcrossed...2 weeks late

Clark here (Not Jane...as pictured)...and although I didn't race the RFGP, I did start the season out the previous day at Starcrossed. My race followed the script I had envisioned considering my complete lack of practice and time on the bike prior to the race/season. Coming off of four weeks of Paternity leave with no time on my cross bike, I figured that my dismounting and remounting skills would be lacking, and that I would run out of "gas" somewhere around lap four. Suprisingly, I felt great getting on and off the bike, but true to form I had one really bad lap, lap 4, where I first hit the side of the wall in the sand pit, then got tangled in the course tape minutes later. As a result, I lost 6-8 spots, ande most of my motivation. I eked out the last few laps, and was just happy to get the first race out of the way. Can't wait for Starcrossed to return to Marymoor next year.

I didn't race the Rapha Focus GP on Sunday, but wanted to share photos courtesy of Steven Matera. Cut and paste the following link into your browser...

https://picasaweb.google.com/AlkiRubicon/20110918RaphaFocusGrandPrix#

Starcrossed and Rapha GP

Starcrossed which normally uses the Marymoor Velodrome was moved to Lake Sammamish State Park in conjunction with the Rapha GP. The course highlights had to be the Fly-Over (big-o ramp) and the sand section. The name of the game was go fast and then go even faster. It was technical and at times dizzying with all the curves and turns . The sand oh the sand, the conversations about that section where amazing. "Go to the wall and you can ride it, just don't hit the wall" and my personal favorite "I like the sand you just run as hard as you can its like a sprint" - Heidi.
Rubicon was well represented both days. For Cat 3 we had myself and Clark, both of us getting the last row call-ups. Clark some how makes moving up through traffic look so easy I just don't know how he does it! So needless to say Clark is about 5 to 7 places ahead of me for the first three laps. That was until I some what moved up to him and then out of nowhere he was into the tape !?! I am not sure but I think it was his way to set me up to pass the three guys sitting on his wheel, a true team player. The rest of the race was spent chasing the group up ahead but at the end of it all a 27th place finish is what was written in stone. But the nights highlight was the single speed-shootout. Are own Hahn, was the only one of us that could be bothered to put down the beer in hand and fly the colors. After winning his first heat with a solid performance the Semi finial was a little different story, he was chopped... no he was hacked at the start and came up one spot short. He did make the barriers! All in all Starcrossed was great I cant wait tell next year.
Rapha GP was the next day, same course as before with a some mud showing from the previous nights rain. The course was still fast in fact was a little more so with the mud in some corners helping out traction. The single speed's got to start in front of the 3's thanks to Lincoln mumbling something about Lemond's race number he had when winning the TDF. I got a better call up than the day before so I was happy for that. As we started I was amazed how well my legs felt. In the end I caught up to Hahn for a brief second and then ran out of gas for the finial lap to get 17th. It wasn't my best result but I can fell the speed coming back. I hope to see everyone this weekend for the first SCX race @ Marymoor.
- Nate -

MFG Cyclocross Kick-Off

90 Degrees is not what I would call typical weather for a great cross race, however with dust and fast conditions it makes for challenging course none the less. When I arrived I saw Jim with coffee in hand and a tent area that would make the Velonews guys proud. The attendance was impressive to say the lest. The course had minor changes but for the better, with the same single track sections and the winding field section it was clear that you needed to be on the gas the entire race. It was great to see so many Rubicon riders out getting it done. I would say the Hard Rider award goes out to two of our Ladies 1st is Heidi for showing up with a night out in Belltown in the legs, and 2nd is to Holly for her "off-the-couch" dominating performance.
My race went well as I started a little too slow for the first lap or two. As the grouping started to come out I found it a little easier to get around slower riders and to pick up the pace. The small hill in the middle of the course always puts me to the test and with the dust it was no different this year. Working my way through to the last lap I was happy to see the finish line, but a rider that I didn't see was riding my wheel and blew by me at the last second to put me in 17th. The lesson learned here kids is race all the way to the end because you could be one place out of call ups for Starcrossed.
It was great to see everyone and the kids out there for the kickoff of the season. And if anyone really cares Jim 0 - Nate - 1 . See you at Starcrossed and Rapha GP should be a great weekend of racing and Spectating.

Boat St. Sufferfest

I feel like Boat Street is just one of those races you have to do because it’s so close to home. However, I was not looking forward to it as I have not been on my bike as much due to house projects, the weather called for rain, it was going to be my first combined race as a 3 with the 1/2s, and the race was twice as long as what I was use to…a whopping 50 min. With all these perfectly good reasons to not race I decided I had to pre-register in order to ensure I’d get down there.

I woke up on race day and of course it is raining. Jim and I ride down there in the afternoon and the roads were wet, but the rain had temporarily paused. The race before me seemed to dry most of the roads out. I was very happy about that since last year I remember doing “the turn” in the rain and it being a sketchy experience. My race plan for the day was to reverted back to last year’s goal of finishing in the group. I had a good start and was in the first couple riders the first 5 laps. There was a crash in corner 1 on lap 3 that I managed to avoid and was toward the front for so I didn’t get caught up in having to slow down at all.

The speed of the entire race was unbelievably fast. I thought to myself 50 min at this rate and I will never last. After 20 min or so my body seemed to get use to the torture. There were maybe 6 primes throughout the race. All of which somehow girls managed to kick it into another gear for. I was confused and upset why someone would sprint for Honey Stinger Waffels... I managed to stay on and thankfully there were a few laps in there where the speed settled down to less than Mach 10 up on the straightaway near turn 2.

Each time through the start/finish straightaway was always a burst of acceleration out of “the turn”. The road in this part was awful, cracks, seams, potholes which forced me to look at the road and not the clock (a blessing in disguise). Once we got down to the lap board I was more than happy to realize that I might have a chance to finish with the group. Just a few laps to go and I was hanging on by a thread. I finally hear the bell for the last lap my legs are so excited to be done, I come through “the turn” standup to “sprint” and there was nothing left. I managed to finish in the group, very much towards the back of the group, but nonetheless it was a group finish and I had survived. I was more than thrilled.

Without a doubt it was the hardest sustained effort I’ve ever done on a bike. Even harder than my first cross race. I was thankful to have Jim there cheering for me since I was millimeters away from cracking on every lap and that little bit of encouragement went a long way. We averaged over 22 mph for the 50 minutes. I’m hoping to recover before the up coming cross race this Thursday.

The 'Claw Stage Race 2011

Thanks Jim, for the prologue to my race report. Saturday morning was the TT. There aren’t many things that are more nerve-racking than being at the start line, entirely clipped in, held up by one guy, and hearing the sound of the count down beeps. But, I went off without making a fool of myself so that was a success. I didn’t manage to catch the girl in front of me that I knew I should’ve been able to beat, and got caught by the girl behind me so I knew I didn’t have a good finish. I improved my time from last year by 45 seconds, but last years time was awful too so that didn’t help much. It was the first time riding aerobars this year so maybe I’ll blame it on that. Duquette, I have to believe you have this TT thing down so you next time you might need to give us Rubi’s a training session prior too since none of us Rubis this weekend did too well. So it was disappointing to be starting the race out already a minute and a half down.

Jim’s words of encouragement for the crit was “well since all those other girls went faster than you in the TT, you should have more energy than them to kill it in the crit”. Well I feel he might have been right, as right from the get-go, I felt a lot faster then the rest of the girls. The pace felt so slow compared to the 5:30 Sewards that I’ve been doing. And apparently within a years time, I’ve figured out how to corner which is essential with this 8-corner crit. I stayed near the front the entire race so I could pick my lines and avoid the yo-yoing. The first prime bell went and I didn’t know right away I was going to go for it. I was in a good position after corner 6 and coming into the start/finish I gave it a go. It didn’t seem like anyone was with me so I was happy to take it home. The same thing happened with the second and third primes, I had great position and had the sprint nailed to take those as well. I was surprised I was getting away with this. I could hear Jim yell to me don’t waste all your energy, I think he was getting nervous I wasn’t going to have anything left for the finish. The fourth prime lap was right after the third prime I took and I decided I better lay off with only 3 laps to go. The whole race seemed like such a breeze, I had all the control of where I was in the race and what lines I wanted to take up until that last lap. Girls really started to jostle around and fight for position. I wasn’t exactly where I wanted to be going into the second to last turn, I was maybe 6th wheel. I took the inside line on the last corner and put forth my best sprint. I ended up in fourth, and wondered how many girls weren’t going for the primes in order to save it for the finish. I felt good enough I wish I would have came away with a W, but coming home with lots of prizes was a good feeling too. AM, it’s fun to race like you:)

Oh, and you can see by the photo above I’ve learned how to sprint standing up AND in the drops when taking one of the primes. I should maybe look ahead instead of down though…

It was wet for Jim and Hahn’s crit and I’ve never seen so many people crash before. I had to have seen at least a dozen guys go down on nearly all separate occasions. I even saw sparks fly when one guy crashed and I saw another guy actually tumble a couple of times when he hit the ground. It was quite the race. I was secretly happy Jim was off the back as I didn’t want to have him caught up in any of the crashes. It was such a sketchy race that it was even too much for Hahn to handle.

The next morning was the road race. I really didn’t have much of a shot at the GC so I was just going to race it as a stand alone race. Thankfully we only had to do two laps. I felt good up the first two kickers of Mud Mountain. The last stretch was the tough one. It got to be a bit too long of a climb for me and a breakaway group of 5 got away from me. Myself and a few other girls tried the entire descent to catch back up to them but did not succeed. A few more girls caught up to us in the farmland. The second time up the climb felt a lot easier. Probably because I didn’t have the strongest climbers with me anymore. There were three of us that made it up the climb together. Again we worked like mad to try to gain some time on the descent. It did not work. Some other girls caught us and they decided to stop working once they got to us. I should have listened to Jim’s words of advice for this race of “DON’T WORK” since as we got to the finish lines the girls sitting in the back had quite the jump on me. I managed to get third in our group, but 9th overall.

It was a fun stage race, another learning experience. And most importantly, inspiration for crit season to begin!

New Bikes, New Found Speed?! Sequim #1

So Saturday morning Jim, Hahn, Aaron and I all get up at O’dark thirty to get rolling to Sequim. Jim and I load up our brand new Cervelos that we had ridden for all of maybe 30 minutes the day before. It was pouring rain most the drive and we kept waiting for this “rain shadow” to appear, and it thankfully did just a few miles outside of Sequim. Jim, Hahn, and Aaron line up and take off with the threes. I line up just after and am off with the fours. My cat was about 28 girls. Lap one was pretty mellow, not many attacks. I did a lot of pulling up front to keep the pace up and prevent from getting stuck in the back where the new girls were.

Lap two, a little more interesting. Some girls try a little harder to get on a break. I was often in the front and could see the attacks coming and would not let them get too far away. On the back stretch on one of the few rolling hills (this course was flat and fast as I never got out of my big ring), I essentially fell into an attack as I realize I’m climbing much faster than most girls. As I got up over the hill the headwind greats me so I didn’t put too much effort in continuing the attack. Then we came into the last corner of the race with still a lap to go and someone jumps. A couple girls go with, myself included. We had a break of 5, then 2 more managed to bridge. My heart rate was skyrocketed and we were working furiously to stay away. I knew this was a great break as most the girls were the strongest riders of the group so I was happy to be with them. Unfortunately it didn’t last long, maybe a quarter of a lap. I was disappointed, but I got a good taste for how hard it is to be in a break even if it didn’t last that long.

Onto lap 3, the final lap, I try to sit in a bit more and rest. I was mid pack in the back stretch of the course not really liking my position and feeling trapped. Going into the last corner I took it inside and moved up quite a few spots. Now just over 1k to the finish a Group Health girl starts ramping up the pace with some GH girls behind her. I tuck right in that train and as we get to the 200m sign girls really start putting the hammer down. I still had some solid wheels in front of me to follow so I stayed right behind them. Once getting to maybe 100 m to go, girls start dropping like flies, I stand up (yes, final gave a stand up sprint) and start picking off girls one by one. With maybe 20m to go I’m in the lead and a little surprised. As I cross the finish line I see a girl just to my left that would have caught me had there been 5 more meters to go. I rolled through and was shocked that I had for the first time in my life had a great sprint finish to a race.

After finishing my race I see Jim roll through the start/finish for his last lap, but noticed he’s with only 7 other guys. I’m thinking to myself, did I miss the lead group or is he in a break? It took maybe 3 minutes until my suspicions were confirmed as I see the main group roll by with Hahn and Aaron. I go to watch the finish as I think maybe Jim will put in a sprint finish since the group is so small. I see the breakaway coming and I search for Jim, I’m happy to see he’s stayed in the break and finished up 8^th, his best road finish since being in Washington. I wait and see the group finish, but Hahn and Aaron are nowhere to be found. Turns up they got caught up in a crash. Lots of scrapes, dented top tube, broken shifter, broken helmet, they both seemed to be ok.

All in all it was a great day for the new Cervelos. They rode well and got both Jim and I our best finishes so I guess they are worth it. Orcas here we come!

Sprinker and Monroe races mark an end to the year

With Sprinker Park and Monroe Fairgrounds marking the end of the 2010 CX season, it has been an up and down season for me. After a difficult start to the season with recovery from a meniscus injury I can say that the last two races have given me confidence that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Sprinker Park was a race to remember as a fast power course. With all the turns, a sand section, and an added bonus of snow. The temperature was freezing making the course a mixture of frozen, bumpy ground and slick corners. The start funneled you into a narrow "hole shot" between two poles with 7 ft between them. I started in the last row making it clear that the game plan would be to stay away from any crashes at the start and work up to the the front as best I could. I had a good first lap keeping the leaders in sight. As the race progressed I moved to mid pack looking to move up as I went. With 2 to go I had lost sight of the top 3 guys but a large pack of the rest of the field was around 15 seconds in front of me. As I traded pacing with another racer it seemed we where gaining ground however with the last lap bell it was clear that we had given everything to catch on but without success. Our friendly arangment went out the window as my "friend" attacked on the paved straight away. The finial lap had both of us trading efforts to drop each other. I put a gap that would stick by bunny hopping the railroad tie before the run up. Even thought I came across the line in 11th place it was the first race all year that I felt like I was really racing someone. Not to mention the snow added to a feeling of a "belgianesque" course.
Monroe Fair Grounds was another great course by the guys at Seattle Cyclocross Series. With the false flat going into a number of twist and turns topped of by a crazy down hill to off camber section with an added single barrier in the way. It was clear they wanted to leave your legs burning with a sense of what a real Dan Norton course feels like. The start was a straight away that was fast. Going into the snake turn part of the course it was all about pedaling wihout slipping and to much braking. I had the carrot in front of me every lap as there was always another guy to catch on every part of the course. There wasn't any epic battles to be had except the one in my head but all ans all I crossed the line to finish 17th but happy.
So thats a rap for me this year now its time for the roadie to come out. Group rides with the team, some base miles and I hope to make a real effort to do well (get out of cat 4) and race a lot of road this coming year. See you next year Cyclocross I will miss you.