A new season...

"All or Nothing" says Todd

2009-01-12T16:26:00.002-07:00

I've caught the skate skiing bug. It's awesome, and I'de rather be outside than in the basement. Here is a recent story from my old friend Dave Knoop. He used to crush me on the mountain bike.

"Greetings nordic skiers and nordic ski enthuisiast's too! This week's story brings us to the storied Methow Valley and the Methow Pursuit a two day race format with a 15k Classic/ Diagnol Stride race on Saturday and a 26k Skate race on Sunday. Winthrop, Washington is a little town nestled in the hills just below the craggy snowy North Cascade Mtn range. Fly fishin', ranching, climbing and wandering abound here. In fact one of the more influential oranizations here is called the MVSTA or Methow Valley Sports Trail Association with heavy emphasis on Sports and Trails. In winter that means cross country skiing and lots of it. Like 200k of it as they will proudly tell you. Back in the 70's or 80's somebody wanted to put in a mega alpine ski resort here and they were promptly run out of town and told never to return. In fact you won't find any strip malls and or franchise chain stores like Starbucks in Winthrop and they like it that way just fine thank you. The area can best be described by the local artist who loves this place as his passion, check out www.seanmccabestudio.com Meanwhile back out on the road, driving across central Washington from Spokane, Nordic Dave encountered the huge Grand Coulee Dam situated on the Columbia river. It is a perfect description of power in many ways. The gigantic powerlines stretching out to far off major cities hungry for power, the Columbia it's massive body of water trapped and harnessed from raw power into electric power, Grand Coulee is engineering Power with a capital P. This weekend 'Ol Nordic" hoped to harness power into Elan and Panache. Everyone knows his classic/diagnol stride skills are well..... not good, not good at all, in fact they suck. Nordic reasons the only way to get better is to do more classic races. Hence The Methow Pursuit race format catches nordic's attention. One day classic the next day a skate race. The accumulated time of both days events counts towards the overall results. Nordic hopefully reasoned that he would somehow fake it and get by on Saturday's classic race then apply elan and panache on Sunday.The plan is immediately shown for all it's fallacies when nordic arrives in Winthrop and walks into the Nordic Ultratune ski shop (a shop of mythical purportions much like when the Griswolds finally make it to "Wallyworld" ) and is informed by Mark Waecther, owner, key employee, and "official wax tech of the Slovinian Ski team", that tomorow is indeed a KLISTER wax day. A klister wax day is a day nordic usually just skips all together as not worth the time and frustration on sugary snow and iced up classic groves. Grand Coulee indeed, how to harness power into elan is something to behold on these race days. On race day #1, 53 minutes later nordic has double poled much of the race course, rarely attempting to stride and lose anymore time. Nordic has given up 6 minutes to the race leaders, 3 minutes to his racing buddy Dan Packman (aka Stein Lager) and the ultimate slap to the face, 2 minutes to the leaders in his own "old guys" age group. In fact nordic is in 18th place overall at the end of the day and 4th in his age group. Yes nordic has dug himself quite A HOLE! Much like the feeling of wanting to kick the windshield out on Division St. in Spokane (aka.. a strip mall hell that stretches for 6 miles, nordic is left to stew for the rest of the day and night. Day two, the day dawns warm and generally gloppy, Nordic can successfully report to anyone about the best application of the occaisionally debated MVX grind pattern on skis that yes it in fact works very well in the valley of it's name sake and conditions like this. This morning, the start is all business & you are starting in the order of yesterday's finish and time. Watching the leaders start something like a year before nordic was tedious to watch, watching skiers in nordic's own age group start minutes ahead only made his nostrils flare. It felt damn good for "old nordic" to fire out of that hole with skiers ahead of him, skiers to ski down. Smooth strong, high cadence skiing alone was the order of the day. Catching/passing slower skiers quickly, giving them no chance to latch on was working well, every skier passed another pelt to hang on the fence. Elan and Panache flowing freely, working the hills with a V2 uptempo cadence eyeing the prize of another skier up ahead toiling away up a head in V1 mode. 7k into the race, passing the skier in 2nd place in nordic's age group, he puts up a fight not wanting nordic to pass only made nordic think about the next skier somewhere up ahead. Nordic was in a hurry to ski down as many skiers as he could before he ran out of time and distance. Far off in the distance on flat fields nordic eyes the next two skiers, they are hundreds of meters away. It takes focused effort to bring them in. Once passing them it is an empty void with nothing but ranches and trees to look at in the flat light. A furious effort with 10k to go nobody even in sight just skiing alone against time and an hour and 14 minutes later it is over. A cathartic effort working out the demons from yesterday and it felt real guud. The skate was the 9th fastest overall on the day unfortunately only good enough for 12th overall in the final two day results. Stein Lager has moved up to 6th from 9th overall the previous day yet he seems pensive as if it wasn't good enough. Stein is built to hammer hills he raced the flats this weekend and ponderous of his next events. Meanwhile Nordic takes the 1st in the old guy age group overall, a consolation prize for spotting them 2 minutes at the start and hunting them down imagining that they gave 'ol nordic smug looks yesterday and nordic must have retribution today. Actually they were really good guys but nordic was feeling a bit like Adam Sandler in the movie "The Waterboy". Nordic ponders this whole stride and glide thing as an exercise in futility. Ahh yes, nordic is then reminded by father's persistent outlook in life.....i.e. "the beatings will continue until the morale improves!" Nordic knows he will suffer in more classic/diagnol stride races in the future yet it only makes him hunger for the "A" races in the skate mode yet to come. Stay tuned for more exciting and fascinating stories from the Nordic Dave Adventures Series."

I'm a Facebook convert

2008-10-27T15:19:00.003-07:00

So, I guess I'm not going to let the blog die, yet. But I now piddle away my spare time frivolously on facebook. It seems as if there is a whole new movement amongst the cycling underground that is riding that wave.

Sanpete

2008-08-26T12:11:00.002-07:00

didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. I think I had 8 team mates in that race. Wow. We were all strong and aggressive, and eventually Cam powered off the front and stayed away. Unfortunately there were 2 unknown riders that bridged up later in the race and finished ahead of him. They were really strong. It was kind of impressive. I went down in a silly little mishap and elbowed the road good. It's bruising a little and the tip is soft. It might be cracked, but it doesn't hurt, so I'll be at RMR! Is it ever going to cool down?

Tour of Park City

2008-08-04T07:17:00.004-07:00

Why am I doing Lotoja again? That's the question I kept asking myself around mile 150 on Saturday. I was destined for 5th, but took a wrong turn in Kamas, so I got 17th. Bummer. Jeremy won and Spence got 3rd.

Tour of Park City:
Duration: 8:35:17 (8:41:48)
Work: 6338 kJ
TSS: 622.5 (intensity factor 0.851)
Norm Power: 238
VI: 1.16
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 180.174 mi
Elevation Gain: 9754 ft
Elevation Loss: 9695 ft
Grade: 0.0 % (59 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1262 205 watts
Cadence: 26 129 90 rpm
Speed: 1.3 44.8 21.0 mph
Pace 1:20 45:59 2:52 min/mi
Altitude: 4275 9065 5933 ft
Crank Torque: 0 1056 194 lb-in
Temperature: 59 107.6 88.1 Fahrenheit

2008-07-30T11:48:00.001-07:00

http://thechasepack.blogspot.com/

Day 9: Racing in Racine

2008-07-28T07:24:00.002-07:00

This was my last race. I really wanted to get on the podium and I liked the course. Flat and fast. The last 3 races have had hills in them and they were wearing on me. We did 65 laps with a race time of about 1:45. It doesn't seem that long, but you just go numb after a while. I was surprisingly stronger than I expected. I attacked, covered, went with breaks, but in the end I missed the move that stayed away. It had 9 riders. I was dissapointed and worked and I just drifted towards the back and sat there for about 20 minutes. I had nothing left to contribute to bring it back. Once again, I had excellent position into the final turn. We came out of it and I went to wind it up and still got passed by about 20 riders. There is just no more top end. Oh well, the trip was a success, no crashes, Eric got a win and Patrick is hanging with the big guns. We'll see if I can have a repeat performance at Coalville like last year. I don't think so though, I feel more tired now than my final race last year.

Day 8: Volkswagen Whitnall Park Road Race

2008-07-28T06:58:00.003-07:00

I'm starting to feel it now. Just a bit tired and lazy feeling. It feels like I did a 5 hour ride yesterday. I was pretty strong throughout the race. Solo off the front for a moment, bridged a few breaks, but it was all together in the end. I had good position at the final turn and tried to open it up, but everybody had more than I did, and I finished with a low placing. The top end just isn't there!

Race Type: Road Race

Course Length: 2.3 miles

Course Description: Rolling hills

Past Winners:

2007 Brian Jensen
2006 Steve Tilford
2005 Juan Jose Haedo (ARG)
2004 Dan Schmatz
2003 Ivan Dominguez (CUB)
2002 Viktor Rapinski (BLR)
2001 Ivan Dominguez (CUB)
2000 Harm Jansen (NED)

Day 7: Cedarburg

2008-07-22T19:46:00.004-07:00

I dnf'd this race last year. The Holy Hill race the day before kind of takes it out of you, but I was determined to make it. Today was Eric's last race as well and Patrick is racing with the big boys in downtown Cedarburg. I was pretty strong throughout the race and attacked a few times unsuccessfully. Then a 3 man break went up the road. They stayed away, the field chased hard for several laps but we all just got tired and had nothing left to chase with. The races have been kind of frustrating. The speed is, then its down, and everybody is riding their brakes through the turns. It makes harder. Then you get swarm ed constantly from the sides and its hard to keep your position at the front. With 2 to go, I made a nice move and got near the front, but I got swarmed going into the 2nd to last turn. It was about 400 meters to the line after the final turn, but that just wasn't enough road to move back up once they opened it up. You had to be at least 5th wheel out of the last turn. My legs did hurt a little today as well. That's ok, we finished safe and I've got 2 more races. Patricks race was OK, but he had a minor crash. His front brake mysteriously grabbed hard and sent him over the bars in a turn. He took his free lap and got back in just fine and finished with the group. They did 70 laps, it took 2.5 hours, and was about 100 km. Local boy Luis Zamudio has been out here for almost a week now as well and he is doing great. He just barely missed the winning break today that almost lapped the field. They would have, but they just eased up.

Past Winners:

Year Name
2007 Sebastian Haedo (ARG)
2006 Karl Menzies (AUS)

Check out Patrick on Bahati's wheel (Bahati is wearing the red sprint points leader jersey)

Day 6: Tour of Holy Hill road race

2008-07-22T08:55:00.000-07:00

Eric and I were both looking forward to this race after our strong showing yesterday. Its a fun circuit with several power climbs. The country is beautiful and the parking lot is next to a lake that we jump in after the race every year. There needs to be a lake at the finish of every hot bike race. Overall, we went pretty hard most of the time. There were a lot of hard efforts on the hills with attacks and breakaway attempts. I attacked with one rider with 1.5 laps to go, but they brought us back with one to go. Then Eric counter attacked and nobody went with him. Soon one rider jumped up to him and they started to ride away. The field just watched, it was great. We kept riding along and nobody did anything. We came to the first hill of the final circuit and a rider put in a stinging acceleration up the hill, but after that, nobody wanted to do anything. 5 minutes later I heard somebody say 'it looks like were racing for 3rd'. And we were, because the field just gave up. I put in some big efforts to get to the front near the finish, but I kept getting swarmed left and right. It was hard to keep position near the front. They changed the finish this year as well which didn't help, and before I knew it, we were make the right hander with a K to go. I was about 30 back with no room to move up, so thats where I finished. But hey, Eric got the win!

Day 5: Evanston, IL

2008-07-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

We were all fired up for this race. Its a fun course. Flat and fast with good turns (for us anyway, others, not so much). Patrick took 2nd here last year. My legs felt great. I could tell from the beginning I had a good ride in me. The race was very frustrating though, because the pace would just keep sitting up and the pack would swell as wide as the road and you would get passed by 20 riders on one side or the other. You basically had to get in the top 3 and power up with every surge if you wanted to stay near the front. Somebody crashed midway through and they temporarily stopped the race. There have been a lot of crashes this year. I was at the front before the final turn of the last lap and the field was all together. Of course, I got swarmed and lost 20 spots. I went around the bend, heard a crash behind me of course (standard protocol in a cat 3 race). I came out of the turn way down on position, so I just started my sprint from the beginning of the straightaway. I'm guessing about 600 meters. I wound it up pretty good and passed a lot of riders. Just as I was coming to the line, there was another crash. A rider hit the deck close to my line and bike was flying through the air right at me. I didn't know if I was going to make it or not. I kept the speed oin though and was able to thread the needle, just barely, for 6th. Eric was just behing and bunny hopped a bike at the line for 12th. Chaos.

Day 4: Waukesha

2008-07-22T08:19:00.002-07:00

Today was the spectacular yet feared Waukesha. After last year, I decided this was the hardest criterium that I had ever finished. 1.5 hours and a lot of turns. The course looked smaller and not as menacing this year. It must have set in mentally. My legs felt great. They announced a priem at the beginning of the race for a pair of track wheels. I could use those. I gradually worked my way up as the race progressed. They rang the bell for a $25 priem lap. I was near the front but didn't want to waste an effort to contest it. We crossed the line and they rang the bell for the wheel priem. I was near the front so I decided I was in the running. I held 3rd wheel around the course and the final turn. They started to ramp it up and then we jumped and were all out. We went long, at least 300 meters. I gave it everything I had and stretched hard for the line. He beat me by an inch. It hurt, and I wasn't pedaling. The field started to come by and I tried to list my speed. There wasn't much there. It kept going by and by and I kept trying. Eventually I was dangling off the back barely hanging. Eventually they accelerated out of a turn and I was gone. Oh well, I went for the wheels. Eric took a priem for $50 with 3 to go, then stayed off the front with 2 to go for the $100 priem, except they awarded it to the pack and not Eric. We were dissapointed about that.

Day 3: Ripon (your legs off)

2008-07-18T21:22:00.004-07:00

This was a short (1K) course with no flat spots. There was a hill similar to the DMV at the East and the West end for double your pleasure. 3 of the 4 turns were slightly off camber for added fun. It took me about half the race to finally start taking them right. I struggled the first half, the start was hard and it took me a while to open up. Eric was on the front attacking, he is riding so strong right now. I felt a lot better the last half of the race and was holding position near the front. With 2 to go, Eric again had bad luck and rolled a clincher. He kept it up and had no damage to bike or body, but it hurt to go out like that sitting about 3rd and looking strong. I held on for a 5th place finish. Good enough for $60!

The pros did 100 laps. Ouch. They have a feed zone in their crits. With the field as big as it was on such a short technical course, it only took about 10 minutes before there was fodder all over the back of the field. Riders were getting pulled left and right by the dozens. Then, unfortunately, a rider let a gap open in front of them and Patrick was about 8 back. Before he knew it, he was in the final group off the back that ended up getting pulled. These races are hard.

Day 2: Humboldt Park and Shorewood Criterium

2008-07-18T20:54:00.004-07:00

The cat 3's (Eric and I) raced at Humboldt Park. I went on an early break with 3 others, only to have one of the riders overlap a wheel right in front of me and crash. He took one rider out and almost got me. One rider and I went on, but we got caught later that lap. Eric was aggressive, attacking and near the front a lot. Midway through the race I felt like crap, but towards the end I started to feel really good. I got overconfident on the final lap and attacked really hard on the climb on the back side. They were all over it. I probably would have still finished well if I would have let off the throttle and got some wheels, but I just gave it everything until I had nothing left. Eric got caught up in the pack and was unable to finish well despite how good he was riding.

Shorewood is the Big Show. This is the first pro race we saw last year, and our eyes had to be the size of dinner plates. Rock Racing contributed with their cadillac entourage of course. Its a nice community and a big fast course with a huge field. Patrick got caught behind a crash. He tried to chase back on, but the effort was enough to finish him off. The Olympian won. Here are some photos:

Photos from day 1 (Bensenville)

2008-07-16T17:16:00.003-07:00

OK, that didn't turn into a cash cow, but we got the legs opened up. I was sitting 6th on the last lap, but slid my back wheel pretty good in a turn and lost all me speed and position. Ironically, the wheel I was on turned out to be the winner. Eris was aggressive and attacking a lot. He almost got caught in a crash, but pulled it out. Patrick got a taste of racing with international pros and olympians. He said it hurt.

Race #1: Ray Basso Bensenville Criterium

2008-07-16T07:23:00.003-07:00

We're on the road now. It's a 3 hour treck South from where we are staying, so I've got some time to kill. Will Pozatto take todays stage at the big show? Here is what we have today:

The Ray Basso Bensenville Criterium returns for its seventh year on the Superweek schedule with two days of racing on Tuesday and Wednesday. Food and drinks are available and live commentary can be heard all along the course, so come out and join the fun with races running throughout the day. For more information about the Bensenville Criterium, call (630) 594-1018.

Race Type: Criterium
Course Length: 0.8 mi.
Course Description: Flat

Past Winners:
Year
Men
Women
2007
Joshua Carter
Kelly Benjamin
2006
Pete Lopinto
Kacey Manderfield
2005
Kasper Kloostergaard (DEN)
Jennifer Green
2004
David McCook
Rebecca Much
2003
John Lieswyn
Sarah Tillotson
2002
Viktor Rapinski (BLR)
Lynn Gaggioli

Let the games begin!

2008-07-15T20:34:00.002-07:00

Alright, its time to finally kick the dust off this thing and fire up the engines. Patrick, Eric and I arrived in MKE (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) for our 2nd go round at the International Cycling Classic, otherwise known as SUPERWEEK(s). I'm here for 10 days this time, with the option of doing 9 races in a row. All crits except for one road race. These crits aren't your shorties though, were talking a minimum of 1.5 hours. 75+ riders in the field. Yeah, its going to kick ass. We're excited.

2008-06-10T07:00:00.001-07:00

sorry. I forgot I had a blog. This post will have to passify for now. State RR this Saturday!

State Crit Championships

2008-05-10T18:43:00.002-07:00

I went into this race super motivated to do well. I've been feeling pretty good for a week now and I felt I had what it took to do well. It didn't take very long before we were all out going hard. Within 10 minutes, the field had broke in half. Everybody stalled on the back of the last lap and I thought it was an opportunity to jump away. I jumped hard, but the acceleration was far from what it needed to be. The only way to win that far away is if you get a good gap. No gap for me, so it turned into a good lead out for the team. Eric was able to capitalize for a 4th. Overall, I'm pleased with how strong and aggressive I was able to race. I'm happy to be back in the saddle. Think good thoughts for Fausto Munoz Esparza, he has had some bad misfortune.

State Crit Championship:
Duration: 47:58
Work: 819 kJ
TSS: 102.4 (intensity factor 1.132)
Norm Power: 317
VI: 1.11
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 20.775 mi
Elevation Gain: 390 ft
Elevation Loss: 397 ft
Grade: -0.0 % (-7 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1279 285 watts
Cadence: 53 126 102 rpm
Speed: 3.9 35.6 26.0 mph
Pace 1:41 15:34 2:19 min/mi
Altitude: 5020 5043 5031 ft
Crank Torque: 0 1113 235 lb-in

The 1-2's averaged 26.7 mph!

Motivation?

2008-05-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

Jamie says "because I finished and you didn't, you have to do the laundry" :(

Near miss & a DNF

2008-05-06T21:11:00.000-07:00

Dropped in 20 minutes. I thought I was going to be a lot stronger tonight. I guess the last 2 days off has my legs a little too soft. Jumped on DH's wheel on an attack, only to put my front wheel in the crack and scrape the shit out of my front wheel. Thats all I need is to crash at 35mph in the oval while I'm still coming back. I had the perfect opportunity to jump into the break that lapped the field. It just didn't seem like the move, so I just powered up hard keep the gap to a minimum. I looked back and had a bigger gap behing me! Crap, now I'm in between and I missed the break. I tried to get up to it, but it was too late. Should've just gone for it. I still think I'm strong, but I'm concerned about my ability to hang at the Ski Utah Crit Series (DMV) tomorrow, if it happens. Rain in the forecast.

To suffer is the currency of racing, by JV

2008-04-24T10:26:00.001-07:00

To suffer is the currency of racing
Author: Jonathan Vaughters

Apr 24, 2008

Sometimes its best to just not think when you’re part of the cycling world. Because when you really think about what cycling is, you realize it’s….unthinkable.

I suppose this all became real to me in 2004, when a young rider named Craig Lewis hit the side of a car, full speed, in a time trial at the Tour de Georgia. Right there, it really sunk in, how cruel cycling is. I never seemed to think of this as a rider. As a rider, I just rode. I raced, I trained, I crashed, I went to hospitals, whatever…It was just part of any old season. If you wanted to race in front, there were risks you had to take to be there.

If you didn’t want to take those risks, then there was a place on page 4 of the results waiting for you. That simple.

I never thought twice about it and wondered why so many people seemed so upset when I hit my head on the pavement and woke up in the hospital a bit later. No biggie.

But that day with Craig… waiting as as he went in and out of consciousness with tubes inserted in every part of his body. That day, I realized this sport is not a sport at all, but something much more gritty and brutal. Professional cycling is defined as an unreasonable pursuit of the limits and boundaries of the human body and spirit. “Sport” describes soccer or cricket…Professional cycling is elsewhere in the dictionary.

Now, I was on the other side, witnessing a young man’s life hang in the balance, a young man’s dreams crushed. All because he was unwilling to let simple thinking get in the way of risking everything to be the best.

It really hurt me. It hurt me to realize how invested a professional cyclist is in his passion, a passion turned profession. It’s just not logical or right that someone chooses misery and pain, just for the love of pushing back barriers, trying to find out what “the best” really means. It’s beyond anything I’ll ever know again.

To suffer is the currency of racing. To risk life over and over is just a simple rule of the game. Ever think about jumping out of a car at 55 mph in your underwear? That’s what a crash in professional cycling is. The young riders I’ve seen grow up over the last five years all take this elemental part of racing and accept it over and over again: Crashes are a part of the “game.”

They embrace it. Joke about it.

The difficult part to deal with is that I taught them, as eager young men filled with dreams of Merckx, that this was the stuff of professional cycling. Crashing is a simple part of the life and career they had chosen. I taught them that this was the price of the passion they has chosen to pursue. And that, regrettably, they must choose, every day, to risk physical harm -crashes- for their desire to be the best. It is the price of our sport.

I hate myself for ever having taught them this harsh reality. I hate knowing that I laid the dangers of cycling in front of them and let them choose to go forward. I don’t know if I could let my son make that choice? I would do everything to hide any dangerous passion from him, truth be known.

I feel absolutely responsible for every family member that calls. They all know that their son’s or brother’s or husband’s passion and sheer desire is what separates them from rest of our world. They all know how special Craig or Timmy is. How beautifully odd it is that their son or brother or husband would choose severe suffering and pain in exchange for just a glimpse of glory - a brief moment of knowing your true and absolute potential. How different the choices they make are from the ones the rest of us muddle through, always thinking of safety and security. They know that its no one’s fault. But I don’t think any of that helps much in the long wait to hear if things are going to be OK…or not.

This time things will be OK. Timmy appears to be getting better and his wife and family are with him. A severe concussion and broken bones this time. One of many such stories in cycling this year.

The problem is the race goes on. And for the rest of the riders who must continue on, there is a choice to be made. An unthinkable choice. And as soon as you really think about that choice, it’s all over.

JV

Ski Utah Cycling Criterium (aka DMV) photos 4/23/2008

2008-04-23T21:52:00.000-07:00

Matt Knoop

2008-04-22T12:26:00.002-07:00

I don't know if any of you know Dave Knoop or his son Matt. Matt was recently killed in Brazil by a hit and run driver. I raced Mtn bikes with Dave a few years ago and he is amazing. He is about 10 years older than me and he would crush us on our training rides. God bless Dave and his family.

1-2!

2008-04-19T17:39:00.000-07:00

Laura gets the win in the 1-2-3's!

2008-04-19T17:38:00.000-07:00