End of an Era

A sad day has come for all Bearclaw's and Pasadena cyclists, alike.

Scarantino's Italian Inn closed its doors last Sunday - bringing to an end what was arguably the greatest, cyclist-friendly hang out i have ever encountered.


It's not hard to pinpoint what made Scarantino's such a natural fit for all of my cycling comrades: cyclist owned, cyclist patrons, great food, expansive European beer selection, REAL espresso, and the feeling that you "were one of the gang" every time you set foot in the restaurant.


Luckily, the silver lining to this cloud is that former owner and close friend, Jesse Scarantino, will now have far more free time to ride, hike and drink beer with the rest of us, as the 24/7 responsibility of running a restaurant has been lifted off his shoulders.

Scarantino's - it was fun while it lasted, and not soon forgotten.

Salud!

NMBS #3 Santa Ynez

Well, i managed to pull off my intended goal at last weekend's hot and dusty round of the NMBS with a 12th place in XC. Oh yea, the details...


The race started at 8am on Saturday with 47 semi-pro starters. It was apparent by the early-morning 70° temps that heat would be a significant factor in how things panned out. What's more, the race promoters shortened the race to a smokin' fast 2 laps (due to the heat), making it a full-blown drag race along Santa Ynez's rolling hills.


I had a mediocre start, riding around 2/3 of the way back until the first climb, where i managed to pick off a few weaker members of the herd. After that i decided it was time to party and rode aggressively through the remainder of the first lap - risking blowing up for the sake of moving catching more riders.


After coming through the feed in lap 2 out in no-man's land and properly dousing myself with a dedicated "cool-down" bottle of icy water, i took a look over my should - only to see a train of 5 or 6 other semi's working together. That lit a fire under my ass, and i made sure to give'r like hell on the approaching switch back ascent. Luckily i was able to shake the chasers, and as an added bonus i came upon a group of 4 semi's about 15 seconds ahead.

A few swoopy descents and bumpy flat sections later i finally caught up to the caboose of the 4-man train, which turned out to be Blake. Shortly thereafter i caught the remaining 3 riders who had stuck together and promptly rode away from them, deciding that "working together" with these guys would only slow me down.



On the courses final climb i caught yet another weary semi - but upon dropping into the final descent i was able to beat him in duel of the "no brakes game". From there it was a 2k time trial to the finish; mouth open, drool hanging, legs burning - all in the name of warding off any possible chasers.


I rolled across the line in 12th place - my best NMBS finish as a semi-pro to date - and nearly 10 minutes ahead of lyle (finally!!!).

As for sunday... i got blown out the back of the STXC, finishing "DFL +1" as Davis calls it. I guess i burned all my matches on Saturday. Oh well.

Third Time's a Charm

Tomorrow i head off towards the beautiful Santa Ynez Valley for round three of the NMBS traveling circus.


I wouldn't say my expectations are too big, but considering i burped my tire in Fontucky and pulled a weekend-long DNS streak in Arizona - i only have room for improvement. A top 15 would be nice.

Anyway... that's officially my laziest post to date, but i'm ready to retire for the evening. Expect a full race report upon my return.

Catching My Breath

It's hard to believe it’s been nearly 12 weeks since i first turned my pedals in the name of competition in 2008. It’s even harder to believe that i have completed nearly half of the races i will enter in this season. And while most racers would be ramping up their training right about now for the approaching months NMBS and regional races, here i sit in the virtual ‘midpoint’ of my 2008 racing calendar doing nothing.

Every year, as a part of my training calendar, i include 2 weeks completely off the bike - one before the start of my first base period, and one subsequent to my first ‘peak’. One might ask, "Why would you throw away fitness with a week of no training?"

Well - I’m of the opinion that you’re only as strong as you are motivated. How many times have physically gifted cyclists fallen off the face of the earth due to mental burnout? The list is a mile long. Moreover, i feel that your training is only as good as your recovery. And after nearly 3 months of hard training and racing, i’ve more than earned the right to give the ‘ol legs a break for a few days.

But perhaps the most important part of any planned rest period is the ability to remove onesself from their daily training routine, reflect on the races completed thus far, re-evaluate annual goals, and most importantly - decide how to achieve them.

For my sake (and yours) i have comprised a short list of my races to date, along with a brief description of how it went down:

Stump Grinder Winter XC
chain suck sucks. climbing in the big ring sucks even more.

Southridge Winter Series #4
pro starts are hard. tacky dirt and fresh singletrack are fun.

Bonelli Park
big motivation and over training = collossal 3rd lap meltdown

Keyesville Classic
long race on buff ‘real’ mountain bike terrain is a kick in the pants.

NMBS #1 Fontana
good legs and loose so-cal descents favor me... burping my rear tire whilst making a sketchy pass on lap 1 does not.

NMBS #2 NOVA
dry heat, 3-day stage races and stomach parasite DON’T mix. did not start.

Sea Otter Classic
long race of attrition with big climbs put me in the top 20 of 70 starters.

Whiskey Off Road (Marathon)
50mi grinder at 6000’ with loooong climbs suited my strengths.

All in all - i would say 2008 has treated me well thus far. No crashes or race-ending mechanicals *knocking on wood*. Only one ‘bonk’ at Bonelli Park, which really was more of a complete system shutdown. Top 20’s at Fontana and Sea Ottter ain’t too shabby.

Here’s to the rest of the season. Cheers!

Whiskey Off Road

Cycling is a powerful drug: with a single taste, one is continually dissatisfied with their last high.

"Long" 3 hour rides turn into 4 hour rides, which turn into 5 hour rides, which turn into 6 hour rides and so on. Training turns from a casual organization of rides with buddies into an obsession with optimizing power and performance. Cross country races that left you shattered just a few years ago no longer provide the same challenge to your lungs, legs and mental toughness. Satisfying personal goals to move up one category sparks the fire that drives you to make the leap from the amateur ranks to professional.

It is not without coincidence that my addiction to cycling has led me to events like the Whiskey Off Road - a 50mi 'marathon' XC in Arizona's high country. This event sounded brutally challenging, so naturally i had to see what it was all about.

Lee, Kevin and I departed at 7:00am on Friday morning - heading towards the small town of Prescott, AZ.

I couldn't figure out why my tires kept losing air on the drive out.

Upon arriving, we unpacked our things, kitted up, and headed out for a cruise through town.

After picking up our race packets and schmoozing with the local cycling folk, Lee and I rode up highway 89 for a few miles to open up our car-cramped legs. It also gave me a chance to dial in my optimal saddle angle.

Well lets see now... the race!

I started in a field of 110 '50 proof' racers at 9:00am - including the likes of "Jungle" Jay Henry and Floyd Landis. The race started in the middle of town with an official police escort up the road to where the singletrack started. I was able to pick my way through the camelbacks, threadbare Pearl Izumi shorts and hairy legs to the top 15 where i rode for the majority of the race.

Myself and the lead singlespeeder - a Sho-Air rider named Mike - rolled through the dry, Altadena-esque singletrack, eventually hitting a long fireroad descent that dropped us from around 6500' to 4200'. We then turned around and climbed WAY up from Skull Valley to the highest peak Prescott had to offer. After being dropped like a bad habit on the penultimate 17mi climb, I'm pretty sure my body decided to burn brain cells for fuel. As i rolled into the final 13 mile singletrack descent i could barely react fast enough to keep from going ass over tea kettle on the shaley alpine trails.


As luck would have it, though, i managed to catch a second wind (maybe all those gels i scarfed finally kicked in) a few miles into the descent home. A drift here - a roost there - and i was jamming down a killer stretch of forested singletrack, mojo in full swing. Upon hitting a short intermittent climb, i passed two other '50 proofers' who had obviously cracked, and were walking their bikes. I rode past them without dabbing once, and kept it pinned all the way to where the trail spat me onto the paved road. From there i locked my fork, threw it into 11, and put my head down and time trialed to the finish.

I finished to an enthusiastic crowd in downtown Prescott - placing 11th out of 110 starters.

The boys got back to the motel about an hour and a half later, and we all headed into town and collapsed in the courthouse lawn, followed by a much-deserved mexican food dinner.

All in all - i have to say this was the hardest race i have ever done in my life. I've never had to dig so deep just to keep my legs moving. But as with any race like this - the satisfaction of knowing you finished, despite near-bonk hallucinations and severe fatigue, far offsets any temporary pain felt in the moment.

Sea Otter Brief

In a nutshell:

Started towards the back of a ~70 man field and rode conservatively through lap 1, working with another L.A. based rider.

Decided it was "business time" upon starting lap 2. Subsequently hunted and surpassed groups of weary semi's who'd spent too much money on lap 1.

Came within spitting distance of Lyle in the final 3 miles, only to finish :45sec in arrears.

17th place. 6 minutes faster than last year's time.


In lieu of pictures, i have posted the workout file for all ye bike-data nerds to analyze. Enjoy!

Off to the Otter

Only 24 hours left to prepare for another year of madness at the Sea Otter Classic.


Just for fun, i've included a list of names commonly used to describe this event:

-Sea Slaughter
-Sea Donkey
-Sea Beaver
-that f*cking muddy @ss race that ruined my whole drivetrain two years ago.

See you all there! Cheers.