Harp Rider

Jewell Park TT, Swanson STXC and Swanson River City XC Shootout: Race Report(s)

2011-04-07T19:12:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was the first of the Nebraska Mountain Bike Psycowpath Series. This year they had a 3 part series. On Saturday they had a Time Trial at Jewell Park, Short Track at Swanson Park and then on Sunday we were back at Swanson to wrap things up with the XC race. I went into the weekend with very low expectations since I knew that my training over the winter had been the worst I've had since I started racing and my fitness was nowhere near where it should be for the start of the season. At this point I was basically still about 1/2 way through my base training and had very little intensity up to this point. On Saturday morning I got to the time trial and started to warm up and was feeling ok. I was a little sluggish at first but started to feel better as time went on. When it was my time to go I was actually thinking that I might put out a respectable time. Then I started. As soon as I hit the first climb I new it was going to be a long 3.5 miles. This course in my opinion is one of the toughest courses in Nebraska. It goes up and up and up and you are constantly encountering 180 degree switchback (that I could not ride for some reason) for most of the course. I had never had to put my foot down as many times as I did in this TT. I also quickly realized that I couldn't climb like I did last year. Climbing was always the strongest part of racing for me but I just had no legs and each climb (which was most of the course) was killing me. I ended up with a time of 21:22. The most frustrating thing for me was that my time last year was 19:03. Here's the pre-race video when I thought I was feeling good:

Jewell Jam TT- Brandon Harpster prerace interview from econojer on Vimeo.

After a little bit of a break for some food and a short drive I was over at Swanson Park to get everything set up for the Swanson STXC. I had only raced 1 short track before and I liked it but after my performance in the morning I was actually very nervous to race this one. After watching all of my teammates race their races it was time for us to get started. Lining up I knew I was in trouble. When the gun went off I raced up and was with the group as we went through the wide open field area and stayed with them for the first lap but after that I just couldn't hold on anymore. I ended up getting spit out of the back and was quicly joined by my teammate John and we settled in and just raced our race the rest of the time trying to go as fast as we could. We were able to turn out sub 3 minute laps for the entire race which was good but I'm sure the leaders were putting out 2 1/2 minute laps. We ended up getting lapped right at the end. On Sunday I was up and feeling very stiff and tired but got things ready and headed back to Bellevue with Ryan. I was going up early so that Ryan could get started in the Marathon race and I wanted get the team area set and ready for everyone else. After the Marathon race got started I hung out and caught up with some of the guys I hadn't seen for a while and then kitted up to go get a little trail time in to warm up. When we lined up to get started I knew that I wasn't going to do well. I just didn't feel it. When the gun went off I was at the back of the bike right away and when we hit the single track and started up the first climb I couldn't hang on and was seperated from the group. I kept pushing as fast as I could becasue I knew I had a strong group of Cat 2 guys behind me. I ticked off all 5 laps suffering more and more throughout the entire race. By the end I was in a pretty bad place but I finished the race. I was about I was about 37 minutes behind the winner but I guess at least I still finished. This race has definitely reminded me that I still have a lot of work to do still and a long ways to go. Now I'm just focusing on getting in some good training and preparing for the next race. Harp

Hurtin

2011-03-06T23:03:00.003-06:00

Hurtin is the best way that I can describe how I'm feeling right now. Well I'm also disappointed. The ride today killed me. I should way farther than I am right now. I was practically crawling by the end of the ride.

Today is what I needed though to get my ass in gear and really focus on the trainer. I'm telling myself that I'm not going to be sick again this year and that I can stay on my plan. I've got a lot of work to do.

Here's today's route. A good one that I'll probably ride again.

Finally the first post of the year. Still riding.

2011-02-13T22:53:00.001-06:00

Checking out some routes for future training rides. Nice to finally be outside again. This was the first outside ride of the year. I've been couped up on the trainer for 1 1/2 months. I've been to crazy to post. Getting things back together now.

Race Day

2010-11-29T21:49:00.003-06:00

This is a new video produced by Ergon showing the behind the scenes prep for the Offenburg XC World Cup race by Team Topeak/Ergon Rider Irina Kalentieva. It really kind of gives you a feel for what it's like getting ready to race when your the World Champ.

2011 MTB Training

2010-11-23T22:20:00.003-06:00

As I'm sitting and getting my training plan straightend out for 2011 one thing that I decided that I need to focus on is to change my body shape. I need to go from this:

to this:

I need to lose the upper body bulk and transfer it to the bottom. Big legs, small torso. Just like the T-Rex. The attitude might help to.

More to come later.

Harp

In the Race

2010-11-01T23:34:00.002-05:00

Here is a quick video of the start of the 1/2/3 race from the Flatwater Cyclocross Grand Prix

Flatwater Cyclocross Grand Prixe

2010-10-30T14:29:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday my team put on the Flatwater Cyclocross Grand Prixe on our home course at Van Dorn Park in Lincoln were we have been having our weekly training race. I got up early and headed off pretty early to get the course set up. We had made some changes to how it would run and the course was sweet. We added crowd fencing and taped off most of the course. It looked pretty pro and flowed nicely.

I on the other hand was stressed out cause my bike was still broken from the previous days crash and I was working on getting Paul to come in on his day off to come and help me fix it. I also had the challenge of the shop not having another SRAM Rival brake lever/shifter in but they let were letting me pull one off one of the demo bikes and I could use it to get my bike running for the day. After running out to the shop and pulling the broken lever off and the other one off the demo Paul showed up and saved me and got the bike up and running again.

After I got back to the course I got changed and started to get myself ready and started to warm up. After watching my teammate Jesse come from behind and win the the Cat 4 race I headed to the line to get started. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel or what was going to happen. There was 32 people in the 1/2/3 race and the start was a little sketchy as everyone was jockying for position. I was towards the back and was hoping I would be able to work my way up and take advantage of the home field advantage. But that did not happen.

As soon as we strung out on the course I quickly realized that I had absolutely nothing. The legs were like stone. I was pretty much passed by the whole field. I've had bad races before were I did not feel well but never anything like this. I was getting passed and dropped by people that I never lose to and a couple of people that I almost lapped at a few of the training races. I pretty much was winded the whole race and just tried to survive which I barely did.

After this race I was extremely dissapointed and I've been doing some major thinking about what I need to do and change to get myself back were I know I can be and were I should be.

harp

Skyview CX Classic: Race Report

2010-10-28T23:53:00.004-05:00

It's been a while since I have posted last. Life has been busy but I realize I need to get back at this. The blog has always been a way for me to journal my cycling and I haven't done that much this year at all. So I am going to get back and post more regularly like I used to.

Saturday was the Skyview CX classic. I went to this race last year and really enjoyed the course and was looking forward to seeing how they changed it for this years race. I made the trip with John our FWCT Team manager/racer and when we got to the course we noticed several obstacles right away and I realized it was going o be a tough race.

After we got changed we headed out for a lap to check out the course and see how what it was like. They had really made the course more technical from last year and there were lots of tight twisty turns around trees that would caused me to almost have to stop to get around. When we fnished our lap we just went out and rode around the lake to get warm and ready to race.

When it came time to line up I was feeling ok and was optomistic about how I would do. I had no illusions that I would win but I wanted to have a good showing. When the gun went off I was in the middle of the pack and when we hit the first obstacle which was a tight circular pattern that you had to work through I got clogged up with a couple of riders and ended up near the back. While I was chasing I cracked and fell off the pace but I was hoping I would come back around.

At the beginning of my 2nd lap I got going again I was in chase mode. I was able to hop over the some of the barriers and could see the rider in front of me and was making my push to catch him.

When we hit a tight twisty section through some pine trees disaster struck. I was right on the riders wheel in front of me and when we hit the trees my front tire slid on some pine needles and I slammed the right side of my handlebars into a tree destroying my right shifter/brake lever. The shifter was now broken and I wasn't able to use my rear brake (that was rubbing) and I couldn't shift and the gear was stuck on my largest cog in the back giving me no power on the long flat sections of the course. With the shifter being broken I could also put no weight on the hood which really skrewed up my turning on this tight course.

I stayed in the race to try to get some points for the Nebraska CX series but I ended up finishing in 8th out of 9 and was lapped by the top 3 riders. It was a very disappointing race but that's the way it goes I guess. The lesson learned is don't slam your bike into trees and things don't get broken.

harp

Omaha Cyclocross Weekend Saturday: Race Report

2010-10-02T23:45:00.002-05:00

Cross. This is something I have a hate/love relationship. I say hate/love first because I absolutely hate it while I'm doing it but after about 10 minutes after the race I can't wait till the next one.

That being the Saturday edition of the Omaha Cyclocross weekend was not a good one for me. This was the first race for me after moving up to the 1/2/3 race. Last year I was cat 4 and this year I'm racing against the fastest around in a discipline that I'm not that really comfortable with yet.

When we lined up and they sent us off I knew I was in trouble from the beginning. When I put the power down the legs said I don't think so and this ain't going to be happening for the next hour. I just didn't seem to have any power. I stayed with the leaders through about the 1st third of a lap and then just couldn't hang on anymore. Once we hit the first sand pit and then the barrier on a uphill that kicked my ass all day the leaders were gone and I was suffering and not in the good way of suffering but in the "I can't beleive I'm going this slow" and being embarressed.

As the race went on I worked my way along through the laps hoping that I would get my first wind and at least be able to try to catch the guys in front of me but that never came and after about 35 minutes I got passed by the leader and then eventually by the other riders in the top 5. I couldn't beleive it. I got lapped by one guy that I chased down and dropped in a mtb race a few weeks ago. It's amazing how one day I'll feel fine and the next I'll just blow up but that is the way racing is.

Now I just have to hope for something better tomorrow.

Harp

Cross Practice Video

2010-09-28T20:02:00.002-05:00

Here's a couple of quick videos taken at Cross practice last week. The first one was taken going over the barriers (which I still need to improve on) at the begining of the race. The second one is at the beginning of the final lap when I'm chasing down the 4th place rider in front of me after struggling most of the race. My problem with the cross training races is that I've been fast at the beginning and then in the middle I fall apart and drag myself around the course and then on the last couple of laps I pull myself back together and then start to reel people back in. There is a third one that shows me in the middle of the race shaking my head not thinking I'm going to make it but I'm not going to show that one. It is not pretty.

MTB Season is Over??

2010-09-26T22:12:00.003-05:00

Last "real" race (mtb) of the season got cancelled. I might be doing one more in a week or so but for the most part I'm going to be taking it a bit easier for a while but at the same time all I got to say is HELLO CROSS SEASON!!! BRING ON THE PAIN!!!

29er. Maybe Someday

2010-09-15T15:36:00.003-05:00

As I've thought about bikes and the different courses that I race on and I've thought that a few of them a hardtail 29er would be perfect for. Those of you that know me well might be suprised by this since I'm one of the few that can see the benefits of 26 inch wheels ut there are some courses were 29ers are advantages. Like the Branched Oak course that I raced on this past weekend. On the wide open prairie section were it is bumpy a 29er with lower tire pressure would hammer across it. If I ever do get one this bike just might have to be the one. Here's a picture and a video.

Someday maybe someday. Is still need to get the 2011 Rift Zone 26 inch Full Suspension first. And then maybe a road bike. But you never know.

Harp

Capital City Challenge: Race Report

2010-09-13T15:12:00.004-05:00

Saturday was the next race in the Nebraska Lottery Psycowpath series, the Capital City Challenge at Branched Oak Lake. This was a race that I was looking forward to all season since it is the only race in the series where the riders from Lincoln, NE have an advantage over the riders from Omaha. A lot of the courses used in the series are in or near Omaha since they are fortunate enough to have a lot of great trails which usually gives them the home field advantage.

Branched Oak on the other hand is a place were myself and a lot of other riders spend a lot of time training and it is where we had the Flatwater Cycling Team MTB Training series so I had the course pretty dialed in.

When I woke up in the morning after sleeping about 2 hours longer than I normally do I didn't feel the best. I felt really groggy and unmotivated. Actually I didn't really feel like racing at all but I got myself together, ate breakfast which I changed from all my other pre-race breakfasts consisting of oatmeal that I just did not want to so I went with 3 eggs scrambled, 3 pieces of toast and a banana. I finished eating before 9 which was my plan since I don't like to eat anything substantial inside 3 hours of racing.

After driving over to the lake and getting gear set up under the BP tent I got changed and headed out for a quick warm-up/pre-ride of the course. The course was dry and was in good shape. Glad I stuck with the Conti Race Kings. Perfect for the conditions. Next thing I knew it was time to have the pre-race meeting and then time to line up.

They lined us up on a gravel road downhill from the singletrack. I took my usual position this season in the second row. When the gun went off I quickly jumped on the wheel of a couple of faster riders and was at limit right from the gun but my goal for this race was to really push myself to hang with the leaders for as long as I could. I went into the first section of singletrack which is a long prairie section that I just hate. My 26" hardtail is perfect for most of this course except for the beginning and ending long prairie sections. As we started to make our way through the praire section I was sitting in about 8th position. Shortly before we turned into the covered tree section I was passed by Ryan from the Souix City Velo team. I was a bit surprised that he was behind me. We went flying through the first section of trees and I had never ridden as fast as I was riding at that time still in contact with the lead group and surprised at how I was feeling.

As I continued through the first lap I was able to keep charging and could keep seeing Ryan in front of me which is all that I need for momentum. As we went through one tight section I did loose a little time as I went down through a tight tree section that has always given me trouble plus I had a bit to much pressure in my tires. I banged my knee when I went down but I just ignored it and kept on rolling and really felt like I had plenty of power to keep putting into the pedals. When we hit the second prairie section I lost some time on Ryan and then as we went through the start/finish line and hit the first prairie section again I could still see Ryan in front of me and felt that if I could just keep him close and then when we got to the trees and the climbs I thought I could chase him down.

About 1/2 way through the lap just before we hit the longest climb I could see him in front of me and then really pushed up the hill and got on his wheel as we went through a tight section were passing was impossible. As soon as we cleared the tight trees I jumped and was able to pull in front. He jumped on my wheel for a little while but I hammered on the down hill and the next climb and he shortly dropped out of sight. At that point I was feeling pretty good and was getting close to the second prairie section. When I got to it I could see the next rider in front of me had a good gap and I just kept in mind that he still could be caught.

I went through the 3rd and 4th lap just pushing as hard as I could to close down the gap to the rider in front of me and about 2/3rds the way through the 4th lap I could see the velo gear rider in front of me and I knew that a longer climb was coming up so I pushed up the climb and closed the gap and then right before the praire section I was able to get the jump on him and get in front. He quickly grabbed my wheel and as soon as we hit the short singletrack gully before the 2nd prairie and I just dropped the hammer through it and then really pushed through the prairie and by the time I hit the start/finish I couldn't see him anymore.

I was able to keep pushing through the rest of the race but wasn't able to chase down any other riders. When the results were posted I ended up 7th. It was a larger field and probably my best result that I've had this season. This race I felt like a XC MTB racer again and hope that I can carry it into the last race of the season.

FWCT CX Training Race # 1: Race Report

2010-09-01T21:51:00.003-05:00

It seemed odd as I was getting on my cross bike tonight to head off to a cross training race. My team Flatwater Cycling is hosting 10 cyclocross training races this season every wednesday starting tonight. I don't think that I was mentally prepared to really start cross. My goal for tonight was just to go out and put out a hard effort and see what happens. This morning I even got up early and did my core workout that I didn't have time for last night not sure how that would effect how tonight would go.

We have the races broken down into two categories Cat 1/2 and Cat 3/4. The Cat 1/2 race is first at 5:30 and the Cat 3/4 race is at 6:30. I don't get off work until 5 and by the time I get home change and head off on my bike ( I ride since the park we are racing at is only 2 miles from my house) and get to the race it is about 10 til 6 so I didn't race the harder race which I think I want to try to from here on out just for the chance to push myself harder. So tonight I raced my Cat (3).

As it was time to go I was feeling alright and when they sent us off we took off down a long road section in the park. I was in 4th wheel when we hit the grass I was still in 4th and had my teammate Jesse sitting in 2nd wheel. I never just plan to sit in on a cross race and I was having to brake a lot in the turns so that I didn't run into the other riders so on the first long straight section I passed the 3rd place rider and Jesse and he let me in. The 1st rider was not in the best shape and I quickly made it around him and then I wanted to open up a gap on the field if I could. One rider named Jeff who I had passed earlier who I knew would be strong from last season had moved to the front with me. I pushed the pedal a bit and Jeff came with me and we opened a huge gap on the rest of the field.

Towards the end of the lap is were they had 3 barriers set up. I am definitely out of practice on the barriers but made it through and finished the first lap in in 1st place. I slowed on the road section a bit and Jeff came up on my wheel and shortly after we hit the grass section he came around and passed me which I was ok with. I quickly grabbed his wheel and rode it through the 2nd lap.

On the road section I rode his wheel this time and when we got close to the grass he turned and asked if I wanted to take this lap. I quickly said yes and took off. As we rode through the course I felt like surprisingly I could ride the turns faster (wish I could do this during the mtb races) so my goal was just to work with Jeff and I thought I would be able to get away from him on the last lap.

The only thing that changed my plan was that he didn't really seem that interested in taking a pull which so I just kept on slowly driving up the pace. Then we started to hear some thunder and on the end of lap 4 Sean told us that we had one lap to go which was at least one lap less than I thought we would do. So I didn't attack but just slowly get uping my pace and really hitting it hard on the turns and corners which I felt was giving him a hard time. When we were about a 1/3rd of the way through the course I really started to push and slowly pulled away cause I wanted to make sure I had time when I hit the barriers cause I knew Jeff was faster at getting over those than I was.

I made it away from him and ended up finishing a few seconds before he did and took the win. I still have a long way to go but I'm really looking forward to cross now this season but this isn't a bad start.

Maskenthine XC Classic: Race Report

2010-08-31T23:08:00.003-05:00

photo courtesy of Elkhorn valley cycling

On Saturday morning I headed up to Stanton Ne for another installment of the Nebraska Lottery Psycowpath Series, the Maskenthine XC Classic. I have never missed a race at this location. 4 years ago this was the 2nd race that I attempted and the first one that I finished.

My flatwater cycling teammate Sean rode with me for the 2 hour drive to the lake were the race was being held. We had a strong wind out of the south that I wasn't really that worried about since a good portion of this course like most mtb courses is pretty well covered by trees. After we got the venue and went about the usual set-up of signing release forms, prepping and dropping off bottles and getting changed we headed up to pre-ride part of the course and warm up before having to get to the line. I felt ok on the warm up and thought that I was going to have a decent race. Remember the word thought.

As we lined up I placed myself in the second row since I knew we had a long gravel section to go around and then climb before dumping into the singletrack. When they sent us off I tucked into Sean's wheel and followed him up to the singletrack and then jumped off and went into the trail in 7th place. The leaders shot off and I went with them creating a gap from everyone behind me. I was sitting in ok going through the most technical part of the trail but when we hit a short punching climb I just had nothing. I struggled to hang onto the riders wheel in front of me but couldn't hold on and just fell back and next thing I knew I was riding alone. I just kept pushing but I was quickly realizing that I had no legs and I went into immediate frustration mindset since I thought I had a pretty good week leading up to the race.

After about 1/2 a lap the rider that was in 8th place caught back up to me and rode with my wheel for about the rest of the lap before passing me on a open turn that I bobbled. I tried to grab his wheel and stick with him but had nothing and I spent the rest of the race riding in 8th place where I would later finish. I guess at least I finished in the money and was able to recoupe my race entry fee. I am still racing for points in this series and I'm currently sitting in 1st place in my age group. A lot of the real heavy hitters in the Cat 1 category are in the 35 plus group.

I was pretty frustrated with how this whole race went from how I felt and by my bike handling skills. For some reason lately I just can't seem to take any corners or turns with any amount of speed and I think that it is wearing me out always having to scrub so much speed and have to push to gain it back on every corner and turn. It is definitely a weakness that is going to get a lot of focus in my upcoming training rides.

harp

Some Changes

2010-08-22T11:19:00.004-05:00

Wow. This is my first non race report post since June 6th. It's nice to be caught up a bit. In the last couple of months I've had kind of an epiphany as far as my cycling goes. I think that a big part of my problem this season is that I have been very busy with school and work and than trying to race every race it kind of took a toll on me. I need to make some changes. After talking it over with my logical thinking and smarter than me wife I figured out really what the problem was. I was not enjoying half of the races that I was doing. I wasn't enjoying racing my road bike anymore. The only time I really enjoyed racing was when I raced my mountain bike. So the logical train of thought is that I just won't race my road bike very often anymore. Plus it was getting expensive and I had to skip some mtb races that I wanted to do and if I hadn't spent the money on the road races I would have had it to fund the ones that I would have enjoyed.

I will still race a few road races but only those that my team puts on where I have to be there anyways and since my team is putting it on it's free so why not. For now I'm also going to stop doing time trials as well. The Felt B2 demo that I used last season is now for sale and I'm not going to spend the money on buying a TT bike.

I've also decided to sell my road bike. In my new plan of all my focus going towards mountain biking I've had some issues were I need a full suspension bike. So I'm going to sell my road bike and some other things to finance a another mountain bike. It will be a huge benefit to be able to chose the bike that will be the best option for the course that I'm racing. Some of the courses are best suited for a hardtail and some are best suited a full suspension.

This may seem a little strange but I will just race a demo from the shop next year or I'll put road wheels and tires on my cross bike and use it. For the few road races and training that I need a road bike for the cross bike will work fine. I've already gone out and given it a try with some of the team guys and it works fine. I do plan on getting a new road bike eventually but for now I'm looking at the priorities and the priority is getting myself the equipment that I will need for next season.

The new full suspension mountain bike I will most likely be riding next week will be the new 2011 Marin Rift Zone. It is their new XC specific racing short travel full suspension. They released it yet but I've gotten the info through the shop. Here's a pic:

Really looking forward to racing this thing. Later.

Harp

Rapture in Misery: Race Report

2010-08-20T16:54:00.005-05:00

This is #5 in my 5 part series of 5 race reports in 5 days.

Early on Saturday morning Ryan and I packed up and headed south to Missouri to Crowder State Park for the Rapture in Misery 6/12. We were going to attack this thing as a duo team in the 12 hour event. This was going to be my first time trying anything like this but I thought that I could hammer out laps if I was taking turns with Ryan.

After the 4 hour drive we arrived at the race venue with a little under 2 hours to get ready. By the time we registered (luckily the 12 hour like was incredibly shorter than the 6 hour line) we started to get our pit area set up and then it was time to get the nutrition and bikes ready and then get changed for the riders meeting. We decided that I would do the first lap.

At the riders meeting they explained a bit about the different sections of the 9.2 mile course and they made it sound pretty rough. After the meeting I got my biked placed in the transition area and headed over to were they had us line up for they were lining us up for the le mans style start. I was a bit worried about the run but I was hoping that I could make it towards the front and get out without much trouble.

When they sent us off I got to the bike in about the first 1/2 of riders but we had a long mowed section through a field before entering the singletrack that I were I was able to get around a whole bunch of people. When we entered the singletrack I quickly realized what they were talking about when they called it the boneyard. I had never seen rocks like that before. People all around me were off their bikes and it was rough. I have to admit I was ultra intimidated and was having a really hard time getting through it. After that the trail just kept taking hits at me with all of the hard stuff, more rocks, roots, off-camber switchbacks into climbs and everything else you could think of. The trail was also slick from some rain that they had the night before not making the rocks any easier to get through and making some of the descents treachorous. Plus I definitely did not have the right tire on and just couldn't get any traction on the trail. On one descent I had to just barely touch my brakes because a rider in front of me slowed and I went straight down.

After I finished the first lap I tagged out with Ryan and went to switch my front tire from the conti race king to a conti mountain king. When Ryan finished his lap and I went back out with the tire change and the trail having dried a bit it was completely different. I was able to really hit the trail and was able to make up some time and I was able to pass a ton of other riders. It felt good to be able to hammer it on the climbs were most people were walking and I was able to ride straight up. Everything was going great on the lap until towards the end of it when I went to take a drink out of my bottle on a straight section and must have moved when I tilted my head back and I was instantly on the ground. Hard. I was able to collect myself and get moving again but my left arm was killing me when I went down. When I finished the lap and switched out with Ryan I went back to the pit area to try and recover and get myself ready to go.

As I went out for my third lap Ryan and I had been sitting in third place for most of the race by now and I was looking to set a good time. I had a crash in the rocky "boneyard" at the beginning but managed to get myself going but the new problem became my big and middle chainrings. Paul my mechanic at the shop told me they were bad but I thought I would be able to make it through this race but when I was in either the big or middle ring the chain just skipped constantly so I ended up having to ride the rest of the lap and the race in the small ring which really hurt me on the flat sections.

The fourth lap went well but my fifth lap would be my first lap with the lights on. I had never ridden at night before and didn't know what to expect. I had some daylight left and was hoping to be able to get through the boneyard before it was too dark but right after the first first little bitty rock section my front tire went flat. I change tires pretty fast but when I can barely see it takes a bit longer. After I got going again I just felt slow. I only had one light on my head and was having a hard time seeing. I can definitely see the benefit of having a light on your head and on your bike. The lap took forever and the team that was in fourth had made up some time on us.

When I went look at the screen (yeah they had live up to date lap times and positions the whole race, very pro) I saw that the 4th place team was still battling it out with us and I knew I was going to be having to go out again. When I left I wasn't feeling very good. I hadn't been fueling very well and I wasn't moving very fast plus I was having trouble getting used to seeing things in the dark. And just couldn't get through the technical trail as quickly as I would have liked. About a third of the way through the lap I saw a light behind me and it looked like the sun was coming up behind me and when the rider past me I realized it was the 4th place (now 3rd place) team member. We were just coming up to a climb and I new that I would be able to out climb him and my plan was to try to stay with him since I had a hard time seeing when he was behind me. When we hit the climb I was about half way up when I felt my front tire go flat again. I couldn't beleive it. Then I realized that I had a tube but no way to air it up. I had blown both of my co2 cartridges on the last flat and I forgot to grab my hand pump from Ryan. Luckily there was an aid station just up the trail a bit and I just rode my flat until I got to hit hoping they had a pump.

When I got to the aid station I asked if the 2 guys there had a pump and neither of them said they did. I was screwed. Then one of the guys realized he had one on his bike in his truck. The problem was it was the tiniest pumps ever made and it took me forever to change the tire. I think took me somewhere around 20 minutes to get enough air into the tire to make sure it didn't pinch flat on the rough trail. I finished the lap right as they were blowing the horn saying no one else could go out for a lap.

In the end Ryan and I lost a podium spot cause of my 2 flat tires. It was a bit frustrating but that is mountain biking. We had a great time at the race and we definitely plan on doing it again. I did learn a couple of things. 1st was to bring lots of clothes. It was muggy and I my kit was wet most of the time and the best thing was when I changed my bibs to a dry pair but that only lasted for about 15 minutes. The worst part was putting on my wet jersey when I was getting ready for the next lap. 2nd lesson was to eat better. I did not fuel the best and just need to remember to keep the nutrition going in .

Ryan and I were both super excited after the race and I think it will defiitely be something we plan on doing more of next season.

Tranquility Tire Tantrum: Race Report

2010-08-19T22:04:00.003-05:00

This is #4 in my 5 part series of 5 race reports in 5 days.

Sunday August 8th was the Tranquility Tire Tantrum. It was the 3rd part of the Psycowpath Omaha Weekend. This was the XC race portion.

I headed up a bit early with Ryan so that he could get ready for his marathon race and it gave me plenty of time to get myself ready. The biggest challenge with the race was going to be the heat though. They had us starting a bit later in the day which put us starting in the hottest part of the day.

When it was time to line up the heat index was over a 110 degrees and I knew that a good part of this race was going to just be surviving and finishing the race. The promoter announced at the beginning that they would not be shortening the race and that we still had to complete all 5 laps as planned. I was happy that the race did not get shortened. I still need to get used to the longer races this season.

When they set us off the pace was fast and we hit the single track section I was in about 6th place and was rolling through the singletrack pretty good. When we hit the first big climb (same climb that we used in the stxc) and I was passed by one rider but was able to stay with the pack but after we went down the descent we hit a tight twisty section and I realized that I had way to much tire pressure in my tires and I just couldn't get any traction in the turns which caused me to slow down and another rider was able to get around me.

I was now in 8th position but I was able to hunt down and catch another rider later on in the race which put in 7th place were I would stay the rest of the race. The laps all kind of run together now but on the 2nd lap I went down on a turn that I slid out on due to the tire pressure. In hindsight I should have just stopped for a quick second and let some air out but I didn't want to stop in the heat cause I think that it would have been hard to get started again. I was slugging down 1-24 oz bottle of nuun per lap and probably could have been taking a second along because I was running out towards the end but I didn't have any cramping issues but I was hurting pretty bad by the end. I was hoping that some of the riders in front of me would fold in the heat but it didn't happen.

I wasn't overly happy with my performance since I think that I could have and should have ridden harder but I did finish in the money which was a first for me and kind of nice. I'm hoping to see more of that in the future.

this climb out in the open sun and heat was brutal

Tranquility Short Track Tangle

2010-08-18T20:33:00.004-05:00

This is number 3 in my 5 race reports in 5 days catchup series.

After the time trial on Saturday morning I had a long wait before starting my first ever short track race at Tranquility Park in Omaha. I went with the rest of the team over to Sean D's (part owner of the shop) house to get some work done to Jason's bike that had some problems with the rear wheel during the TT and then it was off to grab some lunch at Whole Foods and then we headed to the park.

Heading to the park was part of the problem. We got there about 1:30 since Jesse was racing at 2:30 but I didn't race until 6:30 which translated to me sitting in the heat for 5 hours before it was time to race. It did not help my performance. I did enjoy watching the guys race but I just ended up getting tired. I even slept for about 25 minutes which was a huge mistake.

When I lined up for my race I felt pretty tired and new that this was going to rough. I new that this was going to hurt since they had us going up the biggest climb over and over again. It also didn't help that almost all of the rest of the field was from Omaha and were able to spend the day at home resting instead of hanging out in the heat but no excuses.

When the gun went off the field bolted down the long dirt road that led into the singletrack climb. I was right in the middle of the pack when we hit the climb and a couple of the local hammers and Jesse a pro from Minneapolis hammered it up the climb and I new i wasn't going to be able to keep in touch. I fell back into the second group and just went as hard as I could.

On the second lap I was sitting in 6th place and had seperated myself from everyone behind me except for Chris a guy who was also a Cat 2 last year that I battled with the whole season for the top spot. We played cat and mouse the whole rest of the race. He would draft off me on the road section on some lapsand I would do the same on others. We came close to catching the 5th place rider but I think both of us got a bit tired. I knew that I was better on the flats and I always have been able to climb better than him. The thing is after the top of the hill is a big descent that he can get down way faster than I can.

When we hit the climb on the last lap my plan was to attack him on the climb and try to get a gap that I could hold to the end. He led us into the climb and when I went to make my move I stood up and my rear tire slid and he attacked right at the same time and got away from me and I wasn't able to gain traction and catch him. Stupid mistake. I know better than to stand and get the wait off the rear tire when I'm climbing like that.

I ended the race in 7th place. I definitely think that if I had prepared better the rest of the day I think I could have pulled off a top five finish. I really like the style of short track racing and hope to be able to do some more in the future.

Lewis & Clark MTB Time Trial: Race Report

2010-08-17T21:32:00.002-05:00

This is the 2nd of my 5 race reports in 5 days series.

On Saturday August 7th was one of the new races to the Nebraska Lottery Psycowpath Series the Lewis and Clark MTB Time Trial. I have done a race on this course before but was able to make it up a week earlier to at least scope it out so I didn't go into the 1 lap time trial cold.

When I got to the race course things had already been underway for a while but I didn't go off until towards the end so I checked in and then headed back to the car to get my bike ready and change. Since they had people constantly going into the course nobody was allowed to pre-ride on the day of so I opted as with many others to warm up on the very long paved climb that led up to were we started.

When it was close to time for me to go I dropped my ipod, waterbottle and sunglasses off at the car and then headed to the start line to get in place. When they sent me off I was not mentally ready for the off camber bumpy section at the start that I had forgotten about so I didn't have the best of a start and it kind of carried on through the rest of the lap. I never seemed to be in the right gear on the turns that led into climbs and I seemed to just be always struggling to get my bearings on the course. I had one off camber turn that led into a climb that I was in to heavy of a gear for and ended up having to stop but when I got off I kind of pinned myself between a tree and my bike while trying not to fall downhill. I'm sure it would have been pretty funny to watch. I definitely wasn't my morning.I did manage to catch the rider in front of me but had a really hard time getting around him on a very tight section of singletrack which ended up costing me some precious seconds.

I ended the race in 8th place. I was 1 second behind the guy in 7th and 3 seconds behind the guy in 6th. I keep thinking to myself if I had just done a few things differently I would have posted a bit better result. I just keep thinking this is a learning year for me still at this level. I'll be better prepared next time.

harp

FWCT Training Race #4: Race Report

2010-08-16T22:31:00.002-05:00

OK I am WAY behind on everything. Especially the blog and race reports. I have 5 races that I need to write up. I'm going to post up 5 races in 5 days.

On Thursday August 5th was the 4th and last race of my team's (flatwater cycling team) mountain bike training race series. I was leading the series and had it pretty much wrapped up so I wanted to just go out and have fun and not push it too hard since I had 3 races coming up over the weekend in a couple of days.

My plan of taking easy didn't last to long at first. When they sent us off John one of my teammates (and one of only three Cat 1 riders) took off down the long gravel road they started us on and I couldn't catch him since I forgot to have my bike already in the big ring and then my front der wouldn't shift up. He made it to the hole shot first and led us onto the single track and then onto a long windy prairie section. I thought about just holding his wheel for a while and spin like I was planning on but that idea didn't last long and I passed him and went off the front.

When I hit the first section that was in the trees I really dropped the hammer. The new plan was to get a gap were I couldn't be seen anymore and then drop it back a little and cruise to the finish line. They started the Cat 2 riders with us and one of them was riding strong and catching up a little so I put just a little more effort into it and was able to get out of sight again and spent the rest of the time riding alone and not seeing another rider until after the race was over.

I was happy with how I rode and happy to get the win but I knew that a lot of the strong riders weren't there and not get to confident. I ended up taking home the prize for the over race series victory and did get the legs prepped for the weekend races.

FWCT MTB Training Race #3: Race Report

2010-07-30T22:28:00.002-05:00

My team Flatwater Cycling Team has been putting on 4 training races this season at Branched Oak lake. Last Thursday was #3. I wasn't able to make # 1 and # 2 I wasn't really trying since it was right before a race weekend. This time I didn't have anything going on and the conditions were perfect for me. HOT. The heat index was right around 106. Most people don't handle the heat very well. I usually thrive in it. I think that is one of the reason that in this time of the race season I start to excel when others are suffering. I can just deal with it pretty well. It must have been all those years chained to the stove in the dungeon like kitchens that I've worked in.

There wasn't to many people that made it out to the race though. I think the heat must have deterred them. There was only about 10 racers and half of them were Cat 3's. We put the 3 Cat 1 racers (myself included) with the 2 Cat 2 guys and we all went off for 3 laps. We ran the course backwards than how it usually goes which made it seem like a whole new course. I rode part of it before the race and I really liked the way it went. The climbs were slightly longer and it just seemed to flow better.

When we lined up I was right at the front and when they said go I was off. We had a long grassy prairie section to start off and I was off the front with a huge gap on the field that I just kept building on throughout the race. After the first lap I could no longer see any other riders on the praire sections were I could see what was going on far behind me. At that point I slowed it down and cruised through the last 2 laps.

I ended up finishing the race with about a 8 minute lead on the 2nd place rider. It was nice to feel decent on the bike again. I just hope it lasts for a while.

Harp

Mount Michael Time Trial: Race Report

2010-07-19T23:15:00.003-05:00

When I woke up to get ready to leave to go to the Mount Michael Time Trial I knew it wasn't going to be my best day. I just didn't feel "right". I wasn't sure what it was but I was in a funk and I had a bad feeling it was going to effect my performance.

I arrived at the race location early and was able to get checked in and get the bike on the trainer and have a little bit of time before I needed to start warming up and I sat and tried to focus and get my mind straight. I wasn't very successful.

About 45 minutes before my start time I got on the bike and started to get the legs moving which took a while. I warmed up for a good 35 minutes on the trainer and then got the bike off to actually ride it for a few minutes. I know I had some time since I made sure my clock and the start clock were in sink. I wanted to have one time trial this season were I actually made it to the line on time.

That didn't happen. When I rode down to the start finish with a couple of minutes to spare I was told that I need to go around and come up to the start from the back. The problem was I didn't have time for that so I had to pick the bike up and hop across a grassy section and by the time I got back on the bike I was up and I had enough time to get to the line and have the guy hold me so I could get clipped in and then I was off.

I got a good start and made it up the first climb and downhill pretty fast and then turned onto the rest of the out and back course. The course was only 10 miles long and I thought it fit my strengths pretty well;, which it would have on a good day. About 10 minutes into the race I hit the wall. I made a turn and when I got up to push the pedals to get my speed back I didn't have anything. I suffered the rest of the race and pushed as hard as I could just to finish feeling worse and worse as I went along.

I ended up finished up the course in 24.40.57. Bad enough for 9th place. My worst TT performance of the season. I was pretty disappointed with the result. I'm really sad that it was the last one of the season and I'm not going to have a chance to redeem myself.

Harp

Cornhusker State Games Mountain Bike: Race Report

2010-07-05T22:08:00.002-05:00

The cornhusker state games mountian bike race has always been a special race for me since it was were I raced (unsuccessfully) for the first time and it was were I also got my first win ever in last years event. This year was a bit different. The race changed locations from my favorite training trail at Branched Oak Lake to some new trails at a different lake. This course is very flat and twisty with no real climbs.

On the morning of the race I decided to ride down to the course with my teammate Sean to warm up. The ride is about 15 miles and was a nice way to warm up and different from what I had done before and I really liked how I felt when I got to the race. When we got there I dropped my stuff off at the team tent that had been brought down by a couple of other guys. After I got my bottles ready it was time for the race meeting were they dropped a big surprise on us by telling us they were going to start the race "le mans" style since the field was big (they had cat 1 and 2's racing together). This sucked for me. I race bikes because I can't run anymore.....at all. I'm slow, really slow. By the time I got to the bike drop I put my bike in the middle of the group and made the walk back to were they were starting us.

When the whistle blew I took off as fast as I could and got to the bikes were I quickly got into a bottle neck going into the singletrack and ended up heading in at the back of the pack. I was behind about a group of six guys and I was chomping at the bit to get going but the course is not very passing freindly and I was struggling to get around the group.

It took me about a whole lap to start to get around the group after it split up a little and then I just kept picking off riders one after another but then constantly running into another group of 3 or 4 riders that were harder to get around.

Eventually I made my way through most of the traffic and was able to put down some good speed but I was to far behind to catch the leaders. In the end I finished 4th overall of the Cat 1 riders and 2nd in my age group. It was a frustrating race but that is bike racing and the start is everything. I'm hoping that next year they can start us on the bikes, or maybe I need to learn to run a bit. Cross Season is just arond the corner.

Cornhusker State Games Time Trial: Race Report

2010-07-02T14:31:00.002-05:00

On Saturday I headed back out to Yutan to see how I would do a second time around on the same time trial course this time for the cornhusker state games. The temperature this time was a lot warmer and I thought that they may work for an advantage for me since I usually do well in the heat.

After getting in a good warm-up on the trainer and then it was time to line up. When I got to the line and they set me off I quickly got to what I decided ahead of time would be my heart rate range they I knew I would be able to hold for the whole time based off what I did last time. The problem was that this time I realized I wasn't feeling as good and even though I could hold the heart rate in the correct zone I just didn't have the power that I did last time and I knew I wasn't going near as fast.

The course was out and back again and this time the wind was in my face on the way out and then at our backs on the way to the finish and I was really struggling in the wind and I knew I wasn't putting in a good time even though I was flying back with the wind behind me. I finished in 55:52 for the 21.67 mile course.

When the results were posted I finished in 5th again. I felt like I could definitley done better. I'm not sure what the problem was but I still really feel like the individual TT is something that I can really excel at.

Cornhusker State GamesTriatholon: Race Report

2010-06-23T23:06:00.003-05:00

On Sunday I raced as the bike leg of a team for the cornhusker state games triatholon. This was something that I hadn't done before and I found it to be a blast and something that I will probably do again.

The team that I was on was made up of 2 of my students and myself. We were talking at the end of class one day and Ben (one of my students) said that he used to swim in high school and I knew another student Mitch ran in high school and still trains and runs marathons today so I said casually we should do a team triatholon. When one of them said the cornhusker state games has a triatholon we thought we should go for it.

When I woke up early and on Sunday morning I heard rain outside and than heard thunder. I was thinking that there was a chance that it would be canceled. So I loaded everything up in the rain and headed to the park where the race was taking place. I got changed and made the walk to the transition area which was about 3/4's of a mile away and dropped off my bike and than went and found my teammates and got marked and than waited to get going. I didn't really have a place to warm up so I figured I was going to be going into the race cold which I wasn't to worried about since all of the other team riders were going to be heading out cold as well.

At 7:30 when we were supposed to start they had the swimmers line up and were about to go off when the organizers got a weather report and heard that another storm was coming in and that we were going to wait. So we waited in the shelter while it continued to lightly rain but nothing too bad at all. They decided to get going again and the swimmers lined up again and were just about to go when they saw some lightening in the far off distance they pulled the swimmers back and then said that the race was changing to a duatholon instead of a tri. As a team we were pretty bummed out since we had a strong swimmer that was now not going to get to compete.

So they got the runners all lined up and they were off. Mitch killed the run being one of the first runners in. At that point I thought that he was the first team runner in since we were the only ones that seemed to be changing the ankle bracelet. I got out onto the course and was pretty clear with only a few riders heading out at the same time and I quickly past them and made way around the first turn and up the biggest climb on the 4 mile loop. I felt pretty good on the whole first lap and was going pretty good with the exception of having to figure out which puddles in the road were pot holes and which ones were just puddles.

When I hit the start finish entrance is when I started to run into all the other slower riders that were still coming onto the course. I spent the next few laps dodging other riders and had to keep yelling out on your left as I kept passing rider after rider. I did pull back a few riders that were ahead of me and my goal was to not get passed and lose a position. The biggest challenge was on the turns when I was going through them much faster than anyone else and it seemed like everyone was bunched up.

When I finihsed my last lap and made the transition Mitch was off and that is when Ben (our swimmer who was now a unfortunetly playing a supporting role) said that no other teams had come in and that we were leading. Mitch flew through the last leg and when he dropped off his chip after the crossing the finish line he said that our's was the only red leg band that identified the teams in the box. Our finishing time was 54:09.

After they posted the results we were surprised by how well it turned out. We not only finished first out of the teams but it was by a large margin. The closest team to us was a mixed team that finished in over 59 mintues. The next team in our category was 16 mintues behind us.

We were happy with the result but still a little disappointed that we didn't get to do the whole triatholon and we think that we would have been able to put more time on the competition. Maybe next time. I think we will be doing this again.

Psycowpath #3 Ponca's Revenge: Race Report

2010-06-22T22:52:00.004-05:00

Saturday I made the 3 hour trip to Ponca Nebraska for the 3rd (supposed to be 4th) race in the Nebraska Lottery Psycowpath Series. My teammate Jesse made the trip with me which was nice to have to make the long drive alone.

We had to head up early since Jesse in his first mtb race was racing the Cat 3 race which starts off at 10 which was cool with me since it gives me plenty of time to pre-ride the course and then chill for a while before it is time for me to go.

When it was time to line up I thought I was feeling ok. They made some adjustments to the original length of the race at the start line. When we first checked in we were supposed to be doing 4 laps which is 1 shorter than normal. After talking to everyone they said we would be doing 5. And then after everything else the official gave us a horrible start pretty much just casually saying "ok your off". I was barely caught it along with several other people and it was kind of a mess getting to the entrance of the singletrack and I had several of the areas best riders behind me and I knew I needed to push it.

Once you get into the singletrack you instantly start going up on a massive climb and I was rubbing tires with the guy in front of me as we kept getting bottled up. After we finished the first large climb I knew that I was going to be in for a long and rough day. My legs were heavy and had nothing in them. I was passed by pretty much most of the other riders in the field and quickly found myself alone which is were I would stay the rest of the race.

I could tell that I have been spending too much time on the road lately and not enough time on the mountain bike. I was contantly mis-shifting, picking horrible lines and having problems on the steep climbs keeping the bike moving forward. I ended up bobbing on a lot of the climbs and had to push the bike up more than I ever had before.

In the end I finished up 12th out of 13. The real frustrating thing is that I know that I can do better and with all of the training that I have done I should be at my peak right know not at my worst. It's also frustrating knowing how well I raced the same course last year and was nowhere near that this year. On this course last year I was able to rock the course in the middle ring the whole time and this year I could only ride the course in the small ring. I have never had any ride where I have had to do that.

Hopefully this was just one of those rare occurances that happens once in while and I can get my act together and race like I know I can.

Nebraska State Time Trial Championship: Race Report

2010-06-13T11:20:00.003-05:00

Ok, I'm finally getting back to this race report. I know have 2 other races that I also need to write up from this weekend so I am playing major catch-up.

Last Saturday June 12th was my first time trial. I was actually looking forward to it. I had never done an individual TT before and wasn't sure what to expect. I did learn that TT are kind of uneventful but I really enjoyed it and think I may focus on them more in the future.

After we got to the race site running a little late and slugging through the muddy parking lot of this little club in the middle of basically nowhere I got changed and was off to warm up a bit with what I thought was about 10 minutes. I figured out that I would go out for about 7 minutes and have a few minutes to make sure I was on the start line on time. As I was riding back towards the line I heard them call my name on the mic saying I had 40 seconds. I looked down at my Garmin and it said that I had 3 minutes. So I was all of the sudden on the line and ready to go. I had about enough time to get my computer reset and clipped in and then I was off.

After I got going I was feeling ok but wasn't quite comfortable on the bike. I didn't have time to make all of the adjustments that were necessary to get the fit right and I was paying for it. My shoulders were aching and caused me to sit up a few times to give them a break. I kept looking down at me clock and realized I was making good time. My goal was to finish the 24+ mile course in under a hour. The course had hills at the beginning and was out and back so they would be there on the finish as well.

I hit the turnaround point at 26 minutes and was feeling really good about my time until I realized that I had had a tailwind the whole time and was now going directly into the wind. I watched my speed drop by about 4 miles per hour and realized that I will have to push it to make it under an hour. I kept pushing and pulled back both the rider the rider that started 1 and 2 minutes in front of me. I was working on the 3 minute man but when I would try to get out of the saddle and really push up the hills I would hit me knees on the end of the aero bars that were sticking to far back. I ended up finishing in 59:02. I was happy to make my goal of finishing under an hour but I know I can do better. I finished 5th overall with less than 2 minutes behind the leader which I know that I can get 2 minutes off my time pretty easy. I

Nebraska State Criterium Championship: Race Report

2010-06-11T23:16:00.003-05:00

I'm a little behind on my race reports as I sit and type this one on the eve of my next race tomorrow morning.

Last Sunday was the 2nd day of the Norfolk Cycling Weekend and doubled as the Nebraska Sate Criterium Champiuonship. This was one of my key races for the season as I see myself as a crit specialist and I won the race last year.

The course was the same as last year and I really liked the way it flowed. Of course last year it was raining and hailing so I wanted to see how it was when it was dry and sunny. I was also helping to redeam myself from the previous days bad performance.

When we got to the race course and found a place to park I started to get suited up after what I thought was plenty of time to get ready. As I was getting changed and my bike ready I started to notice a few riders that I knew were Cat 5 guys showing up and it looked like they had just finised racing so I started to get freaked out thinking that I had looked at the wrong time. So I quickly finished getting ready and started to roll towards registration when I heard a couple of guys tell me to "get up there, they're lining up". When I got to the start line the officials where calling out my name and looked at me and told me to "sign my realease form and get directly back". I was freaking out that I didn't have any warm up but it was time to go. I didn't even have time to tell my family that we were getting started so they missed the race.

When we got going it took me a few laps to get warmed up and I was hanging towards the back. I eventually started to feel surprisingly well after feeling so horrible on the previous day. I started to work my way towards the front and made it to the middle of the back and at about 13 laps to go I was starting to make my move to get into the front 7 or 8 riders to be in position for the finish.

When I went through with 12 laps to go I hit turn 1 the fastest turn at full speed when I felt a my bike move akward and my pedal struck the ground and then my rear wheel stopped turning and I went sliding across the road. I have no idea how I kept the bike upright and I was getting elbowed by other riders and then I got hit by a rider behind and he went down. I looked back and saw the tublar tire wrapped around my brake. The freakin tire popped off the Easton wheels that are for the team to use. I was pissed and started to get back to the start line. I had someone offer me a wheel and the officials were going to let me do it so that I could get back into the race but by the time I got my rear tire out of my brake I realized that one of the pads was missing and I was thinking about going back in but figured it would not be a smart move and the officials would not have let me anyways so my race was finished.

No hope for a repeat and a shitty way to end an already disappioting weakend. The wheel was trashed and I am know highly motivated for next years Crit Championship to redeam myself.

Harp

Norfolk Classic Road Race: Race Report

2010-06-08T22:13:00.003-05:00

Saturday was the Norfolk Classic Road Race. This was a race that I skipped last year but I had always heard that it was a good race and the guys that put it on always do a good job so the family and I loaded up and headed to Norfolk for the weekend since there was also a Crit on Sunday so it was a good weekend for racing......Well it was supposed to be a good weekend for racing.

We arrived at the start of the road race with a little over an hour before start time so I had plenty of time to walk off my 2 hour drive and get changed. When they started lining us up I realized that yet again the Category that I was in was the largest. I felt pretty relaxed at the start but could tell as we got rolling that the legs felt a bit heavy and I could feel the lack of sleep from the night before. I think I only got about 3 1/2 hours total.

As the group got going I was rolling in the pack but when we were about 20 miles into the 64 mile race I wasn't really thinking and mis-shifted and dropped my chain on the first of the 2 biggest climbs and had to stop and put it back on and then chase up the rest of that climb and then up all of the next one. I was in the red the whole time I was chasing.

I managed to get back up to the group but I was having a hard time getting my breathing under control. It felt like my throat was have the size as normal and I just couldn't recover long enough to stay with the group and was spat out the back of the pack.

After I got myself pulled back together I tried to start chasing again thinking that I had enough time to catch back up. I hooked up with another rider also having problems and started to chase again. The only problem know was that my stomach started to do flip flops and I had to go to the bathroom really really really bad. By this time I could no longer see the group and I know that I didn't have much in me so I stopped and took care of business and started to chase down my lone partner and after hooking back up we rode the rest of the race the best we could till the end.

I ended up finishing 24th out of 40. This is my first race that I finished in the bottom half that I can remember. I was pretty dissappointed and I think that I need to make sure I get better rest the weeks before races plus I just wasn't mentally prepared for the race.

Disapointed

2010-06-06T23:51:00.003-05:00

The destroyed wheel I was using in today's crit pretty much sums up this weekends races.

Race report to come soon.

Harp

New look for the Road Bike

2010-06-02T23:26:00.003-05:00

After a crash that I had last week while training that I hadn't mentioned on here yet left me with a very bruised tail bone (that will probably bother me the rest of the season), some road rash and torn handlebar tape I figured it was time for some upgrades that I had been planning for a while anyways.

I needed new bars. The ones that I had were to narrow and uncomfortable so I also had to get a new stem which since the one that I had was a bit to short and the diameter on the bar clamp was to small to accomadate most new bars. The shop has a deal with Ritchey so I checked out their stuff and really liked it. So I know have Ritchey Pro Carbon Evolution Bars and Carbon Matrix Stem. Both are really nice and the bars are flattened on top for some extra comfort for the longer days training. I aslo went with Ritchey bar tape. This time I went with the pro look and got white bar tape. The tape wasn't expensive but it has a real nice feel to it. Here's a couple of pics:

the white tape changes the look of the bike
View from the front

This weekend I'm traveling to Norfolk NE for a road race on Sunday and then the State Criterium Championship on Sunday. The Crit race is one of my top races of the season. Not sure how I'm going to do but I'm really going to get after it. Hopefully my form is coming around. The family is making the trip with me so it should be fun.

Pioneers Park Grand Prix: Race Report

2010-05-28T22:56:00.003-05:00

Sunday was the second day of the Flatwater Cycling Weekend. Pioneers Park is right next to my house and I train there often so I knew that at least I would course knowledge. I had to be there early again to help get everything set up and ready to roll.

I was able to get a good warm up on the trainer again and was able to get to the startline early and get a good spot. While I was trying to get my my pedal in the right position I dropped my chain and had to put it back on and got my hands full of crap from the shitty lube (that I won't mention and won't use again) and had to leave the line to get some of the crap off my hands.

ready and waiting

When the race got going I was able to get a good position in the group and just was hanging out and feeling ok. The loop that we were running went around the park and finished after a big climb. The first 2 times up the climb I was fine and on the 3rd time up several riders started to get spit out of the back and I was one of them. I was able to chase and get back with the group after the climb but after the lap 5 I was finished and out of the back.

still hanging on

I got on with another rider and we worked together to try and chase a bit but then both of us kind of went into survival mode. After a couple of laps he couldn't handle the climb anymore and I rode away from him and started to chase the rider that was alone in front of me. I was able to catch the rider in front on the 2nd to last lap and we rode the next lap together and then on the last lap on the climb I was able to get away from him and ended up crossing the line in 13th place out of 30.

riding alone

After my 2nd day in a row sitting right in the middle of the pack is driving me nuts. I hoping all of this training and going into races after a full week of intense training pays off next month when I hit the state championship races. Later.

Harp

Captial City Criterium: Race Report

2010-05-27T16:16:00.005-05:00

Saturday was the Capital City Criterium. My team and the shop host this event so it was a busy day for me outside of racing. I had to get there early and set up the barriers and then it was time for the Cat. 5 guys to take off so I played the role of soignier getting them everything they needed and ready for the race.

the cat 5 crew
After their race was over I got changed and started to get warmed up. I had the trainer and was able to listen to my tunes under the tent and try to prepare myself to race. I wasn't feeling the best and was a little tired from the weeks training. When it was time to line up I was surprised that so many people got to the line early and I was stuck towards the back.

waiting to start at the back
When the whistle blew I was not ready for the super fast paced start and with my starting position so far in the back I had to push really hard to try and get up to the front. The course was .7 miles long and it took me until right after we finished the third lap to catch back onto the leading group. At that point I new I had burned most of my matches getting up there and unfortunetly I wasn't able to hang on for very long and was shortly split out the back.

I managed to catch on with a couple of other riders that popped about the same time I did and we worked to chase but a couple of the riders kept slowing down when it was their turn to pull at the front so myself and another rider did most of the work and we just weren't able to close the gap.

Towards the end of the race I think out of frustration I started to take a lot of risks around the turns and ended up going to far out on one and hitting the curb on the median in the street which was enough for me to lose the group I was in and I spent the rest of the race riding solo. In the end I finished 14th out of 30 and felt I could have done better than what I did and know that I still have a lot of work to do.

Tomorrow I should have the report up from Sundays race. Later.

Harp

Rough Day

2010-05-23T00:05:00.002-05:00

This was the best I looked all day today at the race. Race Report Coming.

It's Back

2010-05-15T22:36:00.003-05:00

The bike that started it all is back. The Marin Bolinas Ridge. I had sold it to my brother in law a couple of years ago when I got a new more race specific bike and now he is moving to North Carolina and didn't want to take it with him so I decided to buy it back and keep it around for me to use in the winter to train on and also for my son to use when he gets older.

I went out and rode it a little bit the other night and I can't beleive what a snop that I am. It defintely needs some upgrading. I'm not sure how I was able to race on it. Makes me appreciate what I have now.

Hanging ready for some work.
First quick upgrade on this thing is some new grips. Got some Ergon Team Green (of course) GA-1's.

Harp

No Race so 50 instead

2010-05-08T22:33:00.003-05:00

My race was canceled today cause of the rains during the week so I decided to get up and head out early for a 50 miler with Ryan. We met up a few miles from the house and then rolled for about 4 hours on the gravel outside of Lincoln. Good ride and nice to be able to get out for a long ride and be able to be home by 10. Spent the rest of the day getting stuff done around the house and watching Braeden's soccer game.

Since I didn't race this weekend though I'm thinking about doing a 12 hour race that's close to home. The only real challenge with it is is that it is running from 6pm to 6am so I would need to find a light set-up. If I can get something together this week I'll probably race it. Not sure how my XC legs will handle racing that long.

Here's some pics from todays ride and the route recorded by the Garmin 500.

Ryan and I rolling in the Gravel. It looked nice and sunny but the temp never got above 45 on this fine NE May morning. It was 34 when I left the house.
The dusty Garmin Edge 500 rolling down the gravel at 22 mph.

Later.

Harp

Race Report: Psycowpath #2 The Swanson River City Shootout

2010-05-05T08:20:00.003-05:00

Saturday's Psycowpath #2 The Swanson River City Shootout was the long awaited start of the XC mountain bike season for me. I've been waiting to get this season kicked off for my some new punishment in the form of longer/harder races since this season I'm finally racing Cat. 1.

In the morning I had to take my daughter to a Mayor's run and it took me way longer than expected so I was running late when I got to the race course. I only had about 45 minutes to get myself together and warmed up before it was time to get to the start line. It was different on the start line now being in the back instead of at the front like I had gotten accustomed to last season but that is the way with upgrading and hopefully in time I can show that I deserve to be up on the front line. Saturday was not one of those days though.

When the gun went off we had a long loop through an open field before entering the singletrack and I was not ready for the pace of the start and found myself entering the singletrack in about 14th place where I would spend the rest of my day. I must say that I was consistent throughout the race not losing any positions and not gaining any either. I lost touch with the guy in front of me after about a mile. I feel like I had the legs but I could not ride the turns well and I just couldn't get the flow down for riding singletrack. It really showed me that I have been spending to much time on my road bike and not enough in the dirt.

Towards the end of the first lap I took a corner a bit to tight and went down pretty hard. I didn't hurt myself but I did leave a nice scratch on my top tube where my break lever spun around and hit it. The big problem for me when I have a crash like that I tend to be a little hesitant on turns for a while and I think that really slowed me down cause before that I had the rider in front of me in my sites and after the crash I never saw him again. I also kept hitting my pedals on the ground on turns. It has been a while since I have done that as much as I did on Study. I lost an end piece to one of my pedals that I have to know look into getting replaced.

In the end I finished in 14th place out of 20. Definitely not my best showing but I am still running regular hard training weeks getting myself ready for the state championship races in June. Hopefully it all pays off.

Harp

This thing is sweet

2010-04-29T10:48:00.003-05:00

This is the data from my ride yesterday that I uploaded from the Garmin 500. The ride was a bit more mellow than I planned. The legs just felt heavy and tired. After looking over everything I'm going to love having all this data easily logged right into my computer.

I've got the Edge

2010-04-27T22:21:00.003-05:00

Just got this tonight. The Garmin Edge 500. Working on setting it up. This should help keeping the training inline. It will be real nice next year when I have the cash to add a power meter to it but having the heartrate, cadence and mileage will be good for now plus it can store and display all sorts of info. I'll post some more after I get it out and play with it.

Harp

Race Report: Tour de Husker

2010-04-18T22:31:00.004-05:00

fwct ready to roll

This weekend was the Tour de Husker put on by UNL Cycling. This was the start of the road racing season for me last year and is getting this season started for me as well. The series is 3 races consisting of a Road Race, Team Time Trial and a Crit. I only did the Team Time Trial and the Crit since I decided to go to Braeden's soccer game since I'm going to miss most of the rest cause of mountain bike races. Sounds like it was the right move since there was 3 different crashes.

The TTT was a 11 mile lap around Branched Oak lake and I was ready to do this and see how the Felt B2 performed under race conditions. As we lined up Sean and I were both on TT bikes and Ryan and Rick were on regular road bikes. We knew that they would be at a disadvantage but the plan was for Sean and I to do most of the work and just keep one of them with us since the time was taken on the third rider. As we got started we were going pretty good and I was trying to keep things at a reasonable pace to keep the rest of the guys with me since I was feeling good and wanted to just hammer it. We made it through the first big climb still as a group but on the downhill there is a turn and usually when we are doing a reglar road race that turn is typically a spot when people hammer it and go and both Sean and I dropped down into the drops and just sailed not realizing that we were leaving Rick and Ryan far behind. When we realized this we had to sit up and soft pedal until Rick caught back up with us. After that we kind of just cruised to let Rick hang on. He was struggling after having already done a full road race that morning and then to be on a road bike while we were on TT bikes he was at a definite disadvantage.

We crossed the line at 41:14. Not to bad and good enough for 5th place. I defintely think that if Rick had been on a TT bike and fresh we could have shaved minutes off of our time.

On Sunday morning was the Crit at Pioneers Park. I woke up that morning feeling ok and hung out with the kids and ate breakfast before kitting up and riding over to the park. Since it is only a few mintues from my house by bike and I thought it would be ridiculous to drive over.

The course was a loop through part of the park with a nasty hill with a 6% grade on it right to the finish line that we would climb over and over again.

When I got there I met up with the team guys and stowed my backpack in one of their cars and went to warm up with the rest of the guys. After the Cat 5 race I went out to do a practice lap on the loop thinking that I had about 20 minutes. The problem was that I didn't and when I got to the start line I realized that everyone was lining up and I heard someone say they were waiting for me but I was able to get a spot next to Sean right on the front of the start line.

The race got started and I was sitting right in the front 5 to 6 riders where I wanted to be and was in good shape through the first 5laps. I lost my teammate Sean somewhere along the way and was on my own working in a group that consisted of a team of 4 riders who I felt were trying to get me out. On the beginning of the 6th lap they rang the bell for a prime and a group of 3 attacked I decided not to try and go with it hoping they wouldn't stay to far out in front. After we got through the 7th lap the lead group of 3 was still off the front I decided we needed to try and chase them down so I went to the front and picked up the pace to start chasing. The problem was that the rest of the group did not want to do any work and the team of 4 was right on my wheel and when we got to the hill they attacked and spit me right out the back. At that point I wa pretty spent and couldn't hang on and watched the group roll away from me.

I spent the rest of the race in the middle of no man's land and finshed the race in 11th place out of 18. Not exactly the best way to start my road season but it is typical of my past racing season's to start slow and race myself into form.

Now I'm just looking forward to the beginning of my XC Mountain bike season to get started in less than 2 weeks.

Harp

Getting Fit

2010-04-12T00:03:00.002-05:00

Next Saturday is the first time trial of the season. So it was time to go get me the mountian bike racer fit on the time trial bike I will be racing on this season. This time trial is a team time trial that I will be doing with a couple of other teammates. We'll see how this goes. It is a 11 mile circut. Last season I did this with 2 other teammates but we were all new to it and finished second to last. We are going to start practicing Tuesday. Hopefully this year we will do better. At least 2 of us will be on Felt Time Trial bikes. Sean on his DA and me on the B2.

This is the Felt B2 that I will be racing all season. It is a demo for the shop but mine for all the TTs. I tested it out late last year. This bike is a speed machine. I needed to get this fit done so that I was at least comfortable on it so that I could stay in the aero position longer. It was pretty busy so Sean tucked me into the back corner of the shop today and did the fit with me.

This is a side shot of me after we had the sizing all done. We will work more later in the season to work on possible getting my back a bit straightor but it doesn't look to bad and is at least comfortable for now. I'm looking forward to getting out and hammering on it now that I can stay in the drops for a while.

Harp

Pics before 11

2010-04-10T22:11:00.005-05:00

My day to today started with an early ride. 6 AM

Rode to the shop and met up with Ryan for a quick flat fix before heading out.

Me taking a picture of Ryan taking a picture.

Rolling back towards home after getting a taste of the singletrack at wagontrain lake.

The shadow in the push into the wind on the way home. 3hrs 15 minutes and roughly 50 miles later and home by 9:30. I love the early morning rides.

Than hit up Braeden's soccer game at 11.

Harp

Race Report: Psycowpath #1-Jewell Jam Fat Tire TT

2010-04-07T20:42:00.000-05:00

On Saturday was the first Mountain Bike Race of the season, Psycowpath #1: The Jewell Jam Fat Tire TT . This race was an mtb time trial at a new race venue. The course was shorter and really tight so it didn’t lend itself well for traditional racing but perfect for a time trial. This was actually the first time trial I had ever done and wasn’t sure how I’d do.

I was worried about the race since I was having easter with my family later in the day and was running a tight schedule and had to be in Nebraska City at 1:30 which was 45 minutes from the course. I thought I would be ok since they were sending riders off starting at 11 in 1 minute intervals. I was wrong. We had to register in advance so that they could get the start list ready. When I got the list on Friday night I saw that there were 115 riders scheduled and I wasn’t going to be going off until 1:12. I was bummed. It was too late for me to be able to race and get to my family obligations so I sent the promoter an email telling him sorry but I couldn’t make it. He called me about 5 minutes later and asked if I would go off first at 10:55. So I was again excited and finished getting everything ready to go.

I got to the venue early enough so that I would have time to do a pre-ride of the course since I had never been there before. After I got kitted up and signed my release form I was off. The course was tough with some tight switchbacks and a lot of climbing and descending. I loved the course. Like always the climbing suited me well but the descending did not. One of my goals this year is to really work on those skills and really improve my technical abilities.

When it was close to time to start the promoter told me I would be going a couple of minutes late at 10:58 instead. No problem. I was ready to go and waited a few minutes and then was off. I did make a mistake at the beginning that caused me a bit of time. When I hit the track I forgot that there were 2 really tight off camber switchbacks right away and I wasn’t ready for them. I was in my big ring for the start and when I hit the 2 turns I didn’t shift down into the middle ring and ended up being in too big of a gear to ride through the turns and ended up off the bike and had to push it up the small hill before hopping back on. The rest of the ride went ok. I had a couple of close calls especially on one log crossing that I took way to fast. I was really close to going over the handle bars at about 20 mph.

When I finished I felt I had a good time and rolled back to the parking lot where everyone else was and started talking to a couple of guys I knew. The promoter came over the loud speaker and announced that I was back and asked me how I thought that I had done. I looked down at my clock that was still running and it was just turning over to 21 minutes. So I figured under 20 minutes. After that I went back to my car and had to get going.

A little bit later that day Jason from the shop called me and said that when he saw the results they had me down for a time of 22:03. I know that my time was 20 or under so I think what happened was that they had me still down for a 10:55 start time even though I didn’t start until 10:58. I emailed the race director on Sunday and he said he would look into it but I haven’t heard anything back from him and it is still not changed. I’m not sure what’s going on with it. It is more of a pride thing for me than anything. I don’t like looking like I got 4th place in the Cat 3’s when I’m a Cat 1 and had a way better time than what is posted. I guess we’ll see what happens. I guess in the big picture it doesn’t matter much it would move me from finishing last out of 19 to 14th overall. But I still want what I earned.

Enough bitching about that now. This week is another big training block to keep preparing me for the real important races in June. It’s hurting but in the good way. Later.

Harp

Bike Prepped with XC Ones

2010-04-02T23:25:00.003-05:00

The Bike all prepped and ready to start the 2010 mountain bike season.

Some added bling with Crank Brothers Split Quick Release Skewers.

The biggest upgrade and something I've been waiting for a long time for is some new wheels. The team is working with Easton this season so I got set up with their best XC mtb wheels the XC One.

Now I need to go sleep and get ready for the TT tomorrow AM.

Harp

Training Race

2010-03-29T22:07:00.003-05:00

Saturday we finally were able to have one of the Flatwater Cycling Training Races. Originally it was supposed to be two weekends in a row of a Saturday Crit and a Sunday XC MTB race. The first weekend the crit was snowed out and it was to muddy to race the XC race. This Saturday it was raining but we still did the crit but were out on the XC again.

I raced the crit. I wasn't expecting much out of myself since I had a really tough week of training and then with the all the time spent traveling on Thursday evening and all day Friday. As we lined up and we got going everything was fine but about half way through I could feel that I was getting a little tired and found myself on the back of the pack which had me yo-yoing through the turns having to slow down for the riders in front of me and then having to push to keep up. With about 5 laps to go I heard a couple of riders talking about going for a break and when they went I matched and went with them. The only problem was it was right by the start finish and they rang for a prime after that and when the group accelerated I just didn't have it in me and cracked and ended up out the back of the group where I finished the rest of the race.

It wasn't really the best showing but this year I am looking at the season differently adn really focusing my attention to the state championship races so the rest are not priorities, especially a training race like this one. It was a good day to get out and test the legs even in the rain.

Here's a quick video of one of the laps when I was sitting in a bad position:

Pics of the Day

2010-03-24T22:49:00.003-05:00

Here's some pics of the non-exciting events that happened today. Here's Marshall caught messing with my bikes. I went downstairs and noticed that one of my bikes had rolled forward a bit and then looked at Marshall and he had the evidence on his face. If you look closely you can see the chain grease on his nose and the top of his head.
I was able to do my intervals outside today. Way better than doing them on the trainer. In years past I haven't been good about doing intervals when out riding but this year I'm staying after it. I picked this method up from Jeff. I can only remember my workouts for about 25 seconds after I read what they are so I type them up, print them out and tape them to the stem.

I've got to leave town tomorrow afternoon for and won't be back until about midnight on Friday and we are supposed to have a training crit on Saturday morning so I had to get the bike prepped tonight. Ready to roll. We'll see how it goes since I'm coming off a heavy training week and in the next 2 days I'm going to be spending about 8 hrs traveling.

That's about it for tonight. Now it's time to get some homework done. Later.

Harp

Pushing into the wind

2010-03-23T22:32:00.002-05:00

I've been getting quite a bit of riding in this past week. I've been on spring break from school and have been taking full advantage. I've been heading out with some teammates to put in my longer rides in my training plan. Yesterday I headed out with Jason on our road bikes and powered into the strong winds blowing out of the south for what seemed like most of the ride. One thing is though that the speed of the road bikes with that strong wind at our backs is addicting. Yesterday I put in 2+ hours.

Today I headed out with Ryan on the mtbs to check out some new trails that have been built at stagecoach lake. We left from the shop and it was a good jaunt out to the lake. After we got to the lake it didn't take long to figure out that the trails were unrideable. I thinks it's going to be a while before we get to ride them. We decided to check out the lake and see what else was out there. We stopped at one of the decks going out onto the lake and then on our way out we came across an old cemetary that only had a few stones in it and most of them were really old.

The problem for me came when we turned to head home. The wind today was just as bad or worse today and we had to go into it the entire way back. It killed me. I was struggling most of the way just to keep up with Ryan. I got an awesome workout in but my legs are finished. It will be interesting to see how tomorrows zone 5 intervals go.

Here's a few pics I snapped today:

the bikes taking a break
Ryan also taking some pics

the cemetary. this was the only modern looking stone

the rest looked like this and most of them dated back in the 1870's and 1880's

Later

Harp

Finally back in the Dirt

2010-03-18T23:30:00.004-05:00

So we have finally had some dry and warmer weather here in Southeast NE so I loaded up the Mountain bike and headed out to Branched Oak to test ride the track and see if it is ready to race for this Sundays training race our team is putting on. I met up with Flatwater teammates Ryan, Jason and John and we spent some time riding the singletrack and checking to see how we were going to set it up for this weekend. We are thinking positively though the weather doesn't sound the best. We are supposed to also be hosting a Crit on Saturday at Branched Oak just down the road from where the mountain bike race will be. It was so nice to be out in just shorts and a jersey with no leg or arm warmers. I hope it lasts and I can get back to riding outside and in the dirt on a more regular basis. Here are some pics from today's ride. I also added a video of us riding back from when we rode down to check and see how the crit course was. John who has a ton of experience and knowledge racing was coaching me on what the crit will be like on Saturday.

Jason and Ryan
Jason rolling on the shop's Demo Marin Mount Vision 5.9

John and Jason

Rolling up the road

Panama Endurance Race

2010-03-14T22:50:00.002-05:00

The Panama MTB Enduro Race has been the first race of my season now for the 3rd year running. It is essentially a 35 mile gravel grinder. This year I had a choice when doing it whether to race it on my cross bike or MTB. They were running separate divisions for each. I thought the cross division would be tougher and didn't make up my mind until it was time to go put the bike on the car and leave for the race. With help from everyone (thanks) I made the decision to go with the cross bike. As I was looking at them I thought that Cross bike isn't going to get raced again until October so it was best to get out on it now. For some reason the whole time I was getting ready it just didn't feel like race season yet to me. Maybe it was cause of all the cold weather.

When we got to the Panama the temps were not what they were supposed to be. It was supposed to be about 50 but instead I think it was just in the high 30's to low 40's with a cold wind blowing out of the north. There was also a slight drizzle that wasn't helping either. I was glad that I had brought my thermal jacket. I swapped it out for the vest I was wearing at the last minute and ended up being dressed perfectly.

When we lined up to start the race I was feeling Ok and just ready to get rolling. We had about a half mile neutral roll out of town then we hit a gravel section and it was on. I was a little farther back than I would have liked and worked my up to the front but one rider had gotten away and was just hammering it so I started to chase. I instantly could tell that I did not have the legs to keep that pace up the whole time and was hoping that he wouldn't either. I looked behind me and I could start to see a small group forming to chase me but kept on chasing trying to catch up. I ended up in no man's land in between the leader and the group behind me. I wasn't gaining any ground on the leader and holding my position well until I missed a turn and got off course about a third of the way through the race. I lost my map early on and was trying to remember how the course went but they had to make some last minute changes cause many of the gravel roads were not passable due to all the melting snow and the overnight rains so the course wasn't marked.

When I got myself turned back around the chase group of 4 caught up with me and I realized I probably wasn't going to be able to chase the leader back down on my own so I joined in with the group. The only problem with the group was that they weren't really wanting to chase and I think they were happy with holding their position so I was pulling the group pretty much the rest of the race. So far in the race we had been heading either with the wind or in a cross wind and when we had to turn to head back north right into the wind it seemed like hitting a wall. I moved to the front to try and start chasing cause I thought that it may be the equalizer between us and the leader but it didn't happen. I was again the only one that wanted to chase and I realized that I didn't have it in me to go at it alone. I've still been in my base building section of my training and could tell.

When we were about ten miles from the finish I could see a railroad crossing ahead and I thought to myself "it would suck if we got stopped by a train" and I looked over my shoulder down the track and I could see a train coming in the distance. I waved to the rest of the group (I lost my map and needed them to help me find my way) that we needed to get across before it got there. We made it across the tracks right as the barriers were coming down. I looked back and couldn't see any other riders or groups behind us so I didn't feel to bad. As we kept going I started to take a few hard pulls at the front to test the group and quickly realized that I was the strongest out of the riders left. At about the 6 mile mark I upped the pace and the riders started to crack and fall off. With about 2 miles left it was just me and one other rider and I punched it and left him alone and cruised to the 2nd place finish in both the overall and cross.

Overall I was pretty happy with how I felt and performed. I think I could have done better and pushed to stay with the leader if I had gotten with him right from the start but with how late I was up the night before I'll take it. The team overall had a good showing too. John finished 6th overall and 4th in cross and the other's all finished towards the top.

I'm looking forward to this week and getting started on my plan to build up for the 3 state championship (Crit, TT & most important XC MTB) races in a row in June. Hopefully it is finally going to be warm enough that I can do most of my training outside now.

Later
Harp

Dazey the Protector

2010-03-14T09:31:00.002-05:00

Last night before we all went to bed we put the dogs out one last time. When I let them in it looked like there were spots on the deck. I turned on the light and looked closer and realized that it was blood spots and turned around to notice a trail through the house. I went and started inspecting the dogs and when I got to Dazey I found the problem. Her jaw was cut wide open and gaping with about a 2 inch cut and it was very deep. She had a gash on her leg and a long cut on the pad of her paw.

I went outside to try to find out what happened and I got out by the fence an drealized there was a hole dug underneath of it with 2 big blood spots next to it. I noticed something in the hole and when I looked more closely I realized it was a hairless tail of something. So I poked at it a bit and nothing happened and then it slowly disappeared. I think it was a possum. It was something that caused the damage to Dazey.

When I got back in Amy and I assesed the wounds and realized that she definitly needed to go to the vet. There is an emergancy vet not far from our house that is open all night and since it was 11:30 it was the best option. I took her in and she had to have stitches in all 3 wounds and they all were thoroughly cleaned plus she got some painkillers and antibiotics. They had to put her out to clean and stitch the wounds so she was a bit grogy last night when I brought her home but seems to be doing fine. She doesn't like the bag we have to put over her paw to keep that wound dry and clean when she goes outside.

Here are a couple of pics I took this morning. They don't look as bad as they did last night when they were open and bleeding.

MTB or Cross

2010-03-10T15:27:00.005-06:00

This weekend is my first race of the season. It is the Panama Enduro. Essentially it is a 36 mile gravel race. They are having both a MTB and Cross biek division this year and I was asked by one of my teammates which I should do. I can't decide. There is a plus and minus of each. I think to myself that I am a Moutain Bike racer first above any other discipline in cyling and I should do it but then I think that all the really fast guys that are going to hammer this course are going to be on cross bikes and I should test myself against the best.

What to do? What to do?

Let me know what you think?

Harp

Riding with Teammates

2010-03-08T21:33:00.004-06:00

Yesterday morning I was able to make it outside to ride. Much better than the trainer. I met up first with Rick and then we met up with John and then headed out of town to hit some nice SE Nebraska gravel hill repeats. It was a good workout for me. John was on his cross bike and I was on my mtb which pushed me just a bit more. Unfortunetly we lost Rick along the way since he was rolling on his singlespeed and just couldn't keep up. He just didn't have the right gearing for the hills and it wasn't enough for the flats.

We ended up getting in about 3 hours and I felt great after being really sick during the week. This week I'm still working on base & strength training and focusing on getting my diet straightened out. I'm carrying around to many pounds. I'm ready for monday when I start a 12 week program to get ready for the meat of the mtb season.

Here's a couple of pics:

I'm early and waiting for Rick.
Rick. The ultimate lead out guy and someone who I think is going to have a good season racing singlespeed mtb

Somewhere in this pic is Rick trying to catch up with us when he just couldn't spin fast enough to keep up with us on gears.

Later.

Harp

Bikes Ready But.....

2010-02-28T23:04:00.003-06:00

Bikes are all polished, prepped, lubed and ready to go ride but.....
I've been stuck on this inside plus I got a killer cold on top of it.

Got the new Bike Pedalers Logo stickers in for the bikes. Got to represent.

Lot going on lately. Unfortunetly not enough of it has been spent training. Later.

harp

Easy being Outside

2010-02-12T21:04:00.003-06:00

Today was nice to be outside on the road bike scouting some future training routes on a easy recovery spin. I was happy to be out cause it's going to be cold again next week. This week has been a recovery week in my training plan and I'm ready for next week so that I can get going again. Later.

Harp

School, Work, Training

2010-02-10T19:43:00.003-06:00

School, Work and Training are eating up a majority of my time and that is my excuse for not posting here very often.

My class at school is getting close to be done and I've been slammed with a couple of projects for it but it will be nice to be done and get a two week break after next week is over. Then it will be two classes down eleven more to go.

Work has been crazy the past couple of weeks with me trying to get caught up on a whole mess of stuff that I've been putting off for a few months that is now coming due soon. I've been spending an extra one to two hours a night trying to get a couple of these big things done but like my class it will be nice when it is over and I will be able to relax some.

On the training side of things it is going well. I finally have a plan and it so nice to just be able to come home and get started on it without having to think a bunch about what I'm going to do tonight and then wonder if it is what I'm supposed to be doing. I have been working on my race schedule though and I'm trying to figure my training out so that I'm peaking when I have the biggest races of the season. Fortunetly the some of the big races are grouped together over a few weeks but the next set is only a month later. I'm going to have to think about it for a while and see what I can do.

That's about all I got for now. Need to get back to work and get some things done. Later.

Harp

Training and Not Posting

2010-01-31T22:46:00.002-06:00

I feel like I've been neglecting the blog lately. I actually I don't feel like I have been but I actualey have been. Between work at the college and the classes that I'm taking and training I just haven't had it in me to post much. I need to do this more. One thing that I am missing is being able to go back and look and see what I've been doing. I do use this blog as my journal of sorts so not posting I loose that.

As far as training is going I've started a new plan and I'm putting in about 11 hours a week on the bike and strength training. I am really liking having a plan finally in place and not have to think about what I'm going to do when I'm ready to get started but just be able to look at my calender and just get started.

I am totally burnt out on the trainer already. I'm really struggling with it but it is hard cause I just don't get home in time to get out when the sun is still up and it's still warm enough to ride. I'm ready for daylight savings time. I am trying to get out as much as possible and it looks like the weather might stay above freezing this week so I'm hoping for the best.

Today I got out for a 3 hour training ride with a couple of my Flatwater Teammates. We were on our MTB's (ideal) and road through town and then headed out onto some gravel to grind for a while. It was nice to be back out on the mountain bike again. The last time I was on it was in early December. Too Long. It wasn't too cold out today about 25 degrees but the sun was shining which helped a lot. I was dressed properly and the only thing that got really cold was my feet which I'm just kind of starting to get used too. Here's a couple of pics that I took while out riding.

On the paved trail heading out of town with Sean and New Teammate John.
I wore my thermal jacket and the full head cover which makes a huge difference. Keeps me way warmer. I just wish I could wear it over my mouth and nose but this one is hard to breath through.

This was through a tunnel in the middle of town that was a complete sheet of ice. Tricky to get across.

Harp

More Yellow

2010-01-20T22:57:00.004-06:00

I just recently received my new kicks for the 2010 road racing season. The Mavic Zxellium And I was surprised to see that Mavic found ways to make them more even more yellow than the 2009 versions. I've been able to give them a few spins on the trainer and one ride outside and I definitely notice the difference from riding in my mountain bike shoes like I had been. Both shoes have the stiff carbon sole but with the addition of the platform for the cleat I really noticed the added stiffness and energy transfer when I stood up and hammered it out of the saddle. I'm really going to like these things. I'm looking forward now to when I can get my bike fit done so I can square everything up.

As far as riding goes lately it has still mostly been on the trainer. I was able to get out on Monday since I didn't work and get in a nice 2 hour ride on the road bike (which I haven't ridden outside for 2 months) with Jason from the shop. It felt good to be back out on the road and it's always so nice to have the 2 hours fly bye outside where you want more vs the snail pace that the time goes by on the trainer.

Other than that I'm back into full swing with work and my class that I'm taking right now so life is busy and the days are flying bye. Later.

Outside

2010-01-15T23:12:00.002-06:00

Finally after a month plus I was able to make it outside again for a ride. It was nothing really too exciting. I stuck to the paved in town trails cause I thought that they would be a bit more clear. In most parts they were but in some it was treachorous. I took one spill on a icy crossing while trying to move for a jogger who slipped and fell too.

It was much colder out than what I thought it was when I got home from work. I think that I just got myself excited with the hopes of riding outside and didn't think what it would feel like while moving on a bike. I started out with my light winter gloves but quickly made the switch to the lobster gloves which I was very glad I brought with me. Other than my feet I dressed appropriatly and didn't get cold. My feet were frozen by the time I got home. I need to get some better protection for my feet for these colder winter rides.

I got in 1:25 of riding with no real structure. I had been hitting it pretty hard on the trainer and today was just a recovery day a chance for me to remember what it's like to ride outside. Later.

Brandon

Pics of 2009- Branched Oak

2010-01-10T23:27:00.003-06:00

I took this picture out at Branched Oak while riding one night in the summer. I always thought it turned out to be a great shot overlooking the lake while riding some of my favorite trails. Can't wait to hit them up again. This winter is getting long.

Pics of 09- Flatwater Cycling Team

2010-01-09T22:35:00.003-06:00

Since I missed yesterday I decided to double up on pics tonight. They kind of go together anyways. The pics for tonight are a couple of pics of the team that I'm on, Flatwater Cycling Team. This was our first year as a team and I really enjoyed finally being a part of a team. As a mountain bike racer team tactics don't really come into play to often but it's still nice to have the guys on the team there with you.

The first pic is from the cornhusker state games mountain bike race. This picture is the one that I always say is the first four since we were the first guys on the team since the beginning.

This pic is from the Omaha Cycling weekend twighlight criterium. Above I said as a mountain biker team tactics don't come into play often. Obviously that is much different in road racing. The teammate in this picture is Rick who was a big part of my success on the road this season. He is a really strong rider that sacrifices himself without a second thought to get me to the front and get me where I need to be to be in contention for the win. I know I wouldn't have the State Champion Crit title if it wasn't for him. He led me through that whole race. Having good teammates is nice. I'm looking forward to 2010 with these guys now that we got a year under our belts.

Pics of 2009- New Mountain Bike

2010-01-07T20:07:00.001-06:00

Today's pic is from the first ride on my Team Marin Hardtail Mountain Bike that I got as a replacment for my Indian Fire Trail that was broken. This is a pretty sweet ride and I was super excited to have gotten. The strange thing about this is that I'm actually going to be selling this frame and replacing it with a carbon Felt Elite Frame. I do love this frame and I rode to my first win on it but Felt is the main Bike Sponsor of the team so that's what I ride now. But I still loved this shot

Pics of 2009-Cracked MTB

2010-01-06T20:40:00.002-06:00

Today's pic is of my the brake bridge on my Marin Indian Fire Trail that cracked during a race this year. I remember going from pissed that it was broken to excited about getting a new bike to a bit sad cause I really liked the bike.

Pics of 2009 - MTB Teammate

2010-01-05T20:44:00.003-06:00

There are 2 pics for today's post of the pics of 2009 week. The first is a picture of my teammate Ryan and myself taken right before the beginning of the race at Swanson Park. I spent a lot of time this past year riding in a car and training with Ryan. Ryan is the only other person on the team for 2009 who's main focus is on mountain bike racing. Not only has Ryan a great teammate but he has also become a very close friend.

The Second picture is one Ryan took early into one of our trips to a race when I got pulled over. He was nice enough to snap a photo of the cop behind us while the officer was deciding to give me a ticket or not (luckily not)so we wouldn 't forget it.

It was a good year traveling and racing with you bud.

Pics of 09-Cross Racing

2010-01-04T22:52:00.004-06:00

As I was looking at some of the pictures I have from this race season I decided that I'd do a different picture that I like from 2009 each day of the week. 09 saw a lot of changes for me and this one is something that was essentally new to me. CROSS RACING. I had done a cross race in 08 but I don't really count it since I wasn't training at the time and was on a borrowed bike etc. This picture was taken by the awesome photographer (and fast racer) Lucas Marshall. I thought this was a sweet pic.

Best and Worst of 2009

2010-01-02T11:05:00.003-06:00

This is a few days late. I've been meaning to get it up for a few days now but haven't got around to it. I've never done a best/worst of list before but thought I would give it a try. Lots of stuff happened this season. So here it is:

Best Race: Cornhusker State Games Mountain Bike Race

This was an easy choice. Not only is it the first race that I have ever won but it was also the race where I felt the best while racing. I wish I could feel that good and on top of things in all the races that I do.

Worst Race: Psycowpath #7 Capital City Challenge

This was also an easy choice. This race was a race that I should have done well in but a race that I completely fell apart and I've never felt so completely horrible while racing as I did in this race. It is a race that I always come back to remind me that I can still have bad days and it helps keep things in perspective.

Most Fun at a Race: Norfolk Classic Criterium/State Criterium Championships

This race was probably one of the funnest races that I've done and it was solely due to the fact of having a blast with my two teammates Rick and Shawn D. The trip to the race was relaxing and funny with those two guys.

Most memorable Race: Norfolk Classic Criterium/State Criterium Championship

This is the same race as above but it falls into this category easily. At the beginning of the race it started to rain and then as the race progressed it turned into a complete downpour of rain and then turned into marble sized hail. We raced in the hail for about 5 minutes before the lightning started and they rang the bell lap 3 laps early. I always say that it was the most epic 25 minute race ever.

Worst learning experience: Omaha Cycling Weekend Road Race

In this race I learned a lot about road racing and how to position myself. In this race I wasn't paying attention and missed when the group split and I had to work my ass off to bridge back up to the front group and then I was in the back of the group when there was a crash right after I caught up and right before the final biggest climb of the day and I lost the front group again and had to bridge up on the first half of the climb and then popped on the second half. What I learned was to stay in the front and pay attention. I should have finished with the leaders instead of behind the lead group.

Best New Equipment: SRAM Road Components

When I built up my Felt FC Road Frame this year I built it with SRAM components and I completely love them. I road a test bike earlier this season that had Dura Ace 7900 on it and I like the SRAM Rival components that I used better. I'm pretty much a SRAM only guy now.

I'm sure there are things that I'm missing but looking back at 2009 overall was a really good year in racing. Looking forward to bigger and even better racing in 2010. Later.

Harp

A Real Post

2009-12-29T21:16:00.003-06:00

I will be the first to admit that I have been neglecting my blog lately and I don't even have a good excuse for it. I've been off work since last Monday but with all of the holiday stuff going on and being out of town for Christmas I've just haven't posted.

I don't really have much going on. I'm trying to get into a little more of a regular training plan were as of late I've just been kind of going with whatever felt right for the day. I am looking at this off season a bit differently than I have others in the past. Lately I've really just been focusing more on my base and core than going down and blasting out intervals for an hour. Instead I'm doing more longer sessions and focusing on maintaing a steady pace for the entire length of the workout. I'm hoping I'm going in the right direction. It looks like I'm not going to be getting the coach that I was hoping for (lack of funds) but I'm committing myself to setting up a plan and sticking to it.

On the actual riding front I'm very frustrated. I haven't been out on my bike outside in over a 3 weeks. We've gotten dumped on with significant snowfall twice now and along with the cold temps it is forcing me onto the trainer. I am going absolutely nuts. I need to get outside to remind myself why I'm going through all of this torture in the basement. I heard on the weather report that there is more snow possible in the forecast and that the first 4 days of the new year are going to be the coldest days we've had yet. I'm hoping that after that we get a break for at least a couple of days so I can get out.

Other than that I'm also focusing on getting back on a regular and better diet plan. I have not been behaving very well lately when it comes to my diet and I'm feeling very flabby in the mid section. It's going to help that my wife also wants to diet and lose weight so it will help that we won't be buying anything that doesn't fit into the diet plans that I am laying out for us.

One last thing is that I got myself a christmas present of a new camera. I got a sweet deal on a black friday special on a Samsung SL720. It's got all the options I was looking for. It will be much easier to take videos with too which should help to keep thing a bit more interesting on the blog plus more pictures again also help. Like Judi says "blogs without photos are boring". I got it about a month ago and have been playing around with it. I got a couple of videos that I took that I'll put up later. Nothing to exciting though.

That's about it for tonight. Hope everyone had a good Christmas. Later.

Harp

Staying Green in 2010

2009-12-21T22:18:00.002-06:00

I got the word today that I'm going to continue on in 2010 as a Ergon Sponsored Athlete. Really happy and excited about this one. I've always loved Ergon grips since I've started riding and as I continue to use their other products I'm constantly impressed.

The dog days of winter training

2009-12-12T23:46:00.002-06:00

Winter training is already taking it's toll on me. It's been cold and we've gotten over a foot of snow is SE Nebraska in the past week which translates into no outside riding and I can't take the trainer much longer. Hopefully soon I can get outside again. It's amazing how fast a 2 hour ride can go by outside and how long 2 hours on the trainer can take. My daughter took the above picture cause she thought it was funny how one of our labs, Marshall likes to sit in their while I train.

Harp

First Class Finished

2009-12-10T00:09:00.002-06:00

I've finally finished my first class that I've been taking. Only 11 more 6 week classes left. Lately I've kept myself so busy keeping up on school, work and trainging that I haven't posted much. Now that school is over and work at the college is winding down for the year I will be able to get things back to normal and post on this blog (if anyone still reads it) more often. Lots of stuff has been happening but I just haven't taken the time to post. Things will get back to normal soon. Later.

Harp

Eating & Drinking in 2010

2009-12-02T20:26:00.003-06:00

I'm happy and excited to say that I'm going to continue to eat and drink well in 2010. In the past couple of days I've locked down the first two personal sponsorships of the coming Season.

I've loved Honey Stinger products from the first time I tested them out on a 50 mile road ride. Not only am I addicted to honey anyways but the products are super tasty and stick with me for a while vs a lot of others that I've tried that don't seem to last as long. This will be my 3rd season as a Honey Stinger athlete and I couldn't imagine using anything else.

I'm also really happy to be working with Nuun in 2010. I've been using their products for a couple of seasons and absolutely love them. I like that they are pure hydration and I can control my calories through gels, bars and chews (see above) . I also like that Nuun is easy and fast to use and transport plus the fact that it taste awesome and is refreshing when on the bike for a couple hours in the middle of the summer.

I'm sure that I'll be talking about these products a lot throughout the season. If you need something from them they are available from their websites (links on the sidebar) or if you're local come see me at Bike Pedalers and I can hook you up with this top notch race hydration and fuel.

Harp

Lincoln CX Weekend: Race Report

2009-11-25T20:14:00.005-06:00

photo coursesy of Jeremy Cook

This weekend I had the Lincoln CX Weekend Cross races. I have watched the cross races and last year I kind of tried to race for the first time on a borrowed bike and I kind of sucked actually I didn't kind of sucked I completely sucked and this year I was hoping to have a better showing. I decided to race 3 races this year over the weekend. On Saturday I'd do the Cat 3/4 race and then on Sunday the races doubled as the State Chamionships so I raced the Cat 3/4 race and then 15 minutes later lined up and did the Cat 4 rac. Here's how they went:

Saturday Cat 3/4

photo courtesy of Jeremy Cook

When I woke up on Saturday morning I felt tired and sluggish so I didn't really have to high of hopes. I had to go to work to take care of a couple of things so I ended up driving over to the race that was only 5 minutes form my house that made me feel kind of lame but I got there early, got registered and set out to warm up. As I was warming up the legs just didn't feel like they had the snap in them that I was hoping for or needed for a cross race.

When it was time to line up I got there close to start time and ended up lining up in the back. No big deal since I wasn't feeling great anyways. When the gun went off I got myself right into the middle but shortly after the start they had the first double barrier section and I hit the barriers fine but on the remount I somehow caught my thumb on my handlebars and almost fell over my bike. I managed not to fall but was now way behind and my thumb hurt when I held onto the hoods so I was in great shape at the beginning of the race. As the race continued I caught up to the lead pack but I was really struggling and I knew it was only a matter of time before I popped. After 2 laps I exploded and told myself it was now about surviving instead of really being competitive.

The worst and hardest part of the race was the popular hooligans hill. They had a barrier at the bottom of it to keep people from riding up it. I quickly realized after the first time up it that it was going to kill me. It was steep and I need to learn the to shoulder my bike instead of pushing it up it like I did (something to improve on before next year). By the time the race was over I was in the mid pack and happy with that since the legs felt horrible.

hooligan hill

Sunday Cat 3/4

On Sunday I felt much better. Which I'm figuring out is kind of common for me. I tend to feel better if I got some racing in me the day before. I rode over in the morning to watch the earlier races and then was able to warm up with Teammate Sean before the we lined up.

The course on Sunday was run backwards and it suited me a lot better. Instead of hitting a barrier section right away we had a long road leadout and then hit the course. I was up with the leaders after the gun went off and I was right up front with the leaders. As the race went on I traded places with other riders and was sitting in about the top 5 most of the race.

On the last 3 laps the two riders that were behind me were working together and were able to close down some space on the long road sections and I was starting to slow down some and I knew in the back of my mind that I had another race that was for a state chamionship 15 minutes after this one so when the 2 riders caught me I stayed with them for a while but decided to shut it down and just finish were I was and save some for the next race. I finished in 7th place overall were I think if I really would have pushed it I could have gotten up a few places higher.

Sunday Cat 4

So after my 15 minute recovery session where I just went to the bathroom, downed a bottle of hammer heed and a gel and then went back out to line up for the next race. I lined up next to one of my friends and mtb rival Dale who also raced the previous race and we both kind of looked at each other and said "why".

When the gun went off about 7 of us sprinted to the front on the long road section and I hit the course in the middle of the pack. I stayed in the pack in the middle through most of the lap but when we got to a long flowing section I could tell that I was a mountian biker in the middle of a group of roadies and was able to drop the hammer and get up right behind the two leaders. When they had trouble with a tricky turn I was able to get around them and was in the lead though the barriers and through the start finish line. On the long road section I could start to feel my fatigue set in from the earlier race and I slowed down some and I looked back and saw a whole train of riders letting me lead them through the wind. When we hit the course I was passed by the entire field who had the nice benefit of drafting off me. This was the last time I saw the front of the race.

As the race continued I started to pick up the pace and was really able to use my mtb skills and pick off the riders that were struggling with the technical aspects of the course. Towards the start finish line I saw Dale was the leader and I knew I wasn't going to be able to catch him but the 2nd place rider wasn't that far in front of me so I started chasing him on the last lap. I was closing down the gap but wasn't able to make it up. I finished the race about 4 seconds behind the 2nd place rider and 2nd in Nebraska for the state championship.

In the end I was somewhat happy with the results from the weekend. It was a good way to end the race season for 2009.

Harp

Almost 2 weeks

2009-11-21T00:00:00.005-06:00

I can't believe it has almost been 2 weeks since I posted last. I'm still adjusting to my new schedule of being really busy at work, training and then top it off with my new going back to school work load I've been struggling to keep up on reading blogs let alone posting anything on my own. With a friendly and much appreciated reminder from my good Friend up north, bluenoser I decided I did need to get a post up.

Tomorrow is the start of the Lincoln Cyclocross Weekend. For me tomorrow is a tune-up and prep day for Sunday which is the state championships. After advice from team management I'm racing one race tomorrow and then 2 for the state champ on Sunday. Tomorrow I'm racing the Cat 3/4 race and then on Sunday both the Cat 3/4 and the 4. I don't know how I'm going to perform. I'm feeling a little tired from staying up late to keep up on school and I didn't ride this much as I would have liked and then add on the 8-10 lbs extra I'm carrying since MTB season finished (I'm getting back on the full training diet after thanksgiving. no point starting now. I have little control) who knows what will happen.

The biggest worry on Sunday is that I only have 15 minutes in between races and those of you that have raced cross before and know how it is that's really no time. The suffering should be fun.

I do have everything ready to go though and everything should be relaxed since the race course is only 5 minutes by bike away from my house. I had Paul at the shop get my bike tuned and I finished the shine on it tonight so it can get all dirty again this weekend.

It was kind of funny today a student of mine was doing a parody of me and he stated the fact that I just finished riding my "2010 Felt F75X Cross Bike" and then when I put this post up I put a picture of the bike on the bottom. Yes I do talk about my bikes cause I like them so much and I am a shameless promoter of my sponsors. So here is another shot of my tuned and prepped race ready 2010 Felt F75X Cross Bike. Later.

Harp

The Felt B2: It is as fast as it looks

2009-11-07T00:12:00.004-06:00

This weekend I have the Felt B2 Time Trial Bike to test out. It is a Demo bike that the shop has that I'm hopefully going to get to do a few races on in 2010. I've had it since Tuesday but have been to busy at work to get home early enough to ride it.

After riding it tonight I had one thought; man this thing is fast. I took it out and rode it on a couple of the longer sections on my usual routes that I knew wouldn't have a lot of traffic but the traffic was still getting in the way so I took it back to pioneers park where there is a good chance I might be riding a TT next year so it was a good testing ground.

It took me a while to get used to the position and to controlling the bike when I was down in the drops but once I got used to it I just let it rip and had a blast. On the big downhill in the park I kept sitting up cause I was worried of losing control on the big turn at the bottom but by the end I was able to stay in the aero bars and just fly. I wish I had a speedometer so that I could have seen what speeds I was getting up to.

I hope to get a few more chances to get back out on it before I take it back to the shop for a while. I'll be able to get it as I need it but it is a sales tool for the shop first plus it is still cross season.

Harp

Demo Bike & Update

2009-11-02T23:08:00.003-06:00

It looks like I might get the chance to Demo a Felt B2. We are getting it in at the shop and I've had the inkling for a TT bike someday.

Other than that I've been just getting my assed kicked while I'm getting used to being back into the whole school thing. It's been really stressing me out. The program I'm in is really demanding so life will be tough for 6 weeks at a time than I get 2 weeks off than onto another 6 weeks and that pattern will keep repeating itself for 2 years. I've never written so many papers in a weeks time as I have this week.

I did get a nice halloween 50+ miles though. I took off early and headed down to Nebraska City so that we could celebrate Alexis' birthday with the families and then take them trick or treating. I actually had a lot of fun taking the kids out this year. Maybe it was casue I had the nice ride to clear my head so that I could relax.

I was able to get back on the trainer tonight (oh how I hate it). Trying to get myself tuned up for the state chamionship cross races in a few weeks that are in my backyard at pioneers park. I want the state chamionship. I haven't decided what Cat's I'm going to race or if I'm going to do both cat's like I did last time.

Short post. I got to get back to my schoolwork. later.

Harp

Need More Singletrack

2009-10-28T22:48:00.003-05:00

After getting off the trainer tonight I looked over at my mtb hanging on the wall and all I could think to myself was "man I miss riding in the woods". I need to get out and ride my mountain bike before I go nuts. It has been over 2 weeks since I was last on it on some form of singletrack. That is to long for me for this time of year but with more f*%#ing rain coming it doesn't look to promising. Now I got to get back to my first class at school. Later.

Harp

Things are about to Change

2009-10-27T21:25:00.002-05:00

Things are about to change in a big way for me. Tomorrow I start working on my Bachelors degree. I'm doing an online program from the New England Culinary Institute. I'm looking forward to it and not looking forward to it. I'm going to have to learn how to really manage my time better so that I can still get all my training in.

I've been thinking alot about my training and racing in 2010 and I think some changes are going to be in order but I will talk about that more at a later time. I still haven't figured everything out just yet. I haven't trained for the past few days do to again a very busy work schedule but thankfuly October is almost over and with that things seem to calm down some. I haven't been on a bike since the race on Saturday and tomorrow I'm also hitting things again in full swing. Back to more of my winter schedule of getting up and doing core work in the morning and riding at night. I'm ready and motivated. I've been working on some sponsorship stuff for 2010 and I'm getting pretty excited. Later.

Harp

Skyview Cyclocross Classic

2009-10-26T23:13:00.003-05:00

photo courtesy of Dan Farnham

On Saturday I made my way up to Norfolk, NE for the first annual Skyview Cyclocross Classic. I was feeling pretty worn down from the busy week I had at the college last week (which explains why I haven't been posting much lately). I was feeling pretty run down so I wasn't sure how I would do but I was looking forward to racing my cross bike again. This time I went up early enough to race twice. Since I'm just a Cat 4 this year I was eligible to race the 3/4's race and the 4's race and since the 2nd race was only $10 it was a no brainer to do both.

I got to the race course and got myself registered for both races and was changed and out onto the course to warm-up. The course was about 2 miles long and was a wide open circut with a couple of barrier sections and few grinder hills that I knew where going to hurt during the race. I really liked the way the course flowed but was feeling pretty stiff without a lot of snap in the legs. I had only ridden twice last week so I wasn't surprised. Then it was time to line up. Here's how it went:

Cat 3/4

As I got lined up for this race I noticed that there was a few fast riders there and a lot of people I didn't know. I knew Matt Gersib and having seen him race at the mtb races this year knew he was going to set a fast pace for the race. When the gun went off I got a good start and was able to stay right up front where I decided I wanted to be for the race. I wasn't going to sit back and let everyone get to far away from me and have to try to pull everyone back later. As we went through the first lap I was able to stay in second position right behind Matt but shortly after the beginning of the 2nd lap I was starting suffer a bit with some side pain. I kept up the pace for most of the 2nd lap gettng mixed in with some other riders and changing positions around with some other riders but by the end of the 3rd lap I was starting to feel the affects of my lack of saddle time in the past 2 weeks and couldn't sustain the pace and started to see some people pull away. I started to slide back but kept giving it all I had which wasn't very much. At this point I was sitting in 6th position and the race became more about damage control for the second race and not lose any more spots. I made a push really late in the last lap to try to catch the 2 riders in front of me but came up a tire width short of the 5th place rider on the line.

When the race was over I felt awful. I went directly to my car and was really light headed when I got off my bike. I got into the car, layed the seat back and just layed there for about 10 minutes unable to get my heartrate down and I was still feeling light headed and could barely talk to my wife who had called on the phone. After a while I started to feel a bit better and had about an hour left before my next race so I sat up and started to drink a bottle of heed and get a little food in me so that I had something to burn during the next race. I sat in my car and stayed warm. The temps were pretty cool and I just watched the race that was going on between my races and then it was time to go warm up to do it over again.

Cat 4

I went into this race with the expectation put on myself to race well but after the last race I wasn't sure what would happen. When the gun went off I went directly to the front and started to lead the group. I was hoping to be able to get an early gap on the field and hold it for the 30 min. race. Things didn't go as planned. I led the group for the entire first lap pulling everyone through the long straight section into the wind that was towards the beginning of the 2nd lap. After that I was pretty spent. The effects of the first race and the lack of training had taken over and I just couldn't hold off a couple of hard charging riders behind me. I traded another guy back and forth for 2nd place but he lost me on the first barrier section and I wasn't able to get back up with him finishing the race in 3rd place.

Overall for the 2 races I was content but not happy with how things went. I felt that I could have done better if I had been able to prepare better in the last couple of weeks leading up to the races. Hopefully I can get things back on track before the state chamionship cross races in 3 weeks. I don't think I'm going to be able to get any more races in before than. I don't even think I want ot at this point. I just have to much stuff going on and more things starting and I just want to have a little time to rest and then get in some good training before any more racing happens. Later.

Harp

MTB & Road Season Point Results

2009-10-18T20:55:00.003-05:00

3rd overall Cat 2 Open in the Psycowpath MTB Series.

2nd overall in Rider of the Year points Cat 5 Road Series.

I'll take it for know. Next year is upgrade in both.

Can't Wait.

It's going to hurt in a good way.

Harp

2009-10-15T22:14:00.002-05:00

So I'm sitting here in a hotel room in Scottsbluff, NE. bored out of my mind but to tired to got to sleep. I've been here for 2days now to help get out culinary program that we are transplanting here from our school. I'm here cause I write all the curiculumn for the lab classes. Now that's not to exciting especially after the 7 hour drive yesterday and the 7 hour drive I got back home tomorrow.

I've been stressing out cause I haven't ridden my bike since Monday and haven't done any real training for a while. This week was a none race week so I would have liked to get a good solid training week in but then again I have just felt kind of sluggish for the past couple of days plus the hotel I'm in doesn't really have much a fitness center. So really what I'm trying to figure out is how to make myself feel like I'm going to be ready to race next weekend. Plus I'm going to be gone all day on Sunday to for work again with another six hours of driving thrown in.

I've also been having a lot of guilt for the past few weeks cause I've been eating like shit. Lately I just haven't had any self control and have just been stuffing myself with crap. That's probably why I don't feel very good either.

Shit this has been a whiny post. Sorry. I hope to get everything back to to normal soon. Later.

Harp

Checking in.

2009-10-11T20:13:00.003-05:00

It's been a week since I've posted last. I haven't been posting a lot lately cause there hasn't been much going on this week. I've been training every other day lately this week it seems and with the first full week of college happening I've just been to busy to do much. It seems all I want to do is get out and race the cross bike. I've been looking for some regional races and have picked a few out. We'll see what happens. Later.

Harp

Weekend Race Reports

2009-10-04T18:11:00.003-05:00

This weekend was a busy for me racing wise; I finished up the mountain bike season and started the cross. So here's how they went:

Saturday

Angry Cow Adventures Mountain Bike Enduro

This race was kind of a last minute descision for me to do. It was a 3 hour endurance style race that I'm not that used to doing races that long and it was on private property that I hadn't ridden or heard that much about so I didn't know what to expect. It was only a 25 minute drive away. When I got to the race and got registered and changed and headed out to warm up I was pleasantly surprised.

The only section I was able to pre-ride was the singletrack section which was about a mile long with a few other sections adding to it to make the course about 1.5 miles of singletrack on the 3.6 mile course. The rest of the course was a mix of gravel and pasture. The singletrack sections though were some of the funnest I've ridden this year. The track wound up and down through a dried creek bed and was technical and had great flow to it with lots of small power climbs.

When the flag was dropped I took off to the front right away. They started us on a uphill gravel climb and I was able to gap the field with 2 other riders. 1 of them was riding as a team (the only team) so I let him stay in front for a while. After we got out into the open I passed the team rider and went ahead to finish the lap on my own. I was pushing the pace pretty well and surprised everyone when I finished the first lap right at 20 minutes but the second place rider wasn't to far behind and there was a little confusion in the transition area and the second place rider got out in front of me but I caught up with him and stuck on his wheel through the singletrack section and passed him on the open area.

As the race went on I continued to gap the second place rider. The only other riders I saw for most of the race was the 2 guys that were teamed up. I was trying to keep up with them but they did get away from me but I stayed strong for the rest of the race and was able to get in 9 laps and got the win.

I was really glad that I did this race and was able to finish up my mountain bike season on a high note and I felt pretty strong for the whole race which surprised me. I did notice though that after about the 1.5 hour mark that my lap times started to get slightly longer but I still felt like I could have kept the pace up for a while longer after the race was over which made me feel good.

Today

Omaha Cyclocross Weekend #2

Today I decided to head up to Omaha and race the Cross race just to get the practice in. I came into this race with no expectations. I wasn't sure how I would feel after yesterdays race but I figured the best way to break in the new bike and get some practice would be just to race. I got out and warmed up a bit and the legs didn't feel to bad after a bit.

We got lined up and I stayed in the second row not knowing how I'd do. When the gun went off I got right up into the 5th spot and kind of just sat back for a second to get a feel for how things were going to go plus I kept mishifting cause I'm still not used to using the Shimano shifting system vs the SRAM that I run on my road bike (when I get the money the road bike is getting upgraded to Sram red and the rival is going onto the cross bike) after I got everthing squared away I decided to I was feeling ok so I moved around a few people and worked my way into the 3rd spot and went ahead throughout the course. I was surprised at how well I was getting off and on the bike in the barrier and sandy sections of the course.

On the last long open section of the course I decided I was feeling pretty good by know and I made my move to the front and gave it a go to see if I could gap the field a bit. I felt that the other riders in front of me were slowing me down in the corners and I like being by myself. I was able to get a good gap on the rest of the field and was able to work my way through the course and continue to increase my lead and finish the race for the win.

All in all I was pretty happy with how this weekend went. Hopefully things stay the same. Later.

Harp

2010 Felt F75X

2009-10-02T22:48:00.004-05:00

It finally came today. The 2010 Felt FX75 is the newest arrow in my quiver. Paul did the build on it today and I was able to get out and take it for a short spin tonight. The weather for the first ride was cold, windy and drizzling. Perfect for a cross bike. I took it out on the rail trail and then did a little short loop through wilderness. The bike rode like a charm as soon as I got the seat height and position adjusted and got the tire pressure right. I still need to get a different component group on it and some other small personal changes but for a bike out of the box it's race ready know.

I kept the ride short cause of the 3 hour marathon tomorrow. I am tentatively planning on racing a cross race on Sunday. If I do I'm going to get my assed kicked but it will be good practice for the races later in the season that I want to try to win.

I've got to put out a huge thanks to the new owners of Bike Pedalers for helping me out with this bike. I can't beleive how fortunate I am and don't know if I deserve to get such awesome support.

Looking forward to the last MTB race of the season tomorrow than it is full on cross focus. Later.

Harp

Racing in 2010

2009-10-01T16:06:00.003-05:00

I'm going to be leaving a larger carbon print in the 2010 race season. It's going to be sweet.

Race Report: Psycowpath # 8 Manawa Mountain Bike Mayhem

2009-09-29T22:27:00.005-05:00

This race report is way overdue.

On Saturday was the Manawa Mountain Bike Mayhem race. It was the last installment of the 2009 Psycowpath series and the last xc mountain bike race of the year for me. I was originally kind of looking forward to the season being over but know that it is I have totally changed my mind.

On the night before the race I was concerned about it even happening as scheduled cause it was raining pretty good for a while in Lincoln and with Manawa being only an hour away I was afraid they were getting the same weather. The course did get a bit of rain but not as much as at home so the race was on. I was a bit worried about the course cause I knew it was really flat and would be wet and slick for a while and what worried me was my tires. I'm running and have been running all season the continental race kings. I love the tires and I will be hard pressed to change them or run any thing else in dry packed conditions like we normally have here in summer in NE but they are not the best for slick, greasy singletrack. I was hoping to be able to change them out with the continental mountain kings that were at the shop but when I got there and looked at them I realized they were for 29er's so I was stuck with what I had.

When I got to the race venue and started out for my warm up lap to check out the trail conditions I was a bit releived to see that the course was just pretty tacky until I hit a real thick tree covered area where the trail was the feared greasy singletrack that I knew would slow me down during the race. I only rode the first side of the course which is about 2/3 of it before heading back to get ready to line up.

When the gun went off I made a shot towards the front and went into the singletrack in 2nd position right behind a rider that I knew was probably the strongest in the field. He has beaten a couple of times this year and he is really powerful on the flat sections of courses and since this whole course is flat I knew he would be tough. My plan was to just hang on with him and try to get him at the end. For most of the lap we stayed together and had dropped the rest of the field. When we got to the 2nd section of singletrack is where I started to run into problems. The course gets pretty tight and I was having a hard time hanging on navigating the course. I was starting to get the hang of it and then I miss judged the course direction where is veers to the right really quick and then goes back down a small hill and I ended up going cutting across the trail and got caught up on a downed branched and crashing. When I was getting back up from the crash I was caught by the third place rider and couldn't hold him off as I was trying to get back into the flow of the race and was passed shortly after the beginning of the second lap.

On the second lap about 1/3rd of the way through I crashed on a completely wide open turn. My back wheel slid out from underneath me. This crash hurt more than the earlier one cause I jammed my wrist on the ground when I was falling. At that point I couldn't see the rider that was in second place. My wrist was really bothering me so my goal went from trying to chase down the second place rider to just holding my place. I knew we were out in front of everyone else so I just went as hard as I could handle.

Things went pretty good for the rest of the second lap and the third lap until right until the end like about 1 minute from the end where I layed the bike down again on a wide open loose rock turn. I had way to much pressure in the rear tire causing me to slide out. This time when I went down though I didn't fall all the way and my left quad cramped really bad. I was freaking out at this point that someone was going to come up behind me and pass me at the last second but I was able to get on the bike and ride out the cramp and make it to the finish line in 3rd place.

This race wasn't my best but it will do. I ended up sitting 3rd overall in the series to which the goal at the beginning of the season was to be in the top 3. Now I'm already looking forward to next season.

I got a late addition to the race schedule on tap for this weekend. The original plan was to race in the Omaha Cyclocross weekend but with my Cross bike getting delayed in shipping I'm not going to get it in until Friday and I don't really want to build it Friday night and then race it on Saturday morning so I'm going to hit up this 3 hour endurance race right outside of Lincoln. I'm curious to see how it is since it is on private land and no one has ever ridden the trails before. Should be interesting. Plus I'm always kind of going to choose Mountain over Cross. Later.

Harp

Race Report: Nebraska State Road Race

2009-09-20T12:58:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was the Nebraska State Road Race. Last year this was my first road race and I did not perform very well and ended up getting spit out of the pack and riding most of the race alone. I had different plans going into this years race. I did have some concerns of how I would do cause of last weeks poor performance on the MTB. But I was actually feeling pretty good so I was confident that I would at least be able to stay in the pack.

Our team was hosting the race so I had to get to the venue which was at Branched Oak lake. The course we did was around the lake which is part of my Sunday morning 50 miler that I do in the off season so I was pretty comfortable with the route but I was still there at 6:30 am. When we got there we got busy setting up the tents and registration and then we were off to clear the course and get the signs up.

After I we had everything done we got back and started getting ready. I had Rick racing with me this race so that helped ease the nerves I had going in. I knew I was going to be being watched in the race. I'm still not used to being one of the marked guys or the guy people are keeping an eye on.

When it was time to get lined up I really realized how big the field was. There was 52 riders in my category plus the women 3's and 4's which left the field a group of about 65 riders. That is a way bigger field than I'm used to riding in. When we got going we had about a 1.5 mile lead out and I was stuck in the middle and there were all sorts of unnerving riding going on. Lots of people grabbing to much of their brakes and not holding lines. I was sure I was going to end up getting crashed out and came real close a couple of times.

We had to do three laps around the lake and I was waiting for someone to attack the field but nobody did. I was really itching to get going but I stayed in the pack not wanting to push to early and not sure I would get anyone to come with me who would actually want to work and not just have me and Rick pull them through the race. So I just kept in and kept on eye on the front to make sure that any of the guys that I knew were fast didn't take off.

At the beginning of the each lap there was a huge stair step climb that we had to go up and on the last time up it a group attacked off the front. I barely was able to see them going but they had established a little bit of a lead and I decided to make a break and bridge up but the only problem was when I went so did everyone else and I put in a huge amount of effort so and ended up getting on with the break only to have the rest of the field catch back up. So at that point I decided to stay in the group until the end.

When we finished our final lap and made the turn in to go back the 1.5 miles to the finish I was able to move myself towards the front. I knew a couple of guys who were up there and me and one of them said lets go and we took off and tried to get a gap. We weren't able to establish much of a lead and then I made a move to make a break on a climb but when I got to the top I realized I wasn't as close as I thought and I didn't want to try and go by myself the rest of the way with everyone closing in on me so I let the leaders catch back up and we were going again. Next thing I know I hear Rick come blazing up on the side saying let's go and a friend of mine Jeremy Cook went with him. Rick drove me up to the front and we were rolling towards the final turn into towards the finish line. As we hit the turn I got pinched to the inside corner and was barely able to keep my bike on the road so I had to make a huge surge to catch up with the leaders. When I saw the line I was sitting in 4th place and I made my sprint for the line. I had so much force in my bike when I was sprinting that I could hear the wheels flexing and rubbing (I need stiffer wheels) I made it around the other two guys but ran out of space to catch the leader ending up in 2nd place.

As I sat and thought about the race I started to think about what I could have done at the end to get the win but then I think back to how I performed last week and say "I'll take it". Not a bad way to end my road season. I ended up 2nd in State also leaving me as the State Champion in Crit racing and State Runner up in Road Racing for Cat. 5 in Nebraska. Now I'm looking forward to next season when I make the move up to Cat 4. My overall goal is to end up as a Cat 3. I ride with some Cat 4's and think I'll be able to hang next season. We'll See. Now I got to start thinking about next weekends race in Council Bluffs it will be the last MTB race of the season and then it's time to get ready for "cross" the following week. Later.

Harp

Better

2009-09-15T23:20:00.002-05:00

Things are much better today than yesterday. First and most improtantly Winston is back home. We had a lady call this morning and say that she had found a dog matching his description that she got from the shelter. She was even nice enough to bring him home on her way to work. It's nice that there are some really good, cool people around sometimes. He's back home now. He was dirty with stuff still matted in his hair that we couldn't get out so he's going to have to have a shave but other than that he's fine. I'm just curious where he was and what he did the whole time he was gone. He stayed close though. He was found almost a mile from the house. That's not to far for the 27hrs he was gone.

As far as I go the legs felt a lot better today and I got in a 2 hour ride after work today. I met up with the guys at the shop and we headed out for the last installment of the PCL Tuesday night Crits. On the way to the shop and to the crits I felt good and had some really good feeling accelerations up the some climbs. When we got to the Crits I jumped right in and was able to stay with the group during the warming/pacing section before we started do 1 lap sprint intervals with 1 lap cool down in between. I had some good efforts in for this but I know my limits and I can't sprint at my top end for the whole lap. When we regrouped for our last set it was 3 laps with the first being a "prime" sprint and then then 2 more laps with the 3rd being a sprint for the win. I stayed towards the front and didn't really make a hard effort to go for the prime but stayed with the pack. After the prime lap a couple of riders got off the front and about half way through Sean (it was nice to have a teammate at this) helped me bridge the gap up to the 2 leaders. 2 others bridged up shortly after I did and when it came down to the final sprint I was able to stay with the group in front which was my goal for the night. Overall the legs felt better and I was pretty pleased that I didn't have the same funk that I was in on Sunday.

Now it's time for rest. I got a busy couple of days at work coming up and the plan for the rest of this week is to rest before the state chamionship road race this Saturday. Later.

Harp

Winston

2009-09-14T20:05:00.003-05:00

When I was in between classes today at work I turned on my phone and I had a message from my wife saying that Winston our miniature schnauzer was gone. When I called and talked to Amy she said that one of the boards in our fence had came loose and he had gotten out. Our other two labs weren't big enough so they were still there but Winston was gone and we aren't even sure how long he had been gone before we had noticed. The dogs all typically go out into the back yard for a couple of hours in the morning to burn off some energy and when she went to let them in is when she noticed he was gone.

We're not sure what to do. We have spent a lot of time out looking for him but who knows where he could have gone. We are all pretty worried around here. The kids are not taking to well. I called the shelter and if he comes in there they will let us know and we have talked to animal control so they will keep a look out for him. I'm a little worried since he's never been out by himself before and has always been around other dogs. I'm not sure how well he'll handle the night out by himself.

Right now we are just hoping for the best. If anyone local sees him let me know. He is a bit shaggier know than he was in the picture above. Later.

Harp

Race Report: Psycowpath # 7 The Capital City Challenge

2009-09-13T21:19:00.003-05:00

There's not much to say about this race. It was easily the worst race that I've ever had. When we got started I entered the singletrack in 3rd place after the 1/4 mile gravel road start. I was right up with the leaders where I needed to be and was holding on but I knew something wasn't right. The opening section of this new course was really bumpy and it was just chewing me up and I was putting a lot of effort into keeping things moving fast. Towards the end of this opening area before we dumped into the woods I was passed by a rider leaving me in 4th place. I wasn't really worried about it at this point and just kept pushing on. Then I fell apart.

All the sudden out of nowhere I just had nothing left. I couldn't push and I couldn't carry any speed or anything else. I just tried to keep things moving with the hope of things coming around but it never happened I just kept getting worse and worse. My head was throbbing, my stomach was in knots and my sides were just screaming with pain. I have never came as close to quiting a race as I did today.

Shortly before the end of the first of four laps I was passed by a rider leaving me in 5th place. I managed to keep moving in the race basically in survival mode. I just couldn't get out of whatever I was in that was slowing me down so much. I was passed on the 3rd lap by a couple of riders who never should have caught me and I tried to push it to bring them back but just couldn't do it. Every time I tried to go hard I lasted about 15 seconds and then could barely move again. I ended up finishing the race in 7th or 8th place. When I got done I felt so horrible I was so disappointed and almost embaressed by how bad I did that I took off and didn't wait for the final results which is really uncommon for me.

It is driving me nuts trying to figure out what went wrong today. I just keep going over everything in my head thinking about what I did or didn't do leading up to the race. The race was originally supposed to be on yesterday but was pushed back a day cause of rain. I ended up not really doing anything yesterday and kind of just sat around all day. Was that the problem? Was it the 2 beers I had last night with a freind I hadn't seen in a while? In the past 2 nights I had gotten about 18 hours of sleep when I usually get only 6 a night. Was it to much sleep? Did I eat to much this morning and lounge around to long before going to the race? I can't figure it out and it is driving me crazy.

I need to go try to relax a bit know. Typing all this up has me all pissed again. Later.

Harp

PS the only good thing that came out of today was that Paul the best mechanic around and the guy that keeps my slow ass rolling got his first podium spot in the Cat 3 race today. Nice job man.

Yes

2009-09-09T19:56:00.001-05:00

Guess what's coming my way in the next few weeks?

Recovery

2009-09-08T22:21:00.002-05:00

I've spent the last few days with a lot of time on the bike. And I never really gave myself a lot of time to recover from last weeks stupid move of doing the leg workouts. On Sunday I met up with Ryan to ride the race course for this weekend at Branched Oak. My legs were still feeling pretty tight but I was hoping that if I got out and rode it might loosen them up.

When Ryan and I got going I decided to take the first lap pretty easy to get things stretched out and then put out some effort later. After the first lap my legs were still feeling pretty tight so I let Ryan lead the 2nd lap and told him to go at whatever pace he wanted. He set a pretty good pace on the opening section which is a very long bumpy open section in a open praire and I just can't carry much speed through it. I struggled to catch up with Ryan and he wasn't going his hardest. I'm worried about people getting away from me on this section. On the rest of the lap we mixed it up a bit with some hard efforts and my legs just couldn't get loose.

On the 3rd lap we had Corey waiting for us. We had seen him out on the course earlier and he said let's ride some laps. I led out the 3rd lap and he stayed with me and I felt like I was slowing him down the whole time. When we started the 4th lap he led out and I was suffering to hang on the whole time. Corey is one of the fastest local racers and he totally barried me. I managed to hang on to his wheel for about a 1/4 of the way through and ended up dropping off the back. It was perfect for what I needed to do though. I needed to really get pushed through the course. It need to keep training with the faster riders like him. Thanks Cornbread we need to do it again sometime.

On Monday I was up early again and met up with the Saturday morning crew for a road ride. We headed out of town and the legs were feeling a bit better. The ride was plagued with flats though. We were out riding on highway 2 which seems to be a mess and I always get flats when riding on it. We had one flat on the way out and then on the way back to town we had another flat and then after we hit town and I was off on my own I finally got a flat of my own. I was hoping to make it home and I just put some air in it but it didn't last long before I had to stop for the full change. After I got home the rest of yesterday was spent hanging with my Aunt and Uncle that from Oregon that I hadn't seen in a couple of years. It was a good time but the only problem was that I was down at my Grandma's and she had out all of her homemade candy and I ate way to much.

Today was Tuesday Night Crits and I was just feeling tired and a bit sluggish. I met up with a couple of teammates at the shop before going over and I could just feel that I didn't have the legs. When we got out to the crits I jumped in and rode several laps with the group but when the group picked up the pace I couldn't hold on. Again I was a little disappointed about how I did tonight.

My goal for the rest of the week is to get my legs fully recovered by Saturday. I'm pretty close in the points standings for my category in the series so I want/need to have a good showing at this race and the last one in a couple of weeks. Later.

Harp

Sometimes I Wonder

2009-09-05T21:51:00.003-05:00

Sometimes I can't figure out why I do this to myself. On Thursday night I got home from work a little late plus it was running so the desicion was made not to ride. Since I wasn't riding I thought it would be a good idea to get a core workout in. In my last couple of races I've had some pain in my back and sides later in the race from my lack of core strength since I've blown off those workouts for a few months. Anyways as I was getting ready to get started I thought it would be good to do my squats and lunges like I do in the winter.

And that is where the "what the hell was I thinking" comes in. I barely made it through the squats and lunges. On the last few of my lunges I almost fell over. I thought that I might be sore from doing them but it has been way worse than I thought it would be.

On thursday night I had a hard time getting up and down the steps cause my legs were so weak. When I woke up on Friday morning I could really feel it and walking around at work on Friday was pretty rough. So in my infinite wisdom when I got home from work I went out for a ride. The plan originally was to get out and try to loosen up the legs and take it easy. Well after about a half hour I felt pretty good and just started in on some intervals. I ended up riding for an hours and a half and when I looked at my average and high heart rate I went way harder than I usually do.

When I woke up today I was really sore but I couldn't help but go out and meet up with my usual early Saturday morning group ride. It was super foggy out and the air was thick. So when we met up we decided it wasn't safe at all to be out on the road so we headed out to pioneers park for some hill sprints. Now of course my legs were still pretty sore and were a bit better after I loosened up a bit but still hurt pretty bad but did that stop me. Of course not. I was sprinting up every hill and charging and leading out on the descents and flat sections. When I got home and got off the bike I almost fell over. My legs have never felt this way before. I spent the day working at the shop hobbling around everytime I moved and looked like I was a 110 years old going up and down the steps and ramp into the service side of the shop.

Am I going out to ride tomorrow. What do you think?

Harp

Psycowpath #6: Maskenthine XC Classic

2009-09-01T22:39:00.003-05:00

Saturday was the Maskenthine XC Classic in Stanton and the 6th race in the Psycowpath series. I was looking forward to this race the first 2 times it was scheduled and then postponed due to rain. I like this course and it suits me and my riding style pretty well so I was hoping to have a good day on the bike.

I got up to the course fairly early after the 2 hour drive cause Teammates Ryan and Paul were racing earlier. Ryan in the Marathon race and Paul in the Cat 3 race. I like getting to the events early cause it gives me plenty of time to get out and take my time getting ready and gives me plenty of time to do an easy preride of the course.

After Paul and Ryan got sent off I changed and headed out for the preride. I felt good riding the course and remembered it pretty well since this was the 3rd time I had raced it. Last year it was the first race of the season and the long climbs were putting a bit of a hurt on me.

When it was time for me to go I got a good spot right in the front and was feeling pretty comfortable and not nervous like I usually am. When they gun went off and I took my first couple of hard pedal strokes I felt my quads just lock up and thought to myself that this might be a rough race. As we went up the gravel road before entering the singletrack I got my legs loosened back up and worked my way up to the front of the group and entered the singletrack in 4th position.

Right after we got into the singletrack we head down a hill and then dump into the most technical section of the course. When I hit this I was just all over the place flailing around on the bike like an idiot and almost crashing and running off the course on a couple of sections and not getting into the right gear on the small climbs I was not hanging on very well. After we pulled out of the technical section I was able to re close the gap on the 3rd place rider and eventually would make it around him but I knew he was a strong rider and he stayed with me not giving me a lot of room as I was trying to gap him some. As I continued on through the course I could not go through any of the switchbacks with any sort of speed. It seemed like everyone I hit I had to come to a stop to get through them. I was also just struggling with myself and having trouble pushing the pace. I lost sight of the 2 leaders who were riding really strong. Towards the end of the lap I was struggling and out of nowhere I heard "left side" and a rider came blowing past me. I was able to grab his wheel for a second but couldn't hold him and he got away but it pushed me enough that I was really trying to close the quick gap he created.

As we got into the second lap I got a good bottle change from Paul (who is not only the best mechanic around but also a great pit man) and then barely made it through the technical section again and by this time the 5th place rider was back on my wheel and I thought he was going to get around me. I didn't feel like it but I made myself stick to my plan that has been working lately and I forced a gel down my throat and continued to work on holding off the 5th place rider. After a little while I started to feel a bit better and about half way through the lap on a big long climb I closed the gap and was able to pass the 3rd place rider. After that I really tried and layed it down and put some distance between me and him.

After the start of the third and final lap I got another bottle from Paul and this time I hit the technical section perfectly and was really pushing the pace. On the big climb halfway through I had some motivation of seeing a rider who regularly kicked my ass last year who know races in cat 1 struggling and I was able to pass and drop him on the climb. After that I decided to not really try to push quite as hard since I knew I wasn't going to catch the leaders at this point but I was afraid I would make a mistake since I wasn't feeling exactly comfortable on the bike and just try to finish off the race and hold my position without crashing.

When I came across the line I finished in third and was content with my finish after the way it had started for me. This race did make me realize that I still need to work on my technical riding abilities. They aren't where they need to be. Later.

Harp

Ready

2009-08-28T22:58:00.001-05:00

Bikes prepped and ready to go. Can't wait to race tomorrow.

Harp

Keeping the system Tuned

2009-08-27T22:06:00.003-05:00

I haven't been the best about posting on the blog lately. It just seems like I got a lot to do and by the time I get home get my training in, make dinner and all the other things it seems I have to keep up on I'm ready to go to bed.

I've actually been able to get a lot of time in the saddle lately and I'm feeling pretty good about the race this weekend. I'm looking forward to this one. The course fits me pretty well with some long grinding climbs that I think I can put some time on people but of course I never know exactly how I'm going to feel at the time of the race. All I know is that I'm just ready to go. Only 3 mtb and 1 road race left for the season.

Tonght was just a light road spin with some hard sprinting efforts mixed in. The sprints felt really good. Too bad I suck at sprinting when I'm racing. Unfortunetly I'm not going to be able to get out and spin the legs again tomorrow. I got to take the kids down to the grandparents for the weekend but no worries I could probably use the extra rest. Later.

Harp

Chewed Up

2009-08-21T22:51:00.002-05:00

I decided that everything felt good enough to get out for a ride tonight so I got ready and headed out on the mtb over to wilderness park for a little bit of singletrack action to warm the legs back up after my forced few days off the bike. Everything felt pretty good for the most part no constant pain when sitting on the saddle just a little twinge here and there but the legs felt great and once I hit the singletrack I had good flow and was really enjoying the ride.

After only a little while in the park I started to notice on the turns that things didn't feel right so I stopped and sure enough the front tire was a low. I put some air in it to see if it would hold for a while since I just wanted to ride and not spend my time changing a tube. Well the tire got low and was messing with my turning after only a little while so I was off the bike and changing the tube. Once I got off the bike is when the swarm of mosquito's hit me and they just chewed on me the whole time I was working on the tire and of course I found 2 big thorns in the tire that were taking me forever to get out. I haven't been attacked by mosquito's like that in a long time. By the time I had the tire changed I was all sorts of itchy and covered in blood spots on my arms, legs and face from killing the damn things.

Shortly after I had the tire changed I got out of the park and took the rail trail home since I didn't have another tube to change the tire if I had another flat. By the time I got home I was pretty uncomfortable and all I wanted to do was just take a shower. Below is a shot of the top of my shoulder. The pic doesn't really show all of the bites or how bad it really looks.

I got a pretty good weekend of riding lined up. Tomorrow is the usual early morning group road ride I hit up and on Sunday I got a friend from Omaha coming to preview the Area 7 course at Branched Oak. Ahh it's good to be training again; even if it means getting chewed on by mosquito's. I need to get some spray. Later.

Harp

I just want to ride

2009-08-20T22:09:00.003-05:00

I've been going a little stir crazy the past few days. It is hard not to ride when I have a bunch of stuff to do but when I can't ride and I have to just sit at home I go really nuts. Things felt a bit better today but when I put a little pressure on it I still felt it hurt a little so I decided to stay as planned and not ride again today to make sure this thing is taken care of.

Last night I spent the time wisely and got the bikes all cleaned, prepped and ready to go when training begins again. The headset on my mountain bike seemed a little loose so I took it in today to the shop to have Paul tighten it and have it checked overall. I also added a little more pressure to my fork. It seemed to have a bit to much bounce. I did test ride it after I had everything done and I didn't really have any pain when I sat on the saddle which is promising.

Now I just can't wait to get back out tomorrow. I don't think I'm going to go to crazy but I would like to hit some singletrack. Hopefully the local trails are dry. Later.

Harp

Painful Training

2009-08-18T22:57:00.003-05:00

So I went out to the PCL Crits tonight to try to get in a good solid training effort and not get dropped every lap like I did last week. The only problem with was that yesterday after I got home from a short ride I noticed something was a little painful when I was sitting on the saddle.

Now I am usually a very reserved person and pretty modest but I'm sure I'm not the first person that's had to deal with the ever so painful saddle sore. This was the first time I've had to deal with this and it f*&%ing kills.

As I was getting ready to leave I was worried about how I was going to deal with this but it didn't bother me to much at work but as soon as my butt hit the saddle it was instant pain and discomfort but for some reason I kept going. On the ride out to the location I was able to find a spot on the saddle that wasn't to painful. When I got out to the course and we got started I just couldn't get down in the drops and find a comfortable spot so I ended kind of sitting halfway on the saddle and half off but after a couple of laps I started to have a lot of pain in my left leg ( the side more on the bike) from sitting in an akward position so I pulled out of the group so I could stand up and coast for a second. I probably should have just gone home at that point but I'm not that smart and just kept trying to jump back on the group with more of the same result.

I was pretty disappointed that I had another bad week at the crits but hopefully I can have a better showing next week. I've been doing some research on how to deal with this problem and I found a couple of forums on mtbr.com that I think I got some good info that I'm going to give a try.

Again sorry for the not so pleasant post but I figure I talk about everything else.

2 flats and 50

2009-08-17T00:06:00.003-05:00

For the last few days my riding/training has been pretty relaxed. I pushed a good pace on my loop through wilderness on the mountain bike but didn't push as hard as I could and on Saturday I got up to meet the guys I usually ride with on Saturday mornings before work but when I looked outside it was not only raining but I was hearing thunder and saw some lightening flashes so I bailed on that ride. I don't mind the rain so much but when I see lightening I stay in. After I got home from the shop I hung out at home for a while and then went out for a hour and half and did a strong tempo ride with some sprints mixed in but again nothing much.

Today I had to head down to Nebraska City for a family thing with the parents but when I woke up at 7:30 I was just feeling drained so I stayed in bed and decided to take the opportunity to ride down before everything got started. The last time I tried to ride to Nebraska City I had 2 flats and only 1 tube so I this time I took both the tubes that I had and headed out. At first I wasn't feeling that good but after I warmed up for a while I started to feel great and I set a goal of making to my parents driveway in 2.5 hours. I'm not sure on exactly the distance but I'm pretty sure it's a little over 50 miles.

About 15 miles outside of Lincoln I looked up cause a car made a loud noise and I hit something that was on the shoulder and my front tire instantly went flat. So I changed it pretty quick and was back on my way. I was still feeling really good and stopped around the halfway point to refill the bottles and dump the honey stinger wrappers and the blown tube I had in my pocket. I got going again and was rolling pretty good and when I got probably around 15 miles from Neb. City I started to feel my rear tire getting a little squishy and it wasn't long before it went all the way flat so I was off the bike again and changing another tire on the side of the highway. When I was changing this tire my wife passed me and called and asked if I would need picked up and I said as long as I didn't get another flat I would be good. I couldn't believe that I had gotten two flats. I made it the rest of the way without any more problems and felt pretty good the whole time except right outside of town there are some real steep rollers and I was feeling it a little but I think a lot of that was cause I knew I was almost done.

I was getting a little close to my time goal so I pushed it a little when I got closer to town and ended up making it to my parents in 2 hours and 27 minutes getting my goal. I did stop the time when I was changing the flats and when I stopped for water but I was really happy with the time that I made and was happy with how I felt. I wasn't happy about the flat tires though. I think I need to get a little bit tougher tires for when I'm just out training. I have the thin light weight race tires on and on the shoulder of that highway there is just a lot of debris that causes the flats to happen so much more than when I'm out on the county roads around Lincoln. Even with the flats it was still a great ride and a pretty good weekend of training before a long string of races starts. Later.

Harp

Dropped, Bumpy and Lost

2009-08-13T00:19:00.002-05:00

The title of this post kind of explains how the last couple of days have gone for me.

Last night I headed out for the PCL crits for my weekly dose of punishment. Last night was pretty fast and I'm not sure what was going on with me but I had this queasy feeling all night and just didn't have any power and I ended up getting dropped on every set when I knew that I could have at least held on. I know I wouldn't have been winning the sprints but most of the time I wasn't even making it to the bell lap and spent most of the night riding alone waiting for the group to come back around to pick me up and then when I was in the group I wasn't comfortable at all. I was surprised when I checked out Corey's blog and he got a picture when I was actually with the group.

Tonight I had no one at home since the wife and kids where out of town so after I got off work I loaded up the car and headed out to Branched Oak to ride area 7 which is where I have a race coming up in a month. At the last race in area 1 at Branched Oak I liked having the home field advantage and plan on having the same thing in this area. Most of this trail is new and it is really rough and bumpy. It's going to be great when it gets ridden more and smooths out a bit but right now it is just really bumpy and I was just always losing momentum and power. This course is definitely not ideal for a hard tail. This is one of those coursed when I wish I had a XC full suspension in the stable to pull out. Maybe sometime soon. I did get in 4 + laps which was nice but I had to stop several times to let a group of about 19 horses through who were riding the course in the wrong direction.

When I finished up riding tonight and I got back to my car I realized that I no longer had my cell phone with me which meant that I had lost it somewhere over the 4.5 miles of singletrack. By this time it was starting to get pretty dark but I headed back out slow to try to find it. I had one area where I thought it might have come out where I almost went down and ended up having to kind of take a couple of steps off the bike as it slid out from underneath me but it wasn't there and I checked a couple other spots where I had stopped and was pulling food out of my pockets but had no luck. I rode the trails until it got too dark to see. I'm a little bummed that I'm going to have to get a new phone but I kind of needed one anyways but I was hoping to wait but now I guess I have no choice and I'm definitely not going to get anything that is expensive like I was planning to since I'm now freaked out about loosing it. I am surprised still since I have never lost anything out of my pockets before.

Here's a few pics I got from tonight's ride:

my favorite climb in the trail. a little technical and steep

overlooking the lake at dusk