Good Training Day

Yesterday, I was up in Bellingham for a fire gig, and made sure to bring my bike to get some training in afterward. I wanted to get in some "race simulation" speed/technique so I headed to one of my favorite courses - Cornwall Park, in the North end of the city. A gorgeous park with fast wide trails, grass fields, and paved walkways.

Lots of squirrels, dogs, frisbie golfers, and XC runners were the order of the day, but I still had a great ride and felt pretty good. Cornwall Park, is pretty much a cyclo-cross paradise. They just need a starbucks right outside the park gate.

S.C.X. #2/Beverly Park

Round two of the Seattle CX series took place at Beverly Park in White Center (South of Seattle) in a residential neighborhood school/park. The course was very technical, and bumpy with some great descents and a cool run up.

Has anyone seen my luck, cause I seem to be missing some? In the opening of the first lap, I felt my front tire suddenly losing air as we headed for the descent. As we bombed down the drop, I applied my brakes only to have my front brake cable slip and my lever went straight to the bar. The result was me "T-boning" Mike Rolcik in the bottom turn, and trying not to roll my deflated tire on the dry grass. Unfortunately, I had just passed the pit, so I would not see it again for an entire lap. By the time I got my pit bike I was towards the back once again. I finished in 21st place. What can I say, my days MUST be coming. I will just continue to train well, and keep positive, and know that my days are approaching. It's been such a bummer not being able to catch a break so far.

On another note, I wanted to thank my teammates for a great bike change in the pits. Very smooth fellas, and appreciated. Also, great job to Holden for completing a very tough course for an 8 year old as he continues to race with the 10-12 year olds. I was very happy to see him finish and run the run ups and be able to ride the steeper climbs. Way to go buddy. (Holden's photo at top of article)

Kristi killed it today with big win in very commanding fashion. She left everyone in her wake and won by over a 1.5 minutes. That's big in 'cross.

Next race is S.C.X. #3/Silver Lake (South Everett). It will be nice racing in Snohomish County. I'm hoping for some crappy weather, and a technical course.

Thanks for reading.

M.F.G. #4/Cross Clash @ Steilacoom

Today we headed down to Steilacoom for the 4th round of the M.F.G. series and a race that touted Portland, Oregons 'crossers against Seattle's.
The course consisted of lots of fast paved roads, fast bumpy grass, and an actual dirt trail climb followed by a loose gravel road climb. Very fast course and tactics played a huge role. Things got off to a rough start with me getting edged to the outside into the first turn and ended up having to roll through the pits. There are some big rules about rolling through the pits without taking a bike and the ending result can be disqualification. With this in mind, I sat up and had to let the pack pass by, and then jump in on the tail end. Not good, going to dead last in the first 20 seconds of a race. Not long after a rider went down hard in front of me in a turn, and I was barely able to avoid going down myself. I now had my work cut out for me. After the first couple of laps, I realized that I had some decent legs and I had the chance to make up lost ground. Half way through the race I caught one of my teammates Tim and asked him to help pull me up to the chase group that was currently holding a fourth place position with 6 guys in the group. Tim, shredded himself for me in an effort to help, knowing that he wasn't going to have anything left. When I went by on the climb, he was even kind enough to give me a big sling shot push. That's a loyal teammate. Thanks Tim.
I finally caught the chase group at the top of the gravel road climb and needed to sit in for a bit after such a hard effort to get back on. Unfortunately, this was about the time, that they started to attack eachother and the pace picked up fast, and I started to see a distance forming. I continued to chase and picked off a couple of more guys by the end to get a 10th place for the day. I was content considering the start lap for sure. Congrats to one of my team leaders Todd Morse Tucker for snagging 3rd today in our race just losing out on a 3 man sprint for the win.
With the True North O.S.V. in tow, Kristi cooked us some spaghetti in the galley, and we took our time leaving the race course. I even got the chance to mount all of the sweet new bike mount trays that Northwood Mfg, and Thule just sent us. Thanks Lance, they showed up on Friday. You are a magic man. The bikes were loaded onto the roof, and we headed to Federal Way.
We stopped in at South King Fire & Rescue 62's firehouse. I got some brothers who work at this house, and to say, Kristi, Holden, and I were treated with top hospitality. We got a shower and tour and a good safe spot to park the truck/trailer and sleep for the night. In the morning we will be headed to Beverly Park in Seattle for Seattle Cyclo-cross Series #2 (SCX). I look forward to letting you know how the race goes. For now, I'm gonna get some sleep in here with the family. Thanks for reading

Mid week Training

Yesterday was a good high intensity day of training. I drove out to Sedro Woolley to ride the "Woolley Cross" race course at the park just outside of town. A great race was put on out there last year around the delapitated dairy farm (it has to be haunted with ghost cows) and now the entire area has been turned into a beautiful park.
What was also cool, is that the parks department (or someone) actually has the 'cross course mowed and marked! Holy cow, that's cool! I started off with a couple of laps just warming up to get the muscles going. After that I began to hit it harder and harder every lap for one hour, with the last 30 minutes at full race pace. With "Woolley Cross" being so bumpy and dragging because of all of the boggy turf, you are forced to push a big gear just to not get beat up. Though this hurts, it's great for lactic acid threshold building. A couple of great run ups, and a long false flat made for one heck of a workout. I felt good and was finding good rythm, and it started getting me fired up as a David Lee Roth was yelling into my ears to "Jump"! Last year I really enjoyed this course and venue, and now I'm really looking forward to racing here again this year on November 22nd. I want to do well here and I think I can on this course. I will be putting some focus on this race.

Thanks for reading.

Northwood Manufacturing Tour

Though this tour took place back in early August, I just found the pics and would like to share our trip to LaGrande, Oregon where the True North line of Outdoor Support Vehicles our made. Our tour was greeted by Lance and Rich who are instramental in designing, engineering, and promoting this new unit. Everyone we met at the factory was great and we were made to feel like we were becoming part of a family. We were able to take part in a photo shoot with the first purchaser of one of the units, and check out the original "prototype" that Lance himself tested out with his family over the last year or so. This was a great trip for us, and we really appreciated the hospitality that Northwood MFG displayed to us. I can say, that its really nice to see a business, a group of people, and the individuals that we have worked with; Lance and Rich, really put their money where their mouth is!

Thanks guys.

M.F.G. #3/Starbucks Grand Prix

What a day!

Sunday was filled with so many good things and great weather that it will be tough to make a long story short. We woke up Sunday morning in a Fred Meyers parking lot sleeping in our new True North O.S.V. following a late night wedding in Seattle on Saturday night. We made our way to Lake Samammish State Park and set up for the 3rd round of the MFG Cyclo-cross series. We got a good spot to set up the new O.S.V. and right away had numerous people come check it out to feed their curiosity. We had lots of interest and gave out numerous brochures and business cards. Sumner RV has stepped up to be our regional True North support team, and it will be easy to send people their way for their great customer service that we have witnessed first hand.

It was a great surprise to see my in-laws show up unexpectedly. They decided to come over to watch the race from Wenatchee as a suprise. They are our biggest fans, and we love having them at the races. The course was absolutely beautiful in one of the best 'cross venues we have ever been to. Though the course was flat, it was filled with high speed tight turns, lots of roots in the trees, putting green quality grass, and the biggest sand pit section we have ever seen. I would guess that the sand section was nearly 100 yards long running the length of the beach. Ouch!

I lined up on the front row, and got a perfect start. I got the hole shot and led the field for the opening of the lap. Half way through the lap, the top contenders began to come through, including one of my team leaders, Todd Morse Tucker. The course was lined with great fans and spectators and the head to head racing was superb. During the race I was able to work with another teammate to work over a couple of riders to our advantage. The sand section was faster to shoulder and run than attempt to ride and we had to complete that section no less than 10 times during the race. Brutal, but soooo cool! At the end, I was able to outsprint the guy in front of me on the home stretch to end up in 12th. Not exactly a top result, but definitely getting better compared to last week at Evergreen and I felt pretty good and smooth the entire race. There was one intance though, when I hugged tight to a tree and hit my right forearm and shoulder pretty hard knocking me out of my flow for a bit. I can say, that I'm feeling that tree today in my shoulder for sure! What a fun fast course.

Congrats also to Kristi for working hard for a 2nd place in the Elite Women's race, my teammate Todd for getting a well deserved 3rd place, and our son Holden having a good fun race in the junior field. I have to say, that the highlight of our day, was being able to work out of our True North O.S.V.. The tunes were bumping, the coffee, rice, and pasta was cooking, and it was nice having a place to change, and just chill out inside for a moment after the race to collect our thoughts. What a great addition to our race season. Our next race will be next Saturday in Steilacoom, and then Beverly Park (Seattle) on Sunday. For now, I'm gonna finish this cup of Jo, and head out for a crisp October morning spin, to loosen things up and begin to prepare for the "Double Weekend".

Talk to you soon!

True North S.U.V.

We are excited to announce that we will be receiving our True North "Freelance" S.U.V. by Northwood Mfg. on Saturday (10/3). We will be picking up our unit from Sumner R.V. and our happy to be working with that dealership as a partnership for our race season.

Having this unit will be a big advantage on race days to support our family with some outdoor comfort needs to support our cyclo-cross campaign. We will be spending Saturday night in the trailer sleeping at the race site and waking up ready to race.

Stay tuned for an update of pics and thoughts on our first weekend using our True North trailer. Holden will even be posting his thoughts here from the perspective of an 8 year old.

Talk to you soon!