Blogs by Professional Cyclists - Professional Cycling Unplugged™

This is a post I found on Transparent Racing’s website and thought that I’d share it here. I’ve found it really, really helpful and it worked when I tried it!
Check it out: http://transparentracing.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-install-tube-tires-on-tubeless.html

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Posted under MTB: ENDURANCE, MTB: GRAVITY, NON-BIKE

It was soooooooooooo hot today I can’t even describe it. Of the 135 or 140 riders that started, 102 finished without being pulled. Not to mention the 13 that didn’t even start.

The start was crazy. I got a good call up (guess spending time chasing UCI points in Santiago, Chile last winter paid off) but even so, the start was nuts. With 140 Pro Men all fighting for the front, I’m surprised that there wasn’t more carnage. At one point, shortly after passing the feed/tech zone (we were still on the paved race track) there was a fence jutting out into the course. Decker was in front of me and swerved through one of the holes in the fence to miss it, and I followed. Unfortunately, I think there may have been a person or two who did not notice the fence in time…

The first lap was brutal. It was the longer lap (19+ miles) and the sun was at its worst. I started too hard and it took me a while to realize that I needed to pull back, and by the time I did, I was beginning to bonk. At that point, I slowed down, rehydrated, threw down Hammer Gel and Hammer Endurolytes and as I came around for the 2nd lap started to feel better. I was able to make up a ton of time on the 2nd lap and passed somewhere around 10 racers. I took the climbs faster and harder than I did the first lap and almost began to enjoy myself (if it hadn’t been for the heat, I would have had a great time).

I finished the race in 2:26, in 37th place (6th of the U23s). I was hoping for a better result, but I think that my recent time at home in Taos, NM dealing with 30-degree temperatures and snow slowed me down a bit. One important thing I learned though is that it is possible to come out of a bonk. Just drink a ton of water and energy drink, get some calories, and replace your electrolytes…

Here’s a sum-up of what I just said (in video format):

Post-race thoughts

ENJOY!

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Posted under MTB: ENDURANCE, SEA OTTER CLASSIC

There was a huge Pro men’s field today. I’ve heard differing reports, but I think there were somewhere between 75 and 100 starters. Fortunately, I (accidentally) got a better-than-I-was-supposed-to call up because a friend of mine thought he heard my name and told me to go. This “good” call up put me about 3 rows from the front on the right side and I was able to start pretty well.

Unfortunately, the start was all that went especially well about the race. I felt decent. Not good, not bad, just decent. My legs hurt more than I would have liked, but my hand felt better than I thought it would (I’m healing from a hairline fracture of my 5th metacarpul from 3 weeks ago). I was able to pass a person per lap for the first couple of laps, but then my legs gave up and I got passed by a few people, which is how I ended up 25th.

The course wasn’t my favorite. The top was rough and long and it was almost impossible to pass. And the descent was grassy with 90 and 180-degree turns. Then there was the long (meaning longer than normal for a short track course) climb that had braking bumps so that you couldn’t get into any kind of rhythm. But I guess that’s what makes short track so fun (and hard)…

Overall, it was a successful day. I rode my bike, and I rode it hard. I’m hoping tomorrow goes better. Wish me luck!

Here’s a video of the start:

Sea Otter Pro Men\’s STXC start

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Posted under MTB: ENDURANCE, SEA OTTER CLASSIC

Last Friday (3 days ago) was my girlfriend, Victoria Henry, and my 2 year anniversary. Unfortunately, I forgot to mention this to my coach, so he scheduled me a 5 hour ride that day. And man, what a ride it was (go to the end of the post for pictures)…

First of all, I could tell that I really, really needed a rest week. I was scheduled for four (4) 20-minute steady state intervals (high zone 4), but I decided part-way through them that I was going to call them UNsteady state intervals due to my inability to keep my heart rate between 158 and 163 (where it was supposed to be). Good thing that was my last hard day before the wished-for rest week! Every interval started off too easy. I pushed myseld hard, but just couldn’t get my heart rate up for the first 3 minutes or so, and when I finally did, it kept dropping suddenly. Not exactly what I was hoping for. Here is my data from the ride:

Fortunately, when I got back from my ride, Victoria had a delicious breakfast sandwich waiting for me, which made the whole ride much, much better. 

In other news, I’ve been working hard on my winter tan lines, and I have to say that having a South American summer has really worked wonders. I’ve never been this tan in January! (Notice I even have a glove tan – that’s the weird spot on my hand).

And finally, I’m psyched because I’m getting daily massages for the first time in my life! Admittedly, Victoria is not a trained masseuse, but it sure is nice, and I think that it has loosened me up.

Here are the pictures from my ride. Thanks for reading.

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Posted under MTB: ENDURANCE

I’m looking for feedback and ideas from all of the readers of TwoWheelTales.com (and everyone else) on a couple of questions that I have giving quite a bit of thought to recently. If you have a second, please post your thoughts or answers in the comment section.

Here is a bit of background on how these questions came up:

I have recently started using the social networking site, Twitter (you can follow me here). For those of you who don’t know what Twitter is, it is basically a way to communicate with a huge number of people in a conversation-like way instantaneously (for a better explanation, please go here). There are quite a few Pro road racers on Twitter (Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie, Dave Zabriskie, and more), but so far there are very few mountain bike racers. This got me wondering why it is that road racing is so much more popular than mountain biking among the general public and what would help mountain biking become more popular. So here is some food for thought (as I mentioned, I would love feedback).

1. Why is road racing more popular among the general public than mountain bike racing? There are the obvious reasons of the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong’s numerous TdF wins, and the fact that it’s televised, but what are other things that cause the general public to follow/read about/care about road racing over mountain bike racing?

2. What would people like from mountain bike teams? A few ideas I had were: online data from training rides and races (GPS, heart rate, power, etc), training schedules, clinics, and group rides with the community. Do any of these sound like good ideas? What are other things?

Thanks for giving this a read-over. I look forward to the comments.

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Posted under MTB: ENDURANCE, NON-BIKE, ROAD BIKE