So today I had the fortunate opportunity to ride with no time constraints. My wife took the kids down to the grandparents in the bay area for a few days during Spring Break. After I got them all packed up and sent them on their way, I ate some lunch then saddled up for a nice long ride. It's mostly the same route that I've done before but with a bit more climbing on some new roads that I've never been on before. The weather looked kinda sketchy, but the roads were dry. It was colder for late March due to the storms passing through. I put on more clothes than necessary, including my wind jacket, but I'm glad I did. As I got up into the hills of Auburn, the temperature really dropped. I was constantly zipping and unzipping my wind jacket and jersey all day to regulate my temp. In the end it all worked out great. I think what I need it one of those ultralight compact rain shells that you can stuff in a jersey pocket. Then if it does start to rain, you can pull it out and put it on.
Overall a great route. Not sure I'll ride on the new roads again. Joeger Rd, Dry Creek Rd and Bowman Rd all have a decent amount of traffic on them. Also I notice that riding during the week there just seems to be a lot more cars on the road in general. Guess that makes sense, and why we most often ride early on the weekends when most people are still in bed or at church.
Let me just say that riding almost 60 miles by yourself it a lot harder that riding 60 miles in a group. There is no hiding from the wind and there is no drafting. By about mile 50, my legs were cooked. I just shut it down at that point and tried to spin my way home.
Now I've had a nice hot shower, a recovery drink, and a super carne asada burrito from Rudy's. Life is good. I will sleep well tonight!
Below is my Garmin Connect map and details from the ride. I was a bit irritated with my Garmin Edge 500 today. As I got to the top of Baxter Grade I tried to hit the lap button to mark a lap so that I could later see how fast (or slow..) I just did the climb. The unit wasn't responding and seemed to have just crashed. I pulled over and after pushing a few buttons at the same time it rebooted and started working again. Looks like there is a firmware update that I need to install, so I hope that fixes it.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Bikes That Go Nowhere
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
2010 Madera Stage Race
This was my first ever multi-day event. I wasn't sure how my body would react to multiple days of racing, well 2 days if you want to be exact. I drove down to Madera early on Saturday morning and quickly noticed that the north wind was ramping up. As I drove further south into the central valley of California the winds only seemed to get stronger. Any flags I saw were blown straight out and were whipping violently in the wind. I knew some major suffering on the bike was to be had today.
My first event, the criterium, my least favorite, was scheduled for just after 11AM. I arrived with plenty of time, found my team mates, and set up my trainer to get warmed up. After a nice warm up I was very nervous, but ready to get the racing under way. Of course, as typically happens, the races were running about 20-30 minutes behind. So we just continued our warm ups by cruising around the north end of the course, trying to stay loose and warm. Finally the race was under way. This was a basic 4 corner crit, and the speeds started out pretty quickly in the 24-27 mph range. On the north and east sections of the course we experienced nice tail winds on wide open streets with good pavement. As we hit the south end of the course you turn into a nice cross head wind, and positioning was key. I decided to stay on the outside for the first few laps. Good protection from the wind, but bad position in that people kept swinging wide and pushing me out into the edge of the course where there was a line of orange cones. Some people hit the cones, and one went flying right into my path. Luckily it was laying sideways and I was able to roll right over it without incident. I shudder to think what would have happened if I hit the bottom (base) of the cone... Any ways, back to the action. I was feeling good and able to hang with the pace without any problems at all. This was a first for me. As I'm usually gasping for air at the back of the pack struggling to maintain contact. I even managed to find myself riding at the front of the pack, which is where you want to be anyways. Well not right on the front, but in the top 10. The finishing stretch of the course was a dead on into a 15-20mph headwind. As you made the last corner, position was key on the right side of the course. After a few laps I found myself feeling strong and took a wide line on the outside of one corner and just kept the gas on. Soon I found myself out in front of the pack. Nobody chased me, so I just kept going. I probably had a 5-10 second gap, and knew I would just get got so I started soft pedaling and was absorbed back into the pack. I sat in for a while and recovered, then did it again on the 2nd to last lap. This was my big mistake. I should have just continued to sit in but work my way up to the front. I rode the lap out front but when I hit the wind my solo attack was over. I managed to hang onto it across the start / finish line going into the final lap. As the pack swarmed me I couldn't quite hang on as they were ramping up the speed on the final lap. I did my best to catch back on, but ended up about 30 seconds behind coming into the finish. My team was all over the race, multiple attacks off the front and covered any breaks that tried to get away. We ended up with a 3rd and 7th and everyone else finished in the pack. Ok, first goal accomplished. Finished the crit, didn't crash and felt pretty good. After the race we rode the trainers for about 15 minutest to cool down and slammed the mandatory recovery drink.
Next up in the afternoon was the individual time trial. 10 miles on dead flat roads, as fast as you can go. But first it was off to get a sandwich and then to the hotel to relax for a bit. We had about 3 hours in between events which was just enough time for some stretching, bike maintenance and relaxing. Since I don't have a TT bike (yet..:-) I was on my standard road bike. I didn't even bother to get clip on aero bars. I'd tried them a couple years before and just found them too uncomfortable. You really need to dial in a position (adjust seat, handlebars, etc.) in order to be comfortable in aero bars or a TT bike for that matter. For this race though, I'd just decided to ride in the drops and do my best to keep a steady pace and not to explode. Did I mention the wind? Most of our start times for the TT were after 3PM, so we got the full on maximum effect. First 5 miles were mostly tail wind with a slight cross push. I was easily rolling along at 27-30 mph. These were farm roads, so while mostly smooth, there were some serious potholes that had to be avoided. It required intense concentration to look for the potholes, and pick a smooth line. As I made the 2nd to last turn into the wind it was a head cross wind from the right. Then the pain really set in. I went from 27-30 mph, down to barely able to maintain 17mph. The final right turn on to the finishing stretch was a dead on block headwind and my speed dropped even lower. At times I noticed it in the sub-16 range. Oh and thanks to some excellent information from team mates who rode the course earlier, the actual distance was 10.44 miles instead of 10.0 miles. So knowing that there was that extra .44 miles really helped pace out the effort in the end. I finished below 30 minutes for the 10.44 miles, and knew I'd lose considerable time here to everyone and their tricked out TT bikes, aero helmets and skin suits. Just as a reference the fastest pro rider clocked in a 20:39 - smokin!
After the TT we rushed back to the hotel for a quick shower then headed down to a nice Italian restaurant for a team dinner. Loaded up on pasta, lasagna and salad, and even had a couple of beers too! Great time but we were all pretty darn tired. Sleep was not an issue that night. It was a pretty funny sight though. 4 guys in one hotel room along with 7, yes 7 bikes!
For the 51 mile road race we had the plan to try and protect Matt's 2nd place overall GC position. We rode at the front to cover and breaks and basically just hovered around Matt for the first two laps. A couple of riders attempted to get away but they never got more than about 40-50 seconds and were swallowed up on the hills of the 2nd lap. There was a 2.5 mile section of road that was some of the roughest pavement I had ever seen. It was so rough water bottles were getting ejected left and right. Even heard stories of Powertap head units and Garmin 705s being popped off on the rough roads. On the final lap Team Bicycles Plus went to the front and drilled it through the rough section. Then we hit the hills and the attacks started. We were able to cover everything and Matt got the win and also secured the overall GC for the weekend. Mike scored a nice 3rd place in the road race as well.
For my first time at the Madera Stage Race I think I did pretty well. But most importantly I had a blast racing with my team mates. One thing is clear, the TT is a very critical stage of the race. This is where you win it or lose it.
Photo Links
Final GC Results
USA Cycling Results
I'm in this video in a few places, you'll have to watch to find out where! I think around 19:50 or something like that. Nothing too exciting, maybe just the last few minutes of the race. It's a good perspective of what it's like to be in a road race though!
My first event, the criterium, my least favorite, was scheduled for just after 11AM. I arrived with plenty of time, found my team mates, and set up my trainer to get warmed up. After a nice warm up I was very nervous, but ready to get the racing under way. Of course, as typically happens, the races were running about 20-30 minutes behind. So we just continued our warm ups by cruising around the north end of the course, trying to stay loose and warm. Finally the race was under way. This was a basic 4 corner crit, and the speeds started out pretty quickly in the 24-27 mph range. On the north and east sections of the course we experienced nice tail winds on wide open streets with good pavement. As we hit the south end of the course you turn into a nice cross head wind, and positioning was key. I decided to stay on the outside for the first few laps. Good protection from the wind, but bad position in that people kept swinging wide and pushing me out into the edge of the course where there was a line of orange cones. Some people hit the cones, and one went flying right into my path. Luckily it was laying sideways and I was able to roll right over it without incident. I shudder to think what would have happened if I hit the bottom (base) of the cone... Any ways, back to the action. I was feeling good and able to hang with the pace without any problems at all. This was a first for me. As I'm usually gasping for air at the back of the pack struggling to maintain contact. I even managed to find myself riding at the front of the pack, which is where you want to be anyways. Well not right on the front, but in the top 10. The finishing stretch of the course was a dead on into a 15-20mph headwind. As you made the last corner, position was key on the right side of the course. After a few laps I found myself feeling strong and took a wide line on the outside of one corner and just kept the gas on. Soon I found myself out in front of the pack. Nobody chased me, so I just kept going. I probably had a 5-10 second gap, and knew I would just get got so I started soft pedaling and was absorbed back into the pack. I sat in for a while and recovered, then did it again on the 2nd to last lap. This was my big mistake. I should have just continued to sit in but work my way up to the front. I rode the lap out front but when I hit the wind my solo attack was over. I managed to hang onto it across the start / finish line going into the final lap. As the pack swarmed me I couldn't quite hang on as they were ramping up the speed on the final lap. I did my best to catch back on, but ended up about 30 seconds behind coming into the finish. My team was all over the race, multiple attacks off the front and covered any breaks that tried to get away. We ended up with a 3rd and 7th and everyone else finished in the pack. Ok, first goal accomplished. Finished the crit, didn't crash and felt pretty good. After the race we rode the trainers for about 15 minutest to cool down and slammed the mandatory recovery drink.
Next up in the afternoon was the individual time trial. 10 miles on dead flat roads, as fast as you can go. But first it was off to get a sandwich and then to the hotel to relax for a bit. We had about 3 hours in between events which was just enough time for some stretching, bike maintenance and relaxing. Since I don't have a TT bike (yet..:-) I was on my standard road bike. I didn't even bother to get clip on aero bars. I'd tried them a couple years before and just found them too uncomfortable. You really need to dial in a position (adjust seat, handlebars, etc.) in order to be comfortable in aero bars or a TT bike for that matter. For this race though, I'd just decided to ride in the drops and do my best to keep a steady pace and not to explode. Did I mention the wind? Most of our start times for the TT were after 3PM, so we got the full on maximum effect. First 5 miles were mostly tail wind with a slight cross push. I was easily rolling along at 27-30 mph. These were farm roads, so while mostly smooth, there were some serious potholes that had to be avoided. It required intense concentration to look for the potholes, and pick a smooth line. As I made the 2nd to last turn into the wind it was a head cross wind from the right. Then the pain really set in. I went from 27-30 mph, down to barely able to maintain 17mph. The final right turn on to the finishing stretch was a dead on block headwind and my speed dropped even lower. At times I noticed it in the sub-16 range. Oh and thanks to some excellent information from team mates who rode the course earlier, the actual distance was 10.44 miles instead of 10.0 miles. So knowing that there was that extra .44 miles really helped pace out the effort in the end. I finished below 30 minutes for the 10.44 miles, and knew I'd lose considerable time here to everyone and their tricked out TT bikes, aero helmets and skin suits. Just as a reference the fastest pro rider clocked in a 20:39 - smokin!
After the TT we rushed back to the hotel for a quick shower then headed down to a nice Italian restaurant for a team dinner. Loaded up on pasta, lasagna and salad, and even had a couple of beers too! Great time but we were all pretty darn tired. Sleep was not an issue that night. It was a pretty funny sight though. 4 guys in one hotel room along with 7, yes 7 bikes!
For the 51 mile road race we had the plan to try and protect Matt's 2nd place overall GC position. We rode at the front to cover and breaks and basically just hovered around Matt for the first two laps. A couple of riders attempted to get away but they never got more than about 40-50 seconds and were swallowed up on the hills of the 2nd lap. There was a 2.5 mile section of road that was some of the roughest pavement I had ever seen. It was so rough water bottles were getting ejected left and right. Even heard stories of Powertap head units and Garmin 705s being popped off on the rough roads. On the final lap Team Bicycles Plus went to the front and drilled it through the rough section. Then we hit the hills and the attacks started. We were able to cover everything and Matt got the win and also secured the overall GC for the weekend. Mike scored a nice 3rd place in the road race as well.
For my first time at the Madera Stage Race I think I did pretty well. But most importantly I had a blast racing with my team mates. One thing is clear, the TT is a very critical stage of the race. This is where you win it or lose it.
Photo Links
Final GC Results
USA Cycling Results
I'm in this video in a few places, you'll have to watch to find out where! I think around 19:50 or something like that. Nothing too exciting, maybe just the last few minutes of the race. It's a good perspective of what it's like to be in a road race though!
2010 Madera Stage Race - Daulton Road Race - 35+ 4/5 last lap from Steven Woo on Vimeo.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Ten Bucks Off Sea Otter Classic Registration!
$10 Off SOC Registration Thanks to BikeRadar.com | (Sea Otter Classic - April 15-18, 2010)BikeRadar.com is proud to offer, for a limited time, a $10 discount off your Sea Otter registration. Follow these instructions for great savings:
Reactions to Lance Armstrong's Conversation with Tony Kornheiser
In the wake of Tony Kornheiser statements the other day about running down cyclists on the road, the internets lit up like wildfire and the de facto king of all Cycling, Lance Armstrong, took up the fight. I just listened to the interview on Kornheiser's radio show.
I may try to get a transcript of the whole call but from what I heard, Kornheiser doesn't really seem sorry for what he said, he seemed much sorrier about getting called out for it and had no idea of the kind of firestorm his stupid ass comments would bring down on him.
I may try to get a transcript of the whole call but from what I heard, Kornheiser doesn't really seem sorry for what he said, he seemed much sorrier about getting called out for it and had no idea of the kind of firestorm his stupid ass comments would bring down on him.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
10 (or More) Reasons Bicycles are Better Than Cars
Riffing off The Kneeslider's recent post, 10 Reasons Motorcycles are Better Than Cars, I thought I'd put together a quick list of some of the reasons why bikes beat cars.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Site Redesign
So I got a wild hair tonight and wanted to see what the new template designer could do with NorCal Bikers and did a quick site redesign. Believe it or not, going from the old site to this new one took less than 15 minutes and a good chunk of that was playing around with settings.
I'd like the background image of the mountain biker to be more prominent but I'm interested to hear what folks think. What works, what doesn't work, what needs a tweak to make it better?
The other new feature I'm planning on making more use of is the Read More to let Jay and I post long posts but to not utterly dominate the home page with them. I like a quick loading page and I'm sure others do too.
Anyway, let's hear the good, the bad, the WTFugly!
I'd like the background image of the mountain biker to be more prominent but I'm interested to hear what folks think. What works, what doesn't work, what needs a tweak to make it better?
The other new feature I'm planning on making more use of is the Read More to let Jay and I post long posts but to not utterly dominate the home page with them. I like a quick loading page and I'm sure others do too.
Anyway, let's hear the good, the bad, the WTFugly!
Monday, March 15, 2010
If You Ain't Crashing, You Ain't Pushing The Envelope
I come from a school of thought that crashing is instructive. If you aren't pushing skills to the edge and occasionally over then perhaps you need to step it up some and push a little harder. Conversely, if you are crashing hard every time you get out on the trails then you should perhaps dial it back a couple of notches.Oh yeah, this crashing is good mentality doesn't really apply on the road. Crashing on the road generally means very bad things. And usually a road crash isn't even the cyclist's fault, its usually some impatient cager who passes dangerously and clips the cyclist or an asleep behind the wheel sheriff's deputy or someone making an illegal turn in front of you.
Can you guess that I'm not much of a fan of road riding? Too many factors are out of my hands on the road, too many hurtling loonies rushing around without regard for others, too many I've-had-a-bad-day assholes. Nope, I'm a trail rider.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Possible Future Bikes?
Custom Bicycle Concepts: 10 Amazing Bikes of the Future bills itself as a list of ten possible directions bicycle design may go in the future. Well, no. Several of these are already available now and several others (notably the hubless styles) aren't really practical in the real world though they do look bitchin' in a design program, that's for sure. Why are hubless wheels impractical? Here, read the Wikipedia entry. Basically, they look cool but are expensive as hell to make and would require lots of maintenance to keep in good working order and don't really provide any huge advantage over regular hubbed wheels (yes, they can be more aerodynamic but they can also have a way higher rolling resistance which would negate the aero savings).
Sacramento CX Season Wrap Up
Well the 2009 Sacramento CycloCross Series wrapped up on January 16th and I'm already looking forward to next year. I've been meaning to write-up a short post for a while now but just haven't had the time.
I completed 4 out of 5 total races and finished up 13th overall out of 100+ Men's C racers. Not too bad for my first full season of cross. Next year I'll race in the 35+ B group. This will be good for a number of reasons. One, I won't have to get up so early as these races are usually just after noon. And two it will be easier for me to bring Lex to the races so he can do the kids races held at noon. He had a total blast on the Granite Bay course ripping through the sand and mud. And the third reason will be to race in my age group and not worry about 18 year old kids blowing me out of the water. The competition won't be easy, but at least it should be more balanced for me.
I completed 4 out of 5 total races and finished up 13th overall out of 100+ Men's C racers. Not too bad for my first full season of cross. Next year I'll race in the 35+ B group. This will be good for a number of reasons. One, I won't have to get up so early as these races are usually just after noon. And two it will be easier for me to bring Lex to the races so he can do the kids races held at noon. He had a total blast on the Granite Bay course ripping through the sand and mud. And the third reason will be to race in my age group and not worry about 18 year old kids blowing me out of the water. The competition won't be easy, but at least it should be more balanced for me.
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