Lazy!!!

As the summer wears on bike racing is becoming less and less appealing to me. This usually happens to me each season, but this season it has been worse, probably because I started racing earlier in the season and did a lot more racing. At this point I am feeling less than enthusiastic to ride my bike and my thoughts are starting to turn to Lander starting school, getting ready to move, tele skiing and starting my winter training.

This weekend our friend Phil from Utah was here to do the annual Pedal the Pinchot ride. This ride is awesome and somehow we forgot to take our camera, so no proof that we actually did it. I will say, that there are some spectacular views of the blast zone on the Southeast side of St. Helens on this ride. If you ever have the chance to do this ride, I highly recommend it. Lots of climbing, but you know what that means, lots of fun descending!

I was digging through iPhoto the other day and found some pictures from Utah that I missed. These are from our favorite ride, the Alpine Loop. Fun ride, 12 mile climb, nasty technical descent on the other side, oh so much fun!

Climbing

Still climbing

Seriously, enough with the climbing already!

Are we there yet?

Phil, Bryan and I at the top of the Loop, finally! We are smiling because we
get to go downhill for a very, very long time.

Me on the descent

A large avalanche debris field, I was the only one that thought this was cool

Here are some more picture of Lander, I think he spent more time in the pond than anywhere else.

Lander hiding behind the waterfall

Lander floating

Lander and his new swim goggles

Lander playing in the waterfall

Le Tour=Le Disappointment

This is ridiculous! I think I will just stick to reading Harry Potter at this point, it's much more interesting than all the blah, blah about so and so getting kicked out. What a bunch of LOSERS!

Six Day-Day Six

Today was the last day of the Six Day. Andrea and I have had so much fun and learned a ton about Madison racing. The best part was we were given "style" points for our matching hair ribbons each day. They made us race so much better. Andrea was so fun to race with. I look forward to many more Madison races with her. Our "B" group was so supportive of us coming out there and learning the Madison as we went. Thanks to everyone for your help and for your encouragement as we fumbled through the week.

The racing today began at 3:00, with some one day racing taking place between our races. The extra break was nice, but with some rain delays we ended up being at the track until 7:00 p.m.. Our first lap was an unknown distance. The roll the dice to determine laps and you don't know how many laps you are doing until they ring the bell for the final lap. Meg rolled off the front on the first lap and we got the bell on that lap. Everyone tried as hard as they could to catch her, but she came a cross the line first. It was a short race, for me it was over before I even figured out what was going on.

Our second race was a Keirin. The only experience I have with a Keirin is this video I found on YouTube:


Okay, these guys have padding on. I knew our race wouldn't be like that, but I still had no idea what to do. I was in 4th position out of 5 while we were being paced by the motorbike. I knew that with Mike, Brian and Heather in front of me I really didn't have a chance so I just decided that rolling across in 4th was good enough for me. Andrea on the other hand had an awesome race and attacked on the final lap to take the win by several bike lengths. She is my hero.

Our Madison went awesome. We had some really solid exchanges and got our timing down pretty well. We did have a couple of botched exchanges and sometimes our timing got a little messed up when we had a sprint lap, but I was totally happy with how we finished. I think that Madison hurt the worst of all of them. My legs were definitely toast when we were done. Here are some pictures that Bryan took while we were racing:

Lander wishing me good luck before the unknown distance race

The Keirin

Me throwing Andrea in

Andrea giving me a super sling

Our B podium

Lander practicing for his future racing career

Six Day-Day Five

No sore legs today, thank goodness.

The weather has been threatening all week and today it finally caught up with us. The A's and B's got to do one mass start race each before it started to mist and Candi called the race. It's ironic how this week is historically the driest week of the year unless you schedule a track event that week.

We got to do a progressive points race, again, with a twist. It was 15 laps and Candi called it a "race for the mathematically challenged". And it was. Lap 1 was worth one point, 2 was two points, etc. etc.. When you got to 5 laps, the lap board went back to one and started counting up again for points. We did this 3 times, so you had to try to remember how many laps you had done. I tried to stay near the front and managed to get through the line first on one lap and then screwed myself over in the finish by going too high on the track in one corner and a bunch of people passed me. I tried to move up and wasn't sure if I should bother since I once again didn't know if the finish mattered or not (see, I really am clueless). Somehow I got 4th, what a miracle. I really need to figure out what I am doing.

B Race for the Mathmatically Challenged
1 Abers, Brian Team Rubicon 10
2 Murray, Mike Team Oregon 9
3 VanValkenburg, Heather Team Rubicon 8
4 Bihlmaier, Jeanie Specialized/River City Bicycles 7
5 Curl, Darien Team Rubicon 6
6 Charboneau, Emily 5
7 Hughes-Godfrey, Lynn Bike Central 4
8 Fisk, Andrea 3
9 Bjesse-Puffin, Amelia Bike Central 2
10 Mautner, Meg NoMad Sports Club 1


We are still 4th overall and totally happy with that. Most importantly, we are having fun and can't wait to do this next year.

Overall
1 Abers, Brian Team Rubicon 196 Bjesse-Puffin, Amelia Bike Central
2 Murray, Mike Team Oregon 167 Curl, Darien Team Rubicon
3 VanValkenburg, Heather Team Rubicon 102 -2 Charboneau
4 Fisk, Andrea 94 -6 Bihlmaier, Jeanie Specialized/RCB
5Mautner, Meg NoMad Sports Club 62 -14 Hughes-Godfrey, Lynn Bike Central

Six Day-Day Four

Tonight was pretty blah for me in the mass start races, but my awesome teammate kept the points rolling in. Andrea had a great 3rd place finish in the scratch race.

Scratch
1 Abers, Brian Team Rubicon 10
2 Murray, Mike Team Oregon 9
3 Fisk, Andrea 8
4 VanValkenburg, Heather Team Rubicon 7
5 Hughes-Godfrey, Lynn Bike Cental 6
6 Bjesse-Puffin, Amelia Bike Cental 5
7 Curl, Darien Team Rubicon 4
8 Bihlmaier, Jeanne Specialized/RCB 3
9 Charboneau, Emily 2
10 Mautner, Meg NoMad Sports Club 1

The progressive points race didn't go so well, but we were saving ourselves for the Madison.

Progressive Pts
1 Abers, Brian Team Rubicon 10
2 VanValkenburg, Heather Team Rubicon 9
3 Curl, Darien, Team Rubicon 8
4 Murray, Mike Team Oregon 7
5 Hughes-Godfrey, Lynn Bike Central 6
6 Bjesse-Puffin, Amecial Bike Central 5
7 Bihlmaier, Jeanne Specialized/RCB 4
8 Charboneau, Emily 3
9 Fisk, Andrea
10 Mautner, Meg NoMad Sports Club -1

Our Madison started off great with some interesting exchanges, but they were powerful enough to keep us with the 3 teams in front of us. It was awesome to be riding in a paceline than by yourself. There were some small gaps that opened during our exchanges, but nothing that we had a hard time closing. We were also going to listen for the bell laps and try to get some points. Our strategy was to keep the person that was on the track on for the spring instead of trying to exchange before the 200 meter line. We can't wing it good enough to do that yet. At one point we got in front of Heather and Emily and I was up with the Abers and Murray who were duking it out pretty hard. I knew I would stay there very long since we can't exchange as fast as they can. Then we had one really botched exchange and we are not quite sure how it happened. Heather and Emily passed us and we were in 4th, again. I will say we had some awesome exchanges and we can't hardly wait to race tomorrow to get to try it again. Once you have felt how it is to have everything go perfect you just can't wait to do it again.

Madison
1 Abers, Brian Team Rubicon 20 Bjesse-Puffin, Amelia Bike Central
2 Murray, mike Team Oregon 11 Curl, Darien Team Rubicon
3 VanValkenburg, Heather Team Rubicon 7 Charboneau, Emily
4 Bihlmaier, Jeannie Specialized/RCB 4 -2 Fisk, Andrea
5 Hughes-Godfrey, Lynn Bike Central 2 -3 Mautner, Meg NoMad Spots Club

Overall
1 Abers, Brian Team Rubicon 182 Bjesse-Puffin, Amelia Bike Central
2 Murray, Mike Team Oregon 153 Curl, Darien Team Rubicon
3 VanValkenburg, Heather Team Rubicon 93 -2 Charboneau
4 Fisk, Andrea 83 -6 Bihlmaier, Jeanne Specialized/RCB
5 Mautner, Meg NoMad Sports Club 55 -14 Hughes-Godfrey, Lynn Bike Central

Six Day-Day Three

Today my legs are doubly sore. It hurts to push on my quads with my fingers so a massage is out of the question. It also hurts to go up and down stairs so I relinquished myself to using the elevator at work a few times today. I feel so lazy.

Tonight went great for us. Andrea and I both survived through the Miss and Out and then we had a great race in the Tempo. We both got off the front with Emily and a on a few laps either one of us was taking points and on some laps both of us were taking points and we both had a strong finish. Going into the Madison we were leading in points, we were so excited.

B's Miss & out Pts Laps
1 Abers, Brian Team Rubicon 10
2 Murray, Mike Team Oregon 9
3 VanValkenburg, Heather Team Rubicon 8
4 Hughes-Godfrey, Lynn Bike Central 7
5 Curl, Darien Team Rubicon 6
6 Bihlmaier, Jeanne Specialized/River City Bicycles 5
7 Fisk, Andrea 4
8 Bjesse-Puffin, Amelia Bike Central 3
9 Charboneau, Emily 2
10 Mautner, Meg NoMad Sports Club 1

Tempo
1 Bihlmaier, Jeanne Specialized/River City Bicycles 10
2 Hughes-Godfrey, Lynn Bike Central 9
3 Curl, Darien Team Rubicon 8
4 Fisk, Andrea 7
5 Charboneau, Emily 6
6 Abers, Brian Team Rubicon 5
7 Bjesse-Puffin, Amelia Bike Central 4
8 Murray, Mike Team Oregon 3
9 VanValkenburg, Heather Team Rubicon 2
10 Mautner, Meg NoMad Sports Club 1 -1

The Madison went well, we kind of still were doing our own thing and not trying to stay with anyone in particular and stay out of the way. We had more successful exchanges so that equated to a good race to me. We are still sitting in 4th, but lost a couple more laps tonight. I thought that a good improvement over Monday because our Madison tonight was 30 minutes instead of 20 and we lost the same number of laps both nights. We must be slowly getting faster. Maybe tomorrow we will work on getting more points duing the sprints that occur every 5 minutes.

Madison 1 Abers, Brian Charboneau, Emily 30
2 Murray, Mike Curl, Darien 21
3 VanValkenburg, Heather Charboneau, Emily 7 -1
4 Bihlmaier, Jeanne Fisk, Andrea 4 -2
5 Mautner, Meg Hughes-Godfrey, Lynn 6 -4

Overall
1 Abers, Brian Bjesse-Puffin, Amelia 132
2 Murray, Mike Curl, Darien 114
3 VanValkenburg, Heather Charboneau, Emily 65 -2
4 Fisk, Andrea Bihlmaier, Jeanne 64 -4
5 Mautner, Meg Hughes-Godfrey, Lynn 40 -10

We are really close to Heather and Emily in points, if we could just get back a couple of laps in the mass start races we could duke it out with them for 3rd. That will never happen with Mike and Brian in our field, they are soooo strong. Can't wait for tomorrow.

Six Day-Day Two

My legs are so sore today. It must be the combination of a weird bike I have never ridden and using my muscles differently.

I had this great idea for Andrea and I to wear matching hair ribbons when we raced so I ran to the craft store to buy a different kind for each day. Steven said it was "so high school volleyball" but Andrea and I both agree that it makes a huge difference in our racing.

When I got to the track I was told that I have the Alpenrose record for getting the fastest warning in a race for my infraction 1.5 laps into the Madison last night. What can I say, I am an over-achiever.

Tonight we did a points race and point a lap race. I have no clue what to do, I don't even know how I got 3rd in the point a lap race. I am still learning about how some finish orders are important and when you need to get points during the race. At this point I just go hard when I feel good, that is my strategy.

B's Points Race Pts Laps
1 Abers, Brian Team Rubicon 10
2 Murray, Mike Team Oregon 9
3 Charboneau, Emily 8
4 VanValkenburg, Heather Team Rubicon 7
5 Curl, Darien Team Rubicon 6
6 Hughes-Godfrey, Lynn Bike Central 5
7 Bihlmaier, Jeanie Specialized/River City Bicycles 4
8 Fisk, Andrea 3
9 Bjesse-Puffin, Amelia Bike Central 2
10 Mautner, Meg NoMad Sports Club 1 -1

Point a Lap
1 Abers, Brian Team Rubicon 10
2 Murray, Mike Team Oregon 9
3 Bihlmaier, Jeanie Specialized/River City Bicycles 8
4 Charboneau, Emily 7
5 Curl, Darien Team Rubicon 6
6 VanValkenburg, Heather Team Rubicon 5
7 Hughes-Godfrey, Lynn Bike Central 4
8 Bjesse-Puffin, Amelia Bike Central 3
9 Fisk, Andrea 2
10 Mautner, Meg NoMad Sports Club 1 -1

The Madison was better, we did some exchanges, missed some exchanges and I really started to get a feel for how you do this race. The biggest breakthrough for me was when I realized that I could sit on Heather's wheel until she exchanged with Emily and then jump on Emily's wheel and benefit from the acceleration. This lasted until we botched an exchange but were riding strong when our race was cut short due to rain. We are still in 4th overall and 2 laps down.

Madison
1 Abers, Brian Charboneau, Emily 14
2 Murray, Mike Curl, Darien 11
3 VanValkenburg, Heather Charboneau, Emily 6
4 Bihlmaier, Jeanie Fisk, Andrea 2
5 Mautner, Meg Hughes-Godfrey, Lynn -2

Six Day-Day One

Tonight I got to the track and spent a good 30 minutes re-aquainting myself with a fixed gear and riding on the track itself. I have done one pursuit this year on the track, but you only have one other person on the track and you are not sprinting, so it's really no comparison for what I have gotten myself into. Tonights races included a Madison pursuit to seed the teams into the "A" group (really fast) and "B" group (everyone else and us). This would be our competition for the rest of the week. After that we would do a 20 minute Madison.

For the pursuit Andrea and I decided to just practice riding up to each other and maybe touching hands as a form of an exchange to get used to the idea of the timing needed for an exchange. We had to do 4 exchanges in the 3k race so to make it easy we decided to exchange every 2 laps of so. We also wanted to time our exchanges so that we could do them on the flatter sections of the track and not on the banking. I could already tell that this kind of race was going to require a lot of thought on my part and that was before all the rules I had to remember for the mass start Madison. The pursuit went well and when the A and B groups were sorted out we were third. I am sure we looked really pathetic, but we are learning.

B
1 Abers, Brian Bjesse-Puffin, Amelia 4:37.02
2 Murray, Mike Curl, Darien 4:40.30
3 Fisk, Andrea Bihlmaier, Jeanie 4:54.55
4 VanValkenburg, Heather Charboneau, Emily 4:55.14
5 Mautner, Meg Hughes-Godfrey, Lynn 5:08.56

The mass start Madison was worrying me. I had read the Madison rules on the OBRA site and looked over Madison diagrams that Mike Murray had posted, but none of it really made a lot of sense until I actually did the race. I did break one rule, about 1.5 laps into the race when I went under and exchange (big, big no no) and I was lucky that I didn't cause a wreck. I will never do that again. Andrea and I did great and rode within our comfort level coming in two laps down from the leaders.

Madison B
1 Abers, Brian Bjesse-Puffin, Amelia Even 21
2 Murray, Mike Curl, Darien Even 9
3 VanValkenburg, Heather Charboneau, Emily -1 3
4 Fisk, Andrea Bihlmaier, Jeanie -2 7
5 Mautner, Meg Hughes-Godfrey, Lynn -2 4

After the races Steven and Jimmy stayed and worked with us on exchanges and we practiced for a while with exchanges, timing, riding in a paceline and exchanging. I felt 100 times more comfortable when I left the track and was really excited for the Madison on Tuesday.

Alpenrose Six Day

I had the chance to race with Andrea Fisk at the Woodland crit yesterday and we started throwing around the idea of racing the Six Day at the velodrome. I didn't know much about the race, but it's pretty simple. You race as a team of two each night for six days. Each night you do two mass start races and a Madison. Each night you get points for each race and the points carry over so that the team with the most points at the end of the week wins. I have maybe done 4 mass start races on the track in my life. Kind of intimidating, but I figured I could just hang out and not get in any trouble and not do anything stupid, like cause a wreck. The Madison is a beautiful race. It's pretty simple. One teammate races for a lap and then you switch. The switch is the tricky part, you have to hand sling your teammate that is coming in up to speed to keep up with the rest of the racers. Here's an example:



Neither Andrea or I had ever attempted this. There is no rule that you have to throw your teammate, you can just ride up to them, match speed, and then have them take off. The problem is, the throw really gives them an advantage to keep up with the other teams. So, I have until tomorrow to figure out our game plan. I guess this could be called my induction into track racing, sounds more like a trial by fire.

Highlights of Utah

Our trip to Utah was a lot of fun. We did some mtn. biking, road biking and the highlight of the trip was our 4x4 escapade on the Hell's Revenge trail in Moab (more to come on that trip). We also got to hang out with the family a lot play with Lander at the ranch in Idaho and had a great July 4th BBQ courtesy of my awesome parents. Here's the proof:

Lander feeding a cow a hamburger bun, how ironic

Lander's favorite ranch find, a skunk tail

Baby birds at the ranch

Lander playing in the pond at my parents' house

Lander warming himself on a rock