What a season (and it's still not over)

This past weekend I competed in my last criteriums for the year, The (CBR) Razor's Edge State Criterium Championships. Almost needless to say, I didn't win either race that I entered, but at the same time I didn't ride as complete pack fodder.

So far I've paid an entry fee and had a number pinned on my back 67 times (road races, criteriums, and road and track time trials). I will be racing in a few more road time trials before the year is over.

I had two (2) goals at the start of the season: (1) ride a 40 Km time trial in under an hour and (2) finish a weekend race in a winning breakaway (though not necessarily being first overall in the race). I accomplished goal number 1 pretty readily by finishing with an official time of 58 minutes and 30 seconds at the CBR (California Bicycle Racing) Individual Time Trial State Championships. The course for this race is the classic, Southern California, Avenue E route in Lancaster. It's a flat 20 Km out and 20 Km back. I would have been happy with 59 minutes and 59 seconds so my official time made me feel really good. However, just to keep me humble, my personal record was only good for 7th out of 12 competitors in the Masters Men 50-54 age group.

I did not accomplish goal number 2, though with the number of weekend races that I did, I had plenty of opportunity to make it happen. When I set this goal I didn't realize how much the complexion of Masters 50+ races would change because certain, nationally renowned riders would cross the 50 year-old age threshold. The end result was I tried, but I couldn't do it. My only saving grace was finishing in the points in a weekday race field sprint and field sprinting to a bronze one of the California Senior Games road races.

It's been a good year for bicycle racing and cycling, in general, for me.

A Crazy Team Time Trial

After failing once again to break the 25 MPH barrier in the Southern California/Nevada District Individual Time Trial Championships, I found myself on the starting line a week later with three teammates (Todd Barker, Greg Page, and Jeff Scanlon) for the Team Time Trial Championships -- 4-men 180+ (cumulative age of riders at least 180 years). It was a very strange race.

The team that started 1 minute ahead of us was led by one of my oldest racing buddies, Craig Jones. (There was a small amount of trash talking right before the start.) The team that was 1 minute behind us was one of the mighty Amgen Masters Team.

We got a nice clean start and we went a couple of hundred yards down the road where we see Craig's team pulled over on the side of the road. It turns out that one of his teammates on a bike with horizontal, track-style dropouts, had his wheel pull to the side -- more on this later. We didn't want to start too hot so we settled into a comfortable pace (for me) and wouldn't you know it, Craig's team comes barreling past us.

A little bit about the course. It is a rectangle with two 6 mile straights and two 2-1/2 mile straights. You start just out of turn 4, do a lap and then finish just before turn 1. You end up with about 23.1 miles.

Before we got to turn 1 (6 miles into the race) a couple more things occur: Jeff, who is usually pretty strong, is already missing turns and having trouble getting back in line and the Amgen team comes flying past us. For the less initiated, flying is faster than barreling.

We get around turn 1 and Jeff, who had ended up on my wheel at that point, completely fell off the back. I called out to the other two to wait and we kind of slowed down but it became obvious within a minute that he was not going to get back on so away we went.

So now we're in 3-man mode and wouldn't you know it, we're catching Craig's team. We get on to the long back straight and we pass them just before a small hill. We get over the hill and they pass us. I think we passed them again but they passed us back pretty quickly. The problem is while we were going at a pretty steady pace, one of their guys is hurting and another is also not so good so they kept going fast then slow. We decided to stay behind them until after turn 3.

The 2-1/2 miles between turns 3 and 4 was pretty eventful. Craig's team seems to recover a bit and they are staying comfortably ahead of us but a team that started 4 minutes behind us passes us and then another Amgen team (with Thurlows Rogers) comes by us in a blur. We get to turn 4 and come out of it pretty well and for some reason, Craig's team is really slow and we almost ride into them.

After that small bit of confusion we all get going with them still in front of us. Something happens to them again, they slow, and my teammate, Todd, swerves to avoid them. I'm second wheel and I just miss Todd. For some reason they pass us again and now I'm getting a little frustrated. It gets to my pull and I take a long and faster pull to get around them. Finally we've passed them for good.

Unfortunately, I'm medium rare at that point and I end up sitting out a pull so I don't blow completely. I take a pull and then sit out another. Fortunately, Greg and Todd take up my slack without too much trouble. From there we're good to go and ride pretty smoothly to the finish.

Oh, and that wheel pulling issue on Craig's team ended up not being completely resolved. They finished just a bit behind us and as we were jawing, we saw that the guy's rear wheel was slightly rubbing the frame again. The adjuster screw had pushed out of his generic, carbon frame.

I was hoping that we could go under 51 minutes since we had done a 51:13 for a 27.0 MPH average last year. Unfortunately we ended up with a 51:46 for 26.7 MPH. Last year we were 3rd out of 11 teams. This year we were 5th out of 7 and we were over 1-1/2 minutes behind 4th.

At least we had fun.

My Season To-Date

I guess I don't have to knock on wood any longer. For the past two winters, I've been able to train pretty effectively because I've been able to avoid the dreaded influenza virus. (Note that I get a free flu shot at work every year.) My "lucky" streak finally ended (even though I had flu-like symptoms last summer), when I came down with a strain of the flu while on a business trip in St. Louis in mid-February. At the time I felt fortunate that the symptoms did not involve any significant respiratory distress -- the thing that usually inhibits my riding long after I'm done with the flu.

Unfortunately, this variant of the flu really seemed to sap me all of the early season race fitness that I had built. Of the 14 mass start races that I've entered so far this year, I've failed to finish (DNF) in 5 of them. By comparison I finished 40 out of 45 races last year.

I was encouraged a bit last Tuesday when I was able to throw in a couple of attacks and still stay with the field (after I was caught). I thought that I might have reached a turning point. That optimism was short-lived as I DNF'ed 2 out of 3 races this past weekend.

So have there been any high points?

Well, despite the pretty mediocre results of this past weekend, I did participate in the first Long Beach Bicycle Grand Prix held in the heart of the city. It was a very cool race and I was able to stay and watch the pros in the last race of the day. Also, I ended up competing in 3 races all within a 24 hour period.

I take my small "victories" where I can.

Good Start to the 2009 Cycling Season

It didn't look like I was going to get in a good ride today as I woke up on New Year's Day to a very foggy morning. I don't like to ride in the fog because:

• It's more dangerous with people driving not being able to see you
• I can't see because the fog collects on my prescription glasses
• My bike gets dirty

However, it was New Year's Day and I didn't want to start the year sitting on my butt. So in my best attempt to HTFU, I headed out to meet my club. My intent was to ride 100 Km (62 miles) with a bit of climbing. I stayed with my club as we headed south for about 25 miles and then I continued further south to Laguna Beach. It was still cold (to me) and foggy.

I turned back north and headed up Newport Coast Drive to begin the real climbing for the day. About 1/3 of the way up Newport Coast the sun came out and I completed my climbs up Ridge Park Road (10% grade for a mile) and Spyglass Hill.

After getting back on to PCH and getting into Newport Beach, the fast guys from the annual New Year's Day "melee" ride caught me. I got on to the back of the ride and spent the next 10 miles going 25-30 MPH. I came off the back and rode the final 7 miles home at a saner pace. Regardless, I was happy that I was able to get through those 10 miles with a draft rather than battling the wind alone.

I ended up with 63.9 miles in 3 hours and 41 minutes (riding time) for an average speed of 17.3 MPH. I also managed to eek out 2,270 feet of climbing. All-in-all, a good way to start the year.

I Don't Think This Will Help Lance's Hill Climbing Ability

Through my favorite cycling internet forum, I found a link to a very good sports photographer, Elizabeth Kreutz. Apparently, Ms. Kreutz has access to Lance Armstrong and she has chronicled his return to professional cycling with a series of photographs. Go to her web site and check out photos 21 to 25 under Index => Lance's Comeback.

I don't think that all of that upper body strength is going to help get him up the Alps or Pyrenees.

Panning

I'm not talking about panning for gold either.

Often I see people on photography forums ask about how to shoot fast moving cars or bicycles. Their initial notion is to use a very fast shutter speed to capture the action. Unfortunately, there are few times when this is the best way to capture a racing car or bicycle. A fast shutter speed freezes everything in the photo and it looks like the subject is standing still -- not a great way to convey a sense of speed.

The technique called panning is a method for keeping the subject (car or cyclist) sharp while blurring the background and the wheels. In my opinion, it's the blurring of the wheels that creates as much of a sense of motion as having the background blurred.


Copyright 2008 © Cleaveran O. Law

Since I am such a great believer in re-use (not re-inventing the wheel), I'll refer you to a couple of web sites that have a good explanation of panning:

Panning In Motorsport Photography

Mastering Panning - Photographing Moving Subjects

The technique in the first link is closest to my own. A couple of points to emphasize from that article are Rotation and Release Point and Shutter Speed. It is very important to position your body so that you are facing where you want the subject when you release the shutter and you want to make sure that you follow through after you release the shutter. If your body is "twisted" at the shutter release point you run the risk of having vertical movement and camera blur on your photo. Also, when you start learning the technique, use a slightly higher shutter speed and work your way down. It can be very frustrating to get a lot of blurred shots your first time out when shooting too low a shutter speed.

One last point on shutter speed. I have seen numerous articles on panning that suggest shutter speeds as low as 1/15 sec with many suggesting 1/30 sec. Most of the photos that I see with those shutter speeds have great blurring of the background but I also see too much blurring of the subject. The might be a great way to create a speed effect but it's not a great way to capture the cyclist or car.

I'll leave you with one last panning shot with a slightly different perspective.


Copyright 2008 © Cleaveran O. Law

Racing in 2008

So as of the next to last weekend in August I'm pretty much done with mass start races for the year. Not much left on the calendar for me except for some time trials. Here are some of the pertinent stats for the year-to-date:

45 road races / criteriums / circuit races
2 of 45 were road races
20 of 45 were Tuesday evening series races (circuit)
Total of 952 miles
4 DNFs (3 too slow, 1 mechanical)
0 DFL
1-2nd place
1-3rd place
0 primes

7 time trials
Total of 99 miles
0 DNF
0 DFL
3-3rd place (including SoCal District Championship 180+ Team Time Trial)

The year could have gone better but it could also have been worse.

Stats courtesy of my Garmin 305 and SportTracks.

Heavy Medal

So this bicycle racing season has been one of ups and downs. Right now I'm on a big up. This past Saturday was the Southern California / Nevada Cycling Association (SCNCA) Team Time Trial District Championships in Palmdale (Lake Los Angeles). I rode it with three other Lightning Velo members, all of whom were over 40 years old. We were in the 180+ (total age) category and I was the oldest rider on our team. The punch line is, despite some problems on my part, we averaged 27 MPH for roughly 23 miles -- good enough for a bronze medal!

The most satisfying part of the race was that despite not training together as a team beforehand, we rode very smoothly as a team -- no close calls with respect to running into each other. Next on the satisfaction list was beating the 4th place team by 11 seconds. Their team leader is someone who I've known for a long time and we have a "friendly" rivalry that usually includes some smack talk (on his part).

A few days later, on Tuesday, I was at El Dorado Park in Long Beach for the California State Senior Olympics. First and second place in these events qualified you for the 2009 National Senior Games in Palo Alto.

First up was the 5K Individual Time Trial (ITT). I had never raced anything that short and I didn't have a good feel on how to meter my effort. In the end I went out too fast but I still ended up 3rd for my first medal of the games.

Later that day, I did the 40K road race on the standard "Eldo" course. There were 10 of us in the race, eight in the 50-54 age group and two in the 55-59 age group (which included my friend Craig). In my age group there were three members of La Grange, a Los Angeles team, and three members from Peninsula Velo, an northern California team. Things were not looking good.

The race pace at the start was tepid at best. I tried once to speed things up with no luck. My next attempt to get some response from the pack was met with an inadvertently large gap. As I sat up waiting for them to reel me in, my friend Craig and a Peninsula Velo guy came up to me and when they caught me we still had a reasonable gap. So with about 17 miles to go in the race, we put our heads down and stayed away for the rest of the race. We almost lapped the field.

Bell lap and I had second wheel coming out of the last corner which was still about 500 meters from the finish. I decided to try to open a gap on the slight uphill and try to hold it to the finish. Unfortunately, that didn't work and I ended up with 2nd.

So today, Wednesday, started with a 10K ITT. I had high hopes but my legs were too tired from the previous day so I couldn't quite hold a 25 MPH average. I don't know my exact placing but I suspect that it was another bronze. Note that per my computer, the course was short by about 0.3 miles.

The road race was supposed to be 20K but it was also shortened by about 2 miles. We were the last race of the day and the wind had come up (more on the wind later). I had decided to stay with the pack which consisted of 11 50-54 year old racers and 3 55-59 year olds. A half lap into the race a La Grange and a Peninsula Velo racer moved off the front never to be seen again. I know that I could have hooked up with them but I thought that I shouldn't be too greedy with the qualifying spots. The race was the slowest that I've ridden in years. I pulled a whole lap a 22-23 MPH just to get a bit of a workout.

Coming out of the last corner I was last, but I noticed that the guy who had won the previous day was now sprinting off the front of the group going after the bronze. I thought, "hey that's being kind of greedy," so I took off on the left side and fortunately everyone else was single file on the right blocking the wind. I went flying off the front of the group, worked it a bit to catch the guy, sat on his wheel for 20 meters, and then sprinted around him for the bronze.

All in all a pretty good couple of days of racing -- a silver and two bronzes (and maybe another silver or bronze).

[Update: I ended up with a silver in the 50-54 40K road race and bronzes in the 50-54 20K road race, the 5K time trial, and the 10K time trial. Next stop is Palo Alto in 2009.)

From the Back of the Pack: 2008 Mark Reynolds San Luis Rey Road Classic

The short story is I finished for the first time in my last several attempts at this race and I stayed in the peloton longer than I have over the same period of time. Though this doesn't sound like much progress, at my age you have to savor any progress that you make.

I really didn't start the race in a good frame of mind. I've been worrying about getting dropped quickly -- especially after last week's debacle race at Devils Punchbowl. My teammate and I stayed at my parents' house in Murrieta on Saturday night and we got to the start not-so-bright but early at about 6:15 AM. Got ready, warmed up a little, and waited with 65 other riders for the start.

I felt OK on the initial climb up to Old Highway 395. Going over the top I faded to the back but I didn't have a problems on the descent or being right in the peloton after the hard right-hand turn at the bottom of the hill. I was conserving energy on the back side of the course and the we made the very hard right on to climbing section back to the start / finish. I felt pretty good until we got to the 1 Km to the finish sign. I started coming off the back but I was hoping that the pack would slow a bit approaching the steeper climb. I was maybe 50 meters off the back when we crossed start / finish but once we got to the steeper climb I was history.

I stayed within myself back up to Old Highway 395 and just as I got to the top another racer caught me. Cutting to the chase, we ended up working together for the duration of the race. I dropped him (not intentionally as we were finishing the race -- 4 laps) but as we were approaching the finish I realized that he was charging up next to me. We sprinted to the line for next-to-last (56th) and last place. I beat him by inches.

So two weeks in a row with next-to-last finishes (of those who finished). However, after comparing my Garmin data to last year this year is a marked improvements. I take my small victories where I can.

From the Back of the Pack: Some Mediocre Racing

My bicycle racing season started off pretty well and I felt that my training was going reasonably well. However, after a month of vacation and business travel, my most recent races have not gone well. Most recently I competed in the Devil's Punchbowl Road Race (Masters Men 50+) on Saturday, April 26th, and the El Dorado Tuesday Twilight Training Series last night.

Now I'll preface my lack of results at Devils Punchbowl by saying that after competing in two races at the Torrance Criterium on Sunday, April 20th, I did not ride at all until I got on my bike to warm up for the race. This was because of my Boston business trip. After my warm up I felt like I could have a good race. Unfortunately this was not the case. I got dropped on the first climb on the first lap! I was with a couple of other guys over the top of the climb and I worked with them on the big descent. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay with them on the false flat. I ended up finishing alone and was classified 31st out of 32 finishers. I am guessing that about 50 guys started the race.

I had a good (not great) training ride on Sunday and I was hoping for better things at Eldo on Tuesday. Well things didn't go as hoped. I attacked once on the lap leading up to the second prime and for the first time in ages I couldn't get back into the peloton when I got caught. I ended up sitting out a lap and then finished the race sitting at the back. Definitely not satisfying.

I'll see how things go on Sunday at the Mark Reynolds Memorial San Luis Rey Road Race. I'll then decide on whether or not to race the district road championships in Bakersfield. I hate to think this, but I'm not optimistic.

Racing with the Old Guys

So here's my race report. This was my first massed start race since last August's Manhattan Beach GP. It was also my first 50+ crit. Anyway I was more nervous than usual and when the race started I realized the I was in the small ring and had a bit of trouble clipping in and shifting to the big ring (nerves?). So I ended up at the back of the pack and fortunately the first lap wasn't too fast. Got settled in and started to try to move up and realized that the back half of the pack was pretty squirrelly. I guess there were a lot of Cat. 5 guys out there. Watched several near crashes. So I was trying to stay on good wheels just to stay safe when we got to 3 to go. Saw someone starting to move up on the left and I jumped on his wheel just as he decided to jump back into the pack. Since I had some momentum I kept going and fortunately, there was someone going on the right. I jumped on his wheel and we caught the 4 guys who were already up the road. Unfortunately, the pack was right on us when we hit the front straight. I got back into the pack and watched the finish since I don't do criterium field sprints.

Managed to stay warm between races and lined up on for the 40+ 1/2/3 race. This race was much faster and I was content to hang at the back and get a workout. Was feeling good for the first 30 minutes but when 5 to go came up I was just hanging on. After getting 4 to go, I was behind this guy who opened a gap and by the time I got around him I was off on the back straight. Saw 3 to go and decided to drop out. Maybe that was a good thing.

Regarding the motorcycle incident, this is what I heard. The was a crash near the exit of turn 2 with 2 to go. A motorcycle cop stopped at the accident and had his bike sticking out in the lane -- apparently to protect the fallen rider. Well with one to go, here comes the pack and a couple of riders ended up creaming the motorcycle. I ended up riding by becuase I didn't see my buddy ride by after the finish and I thought he might have been involved. One guy, who apparently hit the motorcycle was face down on the grass and pretty beat up. He was conscious and talking.

So that was my day. 40 miles total at 26 MPH.

Sub-Freezing Time Trial

The unusually cold temperatures that have caused severe crop damage in California also greeted me and two of my Lightning Velo teammates at the Tom's Farm Time Trial in Corona, CA, on January 14th. Jim Brashear, Pat Baker, and I arrived at the parking lot for registration to find that any moisture on the ground was ice. Jim's vehicle showed a balmy 29 degrees F on its thermometer.

After registering, setting up the bikes, and warming up (to a degree) we made our way to the start line only to find that a water main had broken on an adjacent hillside flooding the road just past the planned start. Officials moved the start down the road but we still had to cross the muddy stream on the road.

I'll just report on my personal result. I wasn't last. :) I was at the end of a string of riders who were within a minute of each other and I was 2 minutes slower than the second place rider. I won't talk about first place.

I wasn't totally disappointed since I was still not 100% health-wise and I hadn't done any time trial training since the summer. Now I have less than 9 months to achieve my goal of a sub 1-hour, 40 Km time trial before I turn 50.

BTW, this was my first race as a 50+ Master.

Speed at the Beach (Photoblog Post #3)

The longest running bicycle race in southern California is the Manhattan Beach Gran Prix. Warm sunshine and cool ocean breezes make this one of the best attended races (racers and spectators) in the United States.

This year the racers behaved themselves better as the grinding of metal, carbon fiber, and bodies on asphalt was kept to a minimum. No one was able to break away in any of the races so the lycra-clad gladiators (and gladiatresses?) jockeyed for position in the last 300 meters between turn 4 and the finish line.

The big race of the day, the professional men, came down to who could lay down the most wattage after 1-1/2 hours at 30 MPH. Toyota United ruled the day.