La Florida

Florida makes me smile.  There's fried shrimp while looking at the St. John's River, sandhill cranes in the back yard, the Tuesday-Thursday ride in Gainesville, and family.

Here is the final standings for the UTCX Masters 45+:

The Eagle Has Landed

We are on the ground in Florida.  I'm home.  I know because I sat under a red maple this morning in my sister's back yard.  I looked up at the fall's lingering colors.  I listened to a cardinal, a mocking bird, and a blue jay.  The temperature is nearly 50 and the humidity is thick.  It's all so familiar, ingrained, and infused.  I have to get back here on a full time basis.  This afternoon I may even get to ride after we get to the lake house.  I want to see the trees, the sand hill cranes, and the lakes.  I want to breath it all in to my soul.

A Sign

I was cleaning up my computer a little this afternoon, deleting a bunch of files, and came across this:

For a moment or two, I felt a bit of remorse.  Or nostalgia, perhaps.  And then it went away.  Now, I'm going to put it in the trash can and empty the trash can.  Done.  Never again, that's a promise.

What Did The Course Look Like?

It looked like this, but of course, I was going much much faster.  This video is from the Men's C race.  Thanks, Matt.


Utah Cyclcocross, race no. 11 from matt bradley on Vimeo.

Podium

Podium Today!

I saved my best for last at today's final UTCX race.  I bit the bullet.  I let it all fly.  On the first lap I got over my usual mental hurdle and kept up with the top five guys.  They had a gap, but I closed it.  Normally, I let them ride away as I settle into my own controlled pace.  Not today.  On the first climb I went hard and moved up a few spots.  On the second lap I hit the first and second climbs hard again and moved into second place, right in front of Daren C., the series points leader, Dr. Cross, this year's 45+ Utah State Champion, and Tim B.  Tim's brother Steve was off the front.  Then, I went too fast into an off-camber down-hill pavement-to-grass turn, hitting the ground so hard that I lost my breath and all feeling in my left arm.  Daren, the Doctor, and Tim went right around me and had a gap as I remounted and started pedaling.  I chased hard, attacked the hills like a fixed gear freak, battled all three guys (Daren especially) and moved back into second place by the third lap.  For the next three laps, there I stayed.  I saw Steve at one point, moving to within about 20 seconds, but he went hard and held a good gap for the rest of the race.  I finished second, about 25 seconds in front of Tim.

So, my fixed gear cyclocross season is over.  I will probably finish fifth in the points race with only seven races (your best eight races count).  I am pretty happy with my efforts.  On Tuesday, I'm going home.  I'm looking forward to long rides with warm feet and no snow on the ground.  I can't wait to paddle a black water stream, or to sit in some enchanted north Florida forest and listen to the voices of familiar trees.

Last Chance

I just had to get in some time on the bicycle today.  At noon it was 10 degrees.  So, I waited until 2pm when it warmed up to 13 degrees.  The sun was out and I did  2 cold laps and 4 hot laps at the fairgrounds.

Saturday is the last UTCX race of the season, here:

And, it's double points.  Like a fool, yesterday I signed up for the 45+ race and the singlespeed race.  I'll be on the fixed gear for both.  Time to bite the bullet.  Time to let it all fly.  Here is the weather forecast.  True cold, wet, soaked to the bone cross weather.

Back On The Horse

I finally got back on the bike yesterday.  Paul V. and I rode to the top of Sardine Summit, at about 6,000 feet in elevation.  It was my first long ride in many months and I bonked hard on the way home.

Saturday is the last UTCX race.  I could move up if I do well.  But, you can't do well when you stop training for 8 days.

The Long Drive

I made it back to Utah last night.  Like the drive north, the roads over the mountains were packed with blowing snow and ice, but I survived.  Yesterday was a 17 hour day.  Today, my training schedule resumes.  You know, the hard-assed racer-dude set-in-stone training schedule, that today calls for tempo and three sets of stair step intervals.  Realistically, I might at least stand up and walk the dog at some point.  I've been off the bike since last Saturday.  No need to rush things.

Robert Hamlin, The Fixed Gear Cyclocross Freak, Cracks The Top Ten!

Montana Bound

I am headed out today for the Big Sky.  Looks like that sky will be full of clouds and snow.  I have over 30 cameras to check, two to remove, and two to install.  I should be back by Thursday.  It looks like another week with no training.

Race Report

I finished 5th in today's race.  Not so good, considering last week.  I did not have that mental edge today.  On the first lap I watched 1st - 4th ride away.  Then, I missed a turn.  Dumb.  So, I stayed in fifth all day.  But, it's all good.  Even with a perfect race, I think I would only have moved up one place.

I Know That Dude!

And, at 1:07, you get to see my famous fixed gear cyclocross dismount.

Air Today, Lung Disease Tomorrow

Training

The guy that refuses to put a bicycle on a trainer and spin like a caged squirrel while staring at the wall, has a hard time staying in shape during cyclocross season.  That person is me.  I'm just not going to do it.  So, it's time to go for a ride.  I've not been on the bike since my podium finish on Saturday.  There's over a foot of snow on the ground, and yesterday morning it was -8 degrees F.  Here is a picture:

Race Report

As predicted:  goose grease, snow, cold as could be, a really good start, ice bike skills, at the front of the race, and, podium.

Could Be

Tomorrow is Race #9 in the Utah Cyclocross Series.  I will be there on the start line at 10:30 in the morning, with plans to move up on the Points Chart.

I just hope there is a bunch of snow on the course, frozen solid, well packed, and slippery as goose grease.  Goose grease, you say?  Perhaps you've never stepped in goose grease. 

If there is snow on the ground, and I have good legs, and I can still see the top three riders after two laps, I could be on the podium.  Could be.  Could be.  No, I have not been on the bike for any real training in two weeks.  But, when a cyclocross course turns to snow, it really does not matter who has the most horses under the hood.  And, suddenly the guy on the fixed gear cyclocross bike is no longer at a huge disadvantage.  If I ride smooth, put my bike handling skills to full use, get a good start, and just keep turning my pedals over, I could be there.  Could be.  On snow, smooth can be faster than raw power.

Let Me Explain

My last post sounds very sarcastic.  It is.  Rather than edit it, let me just give a quick explanation.

I'm all for free market enterprise.  I owned a retail and service business for five years.  If you want to produce a product and sell it or provide a service, great.  Go right ahead.  If you produce a product or provide a service that has a direct effect on health or the environment (again, the air we breath, the water we drink, and the functioning ecosystems and their species on which all life depends), I think government should regulate you.  History has repeatedly shown that you will not regulate yourself.

Our Lungs

Here it comes.  When PM2.5 gets to 35 ug/cubic meter, just hold your breath.  That is the National Standard.  Look here, http://airnow.gov,  if you want to learn more.  This is just another "Big Government" program website to interfere in your life and take away your personal liberties.  You know, just like all those other "Big Government" programs that pretend to protect your health, the environment, the air, rare species, the food we eat, the drugs we take, and the water we drink, but in reality only just make rules that cause honest business people big hassles.  So, if you just don't give a damn, keep your car idling at all times.  Please.

Cold Turkey

Right now, as I type this, it is -15 degrees outside with ice fog.  Cache Valley is famous for ice fog.  The following definition is from NOAA:

Ice Fog

(Also called ice-crystal fog, frozen fog, frost fog, frost flakes, air hoar, rime fog, pogonip.) A type of fog, composed of suspended particles of ice; partly ice crystals 20 to 100 micron in diameter, but chiefly (especially when dense) ice particles about 12–20 micron in diameter, formed by direct freezing of supercooled water droplets with little growth directly from the vapor. It occurs at very low temperatures, and usually in clear, calm weather in high latitudes.


Pogonip.  Now there's a term you just don't use everyday.

Cache Valley is also famous for another reason.  Our air becomes stratified in the winter.  These inversions set up for days, often giving us some of the worst air quality in the country.  Small particulate matter (PM2.5) values get very high and the air turns a brownish yellow.  Today the values are low.  Tomorrow they will be getting into the Moderate range.

My training plan, which is written in stone and religiously followed, calls for a two hour gravel road (snow covered) ride today, with a good warm up, an hour of just-below-tempo (about 75%), and three sets of telephone pole intervals for good measure.  What's a telephone pole interval?  I start at a pole and go hard (95%) until I pass the next telephone pole.  I spin easy and recover until the next pole, then go hard again for a distance of two poles, then spin for two poles.  Then, go for three poles and recover for three poles.  That is one set.  It's my easy way of doing the old Eddie B. short stair-step intervals.  It is very important for cyclocross.  Long intervals don't help me.  People who say they do 5-10 minute intervals are really only doing tempo intervals.  Who can go 95-100% for 5-10 minutes?  Not me.  But I'm real good for 50 seconds.

At -15 degrees, an outdoor bicycle ride is out of the question.  My toes and fingers would freeze within 20 minutes.  It just can't be done.  But, right now, looking out my big front window as I type this, there is a person running up the hill.