Positive Mental......Altitude.

MLK day MTB ride. I've been up Mt. Diablo on road a zillion times allready but i'm still learning my way around the VAST network of dirt trails up there. Yesterday I had ridden up the road to the mid-way point on the climb to scout out some stuff. I ended up bombing down this ridgeline that i'd been down once before. Crazy micro-climates out here. Leaving the house it was brisk and super foggy. Climbed up through the fog and eventually pop out into clear blue sky as far as you could see. The layer of fog obscurred everything below about 1800 feet. The temperature also changed like a light switch. The fog is actually really cold. Bombing down the ridgeline eventually dropped me back into it so the extra cloths went back on that were shed on the way up. To today I got the idea to climb to the summit and back down on dirt. I climbed up the ridgeline that I had descended yesterday. Brisk and foggy again and perfect sticky trails. The ridgeline road gets more than a bit steep for extended periods so it took some effort. Once again I popped out into clear blue sky around 1/2 up the mountain. I ended up climbing the rest of the way up on the road. Mostly hiking only single track on the upper 1/2. The summit showed the fog layer below extending as far I could see in every direction. I rode back down the road a few miles and found a fire road heading off the north. This thing was amazing as it rolled along with a single-track trail cutting across it and zigzagging down the mountain. Having never been down this thing before, I kept it pretty mellow and enjoyed the amazing views. Cooked the rear disk brake once but a quick stop to take a few pics took care of things. I've never seen a fireroad this steep. The bulldozer that cut it obviously just slid down the hill with it's blade down. Just like yesterday, I descended back to the ice-cold fog so the jacket went on. Popped out on the road and descended the rest of the way on pavement. I passed numerous other dirt roads on the way down heading off in different directions so there's much more to see. Felt great to get a couple good days on the mtb with lots of everything and seeing some stuff for the first time. Legs felt good considering how brutal Saturdays group ride was. I've down the Hop ride (house of pain) twice before. Once in the late summer when it was just rediculously fast and another time a few weeks ago when it was pretty mello but I was way out of shape so it hurt just the same. Felt better this time around and stayed in the front. After the normal couple hour loop down the Livermore and back to Danville, the group heading up to Diablo Junction (the 1/2 point on the mountain) from the south side. With the group still 50 strong, I started at the front just to stay in some clean air. The pace started a mello which is NOT what they normally do. I can't kick on the lower slopes of this climb so I have to keep it steady. I went up the first 1/2 mile or so when I hear this creaking bike coming up behind me. I assumed it was just the first guy in the group, with the rest of the group behind him. It was Garmin Cervelo's Kirk Carlsen. He's been staying in town and lighting things up on the group rides lately. The group was still a bit further back with only a couple other guys trying to bridge up. I figured i'd just hang on as long as possible then put it into survival mode. I amazed myself with some excellent climbing form and managed to stay with him all the way to the junctions, 5miles and 2000 vertical feet. It got really tough a few times and definately got me up the climb quick. The next guys were minutes back and most of the group came in 5mins later so I know we put in a solid effort.

Sacramento Cyclocross

Race number 2 in the books. Over the last 6 years, i'd usually have about 20 races in by this time, but i'll consider 2 an accomplishment this year and it's all just preparation for next year. Serious rain over the last few days and the half the course was in standing water. The other half of the course was the problem. Super sticky mud a foot deep in spots was impossible to ride through and just a hard to run through. Each step seemed suction-cupped into it. The weather forecast kept a lot of people away so the fields were smaller but still quality guys. There were 14 starters in my Men A 35+ group. There was a tricky off-camber ride-up about 1/4 mile into the lap so I got a good start in 2nd and made a pass into the lead so I had a clean shot and riding it. After that I just settle in and tried to stay on the front as long as I could. That was short lived as we hit the first soggy swamp field crossing. I went left and about 5 guys passed on the obviously-better right side. I was riding good technically but still don't have much fitness to slug it out with the faster guys. I've never raced this heavy and that seemed to make me sink into stuff that other guys were floating through. It started to sprinkle in the closing laps and I was hoping it would rain. Some sections of the course were super sticky and thick and that would of at least helped out. The rest of the course was standing water or really thin soupy mud so it wouldn't have mattered. With about 2 laps to go, Jeremy Ferguson (Cal Giant Strawberries) came by me. I tried to follow briefly but that was pointless. He floated thought stuff that I could barely pedal through. Next to come by me was newly-crowned National Champ Don Myrah. Ya, local races here are a much different deal. Cody Kaiser (Cal Giant Strawberries) was also there but didn't race, probably not wanted to get thrashed before heading over to contest the Xmas week races at Euro Camp. Fun race and a solid effort. I was competative on the sections of the course that were fast but not in the slow thick stuff.

Weekend in Orange County

Headed down to Orange County to visit Kristine's sister and her family. After a 6:30am flight out of Oakland, an aborted "look see" landing at John Wayne Airport, and a diversion to Vegas, we eventually made it back to Orange County. Had fun with the kids, did dinner at Dana Point and stayed for the parade of lights. Quick trip and back late Sunday night.

Thanksgiving in Tehachapi

Kristine and I back up the 2 dogs and headed down to Tehachapi over Thanksgiving to visit my family. Tehachapi is right at the southern most end of the Sierra's and even though it's not necessarily "at altitude" it's still high enough to get some tough riding in. Got in a couple 2-3 hr rides. Had fun seeing the family. Weather was nice till the day we left, when some snow and freezing rain came in. I don't need to ride in that crap. Rode out to Stallion Springs to see the Woodward West facility. It was closed but still got a good look at the facilites and the lodging area. Pretty amazing place with tons of cool jumps, ramps, etc.

First 'Cross race of the year

My 'cross season finally got going today, albeit a couple months late. It was part of the Sacramento CX Series, held at the Lange Twins Winery in Lodi. I've only ridden the cross bike a handfull of times and zero structured work outs like I have typically done getting ready for the season. It rained most of Friday night and then again pretty good last night. I figured the course today would be completely under water but it wasn't too bad. Preriding the course, it was still soupy mud but it was drying out in spots, which made it worse. The Open Men A group went off with my Men A 35+ group 30 seconds later, and a Men A 45+group after that. The start was at the bottom of the finishing climb with a tricky concrete descent into a hard left turn before hitting a tight 180 right turn. It was super narrow entering here so I got as good of a start as my legs would allow and hit the dirt in the top 3. The course wound around a bit with some greasy turns, a 3 step run-up, a greasy ride-up, and a bunch of off-camber muddy grass. straights. I was hoping to leave the "spirals of doom" back in KC but sure enough, they had one here, albeit really huge, on a sloping hill, and all soggy muddy grass. This thing got tough in the closing laps. I prerode this whole thing in the big ring but by the time our race got going, it was just getting super sticky and the ruts were wheel sucking deep. I managed to come through 2nd after lap 1 but that was short lived. I got by most guys just riding the greasy sections better, but would get out horse-powered on other sections. After 3 or 4 laps I was still in the top 5 and only about 100 meters behind those guys, but the legs were heading south and the course turning into glue was brutal. Most of the closing laps were ridden in some small gears just trying to keep some momentum. Kelly Benefits's Alex Candalario won the Open A group and came by me with 2 to go. Nice chops on that guy and he looked pretty smooth. Not sure what place I ended up, top 1/2 of the field at least anyway.