MTB Marin

Left Alone in a Ditch

Yesterday morning (Fri 4/24/09) started out with a 6AM weekday road ride, a 2-hour loop from my house in Mill Valley, over Mt. Tam to Stinson, and then back via Hwy 1 along the coast. It's one of my favorite rides that provides stunning views and a good mix of ascents and descents. But this week it ended with the nightmare I've been dreading since I started road riding--a terrifying hit-and-run accident from which I miraculously managed to walk away.

Here's what happened. Heading south on Hwy 1 at around 7:30am, I entered the second of two blind curves (map) just before the climb to Slide Ranch. I heard an approaching car and suddenly found myself facing a Toyota pickup on the wrong side of the road headed directly at me.

I still can't believe I wasn't killed in a head-on collision. Everything happened so fast. I turned towards the shoulder and started to skid. I barely cleared the front bumper and then smacked into the side of the truck just ahead of the rear wheel. My bike went under the wheel but the impact flipped me up and over the back of the truck. Somehow I ended up face-down in the ditch on the inside of the curve pointing 180-degrees from my original direction.

I was in blinding pain and shock. I couldn't believe what had just happened. But it gets worse. I heard the truck stop and go into reverse. I looked up to see the truck backing up towards me. I could clearly see the tailgate and the reverse lights. I'm sure the driver could see my broken bike on the road and me writhing in pain in the ditch. Then the truck left. The driver who just hit me left me lying alone in a ditch.

In a few moments, despite the pain it dawned on me that nothing was broken. I got up and sat down by the side of the road. Fear turned to relief and then to anger. How could someone just leave a situation like this?! Thankfully, the next two cars to come by stopped and one of the drivers gave me a ride back to my house--thank you John! From there, I drove myself to the hospital. Amazingly, all I ended up with was a badly bruised leg and a sprained thumb.

I Need Your Help

I want to find the driver who hit me. I didn't get a license plate, but I got a clear look at the truck and the rear tailgate. This should be pretty easy. There aren't a lot of people on that section of Hwy 1 early in the morning--and someone driving it then is likely to be regular commuter who lives or works in west Marin.

Here's what we're looking for:

• 1980's Toyota light pickup
• Regular suspension (non 4x4)
• Oxidized red paint job
• White TOYOTA logo on the tailgate

If you have a tip to share, please contact CHP Officer Jackson (Badge 19170) at 415-924-1100.

Sea Otter Classic

I did my second race of the season over the weekend in Monterey at the Sea Otter Classic. I entered the Cross Country event, racing Cat 2.

I had heard from others that the Classic is a huge event, but I was still surprised at just how big it felt. The center of all the action is the Laguna Seca race track and there were thousands of people in attendance for the 3-day festival. The bike events include a wide range of downhill, slalom, road, and cross country.

My race was on Saturday, April 18 and was scheduled to start early in the morning. The fog was so thick at dawn that you couldn't see more than a couple hundred feet. As I started to warm up, big beads of moisture collected on my legs and helmet. It was cold enough that I thought I might have to ride with my warmup jacket. Luckily the race start was delayed by 30 minutes and that was enough time for the sun to burn off the fog, so we started in sunny conditions.

The start of the race was exciting. The first mile or so is on the Lagua Seca GP track and everyone's adrenaline was pumping. I paced myself to stay with the middle of the pack and felt great as we transitioned to fire roads to climb over the first ridge.

At the top of the first ridge, an off camber turn transitioned to singletrack. I got too aggressive and tried to pass two riders by diving to the inside of the turn. What I found there was a whole lot of loose gravel. My front wheel came unglued and it was clear I was going down. I ejected but caught my left leg in the bike frame and we did a few cartwheels together. I popped back up and managed to get back on, losing just two places in the process. 

The rest of the course was a great combination of singletrack ascents and descents connected by fire roads. The trickiest part of the course were the rutted sections and sandy descents. There were some beautiful sailing whoops that were pure fun. I took one additional tumble when my front tire got stuck in a rut and went down on my knee. The photo below was taken just after the fall.

 

The course ends with a 15 minute ascent alternately called "heartbreak hill" or "trail of tears" that tests the climbing ability of racers. There were a number of false crests that I'll know to look out for next year. There's nothing that can deflate you quite as much as seeing another hill after you've just pushed to get to what you thought was the top! Below is a photo of me just getting to the (real) top.

 

I finished just under 1:45, placing number 49 in a class of 101--so I'm right in the middle of Cat 2, which is where I wanted to be at this point in my training. I was really happy with my pacing. It's clear to move up I need to work on speed on flats and ascents. On to the next races! 

Napa Dirt Classic

I kicked the 2009 season off with my first race, the Napa Dirt Classic in Angwin. The race is in the same location as the Howell Mountain Challenge, where I had my first taste of racing last year.

For the Dirt, the course is laid out a little differently though some sections are the same. The course was 19 miles with some deadly-steep hike-a-bike sections and a very long, slow climb in the last third back up to the finish.

Overall, it was great to race again after training all winter. I finished in the middle of my race class, Category 2 (what they used to call Sport class). That's an improvement over the Challenge where I finished towards the bottom.

My sense from what I've been learning about racing and training is that getting into top race shape is a 3-year process. My goals for this year are to work on pacing and conditioning so that next year I can get myself into the top end of Cat 2.

The Dirt was also my first race with Summit Bicycles (team photo above). Recurrent Energy is a minor sponsor along with Fisher and Ellsworth. The team has two pros--Jim Hewett and Matt Chaney--who are inspiring to see in action. I'm easily the slowest on the team, so it's a great opportunity to learn. I'm really looking forward to the year ahead.

Post Rain Ride

San Francisco at dawn this morning from Cavallo Point.

 

Golden Gate just moments after

My New Madone!

I broke my mountain bike (a HiFi Plus 29er) over the weekend--the second time I've done it in a year. This time it looks like a bad weld on the chainstay led to a catastrophic failure. As you can see in the photo below, both chainstays eventually snapped. Luckily it happened at the very end of a 2 hr ride, literally as I was pulling into the parking lot less than 50 feet from my car. At least I didn't have a 3 mile hike out of the woods like last time!

 

The loss of my mountain bike threatened to seriously disrupt my winter training schedule. I've been riding 4-5 times a week and trying to get in at least 8-10 hours of  bike time. So, I did what any bike addict would do: I bought a new road bike.

I'm now the proud owner of a Trek Madone 4.5. It's a beautiful carbon fiber frame with good midrange components (Shimano 105 drivetrain with Bontrager Race wheels). It's the first road bike I've had since my 12-speed in high school.

I took the photo below this morning on a quick run through the Marin headlands, one of my favorite road loops I can do from the office.

 

2008 Fairfax Turkey Day Ride

I turned out for the annual Turkey Day ride in Fairfax on Thanksgiving this year. It looked to me like roughly 300-400 other riders did the same. It's a great tradition and I intend to do it every year now.

The ride starts in downtown Fairfax, goes up the Bolinas-Fairfax road and then turns onto the Pine Mountain loop trail, re-entering Fairfax at the end via the Repack trail.

There were a great mix of riders--some local pros, amateur racers like myself, and a bunch of weekend warriors. The competitive aspect was really toned down, though there was also plenty of fun to be had pushing it a bit. Overall, the camadarie was tremendous and enthusiasm for mountain biking was in the air. Pine Mountain is known as one of the original "birthplaces" of mountain biking, so there was a historic aspect to it as well.

Photo: Climbing into the clouds

 

Photo: Pancakes & Irish Coffee at Whitehill Rd.

 

Tamarancho DNF!

The Cal Cycling race at Tamarancho last Saturday went a lot better than my first race, even though I DNF'd. I race the sport class with a field of about 20 or so people. The race was 3 times around a 5-mile loop that combined classic Tamarancho single-track with some fire roads.

Almost Starting Time:
 

We started out with a quick sprint up a fire road to the beginning of the single-track. Starting from the back of the field, I found an opening around the right side and managed to get into about 8th position by the time it narrowed. The high-speed technical aspect of making the transition from road to single-track in a crowded group was a lot of fun.

In the first lap, I made several passes on the downhill section. I know the course well and have the single-track dialed. One pass I really enjoyed was in a switchback. I came in tight against the wheel of the guy in front of me and then slid through the inside, over the berm in the middle, while he went a little wide. Once I got my hip in front of him, he couldn't pass me and I just powered out of the exit.

My pacing was much better than last time, also probably because of my familiarity with the course. I had decided to just settle in and try to get a feel for the field rather than chasing the leaders. I managed to work my way past another 4 riders on both climbs and descents. I used to gels to keep fueled and started well hydrated. I was on the edge of cramps in the third lap but found ways to manage it with cadence.

About 2.5 miles from the finish I was in 3rd position and had been enjoying a duel with a younger single-speeder when I flatted and shredded my tire on a rocky section. There was no hope of repairing it, so I had to hike back to the start.

I'm now officially addicted to racing. It was a ton of fun, I really enjoyed the competitive aspect this time, and I'm happy with the progress I've made. Back to training...

Race: Tamarancho 11/8

Cal Cycling has opened up a collegiate race at Tamarancho in Fairfax to all entries. The race is scheduled for Nov 11:

• 10am Beg/Sport Women 2 laps, 10 miles

• 11:30am Beg/Sport Men (3 laps, 15 miles

It looks like registration is onsite. I'm planning to enter the sport class and see how it goes. I haven't been training for it but it's close to home and should be fun.

Downiville XC Course Review

I went up to Downieville over the weekend. The team I'm thinking about joining is focusing on the XC for next year's training schedule--so I thought I'd try it out to see what we're getting into. It was a great weekend. Fall colors were out in full force but the temps were in the 70's. For those who haven't ridden it before, here's my ride report and some photos/links:

The XC course (link to map) starts from Sierra City, which is about 12 miles up CA49 from Downieville at 4090ft MSL.

Sierra Buttes: View from Sierra City

Starting at Butte St you climb 2,400ft over roughly 8 miles to Blue Point. The climb is almost entirely on fire roads with a pretty consistent grade. I was able to climb in my mid-ring for the entire thing. It wasn't as hard as I thought it might be, but you definitely feel the altitude at the top.

Blue Point: Top of the First Climb

From Blue Point, it's another few miles of fire roads that rises another 500ft or so and dumps you out at Packer Saddle. This section is mostly hard spinning on gravel with a few short and fairly low-grade climbs.

From Packer Saddle, the course goes down Sunrise trail which I'm familiar with from doing the downhill course. Sunrise is single-track, mostly dirt and "sierra dust" with a few tight switches, small jumps, and bumps. It's over very fast--the one thing that struck me is that it's a lot different doing the downhill when your legs are feeling the burn from the climb.

Fire Road to the Top of Pauley Creek

At the bottom of Sunrise, it's back onto fire roads for another fairly fast spin to the top of Pauley Creek trail on the other side of the valley. Pauley Creek is the infamous "baby heads" section. Basically it's fairly steep jeep trail descent with big loose rocks. It would be great on a DH bike. It's a fun but shoulder-pounding challenge on my HiFi. Lots of opportunities to get hurt!

After a creek-crossing the trail joins Butcher and the rest is just the standard downhill course to the bridge, 5 minute climb up a couple hundred feet, then a fast descent on Third Divide, blast through First Divide, and before you know it you're in Downieville. It's a great ride and I'm looking fwd to the race now.

Humbled not Humiliated--More Racing Ahead

About halfway through my first race a couple weeks ago, I found myself pondering the question, "Is this a humiliating or a humbling experience?"

The distance wasn't bad, but I completely blew it on pacing.  From the start, I tried to keep up with the leaders in my age/skill class. I managed to hang for the first 10-mile loop and then I completely cratered. I spent the second loop nursing my way to the finish line through nausea, exhaustion, and full leg cramps. 

In terms of the competition, to put it simply: I suck. I finished 17th out of 18 in my class. There's slim comfort in the fact that there is one guy who sucks more. ;-) Bottom line, I had judged myself to be fast vs the weekend crowd, but it is clear I have a long way to go in racing. I will probably swallow my pride and register as a beginner in my next few races.

After thinking about it for a little while, there are three things I need to figure out to get better: (1) training, (2) race nutrition, and (3) race strategy. On training, it's clear I just need to be a lot stronger and a lot more aerobically fit. On nutrition, from what I have learned in talking to others the leg cramps are an electrolyte issue and the exhaustion can be managed with carbohydrate "fuel." And on strategy, I need to learn how to pace myself vs letting adrenaline push an unsustainable pursuit of the leaders.

What's really amazing to me is the range of performance that is possible when you get the mix right. I don't think I'm physiologically disadvantaged. Here's an eye-opening example. My friend Jim, who took 3rd in the pro class passed (er, lapped) me 2/3 of the way through my second lap...which was his 3rd lap. Back of the napkin algebra will tell you he was going 1.6x my pace (the pros started 15 minutes before my group, so he was probably closer to 1.5x). While Jim probably does have some genetic advantage that has enabled him to be a pro, I have to believe that 90% of the advantage is acquired or learned.

Another interesting thing was that going into the race I thought I'd be competitive in the climbs, but weak on the descents. The opposite turned out to be true. I kept up and even passed on the descents. It was the climbs where I felt like I was standing still.

So, here's how I answered my question. To be a humiliating experience, I'd really have to conclude that I had no business entering or ever racing again. But that's not how I feel. I'm determined to improve and explore what sort of progress I can make. I am definitely humbled however. I came into the race expecting to do well and learned instead that I have a long way to go.

My plan is to continue training through the fall/winter and see how I do in the spring races. I'm thinking of keeping myself motivated by signing up for Whiskeytown or Lake Sonoma in Sep and LaGrange in Weaverville in Oct. Sea Otter and Downieville XC are on the schedule for next year--and I'll look forward to next year's Howell Mountain Challenge as an opportunity to measure my progress.