MAY 08 UPDATE

Sorry it has been so long! May has been a big month for me as an opportunity to prepare for more important events in June and beyond. After the Cohutta 100 mile MTB race in April, I realized that I needed to take things to a new level if I wanted to obtain my goal of winning this type of event. That meant getting back to the basics with some serious hours on the bike and some local races to sharpen me up.

The first weekend of May was the Spring Thaw Classic XC race in Ashland, Oregon. This is one of the first races I ever did, so I always enjoy returning. After winning the event last year maybe there was some other obligation, too! I was coming off a training block of over 60 hours in 12 days, so evidently I was still a little ‘touched’. None the less, I set the early pace on the climb before fading slightly to finish 3rd behind Ryan Trebon (Kona) and Chris Sheppard (Santa Cruz). With no less than five other pro riders in attendence, I was reasonably stoked with that effort!

The next day, the Tablerock road race happened just up the road. I tossed my hat in the ring, but I missed the early (and winning) break. It was fun taking turns with Trebon, Carl Decker (Giant), Jason Sager (Monovie-Cannondale) breaking some legs in the group, though. Also pretty cool to have Ryan tell me I was the strongest ever. In the end, I was able to finish 4th of the bunch and 9th overall. Not bad for a training ride…

The following week began Mt Hood Stage Cycling Classic. This is an NRC road stage race so lowly category 2 riders like me don’t get to race with the PROs. No big deal since it is more fun racing for money than pride on the road any day. I animated Stage One with an early (and unsuccessful) breakaway then got boxed in at the finish, but managed 9th on the day. Stage Two was a long individual time trial, a beautiful course in the Columbia River Gorge. I gave it everything I had, but found myself lacking in this displine. After losing a couple minutes and only finishing 14th I wished for more pride! The ‘Queen’ stage on Saturday had been truncated due to record snowpack still on the course. This meant it was shorter and was missing a significant early climb. Not so good for me, but still a hard mountain-top finish at the Mt Hood Meadows ski area. Some friends of mine from Eastern Washington (Vertical Earth) had the race lead, so I gave them a hand driving the group and bringing back some breakaways. At the end, we were still all together and I managed to stay at the front until about 400 meter to go. Again I got shagged by a blown rider and missed the wheels for the sprint finish. Still came across in 5th place a few seconds down on the day.

With the final stage a criterium in downtown Hood River, Oregon, there wasn’t much more to do. This didn’t seem like much fun so I skipped it and left my GC prize money (was in 6th place) to head for Bear Springs Trap for some mountain bike racing. BST is one of the better local races and includes a lot of ‘real’ mountain biking. Unfortunately, it too had been shorted due to snow pack this year and didn’t have the same feel. Needing more of a warm-up than standing around for an hour, I got in a wad of traffic at the start. Kind of funny how all the local semi-pros and experts still want a piece of you even though you could have a shower before they finish! Anyway, I sawed through the fodder and by the middle of the race I had caught the early leader, Erik Tonkin (Kona). Thinking I had my first ever BST victory in the bag, I promptly flatted and was back to 4th place. Chasing like a maniac again, I could only manage to settle for 2nd place on the day. Bitterness for sure!

More training and then the Oregon Rehearsal road race the following weekend. Rehearsal is an annual pre-race of the State Championship event. It generally carries Oregon Cup points and serves as the Championships for some other categores so attendance and competition is generally always good. I came to ride in support of my friend, Omer Kem (Bissell Pro Cycling), as he had won an early Cup event. After many fruitless efforts trying to get him off the front, I tried to bridge up to a break including Doug Ollerenshaw (Rock Racing) and Evan Elken (Jittery Joes). I got hung out to dry which was too bad since this ended up being the winning move. In the end I was able to grab 3rd in the bunch finish and 6th overall. Pretty tough course and with all the ‘real’ road guys in the house, over half the field didn’t even make the finish.

Last weekend was round two of the NUE 100 mile race series. This time we journeyed all the way to Ohio for some suffering. Of course it was dry and beautiful the day before the race, but the monsoons that seem to follow me this season moved in later that night leaving the course a mess. Did I ever mention that I hate riding in the rain? I set the early pace and grabbed a $100 prime for being first up the initial climb leaving town.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtbphotos.php?id=/photos/2008/may08/mohican100_08/DSCF1570_cash_winner4x5_tite

The race pretty much deteriorated for me from that point with a stick immediately wrecking my rear shifting. After a stop at the first aid station to improve that situation, I managed to chase across to the leaders with no less than three wipe-outs in the now slimey singletrack. Just as I made contact with the front, I became aware that I had a low rear tire. Hoping the sealer was working, I rode on and eventually stopped to fill it with CO2. Of course, this didn’t work and I was flat again in a couple miles. So, I stopped again to insert a tube and then off to aid station three where I stopped yet another time for more air to top-off the tire. After all of this, I chased for 30 miles until I was blowing my lid and managed NOT to catch anyone. The last 20 miles were spent spitting mud and lamenting. Another missed opportunity, but nice to know that after a busy May, my fitness is perfect and I was undoubtably the strongest rider there. Too bad my strength was spent for only 4th place overall! Read more about it here:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtb/?id=2008/may08/mohican100_08

This week there are no races so hopefully I can get some of my house hold duties taken care of. Then I am headed to Michigan for round three of the NUE series before racing a local road stage race and Oregon XC Championships. This it is the big show, July 4th Marathon National Championships in Colorado.

Thanks again and wish me better luck–I can use all the help I can right now!

Over, and thanks for reading!

EP