JULY RACE REPORT

July was one of my busiest months ever. I raced at least twice a week throughout the month and had some great experiences! Here is my report:

USAC Marathon National Championships July 4th
The trip got started perfectly with an early arival into Denver. From here on, lets just say the debacle began. First it was Hertz–never rent a car from Hertz in Denver unless you like waiting for an hour in line only to find out they screwed up your reservation. Got the car just in time for rush hour which morphed into holiday weekend traffic jam to the mountains. 4 hours later we getting close and stop at the hotel to check in. Evidently, Holiday Inn has the same forgetful computer system so some time later we get our room which involves many flights of stairs and hallways to get to (we got the room in the old building with no elevator). Back through the maze and driving to registration then to the store for some dinner fixings. Stores are sold out–completely–must be a holiday! Needless to say, dinner at 11pm is not ‘normal’ preparation. Get two winks of sleep then to the race start. Nice parade start and I am already sucking 10000ft wind. Then some bonehead decides to stack-up the group on the pavement. Close call, but nice adrenaline rush! Shortly I am getting dropped on the climb. Probably my worst race performance of the season–great, perfect timing. I pass a few guys then proceed to get a face full of Stan’s Solution as my front tire gets cut by a rock on a granny gear climb. Change the tube and now I am expecting at least a 10 minute deficit at the lap point. Instead, I am in the race lead?! No, way. So I ride a half a lap easy and finally see Dave Weins and some other guy behind me. I stop and adjust my derailleur and wait to talk to them. They can’t believe it either but all evidence shows we are the last men standing. I take off again and spend the next 10 miles convincing myself that I am going to be National Champion after having my worst race of the year. Now I am in the last single track riding super slow and conservative, and I hear a rider behind me. Uh, oh. So I get on the gas and POW–blow the rear tire in less than 10 yards. Bishop passes me then 200 yards to go, the other guy passes me. Third place… seems more like it!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtb.php?id=mtb/2008/jul08/firecracker08

http://www.velonews.com/article/79312/jeremiah-bishop-and-sari-anderson-win-national-marathon

Cascade Classic July 11-13th
Here to finally get my CAT1 upgrade so I was racing the CAT 2 race with over 100 other crazed roadies. Nice–and dangerous! Anyway, I didn’t do so hot in the opening day TT or Crit but managed to take 6th in the mountain stage finishing at Mt Bachelor. Seemed more like a mole-hill stage after all the NUE races but I managed a decent result. Saved my stuff all day in the circuit race but got jammed up on the run in to the finish so no sprinting and no placing. Mission accomplished, though. I now have my CAT 1 license and cat race NRC events again!

Breckenridge 100 July 19th
Remember the rental car fiasco? Well, it all played out again confirming that Hertz is not my choice in Denver. Better trip and got to bed at a reasonable time with my standard pre-race meal. 6:30am start was definitely brisk in the rockies… but shivering soon gave way to gasping as we climbed OVER the top to Copper Mountain. I had a couple minute gap at the top on Josh Tostado and was enjoying myself and the great scenery. He caught up to me after I was nearly treed by some mongrel dogs halfway down the mountain. Obvously the camper wasn’t expecting to see a race going by at 8am! Josh got a little gap on some rough single track coming in for lap 2 but I still thought I was in good shape. Unfortunately that is when I came to a 3-way split in the trail with no signs. Of course I guessed wrong and rode back down into town for a mile to figure that out. More confusion at unmarked intersections meant advantage: local guy. By the end of the second lap I was mentally out of it and 12 minutes back. I tried to stoke up some ambition for the final lap but only managed to lose more time. It was an awesome course but just lacked some critical markers. So, another NUE second place finish.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtb.php?id=mtb/2008/jul08/breckenridge100_08

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20080719/SPORTS/350026849

Oregon State Games XC July 20th
The only race this year at Mt Hood Skibowl and also the State Games. Got into PDX from Denver just in time to get up to the mountain, build my bike, and get to the start line with NO warm-up. I got a good start and hit the first steep climb–CRUNCH–rear derailleur gone. Nice should have checked out the shifting a little better… Back to the car and installed a new rear mech in about 20 minutes. Off to the races! It was kind of fun and off the hook riding. No cares, no worries, just going fast! Managed to past most of the crew and finished 4th on the day. Not bad, considering…

Galena Grinder Marathon July 26th
Back on the plane to Idaho where my TransRockies partner Keith was waiting to pick me up. Got a ride from Boise to Ketchum with Jon Gould (super stallion master racer) and did some TR planning on the way. Luckily ScottUSA had found us a nice room in town so we were all set on arrival. A trip to Globus (local fine dining) for Thai food, left us full to the gills and ready to rock. The race started nice and mellow and I was in good shape at the front. First long downhill had us traversing back and forth across a dry creek bed. I was letting the bike roll a little too much and soon I was IN the creek bed. POW–another cut-up tire and oops, I forgot my Hammer Gel for booting. No boot = no good but I was aired up and chasing. Managed to make the front again before the second lap and was building a much need buffer when the said tube blew. Amid a cloud of seriously hungry flies I got another tube and boot in place (not) and was rolling again. No chasers in sight so maybe a victory yet? PIISSSSST! Another flat–boot must have slipped so this time I was more careful and still no one caught up. Finally to the finish and a super nice victory indeed. Now I am temporarily on top of the USAC Ultra Endurance Calendar!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtb/?id=2008/jul08/galenagrinder08

PIR Short Track Monday Nights
Maybe you all remember the Portland short track series I started back in June. Anyway, it continued through July with races every Monday night. 30 minute races are NOT my forte, but I did well to finish top five every week. This put me into second overall for the series. Hopefully this intensity will pay off later this year at some ‘cross races…

Now a week off and headed to TransRockies 2008. Looks like there will be some strong Canadian teams there but Keith and I like our chances anyway. We are shooting for the podium so look for us in the daily reports on CyclingNews or Velonews.

Thanks for reading