Ryan Rides the Fence!

On Sunday May 5th 2013, Jeremy Warnicke, Dave Hill, and I headed down to Newport Oregon for the Coast Hills Classic mountain bike race. Last year we were very lucky to race in warm sunny weather at the beach during the race. As luck would have it, we hit the lottery again and raced in unseasonably hot weather on the Oregon coast in 80 plus degree heat. After applying about a gallon of sunscreen to my wintery white skin, I still managed to end the day with a sunburn.

Jeremy and I raced the single speed class while the elderly speedster Dave raced the cat 1 50 and over class. After a slow start off the line I was able to move up a couple positions on the uphill climb to the first trail. After being slowed a bit on the trail I was able to make a pass into fourth place as the trail hit a long gravel road section. As my legs and lungs were both yelling at me to slow down because of the high intensity start, I was only a few seconds behind the leaders and tried to charge up to them. I caught up to third place but this was as close to the leader as I would get. Third place and I battled back and forth for most of the first lap but all I could do was watch as the top three riders slowly rode away because my legs just didn’t have the snap they needed to go fast. Read more »

Things have come almost come full circle with regard to cycle racing for me. By that I mean that my days of “training” are a fading ghost town in my rear view mirror and particular results have become even less motivating than they once were. While I will admit that racing became a manifestation of my desire for excellence in life, the reality is that cycling has always been just a passion for me and I have always been a “starving artist”.

In the beginning, I rode to be free and to reach my destination.  Most of the time I got there faster than my riding partners. After a few years I began racing and with early success I found that I needed to continually raise the bar and compete against stiffer competition to measure up. Before long, I had upgraded myself until training became a necessity. Read more »

I am sure that April is the worst month of the year in the Willamette Valley… OK maybe not the worst but it sure feels like it sometimes! Mother nature threw us a curve this year with phenomenal weather over Easter with the children enjoying sunny hunting in their dresses! I enjoyed rapidly drying trails and lots of EPIC riding as March ended “like a lamb” and the new month began just as pleasantly.

That was a week ago and a world away, though. Why? Well there is a little gathering here we call the “Mudslinger” that has been going on since 1987. Apparently mother nature has been put on alert to unleash all manner of destructive weather behavior on or directly before this date and RARELY disappoints. Last week followed suit, and it began to drizzle on Thursday and generally became more intense as the weekend approached. Soon any sign of dryness was gone and only indication of spring were the blooms from the overly optimistic trees floating on new and growing puddles. Read more »

Murphy’s law definitely applies to mountain bike racing–I’ve know that since my first race now almost 21 years ago! That being said, when I set out to make my race schedule I try my best to guard again intangibles with preparation and planning. So when I rolled to the True Grit venue at just after 6 AM feeling ready for the start and relieved that all seemed to be in order maybe I shouldn’t have let that guard down!

Actually Lady Luck was already at play the day before when I pre-rode 10+ miles of the track stopping right before the most technical and navigationally challenging section. Or when I rolled into registration to a huge lineup that lasted for three hours. I may be slow early in the morning but it became apparent in the pitch darkness that there was no way the 7 AM start was going to be anything less than a debacle, though. Read more »

Echo Red to Red was a good time and a great way to start the seeason. I chose to “ride” this race in an effort to jumpstart the MTB bug in me, and it worked! I have good fitness going into the season, but a laundry list of excuses kept me off the bike for the last two weeks. I wish I could say I was just really fresh, but instead I was really flat. If I was able to get the heart rate up, it took forever to come back down. So I just tried to be nicest guy you ever passed at a race!

The course ran backwards from previous year which was a great idea! The last few miles were a slight downhill where you could run out of gears to push. And what wind? Perfect conditions this time! My one-size-too-big arm warmers removed themselves after the first few bumps and I could not have been happier. Guess I have MEDIUM bike racer arms afterall!

The REALL carbon 29er hard tail made it possible to stay in my SDG saddle most of the ride allowing me to push a gear, keeping the heart rate low, and my legs burning. I did not get a chance to ride the new bike off-road or test out the Manitou Tower fork prior to the race, but EP knows how to make a machine run, and that it did. What a stellar mix of perfection! Read more »

I returned to my “normal” early season race schedule this year with a trip back to El Paso for the Puzzler 50 miler. Some of you remember that I raced here in both 2010 and 2011 and returned victorious both times. Last year this particular weekend was complicated and while I had intended to return, I had to cancel my trip at the last minute. This time I started planning last fall and included the Puzzler in my four race sample of the TMBRA Marathon Series. Read more »