Ascent Series #2 - Palmer Park Edition

This wednesday was the second installment of the 2013 Ascent Series, this time the racing was going down in Palmer Park. Remember Palmer Park? I told you all about it last week. It must have been the cool place to be for the singlespeeders, because thirteen of us showed up, and I think that's an Ascent Series record. That's a big singlespeed field for a local race, particularly when you're guaranteed to be riding in 90º temperatures with the bright Colorado sun blinding you every time you turn west.
I was honestly feeling a little nervous about this race; I had spent the preceding several days on airplanes and overeating at sea level, nobody was quite certain what our course was going to be, and I was intimidated by my gearing choice. To put it simply, I was stuck in my head. At the start line I was feeling mentally absent - I knew I didn't have the competitive fire in my belly. Still, I stayed focused and decided to stick to my guns; I had a loose plan of letting the bulls charge and just keeping the wheel of the leaders til I settled into a groove. Fortunately, Nick Thelen and Kip Biese left the line with a comfortable sprint pace, I settled back behind Nick's wheel and let them carry me up the first ascent. We crested the first climb and stayed pretty close together, mashing down the road section. Travis Ekenberg made his way up with us and pushed me into 4th position and it was at this point that I knew I didn't have the desire needed to be a real competitor that night. I made a decision to just relax and enjoy myself. We all hit the singletrack like a freight train, one right after the other. It felt good to be able to just sit back and keep pace with some other singlespeeders, instead of trying to maintain a position off the front of the pack. I could feel Kip and Nick pulling away from me on the slight descent of Grandview Trail. Travis graciously allowed me to pass, and I kicked up the pace a bit to close the gap and keep the boys in my field of vision.
At the start of our second lap I was really beginning to enjoy myself and the leaders were kind to me as everybody kept a cautious pace up the first climb. At the road section I could see Kip motoring away with his huge gear (this was his first SS race of the year and he was pushing a gnarly 32x17). I was still in comfortable distance with Mr. Thelen as we made our way down the final descent of the lap. I got stuck behind some Cat1 riders on the next set of climbs, and that definitely slowed me down a bit, but I had no intentions of attempting a pass at risk of blowing myself up.
I knew on my third lap I had made a significant gap on the ten chasing riders, so I began to settle into a comfortable rhythm to defend my third place position. I could feel a huge smile cracking on my face, simply at the joy of being out for a ride on my bike. It was a welcome departure from the mindset I was in at the first Ascent race. Even after falling out of my pedal in a rock garden at the top of the initial climb, my morale was high. I was surfing the trail and riding my own race.
Fatigue was setting in on my final lap and I was thankful for taking it easy earlier on. At this point the course was bare. I saw no other racers for the entire 3 miles, the spectators that were previously at every turn had disappeared, and I was out there riding by myself. The trail reflected the race I had been riding. Solitary, tranquil and obliged. Just myself and my bike.
I was grateful for this rare opportunity to enjoy Palmer Park without having to worry about any other trail users or opposing traffic. Thoroughly captivated by trail vibes, I cruised over the finish line in a relaxed fashion, coinciding with my disposition. My Wednesday cruise was good enough for a 3rd place finish, and 3 series points, as well as a gratifying commute home, staring at the sun going down behind the front range. Totally grateful and and content, that's how every hump day should conclude.

Photo Cred: Tim Bergsten/pikespeaksports.us

Good look to everybody that showed up to race and to observe. And a special shout out to all the homies that came out with one gear!

And, as always, Thanks to Ascent Cycling and Sand Creek Sports for giving us something to do on Wednesdays!

Oh, this is what XC racing feels like.

I've had a theme this summer of competing in any race I can get into, which basically equates to hitting up every local event. Luckily that also meant competing in the KMC Classic, which was the USAC Colorado XC State Championship race, right here in rocky Colorado Springs. This marks two years in a row the Springs has hosted the state champs (last year it was in Ute Valley Park.)

This year was a hella fun course through Palmer Park, smack dab in the middle of town. If you're not familiar with Front Range mountain biking, Palmer Park is a 730 acre technical playground. I cannot overstate the density and variety of trails in this park. It is really a gem of central Colorado mountain biking. For this course, though, we kept ourselves to the Southeast side of the park, partaking in 5 laps over some of the fastest trails in it's network. We started counter-clockwise up Kinnickinnick Trail to an ultra fast descent down Grandview, bringing us to a dirt road climb/passing zone til we bottlenecked back into a technical climb up Cheyenne, which has always been one of my favorite sections of the park. It's only about a quarter mile of climbing, but navigating up, over, and through the rocks will take it out of you fast, especially with only one gear to work with. At the top we hung a right to take us back onto Grandview Trail, where we climbed up another rock garden, got back on the accelerator and into our first technical descent, weaving in and out of some daunting rocks at full speed, while trying to avoid rather threatening handlebar-high boulders. Pulling a 180 at the Grandview Overlook we headed down the road section, where waves of the Cat1 racers with gears were blowing past us modest singlespeeders. Getting into our aero tuck positions, we took full advantage of the slight decline we had, picking up some valuable speed before slipping back onto the singletrack of Kinnickinnick trail with a speed-sapping right turn before lots of rock-dodging. It's easy to underestimate how important it is to choose smart lines through Palmer Park, but particularly through this section, where the proper line allows you phenomenal speed, but the wrong line can be disastrous. We descended at full speed all the way down to the Start/Finish area at Council Grounds, met by cowbells and cheers from a ton of supportive spectators.

Photo Cred: Tim Bergsten/PikesPeakSports.US

I showed up mentally prepared for 6 of these 4.2 mile long laps, but USAC threw us a curveball and shaved off one lap, which disappointed me, but probably ended up being beneficial. We left the start line at 12:30, right behind a wave of young Cat1 racers. I blasted off and was immediately by myself, giving me a vital confidence boost as I began to catch up and move into the wave of riders ahead of me. On the second lap I could tell I was redlining, so for sake of endurance I backed off a bit and tried to pace myself. This isn't always an easy task when you're sharing the trails with riders that have gears and a totally different rhythm than the one you're rolling with. It becomes a back and forth game of passing them on the climbs, and being passed on the flats. I held my lead til the 4th lap, when Travis Ekenberg caught up with me at the bottom of our first descent. He gave me some intel on Spike Huismann's position, and that lit a proverbial fire under my ass. I had evidently become a tad too relaxed on lap 3, and now I had to pay back my debt. I dug deep and decided it was time to drop the hammer as we approached Cheyenne trail . My legs were screaming at me and my stomach was trying it's hardest to reject the gels and electrolyte drink I had been pumping into it. At the road section Travis was about 30 seconds behind me, just close enough to be seen over my shoulder and keep me pushing forward. My left calf and knee were sending me warning signs of cramping and I could taste the energy gel I had eaten two laps prior making it's way back into my mouth. I continued spinning at full cadence, gambling against my muscles. I called their bluff and they calmed down as I entered my final lap. I emptied my tank over the next 4 miles, putting every bit of remaining power I had into the pedals, as my left leg tried to seize on me. Shaking out the lactic acid and favoring my right leg as much as possible, I kept my pace through the road section. I knew by the time we came into the last mile of singletrack that I had a gold medal in the bag, as long as I didn't get comfortable or careless. I kept hustling through our final descent, coming across the finish line at 1:35:56, with Travis pulling in 19 seconds later and Spike behind him. A podium lineup I could be happy with.

It was a perfectly ridden cross country race. I left everything on the course, and I couldn't have finished another lap even if I had wanted to. My lungs were aching, my legs were noodles, and my brain was intoxicated by endorphins. Finishing with just enough gap to feel confident and still know I worked hard and earned my top spot. I suppose this was the teeth-cutting I had signed up for..

Thanks again to Sand Creek Sports and Ascent Cycling for making this happen!

2013 Ascent Series #1

Last night was the first race of the Ascent Series, which I suppose marks the start of the local race season in Colorado Springs. Sand Creek Sports has been organizing this five race series for two decades and it is definitely a mainstay of Front Range mountain bike racing.
The format is essentially a dirt criterium, an hour of all out effort on a 2.5 mile course with about 340ft of climbing per lap. That may not sound difficult, but having to climb and recover over and over at that pace will wear on you quickly. Now, I don't consider myself much of a short track racer, so I was definitely heading into uncharted territory here...

The pros and singlespeeders toed the line for a 6:15 start, and once the whistle blew we were off and there was no slowing down. We had a decent sprint off the line, where I was rubbing elbows with the big boys and leading the singlespeeders up the first climb.

photo cred: Tim Bergsten/PikesPeakSpots.us

By the time we made our way back to the "long" climb on the second lap, Nick Thelen (husband of Tracy) motored ahead of me on his full suspension SS and so began the battle. I held his wheel for a couple laps til I decided he was descending too fast for my comfort and gave him some space. By the third full lap I was feeling mentally fatigued and started making some mistakes and thus may have used some foul language, of which I am not proud. I quickly got my head straight, pasted a stupid grin on my face and began work on the second half of the hour, and my smoothest laps yet. It's incredible how a slight shift in your mental game can affect your entire physiology. My cornering had slowed down a bit but I had a good flow and was enjoying myself, and that was all I cared about by the time we made it to our sixth and final lap. I spent that last ten minutes going back and forth with Trevor Von Boeck, who's a junior worth keeping an eye on. We had made a solid gap at this point and I was able to let my guard down a bit and relax as I crossed the line in second place at 1:03:50, 14 seconds behind Nick. Despite my inclination to be disappointed with my result I was ultimately happy just to have a decent result amid some seriously fast and experienced racers.
Lesson learned and the moral of my story: Do more pyramid intervals.
The next Ascent Series race is at Palmer Park on June 26, where I hope to sharpen my teeth and develop my XC skill set.

photo cred: Tim Bergsten/PikesPeakSpots.us

Mad props to Andy Bohlmann and Sand Creek Sports for putting so much work into making this series happen year after year. And thanks to Tim Bergsten at PikesPeakSports.us for lending his photog skills.

Your very first Ramen Hack

This blog exists to spread the good word of bike-bummery, and the homemade Dollar Menu is an integral part of this gospel, so it seemed only logical that the first post reflect it's namesake.
If you know what a ramen hack is, you've probably experienced a shoestring budget once or twice in your life. Or you're just a cheap bastard with a sense of creativity. Ramen noodles are vastly underrated in this culture we participate in, full of ultra pure, calculated organic diets and highly engineered power foods. I am not discounting the nutritional benefits of eating whole foods and taking care of your body, but I'm here to help you navigate through the seedy back alleys of cycling, and open your eyes to a world of cheap, sleazy cuisine along the way...
Let it be known that until this past winter, I hadn't consumed a single ramen product in about 15 years, so I by no means claim to be an expert ramen hacker and I will not be held liable for any adverse health affects you experience by eating this trash.

That being said, I'd like to share with you what is probably the easiest, but still my favorite ramen upgrade to date. I eat this meal more frequently than I care to admit, and only occasionally do I experience sodium toxicity because of it...

This isn't really a recipe at all, more of a guide to some easy additions to your basic instant noodle repertoire.
You're going to need the following:

-All the shit you use to make ramen anyway (a pot and water and some sort of flame)
-Top Ramen, Use any flavor you like, as long as it's Pork. ...or Roast Chicken
-2 Eggs
-Cilantro
-Cock Sauce (that's Sriracha, to the layman)

Here's the trick, You want to let your eggs sit in some hot water for a few minutes, this will allow them to cook up in the 3 minute window you've got, otherwise you could end up with egg broth, which I guess could be okay, but not really what we're going for here.

Start up your water like usual, bringing it to a boil.
Drop in your noodles
Crack your eggs directly into the boiling water (or if you're into the egg drop soup thing, whip your eggs up beforehand and add that in..)
Let that do it's thing for about 3 minutes and add your flavor packet.
Move it into your prettiest bowl and add some cilantro on top.
Now that all is said and done you're ready to enjoy with copious amounts of Sriracha sauce.

You can make this in the microwave just as well, but again, I claim no liability for any mutations you may experience.

Thats about 22g Protein and 52 Carbs, weighing in at around 520 Calories and a modest 1780mg of sodium, which is nearly enough to mummify you, but just be an optimist and consider it cramp prevention.