Entries from December 20, 2009 - December 26, 2009
Za Trip is Back! | Pete Webber and Family's Fabulous Adventures in Za Motherland
Jealousy. There, I said it. I am insanely jealous of Pete and his family's assault on Belgium and they are living the dream....although it started with some nightmares with luggage and bikes not showing up for a day or two into their trip.This family is core, they live life and we are all so proud of them...Especially Sally (mom) and Ella (Daughter) as they man the pits for their daddy/husband as he goes against some pretty damn hardened Belgians this "Christmas Week".
Two guys have taken me under their wing here in Boulder...Pete and Brandon Dwight and I think it is safe to say for Dubba and I that Pete is a beacon of information and history having raced professionally during the heyday of mountain biking in the late 90's with the Gary Fisher team. Pete has been so influential to Brandon over the decade + they've known each other and of for me over the last 3 years I've known and trained with him and he's been amazingly impactful. His advice to me has been nothing short of spiritual....from tactics to technical aspects to things that SHOULD be obvious to me after racing all these years and what is really needed for success: rest, reality, repeats and REALLY good beer.
I want you all to get a taste of Pete as he is a great friend, teacher and possibly the man with the driest sense of humor this side of the Thames. He's been on a TEAR this year with his win at the Colorado State Cyclocross Championships (Men's Open) and of course his win in Bend as our US 40-44 National Champion. And to think a year ago when he and I went out on a mellow ride and he said: "Yeah, I'm going to gun for Nationals. Haven't raced it in like a decade..." The man knows how to peak.
Pete, we're so proud of you, hombre. And now without further adieu, Pete Webber....
Hey everyone, I'm over here in Belgium for a holiday cross adventure and vacation with my family. We've been here about 5 days so far, and outside of baggage delays and crazy cold weather, it has been a great trip so far. Oh yea, it isn't just a trip, it is "Za Trip" as Keller would say.
Today was my first race, and it ended with a big W. I can't believe it, but everything came right and I scored a nice victory. I'm doing another race tomorrow, so I'll have to keep this short . . . Anyway, the race was a Flemish Cyclocross Cup event in Beernem, just north of Gent. (Hometown of Sven Vanthourenhout). I raced the Masters, 1961-1970 age group, which is my UCI category.
The course was pretty strange. It was actually super fun, but the layout of the site was totally different. It was in a green belt, a woodsy strip of land between a big canal, like a river, and the dike along the edge of town. So the course was a long out-and-back, with a mixture of bike path, singletrack, and crazy steeps down to the river and back up the embankment. It wasn't too muddy, but by the end I was pretty covered. Everything was slick.
One scary item was that the bike path was covered with a massive sheet of wet ice. You had to ride the grass along the side, or risk the ice if you wanted faster rolling, were brave, and didn't mind an ice-water roost. Anyway, I got a great start from the 3rd row and hit the dirt in 4th. I gradually moved up and kept the pace high until it was just myself and another guy,Webber and WC Marc Druyts...a true Belgian hard man. who happened to be sporting the rainbow stripes.
We traded the lead for several laps and I thanked my lucky stars (or maybe it was the lucky bib 13 on my back) that us old farts just race for 45 minutes. When I finally heard 3 to go, I was cross-eyed and digging deep. I tried a handful of attacks, but the WC stuck with me like glue. We diced for the singletrack a couple times each lap, with some good bumping too. My wife Sally and daughter Ella were screaming like mad from the pit, where they had my B bike ready to go every lap, thankfully not needed.
With one to go, I drilled it and got a small gap. I kept the gas on, but that dude clawed back and passed me again! But, I noticed that I had an advantage on the 2 insane run-ups - these crazy steep walls. He didn't have my fast feet, at least going up these muddy banks. I attacked one last time going into the final dismount before the finish. Just then, music to my ears, I heard a unidentifiable string of flemish behind me. I hit the road and went full gas.
I snuck a look... nobody. He bobbled or slipped or something! I sat up cruised down the finish straight with the arms up. Yes!
Some photos from the day:
Check out the foot holds of this run up...
Sally, Ella and Pete celebrating.
The Uitslag Beernam
6 year old Ella (and our neighbor!) rocking it in the pits.
I know this face and if you are behind it (like most of us), here's what it looks like to slay the dragon.
This...is Belgium.
New Challenge Mudder | A Rhino Killer? Still Suspect...
A while back I was invited to have a first look at the 'Rhino Killer' Challenge Tires was launching to market as 'The Fango'. I scored a set of 34's, glued 'em up and the truth be told, they were nice....but an evolution of the Grifo...e.g. a new 'all 'rounder' rather than a true mud-fest tire like the Rhino with their near perfect tread pattern and 3mm high knobbies.
So Challenge went back to the drawing board and are launching a new tire (yet to be named...or maybe it's being called the 'Limus'?) which looks like this...
Certainly an interesting twist...sort of Fango meets Michelin Mud meets Vittoria XM Pro....but a Rhino killer? Dunno. I'd love to have a closer look a these at some point and pout them through their paces. I also hope that Challenge has looked carefully at the glue compound used to marry the tread to the casing...as the notorious 'separating' seemed unacceptable to me for a $100 tire.
Let's see what they got!
Wednesday Worlds | Never Say Die
The WB and I got out for a snowclocross ride before work this AM. Wednesday Worlds-style without all the intervals. Boulder is beautiful with a blanket of the white stuff.
Ward and Keller - Wednesday Worlds Dec 2009 from Gregory Keller on Vimeo.
Ward and I spun out and had a great time reflecting on our seasons, longing for next year, snowboarding and of course what tubulars to run next year. Good times.
Ward's steed, pre-dawn.
The secret stairs.
The aftermath.
Hanging 'em up for 2009
The time has come. The bikes and racing-mind have been put up on the shelf. Another season in the books, 12 straight weeks of racing completed. I have no complaints with my results and new I gave it everything I had with what I was able to do this seaosn in tyerms of training, focus and stress reduction. I wasn't able to put my hands up in victory as I'd tried to focus on, but I can not describe the bliss we had as a racing crew beating the snot out of each other all season.
Exhale....
When the first race of the year completed in September, my first words to my compatriots were: "Holy shit, it's faster this year." And everyone was in agreement. It was subtle, yet still noticeable...5, maybe 10% faster. Everyone just drilling it and riding hard. Dudes had come back fitter, smoother and with much better experience in racing and equipment. The late comers to the sport have 'caught up' and it is clear that it is LIFE for so many now. It is the focused-upon season longed for from the moment the bikes are hung up on their respective hooks in garages all around the country...to the moment they get to be pulled down, dusted off, tires inflated in the summer (and that is as early as JUNE for some people it seems now!). And if you're reading this site...you're already aware of your obsessions.
Each year I use cyclo-cross and my love for it as an anchor that I know will pull my soul through the year. When I would do the insane amounts of travel I did (and will do again) for work, my lap top case was filled with 'cross DVD's that I would study and keep me stoked. It's hard to keep discipline throughout the year but each year for more than a decade I've stayed 'on course'...with my wife humoring me all these years with my passions.
I am going to do a full on year in review before year's end, but in this post, I wanted to jot down some things that worked for me this season...and some that didn't. No real order here, just thoughts and recollections...
What worked:
- "It's the Indian not the Arrow" Timmy would tell me and that is true, but switching to carbon fiber this year through my switch to Ridley frames was UNBELIEVABLE. Way more compliant on my body and I could feel the terrain less in the form of bone jarring...and more how the bike ebbed and flowed. Carbon just...feels better in my opinion.
- Lower pressure: Each year I get more and more brave with my tubulars and it feels like I found a sweet spot in terms of tire pressures for various conditions. The real secret is not riding like a ton of bricks. Run them low and finesse the bike through corners with less brake and more English and you can feel the rubber 'stick'. Slower is truly faster when it comes down to it. What pressures did I run? Secret. Ha! Typically 32f and 34r but lower on truly shitty days. States as an example was 29f and 32r.
- Top 20+ call ups. I think our regional racing governing body got it right this year with call up procedures and literally would call the top 20 or more into the start grid. This seemed to lessen the amount of nervousness and start line 'heroics' that cause crashes. People generally got off super safe when they knew their position and would work from within the race to gain positions (and points) then stupidity off the line.
- More time between breakfast and the starting gun: Dubba taught me this last year but eating earlier and starting the race a little bit 'hungry' was perfect. You will never bonk in a cross race yet if you have too much food in your gullet, you're doing yourself a disservice.
- Dual front rings. This entire season I can count on ONE HAND when I threw a chain...and it was to the outside after a crash. Also only once did mud give me issues on shifting from the 39 to the 46...and there were PLENTY of opportunities mother nature threw at us this season to prove I'd made a bad choice in moving to dual rings! The benefits of having a 39 to 'spin fast' and a 46 to 'go hard' was absolutely what the doctor ordered. Married to 12x25's (Dura Ace) or 11x26 (SRAM) I always had a gear that I was comfortable in. It was a great call.
What didn't:
- Crappy warm ups: Honestly, when the weather changes and gets colder, I need a better warp up ritual. I have way too much muscle mass and it takes my carcass a LONG time to turn over. If I can get to the course early enough, I need more trainer time to open up. The course recco is important but once or 2x around and I am good. The rest is learned in the race...and when the legs are opened, all the easier to stay competitive.
- Shoe/cleat/pedal issues: I'll admit that I had quite a bit of woes with respect to contact between my Time ATAC's and my 2010 Sidi Dragon soles. I will have to dial this in this spring as I lost precious time and focus trying to re-engage at critical moments.
- MORE REST: The smart guys have this dialed. Guys like me...well I'll race anything and train cause I love it! Now, I need to trust the years of racing I have in my legs and train smarter and rest harder. The volume is still too much at the wrong time for me and I am working on adjusting that year over year.
- Energy drinks with Taurine: Honestly, I gave it a college try this season but it wreaks havoc on my body that I need nothing but a good nights sleep and to line up to a race stress free to get my game on. 'Bumping up' makes me twitchy and unfortunately causes precarious attacks of 'Chamois Rorschach' in my shorts. Way too much risk to DNF due to crapping myself.
- Not having Rhinos: Honestly, I longed for these on so many occasions this season. The Dugast Typhoons are phenomenal;, but in the absolute mess, with anything off camber in the mud, you need them as they are absolutely decisive. Lighter riders can get away with Typohoons on those kinds of conditions but riders with any weight need that level of bite into the terra firma.
Unbelievable. The season is done...and I just ordered a new set of Rhinos and carbon hoops to glue 'em too. All my rubber is downstairs in the basement in a constant temperature and all the bikes are washed and hanging. Time for rest.
8 Months until the 2010 season. HUP HUP!