Race Reportage

After a mostly down year last year, I've picked up a bit with the racing this year - mostly time-trial stuff, as that is what I seem to enjoy the most.

Lodi TT
This was a new race on the calendar this year - an out and back race to the west of I-5 in Lodi which turns around when you hit the Delta - about 11.5 miles in length. I actually felt quite good during this race and placed 2nd. Now, I have a standard against which to compare myself next year. The conditions were quite good with an incoming rain storm. Winds were light, and conditions overcast. The course was just about the flattest I've ever ridden. Pavement was good by Velo Promo standards, but definitely not pristine.

Beat the Clock #2
Weather conditions were pretty perfect for the 2nd Beat the Clock race this year. It was quite cold, and I ended up drinking some hot tea at the start instead of doing a longer warm-up, which was regrettable. After my time got all messed up in the last race by some group rides, I was ready for vengeance! I went out a bit too hard and caught my minute girl early. I regretted my fast beginning pace and short warmup during the last 2 miles of the race....I was really suffering. But, at the en,d I had recorded 31:26, or my best time by 1 second. Official time was 31:28, or 1 second off my best, but a good effort nonetheless. I will try to get under 31:20 in my next effort. Better pacing should get me there.



Woodside Trail Run
I entered the Woodside Trail Run for the second year in a row. This year, I opted for the 10K instead of the 17K, as I was going to go meet my parents for hiking at the Pinnacles in the afternoon and didn't want to be completely trashed. The conditions were once again EPIC. It was not actively raining this year, but had just rained heavily for the prior two days, and the water was coursing down the trail again. I was pretty slow, but it was good to push myself. Of course, I realized that I may as well do the 17K as the 10K has about 95% of the climbing of the 17K.

During the race, I was concerned with my footing, given the deep mud and water on the trail. I was paying most of my attention to that, and missed the fact that I ran into some poison oak with my right arm. I suspected contamination and washed with my Burt's Bees soap when I got home. Alas, I think I missed the window of opportunity, and a huge rash started spreading on my arm the following Tuesday. I decided to suck it up and try to heal naturally. Unfortunately, when we were in Mexico the following week, my arm swelled to double its normal size, and I had to spend a nice morning in the clinic with the Medico. Nothing some cortisone and antibiotics couldn't sort out, though!

First Race of the Season

Well, it's been almost a year since my last "bike race" posting. I finally got out and raced again yesterday, albeit at a low-key time trial.

I don't have my results yet, but I think I was at least in the general ballpark with last year's time. That's good, since I pretty much haven't been training at all. Anyway, it was a good day and a good opportunity to re-learn how to suffer.

Next up...a 9k trail run in Pacifica next Saturday...it's beginning to look at tad bit like a season! (photo snapped by Linda Locke - teammate extraordinaire!)

Forced Training

Last week I had a meeting with the new CTO of the company. The meeting was scheduled to be in Santa Clara. So, I put it on my personal calendar to cycle that day and end up at the Santa Clara office. The evening before the meeting, there was a calendar update with a document attached. I opened the document, but didn't pay any mind to anything else about the update.

I did a 1 hour ride, arriving at 8:25 - about 35 minutes before the meeting start. I got to the locker room to shower, and opened my laptop to confirm which room the meeting was in. To my dismay, the meeting was moved to the Sunnyvale office - about 6 miles from the Santa Clara office. I did mental calculations and realized I was going to need to average 20 mph to get to the meeting on time with a few minutes to change my clothes. So, I put my jacket and messenger bag back on and started the all-out TT back to Sunnyvale. Time trilling on a heavy touring bike with heavy messenger bag with clothes and computer is a bit of a challenge. But, I made it at 8:53, dashed into the locker room and did the world's fastest shower/change. But, I got a nice, hard 20+ minute effort in for the first time this season. There's nothing like a little forced training to kick off the HIT season.

Huh, a race report, what's that?

I was eager to try out my new steed (the Ellsworth COefficient) for the first time in a race situation. Also, I was curious to see where my fitness was as I have been un-training for the last 6 months - doing whatever strikes my mood. I definitely still push myself, but don't do any structured cycling workouts. So, I signed up for the Beat the Clock time trial.

I rolled up just before the start having parked at Woodside Town Hall and used my ride in as my "warmup". It was near freezing and raining. I had 3 layers sausaged under my skinsuit and the seal skinz on my feet. I was happy to see teammates - Marsha, Liz, Andrea and Cammy around, as well as a few other brave souls who showed up despite the weather. 

I got a good hold from veteran TTer Lisa and a good start. I was a little tentative with the wet conditions and the new bike. I never let myself touch the brakes, but I also didn't put as much gas into the downhill sections as I normally would. I felt it was going to be hard as the winds as well as most of the climbing would be back-loaded with the storm coming in. I was happy to see I was able to "spin" in some slightly larger gears than in previous attempts. That was a good sign for my power output. I had no computer at all on the bike, so I was just "keep looking at the horizon and go as hard as feels reasonable". I was planning a 10k run for the following morning, so definitely held myself below the "all out to puking" effort. As I crossed the line, I felt reasonably well, looked at my watch, and knew I had posted my best time on the course....but not sure of the exact time.

When the results were posted, I was 31:27...WAY better than my prior best of 32:45. Yay! I don't know if this is a testament to the awesomeness of the new bike or to just letting myself have fun...but a good result, nonetheless. I'm looking forward to going under 30 mins for the first time when the conditions are good on this course and I'm able to put on the aero wheels, too.

May 15 - Back to Zurich

We got out around 8:30 in the morning - the journey finally ready to come to an end. Frankly, I was ready, with the flu in full swing. I left a nice note for our hosts in their guest book, we ate and cleaned up the kitchenette, and then we saddled up.

The 25 miles back to Rumlang was largely uneventful and the rain held off the whole morning, which made me happy. We only had a couple minor misdirections, but otherwise stayed on course and mae it to Rumlang by about 11:30. We decided to stop by the pizzeria near the train station to refuel. We split a pizza with bacon and olives.  It was actually quite good - even with my dulled palette.

Pizza, 2 cokes, and a salad was almost 40 Swiss Francs...ahhh back to Swiss prices! After eating, we rolled across the street and downhill to the hotel.

We got our bikes down to the garage and got our bags from the front desk. Thus began the dirty and miserable task of disassembling the bikes. I made it through the packing of my bike and half of Rick's before giving up and heading back to the room. There was a problem with the keys that i had to sort out before hitting the shower and nap. I ended up watching the Giro until Rick got back.

Then, I cleaned up, threw out some clothes that were done-for, and re-packed everything. We rested and had another failed attempt to access any meaningful web sites on the hotel computer. Then, we ate dinner in the hotel restaurant. I had mac n' cheese - Rick had a burger. Fortunately, our drinks were 1/2 price, leaving us with 30 Francs for breakfast.

We got a call from my parents, and I chatted with them briefly before retiring to the room. I made a poor attempt at sleep all night with the lungs and sinuses going full-boar. Finally, at 4:00 am, I gave up and got out of bed. That ensured time for a shower, which was nice.

We rolled out from the hotel at 5:00. The first assault on my respiratory system being the smoking lounge in front of the hotel. Thus began my 20 hour effort to suppress my symptoms to avoid infecting those around me.

We paid about 29 Francs for 2 coffees, 2 waters, 2 pain au chocolate and 2 bananas at the airport. Yikes! Then, we had a short flight to Paris and enjoyed watching the mustard fields of Dijon go by below. We rested in the sunny waiting area at Charles du Galle before boarding the 747. The next flight was completely full, to my dismay. It was the most miserable 11 hours ever - with my body in a full histamine reaction - coughing into my blanket and going through every paper towel and kleenex we could get our hands on. I had a good 30 minutes following the post-lunch cognac, that the rest was pure misery (I'm sure for those around me, too!).

Fortunately, we had a safe flight and a pretty painless immigration and customs at SFO and finally got home around 3:30 pm. I was surprised to find it was still winter in the Bay Area as well. I loaded up on anti-histamine, cough suppressant and nasal spray and managed to sleep fairly well for 10 hours....ahhhhhhhh.

May 14 - Cycling with the flu and watching the Giro

We at breakfast at the home where we stayed over, and then had to leave Hohettengen on account of a 40 person Austrian tour coming to town and absorbing all the accommodations. We headed east to Hachstetten, where we looked for a room. We tried one hotel that did not answer and another that had a "Bett and Bike" sign up. They apologized on account of the weather, but had a family group coming and no other space to let. So, we continued to Jetsetten. There was a rather fancy looking hotel, so we stopped at the Rathaus to see what was available. An older lady who had been to the market on bike stopped to ask if we needed help. We explained that we were looking for somewhere to stay the night. She said "You can stay with me!". So, we followed her on her bike as she wound us through town.

She showed us her guest apartment and introduced us to her husband. They moved their car out of the garage so we could put our bikes in. The apartment was large with a kitchenette, dining area, queen bed and a small side room with a single bed. There was a lovely, large bathroom. And, it was only 50 Euros per night. A steal! We checked in around 11 and had a change and headed out to the bakery to pick up breakfast provisions for the next morning. We also stopped at the market to get some chocolates to take home with us.

I then had a leisurely two hour nap. We watched the last 60km of the Giro in the afternoon - I was relieved to see it was also rainy and muddy in central Italy. Cadel won solo, which was pretty cool - all covered in mud. We showered up and headed to dinner at a local restaurant. I had asparagus soup, green salad and pommes frites with wine. Rick had beer and cordon bleu and shared some with me. We finished off with coffees.

We walked back to our house and ate some of the ginormous butter cookie dipped in chocolate that we'd bought at the bakery. All in all, it as a mostly restful day, thanks to the Familie Hennings and their hospitality.

May 13 Schnee in May

And, then came the schnee. We woke up after a fairly sleepless night (track hack extending - me wanting to blame it on the hotel guest down the hall who was smoking....but knowing the achy feeling with it probably meant the flu...). We looked across from our hotel balcony to see snow/rain mix falling. We decided that riding over some of the high passes in snow wasn't the best plan.

So, after breakfast marinated in orange juice (Rick used the stemmed glass to douse the entire table when we sat down, which sent the inn keeper into fits of laughter), we headed across the street to the train station. We caught the 9:30 train to Frieburg. As we moved through the Black Forest, the snow got heavier, and it started accumulating several inches. But, by the time we got down to Freiburg, it was just sleeting.

We bought tickets in Freiburg to get our bikes to Eglisau - which we thought was the closest German town to Zurich, where we planned to hang out for a couple days. We had a nice chat with an Australian couple who was touring the Danube for six weeks. We had to ride to Schaufhausen, and we thought the Schwartzwald train pass would get us there, but alas, we had to pay 18 Euros more to get there. Then, we hopped a light rail train to Eglisau. When we got off, we realized we were in Switzerland - not Germany. We crossed the Rhine, but were still in Switzerland, and the only hotel we found open was 288 Euros per night - a little rich for our tastes. So, we begrudgingly rode in the freezing rain to the nearest German town - me starting to feel significantly worse. The town was Hohetengen, about 7 miles from Eglisau, and quite painful when feeling ill, with a full bladder, an empty stomach and freezing rain falling. But, we were able to find a family home with a room for 50 Euros. They had a bath (yay!).

We rested and warmed up before dinner. We found a restaurant across the street and loaded up on Spargeltoast, pommes frites, salad and wine. Spargeltoast is  a must-try if you are ever in the Black Forest. It is buttered, toasted bread with spears of white asparagus wrapped in black-forest ham and doused with melty cheese and hollandaise sauce.  It was a decadent meal, and a nice end to a somewhat miserable day.