Day 21 - The Hospital...

After a second attempt at running,this one in Enumclaw, the pain was enough to send me to the hospital. I'm writing this as I wait to be seen by a doctor. The American hospital system has some nice facilities... TV, private rooms, lots of staff.

After a 3 hour wait (yes America, it's the same on both sides of the border), I was X-rayed and poked and prodded.  Diagnosis (from my discharge papers): Severe contusion and abrasions to left hip and lower leg.  X-ray images do not show signs of fracture.

The doctor cautioned me that running could increase inflammation in the area.  Not recommended.  But I have US National Duathlon Championships in 2 days!!

At 11pm when discharged I ate at Jack in the Box. I could have eaten my shoes!!!!  What an athlete!!

What's the green frownie face is for?

Awake at 7pm

Not so much at 10pm

Contusion - yummy!!

Day 17 - 20 more Santa Rosa and travel back to the north west

After Sea Otter I made my way back up to Santa Rosa for a couple days of riding and a little running. The rides in Santa Rosa are just fantastic. Isolated roads with little traffic. I even managed to find roads that are in great shape. The running didn't go so well. It seems that the crash in the sea otter crit is causing some trauma to the left hip.

After a great morning ride I hops in my ride and sped up the Eugene getting close to the race in enumclaw.

A store in Medford.  I'm scared!!

Beautiful views near Sonoma Lake

Bridge across a valley

Day 16 - Sea Otter Circuit Race

Call it not warmed up enough or call it exhausted from the previous races but I just could not keep up With the front pack in this race. After three laps I was dropped and ended up leading the second pack for the remaining laps. I felt better at the end than I did after the first two. One wacky thing that they did is let all age categories go at the same time. There were over 200 at the start line. This made for a sketchy decent!!

Not the way I wanted to finish my sea otter experience but it was a great time all the same. In the end I came in 21st of 37 in the circuit race.

Ryder!!!  The real trophy here at Sea Otter... Sweet!

Day 15 - Sea Otter Road Race - 16th

This Road Race is tough.  One of the tougher that I have done.  It's early in the year and it climbs for over 1600 meters in 86kms.  The finish is stupid.  It pitches twice over about 2.5kms above a 10% grade.  It does not make for a sprint finish.

All the same I stayed with the pack through the race managed to take a few spots up the hill finish to take 16th of 57 riders.  Not too bad.  Could have taken a few spots but I did not have it in me to podium today.

Tomorrow it's the Circuit Race all on the Laguna Seca race course!!

The Atomic Jersey was still wet from washing so... This was the alternate.

Day 14 - Sea Otter Criterium

Well....  All I can say about the crit is that I prepared well and raced well.  On the second to last lap there was some incidental contact on a turn with another rider.  I tightened up my turn a bit and started to pedal.  The first stroke I hit the tarmac with the pedal and immediately hit the road and slid to the corner. I was sitting 6th in the breakaway pack of 8 and feeling really good.  Too bad.  Now I'm just trying to heal up for tomorrow's Road Race.

Crit Start and Finish

Hip Contusion

Take care of that rash!

Holes in the kit

Rashes... :(

Day 13 - Prepare for Sea Otter

I spent most of the day preparing for the Sea Otter Races.  Whether it was changing tires or wheels or brake pads, it was getting done today!

I did all kinds of messing with the bike and then took it out to Laguna Seca to put it through some paces.  All systems go!  Ready for the races that start tomorrow.  Until then.....

Bag of various bike stuff

Laguna Seca Raceway!!!!

Day 12 - drive to Salinas

After a running the morning, I packed up the car and head to woodland hills for a little lunch with my mom and brother before hitting the road for Salinas. Salinas is about 400k north of Los Angeles. It's a small city in the heart of California's agriculture. It's about 20k from the Sea Otter race site. It's a less expensive lodging option to Monterey.

Less is more you might say. So far I have ridden around the city and its got that east west difference Vancouver is aware of. The east is predominately Hispanic and the west is malls and suburban living white folks. The pickup trucks like to give you as little room as possible while the other drivers seem to be ok with me on the road.

Gotta say that the food is really good and fresh. Strange but I just had the best baked potato of my life. Aggi area :)

Day 11 - Day off with the family

Took Monday off from running and riding to spend with family. Took my brother to the Dodgers game. A bit of a nightmare. After the bombing at the Boston Marathon, security was tight. It took us an hour to get from the freeway exit into the parking lot. It may be normal but it seemed really slow. Not much more to say other than a day with family was very special and very welcome.

Great seats and company.  Dodgers... not so much.

Day 10 - Camarillo Duathlon 5th Place Overall

That hurt!  They all hurt!

I raced the Camarillo Duathlon today.  It was a typical set up of two 5k runs sandwiching a 31k bike.  The weather was very un-California like today.  Or at least how I hoped it would be like today.  We raced in about 15 degree weather with fog and light rain. Like the June Gloom of Southern California only colder.  Start time today would be 8am.  The warmup combined with the 1 hour drive from LA meant a 5am wake up call this morning.

Start Finish Line and Transition Area

The race course is flat.  Totally flat.  Should have made for some PBs for me in the run but until I get the results I'm not quite sure what I ran both 5Ks in but it looks like 19:50 and 21:40.  The Bike was around 49min add the transitions for a 1:31 total.

Results were better then I recalled!! 19:14, 48:53 and 20:30

http://results.active.com/events/2013-camarillo-duathlon-3/olympic

Two things affected this race for me.  One was that I lost track of how far I had actually run and thought the run that I was pacing for 5k might actually be 7k.  So I throttled back a bit.  It wasn't until I finished the first run that I knew it was only 5k.  Crazy!  I just botched my distance calculations at the turnaround.  The second was that the light rain made the asphalt like a skating rink.  I could not believe how slippery it was.  The corners were a gong show on the second lap. People were slow or going down; a lot.  A bit sketchy on my little Argon Rocket.  Thank God I kept the rubber side down!!

Finishing and Happy to do so...

All in all I ended up in 5th place overall.  There was some conjecture that some of the racers didn't complete the entire bike course.  Not sure about this amongst the top 10 finishers but I do know some cut the course short. There were no officials or timing mats on the bike course.  Very easy to do one lap of the lollipop course.  Just have to see what happens with the official results are published.

A good day for me.  I ran and rode my plan. Best of all My Mom, Brother John and Sister In-Law Mercedes were there at the finish :)

My Mom and I at the finish

Day 8 and 9 - Bel Air

Day 8

Previewed the bike course in the morning.  It was windy and flat.  A bit of debris on the road but nothing too bad.

Then drove to Bel Air in Los Angeles to see my brother, sister in-law and Mom.  Good good times!!

Day 9

For some unknown reason I did a Boot Camp workout with my sister in-law at 8 in the morning. It was good but probably not the best thing to do the day before a race.  I then went out to Camarillo to pay my race fees and pick up the race package.  I did another bike of the course for good measure....  Now time for dinner!

Day 7 - Drive to Camarillo

Nothing much to report today.  Drive was pleasant and uneventful.  So, is the Holiday Inn Camarillo.  I went to survey the running course this evening.  Easy course but the surface is gravel for the last kilometre or so.  Not so bad on the feet, but the transition to bike will be there.   I also drove the bike course.  It's flat with a few stop lights and a fair amount of gravel on the sides of the road.  It's an open course so, this may be a little bit of an issue.  I will ride the course tomorrow morning.  Till then...

Day 6 - A taste of Sonoma

Today I hit the physical wall. I had planned a ride followed by a run but the run turned into wine tasting which was very un-athlete of me but so very nice.

The ride

I grabbed the TT bike today to test the new handlebar installation. I planned 60-70k up to Sonoma lake and back. What I didn't know was that at about 25k the rout turned vertical. Not exactly what I wanted on the TT bike (Betty Ford). The climb was steep with a few spots that levelled off. The views of the lake and hills were gorgeous just like previous days. I think about three cars passed me once I reached the lake so, I was alone for most of the ride. After about 3000 feet of climbing I turned around with plans on extending the ride to 100k or so. This plan ended when I hit the next hill there was nothing left in the legs. So much so that I cancelled my planned run for the afternoon. Good thing is that the handlebars stayed in the same position.

The New Plan

Well at 2:00 in the afternoon and nothing that you have to do and your in Sonoma.... WINE TASTE!! Not to bore you with details but I went to tastings at J, Rodney Strong and Seghesio. The last two provided hardier reds so they were my favourites. All the same I took 7 bottles away with me.

Moment of zen for the day: Why don't cyclists in this area wave to one another like they do back home? I was 1 for 12 today for wave backs. Not very friendly like.

Tomorrow it's a run in the morning (yes a run). Followed by a drive down to Camarillo to seethe course for the next race. 6 or so hours of driving. Fun fun...

Day 5 - the geysers

Today was a great riding day. With temperatures in the mid twenties and sun all around how could it be bad?? I started the morning off with a big ride. Before leaving I changed the tires on my road rims from 23mm wide to 25mm. This was under the recommendation of Jonathan at Jonathan's bikes. The rims I have are wider than normal so he said that the roads are rough in the Geysers and my previous set up was libel to puncture. Well all I can say is that the new set up was awesome for those conditions. It was rough back there with portions or gravel.

Once suited up I head out for the geysers. After getting lost several times I found the famous road and it did not disappoint. Beautiful vistas and awesome riding. After a moderate climb for about an hour on a one lane rough road, I came onto a near highway like road with smooth surfaces (for the area) and no traffic. I mean none!! I have no idea why the road is there and in such better condition than the others but I took advantage.

The climbing is tough and steep and fairly hot on this day. But once I crested the top, there is a 10-12k section of mostly descending pavement is in great condition. I took it kind of easy but it was so enjoyable with the big grippy tires and NO CARS!! So, I could not help thinking of the possibilities.
In Vancouver's north shore mountains there is Digger who maintains the trails. Digger is paid for his efforts though grants and some fundraising. It wouldn't take much more to spruce up some of the bad roads good enough for road bike traffic. It might just be a big boon to the bike economy in the area . Anyway. After some 100k of riding fun, I finished back at the hotel very satisfied. I must admit I was drooling g at the 100 or so wineries I passed with their wine tasting...

Next it was down to Santa Rosa for a run with my friend Glenn and a wonderful dinner that his wife Tanya prepared. Best day yet!

Problem is... I don't know what I'm doing or where I'm going tomorrow... Gotta figure it out. See the pictures :)

Day 4 - The Hills of Sonoma

If its Monday its got to be Santa Rosa. After breakfast with a good friend who I hadn't seen in a few years I took my TT bike to the local bike spa (johnathan's bike shop). The TT bike handlebars are slipping if I hit a bump at speed. This is Argons top of the line E118. It has spent more time at the spa than on the road. The bikes name is Dr. Zarkov (Flash Gordon's spaceship) but, I think I may rename it Betty Ford. Jonathan did his best to lock the bars down. I'll give her a roll later this week to see.

Anyway, Jonathan gave me a ride to do in the area while he worked on my bike. The ride would take me up in the hills of Sonoma. I swung my leg over the Cav (an S-Works Tarmac signed by Cav himself) and head down hwy12 through the vineyards of Kenwood and Kunde and countless others. I diverted off hwy12 towards Glen Ellen a town and vineyard the same. Beautiful country this. Just past Glen Ellen the road became rough and I mean really rough. My computer attachment to my handlebars broke free and skidded across the road. Two minutes later I flatted the rear tire. Next I was going to need dental work!!

Fortunately smoother roads was not far ahead. Back onto hwy12 then up Cavedale Rd. Cavedale is rough too but it doesn't matter with the 6-10% grade switchbacks going up you have plenty of time to avoid the badness. The climb is only about 7k. The views are amazing, vineyards all the way. You can see downtown San Francisco when you look to the south. Apparently Robin Williams has a house on this road but I have no idea which one it might be. After the climb you end up on trinity Rd for the downhill. What a downhill it is. Steep and filled with curves. Awesome! Instead of heading back to Santa Rosa I did another loop.

Great day out there today. So far its on my recommendation list but bring lots of tubes!
Tomorrow will be the famous route of Geysers. The wine is awesome here!!!

Day 3 - Drive to Santa Rosa

After driving to Portland after the race oN Saturday, Sunday was a full day of driving down to Santa Rosa. Sitting in a brew pub writing up these blogs. Beer is a good recovery drink :)

Tomorrow it's breakfast with my friend Glenn and then hit some Sonoma County pave.

Day 2 - Wenatchee - Apple Capital Duathlon

A great way to prepare for a race is to have a wicked sleep and that's just what I did. Woke up plenty early and started to prepare. Drove down to Confluence Park assembled the bike and went out for a very Leading Edge like running warm up. A few obviously fit characters I noticed doing the same thing. One woman was very serious about her preparation. I should take notes as she crushed this race taking first place. As for me, all systems go but with such a hilly course this is gunna hurt, lots!!

The First Run

Fairly uneventful first run. I ran my plan to a tee. Watched the pace on my Garmin watch and kept it within the limits. The hills were tough at race pace but I finished with a 20:25 5k. Not bad for me. My run to bike transition however took over a minute for some reason. No idea why... I finished the run in 5th spot and crawled out of transition in about 10th.

The Bike

Hopped on the bike and the first thing you got to do is climb out of the river gorge. Not too bad but a 100m climb to the roadway. I hammered the bike. I knew that it was my chance to make up some time. No one passed me but I passed about 8 riders just on the way out. There were some grades on the hills that approached 12%. It was a little difficult on the TT bike but I guess it worked for me. I came off the bike in 3rd spot (although I thought I was 4th).

The Second Feeble Run

The second run is the same course as the first. I did not feel very well on this run. The legs were toast!! I kept my eye on my watch. Somehow I was keeping it under a 5min pace. I thought I was in 4th so I just looked for people my age on the turnaround. No one within about 500m. So, I just kept the legs going. I was like prey waiting to be caught. I kept a 4:30 pace but I was sure that some of these guys have more than that in them. I was seriously hurting. Finally the 1k marker appeared. Time to pick it up?? Not a chance. The legs have one gear today. At 500k I looked back. Wholly crap... No one in sight. OMG!! I can't believe that no one caught me on the run!! I finished and assumed 4th place. It wasn't until another finisher came and congratulated me on my 3rd place that I knew. Yahoo!! I came 1st place in my age group 2nd place male and 3rd overall. Yikes!!! Great start to a race trip. Then I hopped in the car and drove to Portland.... Stiff. Beer in Portland was great.

2013 USA Race Trip - Day 1 - Wenatchee WA

Day 1 - Wenatchee Washington

Warm up for the Apple Capital Duathlon went great except for being lost most of the time. If there's one thing that can be said about the course is that it's hilly.  Mostly gradual but some zippers in the lollipop portion (turnaround) of the bike that will bring the speed down to something glacial. 

The course for tomorrow will be 5k run, 26k bike and another 5k run.  The run has.. A hill or two.  Probably about a 75m climb during each 5k.  It doesn't look like too bad of a course except that its on. Paved trails and that could crowd things up a bit. The bike basically does a slow climb for 5k, goes downhill for 5k and then climbs steep to the turn around point.  Oh yeah!  i almost forgot about the wind. It was frickin windy. Really frickin windy! All I can say is that I hope it marked well.  I was lost the whole time...

The town...it's small. Quaint. Nice riverfront area with sculptures and paved trails, great for running. The roads are fairly good for cycling. A bit roughed up from the winter. Very courteous drivers. I however would not recommend riding a bike on Wenatchee ave just off the highway. It freaked the drivers out!!

Beer and sushi for dinner tonight and we will just see what happens tomorrow...

Sorry...  No pictures today. Some tomorrow.