Base36/SMCC Cycling

Chris, Ben and I lined up at the 2009 tour of the Battenkill with the hopes of putting me on the podium with a carefully drawn out plan. If you know anything about this race you will understand that a plan is an exercise in time-wasting as flats, crashes, splits in the filed, etc can toss that plan right out the window. Chris and I had driven the course the day before to get a feel and know exactly where we needed to be up front. We rode the final dirt section of Stage Road through to the finish and turned around a headed back to the car. We think Floyd was out on the same stretch of road where we were warming up but never saw him. Bummer?!

Saturday morning I work up at a friends place we crashed knowing the "allergies" I had been lying to myself about was really a nasty cold but I had already made the 5 hr trip out there and I was gonna race. Pre-race prep was odd and slightly nervous. Nose spray to allow for proper breathing probably wasn't the best thing while trying to stay calm. Other worries about appropriate tire pressure, food, drink, etc. bounced around my head and at a certain point you just say "eff it, everything will work out" and with that we went to the start.

What a sketchy first 5 miles. Everyone who knew anything about the race knew they wanted to be up front so they could go through the covered bridge first. Twitchy and nervous. Just after we had our first dirt section which was pretty sedate- nothing loose, just some smooth, hard pack dirt. I could have ridden roads like that all day. Fortunately/Unfortunately that was the best dirt road we would see all day. Pretty soon we would hit Perry Hill which lead into the first real dirt of the day on Juniper Swamp Road. JS road wasn't bad until we rounded a 90 deg left hand turn and the road went up Depot style to 18% for 400 meters, the bummer part is you can't stand up- cus, well it's dirt which equals traction like non-stick cookware.
Probably the first fun dirt section came when we did the descent of Rich road. I can't remember much- but it was pretty fun, like a human in a video game- kind of fun.

The middle section of the race was fairly uneventful with lots of paved road. Joe Bean road was the next test that further reduced the contents of the pack. We knew just after Joe Bean was a dirt section called Ferguson Road where we had to be up front as the road was in terrible condition and it was gonna be fast. I have to say that hitting that dirt section in the top 5 was pretty rewarding because I knew we could pick our own lines and avoid some of the biggest, pinch flatting potholes. We dodged some earlier crash victims and ambulances and popped out of that dirt section unscathed. At this point Chris and I realized we had lost Ben somewhere back a little ways to a flat, 1 down.

Mile 41.5 at Burton Road is where the race would really unfold and in hindsight looking at the elevation chart and dirt sections, it should have been easy to predict. With in the next 10 miles there would be 2 grindy climbs, 3 dirt sections (2 featuring climbs) and a bunch of crashes. Becker Road Video Attacks slowly rolled off the front on Mountain Road and things just went single file. Single file on a gradual dirt climb is a perfect recipe for making the race blast to little tiny bits. Many were at their limit. Gaps open up, tires go flat, people crash on their own and crash into people going slower- it just turned to chaos and I'm glad I wasn't there to see it. Chris had a slow flat that became apparent through this section, bummertown. 2 down out of 3.
Once we entered the Meeting House hill dirt section the race was on. There were 8 cat 3''s spread over 200 meters of the stair step climb that seemingly threw pitch after pitch of dirt and all I could hit were singles up the middle. I needed the road to go flat so I could time trail back to the group. All I needed was 53x14, some flat road and 2 minutes and I was there. 8 guys. The race was on.
Hitting the last climb of Stage Road I knew I just needed to do my best to limit the damage and stay in close contact. By the end, I kept the gap to 200 meters which was manageable considering there was 4 miles of flat on the lead-in to town. Again, 53x14, 2 minutes and I rejoined. Cramps were in full force and so I knew my sprint was not going to be an option. I decided to try and jump 100 meters before the corner but within 2 pedal strokes I knew I couldn't get the gap needed to ride the 500 meters after the corner to the finish alone. I gave it everything I had but ended up off the podium in the sprint, but still good enough for 5th place. Given everything I was happy with the result. Wishing Ben and Chris had better luck on the day but Battenkill always makes things interesting. A race to put on the schedule next year, for sure.

Thanks for reading,
Jurgen

Ryan and Jamey when down to Myles Standish and apparently rode around like drugged up barbarians the whole time, towing the cat 4 field around at about 26 miles an hour for the duration of the race. Ryan got angry (but not so angry that he stopped smiling) and decided to win by diving the last 2 corners and drilling it to the finish which allowed all those behind only the smattering of hope they could hold his barbarian wheel and pass him before the finish. He just smiled while he crushed their souls...Ryan, you really should think about actually starting to train...

This weekend marked the first real weekend of racing for several Base36 members. I have to say, it was unlike last year’s 70 degree weather and top 10 results that marked the start of the 2008 season…

Day 1 – Chris, Jurgen, Ali, and I met at 5:50 a.m. for the drive to Ninigret Park in Rhode Island for some criterium racing. It was overcast in Portland, but we were all optimistic that the weather would improve as we drove south. We made great time all the way to the Rhode Island border, only stopping once to get Chris a box of 25 munchkins along the way. Everything was going just fine until Jurgen says “Doh, I think I need to get some gas.” About 30 seconds later, the car starts to loose power and it runs out of gas. Fortunately, a nice guy stopped and helped us get a can and gas to get back on the road in time to make the P123 race (barely).

We arrived at Ninigret Park to see sideways rain, temps in the low 40’s, and very strong winds. I opted out of the P123 race to focus on Masters 45+ in hopes of a dominating performance and some points toward a Category 2 upgrade, so I got the bikes ready while Jurgen and Chris registered.

During the P123 race, both Chris and Jurgen rode hard and wore the Base36 colors proudly; Jurgen displayed his awesome power throughout the race and ended up with a super-solid 11th place – one place out of the money.

I lined up for the 45+ race. We had put a plan in place where I wouldn’t chase anything until 12 laps to go, because I was without teammates. A break of 8 formed at lap 2 which ended up sticking for the entire race. Once I realized that we weren’t going to bring it back, I figured this would just be a threshold workout. I have to say, I can’t remember a much tougher race over the past few years. The rain was driving and we were fighting headwinds that were close to hurricane force. At the end of it all, I ended up 14th – solid but WAY out of the points.

At least we had a glorious dinner on the way back to Maine…

Day 2 – I woke up early for week #2 of the SIP Criterium Series. I could hear the wind howling outside and almost went back to bed, but I decided to grab my gear and head for Scarborough. The team raced well, we were represented in all of the breaks. Chris went with the first break and Ryan make a smart move and went with break #2, which landed him in 4th place for the day. I have to say, it was one of the hardest Scarborough races that I have ridden in. The wind on the back side of the course was unbelievable and my legs were complaining from the effort of the previous day. I hung on and tried to launch an early sprint to catch the field by surprise, but I didn’t have anything and ended up getting caught and passed by about 4 other racers at the finish. Again, out of the money and the points.

At least I ate a glorious Easter dinner afterward…

I have been thinking about last weekend’s racing all week and am determined not to land out of the points during this weekend’s racing. I have put it behind me because, all in all, it was an important weekend. You may ask why? Because it was super-hard, required mental fortitude, and physical power to hang in and continue in some of the worst weather conditions that I have raced in. That effort just can’t be duplicated during a training session, so we will be twice as strong from it. It is like putting money in the bank in preparation for cashing it in for the big win.

Thanks for reading,
Jeff

I would like to say that I will keep this one brief but I am not going to lie to you or myself. It's the first 'race' report of the season so I am understandably fresh in my enthusiasm to subject you all to my discursive thoughts about the race. Here is a little primer in the form of a picture shamelessly stolen from the flickr site Dana & Don McEwan, Maine's most stalwart cycling fans.

The picture above is notable for several reasons, most of which are evident upon further inspection:

Notice here the juxtaposition of Joe & Ralph's respective enthusiasm and awe at the speed, fitness, and general good looks of the passing racers, alongside Ali's impatient watch-checking wondering how much longer good girlfriend duty necessitates standing outside in the cold watching thin men ride in circles. El Presidente Dr. Steve is presiding stoically over the whole matter ready to calmly move in and mitigate any incidents that may arise and David Shedd actually appears to have his mouth closed (sorry Dave).

But as for the race itself it was about just as entertaining as any SIP crit that I have done. DV didn't show up and make people want to throw their bikes in the trash can and take up gardening, which was nice of him. There were no clashes of overly cantankerous nervous roadies and volunteers, which was also nice. Base36 scored a pseudo win, to which I was ambivalent. Here is the quick report.

Chris Green attacked essentially before the start, which everyone knows is at least 2 laps into a training crit. He proceeded to slay it in a small group that Ben the Butcher managed to get into. That break didn't work well and fell apart. Next, from what I remember Morgan McCloud (spelled incorrectly mostly on purpose) attacked and brought 2 random guys with him and they dangled until Ryan MacDonald & Jurgen bridged up towing Tommy G, myself, & Chris Green. Ryan then refused to do any work (another reason why the photo above is notable - irony) for the next several laps. Morgan was gassed from being out there for awhile so the rest of us created the gap while Morgan recovered and Ryan relaxed. Once everyone started to contribute I noticed the two (?) guys that were with Morgan had magically transformed into a gasping Bob the Builder who was woefully unable to pull through for awhile, which was fine with me since I am always glad to have him as company. There has never been a situation where Bob was not thoroughly entertaining & amicable and taking pulls at 400 watts going around in circles proved to be no different so I forgave him his free ride.

That was our little band of merry men that held to the finish. I felt a little bad that Dixon got caught out but I knew that if the break dissolved he would be fresh for a 53x11 sprintastic finish. People started soft pedaling with 2 to go but in light of my leg thing I was just happy to be trading punches again with such good riders so I was eager to get the work in. Morgan made a GREAT move before the last turn, gapped the field, and held it to the line a la Haussler. I was a bit late in responding but I tried to drag Jurgen up there to throw down a sprint but it was a little too late. If it had to be anyone crossing the line first other than J-Man or myself I would have wanted it to be Morgan so no loss there.

After the race we gathered the troops and rode down to Saco for fuel then Jurgen & I hit the Eastern Trail for some road-bike-on-dirt action.

The B race looked bigger & faster than I have ever seen which heartened me as to the direction Southern Maine cycling is heading. There seemed to be a half dozen or more women in there as well which was a bonus. I will be there for the volunteer effort next week on the Resurrection (Easter) and, unless I can convince Ralph to take over the duty during the A race, I will be merely a loud spectator/voluteer. I hope to see a bunch of people there. The weather looks good.

Chris

The frantic and futile feeling of despair that descended on me last week speaks to the depth of the imbalance in my life. Much in the same way that I cultivate only strength specific to the function of propelling me forward on a bicycle while neglecting and forsaking all other muscles that I deem to be useless to that end, last week I realized that I had been so singularly focused on living life as a bike racer that when fate decided to take that part of myself away from me I was left grasping at atrophied, weak vestiges of neglected self that I had once been.

I was told it was probably saphenous nerve entrapment syndrome that had kept me from being able to pedal my bike with any tolerable amount of pain for the three weeks before. SNE is a rare occurrence where a major nerve in the leg that runs from your groin down to your foot becomes pinched off in the canal that is supposed to house it comfortably. This type of thing is usually misdiagnosed, mistreated, and chronic. It typically results in cortisone shots and/or surgery, neither of which have acceptably high degree of effectiveness. The misdiagnosis & mistreatment for me came when I went to get what I thought was a pulled groin checked out. The doctor's agreed with me that I had indeed pulled my groin, as my story and my symptoms were consist with that. The best possible way back to the bike it seemed would be physical therapy. But since the good people at OE do such good work, when I wasn't getting better after a week or so, and was in fact getting WORSE, SNE was thrown out as a possibility. I was told that my season could effectively be over as well as potentially all my days training and racing a bike. This isn't a direct quote, it was just heavily inferred.

So I did what any of you would have done: I freaked out, had a meltdown, and further tested my girlfriend's patience with "the bike racing" (she has proved to be more resilient than I expected) by plummeting into a horrible mood for days on end. Facing a future void of early morning sunrise rides, crests over Dutton with tunnel vision and a 190 pulse only to be caught on the flats, long car rides to cities I would otherwise have no business being in, counting calories watts & pounds, bonking so hard I forget my own name, and the deep friendships that arise while sharing such experiences was a bit too much. I realized I had put ALL of myself into cycling. And when this one thing that I used to define myself was stripped away I was left looking in the mirror as if at a stranger to whom's uncertain fate I was indifferent.

I have since progressed enough with my leg (the SNE thing) to be able to start training again (this was my first week back) albeit with a healthy consciousness of a) the precariousness of the leg situation and b) the need to broaden my self-definition. I can hear my old philosophy professors chiding me in the background about the importance of self-mastery and broad perspectives. They are (and will remain) correct but, as always the lesson is only learned when its truth is felt not heard.

I'll see you out there.
Chris

The weather in Maine and New England is just plain cruel. You come to appreciate the the cold temps and snow especially around the holidays and even into January but when late February and March rolls around you've generally had enough and curse every morning you wake up and see new snow on the roads. The weather almost has a mind of it's own- one day there's a good melt then a couple days later you get a snow storm that sets you back weeks. Makes you really wonder why you live here, especially if you don't ski.

There are two ways to combat this bad weather: 1) heavy anti depressants for long trainer sessions or 2) getting the heck out of the state in search of temperatures 2-3x's the current state of affairs in Maine. Fortunately, I got a good dose of the latter in the past 3 weeks. Work "forced" me to go out to Santa Barbara, CA where the riding was, well, awesome. 65-70 and sunny, like there's some thermostat for the place with one of those clear locked boxes around it. I could actually ride sans 15 layers on my body and be outside for 3 hours without being miserable. Good quality time on the bike. Also since I work too much and vacation too little, I've racked up a fair amount of vacation time over the past year. It was time to cash in a bit. Isabel and I set out to visit a totally new place- a place of course where I could ride lots. We decided on Austin, TX. Never been to Austin before, but what a good time! Great food, music, coffee shops and entertainment. The riding there was awesome. 80 to 85 every day and fairly dry, although the locals are not happy as they have been in a drought for over a year and a half. Riding south of the city was perfect- endless, straight roads that went through farm land, hardly any traffic. On Sunday I hooked up with a group of guys out of Austin Bikes and rode out to the unofficial "Tuesday Night Race" course and did a few laps at race pace for some threshold and speed work. When Lance is in town he shows up and throws down. I would highly recommend Austin for a mid winter getaway, especially if you are looking for good, warm weather miles.

Back to reality in Maine. Riding the trainer to great distaste, while sporting a mid summer like tan. Battenkill is right around the corner- less than 6 weeks! Happy training!

Jurgen

Well, it is finally here (almost) – we will be moving the clocks ahead 1 hour this Saturday night. For me, this is a really good thing. I am not a morning person, so the additional hour of daylight at the end of the day means that I can start shifting my weekday training outdoors. Evening group rides will be beginning soon – including the new Base36 Tuesday night slug-fest.

For those of you living in the Portland area, this ride will be worth checking out. It will feature a good amount of climbing with pre-determined soft pedal zones at the top of the hardest climbs to allow for regrouping. There will also be several pre-determined town line sprints for bragging rights – don’t worry Chris, you may be able to win a couple on my rest week. The ride will be departing from Gorham Bike and Ski on Congress Street in Portland every Tuesday night. The early season rides will depart at 5:00, and the summer rides will depart at 5:45. We will have the route posted soon. It will be a great mix of climbing and all-out flat hammering. We hope to see you there!

Jeff

*hover over image to see Jeff's file, Jamey's is the non-hover file.
Alright, so I have only been on 1 outside training ride in 2009. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t been killing myself on the trainer. I guess I find riding inside a little less boring than some of my teammates do. I have been logging many hours every week in preparation for Base36 domination this season.

Perhaps the trainer is a little more interesting because I am lucky enough to have a Computrainer in my “man room”. I follow a power based training plan all winter long and has usually paid off during the early season races, but this year, like every other year, I questioned where I stood…

That is until I rode the Ride of Truth, a.k.a. Stage 2 of the Green Mountain Stage race on the Computrainer. I recorded some solid wattages and a solid time, especially for the off season. I was crushed by the time I finished. I had gone through 6 bottles of water, 2 packages of Sharkies, a banana, and a granola bar. It felt like I had really done the ride outside.

I “enjoyed” the session so much; I invited my teammates to partake in the Ride of Truth as well. So far only Jamey “Braveheart” Jones has taken me up on my challenge. Where are the rest of you?? I am sure Chris is trying to squeak out a couple of additional weeks of threshold training before arriving at my house to take part in the challenge. Let me throw this out here right now: Chris, you will not beat my time and wattage – if you do, I will buy you lunch at your place of choosing. You had better hurry – this offer expires at the end of February!

Yes, I know that 'warrioring' may not be an official word but I believe I am safe in assuming that you can infer it's meaning, a meaning that most of the team embodied this past long President's Day weekend.

Saturday Chris and Jurgen met at 8 in the AM at Back Bay to flip the Maine winter weather the proverbial bird. The objective was achieved by getting in a solid 3 hour ride in hardman conditions despite Chris choking back womanly tears on occasion and Jurgen having whiskey in his bottle in order to insulate from the cold. Some hours later Dixon, Jamey, Ryan, and Richard, a friend of Base36 Cycling, got to stick it to Maine's weather further by getting out there for their own group training ride (picture above). No losses of dignitas or decorum were reported. They are truly hard.

Sunday Jurgen went big and got in a 4 hour block while other Base36ers diligently toiled to get in their training.

Monday Chris, not to be outdone, hit the road for 5 hours armed with only a PBR pounder, a rare steak, and an iPod playing Iron Maiden's "Hallowed Be Thy Name" on repeat.

To quote Jeff "I feel so bad for all the other teams in New England." Indeed, Jeff. Indeed.

Yes. It has officially started: threshold intervals. 'Why so early?' you might ask between gasps of shock and disbelief that rock your body with uncontrollable spasms. Well, if we are going to get people some upgrade points earlier is better. I want to be feeling good when people are just breaking off the rust in their legs after a long winter's nap. Hopefully my work now will be a benefit for teammates looking to upgrade to cat2. I suspect that by May we will have 3 cat2s: me, Jurgen, & Jeff.
Honestly, that I did this workout is much less shocking than when I did it. A discerning eye will have already seen that the clock on my computer reads 9:10PM, which is typically the time I would be in bed reading VeloNews and feeling guilty that I wasn't reading a more sustantive tome. I was set up in the bedroom and at the end of my workout Ali was already laying in bed asking when I was going to be done with a bit of forced patience in her voice, which I appreciated. Of course, at that time Dixon was probably 2 hours into his trainer ride that lasted until 11:30PM or some God awful time.
Stay tuned. More updates to come. The next post will hopefully be from someone else as we are officially in jeopardy of this page becoming my own personal blog.

Chris

The first race of the 2009 season is fast approaching. I have occasion to remind myself of this often lately since I just started up threshold intervals. In the morning before work or in the evening when most other people are watching TV I am putting time in the Bank of Fitness so-to-speak (not to be confused with the Bank of Dixon, which is an different thing entirely). Whenever I find myself losing the motivation necessary to climb atop my bike in the early hours of the morning or late hours of the evening I look up at a picture taken by friend and team photographer Seth Chenard at the end of the first race of my 2008 season; Marblehead. I am slumped over the bars, head in hands, filled with despair and disappointment after getting dropped from my first serious P123 race. Just a glance up at it usually gives me heart enough to throw my leg over my bike perched on my trainer and get the day's workout done.

The team is currently winding down its sponsorship drive for the 2009 season and is asking companies to participate in an exciting opportunity. Base36/SMCC is one of New England's premier cycling teams and we are looking for businesses of all sizes to join the team for the upcoming 2009 season. Click below for more information.

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