I had a dream that someday, I would graduate the ranks of the Cat 4 roadies and get a Cat 3 license. Today that dream became reality. After fininshing with the pack of the Cat 3/4 race in Fredericksburg this past Sunday, I got the final piece of the puzzle needed to fulfill upgrade requirements.
It was an interesting race to close out my career as a Cat 4, and transition into the 3’s. You see, I’ve never done a Cat 3/4 race on the road. I’ve raced Cat 3/4 crits on flat circles for about 45 minutes, but never on a true road race 52 miles long and lasting over 2 hours, not to mention on some of the most varied terrain I’ve ever raced a bike over before.
This course had a bit of everything. Gradual climbs, steep climbs, gradual descents, steep descents, cattle guards, low water crossings (1 of which actually had water that we hit at 35 mph+), roads that went from 15′ wide to maybe 8′. Then there was the blistering heat, that for many, turned the race into a matter of survival and just finishing the race rather than actually trying to place. I struggled on some of the steeper climbs and the very fast and sustained attacks. I should also point out that I was racing Suicidal Tendencies (ST), the newly named Bridgestone RB-2 that replaced the Ross as my new road bike. It is a beauty of a bike and very high tech for its time (1988), but this is 2009 and bikes have come a long way since then. On a course like thise with 1200 ft elevation gain per lap (2 laps total), weight does become a factor. I was lugging around an extra 5-6 lbs compared to the all the other carbon frames and super fancy wheelsets. My downtube shifters also put me at a slight disadvantage because I couldn’t always shift into a gear fast enough if the pack suddenly slowed, say because of a steep little climb. So yes, objectively, on a small scale, my equipment was somewhat of a hinderance.
Subjectively though, I’m a firm believer that it’s not about the bike. I don’t depend on expensive equipment to make me faster. Hard work, determination, heart, and good preparation are much more effective (and affordable!) ways to get the job done, so ST and I just hung tight with the pack. A bottle fiasco in the feed zone dropped me from the group and left me digging for everything that I had for 10 minutes to catch the pack and try to recover far longer than that as riders kept attacking off the front. The incident was extremely frustrating ( another rider grabbed my bottle from Colleen, but dropped it because she wasn’t trying to give it to him-I needed water badly, so I waited for her to pick up and hand it to me), but I had no choice but to tell myself it was nobody’s fault and that if I didn’t bust my rear to get back to the pack my race was done, as was my chance to upgrade.
The effort paid off, but the damage was done. I knew I was vulnerable to anymore really strong attacks or punishing climbs. Placing well is always a thought in the racer’s mind, but I quickly dismissed it and focused on just finishing with the pack. Luckily, the conditions were taking their toll on all the other riders as well, and no attacks made it out that didn’t get pulled back in. There were sections on the last 5 miles of the race where the whole field was just moving at a crawl. It felt kind of gloomy, like we were all sharing some kind of dark fate, but once we took a right turn back on the highway into town, it was every man for himself.
The record will show that I finished 32nd. In a pack finish, unless you are top 10, it doesn’t really matter where you finished-you finished with the pack. In a race like this, that is accomplishment in itself. Not a bad way to say goodbye to my Cat 4 friends, and hello to my new 3’s. Whenever one door closes, another one always opens.
I am no exercise kinesiologist or personal trainer. But I am an experienced athlete, and a diligent researcher when it comes to what equipment is the most ergonomic for my body. Hop over to my tech corner and you’ll see all kinds of stuff related to better cycling ergonomics. Large sweep handlebars, cleat shims for your shoes, narrow q-factor cranks. And a bunch of stuff I have yet to add. Today’s focus is actually not cycling or nutrition related, as most of my entries tend to be. It’s about running. Healthier, more effecient running. The beauty of running is that it requires no equipment, other than maybe a pair of shorts and a sports bra if you are female. Shoes you ask? You don’t need them. Much like you have been conditioned your entire life to believe you need a lot of carbohydrates to function properly, society and shoes companies have brainwashed you into thinking you need shoes to run better and more injury free. Shoe companies come out with new “technology” and gadgets every year to try and stay ahead of the competition. Stores that sell running shoes would have you believe that you can hop on a treadmill in their store while they analyze your gait and determine that you are an overpronator and have an extremely high arch. They then proceed to sell you a shoe that is supposed to correct these “problems.” Both shoe companies and retailers only have one thing on their minds: your money. A few months ago, having developed a lot of interest in barefoot running and minimal shoes ( 
I’ve had some pretty good results at Xterras lately, so I thought it was time to up the ante and sign up for the South Central Cup race in North Little Rock this weekend. Colleen and I left Austin for kinfolk housing in Terrell Thurs night. Friday morning we finished the remaining 300 miles to Little Rock in good time to setup camp, pre-ride, do packet pickup, and go to downtown Little Rock for a little sight seeing. I usually travel far for the race itself, but if I’m going to travel far I always try to get in as much sight seeing as possible and make a mini vacation of the trip. Knowing that the race would be very hot the next morning didn’t keep me from enjoying some samples at Bosco’s microbrewery. It was warm tent camping Friday night, but nothing a cold shower couldn’t fix. By race start 10am, the heat index was already 100 degrees. This did not initially concern me since I ride in the heat, I run in the heat, I even live and sleep in the heat, all so that I can perform better in the heat, and Texas has a lot of heat. Swimming in the heat, however, is something entirely new to me.The temperature of the water was in the upper 80’s and not wetsuit legal. It was also regulation 1500 meters, something else this bread and butter cross country mountain biker racer isn’t used to. A slow start in the steamy water eventually turned into, well, a slow, uncomfortable, very challenging swim. It was very frustrating and very disheartening. The people I was hoping to compete with got out of the water in 24 minutes-I exited in 39.This would prove to be an insurmountable gap, but I would s
till race as if I had a chance. Having been in that hot tub for nearly 40 minutes took its toll on me, and I had a hard time getting up to speed on the 17.5 mile bike. After 1 of 2 laps things finally started to click and I began to make up some time. A quick T2 transition setup for a good start to the 6.2 mile run. I was really dreading this run now that it was super hot and a lot of it was on the road, fully exposed to the sun-plus I don’t consider myself a very good runner. Something was different this go race though. My form and cadence felt great heading into the steep “billy goat” scramble- a very rocky climb to the top of a cliff towering above the Arkansas river.(Look carefully at the photo and you can see a fence at the top. This fence only protected about ¼ of the Cliffside run. The other ¾, well, you best
keep a safe distance!) The view and run along top was nice, but the switchbacks back down the hill were a welcome relief because it meant no more climbing, and the turn around point for the run. I was on cruise control, picking off runners one by one. My confidence got stronger and stronger, as did my pace as I neared the finish line via the road that the course went out on. Then came the right turn up one more long, gradual, sun filled hill. It was strewn with demoralized, dehydrated racers walking up it at snails pace. I myself walked a good chunk of it, but still ran as much as I could because I suspected there was water at the top. Sure enough, there was, and it was cold. Just what I needed to get through the last mile of running, mostly downhill to the finish. The race results had verified what I was expecting. No
You betcha. The title says what I have long preached that anti-bacterial this, anti-biotic that, cook to a certain temperature, pasteurize it, you name it, will eventually be the death of us. Heck I even remember posting a quote up in one of my original “Eat Like a Caveman” posts. In case you forgot it, here it is again: