California State Fair Presentation

This year at the State Fair there is a "Pedaling to Adventure" exhibit which showcases the history of bicycles and bicycle racing.  It's a really interesting place to walk through, especially the mountain bike section with the pictures and stories of the first races down Mt. Tam on modified cruiser bikes.

I was asked to help out with this exhibit and supplied a few jerseys for a shadow box and a story about "my first bike" for one wall where my story was amongst other big names in cycling, Olympians, national and world champions, and hall of fame members.  Looking around at the other people showcased on that wall I was truly humbled to be in their company.  I was also asked to come and speak about mountain bike racing and be available for questions.

So this past Saturday I sat down in front of a crowd on two separate occasions and shared my passion about mountain biking and my experiences with racing.  I fielded a number of questions as well which was my favorite part.  Two questions which spanned both presentation times were of course, "what's my worst crash?" (which would be about a month ago when I nearly crushed my trachea) and "what's the longest ride I've ever done?" (which was, at the time, 60 miles on mtb and 80 on road, but see my last post).  But overall it was just great to interact with people interested in cycling and asking honest questions about what it takes to race at my level.  I'm very happy that I was able to contribute to such a great exhibit and help promote cycling in all aspects.

Sunday Ride

So due to various circumstances my mountain bikes are still in Colorado.  At least I have a road bike.  But I had this crazy idea to do the longest ride I've ever done today.  Just to see how it would feel.  There's a stage in the Tour of California from Sacrament or Davis to Santa Rosa that I'd been wanting to try.  So today Jen was riding with some friends in Vallejo which was the perfect opportunity for me to ride most of that stage.  I set out at 6:30am (yeah, on a Sunday, on purpose!) from the house with 4 bottles with Hammer HEED, 5 Hammer Gels, 8 mini Clif bars, a stick of Clif Shot Bloks, a Lara Bar and a Justin's Peanut Butter packet.  Too much food but I didn't know really what my body was going to need for that kind of ride.  Turns out my usual 100 calories every half hour still did the job.  Those mini Clif bars turned out to be great for that after the 3hr mark.

The delta breeze has been cooling us off nicely here in Sacramento in the evenings, but when your on a bike heading south/southwest it's not so nice.  Headwind, ugh.  It wasn't too bad actually until I made my way up the canyon towards Lake Berryessa where the wind gets funneled down and picks up steam.  Well, enough about headwinds, they stink.  It's beautiful country around the Lake and made for a great ride.  Especially once I got to  Pope Valley Rd. and rolled through the vineyards in Capell Valley (I think that's what it's called).  I started to see other riders out on the road and getting ready for their rides around the valley on this beautiful Sunday.  I may have been the only one on the day to turn up Howell Mtn. Rd. for the 1000ft. climb. I hit the base of the climb at the 4hr mark and settled in for the grind up.  I crested the climb after about 18 minutes and cruised through the town of Angwin happy with myself that I didn't take a cutoff to avoid the climb and made most of the climb standing on the pedals.  I was in good spirits as I sped down Deer Valley Rd. thinking the hardest part of the day's ride was over.  But I didn't know the wind had picked up was waiting to push against me once I got down to the valley.  I turned south on Silverado Trail and headed toward Vallejo, wind in my face.  Oh well, I've already mentioned my hatred of wind.  I finished off my 4th bottle and made a stop at a vineyard along the road to fill up two more after I passed the 100 mile mark at 5hrs 15min.  After a couple calls to Jen since I missed a turn to our friend's place I arrived... and boy food never tasted so good after 125 miles and 6hrs and 45min on the bike :-)

Hope everyone had a great Sunday!

Pro upgrade, back on the bike, Downieville Classic & National Championships

My goal for 2010 was to meet USA Cycling's requirement's to upgrade to pro. After my performance at Fontana, Santa Ynez, and the Sea Otter Classic races this spring I met those requirements and checked off that goal. But then what next? Do I finish out the year in Cat 1 or dive head first into the pro ranks and see what happens? What would look better to potential sponsors? What would be most beneficial? I decided to go ahead with the pro upgrade mid-

season and see what I could do, and gain experience racing in "the show." I figured that it's what I really wanted, and there was no reason to wait. And then my education started...

Lesson #1: Ease back into training after extended rest.

After returning from my two weeks off for vacation, I got back on the bike and to my normal routine, like I'd never left. Bad idea. I ended up with a sprained right wrist and tendinitis in my left knee (patella) and right achilles. These nagging injuries, especially the knee, really set me back. I'd say about 4 weeks of real training was lost before I was able to ride relatively pain free.

Lesson #2: You can do TOO many races.

The second week of June, I began a three week stint where I would race 7 events. It was fine last year, but last year I didn't loose a month of training because of an injury. Sure I still had my base fitness from earlier in the year, but my body wasn't yet equipped for the rapid recovery and intensity I would need. Plus, I couldn't do the proper interval and hill training I needed (in hindsight).

Lesson #3: You can't "catch up" on lost training time by avoiding rest.

By the end of the Prairie City season, I wasn't winning outright like I was last year, and I wasn't feeling as fit on the climbs. I skipped on rest weeks and trained through, getting in long rides in Auburn with extra climbing. Seemed like a good idea then, but by the time July came, my energy level was falling. The week of the Downieville Classic I just felt drained rather than rested and ready.

Downieville-

I had high expectations for myself for this year's Downieville Classic. I of course wanted to beat my time from last year, but I wanted to crack into the top 15 in the overall All Mountain Pro category. Due to excessive snow, I wasn't able to get up to Downieville for training until the weekend before the race. But after that ride I was feeling pretty confident because I remembered the trails well.

Saturday's XC started with the usual mob in Sierra City. But I snagged a front row start position and when the gun went off I was at a comfortable pace in 3rd. Then the train of Carl Decker, Adam Craig, Sid Taberlay, and Tim Olsen went by. I should have jumped on their wheel and held on as long as I could. I'm racing pro to get faster, and that's the only way it will come is pushing myself to ride at their pace. But I maintained my pace and rode the 8 mileclimb with Mark Weir in about 56 minutes. I believe that's two minutes faster than last year. Weir left me in the dust on Sunrise trail, and I was caught by Ross Schnell. But I passed Schnell back and gapped him before the baby-heads trail. I rode Pauley Creek and Butcher without incident and crossed the bridge to begin the climb up to 3rd divide. But at the end of the bridge was a guy yelling and flapping in a chicken suit! He made me laugh and when I turned my front wheel went off the bridge and I laid it over. After having a good laugh at myself I charged up the climb, but Schnell had caught me again and I let him by before 3rd divide since I knew he'd be faster. On the downhills I was pushing my Giant Anthem as fast as I could, but it's short travel was limiting me. I needed to be looking farther ahead because of the speed, but I found myself looking too close to my wheel because I needed to choose smooth lines the bike could handle. I felt like I was skipping down the trail at times. I made it to the bottom with a time of 2:07:07. Three minutes faster than last year and in 13th place.

I was looking for a solid sub 50 minute time for Sunday's downhill. I got through Sunrise smoothly and upper Butcher Ranch trail fast. I was having my best run for sure when my chain comes off and gets wrapped up in my rear dérailleur. After loosing some substantial time rethreading it I get going again. Later on down the hill I hear a rotational noise but I don't know what it is and everything seems to be working fine. But by the flats on 1st Divide trail I feel like I'm working really hard to not be going very fast. My finish time comes in at 51 minutes flat. After the finish line I discover that my rear wheel had pulled two spokes out of their holes causing the tire to severely rub the frame. That was definitely slowing me down.

Even after all that, I ended up 18th overall for the Pro All Mountain. And I'm pretty happy with that. So I rushed home to pack the bike up for shipment to Colorado.

Nationals-

Again this year I have to give a big shout out and thanks to Billet Transportation for letting my bikes accompany the Napa wine on a truck to Denver. And to Classic Wines in Denver for receiving and holding the bikes until I could pick them up after my flight out there on Wednesday. And a huge thank you goes to Jen's cousin Jonathan for letting us use his spare car and stay in his apartment in Denver!

After our flight out on Wednesday, my teammate and I ended up having to walk about 8 blocks to the place where we were staying. Doesn't seem like much, but I was carrying Dee's bike box by shoulder strap. That really tweaked and fatigued my shoulders and back which were already tense from travel. We got to the room though and after building our bikes, set out up the hills to Granby for our course preriding. We got up there late and finally got riding about 5:45. Dee was on a different course so I told her I'd ride for 1 to 1.5 hrs and get as many laps in as I could, or until they kick us out. Unfortunately there was a miscommunication and she ended up going back out for another lap of her course without my knowledge. I rode for about an hour and a half and then killed time by figuring out we had put the trunk bike rack on upside down (oops!). Once I fixed that, she still wasn't back, and I was getting pretty worked up. I hadn't brought any other food than gels and recovery drink and I needed to eat and recover properly. Much less begin our 1.5hr drive back down to Denver. Thankfully, just before it got dark and as I was sending out a search crew on their moto's Dee finished her second lap. I tried to subdue my bad attitude at that point and just be thankful that she wasn't hurt out there somewhere. And focus on the good preride I had and that my WTB Nano's were going to be a great tire for that course.

So Wednesday didn't go as planned, so I tried to make up for it by getting a massage on Thursday. 90 minutes of awesomeness was a fantastic idea. But my back was still pretty sore on Friday. Jen flew in on Friday morning (woohoo!) and we made our way back up to Granby in the afternoon because Dee's race was at 8am on Sunday. I got out for another late day ride and decided to ride up to the top of the hill and see what the Super D course was like, and if I would still be better off racing my Giant Reign X or just stick with the Anthem. I quickly found out that my Reign X would be better after my front tire was pulled off its bead in a loose and rocky section of trail. Thankfully I could ride the chairlift back down the hill and I didn't have to walk it. I was able to remount the tire with the help of the bike shop in the lodge but time was ticking. I had told Jen I'd only ride for an hour or so. It was pretty much beyond that point by the time I got the bike fixed. But I had only gotten about 15 minutes of riding in so I decided to push it and go do one more lap of my pro xc course. And yeah, it was still as rough as it was on Wednesday.

I get back to the hotel to find that we had to switch rooms. Ahh!!! Ok, relax, no big deal. Maybe they can still let us stay in this room through Saturday night and we don't have to pack up and switch again. We go to the front desk and ask if that'd be possible, and for a second it was. But then... no. There seemed to be a time-share owner coming in over the weekend so it wouldn't. Ahh! It just seemed like everything was fighting me in my race preparation. I just tried to remain calm and relaxed though, there was nothing I could do about it.

Race day. The gun goes off and I'm sprinting up that nasty climb with 60 other racers. All I can see is dust and bikes in my way. But there's just not enough room! Nowhere to pass and I'm forced to run through one switchback due to a bottleneck. We come to a near stop before entering the first wooded singletrack, was this for real?

Yes, that's how important good starts are in the pros! You snooze, you're gapped and behind big time. Once everyone got situated and we made our way up the long climb I began to pick people off. I was feeling pretty good and passed some more on the fast downhill. By the end of our shortened start lap I would guess I'm in about 35th or so. The next part of the course is the newly cut trail and is just rough and brutal.

It was really hard to pedal through and proved to be really hard on my lower back as the race went on. I kept charging at a good pace and into my 3rd lap I would say I'm up maybe as high as 25th and then I just seemed to hit a wall. I couldn't push any harder and I was going backwards. I was getting a nasty headache and it seemed like I couldn't drink enough water. It was a really hot day but I've raced in hotter, I didn't think it'd be a problem. My back was also really tightening up too. I'm ashamed to say that I was happy Todd Wells passed me just before I would go out for my last lap so I didn't have to because I was done. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but probably a lot of factors went into that major bonk. Still it was a great learning experience. The course was all about climbing and I learned a lot about how I will need to train for future races at this level.

Thankfully, it turned out that we didn't have to switch rooms for Saturday night. That was a relief, and we got to just relax.

I was up on the mountain at 7am Sunday morning rolling my Reign X down the Super D course. That bike was great for the course, except for the middle climb which was fairly long. 34lbs was a beast of a bike to race up a climb, but the bike does pedal really well for such a long travel bike. Almost race time and we all put our bikes at the top of the hill and walk down to get ready for our le mans start. I suggest to the guys around me we do a neutral start walk up the hill to our bikes in protest of the format. There seems to be some serious interest, and some just laugh. I should have tried to push the idea further, I think we could have gotten an agreement. Maybe next year... :-).

And we off... running... finally on my bike and in the craziness racers are going everywhere. I follow Carl Decker through some barrier tape because we couldn't see where the course went. The mob of racers were just heading to the trail in the trees. Again, like my xc race on Saturday, we come to a near stop when entering the singletrack because of traffic. There were just too many racers for a course like this to be run as a mass start.

At this point a top finish is out of the picture so it's just time to do the best I can and have fun. I'm not willing to put someone into a tree for 20th spot, not worth it. Half way down I actually pass a few people on the climb but then I'm held up behind someone else in another section of trees.

We race down to the finish, still with nowhere to pass and I roll in as the 32nd finisher. Oh well. That result doesn't really say much other than I raced and didn't get the best start. It was still fun though.

So I have 6 hours 'till my short track race, a lift ticket, downhill trails, and my Reign X. Time for some fun :-). I couldn't help myself and I made two lift assisted DH runs... awesome. Moga's Mile to Silky Johnson trails are awesome! So what if my rear brake wasn't working anymore...

Ok, so maybe doing DH runs wasn't the best way to recover and prepare for short track. It was going to be painful anyways. I'd never raced a short track event before and I was here to learn what I need to do for next year. And just like the xc, it was a big learning experience. The start, again, is everything. From the back of the start line when the gun goes off, there's just dust and wheels. I avoid the token crasher in the first corner, there's always somebody. And after that almost get pushed into the fence but I held it. Then the climb up the 4x course, ouch.

I'm in, oh 3rd to last. But I pick up about 5 positions in a snap by passing in the grass before the first downhill. I'm starting to find my rhythm on the course and picking guys off more and more when as I'm coming up to the finish I'm pulled. Really??? After only 8 minutes?!?! Yep, Todd Wells is the man. And also the course was so short, not even a 1/4 mile, that by the time everyone was strung out after the start the field took up half of the course! It was inevitable that over half of the field would end up being lapped and pulled. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted. 46th.

Yeah, I'm disappointed that my results weren't better. But the weekend was far from a failure. I gained extremely valuable experience and I know what I need to do and how I need to train to be successful in the pros. I know just how off of top form I am right now because of my lack of training and proper rest leading up to this weekend and how well I can do when the time comes next year. I will be ready... targets acquired... :-)

Old Blogs

I'm migrating everything over to this new site, but all the old posts are still available here: http://www.hookit.com/members/clintclaassen/blog/

Fontana City Nationals

I made the 6hr (each way) trip down to southern California for the first stop on the USAC National Calendar and Fontana City Nationals/Pro XCT #1 last weekend.  Saturday morning my brother DJ and I went out for a pre ride of the xc course, and I really needed to loosen my legs up after Friday night's drive.  To start it off, there were 30-50mph winds bucking around the hills which is just not enjoyable to say the least.  I hate wind, it wriled me up and I get really agitated way to easily.  I had brought two wheelsets with different tire setups and I wanted to try out my "risky" and lightweight combo first.  A setup that was against the advise of most everyone I'd talked to.  We set off on the course, which is dry, loose, sandy, and rocky.  And for Cat 1's we got to climb the big hill that the pro's pedal as well, which they say goes to 30% incline and is quite loose.  The rest of the course consisted of tight single track with short "punchy" climbs you just have to stand up for and power over.  There is a fun singletrack section on the back which I had fun railing and then it drops into flat sections back to the finish.  I quickly learned that my "risky" tire setup (WTB Wolverine 1.95 front and WTB Vulpine SL 1.9 rear) was just a bad choice for that course because of the very loose conditions requiring more rubber, the rocky sections requiring more volume, and the wind bucking around creating general unstability.  After one prelap I was eager to get back to the car and change wheels to my trusty WTB Nano 2.1 front and rear setup (go-to favorite).  After the first few turns on prelap 2 I was instantly more comfortable.  I got to know the course a little better but really just wanted to get out of the wind.  I left the site not feeling very good about my prelaps and in a general fussy mood...
A bad dress rehearsal makes for a good performance...
8:30am race day morning... NO WIND!!!  It was a beautiful day and the sun was hot, luckily my race was early enough that temps were still perfect.  After a good warmup I was ready, but not feeling as great as I did two weeks prior at the Cool MTB Race.  My goal for this race was to come in with a top 5 time over all Cat 1 age groups, one of the requirements for a USAC pro upgrade.  It's a tall order but I've been working hard and I feel I can do it.  On the start line I'm nothing but a figity mess with a heart rate of 135 just sitting there waiting.  The whistle blows and we're off and I get a great start!

After a few turns and the initial start sprints I settle in at 4th.  We make our way to the base of the famous climb and I pass for 1st.  I ride up about half way but have to get off and run it, which is just as fast it's so steep.  A couple guys were able to ride past initially but eventually everyone was running.  I get to the top in 3rd and play a little catch up on the single track.  After a few turns and climbs on the fun stuff I'm in 1st and pulling away, already catching some of the Pro SS, 30-34 and 35-39 groups that started before me.

I'm feeling great going into lap 2 and DJ tells me my lap time is not far back off of the leaders.  No issues on lap 2 and just tried to settle in to a good fast pace.  Into the start/finish shoot beginning lap 3 DJ tells me my lap times again and I yell to Jen for a bottle next time by.  Then I lean in to hug the inside of the left turn like before but BAM my left elbow smacks a gate that is sticking out more than the others into the corner.  I stayed upright but blood was instantly gushing off my elbow and I could feel it running down my arm into my glove.  I look down and see a lot of blood but it doesn't look serious, I still have full movement, so I continue on.  I'm still catching and passing people on lap 3 and feeling great.  But I think I may have started to loose focus a little because I got caught by one of the 19-24 guys that started with me.  I let him by after the first section of single track and stayed on his wheel.  He was pushing a good pace for a while but then either he petered out or I got another dose of energy because I dropped him as soon as we got to the flats.  At the start of the final lap DJ tells me I'm about 40 seconds off the 5th place pace as I get passed by another younger rider.  I stay on his wheel and we work together for a while, but he was a better climber and my quads started to fire slower and seemed like they were wanting to cramp on my standing efforts.  I pushed as hard as I could and was able to reel him back in on the back half of the course but he got me by 2 seconds and I had cut that 40 second gap off of 5th to 21 seconds.  I finished 1st in my age group, by 5 minutes, but was still dissapointed that I missed my goal by so close, feeling I could have pushed a little harder.  But in reality I did the best I could have hoped for, especially when I'm competing against guys I can't see who start at different times.

Now the wait for the Super D... about five hours.  I watch DJ race Cat 2 and he was doing great, in the top 3 overall, until the last lap when he was battling cramps.  Come to find out his race was only supposed to be three laps, but they changed it to 4 laps on the start line!!!  So he wasn't prepared for that length with food and water.  He still managed a 3rd place finish in his Cat 2 age group though!
After some more waiting around I go check out the crazy guys on the DH course.  There was a nasty "waterfall" section that at least half of the guys crashed on and a handfull weren't able to continue on.  But I have to say it was definately exciting to watch!  Killing time was finally over and I take one pre ride of the Super D course to see how it has changed after all the day's XC racing.  It's gotten even looser but it was generally the same second half of the xc course I'd raced earlier that morning.
The Super D always has some sort of circus act for a start, but this one was pretty mellow.  They had us run uphill on the pavement to where our bikes were leaning against a fence before mounting and taking off.  Once on the bike I'm in 3rd place and the trail splits for a climb.  The guy in front of me cuts me off to take the route I prefer and I settle in behind him looking to pass.  Then he CRASHES ON THE CLIMB!!!  Sprawling about on the whole trail so I have to dismount and run... as the freight train goes by.  I'm so pissed at this point once I'm mounted back up and to the top of the climb I'm going all out.  But I feel like everyone is gone, and I can't see anyone close.  I still push as hard as I can, and I catch a couple riders spread out along the single track descent.  I'm made some risky passes in bushes and where there is no trail, almost over shoot a few corners as I jump into them over the rocks or skid on the brake bumps.  On a few of the g-outs I hear my tires roll over a little but the bead holds and after powering through the flat section at the bottom I can see two more riders going up the last rockly/loose climb ahead.  I power up it and begin closing on them.  I close the gap on one guy and make a close pass in the very last corner as we go into the finish shoot.  Turns out that pass was for 2nd place!  1st place was the next guy 3 seconds away... so close!  But I was stoked to have battled back to a great finish after a horrible start.