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Let’s be Frank

Mathias Frank of BMC Racing has not claimed a lot of wins in his pro career, just five since 2008, but on Tuesday’s Queen stage of the USA Pro Challenge the Swiss youngster attacked on the shortest climb. The tough climbing stage from Aspen to Breckenridge was won on the short, steep final climb of Boreas Pass.

 

“It was a really tough day, especially with the altitude,” said Frank. “The stage win was the most important thing for me.”

 

Frank bridged up to a small group of leader before the last climb, a 15 percent pitch, in which only Garmin-Sharp’s Lachlan Morton could follow. With so many riders on the same time, Frank needed five seconds over the rest of the field to take yellow, but only beat Morton by three seconds. Garmin-Sharp’s 21-year-old American donned the leaders jersey to start Wednesday’s stage.

 

The second stage of the Pro Challenge was a 126.1-mile climbers’ fest, ascending some 12,250 feet over three passes. The fun started almost right out of the gate, climbing the category one Independence Pass, 13.7 miles from Aspen to the 12,095-foot summit. BMC’s Michael Schar attacked on the climb and was eventually joined by KOM leader Matthew Cooke (Jamis-Hagens Berman) and Luis Lemus (Jelly Belly) before crossing the races highest point. The group built a lead of five minutes before streaking down the east side.

 

The high pass was the end for two riders, Peter Kennaugh of Team Sky and JJ Haedo of Jamis. Both riders stepped off their bikes before reaching the peak of the first pass.

 

The team of Points leader Peter Sagan lead the chase to bring back the three escapees as the pack approached the second category Hoosier Pass. By the time the peloton was halfway across South Park, they had nailed back three minutes, narrowing the gap to 2:25. RadioShack joined the chase and the peloton swept up the break away near Fairplay.

 

Once the second climb started, the counter attack began. Fiteen riders, including Frank, Morton, as well as RadioShack’s Andy Schleck. The group only mustered 1:40 at the start of the Hoosier Pass. Morton attacked on the slope, separating himself from the group. Schleck tried to bring him back, but failed. Over the top, Morton was alone and had two minutes over the chase group of Saxo-Tinkoff’s Michael Rogers, Frank and Livestrong rider Lawson Craddock.

 

Morton continued pushing on the descent, but was caught by Frank and Craddock. The trio worked together at that point to hold the chase at bay, 45 seconds ahead of the chase on the way to Moonstone Drive and the final climb of Boreas Pass.

 

Schleck and the rest of the chase was pulled back into the main peloton in the race’s first pass through Breckenridge, with about 34 miles to race. The leading trio, however, managed to build a lead of 1:15 just 1,200 yards shy of the Boreas Pass summit. Garmin-Sharp and the Colombia team took up the chase as they headed up the last leg-breaking ascent.

 

Frank bolted away from his compatriots inside of the last mile up Boreas Pass. The move doomed Craddock. Morton followed Frank, but also lost contact just short of the summit.

The race’s most consistant, and on this stage, most surprising rider, Cannondale’s Peter Sagan, launched out of the pack just 900 yards short of the summit of the last climb, dragging BMC’s Tejay van Garderen with him. Five more seconds behind, Garnmin’s Tom Danielson and Colombia’s Darwin Atapuma tried to bridge to the chase group.

 

“It was just a crazy race all around, hard to predict and hard to control,” van Garderen told VeloNews. “When Sagan went, I saw Danielson was struggling and I said ‘let’s do this’”

 

With just a mile left, Sagan and van Garderen caught Craddock. Ahead of them, however, Frank was drilling it to stay away and eventually claim the second stage. Frank coasted across, hitting a bodybuilder’s pose as he stopped the clock at 5:05:19.

 

Morton followed close behind to claim both the leaders yellow jersey and the Best Young Rider jersey. Sagan came across the finish line 14 seconds back, in third place, retaining his Points Leader green jersey. Sagan is third overall, only 11 second behind Morton in the GC.

 

Jamis-Hagen Berman’s Matt Cook hangs on to the King of the Mountains jersey, six points ahead of Garmin’s Morton. At just two stages in, BMC is the best team, 21 seconds ahead of Garmin-Sharp.

 

Of the big favorites, BMC’s van Garderen is in fourth at 11 seconds back. Garmin-Sharp’s Danielson is 29 back, in sixth. Saxo-Tinkoff’s Rory Sutherland is 41 seconds back in 13th. American Joe Dombroski, the de facto leader of Team Sky, is 1:04 back in 26th. The team’s Tour de France champion, Chris Froome, is suffering at altitude, some 16:08 back and about mid-pack at 76th place.

 

Wednesday take the riders out of Breckenridge to Steamboat Springs. The third stage is 106.6 miles with 5,865 feet of climbing, mostly on the climb up the east side of Rabbit Ears Pass. The pass is long, but not too steep. A break could get away on the roads leading to the climb, but with 20 more miles into Steamboat after the summit, it is unlikely a break will hold off Cannondale and their sprinter, Sagan.

Posted by  |  August 21, 2013 | Categories: Cycling photography/photography while cycling | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Peter the Great begins the USAPC with a win.

Cannondale’s Peter Sagan through kisses at the Aspen crowd, then regaled them with a wheelie after winning the first stage of this year’s USA Pro Challenge. Sagan, replete in the new black Cannondale jersey, came around BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet with 100 meters to the line and easily put a bike length between himself and his Belgian rival.

“I think I did good work in two weeks in Aspen,” said the Slovak national champion.

Many of the riders came to Colorado early in an attempt to acclimate to the races high altitude. Most of the race will be spent at higher altitude than the highest climbs of this year’s Tour de France.

The day started with a three-man break. Matt Cook (Jamis-Hagen Berman), Craig Lewis (Champion Systems), and Ian Burnett (Jelly Belly) charged out to get some TV time for their sponsors at only six miles into the 64.8-mile circuit stage from Aspen to Snowmass and back. The pack did not show much interest in the break until the return to Aspen on the last lap. Sagan’s Cannondale team did the bulk of the work to real in the break, as no team wanted to help hand the charismatic sprinter his first win. As it turned, Cannondale and Sagan didn’t need anyone else.

One surprise came as the peloton began to wind up their chase. Tour de France champion Chris Froome was ejected out the back, along with several of his team mates. Froome only arrived on Wednesday from a series of exhibition races in Europe and was unprepared for the 6,000-plus feet of altitude on stage one.

At the end, Sagan crossed first, followed by Van Avermaet and American Kiel Rejmen of United Healthcare Systems. Of the General Classification contenders, Tejay Van Gardener of BMC placed fifth and Tom Danielson of Garmin-Sharp placed ninth, all on the same time of 2:26:00.

Sagan will begin Tuesday’s stage wearing the leader’s yellow jersey, but also leads in the Cliff Bar Points Classification (Green Jersey) and the Colorado State University Best Young Rider competition (Blue Jersey). Matt Cook (Jamis) took the King of the Mountains jersey (KOM) and break-away mate Craig Lewis was awarded the Most Aggressive Rider jersey (Orange Jersey).

Sagan will test his high-altitude fitness on Tuesday as the race hits the highest point of any pro race, the daunting Independence Pass. The race heads out of Aspen and immediately begins the race’s biggest climb, 15 miles, 4,000 vertical feet to the 12,096-foot summit. Then they bomb down to US Hwy 24 before looping around and past the highest range in Colorado, before heading over Hoosier Pass, 11,500 feet, and into Breckenridge. The course is 126 miles and could be won either by a break or by a climber. It is not likely that the big bodies, like Sagan, can hang on for this stage.

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Posted by  |  August 19, 2013 | Categories: Cycling photography/photography while cycling | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Get over it!

I’m suffering a bit. I had the delightful chance to ride like a pro. The Larimer County Pro Challenge Experience allowed mere mortals to ride with Mavic neutral support (the folks with the bright yellow cars and motorcycles) over a route and distance akin to what the pros ride. It also included Saxo-Tinkoff riders Tim Duggin and Rory Southerland.

It started out well. I hung with Tim, the 2012 US National Road Champion, and the front pack of riders . . . for about 15 miles. After that it was a long, lonely slog. I was punished for my mass. Southerland is my height, at 6’1″, but weighs a scant 165 pounds. Oh, and he rides for a living.

So now it has been several days, and I have a hard time sitting still. I like to lift, I love riding, and I’ve promised my daughter that we would participate in a mud run this fall, so I need to get out and run. This week I’m trying to slack off a bit, but I also love to eat. It’s tough, but there are things an athlete of any age can and should do.

More and more studies are pointing to the dangers of even low dosages of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Heat tends to exaserbate inflamation and even ice has been called into question as of late. Compresstion is still an effective way to treat inflammation, post workout. I own a pair of compression tights for that reason. There are many brands of such garments, but cheaper is not better. Bite the bullet and drop $100 on these tights to get your legs back a bit sooner. Riders at Boulder’s Colorado Multi Sport sware by them.

Estes Park, being a vacation destination, has plenty of massage theropists. Find one you like and utilize this resource. If you don’t have the money, or like a dear friend of mine, just can’t stand the thought of a stranger rubbing you, get a hold of a foam roller. There are several varieties of these. Some are solid foam, some are like a tube. Some have smooth surfaces and some have textures meant to pin-point pressure to work out the kinks.

If you can stand it, there are also massage sticks. Just like it sounds, these are plastic sticks with hollow plastic tubes around them and handles at either end. Roll the stick over the hurt spots to help stimulate healing.

Stretching is absolutely necessary to speed recovery and maintain flexibility. Eric Adams down at CrossFit Estes Park introduced me to Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) stretching. The whole goal of this style is increasing range of motion and speeding rehabilitation. It would take another whole column to explain, so I recommend going to a trusted physical therapist, or head over to CrossFit Estes Park to have it demonstrated before you try it on your own.

Again, I am not a doctor, a physical therapist or any sort of licensed health care professional. Consult one if you have serious injuries or questions.

Have fun, be safe. I’m going to recover.

Posted by  |  August 19, 2013 | Categories: Cycling photography/photography while cycling | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

More Fun, Please

The USA Pro Challenge is bearing down on us like a bunch sprint. But why should they have all the two-wheeled fun? There are plenty of events going on around the event before the pro men come storming through.

This Sunday, August 4, the Colorado Rocky Mountain Bicycle Tour climbs up a portion of the Pro Challenge route and spends the night in Estes Park. The week-long ride is like Ride the Rockies, only smaller and tougher.

 Tour director Peter Duffy made a conscious effort to keep the ride to a more manageable 500 riders, as opposed to RTR’s 2,000-plus. The ride is also 469 miles in just six days of riding. There are several challenging climbs along the way, including a triple day that takes riders from Golden to Fraser over Lookout Mountain, Juniper pass and Berthoud Pass. Riders have an option to through in Mount Evans to make the day a century if they really want.

The ride begins and ends in the Loveland-Fort Collins area and stops in Estes Park, Golden, Fraser, Steamboat Springs, Walden and back to Fort Collins. While it’s too late to sign up for it this year, keep it in mind for next summer. Go to crmbt.com to learn more.

 Next Sunday, August 11, the Larimer County organizers behind our leg of the Pro Challenge are staging a ride out of Fort Collins called the Larimer County Pro Challenge Experience. The event features three rides all starting at the New Belgium Brewery; 32, 50 and 108 miles. The 108-mile ride features a timed ascent to Red Feather Lakes. First over the top, the King and Queen of the Mountains receive an entry in the amateur time trial up Vail Pass before the Pro Challenge stage 5 on Friday, August 23.

Both rides are fully supported with SAG wagons and aid stations. Ride gear is also available for both, if you really want to look like you belong there. The Pro Challenge Experience has a rider expo at the start/finish line.

 On the day of the Loveland to Fort Collins stage, the Fort Follies women’s cycling team will host the Women’s Grand Prix race for Pro/Cat. 1-2 women on the finishing circuit of the stage. The day begins with a Ride with a Pro event, encouraging women of all ages and abilities to take a ride with the pro women. That starts at 8 a.m. in Old Town Fort Collins, anding at a supporting coffee shop. Beginning at noon, the women throw down, racing the finishing circuit in a criterium until 12:50. See how hard and fast the women race as they compete for sprints, the best young rider competition, as well as the final race win. Having seen a women’s crit before, I can say you might be surprised how fast these ladies go.

 No matter what your fancy, the weeks leading up to the USA Pro Challenge will offer plenty for the amateur rider to enjoy. Don’t just sit on the couch waiting for the pros, get out and participate.

 Have fun, be safe. I’m going riding.

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Posted by  |  August 2, 2013 | Categories: Cycling photography/photography while cycling | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Grateful

I would like to quickly acknowledge everyone who has helped me and Team Estes for the Courage Classic. The Family Medical Clinic at the Estes Park Medical Center and their generosity took a lot of pressure off of us by covering the cost of team kits. As you can tell from the photo below, they were pretty snazzy this year. The more stuff like this that gets covered, the more we get to put strait into Children’s Hospital Colorado Foundation.

Thanks to Rob and Julie at Mama Rose’s and Poppy’s Pizza, the Estes Valley Farmers’ Market and the Rocky Mountain Health Club who all helped us get to and through the Courage Classic.

Thanks to Steve at Buckwheat’s Organic Grocer and Alex of Weezer’s Nut Butters for their gastronomic assistance. All the goodies were a hit.

Thanks to Specialized Bicycles and their demo bike program which saved my weekend. Thanks to Pactimo for a great job on the jerseys.

And to the people who donated directly to the foundation through me, my wife’s uncle, David Winter, MetX of Estes Park, the Basch family and Scott Thompson. 

Thanks to all of our families for letting us take three days away, and especially to my own wife, Kendra, who lets me go each year, even though the event always falls on the weekend of her birthday. I love you, my Honey.

If you haven’t donated, the Children’s Hospital Colorado is a leader in pediatric health and wellness in a state-of-the-art facility in Aurora, Colorado. They also lead in research in pediatric health sciences. Their foundation is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of children and their families. 

Please head over to couragetours.com/2013/walthester and make a donation to this fantastic hospital.

And thank you.

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Posted by  |  July 23, 2013 | Categories: Cycling photography/photography while cycling | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

More Food

I like to make my own riding goodies. I like making and mixing and grinding and bagging to make sure I know what is in my food and powering my ride. This is not always convenient, however. So I will sometimes root out good-tasting treats that won’t hurt my performance. I’ve found this and more.

Steve’s Original Paleo Goods (stevespaleogoods.com) sells packaged foods such as dried fruit, nuts and grass-fed beef jerky. The food is “clean”, no preservatives, no artificial colors or flavors. They also offer their “PaleoKrunch” cereal in several varieties, including nut-free. All are grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free and, I can honestly say, very tasty.

Steve’s depends on fruit juices as sweeteners, various spices for flavor and just nature for the basic ingredients. The stuff is fabulous. There is more to this, however, than just the good feeling in my mouth, stomach and legs. I also get a warm feeling in my heart.

Fifteen percent of profits from Steve’s Paleo Goods go to supporting Steve’s Club, a non-profit organization that brings fitness, nutrition guidance and mentoring to at-risk kids. Steve Liberati started a CrossFit gym in 2007 in a public housing complex in Camden, N.J., geared specifically to help these kids. He wants to give them alternatives to the drugs and gangs that are rampant in what the FBI calls one of the most dangerous cities in America.

In October of 2008, Liberati and his wife began putting together bags of dried fruit, raw nuts and the like, to help kids eat better during their school day. Liberati realized he could sell the concoctions and use the money to buy equipment for his CF gym. The “PaleoKits” were a hit. It also gave Steve and his little CrossFitters more things to do. Liberati hired some of the kids to help him bag and box the PaleoKits and keep track of orders and inventory.

The Steve’s Club National Program began in fall of 2009 when CrossFit affiliates from around the US saw what Liberati was doing and wanted to help their own communities. In May, 2011, over 30 CrossFit Affiliates across the US participated in the Steve’s Club Beat the Streets Fundraiser, a workout that raises funds to open local Steve’s Clubs in cities with a need.

Now there are more than five local Steve’s Clubs help kids get fit and make better life and nutrition decisions. For more on Steve’s Clubs or Steve’s Paleo Goods, visit stevespaleogoods.com or stevesclub.org.

The Tour de France has begun, and at this early point, it’s hard to tell who is in contention. Most of the first week is pretty flat. The first sorting came during the team time trial on Tuesday, when Australia’s Orica GreenEdge surprised the field by taking the stage by mere hundredths of seconds over defending world team time trial champions, Omega Pharma Quickstep. Neither team has a real overall threat. Team Sky finished third, three seconds off of the winning time, keeping their rider Chris Froome in the mix. Alberto Contador’s Saxo/Tinkof team was fourth, Garmin-Sharp was sixth and Tejay Van Garderen’s BMC squad was 26 seconds off the pace, slotting in at ninth.

The TTT, like descending fast, won’t necessarily get you the win in a three-week-long grand tour, but it can surely hand you a loss. The smaller European squads, like Argos-Shimano and Eurocar, were more than a minute down in the finish. Though, these teams don’t really have a GC threat. One could almost argue that French fan favorite, Tommy Voeckler, could be a threat, but he doesn’t really have the team to get him through to Paris with a lead. Certainly not after placing 19 out of the Tour’s 22 teams. Voeckler will have plenty of fans by the road beginning this weekend when the peloton hits the slopes of the Pyrenees, but teams are aware of the little Frenchman and his climbing talent. Strong teams will be able to send domestiques after “Little Tommy” if they feel his lead is getting out of hand. It will still be fun to watch. Voeckler likes to suffer and loves to make others suffer to catch him.

The first week of the Tour also tends to be crash week. The flat stages invite high speeds and nervous riders. Invariably, there are crashes. The crash on Stage 1 took out most of the big sprinters in one fell swoop. It also demonstrated just how tough these guys are. Some rode stages two and three with bandages on elbows and knees. Omega Pharma-Quickstep rider Tony Martin finished the first stage, then was packed into an awaiting ambulance. He was diagnosed with a bruised lung. Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas is riding with a hairline fracture in his pelvis. Cannondale’s Ted King is riding with a small brake in his shoulder. These are not guys taking dives on manicured grass, or taking a charge even on wood floors. These are guys hitting the pavement at 25-30 mph, losing skin, breaking bones, and continuing to race. These are hard, hard people.

Have fun, be safe. I’m going riding.Image

Posted by  |  July 14, 2013 | Categories: Cycling photography/photography while cycling | Leave a comment

Eat food, yum!

For much of my life, I’ve had an odd relationship with food. Some of it has to do with a history of addiction, some with having been an athlete of some variety since I was about seven. I can plow through a dozen chocolate-chip cookies in the blink of an eye, but I still see how certain foods work better in my system and in my training, than others. So, it has been a long, difficult road to where I find food that I enjoy and that will help my riding.

My diet changes from summer to autumn, winter to spring. I will adjust the proportion of each macro-nutrient, fat, carbohydrates and protein, as well as the sources of these. Right now, the height of summer, I eat 40-50 percent carbs, depending on if I am training or actually out competing or on a long tour. Fat tends to stay near 30 percent, sometimes a little lower when I’m out. Protein I like to keep pretty close to 30 percent, though it will dip a bit out riding. If you are familiar with recent trends, you may recognize the proportions of the “Zone Diet”. Yeah, I tend to do that.

I also lean more and more toward natural foods, or even the Paleo diet. The shorter the ingredients list, the better. The more processed a product, the more calories tend to be jammed into it. As much as I like them, chili and lime Doritos are just about as processed and unnatural as a food-like product can be. A handful of almonds and raisins are at the other end of the spectrum. This is the end I try to stay close to.

Now the whole rise of processed and pre-packaged foods is based on convenience. It’s easy to pick up a Twinkie at the gas station, though it is difficult to tell, even while eating it, how long that little yellow cream-tube has been around. Real food goes bad, eventually. It can be timer-consuming to pack a steak in a bike jersey, however.

So I have tried to find options. They have shifted and changed over the years. I have eaten my share of PowerBars and Fig Newtons. I have tried more “natural” options, like the Honey Stinger offerings. Now I have come across two or three options that I have not had until recently.

Allen Lim is a Boulder-based sports physiologist. He has worked for Team RadioShack and Garmin. He invented a hydration drink with less sugar that prompted other riders to dump their sponsor’s drinks and secretly fill their bottles with Lim’s “Secret Hydration Mix”, now just called Skratch Labs mix. No artificial colors, no artificial flavors. This approach I the basis for Lim’s new book, “Feed Zone Portables”.

I’ve written about this book before. Now that I’ve tried out the recipes, I’m convinced it’s the best riding food I’ve ever had, and it’s cheaper in the long run because it’s made at home. Little muffin-tin omelets, two-bite pies, pocket-sized sandwiches, all with whole, natural-food ingredients. My body handles the food better and I can perform better. The first fourth of the book explains from a physiological point of view why this works. It’s fantastic.

Now I am in no way perfect in my diet. It’s not all food that I can chase down or pick myself. When I’m out on a ride, I like a good treat. I still prefer when that treat has few artificial ingredients and a short list. With that in mind, let me tell you about the return of the Estes Park Pie Company.

Val and Patrick Thompson opened their little shop on Elkhorn Avenue a few years back and were surprised by the positive reaction. Their pies, muffins and cookies were, in my opinion, heavenly. After problems finding an industrial kitchen, questionable dealings with other retailers, a move to Longmont and Illinois, the couple are back and their shop has reopened, this time in Lower Stanley Village. They have added to their menu, now offering meals, as well as desserts. I look forward to beginning, as well as ending, a few rides at the Estes Park Pie Company.

This weekend marks the start of the 100th Tour de France. Due two a few wars, while the race began in 1903, this year is the 100th edition of Le Grande Boucle. American Tejay Van Garderen of Team BMC has the best shot of bring the yellow jersey back to the US, but he will have his hands full. While last year’s defending champ, Brad Wiggins, is not defending his championship do to injury, the only man who came close to him last season, teammate Chris Froome, will be leading Team Sky, widely regarded as the best team in the pro ranks this year. NBCSports and NBC will carry the US broadcast of the grandest of the grand tours beginning at 5:30 am on Saturday, and running through Sunday, July 21.

Have fun, be safe. I’m going riding.Image

Posted by  |  July 3, 2013 | Categories: Cycling photography/photography while cycling | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Two-wheeled Commute

I shared recently that I once bought a ‘cross bike specifically to commute from the Denver suburbs into downtown for school and work. I lived in Golden and commuted, making for a 30-mile round trip, then to Littleton for a 20-miler. I did it back in Omaha, as well, equally as long. But I didn’t think of it as the grind to work, It was my chance to get my head, my attitude, right before stepping into a cubical or classroom. It was my time to meditate.

I found that I was pretty crabby when dealing with traffic; my follow commuters running bumper-to-bumper on the gray pavement. Everyone uptight, everyone trying to get to where they needed sooner than everyone else. On my bike, commuting, I would arrive at work happy, relaxed and ready to work. Now, it’s a movement

Wednesday, June 26, is Bike to Work Day in Estes Park. The event runs from 6:30-9:30 a.m. and is sponsored by the Town of Estes Park, the Estes Valley Recreation and Park District, the Estes Park Medical Center and supported by local businesses and organizations, such as Kind Coffee.

If the endorphins flooding your bloodstream isn’t enough, how about coffee? The organizations will offer breakfast that morning at the Estes Park Visitor Center at 500 Big Thompson Avenue. Plumbers and contractors might have a difficult time pulling this off, but if you don’t have 100 pounds of gear and have a functioning bike, this would be worth the effort.

I had the chance to speak to several cycling visionaries and luminaries while out on Ride the Rockies. One of them was cycle coaching guru Chris Carmichael. The video is not yet up as I write, but should be by the time you read. Look for it either here or look for me on YouTube. Look up Where’s Walt.

At any rate, Carmichael has authored two books for those of us who have jobs and families and obligations. The Time-Crunched Cyclist and Time-Crunched Triathlete give suggestions to make a training schedule out of the time you have and make the workouts count. Carmichael told me that athletes can and do train adequately with only 6-10 hours a week. He also pointed pout that nearly as important as quality workouts as quality recovery. I know as well as anyone that sleep is sometimes not a priority. This can lead to chronic fatigue and symptoms of overtraining. We should get, just like every doctor tells us, seven and a half to nine hours of sleep to fully regenerate. Some folks feel they can get by just fine on four to six hours, but studies have shown that except in a tiny percentage, like ultra marathon legend Dean Karnazes, this is simply not true. We will always work better after better rest.

I apologize for not getting a great example of great recovery out on RTR. I spoil myself in two ways, once each, during the ride. After the toughest day, I will get a massage. I recommend this for anyone, rider, runner, swimmer, parent, whomever. It is worth every cent you spend. This ride, I got mine after the 91-mile day that included the ascent of Wolf Creek Pass and the fast, flat ride into Alamosa. It works wonders.

The other thing I like to do on big events is get my own room on the last night on the road. I like a particular hotel chain because they serve free breakfast and usually have a pool. It allows me to get a bit better rest when I’m not worried about the guy with sleep apnea buzzing like a chainsaw two sleeping bags away. The result was much fresher legs the next day.

If you are training for an event and at home, make sleep as much a priority as the workout. We need both. Don’t skip the last hillclimb and don’t skip the last hour of sleep.

Have fun, be safe. I’m going riding . . . then to bed.Image

Posted by  |  June 24, 2013 | Categories: Cycling photography/photography while cycling | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Freedom!

I often think of the overly-dramatic, overly-romanticized line delivered by Mel Gibson in Braveheart when I swing a leg over my bike. I think of the line when I’m driving between Lyons and Boulder and see the long lines of riders spinning, joking and prodding each other as they go. On Monday, while returning some borrowed stuff to a family friend, I saw two kids on BMX bikes wearing life vests. FREEDOM!

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That is the sort of freedom I am aimed toward. That giddy feeling before an innocent adventure. Going to go find crayfish, like my daughter did this weekend. Going to explore the empty field or backcountry trail. Going to ride roads I have never seen. It’s a freedom of childhood summers.

 I think this is why there are so many rides in Colorado. We live in an unbelievably pretty, scenic state. Mountains, meadows, flowers, old towns, serpentine roads, all add up to that feeling. The exploration of youth. The innocence that we, of a certain age, seem to crave.

 Being able to do this, just jump on my bike and ride all day for a week, is a blessing beyond measure. Saturday, I board a bus bound for Telluride, I reputedly beautiful, old, mining mountain town. I will ride from there all the way back to Colorado Springs, a wonderful city, itself. I will document this journey, relaying back here so I can share the adventure with those who, for whatever reason, won’t be making that trek this year. I plan updates to my blog, waltoutwest.com, and of course, eptrail.com.

 Speaking of cravings, I picked up Allen Lim’s Feed Zone Portables last week. It’s a cookbook created by Lim, former team physiologist for Garmin and RadioShack cycling teams. He and chef Biju Thomas created the food and the cookbook as an alternative to processed energy food that has arisen since the late ’80s.

 I’m a big advocate of real food. Once I got an idea of how much better I perform and how much tastier real food can be, ditching to bars and bites and gels was not that hard. I started making my own “energy bites” from a recipe in Bicycling magazine a while back. Crushed nuts, diced figs, dates, salt, honey and cocoa powder; what could be bad. Then, I discovered a biscotti recipe in Triathlete magazine with nuts, almond flour and dried fruit. They were a huge hit on my group ride a few weeks back. Armed with this knowledge and an enthusiasm for cooking, I was ready for Lim and Thomas’ book.

 The book has a variety of foods. One is not forced into sweet or salty, not just sandwiches or cookies. It has Allen Lim’s now-famous rice cakes, the oatmeal that Kristin Armstrong credits for her gold-medal performance in the Women’s Olympic Time Trial in London, eggs cooked in muffin tins and much more.

 I plan to put it to the test. I will cook up some of these delights and pack them for Ride the Rockies. As much as I enjoyed the crepes last year, and the pancake guy, this might be a bit more economical, as well as better for me.

 With any luck at all, I hope to have images and videos of the rides, themselves. I have a passion for coffee and unique coffee houses, so I hope to explore those. I will also have the chance to meet several cycling stars and luminaries along the way. I will also, finally, be able to give a first-hand review of the Shimano 9000 group set, as well as the C24 wheels. Of course, it is also loads of fun just talking to regular people on the rides. What sort of person spends a week’s hard-earned vacation torturing themselves over mountain passes? If you read this, you already know, but it’s fun to get another rider’s perspective.

 One last little note: if you want to see some racing or find the desire to search for bike treasures, a bike swap is scheduled for Sunday, June 9, at the North Boulder Park during the NOBO Classic Bike Race. It’s a “Drop and swap” meet, so bring those old items that you don’t need. Someone else might be look for that very item.

 Well, I’m off. Check the eptrail.com web site daily for updates. Also, if you just can’t get enough, head to waltoutwest.com, as well. This is going to be great.

 Have fun, be safe. I’m going riding . . . the Rockies.  

Posted by  |  June 11, 2013 | Categories: Cycling photography/photography while cycling | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Excitement builds

The Giro d’Italia is over. The Tour de Frances is just next month and the Ride the Rockies, by the time you read this, is nine days in the future. To say I’m wound up would be an understatement. Now the hard part: relaxing

Image

I have been working out, watching my diet, counting every calorie both in and out for months. As I write, the new Shimano Dura-Ace group set is on a UPS truck bound for my home. I’ve begun to receive my media information from the wonderful folks who run Ride the Rockies and I can barely wait. I have to, however, and I have to relax a bit.

This next week is the taper. If you get on the RTR website, the training schedule goes from 185 total miles this week down to 90 next week. It’s time to give the legs a break and let them regenerate. Wednesday this week was the last day I lifted weights ahead of the ride. This is the week when we want to put our legs up a little more, drink even more water and stay off the bike for anything more than maybe 90 minutes.

This is a good week to check the bike. Make sure all of your cables and housings are in good shape. Check your break levers to make sure they’re not sticky or sluggish. Give the chain a good cleaning and re-lubing. Check to make sure your wheels are true. Even check your shoes and cleats to make sure they are clean and properly aligned. There are still plenty of things to do ahead of the week on the bike, even if we don’t ride.

Make sure you have your on-bike nutrition dialed in. Just because we are not pros does not mean we should ignore this detail. I have an array of sensitivities and intolerance, as well as a relatively tight budget. I have to watch what I eat so that I can enjoy my time on and off of the bike that week. I spent some time at CostCo this weekend gearing up with this in mind.

I’m not quite to the point of packing. That will come next week, but I have my bags and a bike box ready. If you are headed for Telluride, you should, too. I hope to cover all of this next week.

In the Amgen Tour of California, young American and Colorado resident Tejay Van Garderen snagged the races GC win, his first major stage race victory. Van Garderen seemed to be the odds-on favorite throughout the week that started in San Diego County under a scorching sun.

Racers suffered the first two days in 110-degree heat, amplified by the pavement. The race began in the south of the Golden State and headed north this year with visits to Mount Diablo where Van Garderen cemented his win, a trip over the Golden Gate Bridge for only the second time in race history, and a final finish in Santa Rosa where Peter Sagan took the final sprint victory as well as the green points jersey for the second year running.

Along the way, relative old-timer, Jen Voigt won stage five. It was his first win since last August when he won the Queen Stage of the USA Pro Challenge from Aspen to Beaver Creek on a long solo break away. Voigt, an international fan favorite, will also race the Pro Challenge when it again winds throu Colorado this coming August.

Just last Sunday, Vicenzo Nibali took an unusually cold and snowy Giro d’Italia. The race saw Dolomite stages modified, and in one case cancelled due to the snowy conditions. Some riders groused about the mid-race changes, but for the sake of rider safety, it was the best thing to do, according to race organizers.

Mark Cavendish won the final sprint into Brecia. It was his fifth sprint win of this year’s Giro. It assured the Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider of the races points competition win and made the Manx Missile only the fifth race to claim the points jersey in all three Grand Tours.

The town is still looking for volunteers and ideas for the weekend that the USA Pro Challenge wheels through town. Contact the Special Events folks at 586-6104.

Meanwhile, have fun, be safe. I’m going riding, at least a little.

The image is from the main street in Leadville during last year’s Ride the Rockies.

Posted by  |  June 2, 2013 | Categories: Cycling photography/photography while cycling | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment