Some Thoughts of 2010 Season

Well Hammer Velo had our best finish yet in overall OBRA Team Bar points, finishing in a solid 2nd place for the 2010 Season. It's been a great year for the team, I think we ended up having 8 state championships for the year, 1 being for me, the highlite of my season and my main goal for the season was to win the Masters State Crit Championships, which I did do. Thanks to Christy (BBOH) for going out every Thursday morning at 7AM, 7 or 8 weeks prior to this race and doing hard sprint workouts with me, we both had some great workouts and it was the key to winning this race....Plus Christy used these workouts and the speed she gained by finishing on the podium at the Ironclad Street Sprints, I was so happy for her....Other highlites for me this year was at the Raven TT series, I ended up 2nd overall after the 3 race series in the Masters. But the second week I really needed to have a good race, got a good start and about 1.5 miles in I was sweeping through a big right hand bend slightly downhill and down on the bars flying, and BANG!!!! I hit a nail or something that rolled up and sliced the sidewall of the tubular on my rear disc....I have no idea how I held it upright as it pitched the whole bike sideways and I was heading across the road into the other lane of traffic heading for the ditch at 30 + mph....somehow I got out of my aero bars and got to the brakes and then stayed upright....Whew...I thought wow, I guess being a good bike handler pays off sometimes even if it's just a natural action to hang on and hopefully not crash....So I popped my shoes off and started walking back to the start area...My day was over....Well I thought it was, Rich the Neighbor had gone by me in his race while I was walking, so when he finished he jumped in his car and drove back and picked me up, then I get back to the start area and ask, can I restart??? They say sure you have about 5 minutes and we will let you go last in line....So back to the truck, I had to swap cassettes from my 10 speed wheel over to my 9 speed off my disc....I made it to the start and I put a foot down and away I went....Ended up finishing 2nd that day after all that and then I had to just finish well the next week and I had 2nd place overall in the series in hand which I did....Other great memories for me were some of the long rides we did as a team this year, Bridge of the Gods 100 milers, we did this 3 times this year with good sized groups, very fun and some great times with team mates. And then the low of maybe my cycling career and for sure in 2010 was letting my team mates down at the Rapha race....It was 100 + degrees about 70 miles into the 125 mile race and I had to bail, the heat really got to me, something that had never happened to me before, but once it did I was done, as my team mates had to leave me in Scappose and I was waiting for a ride, ( Thanks MO!!!! : ) I was tired, emotional and hot and I kinda had a melt down as I watched them ride away....I felt terrible that I could not go on and I was a huge dis-appointment to myself and them...But Mo took care of me, took me back to her place, got me some food and a cool shower and then I started coming back to life....It took me weeks to get over that. But I did and moved on and I was so proud of the other 5 for going on in the conditions and making it through the 125 miles of hell...We have some great and tough cyclists on this team and that is my most important thought of 2010...Looking forward to 2011 with a few new folks on our team and another great season to come....The new design of the Hammer Velo Kit will be out after the first of the year, we are really excited about that, it is very cool....So it was great being involved in OBRA again this year and congrats to all the HV peeps for a great season. Onward and upward for the future. See ya...........Jeff

US Cyclocross Nationals half-lap report....

Read about Wombat's less than stellar outing at the Cyclocross Nationals here.

Psycho Cross race report - Wombat

Wombat's account of the weekend's racing in Eugene is here.

Hillsboro race reports - Wombat's take

His two rather silly Hillsboro race reports can be found here.

First 'cross win - Angela

Racing has been great but what lingers more than anything is the support and company of our teammates. This past weekend Jeff had the team site all set up. The tents were up, trainers ready and Jeff’s new toolbox got more use than ever. It is so nice to have a place to go to and know I will find my teammates. Bryan Smith was supporting riders all day and then once again was all over helping to get things taken down and packed up. For this I am extremely thankful! Sallyanne and Julie made sure our podium girl theme was all that it could be. Again, I enjoyed seeing my teammates out at the fairgrounds in Astoria just as I had seen many mates at PIR. However I missed the race and the party on Saturday, but I heard about some good times.

Now about racing. I warmed up for the women’s race using my trainer and downing some Hammer gel Anna provided me. The sound of my wheels spinning was impressive but only because they are carbon. I am racing in the 45+ group which has been the epitome of good feminine competition. With my 1st place finish on Sunday, the top 5 now all have a 1st place finish and a fair share of the various top 5 finishes. A crazy thing happened in the women’s race on Sunday, we had to restart after everyone was at least ½ to a whole lap into the race. I had a great start both times and only saw other 45+ racers when I lapped them. I was riding hard, climbing strong and going through the muddy descents aggressiveley.

On my last lap my lovely green sprinters dress got caught on my saddle after I went down in some slick, swift mud just before the bleachers and the descending turns through the trees. I finally had to leap off my bike to get untangled. When the race was over I was stunned by my lead. At the time I did not feel like I had worked all that hard. However, after the trick or treaters were asleep and I had a few hours of sleepful rest in my body, I began to feel the most significant soreness of the season. Throughout the day on Monday, my body informed that I had indeed pushed it very hard on Sunday.

Hugh pulled off a 9th place finish on Saturday and a 7th on Sunday, which puts him at 15th for the series. Jamie Bradley did great too and is sitting at 3rd in the series I think. It was impressive to see Jeff cruise around on the course showing off his ripped muscles along with Cristina and her flowered SS, Kristin sporting some obnoxious outer underwear and her amber colored rims as well as German on his sweet prize from last year! Lisa looked good, really good on her SS. There’s so much more to share, but that’s enough from me. I look forward seeing many of you and racing again next Sunday so close to home at Washington CO fair grounds.

Cat's NinKrossi race report

They said it was "fast and flat", perfect for beginners. Just three days before, at Blind Date (my very firstest cross race ever!) I was hooked on 'cross bad, so Ninkrossi sounded like a perfect next fix. Umm...yeah, it was a perfect fix of Pain! And Suffering! And I don't remember flats anywhere. Although there was the fast, the careening down bumpy terrain with only a micron of control over the bike. Terrifyingly transcendental.

Before the beginner women's race, Karleta, Hans, Jeffy and I watched "thumbs up" German, and "meat pants" John Lin and Rich the Neighbor and Killer Kristin tear it up in the SS race. They looked like they were hurting but they were going freakin fast. German did well, but his glory was shadowed by getting passed by a girl so he lost out on a beer from Tedder. John held second place solidly (maybe he was wearing the meat undies?), Neighbor kept motoring and stuck out his tongue a lot, in defiance, as if to say: take that, Ninkrossi! and KK rocked it, even after recently battling the Revenge of the Crepe.

Then it's our turn, Karleta and I. I almost missed the start when I take too long on the pre ride. Huh, must have been those pesky climbs! We're off and it hurts, immediately, but I remember something about it being fun, and how I PAID to do this, and cross is rad. Right.

I managed three laps (Three, really? Coulda sworn it was seventeen) and then it was over, thank all the gods and stars and heavens above, it was OVER! There were some harrowing moments, like getting passed by some chick (too close!) and eating it, and navigating the Ninkasi N, boy that was thrilling, but overall I actually stayed on the bike and didn't die. Yay!



Cat enjoying kicking butt at NinKrossi (photo: R. Rosko)

  

It was very extremely unspeakably wonderful to see teammates (and Hanser!) cheering us on throughout the race. Encouragement from friends and loved ones is a beacon through the haze of pain. Thanks, guys :) And being out there with Karleta was fantastic--it felt great to have a teammate out there with me, bonding through extreme physical trial.

Despite the bitching and moaning about this race, I hafta say there is something beautiful in it. Pain is purifying. Know what else is purifying? Goddess Nectar.

P.S. Julie Carter, thank you a million times for letting me use your bike! She rocks! And she's very forgiving.

P.P.S. Great job everyone on this weekend-yeow!!



Alpenrose race report - Allison

Pre-Race: After fighting a cold this past week, I still wasn’t sure I wanted to race Alpenrose this morning and I knew that I wasn’t going to have my 'A' game, but I had done all the laundry and I didn’t want to go for that 10 mile training run. So I pulled out my fun socks (thanks Sallyanne) and decided to race. I am not one to arrive to races super early. I hate waiting and it often makes my nerves more jittery. I left the house at 12:50 had to promptly turn around 2 times (once for the pump and once for the advair inhaler). This is also part of my warmup since my heart rate likes to climb each time I had to turn around and worry that I was going to be late. I knew the inhaler would help because I still have more post nasal drip than normal and I knew my lungs would fill up during the race. I got to Alpenrose about 1, but I went to look for my checkbook and I had no checks, so I had to make a quick stop at Albertson’s for some cash. I got to the parking lot and found a spot quickly (whew). This was also helping increase my heart rate.

Warm Up: Then I got ready, rode to registration and got to jump ahead because I already have my number from that race I did a few weeks back that was really really hard. I then hopped on the bike and went to warm up. It was a great warm up. The local streets were empty and offered some nice ups and downs to get the heart rate up. I saw a school and knew that would be a great place to ride on some grass and practice a run up and also some mountaing/dismounting. My brakes were still a little chattery from Starcrossed, so I had the RCB guy look at them. He couldn’t help, so off to the start I went.

Race: They had pretty much already done call ups so I just hopped in. I was about 5 rows from the front, which was okay. I have no clue where I should have been. Once the whistle blew, the ladies were off and I was probably in the front 15 or so for the first lap. Then, I guess I didn’t have much else and I got really really tired (to the point of barely pedaling on the second lap). Soon after I died, I saw "the Knight" Ryan Weaver, and he had coupons for Shimano goodies in his back pockets. I didn't have any steam to catch him and I watched the girl in front of me grab an envelope. At that point I was just trying to move forward as people continually passed. It’s nice and demotivating that’s for sure. But I kept going and found a little wind with about 8 minutes to go (thanks body). That was more fun because I could actually keep pedaling and felt like I had some power.

Allison rocking it at Alpenrose (photo courtesy of John Rudoff)

Then it was over. I didn’t make the last lap and I watched everyone else finish wondering if I could have given anymore. This race I couldn’t. I realized that when I finished, I was coughing and now it’s almost 8pm and I am still hacking a bit. I think my body is telling me I went hard. My heart rate monitor thought I could do a little better with my max at 180 and my average at about 170. As for the course, I thought it was pretty awesome. No crazy hills like Pain on the Peak and the velodrome part made me feel fast. I definitely let loose on my sprint at the end. I think I even scared the beginner that was in front of me.

It was great to hear so many people cheering me on and it was great to watch all the HV gals tearing it up!

Thanks for the support from all you awesome people and here is to hoping that everyone is warding off all the cold/flu bugs that are going around.

MA's first cyclocross race

I did not flat, I did not crash, I just plain sucked.

This was my first cross race. I never practiced cross before; the bike was new to me (Jeff helped me find a SS cross bike and put it together Thursday evening); I realized right before the race that the cleats I had didn't match the pedals (Jeff saved me again). I got lined up all the way at the end which was nice because I was spared the pain of seeing 40 something girls passing me since they were already ahead of me. Not really knowing what to expect during the race I dived head in and gave it all I got for half an hour.

The race itself was a bit of a blur. First lap was a trial and error exercise, after that I got the flow. I kept on passing people on flats and hilly sections only to see them flying ahead of me as I was trying to run over the barriers in slow clumsy motion. By the third lap I was dry heaving and ready to puke with one and a half lap to go. Most of the field did 5 laps, I managed 4 and a half. Finished somewhere last ten or so. I still felt like puking two hours after the race ended.

While this was the most painful race I've done so far (more so then Rapha or ROF) it was also the most fun I've had in a race. Although my ass was handed to me I had a giant grin most of the time. Can't wait to do it all over again.
Cristina enjoying post-race refreshments with Allison
(photo courtesy of Mo)

Pain and Suffer'n indeed!

An account of Wombat's most humbling race experience can be found here.

Stampede ride report

Parts one and two of Kristin's gravel-tastic Stampede Race-ish report.

Kristin's Rapha Ride report

Read Kristin's entertaining account of the drama that was the '10 Rapha Ride here for part one, here for part two and here for the final chapter.

OBRA Road Race Championships - Mindy's report

I second Amanda’s comments (below). Tough race! And I didn't even have the pleasure of Amanda "coming on me" (HV patented this race language earlier this season, BTW).

Yes, that hill hit us like a brick wall about 5 miles into the race...I was seriously in the pain cave trying to keep up as all 100 lb of Anona attacked. A group of 5 pulled away near the top, and I had to chase hard with a few other ladies to catch them. There were a couple other short, steep hills right after the long one, then a descent. I knew we'd be much better off in a larger group with the wind coming up. I remember at one point looking at my computer and thinking "oh crap- we've only gone 8 miles and feel like I'm ready to be DONE!!". Anyway, we caught them, became a group of 10, and pacelined at a pretty good pace the rest of the way. There were a couple sections of really strong wind...and a lovely, rolling, sunny section where the sun was heating up the pine needles and it smelled wonderful.

Then a FUN descent. Brubaker decided to attack at this point. I've never chased downhill at 40+ mph, but darn that was fun!

The long, gradual ascent to the finish wasn't too steep, but folks were attacking, jockeying for position, and generally being kind of annoying. A few sketchy moments, a near crash, bad cross/head wind, more attacks. I was trying to stay on the wheels of the strongest sprinters (there were several in that bunch). I had hoped to feel better at this point in the race, but just plain didn't. They jumped with about 1/4 mi to go and there was a little mess as one rider didn't go too hard and we had to swerve to get around her. I lost my wheel at that point, was cursing, but I stayed upright, grabbed another wheel, and passed that gal before the line to finish 6th. Not bad, but I had hoped for a better sprint..still working on that :)


Sprint for the finish (courtesy of Oregon Cycling Action).

Awesome to have Lindsay at the finish, and we cheered on the A's (Amanda, Anna, and Alice), as they came through. Alice and I rolled around for a while to cool down, then Alice's Bill (and Lucy), and Sara Fletcher joined us for fun times in White Salmon drinking, eating, and making snide remarks about our bitchy and rather
unpleasant waitress.

All in all, a great day!

OBRA Road Race Championships - Amanda's Report

Whoa, that was a really tough race. Women’s racing normally has some reprieves where your HR drops down to a casual number. I was pinned the entire time. My average was 186 just so you have an idea. We started out and already people were attacking as we left the parking lot. 5-6 miles in there was a really steep hill that I thought was going to be just a mile but it was for sure longer. Mindy stuck with the lead group and Anna charged up it strongly too. I did about all I could and had a thought that I would just get off my bike and quit. Crested the hill and caught up with 6 other women and we started a paceline that was insanely fast. I saw Anna in front of me and let her know by yelling “Anna, I’m coming on you” so she would know. The pace was really, really fast and Anna hung on for a while before she blew…I was crying I was in so much pain!! We rolled that way for the majority of the race with some women attacking our paceline a couple of times. The final 10 miles are a gradual 2, 3, 4 % uphill into a headwind and I cracked probably 5 miles to the finish. Just had nothing left. A Sorella woman caught up to me with a mile to go and I sat on her wheel and then outsprinted her at the end (I felt badly about that…should I?).


Sprinting past the Sorella racer (courtesy of Oregon Cycling Action).

Overall, it was the hardest race I’ve ever done, not really the course, but the pace was really fast. It left me an emotional, snotty wreck. But I was so thankful for Lindsay and Alice and Anna and Mindy to all be there afterwards for hugs and beers.

Rough to say the least, especially at the end of the season.

New Year: Time to Train!

November & December '09 saw witness to the longest break I have taken off the bike since... well, I started racing and riding back in 2006. While the rest was primarily due to old injuries popping up to remind me of their ever-present existence, I finally got time to mentally recoup from a particularly strange year and start out in 2010 with a fresh head and fresh legs.

My first real year of racing I was on the top page of the Iron Man Competition; I probably raced at least once if not twice a week for months. It was insane (and insanely expensive!). Last year didn't go that way, mostly for other reasons, but I look forward to a year where I can focus on racing with team mates and having fun.

I have been slow to return to group riding, due to some insane idea I harbor that not riding much for two months will cause me to revert to having absolutely no bike fitness whatsoever.

I think my saving grace has been the morning Solid Core Training classes with Jeff; I have been taking them since August, and the difference they make in over all strength is just amazing. I finally went on a whopping two long rides last weekend, both about 2.5 hours, and nothing was sore. Not my back, not my shoulders, none of those places that usually scream at you when you haven't been doing those longer rides (or any rides for that matter). I actually did a lot of climbing in the West Hills and felt great the whole time. Guess I don't have any more excuses.

Right now my focus is simply on getting fit enough for our team's Santa Barbara training camp that is coming up way too soon!