Epic Racing around the World

Tinker gets a write up in Velonews as does Sager for leading the Endurance Points series.

Tinker won a bike race in the South? East? South East? What’s Tennessee considered, anyway? I think its the South. East.

Bart won in Utah. Utah’s just Utah. Though it is fairly west. Sager was 4th in Oregon. Oregon is PacNW, no doubt. Sue and Mitchell have probably had their fill of Nutella and Jamon after a week in Spain.

Read the short of it all here.

Back in 2003 I “found” myself living in Madrid, Spain, for a spell…racing bikes, learning the ways of staying up late, sleeping later, and riding the train to the mountains for some of the best road riding on the planet.

My friend Guille and I went to a mountain bike stage race a few hours to the south east of Madrid during that arid summer.

Hot. Dusty. Desolate.

It reminded me quite a bit of the mountainous areas of West Texas. The race was to be a proper multi-day affair : 3 days of 50k XC stages…not the “mtb stage races” of the US where 3 days really consists of nothing more than a 5min TT, 20 min STXC, then finally after waiting around…a singular XC effort on Sunday.

No, this would be real racing.

5k’s into the event, I can’t remember what happened, but there was a major mechanical meltdown that wouldn’t allow me to finish the point-to-point stage. Bummed, no doubt, but at least I could “ride” the rest of the stages if the bike could be repaired. 5pm on a Friday in a remote part of Southern Spain…that wasn’t happening.

Our race hotel, as with all hotels in Spain, had a bar on the bottom floor. Being savvy travelers, we picked a room with a balcony that opened up - cool air in the summer is a life saver. Problem - this balcony opens up above the bar’s front door. Bars on a Friday, in Spain, don’t even start partying until 2am…and rarely slow down before dawn.

Sleep would be a challenge. And then it got loud. Late in the night/early in the morning, shouts, yelling, and chaos disrupted our fitful sleep…bodies flying through windows and shattering glass on the ground. Women screaming and men yelling. Onto the balcony we flew to see drunks scrambling up from the pavement and a crowd gathering.

Flashing lights. Cops. Firetrucks. Crying. Dawn wouldn’t arrive soon enough.

Completely disgusted with my situation, I told Guille I’d simply ride my broken bike the estimated 20k’s to the train station and take a 3hr train ride back to Madrid - I’d be home before noon, get in a ride, and could do a local road race on Sunday.

Travel bag on my back and a high five to Guille to ride like el viento in his race, I was off before sunrise.

20k’s became 40k’s before the train station appeared, and if you’re familiar with the Spanish and their approach to red tape, when a conductor told me I couldn’t take a bike on the empty (and direct) train back to Madrid, and that I’d have to wait another few hours for the train to Valencia, then wait for the train that would take a bike (and me) back to Madrid…arriving 12hrs later that evening, you can understand the virtual bond I have with Guille. Yo soy enfadado, would have put it mildly.

And I place eternal blame on him for that ordeal.

Payback.

Its best served cold. That story happened in 2003. 5 years later, I’ve put Monavie/Cannondale rider Mitchell Peterson in his guest room all week while Mitchell waits for this weekend’s World Cup in Madrid. Guille has to entertain him. Feed him. Dodge his flying limbs.

Enjoy the ride, Guille!

Tires. Where do you ride? When do you ride? What’s your riding all about?

You don’t wear the same shoes for every activity and tires are no different.

Setting off on this test here in Portland I was fortunate enough to have a fairly wide sample of soils to shred. I’m a cross country rider who goes out and rides cross country trails. Dirt. Mud. Leaves. Pavement. Roots. Gravel. Rocks. Basically everything you’d find between points A and B, with point A being my house and point B being the back side of the furthest trail I have access to.

I’m going to cover my three favorite riding and racing tires - each has their place and their use.

We’ll start out with the all-around tire, Kenda Karma 2.0. 470grams at race weight and with sidewall protection. Fast. Light. Predictable handling in the widest range on conditions - dust, rocks, roots, hard pack, and mud. This is the privateer’s tire of choice. One tire. Many conditions.

Leaving for a race or ride? Not sure what its going to be like out there? Put two of these on the bike and throw a spare one in your bag, just in case. Done deal. Your dirt might look something like this:

Or maybe like this?

Users of this tire scream “I want one tire that does it all.” This is the tire of the racer and rider who’s changing at their car, with a towel, wearing flip flops on the podium while smacking on a banana, and often forgot to clean the mud and dust out of their ears before taking the winner’s envelope..and the prize money’s already spent before it was earned.

That’s cred.

Next up in the line of specificity in tire selection is the Kenda Small Block Eight 2.0. 520 grams at race weight. It durable. Screaming fast. Handles dry and fast conditions like a road tire and doesn’t mind mixing it up a bit when the soild soil gets a little damp and chewy…this is my personal choice when dry rocks litter the course. Armour plated casing and tread is never a bad thing.

The Small Block 8 is the versatile racer’s choice. You’re pretty sure its going to dry, this bike trail is going to be about speed but you’re not afraid to play your better-than-average handling skills card on the DH, and this trail or race course isn’t raw or covered in leaf litter. The dirt is ridden. Often…and more than likely, people are going to be yelling at (or with) you while you’re using these tires. Heckling is free of charge.

Users of this tire know the guys and girls they’re racing against. This isn’t your first time through the feed zone and sizing up the chances of hitting the podium were already calculated before the car was loaded. Users of the Small Block Eight bring a fresh jersey and a cap for the awards ceremony, and the wise racer keeps an old towel in the car that’s used to wipe off his or her racing shoes so they’re nice and presentable on stage.

Details.

We’re narrowing down things to ultra specific conditions and bike setups, which brings us to my favorite racing tire, the Kenda Kozmik Lite II. Built for speed. Its one of the most durable, fastest rolling, best handling and highest volume racing tires I’ve used. A true 2.0″ hoop, its a lean 450grams but without the pitfalls of many built for speed tires - meaning the center tread is thick enough to allow you to ride with confidence on rough terrain, it corners well enough for the user to forget its almost a slick, and most importantly…users can still use their brakes. Aggressively. Better braking makes you a faster rider.

This isn’t a riding tire, this is racing a tire. Who’s using these?

Its the competitor who’s done their home work…there are two athletes you’re watching at this event. They know your fitness and you know theirs. In fact, your handler already has a cool, damp, and fresh towel ready for you at the finish line and your podium sneakers unlaced for the awards presentation. This is the racer’s tire when the conditions are Formula One style - fast, groomed, dry, and demanding pure speed, with a hint of twists and bumps thrown in out on the course. It isn’t afraid to be leaned over or braked hard. I’d suggest leaving it at home should things get a little damp out there, but your handler would have already swapped your wheel set on the start line if that were the case…so you won’t even have to take your eyes off the top step of the podium.

The beauty of having different tires for different situations is understanding how and why to use them. How and Why=When.

Aside from years of experience, how does one figure this out? Think about what opinion leaders are using in your area. Is the course about momentum? Braking? Does traction limit you or would you rather be more efficient? In general terms, the faster a course the smaller the tread blocks needed are. The same goes for the more dry the conditions, the smaller and stiffer the knobs should be. When things slow down and get soft, traction, and knobs, begin to make a larger difference in how the bike handles and stretching out what you and the bike are capable of.

On my test rides here in Oregon, I’m able to compute climbing and turning speeds - looking for the lowest dips in speed on course reflects either a mistake or a handling limiter on the trail. The same goes for climbing speed when an effort is consistent - climbing at 75 feet a minute is certainly better than 50 feet a minute…and with the Edge 705 I’m able to download and review these stats…leaving me to simply enjoy riding and shredding forest trails and fire lane climbs.

Perspective on your riding style, conditions, strengths, weaknesses, other competitors’ skill sets, tactile feel for the bike, and real data will help you make the right choice for you each ride when determining what pair of sneakers you want between the dirt and your wheels.

Just remember to tell your handler what PSI you’d like to have the tires inflated to.

With all the Euro racing going on this past couple of weeks, and being a tire geek myself, I thought we’d put together an ongoing segment on equipment, what to use, when to use it, and why to use it.

Its a work in progress…conditions and demands on gear in April in Oregon is different than Utah in June which is nothing like Vermont July, Canada in August, Costa Rica in November, or Kansas in December.

But…with a little work, I think we can keep the themes going. This phase will be on tires. Chewy dirt. Chunky dirt. Tacky. Fast. Smooth. Muddy. Shredded. Pavement. The Inuit have a thousand words for snow. We have this for riding conditions. One words means a slew of set up nuances and particular circumstances that dictate the what/where/why.

Sue Butler and Mitchell Peterson are hitting the Euro World Cups this month - Sue raced Belgium solo style then met up with Mitchell for the German and Spanish rounds.

Sunny. I know. I didn’t believe it was Europe, either. They’ve written on the road as they travel south to one of my favorite cities…Madrid, España.

Sue…tell me about racing as a salt of the earth athlete racing without handlers, teammates, or most importantly…a call-up:

In the starting block, no one was behind me. No one. Its a low stress environment on the last row. There’s none of the tension of pushing on the pedals while holding your brakes…twinging muscles flexed and ready to pounce…that’s a front row thing. From the back, there’s no hurry. No one is going anywhere. You don’t see much of the race from the nosebleeds, just a herd of girls taking off in front of you and the rest wishing they were. It is an angry mess.

The course was fast, tight, intense and full of what everyone is always talking about…Euro Chutes. Short, Steep, Bumpy, and initiated by a left hand 90 degree turn and completed with a bottom-of-the-chute 90 degree turn…no run in/no run out.

My confidence had been shattered with my apparent lack of ability in riding drops. Friday and Saturday’s pre-rides both resulted in crashes.

I rode the course’s North Shore drop because we’d always end up half way down it before I had a chance to realize it! You didn’t have a choice. The 2nd Euro Chute wasn’t as kind…two crashed in pre-ride had left me with a face plant. In the race, I am sure I would have been fine, but why take chances? It is a long season and I like my bones in one piece. Each lap I took the cheater route which was a great pre-season downhill cyclocross effort. Better to be heckled on my feet than cheered for on my face.

From the back the pace is no easier than the front, merely more stressful and dangerous..so with one to go, I got pulled, even though I wasn’t even close to getting lapped. But on a 5k course, they want the leaders to have their room. Its a battle between the desire to finish and put in the hard work, and have the pain taken away, chating please, please, please pull me…So dumb. But they made us climb the steep climb before they pulled us. The irony was thick. It was a rough go. Another world cup experience down, they only get better from here. They key is paying your dues, picking up a point here and there, and moving up in the start chute. Its the racing version of working your way up the corporate ladder…everyone has to sort mail at some point.

Mitchell - from the freeways and wide open spaces of Sea Otter’s 19mile loop the the Euro-chaos of a 5k circuit in the Black Forest, what went on out there?

To really start this trip off right went out on the town the night before I flew from Utah to Germany. Because of this and my 6 am flight in the morning I only got about 2.5 hours of sleep. Be the hammer, not the anvil when it comes to jet-lag, right?

I did manage to weasel my way into business class to Frankfurt, so I got some sleep on the flight. I actually felt ok and could stretch out my legs a bit during the trans-ocean flight.

From the plane I headed over to the venue to get a lap in and that scared me back into reality. I came into the first triple arrow section (read DANGER) with speed. Having only ridden the mtb at NMBS races and Sea Otter, I was expecting there to be a rock, maybe two if it was really hairy… however they really meant it DANGER. I launched off the first drop, then the second, third, and finally hucked it off 5 ft drop into the bottom of the chute before stuffing it around an immovable tree at the bottom and into a 90 degree turn. I thought I was dead with each drop but the Scalpel sucked it up and I survived.

Note to self - slow down for the triple arrows.

The next two drops were fine, and then I met the Wolf Drop. This 35 ft almost vertical drop down these slippery root ledges, and instead of landing on mud, bushes, dirt or anything soft, it drops straight down onto an asphalt section.

Note to self: Ignore the triple arrows and just ride.

When Sunday arrived, I felt tired warming up. I was just two nights off the plane, fatigued, stressed, and anxious. With a call up in the early 200’s, I was so far back that I couldn’t even see the front row, just an endless expanse of people in front of me.

The gun went off and it took a good 10 sec before I was able to move. Thing merging onto the 405 freeway in Los Angeles on the Friday before Christmas. No one is going anywhere. I was pushing, shoving, punching, kicking, and biting my way forward, and still being passed. After crawling over 60 some-odd people and riding in about 140th (!?!) I rolled my tire flailing like a limp orangutan down the first crowded drop.

This wasn’t all bad because everybody was stopped due to traffic and I was able to catch back up to the end of the field by the end of the first lap after stopping to re-inflate the wheel. My legs felt surprisingly good and I just kept working my way forward, picking riders off and surging off the energy from the crowd. Racing in Europe is much better than the US in many ways, but the biggest is the fans, their excitement, and participation in our efforts. The course is lined with crazy spectators and they will cheer you on even when you are way off the back. The front is cheered the same as the back, or so I’ve heard.

Some people gave up during the race, but I couldn’t let all of those fans down and charged through each racer as if I was fighting for the lead. On a 5k course and starting at the back, it doesn’t take long for the World’s Best to make up time..especially with their head start. I could easily have made it another lap at my current effort…but the lead moto was sneaking up on me and it was a major letdown to know I was going to get pulled.

I’m looking forward to the race in Madrid this weekend and my goal is to stay on the leader’s lap!

There was a Bugatti Veron at the Grgon tent this weekend. The Bugatti is a 1 Million dollar + car that will go over 250 MPH. Thhis was the coolest car I have ever seen. It totally upstaged the Porsche GT3 that was at the next tent over. I didn’t have my camera because I was racing, so my rental Lambo is the best I have on film. I should challege that guy to a race!

Sue and I are on our way to Madrid as I speak…four countries today and we’re still not there. Craziness.

http://www.cannasia.com/

There are, by my estimates, over 3,000,000,000 people in Asia. That’s Three Billion. Roughly 10x’s the population of the United States. On one weekend in March, Tinker was #1 in Asia. Which means someone, if there had been a race, could have finished in the top Billion, and still been in the front 3rd of the pack.

That would have been a big feed zone.

Some people see break through performances as an accident.

But, I wouldn’t consider careful planning, strategic preparation, and NASA-like attention to detail anything related to an accident.

It started months ago. Planning. Mapping. Analyzing power files, GPS data, weather conditions, and previously unreleased military maps of the old Fort Ord military tunnel systems.

Through stop-action photography, a single camera shutter flickering at a millionth of a second, captures the key to MonavieCannondale.com’s success…a little helpful push from a teammate.

Some would question the fairness or so-called “ethics” of being pushed by a 8-foot tall humanoid…but he was functioning under his own power and rarely took short cuts while on the course.

If anything, the feeds he took from Chris Milliman’s van were in celebration of the event, rather than a blatant disregard for the rules or perceived “advantages” that our competitors have murmured under their bated breaths. Pushing 150 pounders is hard work.

Some call it cheating. He calls himself Bigfoot.

After the race Big Foot had no business behind the wheel of a motorized vehicle…yet he was. Luckily, fate intervened. This guy’s on team probation.

I’m not sure which is going to wear off first….the hacking cough, the dust in my ears, or the permanent grins on our faces.

This week has been one of pure abundance from each and every perspective that you choose to look at it. Here in Monterey, the team has been as busy racing our bikes as we have visiting and meeting with industry folks, the press, and citizen fans alike. If you want a glimpse into the unhearalded heroes of the racing scene - the folks running the race pits and sponsor booths put in the long hours and by their smiles, you’d never know it.

We were on our feet from dusk until dawn and barely taking a moment to rest our voices, but I think we’ve caught up with just about everyone…and it was a special treat to have Jamie Whitmore out visiting again today, lending her support and inspiration to us.

I’ve witnessed it a dozen times and the message will never lose its impact on me - to compete in a sport and to race your bike is a privilege to never take for grated.

Ever.

For me personally, today’s XC was rough - high expectations, good fitness, poor health. I’m having to race sick. Jamie had a tumor removed from her leg and hip last month and looks forward to walking again, unassisted. What she’d give to simply race with a cold. Chew on that next time you’re about to lament a mechanical or complain about a particular performance.

On and off the bike the MonaVie/Cannondale crew was setting the bar high - Blake locked his first top 10 semipro finish, Ohran finished (hardest working man in the business), Leana tempted fate and cleared all the doubles in 4-cross, Tinker narrowly lost 10th place and clearly dominated what’s evolving into a Legends category (with the return of David Weins, Ned Overend, and Tinker you’d think it was 1995), I survived the Black Lung, and Mitchell Peterson, well, let’s just say there’s a new Sheriff in town, at 21 years old.

It was great to connect in person with all of new industry sponsors and bring the enthusiasm and energy of our program to the Sea Otter scene. To put it mildly, the MonaVie was flowing, and will be for awhile, on the race scene.

On other fronts Sue raced the Houffalize World Cup in Beligum…a race with basically double the field size of your average US pro event, and likely twice as fast!

And back in Utah…Bart Gilliespie welcomed his second daughter to the family…baby Stella.

Congrats to everyone. I have no idea how we’re going to keep this up…but I look forward to it.

Cheers!