Snow Day

We cyclists in the foothills have had little to complain about during the winter months of the past few years, with snow rare and temperatures mild. In stark contrast to the recent past, Saturday brought our second winter storm in as many months, sending the townsfolk scurrying for milk and bread and postponing the weekend's racing. A weekend indoors loomed. However, I have a severe allergy to training indoors, and I will typically do anything to avoid it. So, I lowered the pressure in my 29er's tires and set out to mix it up with the ATVs and 4x4s around our new hometown.
Our new hometown of Valdese was settled in the late 1800s by the protestant religious group called the Waldensians, who left their home in the Cottian Alps after centuries of persecution. Above is a picture of the Trail of Faith, a recreation of the Waldensian settlement.

The snow-covered stage of the Fred Cranford Amphitheater is the summer home to the outdoor drama 'From This Day Forward,' of which Amy is an alum, as is buddy Will Turk, who has contributed to this blog.

The Old Rock School is the former primary school of Valdese and now houses the community auditorium and community theater, the Old Colony Players.

The Waldensian Presbyterian Church is the founding congregation of the settlement of Valdese.

A monument outside of the Waldensian Presbyterian Church commemorating the settlement of Valdese by the Waldensians. The Cottian Alps are situated in what is now the Alpine border between France and Italy, and the Waldensians spoke a hybrid of the two languages called Patois. Fans of professional cycling will recognize the mountain of Sestriere, part of the Cottian Alps and the site of many famous mountain stages in the Tour de France.

The Redline Monocog 29er singlespeed was a competent winter weather exploration vehicle.

A snow-covered road leading to Waldensian Heritage Wines.

Vinyards outside the winery.

Waldensian Heritage Wines makes wine in the tradition of the Waldensians. A favorite local activity on summer weekends is drinking wine and playing bocce, the traditional sport of the Waldensians.

While I'd rather be cruising around in the 56-degree temps we had last Thursday, the snow provided a unique setting for exploring the town. Now if we can just have an early spring...

NCCX Winter Series #4

Sunday, January 24 was the finale of the North Carolina Cyclocross Winter Series. After the first two legs of the series were characterized by bitter cold conditions, the third race in Fayetteville last weekend was a mud-fest. With heavy rains looming, the final race in Greensboro promised to dish out some Belgium-esque cyclocross goo.

Sunday's course was held in Bur-Mil Park, adjacent to Lake Brandt. The 3k loop featured two sand sections , a stair climb, and an uphill double-barracade obstacle. The sand pits were particularly tricky, situated back-to-back at the top of a gradual climb and separated by a u-turn. The sand was loose and deep, and all but the strongest riders ground to a halt if they attempted to ride through it. The smart rider ran through the pits, but this resulted in dismounting, running, remounting to ride through the u-turn (which was a bit too long to run), and then dismounting again for the second pit. While this approach was generally faster for most riders, it added up to four total dismounts each lap. This tricky and well-placed obstacle truly made competitors pick their poison each lap. Fortunately, the heavy rains held off, and the course was muddy but very rideable.

I again did the Cat 4/Masters 35+ double, placing 19th in the Cat 4 race while struggling with asthma toward the end. I cruised at the back of the field in the Masters race, finishing 15th and keeping my heart rate low enough to recover from my earlier breathing issues. My non-stellar but consistent finishes notched me 11th place among Cat 4s for overall series points and 9th place for Masters 35+.

I was travelling solo on Sunday, so I have no race pictures. However, for your consideration:

The blue poison frog, or dendrobates azureus. D. azureus is a mid-sized dendrobatid frog weighing about 3 grams and having a length ranging from 3 to 4.5 cm. It inhabits small isolated forest areas surrounded by the dry, prairie-like Sipaliwini Savannah at elevations from 315 to 430 m. It prefers a dark, moist environment, living only near small streams among moss-covered rocks. It typically remains on the ground, but has been found in trees at heights of up to 5 m. D. azureus is terricolous and remains close to some type of water source such as a stream. It is very active during the daytime (diurnal) and moves constantly with short leaps.

The blue poison frog has nothing to do with the NCCX Winter Series race #4, but it is wearing a handsome shade of Velosports Racing blue. However, if you are ever in the South American country of Suriname and spot a pretty little frog wearing a handsome shade of Velosports Racing blue, do not touch it, because it will kill you dead.

With the 2009-2010 cyclocross season in the books, it's time to hang up the cross bike and hit the road. Amy and I will be headed down to Greenville, SC, in late February to kick off our road-racing seasons. Til then, stay dry, ride safe, and don't touch the blue frogs.

2010 Winter Short Track #1

Sunday, January 17, was the first round of the Charlotte Sports Cycling Winter Short Track Series. The home of the 5-race series is Renaissance Park, featuring a 3/4 mile course designed and maintained by the Tarheel Trailblazers. At least half the course is singletrack, and the Trailblazers packed a lot of character in a short stretch of trail, including several banked turns, a whoop-de-doo section, and a short but very challenging swtichback climb culminating in a rock step at the top. The course was neutralized on this morning, however, by the deluge of rain that fell overnight. Several sections of the course were turned into thick mud, and drivetrain and traction problems plagued racers all day.

I entered the singlespeed division. Above, I'm coming out of the singletrack section on my first lap and heading up a doubletrack service road toward the start-finish area of the course. Kit still white and blue, bike still green.

Cresting the top of the short hill after jumping over the rock step.

Sprinting through the singletrack section.

More singletrack goodness.

My grimy Redline Monocog 29er, ready to hit the showers.

Is there an age at which playing in the mud stops being fun? Despite my strangely anxious expression, the race was a blast. I finished 10th in the singlespeed division, and I am still getting dirt out of my ears.

NCCX Winter Series #1 and #2

or, Adventures in Multiple Layers

The North Carolina Cyclocross Winter Series kicked off this past weekend with a pair of races. Despite the record-setting cold snap, I entered both races in an effort to regain some fitness lost during a month of house-moving tasks. Joining me was Paul Gamewell, who was eager to give cyclocross a try.

Saturday, January 9, Salisbury

As I watched the sky come to light on Saturday morning, I checked the weather conditions. Seven degrees. Not 27, or even 17. Single digits. Facing what was certain to be a day-long Boone flashback, I scrounged up as many layers as I could find that might shield me from the arctic blast. For those of you keeping score, my outfit consisted of: one thin long-sleeve base layer, two heavyweight long-sleeve Under Armor base layers, my Velosport jersey, wool tights, wind-blocker bib tights, Velosport bib shorts, DeFeet Woolly Boolly socks, Woolrich wool socks, polypro balaclava, and neoprene paddling gloves. Bring it on. Despite feeling like the performance-fabric version of Randy in 'A Christmas Story,' my core temperature seemed to drop when we arrived at the course to find that the septic chemicals in the port-o-johns were frozen solid.

The first race of the series took place in Salisbury Community Park, featuring a very open, sweeping course. Challenges on this day included a double-obstacle section, a two-step runup, and two steep rideable hills. Of course, the primary challenge of the day was the weather, and the wind-swept course was frozen solid at the start of the race, making for a very bumpy and tiring ride. I entered the Cat 4 race, the first of the morning, and finished the 30-minute event in 19th place. Wanting to get in as much training as possible, I also entered the Masters 35+ race, coming in 22nd.

Paul captured the start of the Cat 4 race on film, below:

Negotiating the steps at the bottom of the runup.

Clearing the double-obstacles. My jersey, straining from being pulled over three base layers, ruptured while I was at the start line and my zipper separated. I was forced to start a new fashion trend by tying the bottom of my jersey together in a hip, midriff-exposing style.

Paul entered the singlespeed division, his first bike race of any kind. The learning curve was steep in the small but highly-competitive SS field, and he was further hamstrung by racing on his Redline Monocog 29er mountain bike. Nevertheless, by the second lap Paul was quickly adapting to cross racing on a mountain bike, and his dismounts and remounts became fluid. With his skills improving with each lap, he finished 6th and completed the process of getting hooked on racing.

Sprinting back up to speed after remounting at the top of the runup.

Beginning the runup. Paul was lugging 10-15 more pounds of bike compared to the rest of the field.

Hammering to the top of the hill in the wooded section of the course. This picture does not convey how steep this hill was. Paul ran a 32x18 gear.

Paul's bike was so heavy, it jumped him over the obstacles.

Everyone smiles at the end of a cross race. His first race in the bag, Paul was no exception.

Salisbury was also Addy's first chance to "race" his new Redline Conquest. Bundled by mom to the point of being able to withstand an extended Yukon expedition, he stumped the NCCX race officials by showing up for a kid's ride that they had not planned on having. In the middle of preparing for the start of the SS race, they quickly devised a kid-friendly course and took Addy on a 2-lap ride, led by NCCX team member Jason Morgan. In addition to giving Addy his first cross ride by himself, they also gave him a pair of DeFeet socks afterward. Thank you NCCX for going above and beyond.

Addy's new bike is 15 pounds lighter than his former bike, the 'Chrome Dream.' However, the challenge on this day was not the weight of his bike, but the volume of his conversation. Enjoying the one-up "race" against Jason, his conversation was in hyperdrive and he couldn't stop talking long enough lift his bike over the barriers without an assist. Nonstop talking=happiness.

We're pretty sure bbq is contraindicated as a recovery food. We cared not. We cholesterol-loaded for the following day's racing at College Barbecue in Salisbury.

Sunday, January 10, Mooresville

Sunday's racing moved to Mooresville in Stumpy Creek Park, on the shores of Lake Norman. The Stumpy Creek course was considerably more technical than the previous day, boasting a runup of 40 concrete steps shortly followed by very steep but rideable wall; a bumpy, off-camber descent; a wooded singletrack section made treacherous by slippery pine needles and cones; and, numerous other sections of climbing that were deceptively steep. Despite daybreak temperatures in the single-digits again, start-time temps were warmer, making the weather less of a factor and necessitating fewer layers. However, the course offered few sections for recovery, and a tough day lay ahead.

I again entered both the Cat 4 and Masters 35+ races. With my legs still smarting from the day before, I remained consistent and finished 21st in Cat 4 and 20th in Masters. I was spent after traversing the Stairs of Misery 11 times (440 steps) over the course of the morning.

More video footage courtesy of Paul:

The Stairs of Misery:

After his first race the day before, Paul was confident heading into the singlespeed race, and indeed, the challenging course seemed a good fit for his 29er.

Heading out at the start in good position.

Paul's rapidly improving technique was evident, and he grunted up the Stairs of Misery with a nice carry of his Monocog.

And then... those treacherous pine needles. Brimming with confidence, Paul hit the wooded singletrack and lost traction, as did numerous others over the course of the day. The resulting fall injured his left ankle and brought a premature end to his race. X-rays the following day revealed that it was worse than expected:

Fortunately, Paul suffered only a hairline fracture, although this is small consolation. It does, however, give him plenty of time to shop for a cross bike over the next six weeks.

INJURY UPDATE: speaking of breaks, Amy's collarbone is healing nicely and ahead of schedule. She is out of her sling and using her arm as much as she can tolerate, including plenty of running and cycling on her wind trainer. Everything seems to be on schedule for her to be out on the road by her team training camp at the end of January. She will be racing on the developmental squad for a new women's team this year, SpokesWomen Syndicate.