Portland Short Track Racing #1

June 23, 2008
Portland International Raceway - infield
Single Speed

I knew it must finally be summer as I rode my mountain bike from downtown in the summer evening sun out to the race track. A beautiful evening with sun shining and the crowds of cyclists all around (roadies on the race track, mtn bikers on the infield). This is my 3rd season racing SS STX and I definitely have something to prove. Last year I did a couple top tens, but for the most part I had a pretty mediocre season. My first race in the series last year resulted in a crash.

If I've learned anything from 'cross, it's that a good crash is critical to a good finish. I took that to heart and got a good starting position on the right side and after the starting bell I took off and took the hole shot. Next thing I knew, I'm with the lead rider - Weaver - the series winner for the past 2 years. Although he was going fast, it didn't fell like I couldn't at least hang on, so I went for it.

A lap later I'm still sitting in 2nd when another guy comes screaming around me. I wasn't sure who it was so I returned the favor on the whoop dees and went around him. We did this a few times until he (ended up being Butler) put the hammer down and him and Weaver started pulling away.

I kept up my pace and ended up the race in 3rd place. My best result in a short track race in 3rd place our of 48 riders. (Big Group!)

Update: Video of Monday's race. All Categories including Kiddies


2008 Short Track Series - RACE 1 from Scott Barker on Vimeo.

On a more somber note, mid way through the race a fellow racer (30 yrs old) collapsed from a cardiac arrest. More info on this at BikePortland.org. Scary stuff, but as it turns out the first responders did all the right things and the fellow is going to be just fine.

Lucky Tabor #3

June 18th
Mt Tabor
Portland, Oregon

I missed the previous weeks race due to travel issues, thus I was fired up to race this week again. I noticed in the last weeks race that the same kid won the 1st and 2nd race so I planned my strategy... At all costs stick with Walton...

Anyway, the fixed gear category had ~23 starters. One of the larger of the fixed gear races I've been to.

Back to race - race started as normal - quick as all hell sprinting up the hill and around the first corner to the downhill. I was hanging with lead group of about 5-6 guys going down the hill. As opposed to race #1, I opted to not try for a lead out and instead held back and let the other guys do the work. This paid off by allowing me to save energy - while at the same time tiring the guys leading out. By the end of the 2nd lap I was sitting in 3rd place in a group of 4 guys.

Going into the final stretch of the 4th lap I made my move and pulled to the front. The other 3 guys had the same idea, and 2 of them pulled in front of me. The 3rd tried and I held him off until the end. Ended up taking 3rd and bringing home the bacon. (Cash payout for the top 3!)

I'm missing the race on the 25th (tonight), but I should be back for #5 next week. Let's go for the win!

PS - first race in the new kit. Hotness!

Tabor #2

Didn't race. I got back home from Texas (work related) an hour later than I had hoped and didn't make it back to my house until after 4. I still planned to make it until I walked in the door and found that my daughter was feeling under the weather. I opted instead to go to the playground with the boy.

Anyway, I hope the race went well. I am looking forward to seeing the results.

Until next week.

PS - Driving in Dallas is awful. The city is like a spiderweb of freeways with the city like a cocooned fly with all of it's blood sucked out.

Mt Tabor #1

The first in this summers series of 6 races occurred on June 4th 2008 at Mount Tabor. For those of you that have not read my past years race reports, Mt Tabor is a dormant volcano in SE Portland. Each summer there is a mid week race series. It's basically a crit with multiple laps that are either climbing up or going down. All in all a pretty hard race.

I raced in the fixed category. There was a pretty sizeable group of 19 riders. The group basically stayed together vs. there being any major breakaway by any riders. I felt strong and pulled the group for the first and final lap. Unfortunately, I dug a bit to deep and couldn't maintain my pace for the final climb to the finish. I ended up in the lead group taking a solid 5th. Not great as I have a goal of a top 3, but acceptable especially after racing just 3 days ago.

I finished the race and tasted lunch (blech) before doing a recovery ride home.

Until next week!

Falls City Firecracker Presented by Cyclepath

Sunday June 1 2008
Falls City Oregon
Single Speed

The promoters were serving pain by the cup and I was drinking it by the pitcher. This is a great mountain bike race and one of my favorite of the year. Half Fast Velo (another local team) puts on the race and Cyclepath is the primary sponsor. It takes place in Falls City at the Black Rock Freeride area.

I awoke in the AM to pouring rain and the sinking feeling that it was going to be an utter slopfest. As I loaded the car and headed to the pick up point for the carpool down I was really feeling a sense of dread about the weather. Thankfully, as we drove south, it dried out and by the time we were in Falls City it was perfect.

The race was billed as 80% single track which in my opinion was pretty accurate. The course itself was a multi-lap format where each lap was about 4.5 miles with 1400 feet of elevation gain per lap. Basically, each lap consisted of a prolonged uphill grind up single track and fireroad and then a bombing single track & fire road descent. The promoter of the race did incorporate some routes that had ladders and drops into the course which did add to the excitement. It also pushed my rigid single speed to it's limit.

The race start & finish was midway up the fire road climb which resulted in both the start and the finish being on a hill (nice...). At the starting gun, I took off from the very back of the pack. I spent the first part of the climb working through a mass of bodies and was towards the front by the time we hit the first single track section.

By the time I made it to the top and the beginning of the downhill there were about 4-6 guys ahead of me. I picked a couple of them off on the descent and all but one on the next climb/descent combo.

Ended up finishing the race in 2nd place. The 'other' guy was Nelson Snyder. A Cyclepath Teamie and my copilot on the drive down to the race. I can't say I am disappointed.

Cyclepath Racing Press Release

Cyclepath, the premier custom bike shop in Portland, is proud to announce the launch of Cyclepath Racing. Proprietors Bill Larson and Joshua Hutchens are excited to have a group of dedicated local riders racing together under the Cyclepath Racing banner. While the shop will continue its tradition of support for other OBRA teams and riders, the new squad will represent the shop directly at OBRA events and beyond. With a range of talents and focuses, the team will be competitive across a range of different races.

Cyclepath Racing is:

John Acevedo
John Bravard
John Browning
David Diviney
Gant Enderle
Grant Folske
Ian Leitheiser
Dan Porter
Aaron Sander
Nelson Snyder
Christian Tresser
Patrick Wilder

cyclepathracing.wordpress.com

cyclepathnw.com

The Cyclists

Instant Classic... Ever feel like your friends are like this?

Angel Bike

I totally stole this picture from Bikeportland.org. I had too. It is just so perfect.

Look closely at the picture of the bike crushed by the minivan. The bike angel arrises from the destruction. Although the bike was destroyed, no humans were hurt.

This makes me laugh

Kermit on a fixed gear

2500!

It's a crappy screenshot, but I just realized that I had hit 2500 miles + 184 hours of riding on Velog. This isn't to say that without Velog I wouldn't have rode that much, but using it has forced me to record it. It has been a great training device. I haven't recorded every single mile - not junk miles (ie riding around doing errands and such) but it has included commuting, training rides and racing.

If you haven't checked it out yet, do it. While you are at it, join one of my groups.

I love velog.

Weather, oh how I hate thee

Rain, with a side of crappiness (well, maybe Sunday will be nice). So, I've been avoiding this post because so many others have been bitching about the weather on their blogs: see here, here, here, etc. , but this is killing me. I've been on rides where I have been rained on, hailed on, snowed on, and then 5 minutes later the sun comes out and taunts my shivering hypothermic self. All of this in April. It's now May 1, and I keep hoping the weather will get better, and bam the weather forcast comes out and it is rainy for the forseeable future! Arggh.

New Bike

Scott CR1. 17.2 lbs with pedals

The new bike is done. I've been out town or the weather has been so poor that I haven't really been able to ride it since I picked it up, so I've only had a chance to do a couple rides. So far so good though. Carbon has a different feel than steel or aluminum, that is for sure, as does Campy. I've never ridden either.

Once again, the guys at Cyclepath did me right, as did my family members with their generous birthday gift certificates to the shop for my recent birthday.

Indiana

I've been in Indianapolis, Indiana for work for the past 4 days which prevented me from being on the bike. Commuting or otherwise. I had been riding the bike in the hotel gym as well as some weights, but it is just not the same. To make matters worse, It was unseasonably gorgeous in Indy. If I was a sales guy and I traveled alot, I'd definately need to get a breakaway.

I was definately excited to get back in the saddle again this morning for my usual Friday AM pre work workout. Did a nice 18.5 miler up and around Mt Tabor this morning.

What's in your bag?

I had my first race a week ago and as I was packing up my 'race' bag I got to thinking about the lists that I typically make, and the prep that I do the night before the race. I thought it might be interesting to construct a list - What's in your bag. Note, this is mountain bike specific and it assumes you are driving to the race venue. It also assumes that weather conditions are unknown. I typically take a much more abreviated list of equipment to races/rides that I ride to.

Clothing, etc.
Shoes
Helmet
Short Sleeve Jersey Long Sleeve Jersey
Bib shorts
Bib knickers
Arm Warmers
Knee Warmers
Vest
Windbreaker
Gloves (2 pairs) Glasses
Socks (2 pairs)

Food, etc.
Pre race energy food - clif blocks, clif shots, clif enery drink
Post race recovery food/drink - clif recovery and/or promax bars
"Real" Food - Sandwiches, Fruit, etc. for after the race
Water bottles (2-3) pre, during, post


Misc:
# plate
Racing license
Prefilled out Waiver
Chamis Butt'r
Diaper creme (don't ask, but it helps)
Baby Wipes
Embrocation (not for summer races)
Zip ties
Safety Pins
First Aid Kit (minor)





Other:
Dirtworker
Pump
Tools
Spare tubes
Chain lube
various plastic bags for dirty clothes, shoes, etc. Changing Kilt
3+ Towels of various sizes(for cleaning body, bike, etc.)

So, what's in your bag?

It's coming....

New bike.....

Soon...

Hornings Hustle Season Opener

April 6th 2008
Hornings Hideout
North Plains, Oregon
Single Speed

"The race that was won by the guy who could push his bike the fastest". A bit of a joke, but only half way. Seriously, though there was a ton of running/pushing the bike. This race was more cross race than the past 2 cross races I've done out at the same venue. It was a mud bog suffer fest.

Photo (Oregon Velo). Mid way through lap 1.

The race started neutral (meaning everyone starts slow until a point on the course). We hit the single track and it was a bit of a cluster. The race started heating up about midway 1 mile into the first lap and I started to take the race serious to try to make up lost ground from my horrible starting position at the "neutral start".

Photo #2 (Oregon Velo)- Weather heating up -lap 1

We did 3 laps, each lap was about 5 miles each (total race time on the odo: 1:56). Each lap was progressively harder with the 3rd taking me into the pain cave. It started raining towards the end of the second lap and made the mud that much deeper and thicker.

This was a muddy race. I think this was lap two:
Muddy Dan - Oregon Velo

Good times. A good early season race, but in case you haven't gathered, it was MUDDY. I was thankful I was running single speed, as I didn't see the drive train issues I saw others having.

Oh, I got 4th place. Not a bad start to the 2008 season.

Goodies

I got home from work on April 1st to find a package sitting on the front porch. It contained my 08 goodies from Twin Six. Good stuff, some of my favorite so far. The jersey is sweet, the socks are sweet, the t-shirt is super sweet (probably my favorite t-shirt now). It's funny, I get periodic orders from T6 (both purchased & comped) and each time I think I like the new stuff better than the last.

I pimped out on my ride today and wore the new jersey, socks and carried a new water bottle.

Socks - 'nuff said

t-shirt - what would Jesus ride?

Upgradititis

Upgraditis: A terminal condition, the main symptom of which presents as the insatiable desire to upgrade. Ex: I have a perfectly functional cross bike, but I really really need that carbon fork, handlebar, etc.

I know it is only spring, but I’m already thinking about how to upgrade my ‘cross bike for the coming season. First off, I need to get some minor frame damage taken care of. Once that is done, I’m thinking about a variety of ways to really pimp out my Kelly. I’d love to hear peoples various perspectives.

My upgrade options look something like this:

1) At the very least I will need to replace my right side STI. This isn’t really an upgrade – it’s more like necessity. Part of the perils of cross racing. In all honesty, It still functions, but barely, and not in a way conducive to racing. I can do one of two things. Replace it with a new 9 Speed STI and call it good, OR replace it with a SRAM Rival setup. PRO: SRAM is PRO. SRAM is also rebuildable. CON: This of course would require new a new front and rear derailleur and a new 10spd cassette.

2) I’m thinking about going single chain ring up front. Because of limitations to my frame (it was designed around mountain bike components), I can only run compact cranks. The problem with, is that the little 34 is a bit low for most ‘cross courses, and I very rarely put it into the big ring (except on those rare courses like Hillsboro). This means that I spin like mad most of the time. Ideally, I’d like to put a bit bigger of a ring up front and call it good. PRO: 1) My cadence would balance out over a majority of courses, I’d lose a bit of weight (single ring), no front derailleur, etc., If I do upgrade to 10spd (item #1 above) I’d only need to by 1 shifter. The left side brake is much cheaper (and lighter) than a true STI. CON: Not quite as versatile on the road. (Currently my ‘cross bike is also my road bike, though, I am thinking/planning on getting a road bike this year as well.

a. OPTION: I could just replace the right side STI (with another Ultegra 9spd Option) and still go single chain ring.

3) Fork: Upgrade the Kelly Steel fork for a carbon one. Unfortunately, my options here are limited as I have a 1 inch steer tube. My choices basically consist of either a Winwood Dusty (828 grams) or a Wound up (682 grams). The price of the Wound Up is cost prohibitive and the Winwood doesn’t really save me that much over my Kelly Fork (861grams), which has been claimed by some as one of the best steel cross forks out there. PRO: Carbon is sexy. CON: My steel fork is pretty sweet as well and not that heavy… Thoughts on this?

4) New bars – Sadly, the bars on my bike are pull offs from my previous bike. I used them along with a stem as a way to save a bit of money (I’ve replaced the stem with a Ritchey WCS). My thought is to upgrade the bars to a Ritchey WCS aluminum version (actually lighter than the carbon and about 1/3 the price). PRO: If I’m going to change the STIs anyway (which will require new bar tape), I might as well go all out and replace the bars at the same time.

36

I celebrated my 36th birthday today, thus no longer being the youngest age in the Masters A group. – Being that it is Monday, I celebrated the bulk of it at work. That being said, the stars aligned today and I had a break during a period of time when it wasn’t raining, hailing, or snowing (yes it has been a weird spring in the Pacific Northwest). Actually, it was quite pleasant and sunny during this time period. I got some new fenders the other day and installed them on my cross bike last night, so it was nice to do the climb to skyline with gears. (Besides the fact that my fixed gear rear wheel is all wonky and I have a new wheel on order.)

Long story short, I celebrated my birthday by performing an act that is ageless. Just me and my bike. I may be getting older, but damn it, I’m not letting something like age slow me down.

Life is great.

CPR

It's been a while between posts. I guess it is that time of year in the middle/end of winter where not much is going on. I haven't yet started racing (won't happen for another month) and have basically just been struggling to get as many miles in as possible during these dark days.

On a related note, I was invited to join a new Cyclepath Racing Team ("CPR"). This is a bit different than the existing team as it will apparently be a bit more focused on results and will be a smaller group of guys/girls. We will also apparently be getting a new kit. Members are currently being recruited from other Cyclepath supported teams (only a few of us from the old team are joining the new one) and there is not really a specific focus on one discipline or another.

I'm pretty excited, as this was actually one of my goals for 2008 (still to be published). I was hoping to take a core group of guys from the team and make it more "team/results oriented". Basically something that I need to take it to the next level.

Enough chit chat- the rain has stopped, time for a ride.