Battle at Barlow

This was at least the 3rd year in a row that I've raced at the Battle at Barlow. I'm pretty sure I raced it back in the day when it was still a cross crusade race as well, but I do at least know I've raced it the past 4 years anyway.

My whole point in this 'history' lesson, is that it was as hard as I have ever remembered it. Possibly because it was so hot and dry, possibly because it was just really fast and possibly because I was riding without a rear brake for the entire race...

During warm up, the bolt on my rear brake loosened itself and managed to swing into the wheel... Thankfully, my wheel was spared any damage... Unfortunately it ripped of my right rear cantilever post...

What's missing from this picture?

In case you can't figure it out

Back to the race. After 20 minutes I was wishing it was over, after 40 I felt like I was moving backwards at 60 I was done. I ended up in 13th... A place higher than last year, though I am unsure of how accurate that is as a big part of the field was racing in the open As as opposed to Masters. All in all it was a good race, but I will be thankful for the rain.

As far as the bike goes, it is a steel frame and I have an appointment to get it looked at/fixed. I'm hopeful it will be fixed by this Sunday.

What's in your (cross) bag?

Part 2 in the 'series'... This one cyclocross related vs. mountain bike related...

First cyclocross race of the season is coming up, so I thought I'd review the pre-race ritual I personally go through. I like to do this the night before so I'm not running around like stressed out crazy man the day of the race. First of all, I want to make sure my bike(s) are in working order the day before the race. There is nothing worse than last minute bike fixes. Also riding a 'just fixed' bike in a race isn't always the best idea either.

After I have gone over my bike(s) to make sure each one is working properly I then move on and spend some time putting together my "race bag". My "race bag" begins with the basics: race license, helmet, jersey, shorts, socks, gloves, shoes, etc. With the basics packed I then consider the weather and other gear I will need to make myself the most comfortable pre-race, during the race and post-race. My list would look something like the following:

• Helmet
• Shoes
  
• Cycling cap
• warm (winter cycling) cap
• Rain jacket (waterproof)
• Rain pants (waterproof)
• Base layers to wear underneath
• Long sleeve jersey (or Skin Suit)
• Short sleeve jersey
• Arm warmers
• Knee warmers
• Socks (2 pair)
• Gloves to suit the weather conditions. I usually like to bring at least 2 pairs... It's always nice to start a race with dry socks & dry gloves... The preride can soak your first pair pretty quick.
• Glasses with different lens options (this is optional for me. If the weather is bad, I typically don't use glasses and just pull my cap down)
• Race towel for cleanup post race
• warming cream for legs (this is a new item for me this year)
• Chamois cream (i'm actually really liking the DZ Nutz product, btw)
  
• Pre race food
• Post race food
• Water
  
• towels (body & bike)
• Towels
• Post race clothes (apre race)
  
• Tools, etc.
• Beer (if allowed at the vendor). Nothing beats a cold one after a hard race... Unless of course it is 32 degrees and sleeting...
  

With my "race bag" packed and ready to go I like to make sure I have good directions as to where the race is happening and the race times of each category. Generally, I typically print off the race flyer from the Internet and stick it in my bag as well. It's nice to have to be able to refer back to it while you are at the race if you need to check race times etc. Also, I like to set out my water bottles and food stuffs that I will be needing as part of my pre-race and post-race.

Kruger's Kermesse Farm Crit Series: Race #3

I did my first 'cross' race of the season this past weekend. In actuality, it wasn't a cross race it was a Farm Criterium or "Kermesse". Basically a dirt crit on gravel and dirt roads in and around Kruger's farm on Sauvie's Island. It was the 3rd and final race in the series (I missed the first 2). The only thing that really made it 'cross' like was that I was on my cross bike, it gave me 'cross BAR points and it was on dirt. There were no barriers, run ups or even changes in tempo. It was basically full on 100% for 60 minutes.

There's me in the middle (3rd from the left)

I raced in the Master A category and ended up doing fairly well. I led for some of the race and then was pushed back to 3rd then 4th place as my energy levels started dipping. I rode alone for a couple of laps just trying to stay ahead of the main pack of riders. My saving grace came when Sue Butler (local female racer extrodenaire) came up (the women As ride at the same time as the men in this particular series). I jumped on her wheel and basically rode with her (trading pulling duties) until the end of the race. This helped put me back in 3rd place (final result) however I was not able to catch up with #1 & #2. I'm pretty happy with the 3rd place finish, though, it's not really as impressive as it seems as the field was way smaller than a normal race. It was a good practice race though and gave me the confidence that I can push a high output for the full A race.

After the race was over, there was a ultra team relay. Cyclepath fielded a team so I did lap. We ended up in 2nd to River City. We had them at the beginning, but alas it wasn't meant to be. Close, but no cigar.

Simon (in the blue & white stripes) jamming to the band

The family came out and watched, but left after my race so I got to do a warm down riding home. All in all a great day.

aaahhh, SNAP

You know what sucks? Being half way through a 27 mile mountain bike ride and having your seat post bolt snap. Yeah, that sucks...

I was doing a night ride this evening with teamie Nelson. We were in Forest Park and almost to firelane 5... I was on my single speed. I briefly sat down and SNAP.... suddenly no seat. I looked around on the ground and found my seat and seat post components. Apparently the bolt snapped.

At that point, my options were to either turn around or proceed. We were almost to FL 5, so I opted to press on to at least enjoy the short fun part of the ride (the only legal single track). We did opt to return back after FL5 though instead of pressing on. 9 miles later my legs were screaming. on the way home I stopped at Nelson's house and we jimmy rigged a bolt into the seat post clamp. It was loose but at least got me home.

This is btw the best time of year to be night riding...

Gear combinations

Like every other crosser, I constantly debate gearing choices. I've been debating the single ring thing for quite some time now but have been convinced otherwise by the guys at the shop. My problem, is my bike was designed around a mountain crank, so only a really small inner chain ring works.

I currently run a Ritchey WCS crank with a 34/50. The 34 is just to small and the 50 is to big for most courses. Basically, I end up staying in the 34 most of the time and end up spinning a whole heck of alot.

I'm not sure why I didn't think of this myself, but I was reading Brooke's blog the other day where he was discusses his gear choices and it hit me... instead of going single, why not compromise and put a smaller ring on the big side. I went and picked up a 44 today (I have a 46 & a 48 in my parts bin) so I have a variety of combos to experiment with.

I think the 34/44 is going to be a good combo. I really doubt I will need to drop into the 34 much anymore as the 44 will suffice for almost all courses.

Thanks Brooke.

Tis the season

I took a ride in Forest Park today at lunch... I saw almost as many cross bikes as mountain bikes....

'cross season is in the air!

Helmet Pads

I've never understood why when you spend 100 -150 on a nice helmet you don't get a second set of pads. Unfortuanetly, I'm a bit of a sweat hog, so I stink them up pretty quickly. Plus, with 'cross they can get muddy and beat up.


I have this:

And I needed this:

I emailed Bell, and they kindly sent me a replacement set. No charge!

Preliminary Cross Crusade Schedule up!

The preliminary cross crusade schedule is now up. Looks like a good one again!

Season opener at Alpenrose, then Wilsonville (I missed it last time around). Rainer which I heard was one of the best courses out there, a DOUBLE weekend in Astoria, the venerable Barton Park and a couple of TBA venues...

Hornings, Estacada and Hillsboro are all missing. Based on all the new construction out there, I am not surprised that Hillsboro is out. I've always liked the close proximity. I'm surprised that Estacada isn't there. I hope it is one of the missing ones though, as it is my favorites.

Also missing are the two USGP races in December. PIR maybe?

October 5	Crusade Series Race 1	Alpenrose Dairy
October 12	Crusade Series Race 2	Wilsonville
October 19	Crusade Series Race 3	Rainier High School
October 25	Crusade Series Race 4	Clatsop County Fairgrounds
October 26	Crusade Series Race 5	Clatsop County Fairgrounds
November 2	Crusade Series Race 6	Barton Park
November 9	Crusade Series Race 7	TBA
November 16	Crusade Series Race 8	TBA

http://www.crosscrusade.com/schedule/2008/index.html

Tahoe 2008

Got back from a week in Tahoe a couple of days ago (ok, it was a week ago).


I got some good rides, hikes and in general family time.

Helmet cam to follow..

Here is a couple of good shots that summarize the week:

The kids on a family ride

At the top of Mr. Toads. About ready to descend 3K... The lake is in the distance.

Simon and Dad - out for a 'big' ride.

Be careful out there

My wife was hit by a car last night while commuting by bike home from work. Thankfully she wasn't hurt (other than a few scratches & scrapes. Neither was her bike. She was however a bit shooken up (obviously).

Basically, a car decided they wanted to park and pulled into the bikelane without looking. She bumped and rolled over hood. Thankfully it was relatively low speed but could have been worse.

Please be careful out there, both on your bike and in your car.

We all just want to get home to our families safetly.

Short Track #5

Portland Short Track #5
Portland International Raceway
SS category
July 21, 2008

Again, I'm tardy in publishing this race report as I've had a ton going on with a really busy work schedule, and our upcoming vacation.

I had an almost perfect starting position and a good (not great) start. I made it into the first corner with the top 10 guys and mananged to stick with this group for the rest of the race, working my way up to a finishing placement of 4th (out of 54 folks). The course as usual was different than the previous weeks. The organizers added in a couple of logs and even a stretch of pavement(!). Fun times.

This is my last STXC of the year and probably my last race until 'cross starts so I'll do a quick recap:

#1: 3rd place
#3: 18th place
#4: 6th place
#5: 4th place


As compared to last year...

#1 22nd
#2 10th
#4 8th
#5 8th


Whoah - in a good way. Same as last year 3 top 10s, but in reality the competition was harder this year and I placed higher in each of the races. My best 3 races this year placed higher than my best all around last year.

I am bummed to miss the final race, but I should be having fun regardless :).

Short Track #4

Totally late post, so I am not going to create a lengthy description....

Details:
New Course
SS category
# of Riders: 43 riders
Final placement: 6th place

Cool picture:
http://photos.oregonvelo.com/p/pdxstxc071408r2/pdxstxc07140815940

The guy that took 1st in the race also races for Twin Six. His first race in the series. Nice work Jeff!

I followed up with the Twin Six guys and apparently he is also a good cyclocrosser so I am sure we will see more of him this fall.

Doper's Suck

It just never ends, does it?

The Grand Tour was rocked again today when Riccardo Ricco was busted for doping. Word on the street is that he was caught using a new generation of EPO that apparently release over a long period of time.

I think my friend Bryan summarized it the best:
"Now Riccardo Riccò is out for suspected doping. Between him, Moisés Dueñas, Manuel Beltrán, Christophe Moreau mysteriously pulling out in stage seven, and more likely to come as the list of 20 riders with “abnormal” values get subjected to more scrutiny, it’s starting to feel like déjà vu all over again.

It’s gotten to the point where I’m a little reticent to pump my fist for any rider these days…as it feels like only a matter of time before they are caught doping."

No shit, brotha. Seems like groundhogs day all over again.

Tabor #6: Final Race

July 16,2007
Mt Tabor Park

Summer must truly be midway because the annual Wednesday Night Mt Tabor race series came to an end last week.

The final race was pretty typical of all previous races that I have reported on. I had a good start, I pulled the field much of the time, I was involved in a full on uphill sprint on the last lap, I crossed the line and felt like my heart was going to explode. Good times.

I ended up taking 4th place, but due to a technicality, the winner was DQ'd because he forgot his # or to sign in... So, I actually ended up in 3rd.

So for the series, out of 6 races my results looked like this:
5th
3rd
3rd
3rd

for a points total of 236 (or 4th place overall). Not bad I guess since this was 4 out of 6 races.

On a side note: Here's a shout out to Cylepath Racing Teamie John Browning for the 1-2 punch, winning both the Senior Men and the Men's master (40+) race serie(s). For those of you following at home, that is 2 separate races each night!

Short Track #3

Short Track #3
Portland International Raceway
July 7, 2008

Wow, that was hard. Dusty, sweaty, bumpy, hot and hard. I'm not sure yet how I did, but I know it wasn't particularly well.

I broke the 1st rule of Short Track (no, it is not not talking about Short track). I had a bad start. Not just a bad start, but a horrible start. I was out pre-riding the course and doing a bit of scouting when the rest of the field was lining up. When I finally dragged my sorry butt over to the start line it was already 3 deep. Nice.

Race started and based on my excellent starting position I new I had my work cut out for me. I went as aggressive as possible and muscled my way on up. Unfortunately, as soon as I was gaining ground I lost my chain on the top of a crest and spent what seemed like an eternity getting it back on...guess I should have checked that ahead of time...

By the time I had it back on, the majority of the field had passed me, thus I spent the rest of the race trying to make up time. I'll be lucky if I placed mid pack.

On the bright side, it was still fun, but a hard fun.

Update: Looks like I placed 18th out of 54. Not great, but not as bad as I thought under the circumstances.

Also, looks like my new nemisis at Tabor this year took first. Darn 19 year olds..

West on 5th

A good friend of mine who lives in Austin created this video. His wife is the star.

Anyway, it totally captures the essence and fun of riding a bike.

Tabor #5

Surveying the course. (New Kit)


My posts are starting to bump into each other... I wait until my next race until I am forced to report on the last. Not very exciting reporting to say the least....

Tabor #5 was much like Tabor #3 (I missed #4 due to my wonderful wife's birthday). I raced fixed as usual and the field was a bit smaller, but all the leaders were there so I knew I would need to race smart again by not making a break
when the leaders were going slower than I wanted to. I stuck with
them and did my share of pulling until the final lap when the
lead guys attacked. I hung on for dear life and took home the
bronze. Hey, at least I paid for my race fees!

Best Part of the race was my cheering section:

"Go Daddy, Go!"

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.