A sunny day, a 7 PM start. In theory, flats, but due to some work on the drag strip, it’d be counter-clockwise with the escape route. Should be a good hills workout, especially after all the March racing. The 1/2/3s head out… then the Masters. Huh… there’s still a lot of people about.

Over 90 people, to be exact!

It’s just a huge, huge pack. It’s actually a bit intimidating, to be honest. I’m in the middle. The first couple of laps are tough and I’m winded… I’m not bombing down the escape route as there’s tons of people. And it’s tough moving up, as the pack is fast… very fast. It’s 30 minutes, so people are taking it like a crit, and I’m having a hell of a time climbing. I get dropped after the 2nd hill, so I sit up at top for the pack to come around. When they do, I race to catch on the back… and don’t! The pack is moving at around 26-28 MPH, and I can’t catch on for the life of me. Turns out the 4/5s also passed the Masters… just a fast moving pack. I do one more lap, then I’m done. Oof!

Hill repeats. Must do hill repeats.

Friday, 9 PM, 3/28. I’m packing up the race gear. It’s snowing. There are two races the next day, a rarity. Sequim #2 or North Shore circuit up in Bellingham. I haven’t done Bellingham, but it’s hilly, and about the same distance as Sequim. And it’s snowing. In theory, Sequim is in the rain shadow, and dry. Bellingham, not so much. I check the radar… there’s rain and snow everywhere.

Saturday, 6:30 AM, 3/29. It’s partly cloudy… could Sequim be nice? Or would it be a waste of a 2 hour drive and $23 in ferry tolls to see Dungeness snowed under?

8:45 AM, 3/29. We arrive, in weather that could only be described as, “Doesn’t suck.”

It was chilly, but warming and gorgeous. And dry. A great day for a race!

There were 35-45 in the Cat4 field… the race marshall at the beginning said 35, but folks at the end said 45. Felt more like 35, but who knows. Anyway, there were 8 Wines and 2-3 members from the usual suspects. Two strong Carter guys did a ton of work, but we were covering their moves. And of course anytime any of us tried to get away, the pack would chase things down. So, while a few people would get popped off the back, the pack mostly rolled around the course uneventfully. One of our guys caught a pedal in his Zipps… totaled the front wheel, but he stayed upright and nobody else crashed. Otherwise, bunch sprint at the end. The two Byrne guys, including Jeff whom I rode with last week, took first and second, and then our guys rolled through 3rd and 4th and then scattered throughout the pack. I didn’t take the last corner well, and the pack started sprinting almost immediately, which was about 1000km out. I was further back, so had to catch some wheels, but didn’t have enough gas to get into good position. Ended up #22 - better than last time. Still gotta work at having gas as the end though.

And for fun, some shots of the folks after the race. Here’s Alec and Jon checking on their placements at the finish line:

And here’s Mark Wistrom, who hung at the back nearly the entire race and still finished well! He was #21, as we were both out of gas.

Here’s Dessa relaxing after the race. He also had a good race, finishing 11th.

Good stuff. Oh, and as for what happened in Bellingham?

Race canceled. We’ll see ya next year!

Well, that was fast.

Independence Valley is a ~20 mile loop down in Rochester, WA, which is just off I-5 halfway between Seattle and Portland. It’s a narrow, chip-sealed route with two ~250 foot hills. That’s where the race is won and lost… those that can stick on the hills, make it to a sprint finish with maybe 20-30 other people out of some 70 that start. I figured I could hold my own at least on the first hill, and hopefully the second.

Nope.

I kept up a bit about 80% of the first hill, but couldn’t keep speed. I tried to catch back on the descent, but the pack was just out of reach. Jeff, a Byrne guy who also got dropped on the hill, caught up with me and we rode to the next hill. As we were huffing up, the 5s overtook and those who could climb passed us. We let them go (not that I had much choice) and hopped on down a nice windy descent. We picked up a few of the 5s who had also been dropped and cruised the final few miles to the lap marker. The 5s we were with decided to do another lap; Jeff and I packed it in. We met up with a few other 4s who had also been dropped along the way towards the end.

Welp… time to get on the trainer and work on those hills. But hey, next week - Sequim #2!

An annual tradition started early this year. On Tuesday, Budu Racing started its twilight racing series at Pacific Raceways! Every Tuesday night at 7 (6:45 for the first two weeks) is a quick ~hour long race along the 2-mile track at PR. About a third of the time it’s “the flats” which means a 2-mile loop on a flat course. The other 2/3 are along the back, which have a descent and ascent of some slope, depending on which direction we’re going that week. They’re quick practice races, good to get the legs pumping.

This week, there was a huge crowd — well over 50 in the 4/5s. We just did 6 laps for 30 minutes, but were cruising between 23 and 25 MPH each lap. I finished upper-middle of the pack; I don’t think there were many drops. Did some time pulling, spent some time at the back, busted up a few times… generally worked on cornering and moving within the pack. Good times.

Oh, and best of all - I got #39 again this year. Bit of luck, bit of timing… w00t!

The final race of the Mason Lake series, #3, happened today. Since the Ravensdale race is tomorrow, a race much closer to Seattle and on a faster, wider course, not many people were at Mason. For the 4s, there were only 25 of us, which made for a much more interesting race. Moving up was amazingly easy, as the pack was typically in either a single or double line. At one point I found myself at the end, and so I just hopped out near the center yellow line and moved up to the front, about 4th, just like that. And I don’t think anyone actually followed my wheel, which says something about how fluid things were. People were attacking and covering often, and because of the small field the surges were felt by everyone… or at least me.

Near the end of the second lap I almost bumped into Dessa… he was swooping out a bit on a corner, but all was good. He apparently recognized my profile, and asked if I was with the Touring Machines. I said yup! And he introduced himself. I guess he’s on the CycleU team now; good for him! Anyway, we didn’t have much of a chance to talk as the there started to be attack after attack on the back rollers. This managed to sap my strength a lot faster than I would have thought, and I got popped off towards the beginning of the 3rd lap with a FSA guy. We chased for a while, but after a few miles it was pretty clear we weren’t going to catch the pack. We did a reasonable pace to finish and called it at 3 laps, just in time to see the Masters C/D and 5s packs come in a few minutes later.

I’m still not sure why Mason is so hard for me… not sure if I can blame it on the rollers. Last week my legs blew up… this week, I just got popped. The third lap solo I clearly had gas still in the tanks, so perhaps I need to be closer to the front when attacks start coming. Easier said than done of course!

Next week: Sequim #2… back to the flats!

Update: one of the most flattering shots of me I’ve seen in a while, from the fine folks at WheelsInFocus.com:

Ah, Sequim… the top of the peninsula. A fast 12-mile loop along wide, dry pavement. The race winds along the top portion at usually a fast clip, then hits a 5-mile straightaway that’s usually into a 5- to 10-MPH wind. Staying with the pack will yield a good finish typically, but that also means it is easy to get dropped! Last year, I had a good race and finished 16th and 19th. This year?

As it turns out, there was very little wind. This means the field of ~65 racers was packed together, and actually sped up on that 5-mile straightaway. A bit boring of a race for the first two laps. About the third, a break got away with Duane, our fearless captain, and four others, including a rider from Hagens-Berman, the other strong team in the field. Well, once a break with teammates has gotten away, the team in the pack knows what to do: mail it in! So, nobody chased. Starbucks tried to chase, but couldn’t quite get one together and just ended up blocking and getting yelled at. Then, around the end of the third lap, a few people went down near me inexplicably… one bumped my wheel, but I was able to get around it and get back with the pack. A few minutes later at the beginning of the fourth lap, another crash, again far too close to me for my liking. At this point the pack settled having lost about half its number due to the crashes, and we had a nice ride to the finish.

Near the end, I tested joining a minor break, but discovered my left leg was cramping… I went from 3rd to 20th in a second as I worked it out. At that point, I decided that a simple finish would do fine… no sense in killing the leg on the second race of the year. So the pack rounded the final turn and sprinted for 6th place. I finished with the pack, somewhere below 20, but hey, it was a fun race. Duane ended up taking 3rd after hearing he and the two remaining in the break were 2 minutes ahead with 3 miles to go and letting the other two get away (the 4th and 5th in the break having been dropped earlier). Ben Collins, a rookie pro triathlete and the ox leading the break, towed HB’s Cat 2 track sprinter to the finish in time to watch what sprinters do best - pop around and win from behind. Oops.

9:30 AM. Dave Douglas, former president of the WSBA, gives his annual inaugural speech to 70-odd Category 4 racers.

This is a training race. There are no prizes, no cash, no merchandise, no points for winning. This is just to remember how to ride in a fast pack again. The centerline rule is in effect, so don’t go over the yellow line. If your team put in some wheels and you have a flat, move over to the right and get a swap. If not, sucks to be you. Make sure your numbers are on the right side. Last lap, the full road is available for sprinting to the finish for the final 200 meters. Neutral until the first corner, and then you’re racing!

And we’re off! I’m towards the back, foolishly, and spend the first lap getting my heart rate under control and trying to move up a bit. I get to the 2/3 mark of the pack… a bit better, but still yo-yoing too much on the turns. There are some new kits to old teams… the brown Zoka is now red Cucina Fresca, and red Native Planet has turned into green and white Starbucks. My team, Wines of Washington, is still black, white, silver, and yellow… a bit too noisy for my tastes, but that’s OK.

Laps 2 and 3 are OK… my heart rate is under control and I think I’ve got gas. Last year at this time, I was dying 4 miles from the end of Lap 3. This year, no problems. We sail through, bounce about and make a left onto good road and an incline. I handle the turn nicely (a shock, as I’m still horribly at following wheels on turns), keep behind a guy as we latch back onto the pack… and I’m done.

It was a weird sensation… the legs just lost energy, and I saw the pack starting to slip away. The follow car was quite generous in giving me time to catch back on, and I knew in my head that my race was done, but didn’t want to admit it. I tried pushing to get to the downhill and catch back up, but nothing doing. OK, fine… I’ll have a slow 11-mile cooldown. Bad idea… left side starting cramping and freezing, and really, by the time I was at the 6 mile mark on the course (halfway around), I was hurting. Spun my way out of it at maybe 15 miles per hour, going very slowly up the rollers. Oof…. not an auspicious start, but hey, it’s a rolling course, and clearly, I still suck at hills. And really, gotta be in the front from the beginning!

BTW, our team plan generally works… we hid until the end, and then we bunch sprinted on the right side to the finish. Got 2nd and 3rd, although one of our guys went down hard in a 4-man crash… that sucked. 2nd doesn’t get you anything in this race, but Greg got some stitches in his knee for his effort. Ah well, that’s racing.

Next week: points matter, as we head up to Sequim for Tour de Dung!

Well, after a month or so galavanting around Europe, I was back on track on the track - Pacific Raceways, counter clockwise down the escape route. An hour around the track. There was a decent field; a bit small but enough for a good race. I was hoping to make at least half the laps before getting dropped, and that turned out accurate. Around lap 5, the legs started to burn up the hill, and lap 6 I got popped. I chased back on during the flats, but on the next uphill I had no energy left. I sat out a lap and caught back on for another couple when the pack came around again after five minutes. This was actually much better than toughing it out solo… the final laps are interesting, especially the last which feels more like a 2-mile semi-sprint rather than a normal finish. Because of the big uphill climb, on the downhill everyone spreads out and then on the uphill people are already sprinting, as there’s no help from drafting.

Good race regardless… next week is up, which I’ll probably miss, and then the final race in two weeks - flats!

Nick, a friend of mine whom I normally rope into fun adventures, and I happened to be in Amsterdam towards the end of the Tour de France. As Paris is a mere four hours away by train from Amsterdam, we decided to hop on down and catch the finale of the Tour! Random doping issues aside (and ripe for another post), the finale was a fantastic spectacle and well worth the trip.

The 20th and final stage of the tour is is a 85.5 km / 53.1 mi flat ride into Paris followed by eight 7.5 km / 4.6 mi laps up and down the cobblestones of the Champs-Elysées. People start staking out the best sight-lines about 9 AM or so, in similar fashion to tailgating at major events, with the exception that once the race gets in, you don’t have to move (and indeed you can’t, given the crowd that surrounds you). It was raining off and on, so Nick and I decided to hit the Musee d’Orsay for a few hours and then find a space about 2 PM, when the Caravan arrives. We found a nice spot at the upper NE corner maybe four people back, which gave us great sight lines and enabled us to take some great pictures (and a lot more bad ones!).

About 2 PM, the Caravan arrives, which is a huge parade of the Tour sponsors. While cars decked out in flowers are not to be seen, there are a number of cars, vans, and semis weaving about up and down the course. At one point, the Caravan managed to get stuck, leaving the Aquafina clown stopped near us have a bit of fun.

After the Caravan arrived, we stood in a densely packed crowd, anxiously awaiting the peleton, to arrive. After a wait of nearly two hours after the Caravan ended, about 4:40, the peleton arrived! The peleton takes surprisingly long to travel up the Champs-Elysées. It is proceeded by a large contingent of lead cars, as then the peleton of 130-odd riders arrives!

The peleton then arrives, and in just a few seconds the riders have cornered and gone. I managed to get a number of photos as they passed; on the first round, I happened to get a great (albeit slightly blurry) shot of Alberto Contador, who was in (and kept) the yellow jersey. Check it out… he was even on a custom-painted yellow Trek Madone! It looks to be an amazingly sweet ride… and you know that they had that pre-made in case Contador was in the lead!

I also caught a number of other good shots. Here is one of my favorites, which is a shot of a José Ivan Gutierrez in a breakaway of about 8 riders passing in front of the photo pool. I happened to catch the rider just as the flash of another photographer was going off, which made for some spectacular lighting conditions:

For those interested, I was taking the shots using a Nikon D70 and a 70-300mm F/4.5D lens, shooting using continuous auto-focus and alternating between aperture priority (when we had a bit more light) and shutter priority (which was better, as it prevented some of the blurrier shots), and continuous shot mode. When the peleton would come about, everyone would raise their cameras up and start shooting… this generated a ton of bad shots, but hey, it’s easy to delete shots in the 10 minutes between laps.

After the tour, the crowd dispersed, and Nick and I headed to an amazing French restaurant, Le Coupe Chou. I remember eating at the fine Latin Quarter restaurant when I was last in Paris in 1999, and noticed that even back then they had a website. It’s still as charming and tasty as ever!

Incidentally, for those going again — I highly recommend staying at the Hotel Belfast, which is a block away from the Arc and right next to a RER and Metro stop, making it super convenient for both the Tour as well as getting about in Paris.

All in all, an amazing experience… I’m glad we were able to go and see it. Now, if only I can convince Mary Kaye to go with me again for so we can follow the full tour!

Thank you Anthony for the ride suggestion.

This was tiring but high value in that it got my legs to do strenuous hills over very short distance. The best part is I now have no more fear of climbing 65th or 70th in my bike in either direction as I have now done them several times over a single ride and even on my double (although I kept thinking a triple might make it little nicer