Daryoush and I headed up for Corning, CA at 2:30 pm on Friday. We arrived at 6! Holy smokes, I now see how women have kids multiple times. I had forgotten how long this drive really is.

 

Once in Corning we checked out the new finish line. It is about a half mile past the old line and just on top of a short, steep hill. The hill is only 250 meters long or so, but fairly steep, say about 9-10%. We thought if it was a pack finish that we needed to wait till just before the base of the hill but to be positioned top 5 to have a shot.

 

I had some good training leading up to this race and felt fit. Figured I had a good shot at a win, especially since no mutants were racing…at least that I was aware of. Field was small, about 18-20 total and that includes the three guys in the 35+ 1/2/3 field. 75 mile race of four laps (so just over 18 miles per lap). Course is pretty flat, with some small rollers on it, but the headwinds kept the field honest.

 

I had talked to one of the best sprinters and racers in Northern California (Steve Heaton) about the race strategy prior to going. He advised sitting in till lap three. He did say if a dangerous break went early, go with it, but don’t kill yourself to help the break till you are sure it is away for good. I was going to be patient this race, something new for me!

 

I have never ridden so slow during a race for the first 18 miles. I think my wife and kids (9 and 7 years old) could have hung with us lap one. Gave me a chance to get to know some of the other riders as we had long conversations to pass the time. One rider (Rich from Wells Fargo), who I knew from past races and was fairly friendly with, and I talked about our kids and jobs. He also let me know he was not in great race shape and really just counting on sitting in for the final sprint. I filed this info away for future use.

 

We come to the end of the first lap and I can not take it any  longer. I had been self talking that first lap to just sit in and save the legs, but at this pace it was hard to do! Finally I had to stretch my legs a bit and I rolled off the front. Not really an attack, just wanted to up the pace. Go a small gap and kept rolling a bit to get the speed up. The group caught up to me and Rich said, something about my "attack". I let him know I just had to stretch my legs, that was not an attack. He said "good idea" and then did the same thing.

 

Well, he got a decent gap, then another rider I had not seen before jumped across to him. I almost felt bad for Rich, since I knew he was not up for a 57 mile break. I was happy to see the two of them go. I figured we would catch them about lap two or three no problem. The only other team with multiple riders was Davis, with three guys. They now had responsibility to chase this break down. They just sat in for the next 18 miles. The moto ref (Lee who also runs the Copper Town Circuit races) eventually road up and let us know they had 45 seconds.

 

We get to lap three and Lee comes back to me and says they now have 1:15. He tells me that "one of the riders looks pretty worked over but the other guy looks very strong". Hmmm, I start to get a bit worried now. I figure we still have 35 miles to go, so not panic time, but we should start to cut into that lead. We try a rotation. Guys wimp out and the rotation dies. Lee says they now have 1:40. Yikes!

 

Beginning of lap four, we catch Rich. He is by himself and looking beat. I roll next to him and ask where is the other guy? Rich responds with "that dude is strong!" Uh oh. I ask, you think he can stay away? His answer: "yep"

 

Crap.

 

Daryoush and I talk a bit and we both jump. We get two others to come with us, including a Davis rider. This should be perfect. Now we can hammer together to try and catch the lone rider. Daryoush takes a strong pull, I come through and pull, then nothing. The other two are sitting on. We yell at them, but nothing happens. I don’t get it. Not sure what they are waiting on. We get brought back to the field. Just as we are brought back, the same Davis rider, jumps out for a solo break. Huh? He thinks he can catch the other guy who has 1:40 by himself? I turn to Daryoush and express, "that guy is an idiot". He agrees.

 

I watch as he slowly pulls out of range. Lee rides up on his moto to let us know the gap to first place is 1:40 still and the gap to first chase is 40 seconds. The field does nothing. I get fed up by this point and decide to venture forth on my own and try and catch Davis rider. I know first place is out of reach now. I jump and get a good gap. Field chases for a bit, but Daryoush does a good job of sitting second wheel and not pulling through. He is a good teammate!

 

I put my head down and ride into the headwind with 10 miles left to the finish. I have been training for 10 plus minute VO2 intervals (As hard as I can ride that is still aerobic). I do lots of self talk. I don’t like riding alone. I much rather have company to share the load. So all this is going through my head when I glance back and see a rider trying to bridge across to me. Sit up and wait for him or keep riding? I decide to make him work for it, but not go so hard that he can not make it. I want the second guy there but I don’t want him with me fresh. He catches me, and it turns out it is one of the 35+ guys. Perfect! Now we both can place without having to race each other (they were placing the 35+ and the 45+ guys separately). Well this guy has a moral issue (who knows why, cause it is legal to help each other) to help me catch the guys up the road (both 45+ guys ahead). He tells me he will not sprint by me at the end, but he can't take a pull. Well that sucks.

 

Ok, let's wrap this story up. I keep the pressure on and close 2nd place to 25 seconds (from the original 40) but can't close the deal. Dude that broke away lap two wins, Davis second and I get third. Daryoush, who did a great job protecting me, placed a very respectable 6th and earned the final Velo Promo T-shirt too!

 

Postscript: I approached the guy who won (Mike Brown) after the race to offer congratulations and to find out who the hell this guy is. I know all the Nor Cal guys capable of that sort of effort (most go by the name of Dirk or Kevin). He smiles and let's me know he just moved to Chico from the East coast a month or two ago. Well, that was his one time he gets to go off in a break without me now. Next time, I will be on his wheel from the jump.

 

So ends 2013 road racing. What a fantastic year. I can tell you all 2014 will be extraordinary. More CoreTechs team developments coming down the pike, so stay tuned.

 

Till next year…race reporting out!

 

 

Andrew

 

Sometimes, life is not fair-San Ardo RR 2013

 

And who the hell ever thought it would be? I have been reminded through out my life that life just is, there is no universal right or obligation to fairness. This applies when good things happen as well as bad things. In the scheme of things, I would have to say life has been relentlessly positive and immensely "fair" for me, so who am I to say anything? When in boot camp, my Drill instructor, a two year high school attendee from South Carolina, woke our platoon up at 0200 to begin what was two hours of punishment PT, only to realize, he had walked into the wrong platoon bay and thus was punishing the wrong platoon. He brought us to attention, and issued the famous Marine Corp apology, "as you were" and walked out. And again when I started my first company and had our largest clients, who owed several million (Webvan and iMotors) both call the same week to say, we are closed and have no money left, "sorry but thanks for pay rolling our staff" It occurred to me, things happen and sometimes you just need to deal with it.

 

After several deep breaths and a car ride home with the Zen master; Christian, I am calm and relaxed. I would guess at this point you can tell the direction of my San Ardo road race. On the positive side of the ledger, I did not flat, nor crash. The race was relatively fun and the drive down and back uneventful. So really, it was a good day.

 

I had delusions of grandeur for this race. I was certain I would win or place, how could I not? I had trained well, eaten right and there were no mutants in the field. I had my race report already written. Strange how the rest of the field did not go along with these sentiments.

 

3 lap race with each lap being 22 miles. Lap one was slower than an easy recovery ride, for those that are into watts, I averaged 158 for that lap…crazy slow. Lap two I had enough of this and went off on my own. I had one guy come with me and we hit it hard. About 8 miles later we had one strong man bridge. Now the three of us got down to business and were rotating well. We made it 20 miles before the group caught sight of us and pulled us back. Ah well, such is life. Final lap, we are all together. No breaks will go as everything is chased down within a mile or two. Fair enough, I will sit in and recover for the final sprint. about 1/3 into the final lap, one rider (SJBC) ups his pace and gets a gap. No one blinks. The rider is a good rider, but no threat to stay away by himself. I think about jumping to him since he has two teammates in the group that will block, but I am sure the group will bring him back, so think it smarter to keep the match for later. Two minutes after he rolls off, a motto ref comes up and neutralizes our group. The P/1/2s are coming through she says. Ok, we slow to 12 miles an hour and move to the side of the road. We wait…no P/1/2's come by. We wait some more. Finally, after four or five minutes of 12 mph the P/1/2's come by at roughly the same pace we had been going previously. That is, not all that fast. The motto ref keeps us at 12 mph till the P/1/2's get out of site. This adds another four or so minutes onto our 12mph pace. Well, that takes care of that. The lone rider now has a 9-10 minute head start on us with about 10 miles to go.

 

I can't say I am mad, but I am pretty frustrated. I now have an internal debate if we can still catch the lone rider. We can not see him up the road and we are not getting time gaps, so we have no clue where he is. Should we try or should we all ride super slow and do our sprint for second place? After a mile of everyone conceding the race, I get more frustrated. This sucks. I bring the pace up in the group and get another rider to pull through. He and I keep hammering hard! No one else come through. I decide to attack the group. They string out and bring me back and then sit up. I try again, they do this again. Why race for second, let's try I yell to the group! Nothing. The strong man in my original break attacks. I decide to sit in and see what happens. Nothing!! Everyone lets him go. Now I am steaming. They just let him go with no reaction from anyone. I stew. Finally I had enough. This is not the smart move, but there is nothing to do at this point but either watch him, or try and jump across to him. I jump and put my head down. Now the pack comes. I am on my own for a bit but they eventually catch me. I am close to that rider though so I keep motoring. We get to 600 meters and we catch him. Then those that were sitting in attack. Six "fresh" riders get by and we roll over the line. I get a miserable 7th place. I am still stewing. Can't blame the SJBC rider. I would have done the same thing and taken the win gladly. I looked up his final lap time on Strava. He beat the pack's time by 45 seconds. I have to think the ref dramatically changed the outcome of our race…what can you do though? Sometimes, life just isn't fair…As you were.

Turlock Lake Road Race-45+ 1/2/3 2013 Report

Andrew's Turlock Report from the 45+ 1/2/3 Race
Teammates: Daryoush and Scott Fairman

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then. Though when you have searched for that nut as long as I have, it sure feels good to find it.


Daryoush and I start our day at 5:20am to make the seven hour commute to Turlock. Well, seemed like seven hours. Turlock for those not in the know is a place so distant and remote that few alive have actually seen it. It is a place you don’t go, unless you have a darn good reason. While most would not acknowledge a bike race as a darn good reason, Daryoush and I would, but we are strange like that. It seems there were 30 others with similar issues as that is how many lined up with us.

We had 72 miles to traverse over three laps of rolling terrain. Usually this course is not super hard, but the high winds make up for any terrain issues. Our strategy going in was to either make a break or get in a break. We had Scott Fairman with us too and he was tasked with protecting the break if we succeeded. Many attempts went but none were so far successful. Finally with a lap and a half left (about 36 miles), four riders got a gap. I knew one of the four was a very strong rider (Chris Courtney), so I was pretty bummed to have missed this. Others must have had similar feelings as two more jumped to try and bridge. I knew this was it and so jumped across to the two up the road. I had one guy on my wheel.

The four of us were chasing the four up front and were being pursued by the pack behind. We closed the gap on the front four to within 300 meters when our foursome seemed to give up. The lead then stretched to 500 meters. This was do or die time. I figured a match burning here made sense, so burn I did. Pulling as hard as I could through the rollers, we finally joined with the front four. Now we had eight. I knew four of the eight and they were very strong riders. This was the winning break I was sure. The eight of us quickly organized and started a rotation. For half a lap we drilled it through the headwinds and cross winds. The motto ref informed us that our gap was 40 seconds. Then it was 1 minute, then 1:30. You could feel the peloton's will break. We had snapped the cord and were free.

Cut to the finish.

3k to go, 70 miles done. Many of the guys were riding with heavy legs now and the few attacks that went in our group were pretty anemic. We spread across the road and turned the final 3k into a velodrome track race. Our speed was about 15 mph now. The first attack came from a VOS rider (Jan, who had just won the road race the previous week on a solo break with 3k to go). He is covered by Courtney and I am on his wheel. We get a good gap but then he sits up when he sees we are there. The other five come back to us.

1500k to go and 71 miles done. A Davis rider attacks hard and is immediately followed by a Morgan Stanley rider. I jump across but it hurts. I try physiological warfare. When I catch the two I glance back and see we have about 150 meters on the other five. I yell to the Davis rider to "keep going, we have top three if we don’t give in here." He hesitates.

800 meters to go and 71.5 done. The group of five behind us is now 50 meters back and charging. The Davis rider realizes his only shot is to keep going. He picks it back up and we hold the 50 meter gap.

400 meters to go. The Davis rider starts to die and the group of five is now 25 meters behind us. The Morgan Stanley rider attacks for the finish line. I see him start to go and realize this is it.

300 meters to go. I jump around the Morgan Stanley rider and give what I have left.

Finish line passes under my wheel and I have a bike length lead over Morgan Stanley. The squirrel has found the nut. Certainly feels good. Now I need to figure out where to hide this nut while I frantically search for another.

Andrew

Dave Mayer's Top Sport Stage Race "Report" (helps if you get to the start on time!)

 

Dave Mayer's "report" from Top Sport Stage Race- 35+1/2/3

 

In lieu of a race report, here are my top ten moments from the race.  If I haven't offended those up there with me enough, I apologize.  I will get you next time.

 

1) Andrew driving us to and from the event, paying for the gas, housing us, and feeding us.  What an asshole :)

2)  Steve's hairy legs.  Whenever I rode behind him I could swear they looked like twin Alfs

3)  "guest riding" in the 45+ road race after missing my start.  It was weird though - in the cat 3s they do a junior roll out before the start.  In this category, they test everyone's pacemaker

4)  Eating and drinking every last damn thing in Mark Dame's house

5)  Getting passed by JB on the time trial course even though he started 8 people behind me

6)  My 'reverse lead out' helping JB get 4th in the circuit race.  I did it for my country.

7)  Jerome and his regaling us with stories of a fugitive he once dated.  

8)  Jerome showing us his scar and explaining it was caused by exploratory surgery needed to find a toothpick he accidentally swallowed.  From now on, after all the stupid things I do I will have this story to point to and say "well at least I didn't swallow a toothpick"

9) Driving in Eric's M5, a car which has 3 more tailpipes than any car I will ever own.

10) The "Margs".  'Nuff said.

Top Sport Stage Race 2013-45+ 1/2/3

 

CoreTechs Team: Jeremy Wire, Scott Fairman, Steve Stewart, Jerome Nadel, Eric Saltzman and me (Andrew)

 

Ok, I have started to write this report several times, but my creative juices are just not flowing. I have nothing to "bump", nothing to offer in terms of entertainment. It could be that three races in two days and several margaritas and glasses of wine have killed those few brain cells that were competent enough to write creatively. So all I can offer at this point is an actual race report of what transpired. Well, what I remember transpired. I offer no guarantee that this is very accurate at all.

 

I show up to the race and park next to a large white van with no windows. The kind of van that the police routinely pull over just to check inside that no one is bound in the back. To make things a bit scarier, the van is blasting "Sexual Healing". Only thing missing was a bumper sticker with the words "If this van is a rocking, don’t bother knocking". Turns out that our very own Steve Stewart is the owner of this fine piece of machinery. I am already practicing my words for the news crews when they call for a quote: "Steve was such a nice guy, I never could have imagined him capable of that."

 

Race 1: 75 mile road race in Oakdale around Woodward Reservoir. Seems that Oakdale is home to all road races in Nor Cal. I have gone to Oakdale more in the last two months than any sane person should. Regardless, this is an eight lap race. If I do my math correctly that would mean each lap is about 24 miles long. Oh, maybe that is not right but it felt about that. Now you also see why I went into staffing and not finance.

 

Our team strategy for the race was simple. Get enough time on the one mutant in our race (Kevin Klein) and the one great TT'er (Chris Courtney) in order to survive the GC and come out with a win. Win you say? Yes, we were not going into a race shooting for second place. Sure, we could have done that, but with our very own active duty Army Ranger carpooling with us, not sure we would survive the ride home saying we achieved our goal of being "first loser". So we had to at least try for first. That meant we needed to figure out how that was remotely possible. After all, Klein could win by just riding off the front in each of the races and Courtney just needed to sit next to us and then TT our brains in. Ok, then the strategy became apparent and simple. Get in a break without either of those two. See, no problem. How hard could that be?

 

Our potential GC guys were Jerome and myself. Eric was not going to do the TT, Steve was too busy fussing with his musical choices and Jeremy and Scott were in their first race of the year. So, it was down to Jerome and me to fly the CoreTechs GC flag.

 

Lap 3 and I launch off the front. By launch I mean I roll off before anyone seems to notice. Eventually a Sierra Nevada rider looks up and sees me. He comes over and we have a two man break. I ride hard for a full lap taking a lot of the pulls as he seems to be breathing very hard. We are now out of site! By the time we start the next lap, he says, "I think one of your guys is coming across". I look back but can not make out the kit. I am torn on sitting up to wait or making the guy work for it. We ride moderately to give the guy some work but letting him come to us. With the rider 300 meters back I see that it is not a CT boy but rather Klein making his way solo to us. If there was one guy I did not want it to be it was Kevin. Now I had to think, do I want to stay with this break and go to the finish or sit up and hope that Jerome can get in another break. Not an easy decision. If I stayed in the break, I am sure we would have stayed away and maybe I get a few minutes on everyone else and I can take a second overall. Nope, I still had that car ride home with the Army Ranger and so still had visions of CoreTechs winning.

 

Side note; once Kevin reached my break, I sat on the Sierra rider and did not pull (neither did Kevin by the way). Kevin though started to yell and gesticulate about what a shit head I was and why was I sitting in now that he got there. I did not look or talk to him, but he kept yakking. We did one or two rotations and then Kevin started in on me for not taking long enough pulls. When I went to the back of our three man break, I sat up and let the two of them roll off. Not long after I was back in the pack. We then got a nice rotation going and half a lap later we brought back the two of them. Kevin was very pissy from that moment on.

 

Final lap; about 5 miles to go and a VOS (Jan) rider rolls off the front. We let him go till he has 45 seconds to a minute on the pack. We then all realize that could have been a mistake to let him go. Since no one was chasing him down, it was up to Eric/Jerome or I to go after him. That was the only guys we had left at this point. Courtney came to the front to get a rotation going to bring him back, but Kevin yelled at him to stop. "Let CoreTechs bring him back". I think at this point Eric was getting a bit tired and Jerome was now going to be our GC guy since my break did not work. I had a lap and a half of two man break in my legs, but figured I could bring back Jan. I went to the front and channeled my best Tom Rice. I sat on the front for what felt like two hours (probably 5 minutes) and went as hard as I could sustain. Finally I got tired and pulled off. I heard Eric tell Kevin if he does not help that Jan is going to win. Kevin said, "I don’t care, I am teaching Andrew a lesson". So, Eric came to the front and took a turn. I then came back to the front and gave another hour worth of pulling (about 2.5 minutes). We got Jan back to 20 seconds, but that was the best we could do. He won the race. In the final sprint Kevin got second and Jerome took third. I rolled in with the same time in 6th and Eric was right there too.

 

Post first day: Started with Margarita from the white van, another once we got home and then a few glasses of wine at dinner. Awesome! We sat around talking bike talk (doping, who could be doping, doping and more doping talk…). Had an amazing dinner provided by Mark Dames and his fantastic, saint of a wife.

 

Race 2 (Copper Town Circuit race): We must have looked like squirrels to the group. They chased anything in a CoreTechs kit. Every break attempt that went from a CoreTechs rider was chased down immediately. Eric tried once or twice, Steve tried, Scott tried and I tried but nothing was getting away if you had on a CT jersey. Kevin mostly chased it all down. They were however letting anyone else go and leaving it to CoreTechs to pull back. 2 laps to go it seemed obvious that no CT break was going to stick, so I rolled next to Jerome. He had a 11 second advantage on everyone but the VOS rider and Kevin from the RR (they gave time bonuses for 1 through 3rd), so he was our GC guy and I was his domestique. I told him I am going to launch my sprint a bit early (300 meters). I knew Kevin would be the first to chase me, so just sit on Kevin and wait till he goes after me. Once he does, come around him. About 1.5k to go a knucklehead (he could not ride a straight line to save his life) rider goes off the front. No one will chase him down. I don’t want to chase him at that point since that would blow our plan. I am hoping someone will bring him back. No one does, we all just sit and watch him go waiting for someone else to chase. He wins. Arrgg. With 300 to go I sprint and sure enough, Kevin chases me. Jerome is on his wheel and comes around just as planned. Jerome gets 2nd place, Kevin 3rd and I take 4th.

 

TT: Why or why are there things such as TT's? They suck. Not sure how I can say that with more emphasis…they suck ass (yeah, that is more like it). If my legs could speak they would say some really foul things. After two races and a lot of attacks I now find myself wearing a silly helmet and some lady counting me down. The race is five miles out into a headwind with small, sharp climbs. I roll out and blow up. Legs seize, lungs scream and brain starts contemplating odd things. There is no strategy, no teamwork, no camaraderie. It is you seeing stars and the occasional blur of a faster rider zooming by. No idea what happened in this "race" other than eventually I crossed a line on the cement and was told I could stop pedaling. I did, wiped the snot from my face and went back to the car.

 

After listening to "Sexual Healing" for the fifth time this weekend and downing another margarita, we eventually headed home. The "general" promised not to kill us on the way home for not achieving our goal. Overall, the consensus is we had a blast! And if your wondering, our strategy did not work out and Kevin ended up winning the GC with Courtney making up enough time to get third (the VOS rider held on for second). The team tried and we raced hard. Maybe next year we try different tactics, but as a bunch of old men pedaling our bikes, we certainly had some fun! Now I just need to order a copy of Sexual Healing in time to pump me up for my next race.

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Regalado RR-3/2013-They all can't be Golden

Regalado Race Report...they all can't be golden

Regalado Road Race (54 miles - 3 laps)
CoreTechs Team: Jerome, Daryoush, Tom and myself-Andrew (Mike McLaughlin also raced in another cat)
Cat 45+ 1/2/3 (35 riders)

I am getting tired of writing reports with reasons for shitty results. It seems though, that I am in a period of having to do this for my recent escapades. As I tell my kids constantly..., "life is not fair, so the sooner you realize that and get the odds in your favor, the better you will do." I need to listen to myself once in a while. I sure "talk" a good game.

Daryoush and I met at 5:45am and headed out for our two hour commute. We met up with Tom and Jerome. I figured this was a strong foursome, possibly the strongest team in the race and that we would get some results. The race had 35 entered, many DGR's but no mutants! Thirsty Bear had six guys, Folsom had four and then a few independent strongmen (Don Langley-Specialized, Hunter-Hammer and Chris Courtney-SJBC). I was sure would do well.

The course is an unusual one. It has the usual rollers and small hills, but it also has a 1+ mile section of dirt road. Last year during this race it was mud and standing water. This year it was dry, but had a four inch top layer of loose dirt/gravel. I pick the mud next time! The dirt section was crazy. Bikes were sliding all over the place. The dirt mile had me unnerved. There was no traction and I found myself drifting straight when I should have turned a few times. After surviving the first go round, I got word that Daryoush was a victim of the dirt and had flatted. Not too much after D flatted then Jerome flatted. We were down to Tom and I. Each time we approached this dirt section (we did it three times), I felt my heart rate ratchet up. I could not get the hang of it and was letting gaps go constantly. Luckily I was then able to power back on once the road straitened. Word to the wise, don’t be on my wheel in loose dirt and gravel, not my thing!

There was one significant break that went on lap two of Hunter and a Thirsty Bear rider. The TB team blocked and mucked up the chase till the twosome were out of site. The race seemed destined for a pack finish to fight for third place. That was until Tom put on his cape and went to the front. He was not having it and decided he would bring the break back himself. He crushed it for half a lap, then disappeared from the front. A few guys rotated, but then, out of the corner of my eye, the cape comes flying back to the front. Tom had recovered and again drilled it! We were now within site of the escapees and were able to close down the break. This was groupo compacto, thanks 95% to Tom. With the group together again we took our final time through the dirt. Surviving and coming out the other side I became a bit giddy. I felt fresh as a daisy and had survived the dirt. I knew I owed Tom for the pull back and wanted to perform in the sprint as repayment.

Final half mile and Thirsty Bear went to the front in a lead out. I had a full matchbook left and knew I could do well (at least a 4th place :). As we hit 200 to go sign, someone in front blows up and stops pedaling. We are going about 25mph. Everyone slightly eases except it seems the guy directly behind me. I stand to sprint with a clear road ahead of me and good thoughts in my head. It was then that what feels like a giant hand grabs my rear wheel and pulls my bike violently to the left. I could hear pinging of broken spokes and the pressure on my rear wheel is huge trying to push me over. I focus straight ahead so as not to go down and struggle to stay upright. Then, the pressure is gone and a sickening sound of crushed bike and rider is in my ears. My sprint is over and the pack of riders has gotten around. I look back and see a rider in the fetal position in the middle of the road. The motto ref is stopped with him, so I ride it through the finish line. It is a shitty way to finish off a bike race.

Frustrating to drive so far and ride so long and finish with a full matchbook. I am hopeful the fallen rider is not to bad off and am thankful I stayed upright, but darn it, would have been nice to at least use a match. Tom did a yeoman's effort and rode fantastic. I give him rider of the day. If someone other than a Thirsty Bear rider won, they should send Tom a thank you note.

I on the other hand need to finish writing these shitty reports. Seems Daryoush, Jerome and I will have to take some aggression out at Top Sport (April 6/7 people, get this on your calendar!).

Dave Mayer does an Ironman (bike race with extra stuff)

Dave Mayer's Ironman Cabo Report (March 17, 2013)

time: 11:30


place: 199 out of ~1500



Hey guys - this was my 4th Ironman and my last for a long time (or at least that is what I told my wife). I did an Ironman in Utah last May and that was supposed to be my last one, but I went out too hard on the bike and totally blew up almost from the start of the run. It left a bad taste in my mouth, so I wanted to give it one more shot before I hung up the speedos.



I didn't have any time goals, because everything depends on the course. The Cabo course was tough, with 7500 feet of climbing on the bike and some windy sections on the coast. The goal was mostly to just be happy with my race and enjoy it (kind of like saying enjoying getting your armpits waxed).



The swim went well. I have two friends, former Stanford swimmers, who started this company Roka Wetsuits. They gave me one of their prototypes to use and it was FAST. I think that mentally helped me. I felt smooth and controlled the entire swim, which was weird because I have only been swimming twice a week, whereas for past races I had been swimming 3 times a week.



I exited the water 113th place, in 1:03. My Ironman swim PR is 1:02, but that was in college when I was training a ton for it, and I later heard that the swim was a bit long.



I hopped on the bike and dug in for a long day. A coach that I had been working with told me to really dial it back the first 60 miles of the bike and stay controlled. The ideas is that I should feel very fresh after 60 miles and then ramp it up from there. In my Ironman in Utah I had gone out way too fast and then by mile 70 I was toast.



I had a bunch of people pass me the first 30 miles of the bike, which was tough mentally because usually I am passing people. My swim is usually my weakest leg, then my bike, then my run is my strong suit. So I start off slow but then get to pick people off.



I ignored the voices telling me to try and catch people and kept telling myself how long of a day it was. I needed to bike 112 miles and then run a marathon.



I stayed smooth and controlled and by the time mile 60 hit I was still totally fresh. Maybe too fresh, I don't quite know, its hard to estimate these things. I ramped it up and felt good for the rest of the ride. It was nice to hop off the bike and still feel like I had something in the tank.



My bike time was 6:05, which was the 204th best time on the course. So maybe I had taken it a bit too slow on the bike, I was just very afraid of blowing up.



I started the run again not knowing what to expect. My Ironman PR run was 3:27, but that was a long time ago, when I had a lot more time to train. And on a much flatter bike course. I wanted to just go really slow to start and see what happened.



I started running 8 minute miles and then tried to dial it back to 8:30 or so, which felt pretty comfortable. I felt really full, but I kept trying to take coke and water or gatorade at every aide station to keep up the calories. It was probably 90 degrees outside so the heat was really getting to me.



Ironman is such a mentally tough sport. It is so tough to mentally tell yourself, after you have been going hard for 7 hours "okay, now I just have to run a marathon". How do you convince yourself to do that? For me, this was really challenging. I didn't have a goal, really, so why not just slow down as much as possible? I found that it was really tough for me to talk myself into keep going hard. The whole time I was thinking "why the %^?! am I doing this? This is insane!"



At about mile 12 I started to hit a wall and my 8:30s started to turn into 9:30s. I don't know what it was. I didn't feel that I went out too hard on the bike. I didn't feel that I went out too fast on the run. I didn't feel like I was bonking. Maybe lack of training or the fact that everyone is going to slow down a bit after exercising for so long.



I tried to maintain as best I could. I ground through the remaining miles. It was a 3 lap course and on the second lap my wife and my two kids were there. They made up signs for me and it was really cool to see them cheering.



I finished off the race and was totally dead. I could barely walk after.



My marathon time was 4:14, which was 196 out of 1500. Overall I was 199 out of 1500.



I gave the finishing medal to my 4 year old and he really enjoyed it. Hopefully this will be one of his first memories.



Overall I'm satisfied with the performance. I felt good that I didn't go out too hard on the bike and that I set myself up as good as I could have for the run. And I felt great for the first half the run and when I did feel bad on the second half I was able to bear down and get through it. I don't quite know why I slowed down on the second half of the run, but that is racing. That is the tough thing about Ironman compared to bike racing. In bike racing you basically go all out, but with something as long as an Ironman you have to be very careful not to red line it or else you will blow up.



My wife and friends don't believe it, but I am officially done with Ironman until I sell Clean Bottle for $1B and retire and have more time to train (in other words, a long time). I feel good about my performance and am ready for some new challenges. I think I'll still hop into some sprint distance races with Andrew for fun, but that is probably it. I'm excited to take training more casually and flexibly and race some bikes with you guys.



Thanks for reading and I promise my other race reports won't be this long! I'm in Mexico now on vacation w/ the family and I'm going to try and shut off email for a few days but I'll get back to you guys when I get home.



Dave