Spring Racing

Racing this spring has been a lot of fun. I really haven't been doing any serious training this year, but I have been riding for fun quite a bit. I have also been trying to commute by bike whenever possible, which is about a 40 mile round trip, so that has helped with the fitness. I think I have done that at least a dozen times so far this year.

Since I haven't updated the blog in a while, I'll recap all the late winter/spring races:

In Mid-February, Rich Omdahl and the Elk River crew put on a winter race up at hillside park. From what I can remember the course was EXTREMELY icy. Luckily I was running a set of homemade studded tires that stuck to the trail like velcro. The tires had a ton of resistence, but provided perfect control. I jumped pretty hard at the start, got out in front, then maintained a nice steady tempo pace for the remainder of the race. This race was a great early season workout to help get some of the cobwebs out of the lungs. Super fun atmosphere afterwards too, with a big bonfire. After cooling down for a while, a few of us decided to time laps around a rally course that was plowed out of the snow banks. I crushed everyone in the rally-x (of course it was completely unfair - I was racing my all wheel drive subaru wrx against a mini van and a rear wheel drive truck).

(photos by Dana Schoppe)

After the "Coldbear Challenge" the Rich and the Elk River crew decided to throw a subsequent short notice race at Hillside, just before the heart of the bike racing season began. This last minute race attracted a relatively large group of racers, with about 35 in the advanced category. I really had no idea how I would feel, as I had not gone hard at all yet this year. After the start, I was in about 5th or 6th position going into the woods. There were familiar faces all around me during the first lap. Brendan and Sam were up front, but pulled away quickly. I believe Jay Richards was right up there too. I was right in the middle of a group consisting of fellow Nature Valley/Penn Cycle riders, Barry Tungseth and Jack Hinkens as well as Heath W and Andy Sieben. Heath was leading the charge for 1/2 of the first lap, then pulled aside with a lose brake lever. This gave me, Barry and Jack the opportunity to put the hammer down on the 2nd half of the lap. The three of us switched turns a few times at the front and eventually caught up to Jay. Our group of 4 was battling for 3rd place. However, anyone who has raced at Elk River knows -it is pretty tough to pass at any point on the trail. Jack attempted to get by us by opting for the expert section. He actually did get by me and Barry, but crashed right away after passing us. The race ended up coming down to a sprint for 3, with Jay taking 3rd, Barry, me and Jack taking 4th 5th and 6th, respectively. Fun race. Felt great. Felt like the fitness was better than expected. Jack is going to be really fast this year. Andy Sieben is also going to be really fast this year.

(photos by Dana Schoppe)