After a tough weekend at Sea Otter and a week of wondering where my legs
went, I now find myself brimming with optimism after some good races at
the opening Mountain States Cup in Fruita, CO. Never have I been more
able to relate to the idea that you’re only as good as your last race.
The weekend began with a 15 minute-ish time trial, which consisted of a
hard, though technically easy climb followed by a twisty, bermed-out
descent that left everyone at the finish line with big grins. I went so
hard up the climb and was so numb with lactic acid that I had to dab and
run a section that was about as difficult as riding up a curb. Not a pro
move by any means, but I think that bobble gave me the necessary scare to
completely push myself to the finish and get the win. The day was made
even sweeter when I checked the web and saw that Andy and Amanda had won
their respective 50 and 100 mile races. I suspect they were a lot more
tired than me. Lots of water, Recoverite, and a Chipotle burrito later,
I was excited and ready for Sunday’s XC.
If I didn’t know most of the pro men personally, I at least knew who
almost everybody was, which made the race—a huge 30-mile loop of mostly
technical singletrack—feel like a fun, albeit really hard, mountain bike
ride with a bunch of friends. The first few miles of rolling jeep trail
were pretty chaotic, but before long, I found myself riding out front with
Cannondale teammates Ben Sontag and Alex Grant, my podium mates from the
day before. I lost contact with them over some rough stuff only to
re-gain it later, thanks in large part to pacing by Colorado legend Jay
Henry. Just as I was starting to get excited about my prospects, I felt
the sinking feeling (literally and figuratively) of a slow leak in my
rear-tire. The sharp rocks and high speeds had finally gotten the best
of me. My Stans mostly did its job, and I made it to the finish after a
few Big Air blasts and some tire shaking. I was a little bit bummed but
mostly happy to have re-discovered the fitness that seemed to have been
missing at Sea Otter.
I’ve always found myself motivated more by good races than by bad ones, so
I’m now looking forward to some hard chunks of training before the next
big race, which will be the Triple Crown race in Nathrop, CO.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Kenda - Felt Team has Record Day
Three states. Three races. Three victories. It was a banner weekend for the Kenda-Felt Mountain Bike Team.
Shortly after The Sea Otter Classic, which saw the Kenda-Felt Team riders meeting with sponsors, autographing cards, and racing hard, the team dispersed across the country. Amanda Carey hopped a flight to Tennessee to race in the first race in the National Endurance Series, the Cohutta 100. She knew she was riding fast after strong performances at the first two Pro XCT races of the year but this was her first long distance race of the year so she still had a little doubt about her endurance. Eight-hours, one thunderstorm, and plenty of mud later she had not only squelched that doubt but had also dominated the race, winning by over 20 minutes. She also beat the winner’s time from last year by over three minutes, this is especially notable because the course was much slower (the men’s winning time was over 45 minutes slower this year). Asked after the race what her secret was Amanda said “Having Kenda Tires as a sponsor was crucial to my success. When I saw that there was rain in the forecast and that the course may be muddy I was able to switch my tires to the perfect ones for the conditions. Those just happened to be Karma’s, one of the best mud tires out there.”
Back west Andy Schultz was racing in the Whiskey 50. It is a 50-mile race that begins and ends in downtown Prescott, AZ, next to the famed “Whiskey Row”. With long, sustained gravel road climbs making up a majority of the course his 29” wheeled Felt Nine LTD and Kenda Small Block Eight tires were the perfect choice. “With as much climbing as there is in the Whiskey 50 having a lightweight bike is key. Our sponsors have collaborated to provide the team with one of the lightest 29” bikes out there so I definitely had an advantage” Andy said. Andy ended up completing the course in just over 3 hours, 16 minutes, almost two minutes faster than the course record. “I rarely do races over 2 hours so nutrition is always a worry for me.” Fortunately I was able to talk to the experts at Hammer Nutrition who helped me design a plan that kept well hydrated, fully fueled, and cramp free.”
In Colorado Colin Cares was racing in the first Mountain States Cup events of the year in Fruita, CO. Toeing the line were some of the fastest riders in the area, who just happen to be some of the fastest riders in the country. The day’s event was a 15 minute-ish time trial. Colin charged up the course’s only climb, leaving him, in his words, “numb with lactic acid.” The effort paid off though and he finished with the fastest time of the day, winning the event.
In all, this was one of the finest days in the history of the team. More to come!
Shortly after The Sea Otter Classic, which saw the Kenda-Felt Team riders meeting with sponsors, autographing cards, and racing hard, the team dispersed across the country. Amanda Carey hopped a flight to Tennessee to race in the first race in the National Endurance Series, the Cohutta 100. She knew she was riding fast after strong performances at the first two Pro XCT races of the year but this was her first long distance race of the year so she still had a little doubt about her endurance. Eight-hours, one thunderstorm, and plenty of mud later she had not only squelched that doubt but had also dominated the race, winning by over 20 minutes. She also beat the winner’s time from last year by over three minutes, this is especially notable because the course was much slower (the men’s winning time was over 45 minutes slower this year). Asked after the race what her secret was Amanda said “Having Kenda Tires as a sponsor was crucial to my success. When I saw that there was rain in the forecast and that the course may be muddy I was able to switch my tires to the perfect ones for the conditions. Those just happened to be Karma’s, one of the best mud tires out there.”
Back west Andy Schultz was racing in the Whiskey 50. It is a 50-mile race that begins and ends in downtown Prescott, AZ, next to the famed “Whiskey Row”. With long, sustained gravel road climbs making up a majority of the course his 29” wheeled Felt Nine LTD and Kenda Small Block Eight tires were the perfect choice. “With as much climbing as there is in the Whiskey 50 having a lightweight bike is key. Our sponsors have collaborated to provide the team with one of the lightest 29” bikes out there so I definitely had an advantage” Andy said. Andy ended up completing the course in just over 3 hours, 16 minutes, almost two minutes faster than the course record. “I rarely do races over 2 hours so nutrition is always a worry for me.” Fortunately I was able to talk to the experts at Hammer Nutrition who helped me design a plan that kept well hydrated, fully fueled, and cramp free.”
In Colorado Colin Cares was racing in the first Mountain States Cup events of the year in Fruita, CO. Toeing the line were some of the fastest riders in the area, who just happen to be some of the fastest riders in the country. The day’s event was a 15 minute-ish time trial. Colin charged up the course’s only climb, leaving him, in his words, “numb with lactic acid.” The effort paid off though and he finished with the fastest time of the day, winning the event.In all, this was one of the finest days in the history of the team. More to come!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Blogging by Colin
Having already raced once this year, I figure it’s about time to revisit another “professional racer” pastime: blogging. This year, I’ve been trying a few things differently in hopes of getting fast, the biggest of which has been relocating to warm weather during the winter months. This past February, I drove from Colorado Springs to Tucson, AZ for team Kenda/Felt’s first training camp of sorts. Amanda, Judy, and I shared a place, and Andy was already down there. It was more or less the training utopia that I had hoped for with riding, refueling with Trader Joes, watching the Olympics, and, well, not much else occupying my days. That sort of ascetic athlete lifestyle was perfect for a few weeks, but I soon began to romanticize about the hectic school life that I had been so eager to leave just a few weeks earlier. If you ignore the training, I had effectively gone from a college-kid lifestyle to that of a person from the geriatric neighborhood in which we rented our Tucson house. Oro Valley, AZ, it seems, is ideally suited for the elderly and athletes alike.
From Arizona, I took the long way home, seeing the Grand Canyon (indeed grand), stopping for three days in Moab, UT, and even fitting in one last day of skiing at Copper Mountain, which means I ended up using just half of my “four-pack” pass...ouch. Weather on the Front Range was still pretty sloppy, but the dry Moab weather enabled some long rides during which I recalled lots of previous Moab adventures—from some of my first experiences mountain biking, to a few harrowing 24-hours of Moab-induced bonks, to a training trip with then-teammate Sam Schultz and now-teammate Andy. That’s right, I was following the Schultz brothers long before schultzbrothersracing.com.
After a few days back in Colorado Springs, just long enough to remind myself how fun it is to ride with numb fingers and toes, I flew to San Dimas for the first Triple Crown race. My result wasn’t stellar but I was satisfied with my form for this early in the season and even happier with my new Felt LTD 29’er. With it, I went over the bars once going down Santa Barbara’s Cold Spring Trail; without it, I would have gone over the bars many, many more times. Turns out the recent 29’er craze isn’t all just hype.
My week in Santa Barbara was the antithesis of the Tucson training trip. Instead of staying with two dedicated athletes, I stayed with ten friends from school who were on their spring break. I did some of the hardest rides I’ve done all year, but thanks to evenings spent grilling with friends, zero time in compression tights, and very little bike-racing talk, the hard work was hardly hard. It’s becoming increasingly clear that for me, balance between training and rest, work and play, spinach and chocolate, etc., is the most direct route to fitness...it’s finding that balance that’s the hard part.
Now I’m staying in San Clemente for a few days before the first US Cup in Fontana this weekend (huge thanks to Lydia Tanner and her generous, unsuspecting housemates). I never really fancied myself the So-Cal type, but I could certainly get used to the ride/beach time/Mexican food routine that we’ve fortunately fallen into here. Then again, the So-Cal sunshine wouldn’t feel warm with the cold Colorado days, both of which, I hope, will contribute to a good race this weekend and a good season.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Judy Freeman Joins Kenda
Rider Bio:
Judy Freeman
DOB: January 3, 1974 – Frankfurt, Germany
Residence: Boulder, CO
Discipline: XC Mountain Biking
Year Turned Pro: 2003
A Colorado upbringing on swimming and lacrosse, a BA from CU Boulder in Communication and French, a stint as a bike tour guide in France and a couple of years in England and Japan all led to the next logical step - competitive mountain biking?
In 1999, Judy moved to Vail, Colorado to snowboard all winter, picked up mountain bike racing that next summer - and has been hooked ever since.
Now a top-10 rider on the U.S. national scene, she can also be found riding with local Boulder groups and teaching at mountain bike skill clinics.
Judy will be new to the Kenda/Felt Professional Mountain Bike Team for 2010. She’s excited to be racing Felt bikes and ripping it up along side Amanda Riley-Carey, Andy Schultz and Colin Cares.
You can read about Judy’s biking experiences on her Singletrack.com column, Life as a Bike Jockey and her blog, www.judy-freeman.com.
Career Highlights:
2009
39th World Championships – Canberra, Australia
7th XC and STX National Championships
1st Mountain States Cup #4
2nd Mountain States Cup #3
8th US Pro Cup #4
2008
Colorado State XC Champion 2008
2nd Colorado State STX Championships
5th NMBS Series Finals STX
8th National Championships XC
10th Overall Pro Women XC & STX NMBS Series
Monday, November 16, 2009
Iceman 2009
Amanda Carey took 4th spot at the 2009 Iceman Cometh Challenge in Traverse City on November 7th. She finished in an elite group of women that included Alison Dunlap, Heather Irmiger and Kelli Emmett.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Colin's World Championshiop Report
Sleepless on my return flight from Australia, I thought I’d recount some of the week’s highs and lows. I arrived in Australia last Sunday and was set to race the team relay on Tuesday, which didn’t leave much time to recover from travel. Fortunately, I had pulled all the travel tricks I knew—eye patch, earplugs, Ambien, compression tights—and, with a couple of “long black” coffees upon arrival, I felt surprisingly fresh. USA Cycling’s crew of mechanics, doctors, and managers have logistics dialed and within just a few hours I had ridden (and seen a kangaroo!), eaten a good meal, and was set for a long, well-deserved sleep.
If I had any residual jet lag, it was surely blown away in the team relay event. The relay is relatively new and brings a rare element of team camaraderie to the largely individual sport of mountain biking. Each nation sends one elite man, one elite woman, one U23 man, and one junior man out on one lap of the cross-country course in any order. We took the unique tactic of sending our woman, Heather Irmiger, off first, followed by Russell Finsterwald, me, and finally Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski. It was an all Colorado crew of national champions in our respective categories. The race stayed suspenseful until the very end as most countries sent their fastest rider first and gradually lost ground. USA moved up with each lap and eventually reached 12th place with a mere 40 seconds separating us from the 6th place BELGIANS. It was an honor to represent the US and amongst the word’s mountain bikers, both current and future. Though it might not be in the next year or two, I hope to have another crack at the team relay some day as an elite man.
The next couple days were spent in the cycle (no pun intended) of rest, riding, and eating with which bike racers are all too familiar. It’s true what they say about the seasons down there; it really is winter. Training was chilly and we saw plenty of kangaroos and weird birds, two of which viciously attacked me (apparently it’s nesting season for the Australian version of the Magpie and they become just like the birds in that Hitchcock movie). I had to self impose a ban on riding with earphones so I could hear traffic coming from the right as I looked left. My roommate Tad Elliot thought Vegemite was going to taste like pesto…not so. Do you have to have grown up with that stuff for it to be palatable? Other than that, I hate to admit, my cultural experiences were largely limited to watching Australian TV and meandering through the two nearby food markets.
Despite going into the race rested and confident, things did not quite come together for me as I had hoped. I finished exactly where I lined up—46th—never finding the power necessary to move up on the windy road sections of the otherwise single-track course.
It’s been a great 2009 season and the support of Kenda, Tomac, and Hayes has made all of the highs possible. The lows keep things in perspective and provide motivation to improve. Now it’s time for a break from the race routine, but I’m already scheming and dreaming for 2010. Thanks for reading!
If I had any residual jet lag, it was surely blown away in the team relay event. The relay is relatively new and brings a rare element of team camaraderie to the largely individual sport of mountain biking. Each nation sends one elite man, one elite woman, one U23 man, and one junior man out on one lap of the cross-country course in any order. We took the unique tactic of sending our woman, Heather Irmiger, off first, followed by Russell Finsterwald, me, and finally Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski. It was an all Colorado crew of national champions in our respective categories. The race stayed suspenseful until the very end as most countries sent their fastest rider first and gradually lost ground. USA moved up with each lap and eventually reached 12th place with a mere 40 seconds separating us from the 6th place BELGIANS. It was an honor to represent the US and amongst the word’s mountain bikers, both current and future. Though it might not be in the next year or two, I hope to have another crack at the team relay some day as an elite man.
The next couple days were spent in the cycle (no pun intended) of rest, riding, and eating with which bike racers are all too familiar. It’s true what they say about the seasons down there; it really is winter. Training was chilly and we saw plenty of kangaroos and weird birds, two of which viciously attacked me (apparently it’s nesting season for the Australian version of the Magpie and they become just like the birds in that Hitchcock movie). I had to self impose a ban on riding with earphones so I could hear traffic coming from the right as I looked left. My roommate Tad Elliot thought Vegemite was going to taste like pesto…not so. Do you have to have grown up with that stuff for it to be palatable? Other than that, I hate to admit, my cultural experiences were largely limited to watching Australian TV and meandering through the two nearby food markets.
Despite going into the race rested and confident, things did not quite come together for me as I had hoped. I finished exactly where I lined up—46th—never finding the power necessary to move up on the windy road sections of the otherwise single-track course.
It’s been a great 2009 season and the support of Kenda, Tomac, and Hayes has made all of the highs possible. The lows keep things in perspective and provide motivation to improve. Now it’s time for a break from the race routine, but I’m already scheming and dreaming for 2010. Thanks for reading!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
