Daily Espresso

Superfrog XXXIII

2011-09-13T16:55:00.004-06:00

Sunday was the fifth year in a row I have raced at Superfrog. The race is the oldest half in the world and was started by now retired US Navy SEAL, Moki Martin. It takes place in Coronado and uses portions of the sacred training grounds used by the SEALs.

This year, in the 33rd edition, the current race director and retired SEAL, Mitch Hall, moved the course five miles south to the facility grounds, called the Elephant Cage, where SEALs perfect their hand to hand combat skills.

Every year I circle the Superfrog race date on my calendar. Where else do you have an opportunity to race with past, current, and soon-to-be SEALs on their own training ground? This year took on an extra special meaning as the race was held on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and a special tribute was provided for all the Naval Special Warfare personnel killed in combat.

As much as I wanted this win (yes, I actually did cut out ice cream for the past two months) and trained to squeeze the most out of myself, one constant that you can't train to control is the competition you will face.

In the previous two years, I was very well prepared but ran up against tough competition in multiple Ironman winners Chris McDonald, Luke Bell and Jonas Colting. This year, it turned out multiple Ironman winner Joszef Major decided to use Superfrog as his pre-Kona hit out. Oh well. You still need to race the race to find out the winner, right! I was committed to leaving everything I had on the course.

The venue changed for the sixth time in the race's history and the swim leg started in the Pacific Ocean near Imperial Beach. After charging in to the 60-degree water, we faced a series of sets four to six feet high that forced us to show off our duck diving skills. This is one skill I am proficient at in the water and I found myself swimming in third place throughout the first lap. The return back to shore was substantially faster as you could time the sets, catch a wave, hold your breath and move your arms as fast as possible and let the waves take you in to shore.

The two looped swim was separated by a 100 meter run so spectators were able to see us run by with our tongues hanging down to our toes and then watch as we completed the most difficult task in triathlon: running back in to the water with your heart pounding to repeat the second lap! With around 300-meters to go, a familiar swim stroke passed me like I was treading water. It was Emily! She even smiled at me before she continued past, leaving me unable to jump in behind for a draft. She even caught a great wave (a first for her) that gave her a perfect end to her swim. I came in to shore a few seconds later.

The run up to the transition area was over soft sand and this was the first taste of what we would experience later during the run leg. Emily and I opted to leave a spare set of shoes at the start of the transition area as our bikes were racked a few hundred meters at the opposite end. The transition was on a rough surface and we made up for the time spent putting on shoes by not having to tip toe across the pebbles and chipped road. Looking at the results, our T1 times were nearly one minute faster than most other racers, so we made the right decision in putting on shoes.

The bike course is fairly straight forward but the initial mile to get onto the Strand Hwy was new. We rode over the same rough roads from transition and, for me, I displayed some fred-like riding technique. As I reached down to put my foot into my cycling shoe, I hit a crack in the road that jolted me forward towards the bike’s cockpit. Instinctually, I grabbed for the front brake, which sent me into a Robbie McEwen-like front wheelie! Luckily, I was able to catch myself, clicked back into the pedals and rode off with a surge of adrenaline. That was not a good start!

The bike consists of four out and back segments on the Strand and is simple on paper. However, applying consistent force to the pedals while riding in the same position and holding a constant tempo eventually wears the body down. The past few years I rode with a power meter and sat on a specific wattage reading – a range between 320 and 330 watts. That was an OK strategy but this year I decided to train with power but race off of feel.

Out on the Strand, there were four riders up ahead in the opening miles. I caught up to Emily and another guy within the first two miles but two other riders were a few minutes up the road. I recognized Karl Bordine, a former pro cyclist and current pro triathlete, as one of the riders with another rider trying to hang on (at a legal distance) to his wheel. Good luck! Karl is known as Killer Karl for good reason and I was hoping he was merely the bike leg in a relay. Sure enough, two laps later he yelled to me he was a relay rider. His bike split of 2hrs 1 min was the second fastest in race history, only behind Bjorn Andersson’s 1hr 58 mins set two years ago.

I moved into the lead at the 35-mile mark and decided to put in a surge to extend my bike lead. I saw Joszef Major, a 10-time Ironman winner and top 20 Kona finisher, a few minutes back and knew I would need some padding heading on to the run if I was going to hold him off.

I never felt great on the bike on Sunday but managed to bear down and get through the miles. Mentally, I divided the course up in to different sections: with/against the wind, to/from the Strand Bridge, to/from the tented canopy that marked the bike entrance for the Strand, and to/from the turnaround points. Setting small goals throughout the bike leg made it doable.

On the bumpy roads back to transition, I saw my mother-in-law, June, and my daughter Kaia and yelled “hello” to them. In that moment, there was a sharp turn in the road and I almost wiped out right in front of them! I found out after the race, Emily made the same mistake and nearly crashed in that spot too!

I transitioned onto the run quickly and we hit the soft sand and beach right away to kick off the half marathon run leg. Running off the bike is always tough, but hitting sand right away is a quad crusher. Two out and back sections in the first three miles on the beach were the only points to see where your competition was, and I saw Joszef and Max running a few minutes back at the three mile mark. I got a split a few miles later that Joszef was 1:50 behind at mile 5.

My plan was to maintain a steady tempo and then hit the beach hard in attempt to demoralize him that he wasn’t gaining any time on me. Instead, at the first turnaround on the second lap at mile 7 it was obvious he had cut my lead in half to under a minute. It took him another 3.5 miles to make the catch and as we entered the section of the course running through the Elephant Cage at mile 10.5 he made his pass. I attempted to respond to his pace but I was already at max effort. As he pulled away, I jokingly told him he should “let an American win today” as Joszef is from Hungary. After the race we laughed about that comment.

Over the final few miles, I kept him in sight and he hovered a few hundred meters ahead but I had to concentrate on holding myself together till the finish. With less than 400 meters to the line, I passed by Kaia again who was sleeping in her stroller and I was able to give her a kiss. She was a trooper hanging with Grandma out in the sun all morning!

The final straight away to the finish took us through a chute lined with the photos of fallen SEALs and NSW heroes who had died fighting for America’s freedom! I mustered a final sprint to the line to honor them and to leave nothing left on the course. Upon hitting the line, I was absolutely spent. I had given what my body had on the day. I was beaten by a better triathlete. I have another whole year now to consider how to go about moving up one place to get that elusive paddle.

Here is a breakdown of my splits:
1.2-mile swim - 26:49
T1 - 1:31
56-mile bike - 2:07:38
T2 - 1:12
13.1-mile run - 1:23:09
Finish time - 4:00:19
Winning time - 3:58:48

As is a common occurrence in our household, Emily took top honors and won her third Superfrog. I am extremely proud of her as it was only her second triathlon since she gave birth to Kaia ten months ago and she had not biked for over 30 minutes but two times in the last six months. She gets up every morning to swim with the 5:30 AM Master’s swim group at the YMCA and otherwise has to get creative to fit in training while taking care of Kaia. She is a tough woman and is a pro in coping with pain!

I haven’t thought too far ahead about what I will race next but I am excited to do some unstructured cyclocross riding and race in a fall cross country running series in San Diego.

One final shout out of thanks to race directors Moki Martin and Mitch Hall! These retired SEALs are top class individuals. If you would like to support the Naval Special Warfare Foundation which funds the families of fallen SEALs, please go to their website: www.superfrogtriathlon.com and donate today. They have indeed paid the ultimate sacrifice so we can have our freedom!

stealth ninja training

2011-09-08T05:51:00.005-06:00

Quick update as I've been dark, in full secret training mode, these past few months.

While I neglected to give up ice cream or my morning lattes these past few months, I have implemented a reverse swim taper, a steady diet of bike commuting to work, completing lunch runs with regularity and recovering like a full fledged pro (thanks NormaTec MVP).

Throw in a week of forced rest last week while attending the Eurobike trade show and I am ready to throw my hat in the ring at the Superfrog Triathlon this upcoming weekend. This is the longest running half iron man in the world and is operated by Naval Special Warfare.

Check back Sunday evening as win or lose I will give some insight into why this is the greatest race on the planet.

LF

San Marcos Crit

2011-07-25T05:31:00.001-06:00

Sunday’s San Marcos crit was one of the last opportunities on the So Cal racing schedule for the hard men of the area to showcase their strengths. The Swami’s Dev Team had a great showing, and with the exception of Matt Shackley and Chris Burnham who raced in Bend at Cascade Classic, we nearly had the entire squad on the start line (rumor was Anton was crushing triathletes’ souls at Solana Beach Tri).

The 1.7-mile course lay out rode more like a mini circuit than a crit and featured a punchy climb on each lap. Over the course of 75 minutes, this would surely wreak havoc and make it an attrition race.

In the opening laps, Alex Jarman chased down and jumped into early moves that formed up the road. It made for a few blistering laps out of the gate and the race announcer even commented how riders were getting dropped after the first lap.

The new-Swami-on-the-block, Jon Hornbeck, was carrying great form that he unfortunately never got to use at Cascade after a high speed (45 mph) downhill crash broke his bike and sent him home after stage one. He put that fitness to good use yesterday though as the two of us launched multiple two-pronged attacks to further tire the group out.

On one lap halfway through the race, Jon went so fiercely up the hill that he gapped everyone and he decided to wait up top on the false flats for us to catch up. As the group rejoined, Orion Berryman – supposedly riding on only one good lung – launched out of the group at the start/finish and two guys went with him. No one else reacted. With 30 minutes to go, we did not know the strength of Orion’s breakaway companions but we knew Big O would drive the group.

With Big O’s break up the road, the group was content with letting me and Pascal set a half-hearted tempo. Eventually riders started jumping but we covered each and every move. With three laps to go, Big O’s break looked like it would succeed as long as they had something left in their tank for the final trips up the hill. From the group, a Jamis-Sutter pro rider (one of the Borrajo brothers?) jumped and took two riders with him. Trevor wanted in on that action so he and Pascal took chase while Jon and I sat up on the front of the main group. They had their gap and were closing fast on the chase group just ahead.

The final time up the hill, the race for the podium was in the bag and Big O earned his well fought third place as the break succeeded. Pascal towed Trevor to the base of the climb and Trevor was able to bridge up to the group and passed one of the chase group riders to take sixth. Pascal and Jon finished with the group and I soft pedaled in a minute later. After putting in his work early, Alex made sure the Swami’s tent had cold Sambazon and Michelob Ultra ready for us. Trevor circled back to the tent a few minutes late as he had to collect himself while passed out in a bush on the side of the road from his late race efforts! Way to leave it out there on the course!

It was obvious this course style suited our team’s strengths and we controlled the race from the gun. While we are still chasing that elusive win, we took steps in the right direction on Sunday and showed we were the strongest and most cohesive team in the race.

Dominguez Hills Crit - 70 minutes of circles

2011-07-11T12:04:00.002-06:00

Yesterday afternoon was the Dominguez Hills Kool 'N Fit crit with the 1/2 race going off at 2:15. Swami's was represented with five riders - one of the best represented teams in the 54-man field.

Former Toyota United Pro rider Stefano Barberi took a flyer from the gun and quickly built a 30-second lead in the opening laps. He stayed clear for the first 10-15 minutes and together with Cashcall, we brought the group back to Stefano. Miles did a great job working hard to close down this gap. New Swami, Jon Hornbeck, jumped with a counter attack with Cashcall's David Santos and Monster Media's Rudy Napolitino and they stayed off the front until the 50-minute mark. A few break attempts were made over the next ten minutes and it wasn't until the 60th minute (been watching soccer world cup highlights!) that a group of four got away. In the final lap, Alex and I fell off the pace, Jon sat in the middle of the group and Trevor was in the back of the field. However, Trevor worked his way up through the field down the back stretch, passed more and more riders up the hill through the final corner and sprinted the final 100 meters past another ten or so riders to finish 9th overall.

Looking back at today's race, the Swami's Development Team continues to show gains with every race. Trevor is riding on excellent form these last few weeks so if we can work to get him in better position for the final sprint, we'll tackle that elusive win.

CA State Road Race Championships

2011-06-06T22:47:00.008-06:00

This past Sunday, June 5th, was the final road race of the So Cal cycling schedule so it was important for our Swami's team to have a good presence.

The 93-mile race in the oil fields outside Bakersfield was challenging as the course included long stretches of exposed road to the wind and sun, sections littered with potholes that resembled Belgian cobbles, a gradual four-mile climb and a twisting descent.

We had five teammates in the race which gave us firepower and allowed us each to take up a roll within the race. The night before we gathered for a team dinner and discussed our war plan.

Our youngest rider, Matt Shackley, covered each and every early breakaway move in an effort to keep our team represented in case one of the moves stuck. Pascal Bonaventure, who had raced, and won, the 40-plus race the previous day, was glued near the front of the pack and always provided me with a safe wheel to follow through the field. Trevor Haag came into the race a bit under trained and had some difficulty, and Chris Burnam came into his own during the third lap and towed me back into the lead group after I slipped out of the group the final time up the climb. Last, but not to be forgotten, were Miles and Daniel who selflessly handed us feeds after each lap. Without those two, five Swami's would have entered the scorching oil fields and not made it out alive.

Going into the race, I knew my fitness was getting better with each passing week, so I thought if the climb was not ultra selective I would have a chance to fight it out in the final miles. At the same time, I did not like my chances in a bunch sprint.

The first lap was ho-hum as one lone rider went off the front and built a one-and-a-half minute lead. This did not cause too much panic in the group though as that breakaway rider was a weak climber and was merely trying to make it over the climb to avoid getting dropped. Some minor attacks went but they always were neutralized.

The second time up the climb at the 50-mile mark into the race, the pace was elevated and cracks formed in the group. I managed to stay at the front and tried to keep the pressure on all the way over the top of the climb. However, once off the descent, the pace slowed again the dropped riders from the climb were eventually able to rejoin.

A rider I have a great deal of respect for, Eric Marcotte, did not have any teammate support in this race and kept urging others to keep the pace high. When riders wouldn't respond, he would ride off the front in an effort to instigate some breakaway companions. Each time he went, I rode off with him and we took pull after pull but every gap was eventually closed.

At the 70-mile mark, the third time we hit the section of road littered with potholes, the race official who had been following us, waved the entire peloton to a halt and we sat unable to pedal for five minutes while he chewed riders out for crossing over the yellow line at various points during the race. This forced pit stop allowed dropped riders to rejoin the group and we were a massive group of fifty-plus riders going into the final 20-miles of the race.

A few riders raced away as the official was finishing up his lecture - which was bush league - and it seemed to distract the peloton for a few minutes before we organized a hard tempo again. With two miles to the base of the climb, I jumped off the front and was again joined by Marcotte, a few CashCall riders and Pascal and I thought we had the right mix of riders to crack the race open. However, the group caught us at the base of the climb and attacks started from there.

The third time up the climb was brutal and I lost contact with the leaders after the first mile. I dangled off the back and held the wheel of another rider until I felt him start to slip. I jumped around him and grabbed the wheel of another guy. We started to pull back to the end of the group in the final mile but the elastic snapped before we caught on. A slight flat section allowed us to get our rhythm back and it was then Burnam rode up and set an even paced tempo. He saved our group and he didn't ask anyone else for help. He rode steady and got us to the top of the climb. Once we hit the last flat section before the downhill, I found my legs again and slotted in to help with pulls.

It took us four miles of steady chasing, but we locked on to the group at the base of the climb. I went right back to the front of the group as psychologically I find it easier to ride and react to attacks from that position. Every few miles attacks were launched, mostly from CashCall riders, who did a great job of instigating all afternoon. Once all the hills on the course were behind us, we had five miles in the crosswinds back to the start/finish area. Knowing I would be out of contention in a sprint, I attempted a move off the front and was joined by a few riders - including Burnam - and we swapped pulls for a mile. We were reeled back in and off went a counter attack. The pace stayed hot for the last two miles and within the last mile, I slid off the back of the group and found myself riding with Burnam and a RideClean rider. We hovered a few meters off the back of the group but were too far off to contend for the final sprint.

In the final kilometer - a false flat rise - a handful of riders tangled wheels as the sprint was winding up. We watched as the boys raced for the podium pecking order and when we crossed the line a few seconds later we heard Cashcall's David Santos took the win with two riders from the NOW-MS team finishing second and third. Pascal, and his 42 years of life experiences, grabbed ninth and beat dozens of racers half his age. He finished as the top Swami. I rolled across in 20th and Burnam was on my shoulder and was 22nd. Shackley, who was a beast throughout the day, finished a few minutes back but made the top 30. Jason Holden, who races for Wolf Pack, but was Friend of Swami (FOS) for the weekend finished 35th in his second Cat 1/2 race.

Despite not grabbing a podium spot, this was an improvement for the team as our guys showed maturity and raced aggressively and stayed near the front of the race. We helped one another out on the course and rode with guts.

Until next time, ride on.

Redlands Bicycle Classic

2011-05-25T08:08:00.000-06:00

Invitation

For the past three months I have raced on the Swami’s Development Team, which comprises a mixture of Cat 1 and 2 riders. While the bulk of team members are in their early or mid 20’s, we also have a few riders in their late 20’s and early 30’s. At the beginning of the season, a colleague of mine pushed my name in front of the team director and he brought me on board. After two good early season performances in Cat 2 stage races at Valley of the Sun and Callville Classic Bay, I earned enough upgrade points to get my Cat 1 license. Once I received that, my name was put on the team roster for the application for the first NRC race of the year at Redlands. Because only four Swami riders have their Cat 1, our director began looking to pick up at-large riders to join our squad for the racing weekend. He started with former US Postal Service rider Anton Villatoro, TrainingPeaks founder Dirk Friel and 1984 Olympic road race gold medalist Alexi Grewal. This mixture of young, inexperienced development riders and older, established veteran riders was enough to gain an invitation to the Redlands start line.

Stage 1 - 3.5-mile time-trial
Despite the short distance of the opening individual time trial, the course featured technical turns, a short and punchy climb, and a one-mile steep climb to the finish line. Each of the 25 teams had upwards of eight riders on the team and the time trial starting times for each individual were selected the previous day by the team directors. I was chosen as the final rider from our team and ended up being the fifth to last rider of the day.

Due to the handcycle and women races that started going off at 9am, I was unable to pre-ride the course and relied heavily on course video provided as well as feedback from my teammates who rode earlier in the afternoon. This was my first NRC race and the first time my time trial bike has needed to comply with UCI measurement standards. Luckily, I checked my bike with the officials a few hours before my start time and they told me the length of my aerobars needed to be reduced significantly and my saddle needed to be pushed back. A neutral mechanic was cool enough to shorten my bars and provide me with a raceable bike.

I have learned over many mistakes throughout the years that a good, long warm up is what I need before my time trial start. After running through 30-45 minutes of warm up at various intensities, I made final preparations putting on an aero helmet, skinsuit, even shoe covers, and topped off with a few rips of water before riding over to the start gate.

Once the officials in the start house gave me the final countdown and released my bike, I rolled down the ramp out of the start house and onto the 3.2-mile course. I felt strong and settled into a rhythm and concentrated only on pushing down hard on the pedals. The first mile was over flat roads that featured a short and punchy 200-meter hill. It was a big ring effort that left my heart racing! Over the next mile, which was a false uphill, I started overheating. The temperatures had risen throughout the afternoon and while I stayed well hydrated throughout the morning and early afternoon, the heat seemed to be taking it’s toll in combination with the very hard effort I was exerting. I maintained a high pace through the second mile and was catching the rider who had started 30 seconds in front of me. However, as the course crossed a bridge leading into the final mile climb to the finish, I was passed by the rider who had started 30 seconds behind me. All three of us hit the climb at the same time and I did my best to focus on my ride but it is impossible to not be bothered upon being passed in a time trial. The final uphill was painful in combination because no all out time-trial effort ever feels good but the heat caught up with me and I was imploding. Once across the line, I coasted to the side of the road and found a tree with some shade and sat laid down for a few minutes to regroup and collect my wits for the descent back to the team tent. Despite not getting a result I had hoped and trained for, I managed to cover the course as the fastest Swami racer and I beat a lot of guys who I race week after week against throughout So Cal, Arizona and some guys from back in Colorado. The lesson I took away that day was to respect the race course, even when faced with a short three-mile effort. It knocked me on my ass big time.

Stage 2 - 120-mile road race

Racers were fresh and chomping at the bit ready for action and a hot tempo began immediately out of the starting gates. Having excellent shape and fitness is great to have but I found out it is far more important to position properly within the group, find safe wheels to follow, and constantly be looking to move forward. If you are not moving forward, you are moving backwards in a race with so many motivated riders. Half of the circuit was flat and facing crosswinds and half featured some perky climbs. The pace itself was not a problem for me, and I was able to work into good position over the climbs in order to stay near the front and avoid having to accelerate, however I made an unwise choice and wore a set of shoes I had never trained or raced in before. Another hot day in Redlands combined with the physical exertion caused my feet to swell. I had experienced this feeling at Ironman Hawaii and Ironman Lanzarote before - both held in extremely hot conditions - but had never had to deal with hot spots during a bike race before. I managed to suppress the hot spots building on the underpart of my feet but in the flat lead up to the day’s final climb I punctured and was forced to wait for neutral support to get me a wheel change. Team director Pat and teammate Colby helped pace me as best they could through the flats but eventually a race official came by and told them to drive ahead with all the other team cars. I was by myself time-trialing over the remainder of the course. Thankfully there were only ten miles left and I caught riders who were dropped on the climb so I ended up in a groupetto with a dozen others. The final damage ended up being around six minutes lost to the stage winner on the day. Unfortunately, we lost three riders during the stage to untimely flats very early on. That would hurt us as the race weekend continued on.

Stage 3 - 90 minute downtown criterium

Fast and furious was the order of the day. I tend to be cautious in the lead up to crits and the tight cornering, accelerations and jostling for position within the peloton make these races unsettling. I feel as though I age twenty years from being so nervous in the lead up to these races. Once the gun goes off though, all you can do is focus on positioning and reacting to the race. With so many fast riders on a relatively flat but twisting course, it was near impossible to move up in the crowd. I found myself hovering in the middle of the group, and telling myself I had to make it to the ten laps to go mark 60 minutes in to the 90 minute race in order to get an official time and make the cut to the final day on the Sunset Loop. Well, I made it until two laps to go but flatted on the back stretch and being so close to the end, was not allowed a free lap for a neutral wheel change. Instead, they gave me the same time as the last rider on the stage. That ended up being okay with me as I was not going to contend for the final sprint and there was a crash in one of the last turns.

Stage 4 - 94-mile Sunset Loop circuit race

The GC battle for the overall race lead was one second between Francisco Mancebo, a former 5th place finisher at the Tour de France, and Ben Jacque-Manes, a seasoned racer for the domestic powerhouse Team Bissell. Both teams, Mancebo’s Real Cyclist and Jacque-Manes’ Bissell, were motivated for their team leaders and setting very hard tempo at the front of the race. After three opening circuits around the downtown crit circuit, the race shot out of town and followed a three-mile uphill road that lead to a tough, seven-mile predominately uphill circuit named Sunset Loop. The pace was hot and riders covered the whole road up the first climb and the real fireworks started towards the first KOM of the day. Race organizers were offering three bonus seconds for the first rider to the top of the KOM and with such a close race on GC, many thought this would be where the race was decided. Unfortunately, this also meant I was dropped from the lead group on the first of twelve Sunset circuits! After watching 20-30 riders go away, I lead the second main group up the climb and probably did too much work on the front. My stubborn mentality thought the lead group would let up once they reached the flat roads at the top of the circuit. It was not to be and I was dropped the second time up the climb. Oddly enough, I ended up in a small group with three other riders I race with regionally, each who I consider to be very good riders. So, I was not too disappointed with my efforts and focused on keeping a steady tempo going through the rest of the laps. Our group ended up making it through nine complete circuits and were pulled off course at the start of the tenth as the lead group was within a few minutes of catching us!

In order to be recognized in the official results four circuits must be completed so the silver-lining was I managed to officially finish my first attempt at Redlands Bicycle Classic.

The experience was 100% positive as it allowed me to see how talented and savvy pure bike racers are. I was also very lucky to be on the same team as a few veterans who have accomplished so much throughout their careers and learned alot from each of them. The coolest part though was having my brother Hans along as our team massage therapist and to have him see what top tier domestic bike racing is like. He was out there in the team car every day handing out bottles to us and offering pre and post race massages, giving us great access to professional recovery as well as allow us to feel like pro racers.

The time and effort to adequately prepare for a stage race like this was quite difficult and I was forced to start early season racing in early February. With Kaia only a few months old, it was quite a burden for Emily to sacrifice a few of her weekends and travel with me to races that are difficult, and usually boring, to watch. As it turns out, bike races are often held in very uninteresting places. Luckily, she understood how much effort I put into the training aspect and was willing to make the effort in traveling when I needed her to along with letting me be away a few weekends.

Tucson Bicycle Classic

2011-03-22T00:44:00.000-06:00

Tucson Bicycle Classic - Three Stages (Prologue, RR, Circuit Race)

We had two Swami's race in the Cat 1/Pro Men field at Tucson Bicycle Classic this past weekend, me and Colby Elliot.

800 miles of driving round trip meant I would need to make the three days in the desert well spent...

Prologue - 3.2-mile TT
The course was well-suited for a power rider as it started with a slight downhill, followed by several rollers, and ended with a short punchy climb into the finish. Breathing the desert air made the effort a miserable experience but luckily Colby returned from his ride in time to give me some advice on the course and it allowed me to stay confident in riding into each of the winding corners tucked in the aerobars and focusing on driving forward rather than worrying about gear changes. You can never know how well everyone else rode but I felt good about my ride. I ended up taking 5th on the stage, four seconds behind winner Phil Zajcek and two seconds out of second.

Road Race - 80-miles
This would be my second Cat 1 road race so I had no clue what to expect. I knew I wanted to stay aggressive and see how I could stack up against a field that included riders from Kelly Benefits, Jelly Belly, Fly V, Kenda, RealCyclist.com, RideClean and Pista Palace. I wanted to stay in position to cover any breakaway attempts made by Eric Marcotte (lofty goal, I know), Zajcek and Paul Thomas (the only other rider I personally knew in the race). Despite being hilly course, with a few steep kickers, and an uphill slog to the start/finish area, the group stayed together because of headwinds and crosswinds in each direction we rode! A few break attempts were made throughout the ride so I figured rider's legs must be feeling fatigue going into the final uphill section. The pace slowed as we neared the finish and I thought it would be the perfect chance to pounce and make a break for the line before the sprint could wind up. I dangled for a few hundred meters but was swallowed up within the final kilometer and upon being caught the group launched into the final sprint. I was gassed, BONKED, and broken. I limped across the line so far back that I was not listed in the results that evening. Upon further review, the officials gave me a time of one minute behind the main group, which I thought was 30 seconds too many, but I don't know what good it would have done to argue. I took a chance for glory and instead was relegated as the group goat!

Circuit Race - 50-miles
The GC was still only separated by seconds which instigated a flurry of attacks from the gun. I stayed out of trouble near the front of the group and after covering a few of the early break attempts, missed the break that stayed away. It featured Cole House (winner of the road race), Paul Thomas (VOS winner at ripe at of 43), Antony Akers from Pista Palace and a rider from the Mexican team. They went away on lap 2 of 9 and built a lead of two minutes. The main group rode steady over the gentle risers and downhill portions of the course but turned on the jets each time we went up the sustained climbs. I felt better being near the front during these efforts so I tried to stay behind Zajcek as often as possible. On laps 7 and 8, Marcotte launched attacks up these hills and it split the group up but everyone was able to recover on the subsequent downhill section. On the final lap, the pace was hot as we were still 45 seconds down to the leader. We caught three of the riders the final time up the sustained climb through the feed zone on the back half of the course but Cole House held off a fast charging field sprint to take his second straight stage win. Marcotte won the field sprint and pulled to within one second of Zajcek in the final GC standings. I finished in the middle of the sprint and unfortunately Colby fell into bad luck and snapped his chain earlier in the race and had to pull out.

This was my final race tune up before Redlands the weekend after next and it was a good confidence builder to ride aggressively with some of the area's top riders and teams. I don't see the point in trying to hold onto 5th position in GC when the object is to win or podium in a race, so in this specific instance, I would have done the same thing over again. Then again, $200 could have paid for the gas on the drive back home!

Safe training and riding out there.

ucla road race -- brrrrrrr

2011-02-21T06:12:00.003-07:00

still waiting for the results from the UCLA road race to be posted but i'll give a quick recap anyways.

here in southern california we can't complain about our weather. while all my friends on the east coast, midwest and rocky mountains are bundled up and either skiing or rolling around with the knobbiest tires they can find, i have been logging consistent outdoor training miles since december. until last week, we have been enjoying summer-like weather!

this past saturday, a few Swami teammates and i opted to ignore the weather forecasts (would you ever go outside if you listened to everything the weather man suggested?) and drive to the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, east of LA, to race the UCLA road race. the 75-mile race consisted of six 12.5-mile laps with 1,500-feet of climbing each lap. a bruiser, to say the least.

it was a small field so the head ref combined the pro/1/2 field with the collegiate "a" racers for a total field size of 30-40 riders.

my role within the team was to set an uncomfortable pace from the gun up the first four-mile climb. i drove the pace for as long as i could, but i was the first casualty of this effort. i popped off the back of the group before we hit the descent which might have allowed me enough time to recover.

after the first lap, i started to see the damage the initial pace had produced as single and twosomes of riders were popping off slowly but surely. i learned later that our team's top climber, Orion Berryman, rode a great race and finished in the lead chase pack just behind the select group that produced the podium.

on the third lap, the temperatures dropped and snow flurries came over the peaks and started blasting us. the descent on the fourth lap and the climb on the fifth laps were the coldest of the race as all my fingers were numb and the snow was sticking to my sunglasses impairing vision on the descent. at the top of the fifth lap, the sun peaked out and stayed out long enough so i could thaw out my fingers. i told myself when i made it to the end of the fifth lap i would ride off course back to my car and get a warmer, and dryer, set of gloves before finishing the final lap. however, when i got to the start/finish line at the end of the fifth lap, Orion and Pascal were there waiting (they had to wait for the guy with the car keys!) and said the ref had shortened the race from six laps down to five.

even with the shortened lap, i saw at least a dozen racers drop out before completing the fourth lap, so my guess would be that 20 or so riders finished the race.

after popping on the first lap, i regained my composure and strength and caught quite a few riders who popped out of the peloton throughout the race. the effort was just what i needed going into this upcoming weeks race at calville bay classic, a four day stage race in the hills outside of las vegas.

till next time,
lars

Valley of the Sun - Cat 2 GC win!

2011-02-14T16:13:00.005-07:00

Going into Valley of the Sun weekend, I did not know what to expect. I was coming off a strong 60-miles of riding in a small break with Pista Palace's James Gunn at last Saturday's Boulevard 90-mile Road Race, but then marvelously cracked and limped in to the finish (just ask all my Swami teammates who passed by me to the line: Chris, Orion, Matt and Pascal). Realistically, I thought if I could crack the top 10 or 15 places on GC then I could get some points towards an upgrade. I was equally ready to commit to my two teammates, Matt and Chris, depending on who went the best in the 14-mile TT.

Stage One: 14-mile TT, Buckeye, AZ
Oddly enough, the event I felt most prepared for on paper at VOS, the opening time trial, ended up being a ho-hum performance in comparison to the Cat 2 field. I left San Diego very early on Friday morning and arrived to the start two hours before my start time. I had plenty of time to prepare equipment and get in a good warm up. I had my Power Tap race wheel with a Wheelbuilder.com disc cover so I could glance at my wattage from time to time and focus on maintaining a high and even pace throughout. The course was an out-and-back, with the out portion into a headwind and ever so slightly uphill and some jarring bumps in the shoulder. I rode an even paced race to place 11th on the stage at one minute behind the winning time of 30:43. I felt as though I rode well and was surprised I was not in the top ten. This told me I had not done my homework and should have ridden on the smooth white shoulder line, or maybe should have driven over the night before or finally (but worst to admit to yourself) was possibly outclassed by better riders.

Stage Two: 87-mile Road Race, Casa Grande, AZ
My two Swami's teammates, Matt and Chris, and I went into the road race with a loose plan of attack. We all felt good and we agreed we would be aggressive and opportunistic. No more than three miles after the start, one of my teammates launched off the front of the group and drew a few other out. Conditions were windy (crosswinds) so they didn't stay out for long.

On the second lap as we headed into the crosswinds, two riders jumped from the group and got a few hundred meters up the road. The pace in the group was sluggish, so I pushed a hard but steady tempo and no one followed. I was committed so I stayed in the saddle and bridged the gap to the two leaders. I told them to keep the pace steady but that the group was not following us. At the base of the climb, we were joined by three other riders and we were now in business. One rider in particular, Michael Jasinski from NorCal, was so strong on the climb that each lap we dropped riders from our break. I made an alliance with him that I would get the group to give him the KOM on the second and fourth times of the climb if he would pull us up (no brainer, right!). This guy was a workhorse but he had difficulty keeping a steady pace and his accelerations on the fourth of six laps whittled the break down to three. While he took top KOM time bonuses, I took second and got two seconds for each, four seconds in total.

On the penultimate time up the climb, a race vehicle told us we had two-and-a-half minutes on a chase group of six riders behind and that the peloton was nowhere in sight. Despite our own hard tempo pace up the climb, somehow we lost two minutes to the chase group behind. We were caught near the feed zone so with 10 miles left to race, we were a group of nine riders. The pace over the next seven miles was very hard and I had to sit out every other rotation. At the start of the final climb, I rode up to the NorCal rider and told him this was his race to lose and that he was the strongest climber in the group and he should "go and not look back". He listened and jumped and it instantly splintered the group. One rider followed him and they put 50 meters on me very quickly. I rode tempo and carried three others with me. With 200 meters to the line, those three jumped and I took fourth to the line. We put good time on those who had fallen off the pace early in the climb.

I ended up sixth on the stage and jumped into the race lead, four seconds ahead of the road race stage winner. My early gamble of riding in the break paid off.

Stage Three: 45 minute Crit, Downtown Phoenix
I told myself before the race I needed to stay aggressive and stay near the front of the race. In the opening ten laps I did neither very well. I was in poor position near the back of the group and was riding passively. The announcer started auctioning off primes and I started using the laps after a prime lap to move up in the group. Finally, halfway through the race I established a position in the front quarter of the group and the ride became easier from that point on. I finished safely in the group and ahead of the two GC contenders sitting in second and third place and hung on to a four second victory margin!

I am realistic and know that in the road race I might have managed to sneak one by the field. The guys told me that morning that racers usually note the top 10 GC riders and in 11th place I might go unnoticed. The group may not have given me a leash in the road race had my number been written on enough top tubes, but that was their fault and not mine. Maybe next time they will pay attention to the rider sitting 11th!

It was so cool having Emily and Kaia at the race cheering for Dad. It made sweating it out in the desert worth every second.

remembering Keith Carter

2011-02-10T08:22:00.002-07:00

Mr. Carter was a part of my family's Arabian experience from the very beginning.

As a kid I wanted to be the Lone Ranger and dressed the part of a cowboy everywhere I went. During a tantrum in Houston, at an Aramco orientation for new teachers. I took off one of my cowboy boots and flung it over the balcony as I was upset with my parents. As fate would have it, the boot landed in the middle of a table occupied by Keith. My parents, who had heard about Keith through mutual family friends, Tom and Ann Monson, introduced themselves to Keith and then had to ask for the boot back. Keith always joked that he would stay teaching until I passed through his sixth grade class.

Almost a decade later, I experienced the legendary teaching methods Keith shared with so many other students. The European and African notebooks were the most difficult, time-consuming, yet most rewarding projects. What brilliance and vision he had to have sixth graders research every country on those continents, draw a map of their profile, draw a map of their flag and find an article inside a newspaper featuring that country. I ended up majoring in history in college and I am convinced that year in sixth grade with Keith inspired that.

My other favorite project in Keith's class was investing in stocks. Yeah, I did this later in high school, but by that time I had already experienced Keith's methodical preparations in which we always had to show the work we had completed and provide a reason WHY we selected what we had. I still remember Shane Lambert was the big winner in the class as Chrysler was a big mover in 1992! I was conservative with my fake money and had selected a few mutual funds along with my favorite fast food restaurant McDonald's.

I was a paperboy for the Arab News and Saudi Gazette in 7th, 8th and 9th grades and Keith was on my route. I knew he loved getting his daily news, and as one of my teachers, I wanted to make sure his paper never got caught in the sprinkler system. His was the only paper I did not throw in a baseball-style toss, instead I placed his neatly folded copy on his doorstep. He rewarded me with a handsome tip each month. I think he always knew the style I delivered all the other papers and tipped me so that his paper did not receive the same delivery experience!

Keith was a family friend and we continued to have reunions when he retired back to Iowa. We visited his Arab Heritage Museum in Newell a few times, the most recently three years ago when I was able to introduce Keith to my wife. His health had noticeably declined but he still spent a few hours with us telling stories of his world travels, his museum treasures from all over the Middle East and Africa and he even prepared coffee in an old Arabian coffee pot. That was the last time I saw him in person.

Keith, your patience, worldly vision, and strong conviction to always do the right thing and to ALWAYS show your legwork will live in those of us who were lucky enough to be your students.

Thank you teacher and friend!
Lars

who are the world's best athletes?

2010-12-13T21:00:00.003-07:00

Eastbound and Down 4 - watch more funny videos

Norseman Xtreme Memory

2010-12-04T07:18:00.005-07:00

I came across this image and it reminded me of the fun start to our honeymoon in Norway in '07. This image was captured and later put into Norway's version of WOMEN'S magazine in a story they did on the Norseman Xtreme - which included an in-depth profile on Emily and her win that year.

Here Emily is explaining in Norwegian why I should try and run with her to the finish line. I obviously didn't understand what she was saying.

To see for yourself how tough this race is, visit their website. This race now sells out in mere minutes to 250 crazy endurance junkies out there.

super sprint tri grand prix - oceanside, ca

2010-11-02T05:18:00.011-06:00

Triathlon rarely gets credit for being a spectator friendly sport. And for good reason. Besides a few of us hard core tri fans, who else really enjoys watching long distance racing where athletes disappear out of sight for hours at a time, only to return and then disappear again? Is this racing fun for anyone other than the athletes participating in the event?

Back in the 1990's, a race series was conceptualized and developed by the Australians called the Formula One (F1) Series. This was fast and furious racing and was made to be spectator and television friendly triathlon. It created the triathlon stars of today including the likes of Greg Bennett, Chris McCormack, Matt Reed, Craig Alexander, Simon Whitfield and others. It was also the impetus for the ITU's creation of draft-legal Olympic distance racing.

On Sunday, in Oceanside, a sleepy beach town 40 miles north of downtown San Diego, former F1 racer Marc Lees, organized the Super Sprint Triathlon Grand Prix with an invitation only professional field. The event was considered a trial although Lees took every step necessary to cater to both athletes and spectators alike with a top notch production.

Lees' course design was well-conceived. Using the Pacific Ocean by the Oceanside Pier as the course backdrop, Lees used one of three racing formats used in F1 racing, the Enduro format which includes a 300-meter swim, 5-mile bike and 1.5-mile run completed twice through. The swim took place in the chilled and choppy Pacific, the bike over a half-mile stretch of the Strand, and the run over the same Strand roads with a short hill zig-zagging up onto the Pier.

Many of triathlon's top pro stars flew in for the event - a sign they are committed to spurring on growth and excitement for this kind of racing in the US. And the timing couldn't be better for our ADHD riddled society. All of the action happens right in front of your face, leaving no time to imagine, only time to participate. As spectators, this is exactly what we needed.

Who wouldn't want to watch the likes of current Ironman world champion Macca toe the line against short course studs like American national champion Jarrod Shoemaker or Matt?

I contacted Lees race week and inquired about an opening on the starting line. He agreed due to another athlete canceling last minute, and like that, I was embedded in the race day battle. I was one of few athletes without a short course, draft legal racing background, and it showed.

From the word "GO" I was shed to the back of the line of athletes sprinting into the 60-degree water. In this furious racing, there is no time for wetsuits but also no time to even think about whether you feel cold or not. We were immediately confronted with a series of breakers and had to duck dive under set after set for what seemed like an eternity before even having the opportunity to start swimming. Swimming is a generous term for what I was doing myself. I was flailing and swinging my arms as fast as possible firmly locked onto the calves of Matt who had a poor start himself. I knew it would be the end of my race if I let go of his legs. So I stayed locked in.

Near the turn around buoy, he had enough of me pestering him and turned around and kicked my hands off his legs. I don't blame him. I had crossed the unspoken line in drafting etiquette during the swim. However, I quickly located my next tow, Richie Cunningham and Paul Amey. Heading back in towards shore, my arms started to feel like lead and both Richie and Paul caught a wave that sent them flying into shore. I arrived a few seconds later, but any time lost can mean the end of your race.

It was evident by the speed they ran out of the water and into transition compared to me that I was out of my league! I chased hard and tore out of transition believing my cycling was good enough to bridge up to one of the chase groups. I rode with my feet set on top of my cycling shoes and time-trialed with my head down until I locked onto the back of a small group including Richie, Paul and another rider my impaired vision was too blurred to recognize. I still had not dared reach down and slip my feet into my shoes for fear I would lose contact with the draft created when you ride behind other cyclists.

The bike course was flat as an ironing board with only two 180-degree roundabout turns on each end of the road. As we neared the completion of the second lap and started around the roundabout again, my rear tubular tire rolled off the rim and I crashed. I got up quickly, did a quick check and got back on my bike before I noticed the exposed rim. I recognized Paul Huddle standing nearby and he yelled that neutral support was a few hundred meters up the road. So, I yanked off my new and now heavily scraped up Bont cycling shoes, picked up my bike and took off running towards the support station. Word passed quickly to them about the crash and one of the volunteers came sprinting my way to help with the wheel change (I found out after the race, the volunteer holds a sub 4-minute mile PR to his name!). It must have been a bit odd for the cyclists zooming down the road to see me running from one side of the road to the next in order to get closer to the support station while staying out of their way.

Once the wheel was replaced, I was nearly a lap behind the entire field but decided it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and pushed on. Luckily the course was so chaotic with racers spread across the entire road that it was hard to tell how far behind I really was!

I ran as hard as I could but still entered the second rotation through the swim with only a handful or swimmers still heading out to the turnaround buoy. Because I was alone, and out of the race, I was able to focus on taking long strokes and had a decent swim. I missed a big wave that may have taken me in close to shore but did hit a few smaller sets once I was in closer to the beach. As I ran into transition Marc reminded me to watch out for the group once they started running. I ended up being the last one off the bike and to finish the race but Greg Welch was still cool and announced me over the line. A bunch of the guys stayed at the finish too which I thought was a cool gesture.

Despite the less than ideal circumstances, I had a blast out there and knew I was fortunate to have the opportunity to be a part of a race that is going to catch on here in the US and go on to be a great series. I fully expect a few big sponsors to step up and put this series in a few major US markets in 2011. It will draw the biggest name pros in the sport and will be the most talked about series on US soil.

There are a bunch of photos and a race recap up on Triathlete.com. Aaron Hersh was out on the course for the men's and women's races and snapped photos, grabbed interviews and wrote up a great report.

Til next time -- keep the rubber side down (and firmly glued)!

LF

babaganoush update

2010-10-30T16:20:00.003-06:00

Em had a visit to the doc yesterday - week 38 - and both she and our baby girl are happy and healthy. it could be any day now. i wonder what Em thinks of having a Halloween baby?

colnago gran fondo

2010-09-09T06:45:00.006-06:00

after spending one week in markdorf, germany, our home base during the annual eurobike tradeshow, five of us drove down through the lake district of switzerland and into northern italy for the colnago gran fondo cycling event.

because riding a bike for 100-miles isn't the brightest idea after spending six days in a row off the bike, the other guys (kb, walker, vestal and hersh) decided to ride the medio fondo - which consisted of 75-miles including two mountain passes. i'm not too bright and committed myself to the longer route - with one extra massive 15-mile mountain ascent.

colnago hooked us up with everything we needed: properly sized - and very high end - carbon bikes, water bottles and even a colnago logo'd pump to carry with us.

with over 4,000 crazy italians - and many foreigners - lined up in the start corral, the line was nearly a half-mile long and wrapped around an entire parking lot of a rectangular shaped expo hall.

the first 40k were flat and the peloton raced full throttle as if they were not aware three mountain passes loomed ahead. i took the bait though and took more than my fair share of pulls on the front of the pack and hit the slopes of the first climb in the front.

this first climb, mezzano scotti, was the shortest of the three on the day and resembled the steepness of the climbs seen in the Belgian Classic races on tv. by that, i mean, if a rider chose to unclip from their pedals, it set off a domino effect of all other riders unclipping.

it became obvious i rode the early flat miles too hard, and took too many pulls for my current state-of-fitness, and i quickly bonked within the first quarter-mile. i was forced to lay off the gas and went into survival mode over the five or six miles of that climb.

after loading up with goodies at a buffet-like aid station, i stupidly committed to the "LUNGA" route at the junction where the medio and gran fondo races split. within a few hundred meters, i was staring at the bottom of the day's big climb, santa barbara, which took over an hour to climb. pitches were insanely steep, others leveled off, and there were even a few downhill reprieves, but overall it went UP! at one point, near the top of the climb, i was forced to get off my bike and stretch out two severely cramped up legs, that more closely resembled two blocks of wood.

the final climb, described by one of my colleagues as "false flat", was nothing of the sort and i crawled up it at a snails pace, and with only the thought of getting back to the food tent at the expo for the italian buffet that awaited. the final climb, passo del cerro, was the nail in the coffin and it was obvious i had left my climbing legs back in california (or back in colorado). i was bonked, cramped, and left to figure out how to get my body back to the finish.

i found a nice group of twenty riders to ride in the final 40k of flat roads back to the finish, and was content to sit in the group so as not to bonk again.

as luck would have it, upon crossing the finish line completely spent, i wiped out on a thick black hose that was stretched out across the road. no scratches on the bike and only minor wounds to my ego.

the flight the next day back to the states was rough and having worn my compression socks nearly each day of the eurobike show, i opted to buy a set of travel socks at the milan airport which helped relieve some of the soreness and blood pooling.

a final shout out to my colleague nate forbes who organized beautiful Colnagos for us to ride! if you ever find yourself in europe in the summertime or fall, look for a gran fondo race near you. we met a few cycling fans who were spending their summer traveling throughout europe and racing gran fondos in different cities and countries every weekend. i can't say i can argue with their thought process -- these rides allow you to see a part of the countryside usually reserved for picture books.

shark week -- can i have my life back?

2010-08-06T05:52:00.006-06:00

discovery channel has managed to trick me into racing home from work every night so as not to miss a minute of the latest shows during this special week dedicated to sharks.

i am intrigued by these creatures because one of my favorite pastimes is playing in their backyard and each time i walk down the stairs to swim at la jolla cove, i feel extremely alive yet extremely scared shitless.

i know i am afraid, like most people, of the unknown - that knowledge that it is their habitat and they are down there but that i can't see them. last year in hawaii, i woke up early one morning and swam in kailua bay along the ironman hawaii swim course. on the way back to shore, about 800 meters out, i stopped a few meters from the Coffees of Hawaii catamaran and approached a couple of kayakers who were out enjoying their morning. the water was clear and visibility below was good down to the ocean floor. swimming gracefully below were a handful of reef sharks, minding their own business, yet in close proximity to a few dozen swimmers. i was initially surprised with how little it bothered me and then i realized how uninterested they were in us, and how being able to physically see them was far more calming then the anticipation and fear the mind is able to conjure up.

watching the episodes throughout the week, one thing in particular strikes me about the people who have been victims to shark attacks. not one of them put blame on the shark for the attack and noted it was likely a case of mistaken identity and they understood they were in their backyard and natural habitat.

i respect these animals for their beauty, mysteriousness, and their raw power and i also know the lifestyle i willingly choose to participate in puts me in their playground. it is an amazing spectacle on friday nights down at la jolla cove to see the tri club of san diego members and other open water swimmers, numbering in the hundreds, flock down for their half-mile, mile and two-mile swims in the 60-odd degree water, enjoying the ocean and it's habitat, while holding ultimate respect for what dwells beneath.

Big News

2010-07-02T20:19:00.003-06:00

We're having a baby! We had our 20-wk ultrasound two weeks ago and so far everything looks great. We are both very excited are looking forward to mid-November when we expect baby girl Finanger to join us.

We found the perfect onesie for our baby to wear:

I am finished working in Boulder and am ready to head back to SD full time. It will be very nice to get settled and begin preparing for our new adventure into parenthood.

Ocean Beach

2010-05-08T18:13:00.004-06:00

Thor really is a water dog. He loves the ocean in San Diego and isn't afraid of the crashing waves. Izzy, on the other hand, will only get her paws wet.

SD Update

2010-04-19T08:04:00.004-06:00

A few highlights from the past month out here in San Diego. Back in May, my colleagues from the VeloNews office in Boulder flew out to ride the Gran Fondo. The ride started in Little Italy, went over the SD-Coronado Bridge and then completed an out-and-back loop around the Cleveland National Forest for just over 100 miles. It rained 100% of the time! The photo is from the night before the race where I defied all odds and parked in the smallest parallel parking spot possible in Emily's VW.

Italian World Champion and Athens road race gold medal winner, Paolo Bettini, was at Mission Bay Park the morning before the Gran Fondo for a photo shoot with Briko. He was very gracious and had his manager snap a photo of us.

I've been living with Emily's sister in Mission Valley and last week we went to the Padres second home game of the season at Petco Park downtown. It was military appreciation night and Kendra's service in the Navy allowed us to get within sniffing distance of the field.

Last weekend I raced at the Superfrog Half Ironman, the longest running half distance triathlon in the world at 32 years straight. Emily and I have competed in this one since 2006 and besides being one of the toughest run courses around (80% of the race is on the beach and soft sand pits), we have made some great friends with the organizers including race director Moki Martin (right). Moki was one of the original triathletes with Tom Warren, completed Ironman Hawaii numerous times, is a retired Navy Seal, and puts on one hell of a great race.

More in the future, I promise...

LF

Abu Dhabi and back in Boulder

2010-04-04T20:02:00.010-06:00

Lars and I went to Abu Dhabi a few weeks ago for a race and to see his parents. They are only a 45-minute flight away so it was great that they could get the day off work to spend a few days with us.

Lars' bike only arrived at 2AM the day of the race. He was putting it together after two hours of sleep and only 4 hours before the race was to start. He had a great swim and a great start to the bike but it turned out that his brakes were rubbing for the first loop of the bike course. At about 117 miles into the bike he decided he had had enough and dropped out. I have watched a lot of Ironman races and all I can say about this course is that the athletes looked the worst I have ever seen when they were coming off of the bike. They all looked miserable.

The night before the race we went on a little adventure out into the desert and drove around in Land Cruisers through the sand dunes (and thankfully never tipped over). Following the tour of the desert we had a big Middle Eastern feast, including shawarmas, and watched some belly dancing.

I've been back in Boulder now for a week. Right after we got back from Abu Dhabi I got a call from my former boss asking if I could come back and help out here for a few months. I wasn't doing anything in SD yet, except walking the dogs and enjoying the nice weather, so I accepted the offer. I'll be here working until the beginning of July when our friends get married up in Vail.

I miss Lars and the dogs a lot but I will be going home every 2 weeks to see them. Here is a picture of the pups on their second swim in Mission Bay, taken by Lars on the morning I left. On his first time there, Thor loved it but the salt water didn't agree with his stomach and he ended up puking it up all over my sister's house.

My friend, Jen, from Minnesota, just had her first baby, Sienna Mae, and I was able to meet her when she was just 3 days old. I thought I would have to wait until she was much older so I am glad I was back in CO for that.

I'm heading home Thursday night and can't wait to be back in San Diego for the weekend and watch Kendra and Lars race the Superseal and Superfrog.

Old Slowtwitch Interview

2010-03-05T03:19:00.003-07:00

Written by: Herbert Krabel
Date: Mon Dec 17 2007

Emily Finanger turned Pro and got married in 2006 and spent part of her honeymoon racing and winning the 2007 Norseman Xtreme triathlon in Eidfjord, Norway. Meet this Boulder, CO implant.

ST: How long have you been going triathlon?

Emily: I started racing in triathlon in 2001. I started with a few sprint triathlons that year, my first Olympic distance was in 2002, first half Ironman in 2003 and then I jumped up to the Ironman distance last summer with Ironman France.

ST: What is your athletic background?

Emily: I was a competitive swimmer growing up. I started swimming when I was 8 and my family moved out to California from Long Island, NY. I think my mom made me join the swim team because I was really shy and she wanted me to be able to make some friends. I swam competitively all through college at the University of Minnesota. I usually ran in the off-season as a way to keep in shape but I didn't really start biking seriously until I started triathlon.

ST: What made you decide to race the Norseman event this year?

Emily: Lars has been writing about the Norseman for the last few years and was always interested in racing it. He was born in Norway and his Godfather lives there as well as some good family friends. His family is also of Norwegian heritage. My In-Laws gave us a trip to Norway for our wedding present and we knew we couldn't pass up the opportunity to race the Norseman if we were going over there. We got engaged after Ironman France last year, got married the day after Ironman Hawaii in October so it made sense to include the Norseman in our honeymoon this summer. Some people might think that doesn't make sense but to us it did.

ST: Tell us more about Norseman and how it went for you.

Emily: Norseman was a great race. It required a different kind of planning because we each had our own support crews for the entire race. It really made me think about what exactly I would want to eat and drink and where along the course I wanted it. It was a little bit difficult to plan for because I never really pay too much attention to how much I drink or eat along the way.

The course changed the day before the race because the water in the fjord was too cold (low-50’s) where we were originally supposed to swim. They moved the swim 20km down the road to a section where we could get out of the water at the halfway point and get warm at a bonfire, if needed (the water there was 59-F). So, the bike ended up being 200km instead of 180km.

We had to get up at 2AM in order to eat breakfast and get on the ferry by 3:30AM. The ferry left the dock at 4AM and the race started at 5. You start the race by jumping off the ferry from about 20-feet up on the main deck (they give the option to jump from a 5-foot “chicken door” too). I ended up being the 3rd person out of the water, behind a French girl who travels to the race with her father but only does the swim leg. I didn’t find that out until the top of the first climb at 60-k on the bike when I asked my support crew how far behind I was and they said there were no other girls ahead. The bike course was absolutely beautiful. I just wish I hadn’t been so cold the whole time and I could have enjoyed the views a little more.

One funny part about the race was that I would be all alone on these Norwegian roads and all of a sudden I would hear a cowbell ringing. I would always get confused right away because I would think where the heck are the spectators around here? But, it was always just a sheep lifting its head up from eating grass and ringing their bell in the process. It is also the first race I have done that allowed racers to completely strip down in the transition areas. This kind of weirded me out in T2 when I was the only person in by the racks and everyone was staring. I opted to put a jacket over and “deck change” like I learned from years of swimming. I started the run as the first female but the run but I know a lot of time can be made up in a marathon, especially one where the final nine miles go up a mountain. There was no way to see how far ahead I was because it was a point to point race. I decided before the race that I would run the first 25km on the flat land and then I would walk up the mountain. I thought that was what everyone did. When I turned the corner to start climbing up the mountain, I started walking just like I planned. Then all of a sudden there was a guy who was still running and he ran past me. I was a little bummed because I realized that I had to run too. I wasn’t able to run the whole way up the mountain but I would give myself small goals to stay motivated. That worked out pretty well and I was able to keep my lead to the finish line. I got interviewed by the Norwegian version of Cosmopolitan magazine which was funny because the writer wanted me to stop and pose for pictures at mile 24 of the run. I don’t think she understood what a triathlon was, that I was still racing and if I stopped I wouldn’t be able to start up again!

ST: What are you doing during the off-season?

Emily: It finally snowed enough in Boulder that we can start having some winter fun. Lars got me into Nordic skiing last winter so I am excited to get out and do some skate skiing again. We have a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Thor, and a Black Lab, Izzy, and they love the snow and colder weather. I have been taking them out on long hikes so far this winter but now we can also bring them out when we go snowshoeing. I love being able to mix in some different workouts during the off-season. I am only working part-time right now as a physical therapist so I have a little bit more free time to enjoy playing my winter sports.

ST: What is going on in terms of sponsorship for you?

Emily: Lars convinced me to get my pro card last year after I started finishing in the top of the overall standings in races where there was money. My sponsorships last year consisted of a lot of product, including Quintana Roo wetsuits, HED wheels, Craft clothing and Cytomax nutrition. This year I will be working with David Greenfield and Elite Bicycles, which I am excited about.

ST: What is your favorite race and why?

Emily: My favorite race is probably the Lake Waconia triathlon back in Minnesota. Minnesota has a great triathlon scene and the races fill up very quickly. Lake Waconia was my first triathlon back in 2001. I got 8th my first time and then I won the race the next 4 years. It isn’t a very big race but it is very well run and it is a great example of the Minnesota triathlon community.

ST: What is on schedule for you for 2008?

Emily: I am not sure what races I will be doing in 2008. I am leaning towards Ironman Lanzarote in May and then fill in the empty spots with a few other races. We will go back to do Superfrog again now that it has moved to April. I think I will stick to 70.3 and Ironman distance races for this next year.

ST: You are married to Lars Finanger, a very good triathlete in his own right. How did you two meet?

Emily: Lars and I both went to college in Minnesota and started racing triathlons there. We met at a few races the summer that Lars started racing. He will say that I ignored him for the first few years but my story is that I didn't think he knew who I was. The next summer he had disappeared and I had no idea where he went off to but I heard he went to Belgium to teach. Anyway, we met up again a few years ago at the Lifetime Fitness expo in Minneapolis when he was working for Inside Tri. He won me over by giving me a free pair of flip flops that say Inside Triathlon on them. We started dating long-distance for a while until I could find a job up in Colorado.

ST: Do you and Lars train quite a bit together?

Emily: We do train together but it depends on our schedules a lot. Swimming together is good because we can both get a good workout in, but if we run or bike together it isn't really very fair to him. It is a really good workout for me because I am trying to keep up with him but it doesn't help him get faster because I am not pushing him. So, we train together sometimes. Plus, with our schedules we have to fit workouts in around work so if we don't end up being free at the same time we can't train together!

ST: Do you follow any other sports?

Emily: I usually know what is going on in other sports and I enjoy college football. I pay enough attention to know how most teams in the NFL are doing. My family is from NY and they are all huge Yankee and NY Giants fans. I grew up as a Mets fan just to be difficult but now I don’t follow them as much. I definitely became a fair-weather fan when the Rockies made it to the World Series this year and got pretty into baseball during October. My sister went to the Naval Academy so I usually cheer for Navy football and I pay attention to all of the U of MN teams as well. Our roommate writes for VeloNews so I know a little bit about what is going on in professional cycling as well.

ST: What are your likes and dislikes in terms of food?

Emily: My biggest dislikes are probably mushrooms, any kind of runny eggs and shellfish. I don’t like the texture of shellfish. My favorite restaurant in Boulder is a Nepalese restaurant called Sherpas. We eat a lot of pasta and chicken dishes at our house because of the simplicity. I love to go out for sushi but usually I will order rolls and not just plain pieces of fish because that creeps me out.

ST: What type of music do you listen to?

Emily: My favorite kind of music is probably country but I am really not too into music. I like to listen to it but I usually don’t know bands or artists very well. I don’t make that a priority. I run with an iPod Shuffle during easy runs and that has a good mix of all kinds ranging from country to Coldplay to Lenny Kravitz.

ST: What was the last movie you saw and how did you like it?

Emily: I just watched “The Bourne Ultimatum” last night and I enjoyed it. I have read the three Robert Ludlum books in the ‘Bourne’ series and the only thing similar that I can see is that the character’s name is Jason Bourne and he is an assassin for the CIA. Other than that the story lines are completely different. But, the movie made for a good story and it was entertaining. Before that it was “Superbad” which was very funny. I also just saw the newest “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie.

ST: Anything else we should know about you?

Emily: I moved around a lot as a kid and to date have lived in eight states. My father was a ship captain and moved all over the US, but that is nothing compared to how often my sister, a Navy Lieutenant, has to move.

I went to boarding school in New Jersey at The Peddie School. My swim coach was pretty tough and we had a good program but I tore the cartilage in my shoulder from the big change in swim volume when I went got to school. He made me kick the same workouts my teammates were swimming which I am guessing was somewhere around 60% of my entire high school career at Peddie.

Emily Finanger 2007 race resume
- Norseman Xtreme Triathlon (Norway) 1st place
- Superfrog Triathlon (San Diego, CA) 1st place
- Tri One-O-One (Clear Lake, CA) 8th place
- Lifetime Fitness Triathlon (Lake Nokomis, MN) 11th place

the great move west

2010-02-11T06:22:00.006-07:00

2005 was the first time I had traveled out to Cali to race in Oceanside at the half-Ironman. My brother Hans was out there with me too, as he was on spring break and hanging out in Palm Springs (pic from Ocean Beach).

Emily closed the doors on our Boulder house, our memorable Colorado lifestyle, packed up the car with Thor and Izzy and drove out to Cali last weekend. She was born further up north in Walnut Creek when her Dad was captaining ships out of Benecia in the Bay Area (pic of Emmy topping the climb up Sunshine Mtn at 9,000+ feet).

Currently we are living with Kendra, Emily's sister, in Mission Valley but forge ahead with our search for a place to lay our stake out here.

Go Vikes!

2010-01-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

Weekend update

2010-01-09T21:05:00.005-07:00

I joined Lars on his last run in Boulder this morning. We came home and Lars shoved what else he could into any empty space that was in the Expedition before he took off on the long drive to San Diego.

Here is a picture of Thor's incision. Yikes. He seems to be recovering fairly well and is sleeping a lot. He's using his leg a little more but he is hating life in the lampshade:

Thorskie

2010-01-06T20:33:00.004-07:00

Thor is out of surgery and the vet says everything went very well. We go to pick him up tomorrow afternoon.

Izzy is very lonely and will be glad to have her buddy back home.

2010-01-05T21:33:00.002-07:00

Glad to see the Hawkeyes winning the Orange Bowl. Too bad Minnesota couldn't pull through against Iowa State.

Surfing in SD

2009-12-28T21:11:00.003-07:00

Thor is scheduled for surgery next week for his R knee. Hopefully, in 4 months or so he will look like this:

xc skiing at north boulder park

2009-12-06T17:37:00.003-07:00

We both fell twice as the snow (and our form) kept getting more and more sloppy. But, Em was the only one to lose their pole tip in the snow!

IM Cozumel - race recap - 9:02:37

2009-12-01T07:24:00.011-07:00

Sunday was my final race of the 2009 season. Originally Em and I booked tickets to spend our time on vacation and to watch Em's sister, Kendra, compete in her first Ironman race. That changed after I had a poor performance at Ironman Wisconsin in September and wanted to finish the season on a better note.

I went into this late season race, the latest I have raced into a calendar year, with less than ideal preparation. My job called for a lot of travel but I did my best to work in runs and swims when it was at all possible. I had a good summer and early fall of cycling so I did my best to maintain a high end with weekly key rides on the Computrainer and a weekend group ride with my teammates from Feedback Sports. I also implemented reverse taper swim training, which I have used throughout the last seven years I have been racing. Basically, neglect to swim for a while then increase your frequency of swims all the way up to race day. The fitness in the water is not always there, but at least I have that feel for the water by race day. Needless to say, this is not the best training method for most folks but it seems to work ok for me.

I got a great bike fit with my co-worker Mat Steinmetz at the Retul Multisport Studio in Boulder on Sunday night and he lowered my saddle height nearly 2cm which really relieved some pressure I had been feeling in my baby making region. Everyone should get a bike fit, more specifically a dynamic bike fit (Retul), to ensure they are positioned correctly on the bike. Mat has fit everyone from weekend warriors looking to maximize comfort to studs like Mirinda Carfrae, Chris Legh and Craig Alexander. Thanks Mat.

We flew over to Cozumel from Boulder on Thursday and while it was humid in the days leading up to the race, there was a "cold front" passing through the Gulf of Mexico that created quite the chop in the water and kept the temperatures in the high 70's. Basically, to those of us from Colorado, it felt like paradise.

The race organizers canceled the practice swim on Friday morning due to the excessive chop. Em and I did a practice swim in front of our hotel and it was choppy but really not too bad compared to swims like the Superfrog, LA Tri or the Norseman. It was 80-degrees, which meant a non wetsuit swim, so there was never a shock to the system from feeling cold water.

On race day, the Caribbean at Chankanaab Park was clear, warm and smooth. There was a bit of a current, but it was difficult to feel this during the swim. The organizers opted to move the turn buoy on the outbound leg in closer around 500 meters, which meant we ended up swimming with the current for an additional 500 meters to reach the far end of the course.

The race announcer called up athletes to the swim start and announced that between the pro men on the starting line there were over 30 Ironman titles (Lothar Leder, Oscar Galindez, Rutger Beke and Viktor Zymstev accounted for most of those). I told Em the night before I would really be thrilled with a top ten placing in such a strong field.

The swim felt the easiest of any Ironman swim I've been a part of and there was constant engagement with the water, meaning we swam over schools of fish, a giant stingray, and dozens of starfish. I stayed alone for the first half of the swim to find my rhythm but hopped onto Rutger's feet for the final kilometer.

The transition was a long run from the swim exit, into the change tent, and then through a maze of bikes to the racks at the end of transition where the pro bikes were racked. Most of the guys I would expect to be contenders for the overall win were right in and around my swim group including: Oscar, Tyler Butterfield, Lothar and Rutger. Stephen Bayliss was a few minutes up the road as was Viktor Z. Rutger had a very quick transition (or I had a very slow one), but I never saw him again until the run.

I felt great out on the three-loop, 112-mile bike course. I opted to wear a standard road helmet instead of an aero helmet in order to keep my head cool and I knew right away I had made the right choice. I kept my pace in check throughout the first loop and managed to stay within myself when Oscar rode past me. I followed him for five or six miles as I expected he was motivated to reach the front of the race. However, on the far side of the island where it was very windy, I decided it would be best to let him go and stay relaxed, so I kept my own pace. This was a great decision in hindsight because although I kept losing two minutes each lap to Rutger and an Italian rider (who looked to be Normann Stadler's twin brother), I caught and passed Viktor, Stephen and Oscar on the final lap and put some time into them. The bike ride felt easy and I finished it stronger than I started it, so I accomplished both of my goals there.

I exited the bike in third place overall and the crowd was going crazy. Again, I took the longest transition out of the pros, changing from my Retul cycling kit into my Kiwami run kit, but it was awesome to hear the support from the Mexican fans...they are crazy.

I saw Em and her parents, Bill and June, out there and I did my best to start the run with my emotions in check as I knew pacing would be my biggest enemy on the run. I raced without a watch so I used my internal pacing and ended up running the first lap of 9 miles in 6:58/mile pace. That is what I wanted to run and I had only been caught by Viktor at that point. I was passed at the opposite end, at mile 13, by Tyler, who was having a killer run (ended up posting a 2:52 marathon!) and we exchanged a high five before he proceeded to run out of sight! I stayed in fifth place for the next 9 miles but then went through a bad patch where my quad cramped up and I was forced to stop, stretch it, and walk for for a few hundred meters.

I passed through the worst patch of the marathon between miles 18-22 but then got my legs back for the final stretch back into town to the finish. Unfortunately, in those final four miles, I dropped from 5th place down to 9th place as I was caught by some quicker runners from behind. I am somewhat ashamed to say four of them started the marathon over 20 minutes behind me.

I missed one of my goals of finishing in less than 9 hours however I didn't race with a watch so I was never a slave to the race clock out there. Despite a poky marathon (by pro's standards) I crossed the line content with my effort and very thankful I made it through the entire season injury free, motivated for more, and passionate for this sport. While it doesn't have the same ring as a domestic Ironman event, I managed to sneak into the finish as the first American finisher too (sorry Tyler, you're from Bermuda!).

It was nice being one of the first with access into the medical tent so I could get two IV bags. After a post-race enchilada and margarita, we went back out to the race course to cheer Kendra home. Despite being entertained by the hoards of Mexican fans in bleachers (they tend to bring the extended family to sporting events), I managed to catch a few minutes of sleep.

Kendra is very strong mentally and got herself through the marathon course and finished in just over 15 hours. Not bad for being an active US Navy Officer who was deployed for six months earlier this year. She spent the next two hours, until 12:30AM, in the medical tent getting IV's and having the medical staff work on her blisters. I think Kendra was already looking forward to her next challenge but I think she will put in some more focused training for her next race.

A special thanks to Emily, Bill, and June for being an awesome support group out there. I also really appreciate Tyler's wife, Nikki, cheering for me out at the far end of the course as she could obviously tell the difference between my running strides and Tyler's.

It was an awesome trip out to Cozumel and I would recommend this race for anyone who would consider training for a late season race. The Mexican fans are extremely enthusiastic and when you mix in all the American party goers lining the downtown streets outside of Senor Frogs and walking along the ocean front, it made for a vibrant race atmosphere.

Unfortunately, we missed the post race party which took place the following night as it would have been cool to stand on stage with the top ten placers, however we had to get back to Thor and Izzy and our work. The direct Frontier flight leaving Cozumel to Denver was packed with funny tan lines, numbered calves, neon bracelets and bike boxes. Waking up this morning felt far worse than yesterday but each day now will get better and better. I'm looking forward to taking a bit of time off now, maybe working on my jump shot or just enjoying some hiking and skiing in Colorado. After all, Em and I will be moving out to San Diego in mid January so we have to take advantage of the mountains while we can.

Ride on,
lars

Cozumel

2009-11-28T16:37:00.005-07:00

We've been here at the Cozumel Palace for the last 2 days and that means buffet after buffet, not an ideal lead up to race day. It has been nice to escape the chilly weather back home for a few days and I'm looking forward to the final race of 2009 before taking a break.

Happy Thanksgiving (for the cyclists out there...sound familar?)

2009-11-25T18:38:00.001-07:00

You Stay Classy

2009-11-25T08:54:00.001-07:00

Nose Hair billboard

2009-11-24T10:23:00.004-07:00

Great photo from the Guerrilla Marketing blog from my friend Herbert. I've gone through my fair share of nose hair clippers over the years...

Cozumel...we're coming soon

2009-11-24T07:07:00.005-07:00

Soccer missed call (video)

2009-11-19T10:10:00.001-07:00

The unfortunate missed call opened the door for France's 2-1 win over Ireland to move them into the 2010 World Cup.

Abu Dhabi Triathlon

2009-11-08T07:27:00.005-07:00

(Abu Dhabi, UAE) World class triathlon racing is now coming to the Middle East. Past Ironman world champion, Faris Al-Sultan, is a resident of the UAE and team captain of the Abu Dhabi Pro Triathlon Team that recently announced a new race on March 10th, 2010.

As someone who was raised in nearby Saudi Arabia and recently traveled back to the Middle East and witnessed the intense interest in endurance sports in communities with expat and Western populations, this is long overdue. The region already boasts world class events including; horse racing (camel racing too), adventure racing, race car driving, and now triathlon!

This event will draw the attention of all the heavy hitters from the international professional scene. It features an unique distance of a 3-k ocean swim, 200-k bike, and 20-k run. The temperatures in this part of the world was a factor in determining the distance, but possibly wanting to cater towards the strengths of their favorite, local hero, the race also suits the strengths of the powerful cyclist Al-Sultan. With a prize purse of $230,000, paying $50,000 to first place, it would be a surprise it other strong cyclists like Norman Stadler, Chris McDonald, Chris Lieto, Ain Alar Juhanson, Matty Reed, Massimo Ciagano, and their two wheeled peers opted not to toe the line. Surely, Chrissie Wellington and Julie Dibens will have their eyes wide open to a race like this.

A race like this will also provide a local race for expats to compete on the same stage as the athlete's they could previously only follow in the magazines and through on-line websites.

Here is a link to the Abu Dhabi Triathlon website: http://www.abudhabitriathlon.com/

motor pacing Crowie

2009-10-30T13:04:00.001-06:00

This is a short video shoot from earlier this summer on a motor pacing session with Crowie.

Mary Beth Ellis: Trek TTX bike fit

2009-10-30T11:20:00.002-06:00

Earlier in the week, Mary Beth Ellis visited our Retul Multisport Studio in Boulder to work on her Trek TTX time-trial bike fit.

Mary Beth won the Pan American Games, Escape from Alcatraz and Boulder Peak Triathlon earlier in the year and is in her final preparations for Clearwater 70.3 World Championships where she was the runner-up last year.

Short video: approximately one minute

update

2009-10-27T20:12:00.002-06:00

Been neglecting these blog entries lately so I'll give you a quick few lines of our last month.

- We flew out to Long Island, NY for Em's cousin, Jeanette's, wedding
- I flew out to Kona during Ironman week. If you want to see some sweet, behind-the-scenes footage from the world champion, Craig Alexander, download the "Crowie backstage" app on your iPhone for free.
- We were both sick for a week with coughs and congestion
- I am training for IM Cozumel on Nov. 30th

Exciting blogs in the future.

LF

Greg Bennett Comeback Video

2009-09-19T19:17:00.004-06:00

Here is the newest video I just finished editing (more under RetulGeek on YouTube). We'll have more coming in the near future as Greg continues to make an astounding comeback after being hit by a car back on August 1st. His comeback is coming along nicely as he took 1st and 2nd in the Nautica Malibu Olympic and Sprint distance triathlons last weekend against Leito and McCormack.

IM Moo - race report

2009-09-15T07:37:00.004-06:00

DNF = OUCH!

I've had some time to let the end result sink in and will take away some good lessons from Sunday. I made a few mistakes that sound so simple but ones that zapped me out of the race.

Keep the engine cool

All week long, Madison rode in the low to mid 80's. Lake Monona was a stifling 76-degrees in the days leading up to the race. Race officials made a decision to allow wetsuits during the swim even though the cut off temperature for pros is 72-degrees. The reason for the decision was to avoid course congestion on the bike as they worried faster age groupers (who were allowed to wear wetties) would eliminate the 10 minute head start pros are given and catch up. Numerous athletes in my swim group yanked off their swim caps to cool their heads and I kept having to open up my wetsuit to let water pass through in attempt to cool off. The real effects showed up slowly during the bike as I started out more dehydrated than usual after the 2.4 mile swim. Overheating in the swim, coupled with wearing an aero helmet on the bike, made my engine overheat, I believe.

Be willing to change your pre-race plan

To be honest, I don't know what I would change, I only know it didn't work on Sunday. I wanted to mark Chris McDonald and knew this was within reason on both the swim and bike. He's done this race in the past - bloody won the race last year! - and always comes off the bike in the lead. I knew he would take me to the front of the race.

Chris and a few others came out with me from the swim but had a faster transition. I hustled best I could and went hard the first 5-7 miles out of town until I caught up to them. We settled into a nice pace but I kept going to the front of the group to drive it forward towards the two or three race leaders up the road. We caught Brandon Marsh before Verona and he told me later he just watched us fly by, however at around mile 30 I noticed my aero drink bottle between my aerobars had come loose and was about to fall out. I had to make an instant decision to pull over and attempt to refasten it or to throw it away and proceed with one bottle. I was unwilling to give up my position in the race and got rid of it. I felt like A MILLION BUCKS for the next 30 miles until I found myself spaced out and unable to tap out any power from my legs. I lost contact with Chris and the whittled down group of three riders but was also repassed by eventual race winner Raynard Tissink and the Estonian racer who finished 3rd. I had to let them go too.

For the next 20 miles I took three bottles at each aid station, pouring one water bottle over my head, keeping a water bottle on my bike, and holding a Gatorade bottle in my hands between the aerobar. I snapped out of LA LA LAND around mile 95 and rode back into T2 a decent clip (thankfully it was not a head wind back into Madison). Once into T2, I still managed to get off the bike in 7th or 8th place but felt as though I had spent 12 rounds in a dark room with Buster Douglas. I ran out onto the run course, saw Em and her friends who all came to watch Amy and Brandon Marsh and me race, ran nearly two miles down the road and was totally tapped out.

Pick yourself back up

I read in the paper the next day race winner Tissink had gone through a bad spot during the race, vomiting during the swim and unable to see the road in the early bike miles. I believe a large part of this was due to the wetsuit swim as it caused racers to overheat more than usual (racers will never give up a competitive edge and go without a wetsuit). What a champion to be able to stay with the race, refocus, and finish on his own terms. I also watched Chris McDonald ride to the fastest bike of the day on a machine that was not shifting properly. He rode with patience, strength and was a fighter to the end during the run. I'll try and take a similar attitude into my next race.

A quick shout out to the Travel Club organizers Terri J, Beth S, Chris and Jenny F and Emily. Having spectators out on the course always makes the race go by a bit faster and allows for added fuel to the fire. Just look at what their support did for Amy Marsh, their teammate and friend, who won the whole blasted women's race in only her second Ironman. Congrats to the Texas transplants, Amy and Brandon!

Finally, but not least of all, thanks Stephanie and Zak for opening your house up to me and Emily. We had a blast. Congrats to getting into the 2010 race, Stephanie, and we'll enjoy watching you race!

Stay tuned,
LF

long day -- back home

2009-09-15T00:34:00.003-06:00

just got back home from Madison. i will write a more in-depth race report later this week but i will say this quickly. despite not having the race i had trained to have, i sure had a fun time out there. the course was challenging, the fans were crazy, and i got to hang out with friends and watch our girl, Amy Marsh, bring home her first IM victory home in front of all of her college swimming teammates (good luck Gopher charms).

LF

red rocket (yes, i know it's a weird title)

2009-09-12T20:22:00.003-06:00

Felt B2 Pro is the ride for the tough IM Moo bike course tomorrow. Emily almost snapped this photo before I quickly intervened and flipped the bike around with the drive side facing the camera. I guess I've been spending too much time on Slowtwitch:)

IM Wisconsin - prerace

2009-09-12T10:44:00.001-06:00

Getting the race rig ready for tomorrow. Check out Stephanie and Zak's garage. This is a full on bike mechanic studio!

final Mags run

2009-08-30T22:12:00.004-06:00

after acting as my personal mechanic out at the koppenberg circuit race today, changing two flat tires, Tobias dragged me up to Magnolia for a nice 'n easy final long run in prep for IM Wisconsin in two weeks. it was overcast, cool and rained on us a few times. all in all, perfect conditions for a great Mags outing.

Koppenberg

2009-08-30T15:44:00.008-06:00

leading up the 17% graded slope of the Koppenberg the 1st of 6 times, splitting up the main group (Zoolander's Blue Steel look for the camera)

2nd time up the climb was the first spell of bad luck but I was able to chase back to the front group

after the 2nd flat at the bottom of the climb, i solo'd into the finish behind the first group for 12th place....oh well, bad luck plays a part in bike racing too!

trailridge and mags

2009-08-16T14:07:00.002-06:00

Em went back to Texas this weekend to visit her folks and she left me with very explicit instructions to get in a high volume training weekend for upcoming Ironman Wisconsin. She is meeting her college friends in Madison during race weekend for what they call their "travel club" and she doesn't want to be embarrassed by a sub-par performance by me!

So, I took it to heart and got a full plate of training in yesterday and today. Saturday morning a group of six of us started out of town up through Estes Park and continued on into Rocky Mountain National Park up Trailridge Rd and up to 12,500 feet! It was a monster day in the saddle and over 10,000-feet of climbing. The company wasn't bad either including Craig Alexander, defending IM-Wisco champ Chris McDonald, 70.3 ringer Paul Mathews, Retul's new Boulder studio bike fitter Mat Steinmetz and a strong Aussie AG'er Adam Cartmell. We got hailed and snowed on but made the round trip in just a shade over 7 hours (good thing we started out at 6am!).

This morning Brock Prime, an Aussie spending a month training in town, and I drove up to Mags for a solid 1-hour, 50-min 15-mile run. It was the first time up there in a few months and the first time running since the Boulder 5430 last weekend. We had a good run though and soaked the legs in the Boulder Creek for 15 minutes afterward. Now, after a short rest and update, I'm hoping on the bike to get in a couple of hours recovery ride.

It's been a good training weekend but I'm excited for Em to get back home. Usually I'm the one away traveling but it is a lonely house without her around. Just me and the two dogs this weekend as Leon had to go back to Melbourne as Merridee's mother unfortunately passed away last night after a two year battle with cancer.

Have fun and be safe out there!
LF

5430 Long Course race report

2009-08-11T09:53:00.004-06:00

To be honest, Sunday's race was one of the most uneventful races I've had in a long time. In racing, at least in long course multisport, that can be a good thing.

The Boulder half ironman has been an independent race produced by Barry and Jodee Siff and their 5430 Sports company. This would mark their final race as they recently finalized the sale of their popular race series to the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), that is most widely known for producing the Ironman branded races, including Ironman Hawaii.

The 5430 races are always professionally produced providing a challenging course (at altitude), excellent prizes/prize money and stellar competition. This year was no different as the women's race had three current world champions on the start line with Chrissie Wellington, Julie Dibens and Joanna Zeiger all racing. The men's side was strong with Tim O'Donnell enjoying a breakout season, my housemate and sometimes training partner Leon Griffin, Minnesotan David Thompson and Olympians Simon Thompson and Tyler Butterfield. Butterfield also formerly raced on Slipstream development cycling team in Girona, Spain. The field was strong despite very small numbers.

In preparation for IM Wisconsin (MOO) next month, I have been cycling and bike racing a lot in the previous month and have not put in the hard yards in the pool. So, despite losing contact with the main pack of pro men, I was able to swim comfortably with a small group of the speedy pro women. I was pleased with this effort as I was able to control my effort throughout the 1.2-mile swim and exit The Res having used little energy.

My pre-race plan was to ride a hard but controlled effort throughout the 56-mile ride and hope that some of the other athletes up the road would eventually fall back towards me. I got into a good rhythm right away and just pushed away at the hardest pace I could hold. I passed defending champion Simon Thompson on St. Vrain Rd about 12 miles into the ride. I later found out he had been penalized for failing to stagger correctly, which basically means he was called for drafting.

This year included a short .6-mile out and back segment on Monarch Rd and this was the first time I was able to gauge my competition up the road. David Thompson, Leon Griffin and Australian strong rider Michael Cuppitt were 1:30 ahead and Tyler Butterfield was a further 30 seconds behind them. I knew they were strong riders, but I told myself to keep pushing and that I might have a chance to reel them in. After a strong second lap of riding, I maintained the exact time to those guys, except for Thompson who had jumped from the group and was 45 seconds up the road.

Onto the run, and after one of the slowest transitions ever witnessed at the event in which I proceeded to knock over my bike rack mate Leon's bike over twice and my new Felt B2 over once, I was out onto the run with only Cuppitt in sight up the road. I started onto the 2-lap mostly gravel run course at a good clip and reeled in Cuppitt at Mile 3. After hearing from Joe Gambles, a speedy pro not racing but out on the course Sunday, I was running in 5th place, I found a new source of motivation to hold onto the final money spot (5430 races pay the top five men/women). I looked ahead but feared Simon Thompson would be a man on a mission after his drafting penalty and that it would be near impossible to hold off a charge by him (he ran a 1:13 half-marathon in his 2008 victory).

The second lap was solid but with less than two miles to go my left calf began cramping and I kept having to shake it out in a sequenced move that likely resembled a wounded person trying to run away after being shot. It wasn't pretty but I kept my wits and made it to the finish in 5th place. It was a satisfying result, yes with a bit of luck (Thompson's penalty) but has my training for IM MOO on track.

Finally, I thought Leon put together a great race after what can only be described as a monster week of training (no taper leading into the race for that guy). He is in tip top shape and will be a force to reckon with the rest of the season. Also, a quick thank you to Jodee and Barry Siff as this Boulder community will truly be losing two excellent multisport ambassadors. Ironman will be hard pressed to top the productions the Siff's have created.

I also want to congratulate my sister-in-law, Kendra, who just returned after a six month deployment - where she trained only on a treadmill and bike trainer - to finish strong in her second half-ironman (and first race at altitude). She is very mentally tough. And, of course, thanks to Emmy for cheering at the race and for taking these photos.

Cheers,
LF

Just in -- cruisers

2009-08-07T18:21:00.005-06:00

Em's Felt Hurley (check out Thor in the background -- he hates bikes)

Lars' Felt MP (military police)

giant water slide video

2009-08-06T11:29:00.001-06:00

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today's Big Thing.

Salida Road Race

2009-08-02T16:32:00.007-06:00

On Friday, Em and I drove southwest of Denver to Salida for their annual Omnium cycling weekend. Because the race takes place in the middle of Ironman Wisconsin training, I decided to race in the 72-mile road race on Saturday, but not the TT on Friday or the Crit on Sunday.

Salida is a three hour drive from Boulder and sits in the valley with twelve 14,000-foot peaks surrounding the town. With the race start at 8am on Saturday, Em and I decided to drive down on Friday night. It was a last minute decision as a 3:30AM departure on Saturday AM didn't sound too appealing so all hotels in Salida were booked out. We ended up staying 12-miles up Monarch Pass at the Monarch Mtn Lodge with a bunch of other racers too. This was also a pet friendly hotel so Thor and Izzy made the car drive too.

With all the mountains surrounding town, I don't think it was very difficult for the race organizers to find a course route with lots of climbing! For the Cat 3 men, the race consisted of a long, six mile neutral rollout from downtown Salida and then six loops of a challenging 12-mile circuit. The circuit consisted of a very steep, but short uphill climb, a series of low grade climbs, steep and technical descents, a stretch of flat road and a false flat uphill. It was an excellent mix and altogether added up to over 10,000-feet of climbing and was very tough.

There were the usual suspects on the starting line, a list of proven climbers and strong riders including; Nate Llerandi (Feedback), Todd Robertson (Skins), Ben Buxton (Feedback), Jason Alexander (Vitamin), Jayson Middlemiss (Mafia) and a few younger guys. It was going to be a hard race but not one where a selection was made as soon as I thought. The first two laps of the course caused a selection on the steep climbs but the group continued to come back together on the flatter section. A rider from the Primal/HART team went solo from the group on the third lap and stayed away for the nearly two laps as the main group was disorganized and didn't work very well together. Unfortunately, it was right at this point Nate flatted and couldn't quite chase back on to the group.

The fifth lap caused a selection in the group and whittled the group down to ten riders. It remained intact until the final run up the steep climb. One rider broke clear on the climb and left the rest of the selection behind while he soloed alone to the win. I led the remaining five riders up the gradual incline for the next mile. The group was happy to sit on my wheel and eventhough I tried to swing off to coax other riders into taking a turn at pulling, the group was happy to soft pedal if it meant not going to the front. This is where I fail as a bike rider and cannot stand these tactics at the end of races. Instead of coming to a standstill, I tried three or four more times to put in a higher effort in order to further break the group apart. In the final 200 meters Jason and Jayson burst out of pack and sprinted for 2nd and 3rd and then 100 meters later Todd and another Primal/HART rider outsprinted me for 4th and 5th places. I ended up 6th.

I will try a few more road races including Niwot Crit, Koppenberg Circuit and Steamboat Springs Stage Race in the lead up to IM Wisconsin in an effort to earn enough points to upgrade to Cat 2 and also to get some good cycling miles and efforts in my legs for the 112-mile Madison course.

Special thanks to Em for driving the whole way to Monarch Friday night while I tried to provide the entertainment. She also drove over half of the way home. I think it was the most she has ever driven with me also in the car!

Safe Riding,
LF

This week belongs to the ___________

2009-08-02T16:20:00.002-06:00

shark week on Disco channel...can't wait!

mt evans hill climb

2009-07-18T13:38:00.003-06:00

today was the third time i've raced the mt. evan's hill climb. this is one of the gems on the colorado cycling scene and the best climbers in the state are always on the starting line. the pro field even gets some pro tour riders gunning for the record ascent time (currently held by tom danielson from the garmin slipstream team).

the fun begins in idaho springs - a 45 minute drive from boulder - and follows one of the highest elevated paved roads in north america to the mt. evans summit at 14,190 feet. this works out to a 27.4-mile climb (there are a few short lived down turns in the road).

the boys from feedback sports were very motivated to work for former pro triathlete-turned-cyclist nate llerandi. they set the pace for the low gradient false flats over the first seven miles and by the time the first real spikes in road came, all had completed their work except for ben buxton, who took over and set a strong pace for the next seven miles.

at the halfway point at echo lake, the road turns right past the ranger station and the next two miles are steep roads. i moved to the front and pushed at the highest tempo i could without going into the red zone. after two miles on the front, i'd had enough and peeled off to see the group had whittled down from fifteen down to seven riders.

i was consistent the rest of the ride and always welcomed the short downhill portions to recover just a tad. the final five miles after summit lake were difficult but the roads featured short straightaways and lots of switchbacks. over these final few miles the summit always appears so close, but the riding goes and goes and goes.

stuck in no mans land up the switchbacks, i kept a strong tempo going and crossed the line in 8th place, happy with the effort after taking a break from the bike after the dead dog classic race. it was also an improvement of five minutes over my previous race times, but times are highly variable depending on the pace in the early seven miles of the race as well as the weather conditions. today the pace was brisk at the beginning and the temps were cooler with very little wind, so we really had an ideal day for quick times.

congratulations to nate and his feedback sports teammates as i know he's been focusing his season around winning this race. i don't know finishing times, yet, but i'll bet he threw down a fast one today.

next up is to continue getting some base mileage in both the running and cycling in preparation for ironman wisconsin on september 13th. for full results from the hill climb, go to www.bicyclerace.com

cheers,
lf

picnic pic

2009-07-17T08:08:00.003-06:00

This was after a big racing weekend for Matty (far left) and Leon (second left) who raced at Lifetime Fitness and Boulder Peak Tri.

Leon has lived with Em and I during the last two summers to escape the Melbourne, Australia winter and race in our North American season. He's going to San Francisco for the Vineman 70.3 race this weekend.

Em and I will go Mt Evans tomorrow for the annual 27-mile hill climb. It's a solid two-hour uphill effort.

Former Ole teammate retires from baseball

2009-07-15T11:36:00.003-06:00

I played baseball with Charlie for two years at St. Olaf College (he was a sophomore when I graduated) and he was by far the most dominating pitcher in our conference. Congratulations on a great career Charlie. You completed what most every ball player can only dream of doing! - LF

Most Decorated Saints Pitcher, Ruud, Retires

ST. PAUL, MN (July 13, 2009) – Fans root for the underdog and it’s no surprise that 5’10”, 160 lb. St. Paul Saints pitcher Charlie Ruud was a fan favorite during his five-year career. On Monday, the hurler who earned his Masters of Divinity and wants to become a minister, retired from baseball.

The 27-year-old Ruud ends his Saints career as the most decorated pitcher in the team’s illustrious 17-year history. Ruud retires as the all-time leader in wins (36), strikeouts (300), games started (72), innings pitched (458.0) and complete games (9).

Originally from Cannon Falls, MN, Ruud’s storied career began out of nowhere during a tryout camp in 2005. He so impressed manager George Tsamis that the right-hander out of St. Olaf College was called upon late in the season to make an emergency start. He hurled a complete game 7.0 innings in game two of a doubleheader, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits while striking out five to earn his first win as a Saint. The rest of his career would take the same route.

"It was always an honor and thrill to take the field as a professional ballplayer. I'm deeply sad it will end, but I'm greatly thankful to the Saints organization, all the Saints' faithful, and especially George Tsamis and Jason Verdugo for having confidence in me and giving me the chance to do it over the last four years. It's probably the best one-day contract anybody in my circumstances could have hoped for."

In his first full season with the Saints, 2006, Ruud was dominant, tossing at least 5.0 innings in 19 of 20 starts and 7.0 innings in ten of those outings. He finished the season second in the American Association in games started (20), third in complete games (3), and fourth in innings pitched (132.0) and strikeouts (96). He helped pitch the Saints to a North Division Title as he put the Saints up 2-1 winning game three going 7.1 innings pitched allowing just a pair of runs while earning the victory. In the American Association Championship series Ruud won game two going six innings allowing just two runs, allowing the Saints to even the series.

In 2007, Rudd was again an innings-eater for the Saints. He lasted at least 5.0 innings in all 20 starts and 7.0 innings in nine of those 20 starts. From July 15 through August 21 he won six consecutive starts and struck out a career high 11 on August 15 at Sioux City. He finished first in the American Association in innings pitched (138.2), strikeouts (110), second in shutouts (2), wins (11), games started and third in complete games (4).

The 2008 season was highlighted when Ruud set the all-time Saints win mark on June 20 against the Sioux Falls Canaries with win number 27. The man he surpassed, Mike Meyer, was in the opposing dugout as the pitching coach of the Canaries. On July 22, he pitched in front of the home crowd in St. Paul at the All-Star Game and hurled 2.0 perfect innings.

This season, Rudd surpassed the all-time strikeouts mark on June 25 against the Canaries striking out Jared Lemieux in the third inning. The strikeout was number 292 of his career. In 13 games this season (12 starts), Ruud was 4-3 with a 4.72 ERA.

“Charlie Ruud is, and always will be, a true Saint,” said Tsamis. “He is one of the toughest players that has ever put on a uniform for us and has done an excellent job during his career. He is one great kid and it really is a sad day.”

Ruud was a standout with the St. Olaf Oles and a four-time all-MIAC selection. He went 27-10 with a 2.38 ERA in four years. During his sophomore season he was named the league’s Pitcher of the Year.

The Saints offered Ruud a coaching position with the team, which he is mulling over with his family. During the 2008 off-season, Ruud earned his Masters of Divinity allowing him to fulfill his dream of becoming a minister. In March, he and his wife Becky celebrated the birth of their first child, Lucy.

Dead Dog Classic

2009-06-29T13:56:00.002-06:00

This past weekend Emmy and I drove up to Laramie, Wyoming for a two day, three stage cycling race. It is always fun to have a cycling specific block of training and racing during the racing season, especially since it lets me think like a single sport athlete for a short period of time. Unfortunately, it is a bit more difficult to actually perform up to the standards of these single sport athletes though!

Stage 1 - 86-miles

This race started in Albany, Wyoming (20 miles out of Laramie) at 8,400-feet. We rolled out 7 miles down to 7,500-feet before starting the climbing for the day. The first climb from Centennial gained 2,400-feet over 9 miles. There were no fireworks on this climb since it came fairly early in the race and we would have to retrace our steps in a few hours on the return trip. The group did shed the weaker climbers but stayed together with a group of 20-30 riders at the top of the Snowy Range Pass at 10,800-feet. Our race descended to Ryan Park at 8,400-feet which served as the turnaround for the race. The action started immediately on the climb back up Snowy Range Pass. I positioned myself behind former pro triathlete, and pint-sized climber, Nate Llerandi and he led a blistering tempo that quickly shattered the group.

Despite dropping a bit off the pace twice on the climb back up to the summit of the pass, I managed to claw myself back into the lead group on the sections of the climb that leveled out. At the summit, we were down to 12 or 13 riders and we were onto a fast descent back down the 9-miles. I led the group down the mountain and once back onto the flats, a rider in the group said we maxed out at 61 mph!

Over the rolling hills during the final 11 miles of riding, we caught a breakaway rider and dropped a few others from the group leaving only 10 of us to battle it out for the stage. I had suffered a few times throughout the ride with leg cramps and could sense I wouldn't have the strength to contest for the stage win. At one point during the final 5 miles, Llerandi took a pull next to me and I told him if his legs felt good that he should go for it and I would work as his "teammate" and attempt to block and chase any pursuers. He felt good and went for it and the rest of the group took the bait, let Llerandi ride off the front, and let me continue to set the pace all the way until the final 1km to go sign.

The final 1km was uphill and I was immediately off the back of the group as they had been sitting back in preparation for the finale. I finished the stage in 10th, :49 seconds behind Llerandi, who held on by 4 seconds to win the stage! It felt good to play a role in his win but even better to see the strongest rider on the day actually win the stage. In cycling, often times that doesn't happen.

Stage 2 - 40 minute Crit

The legs were soft on Sunday, but luckily the Cat 3's didn't start racing until noon, so Em and I had time to lounge around and play with Thor and Izzy who also made the trip with us.

The crit was uneventful, a quick pace but very clean on a non-technical course. I stayed out of trouble in the front of the group and just wanted to keep the GC contenders in check, not lose any additional time, and then let the time trial later that afternoon determine the final placing. I ended up finishing the crit in 10th place, being out sprinted by a few riders in the final 100-meters.

Stage 3 - 10 mile Individual Time Trial

This is my strongest form of racing and I am sorry to report I failed to prepare my equipment properly for the race. At Kansas 70.3 two weeks before, I was unable to shift into my two lowest (most resistant) gears on the bike, as my cables had frayed. Well, I didn't have this changed out so I was faced with the same situation again in yesterday's race against the clock. It is billed as a "flat" course, but the first 5 miles are slightly downhill with the return trip being slightly uphill. I rode the flat portions evenly but was forced to tuck and coast instead of risk spinning out on the downhill sections. I acknowledged before the race start this was no ones fault but my own and I tried to race my best with the situation I had. On the brighter side, I think this may have saved some strength in my legs for the return trip. I ended up finishing 5th on the time trial in 23min57sec, compared to the stage winner's 22:37. 2nd, 3rd and 4th were all within one minute. This moved me up to 7th place in the overall GC and good enough to cover our lodging or gas expenses for the trip:)

Next up will be the Steelhead 70.3 in Benton Harbor, MI. That means it is time to get back into the swimming and running routine again.

Cheers,
LF

BBQ

2009-06-26T09:18:00.003-06:00

My parents are on their summer vacation visiting from Saudi and Hans and Eli are over from State College, Penn. Rain halted our attempts at a family photo last night but we still hunkered down for a good ol' summer BBQ.

cruising the bike path

2009-05-30T07:24:00.006-06:00

this time it was up Vail Pass from Copper Mtn

the climb up Fremont Pass which descends down to Copper Mtn

the view on the right hand side of road riding towards Leadville

from earlier in the day at Tennessee Pass

first climb was up and over Battle Mountain outside of Minturn before crossing this bridge!

Go Nugs!

2009-05-26T11:05:00.001-06:00

Billboard outside of our Denver studio on Larmimer / Broadway tagged by a local artist.

Res back in session

2009-05-22T15:32:00.003-06:00

Yesterday morning was the first day of swimming back at The Res for me. I've been a bit under the weather so missed opening day on Tuesday. Convinced James (http://hadmeistergeneral.blogspot.com) to join me, and I was shocked when he rolled down the stairs for the 6:15 departure. He still needs work though as Em was out the door by 5:45 for her 6 o'clock practice at Flatirons and I had been up drinking coffee since six too.

Fast forward to The Res. A handful of swimmers were already in the water and swimming around the 800-meter loop the BAM (Boulder Aquatic Masters) volunteers set up. This crew is headed by Jane Scott who is one of the best coaches out there. She is feisty, writes tough workouts, but always shares a laugh with everyone at the pool. It is so cool that she has opened up this opportunity and gets a handful of kayak volunteers to help out every session! This open water swimming wouldn't be an option without them!

I noticed two of the swimmers already in the water and looping around were Justin "The Predator" Daerr and Chris "Big Sexy" McDonald. I started just as they were coming in from their first lap and got a nice warm up lap in on the first lap. James waited for Michael Lovato to come around and started with him. On my second lap, around the second buoy I ran into James, who had emerged out of nowhere. I later learned he did not see the first buoy and had been skipping it altogether. He righted his wrong on the third lap when Lovato and I yelled at him for cutting:) I ended up swimming four loops (3k) and James swam 3.5 total (albeit quite a bit faster!).

I'm going out to watch and video tape the time trial on the Morgul Bismarck course in Superior tonight. I won't be racing due to this lingering cold and will probably just be racing in Sunday's Koppenberg Circuit race. Will still be a good weekend of riding though.

Cheers,
LF

Steve Larsen passes away

2009-05-20T09:09:00.004-06:00

News is already spreading about the passing of Steve Larsen. He collapsed during a track workout yesterday in Bend, OR and suffered an apparent heart attack.* He leaves behind his wife, five children, and brother Michael (who recently moved from Boulder out to Bend to be closer to Steve's family).

We recognize Steve as one of the most dominant endurance athletes of our time. Recently, he began racing competitively again after taking a few years off to develop his successful real estate business. He also recently started a new triathlon business called WorldTri.com.

I'm sure other triathletes feel the same way, that Steve was an inspiration for anyone looking to live life to it's fullest.

Here is a link to Slowtwitch.com which is closely following this most unfortunate news: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/Very_sad_news_about_Steve_Larsen_P2338019/

* Velo News reported today Steve did not have a heart attack but possibly viral problems. www.velonews.com

like a dog...

2009-05-19T13:38:00.003-06:00

i can't say i remember the last time i dipped into the well this deep. took an easy 2 hour spin with Em before the crit on Sunday. felt a bit of a sore throat creeping up before the crit, but decided to give it a go anyways. but, after a lackluster showing at the north boulder crit, i have come down with a sore throat and head cold. i hate these. i don't get sick very often, but i am a miserable person to be around when it happens. if you see Emily around town this week, be nice to her, cause she is being very patient dealing with her whiny husband.

i'm hoping to bounce back with enough energy to race the koppenburg circuit race in town this sunday. i do think i'll have to sit out for the time-trial and crit on friday and saturday though.

good news is, i finally have an excuse to hoard all the orange juice in our fridge for myself!

out,
lars

where are the fashion police?

2009-05-18T21:48:00.005-06:00

wonder where i can pick up one of these peace-themed sweater vests?

Sunshine Hill Climb

2009-05-16T10:41:00.003-06:00

Bucked up and paid for an annual ACA license earlier this week so I'm entering a few additional bike races this season. Cycling is a great way to get hard efforts and specific training in for longer triathlons, so I like hopping into a few of these each year.

We've got a good weekend of racing here in town this week with the Sunshine Hill Climb today and the North Boulder Park Crit.

Today was the Sunshine Hill Climb, a 9.1-mile climb from Sanitas Park in Boulder up to the outskirts of Gold Hill. The first six miles are pavement and the final three are dirt. The average gradient of the climb is 7.6% with steep sections of 23%.

This climb is an annual staple on the racing schedule, but I haven't raced it since 2005 when it was a stage in the Boulder Stage Race. Today was a cool one, with temperatures in the 40's both at race start and up higher on the mountain. It meant two things; it would be a quick pace up to the top and it would be a chilly descent back down to the bottom.

The Cat 3 race started out with a neutral roll out from the Boulder Center of Sports Medicine parking lot but quickly started once we passed the Sanitas Park trail head. For the first two miles, the pace was a good tempo but not high enough to put forth too hard an effort. The first major split in the group came at the first switchback leading up towards mile 3 where a young 5280 Chipotle rider, Yannick Eckmann, went to the front and started putting in hard efforts. The 50-strong group split into a lead group of six. I had my Velo News teammate, Fred Dreier, in there and I knew he would put in some strong efforts for as long as he could.

The next split happened at the 5 mile mark when Eckmann again put in a surge on a short but steep pitch of road and split the group up for good. I found myself alone in third place with second dangling about 50 meters up the road and the lead rider putting more distance on the rest of the field.

The real test is when the dirt starts and it was just a matter of finding a good tempo and concentrating on ticking the legs over. After a series of switchbacks, the 4th and 5th place riders caught up to me and I road with them over the last few miles until the final 200m. I wasn't able to react to the sprint to the line and crossed the finish in 5th. I finished at 8:53AM (we started at 8:07) which means I finished the climb somewhere between 46 and 47 minutes (edit: 46:47).

Now to climb into the Norma Tec MVP "puffy pants" to get in some recovery for the crit tomorrow afternoon.

LF

Pic of VN teammate Fred Dreier suffering down the final "straight" 200-meters

Good laugh

2009-05-11T12:40:00.002-06:00

********************* -THE OFFICIAL EURO CYCLIST CODE OF CONDUCT- ********************

Created by Dom Guiver and Mike Flavell

1. Image and style shall be the primary concerns of the Euro Cyclist. When suffering, one must focus first on maintaining a cool, even composure and second on performance. Winning races is an added talent, and only counts if said Euro Cyclist wins with appropriate style.

2. Training shall be based solely on feel, while racing shall be guided by sensations and instinct: that is to say, “soul.” The Euro Cyclist will never accept tried or tested scientific training methods.

3. The Euro Cyclist shall NEVER, under any circumstances, wear plain black spandex bibs (shorts, regardless of colour are BANNED) or ANY team kit
containing non-prominent logos. Shorts will extend approximately 2/3rds of the way down the upper leg and will contain a compression band at the bottom (distinct in colour). In NO CONDITION shall they extend any further!

4. Legs shall be SHAVED year-round. ABSOLUTELY NO EXCEPTIONS. Certain hair removal creams are endorsed only on a case-by-case basis. One shall never show up to a race (be it large or small) with ANY amount of stubble visible on one’s legs.

5. A prominent line where one’s kit ends and where one’s deep tan begins is essential to one's image. Artificial tanning is BANNED. The tan shall reflect the level of training commitment.

6. The socks of the Euro Cyclist shall extend to within two (2) cm. of the main bulge of the calf muscle, and shall never extend further than one (1) cm. past said primary calf muscle bulge. All socks SHALL BE WHITE in colour with prominent logo placement.

7. Cycling shoes shall contain at least 80% white!
The following exceptions apply:
i) Colour combinations such as world cup stripes or Olympic gold for which the title has been EARNED.
ii) Shoes which are custom-made for specific riders by companies endorsed by this group. These shoes shall be accessible to the particular cyclist only, and shall follow the preceding rules.

8. If white cycling shoes are not available where the Euro Cyclist resides, white booties (or “shoe covers”) with prominent logos shall ALWAYS be worn. When booties are worn, socks shall protrude approximately seven (7) cm. above the ankle, and shall always protrude at a minimum one (1) cm. from any booties worn.

9. One’s bike frame shall contain between two (2) and four (4) colours IN ADDITION TO WHITE. All colours are acceptable as long as they combine tastefully and elegantly. In addition, wheel selection must also match frame and fork.

10. One shall race only on Campagnolo Boras or Lightweights. Fulcrum Racing One, Corima Aero+ or Zipp (404 or 202) wheelsets are considered stylish enough to be used as training wheels ONLY. Irregardless, ceramic bearings shall be used at ALL TIMES on both training and race bikes.

11. ALL wheels shall be equipped with tubulars, regardless of one’s ability in gluing them.

12. Ridiculously stylish eyewear (see endorsed products list) is to be worn AT ALL TIMES without exception. Glasses are to be worn over helmet straps at all times.

13. Hair shall be kept neatly short, and matching helmet shall be worn (again with prominent logo placement). The helmet shall be predominantly white. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES shall a clashing helmet colour be worn with one’s euro kit. Helmets are not to be worn when venturing indoors AT ANY TIME. It is, however, acceptable to wear one’s helmet while outdoors on a patio (see rule 34).

14. In certain RARE cases, it shall be deemed acceptable to have long hair. In this event, hair shall be neatly slicked back in a severely euro style, and helmet SHALL NOT be worn. It is IMPERATIVE that rule 12 is followed in these special instances.

15. When riding, sans helmet (with short hair), a team issue cycling cap (white in colour), shall be worn. The bill shall remain in the downward position at all times. The cycling cap may be worn forwards or backwards to coincide with the specifics of one’s current hairstyle. During spring training, cycling toques shall be worn at all times in place of caps.

16. Kits must always be freshly washed, and one shall ALWAYS have applied a subtle quantity of eau de toilette (or “cologne”). It is, AT ALL TIMES FORBIDDEN to ride in an unwashed kit. This is severely detrimental to one’s image.

17. Saddles shall be white in colour ONLY and shall be manufactured in Italy or France. Exceptions may be made in the following cases:
i) Saddles containing World Cup Stripes or Olympic Gold when it is EARNED
ii) Italian flag colour combo when rider is ITALIAN (born in Italy)

18. Handlebar tape is required to be cork as well as WHITE IN COLOUR. Bar tape shall be kept in pristine white condition. This state shall be achieved either through daily cleansing or through frequent replacement. These jobs must NEVER be performed by the cyclist as one must maintain one’s image.

19. All stems must be a minimum of 120mm long and of a rise no higher than -10 degrees. Stems shall be positioned no more than 0.5cm above the top of the headtube. ALL stems shall ALWAYS be oversized, made out of ALUMINUM, and airbrushed in kit/frame colours. In certain cases (Mario Cipollini) it is advised that one airbrush a buxom young woman onto the top of one’s stem.

20. The Euro Cyclist shall ALWAYS have liniment applied to his legs before appearing in public.

21. Facial hair shall be restricted to (at a maximum) a goatee, and even this is discouraged. Moustaches, beards, and any combination thereof are EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED in all instances. Stubble is, however, advisable in virtually ALL euro-situations. It is important to note that this DOES NOT apply to the legs.

22. Campagnolo shall be THE ONLY acceptable component and it is hereby deemed superior to ANY Shimano product in ALL circumstances and situations. The Euro Cyclist is expected to have nothing less than an ENTIRE campy grouppo. Crank substitutions are NOT permitted. There is, however, a case by case exception for SRAM Red.

23. One shall NEVER, under any circumstances, acknowledge the presence of a cyclist riding a bike costing less than 2000€ in ANY public place. This may be severely detrimental to one’s image. If such a situation cannot be helped, it is CRITICAL that the Euro Cyclist regard his “acquaintance” with a patrician mixture of disdain and SEVERE condescension.

24. One shall NEVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, associate with triathletes. This cannot be overemphasized! It is FORBIDDEN to have any number inked onto one’s body before a race.

25. Any physical activity other than cycling is STRONGLY FROWNED UPON. This includes any form of running or swimming and their derivatives (this includes walking). The ONLY TWO other sports with a recognized degree of euro are: cross-country skiing and long track speed skating.

26. Mountain bike gloves are FORBIDDEN in all instances. Cycling gloves shall be slick, white (in accordance with kit), and have minimal padding. Padding will be beige or white in colour. Wearing NO GLOVES is entirely acceptable and encouraged. In the case of a Euro Cyclist wearing a leader’s jersey special gloves shall be made to match the colour of the jersey while simultaneously blending the colours of the team kit.

27. In a circumstance where any cyclist (or TRIATHLETE) ever displays aggression or disrespect towards a Euro Cyclist, he is required to ride up uncomfortably close to his foe and slap them in the face with his team issue gloves.

28. In the event a motorist disturbs one’s ride: one shall proceed to ride up beside the car, form a clenched fist and bang the boot of the car while doing one’s best to sound irritated in Italian. Wild arm and head movements (“Gesticulation”) are strongly encouraged to enhance the apparent rage.

29. One shall NEVER rearrange one’s package while riding. Adjustments regarding seating/hanging comfort are to be done in private in order to preserve image.

30. ABSOLUTELY NO FORM of seatbag, frame pump, mud guard or mirror shall come within two (2) metres of one’s bike.

31. Gearing shall be restricted to a titanium Campy Record 11-23 cassette with a ABSOLUTE MINIMUM of 42-53 up front. One must never be seen pedaling at a cadence greater than 90 rpm in order not to detract from one’s calm/smooth factor, or “Suplesse.” The use of 25-toothed cog is acceptable for severely mountainous training situations.

32. ALL BIKES shall feature personalized nameplates next to one’s home country’s flag, located on the top-tube within ten (10) cm. of the seat-tube ON THE DRIVE SIDE ONLY.

33. Pedals MUST be either Look or Time. No other pedals are to be considered. As always, ANY form of Shimano product is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN.

34. Coffee is a NECESSITY and as such it must be consumed STRONG (e.g. espresso) on a patio in Italy in full kit; it shall be drunk BLACK. Sugar is STRONGLY FROWNED UPON. The only milk present shall appear frothed on top (if at all). The euro cyclist shall, if possible, develop a fondness for the triple ristretto.

35. All podium shots (“pictures”) shall be taken while wearing one’s team kit and appropriately matching casual euro shoes (such as Pumas). Socks shall remain within the guidelines above. One is expected to display an appropriate degree of bulge while receiving kisses/trophies. The bulge may vary according to the outlandishness/impracticality of the victory prize (e.g. livestock and/or enormous cheese wheels).

36. All pre- and post-race activity SHALL be conducted under a gazebo (this includes massages, interviews, seductions, and looking fantastic) leaving one in reasonable distance of the Euro-sun to top up one’s enviable tanlines and pose for photos.

37. Post-race, one shall be tied to one's mobile phone, receiving endless calls from:
i. One’s attractive girlfriend, or
ii. Important ad executives concerning modeling contracts. This shall be done under the protection of the post race gazebo.

38. Team bikes will be built up so that they violate the UCI weight limit in order that weights might be attached to the frame to demonstrate its superiority and lightness.

39. Motivational music during training shall consist of late 90s trance or progressive house, hereby known as 'euro beats.' NO EXCEPTIONS.

40. Water Bottles shall be referred to solely as "Bidons" and shall have a volume NOT EXCEEDING 500ml. Bidons shall always match team/kit colours. It is NOT ACCEPTABLE in ANY CIRCUMSTANCE to leave one’s bidons on the bike for more than ten (10) minutes post-ride OR while transporting bikes via bike rack.

41. Naked black ALL CARBON water bottle cages (manufactured by ELITE CAGES) shall be used on ALL BIKES. Exceptions include:
i) Special edition 24k gold cages, acceptable in certain cases such as photo shoots, prologues or where colour coordination dictates (e.g. gold cage with Olympic gold/white team kit).

42. A gold pendant on a very long, thin chain bearing some form of religious icon is STRONGLY recommended for mountain races.

43. While soloing in for a victory, one shall ensure that one’s jersey is FULLY ZIPPED and ALIGNED so that all title sponsors are clearly visible. One shall then smile and flex one’s arms while pointing sky-wards. The projection of one’s fatigue is EXPLICITLY FORBIDDEN IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES.

44. When appearing in a photo spread for a sponsor’s products, the Euro Cyclist has the option of appearing fully nude, in team kit, or in a full Brioni three-piece suit (nothing else). Smiling is PROHIBITED in these instances.

45. When appearing in documentaries, one must be seen walking around the hotel in one’s kit at all times. It is also recommended that one constantly be eating something in front of the cameras.

46. When asked "how are you?" while riding one must proceed with one of the following...
i. Complain about coming off a sickness
ii. Explain that one is peaking for bigger races later in the season
iii. Mention that this is a "recovery ride"
iv. Explain that one is at the tail end of one’s daily six (6) hour training ride

47. If one feels the urge to relieve oneself during a race, one shall gracefully meander to the back of the pack, seat oneself sideways on the saddle, and pee into the sunflowers. It is the DUTY of the Euro Cyclist to ensure that no camera crew catches the act, for it could be severely detrimental to one’s image. Under no circumstances shall one dismount from his bike in order to urinate.

48. When climbing anything with a gradient above twenty (20) percent OR lasting greater than four (4) kilometers, the Euro Cyclist shall fully unzip his jersey and let it flutter freely in the wind.

49. When dropping out of a race, one shall avoid the embarrassment of entering the official broomwagon and shall instead wait for the team vehicle. When asked the reason for dropping out, one shall cite mechanical problems or oncoming sickness in order to avoid any negative speculation in regards to one’s fitness.

50. If in doubt, the euro cyclist shall mention in an interview that his pollen allergies are acting up, and that he’s not sure that he’ll win the Giro this year. In this situation he must note that the sensations are otherwise good, and that he will eventually win a beautiful stage.

51. Team-building motivational camps shall be held annually in the off-season. These are to place team members in as ridiculous a setting as possible. Photos shall be widely reproduced to demonstrate team cohesion.

52. During the pre-race medical checks, star riders of each team are strongly advised to play doctor with each other while shirtless. Photos taken must strive to be as HOMO-EROTIC AS POSSIBLE.

53. In order to avoid the harsh European winter, one shall:
i. Flee to the warmer climates of Mallorca/South Africa/Canary Islands/etc.
ii. “Train the mind, body and soul” with Kreitler-brand rollers

54. In the event of a crash, regardless of the gravity of an injury the Euro Cyclist shall mummify himself in fishnet gauze. The act of gauzing oneself (in order to continue racing while injured) is looked upon with respect by other Euro Cyclists as a statement of commitment and of strength of character. One shall use white gauze to bandage injuries; however, world cup striped gauze and/or national colors may be used in addition to white in select circumstances.

55. No form of large or obtrusive tattoo shall be printed onto the skin anywhere on the body. Small, discreet tattoos of the Virgin Mary or Olympic rings (assuming one has participated in Olympic games) no larger than three (3) cm. by three cm. shall be considered tasteful if AND ONLY IF located out of sight while one wears regular kit.

56. If a rider’s sponsors do not make quality parts, then the rider shall buy better parts and superimpose his sponsor’s stickers over them (e.g. Quickstep's past rebranding of Time products as Specialized).

57. No rider shall wear any shorts with any type of hole showing skin below unless said hole and or opening was from a recent crash DURING that training session and/or race. Wearing ripped shorts is allowed ONLY while one is struggling to the finish and/or to the correct place to wait for the team car to take one out of the race.

58. When cresting the summit of a climb the Euro Cyclist will sit up, zip his jersey, and reach into his pocket for a snack while simultaneously looking back to see who will be accompanying him on the descent. Note that while coasting to allow another rider to catch up (in order to work together on the way down) is allowed, coasting in order to rest is FORBIDDEN.

59. The Euro Cyclist shall own a sizeable parrot and will ensure that he is seen walking around photo shoots with it perched either upon his casually outstretched index finger or upon his shoulder. Hair should be slicked back for maximal effect. The parrot should either be white or it should contain three (3) or more colors found within the World cup stripes. One must always smile when pictured with the parrot. The parrot should speak fluent Italian. In certain cases it is deemed advisable that the Euro Cyclist possess, in place of a parrot, SEVERAL young pumas.

60. The Euro Cyclist shall never ride deep carbon wheels with aluminum braking surfaces, with the exceptions of Mavic wheels and the Ghibli disc. Aluminum braking surfaces detract from the seamless transition of black carbon to black tire that makes the Euro cyclist look so devilish upon his race wheels. Deep carbon wheels shall have prominent decals upon them UNLESS they originate from Carbonsports in Germany.

61. When the Euro Cyclist wins a race or a grand tour he shall stylishly uncork the bottle of champagne and spray it around the podium. If the rider is ravenous, slightly overweight and German he shall place the opening of the champagne bottle close to his mouth and drink (heavily) with puffed out cheeks and a smile. If the rider is truly Euro he will take the ENTIRE bottle of champagne in his arms and parade about the finish area with it. Champagne bottles must be COMICALLY OVERSIZED. One should spray the podium girls. Especially if they are dressed in white.

62. At the finish of a Grand Tour the Euro cyclist shall celebrate by cycling around the finish area decked out in team kit and proper Euro casual footwear. If married, the Euro cyclist shall have his child in his arms. The toddler may rest upon his handlebars, or in the event that the Euro cyclist achieves a podium spot, accompany the rider onto the podium. The child should have its own victory salute that will be used in conjunction with that of his/her father. In some cases the child is permitted to wear an entirely-too-large team jersey. This rule shall be upheld by ALL riders save for Mario Cipollini, who would be unable to comply due to the sheer number of offspring he has fathered courting supermodels over the past two decades.

What's that smell?

2009-05-10T20:22:00.004-06:00

I've been getting a lot of heat from the ever-lovely Emily and Thor's voracious nose. They are strongly hinting they are not too happy with my new body wash, Axe's Brazilian Heat Fever. I've been quite happy with some of Axe's previous scents, however I'm not feeling the love from their newest product. Consider this your warning as I've learned the hard way.

Interview with our summer roomate: James Hadley

2009-05-08T16:42:00.004-06:00

This interview was conducted by Laura Tingle but I wanted to introduce you to our roommate for the summer...Britain's most eligible bachelor, James Hadley.

James Hadley: Pretty face, popular bachelor, serenader with an accent…but wait, there is more. This British triathlete placed in the top ten at St. Croix, Muskoka and Timberman in 2007. Recently, Hadley finished 6th overall at the Laguna Phuket Triathlon.

LT: Let’s get the most important question out of the way first, while in Boulder, did you ever run over a prairie dog with your bike?

JH: No I have never ran over a prairie dog. They are really cute.

LT: What is more important when it comes to being a “ladies man” aftershave, or skin tight shirts?

JH: I think the most important thing to being a ladies man is the skin tight shirts. If a guy wears a shirt it has to be fitted to the body shape, and if he wears a t-shirt it has to be body hugging and not blue in colour. Black is the best. Although a good aftershave is almost equally important.

LT: Do you follow the “no swimming with in 30 minutes of eating” rule?

JH: No I don’t follow the “no swimming within 30 minutes of eating” rule. I often swim with a bloated full stomach. So now I have tried the protein shake before I swim with a red bull. That works way better.

LT: You were recently in Thailand…anything you would like to share?

JH: Haha. Yes I was in Thailand. What are you thinking I would like to share???
The women are hot, and the people were extremely friendly. I think it was the best race I have ever been to. Sorry there isn’t any more. I hope you weren’t wanting some seedy gossip! haha.

LT: What is the worst nickname you have ever been give?

JH: My worst nickname??? I don’t think I have had a bad one. I suppose being called “Badboy” or “player” doesn’t seem to go down too well with the women, but I have been fortunate that if people have had bad nicknames for me, they have done well to hide it from me.

LT: On a scale from 1-10, how bummed are you that the Island 80 triathlon won’t happen this year?

JH: I wasn’t aware that Island 80 isn’t on anymore…I am well bummed about it though, as I was planning on racing it! So a 10 for that!

Do James a favor and visit his new blog at: http://hadmeistergeneral.blogspot.com

Out,
LF

WF recap

2009-05-03T00:27:00.004-06:00

real quick update as i just pulled into Xantusia after driving all afternoon back from Wildflower, which is in the middle of California!

it was a solid day out there for me, but nothing noteworthy or special. i had a slower swim than i had anticipated as i was dropped by both the second pack where i usually find myself and another swimmer who passed me with around 1/4-mile left.

the bike here at WF is really tough and i like that. i wanted to make up the time lost during the swim but had been warned this week by the WF sages Mark Montgomery and Dan Empfield not to attack the course too early unless i was willing to suffer later on. i let a few perky riders blow themselves up during the five miles of climbers leading out of the San Antonio park and then started to turn on the jets. i worked through the race and hit the 3-mile climb up Nasty Grade with Ain Alar Juhanson (the big friendly triathlete, and the tallest pro man in the sport, and probably the nicest) and Rutger Beke and then opened up the gas on the climb. i think those two were sitting on their power meters and biding their time for the tough half-marathon and let me go and have my fun.

if the bike course is tough, the run course is a torture session. it is 60% rough trails and 40% pavement with LOTS of hills. i picked off a few blown athletes early in the run and wasn't passed until mile 8 when Scott Curry, Nick Thompson and Ain all caught up and passed me. i was able to run off Ain's shoulder and we joked around a bit how it was a rough course for big, slow movers like the two of us (Andy Potts, also a big guy blew out that equation by winning the race by 4-minutes today!). for the first time in over a dozen races, i didn't have to pull down my tri suit top in attempt to cool down. i took Jordan's advice and wore the Kiwami Amphibian which is so light you can pour water over yourself and it still wicks instantly. the only drawback is i am now sporting some funky tan lines that resemble Em's swim suit lines!

a few other runners caught and passed me on the final descent to mile 11 and the climb back up to mile 12 then no more changes. i ended up finishing in 18th or 19th with a run time four minutes faster than last year. Nick Thompson, who beat me last year to win the elite amateur race, passed me at mile 4 last year and not until mile 8 this year. so, i was aiming for improvement and i think i accomplished that (unless, of course, he had a bad race today, which i don't think he did since he finished 10th or 11th overall).

tomorrow i pack up the bike and ship it back to CO via UPS and then drive down to LAX and fly out. can't wait to see Emmy and the pups again. it was a long week away from them.

a quick shout out to Bjorn and Rappstar who had the two fastest bike splits of the day. that was a good showing for the Slowtwitch crowd! and Rappstar finished 4th overall in his first WF. also, nice going Joe Gambles for a close 5th place finish and proving he has indeed improved nicely on his swim this year, exiting with the first pack. he will be tearing up 70.3 race courses this season.

out,
LF

Wildflower...here we come

2009-04-30T09:52:00.001-06:00

This past week I paid my monthly homage to Empfield's Xantusia compound in the San Gabriel Mtns east of LA. The first three days were dedicated to bike fitting during Empfield's popular FIST-certification course and now this morning a crew of us are driving up to Wildflower.

I never thought I would race out at Wildflower. I liked the course and the overall vibe of the half-ironman race in St. Croix and went down there in both '05 and '06. The course was hot, hilly, and very laid back. In '07 I raced the Tour of the Gila bike stage race down in New Mexico and last year I decided on Wildflower so I could race for an upgrade and get my pro card. Despite being on opposite sides of the North America, St. Croix and Wildflower share more similarities than differences. Wildflower too is laid back, very hilly, and easy going.

The folks who live here at Xantusia compose a "who's who" in the history of Wildflower. Yesterday after a noon swim break from the bike fitting workshop, Mark "Monty" Montgomery took me and Bjorn to a small, family-run Mexican joint before heading back to the house. While munching down our burritos, he told how he had been directed off course in the very first running of the event while holding a massive lead off the bike. The winner listed in the history books was the second best man on the day, Dean Harper, but Monty has the lifelong sympathy of race director Terry Davis who acknowledged the course direction mishap. Incredibly, Monty went on to race in at least 20 consecutive Wildflowers until his heart went bad. However, not being able to race hasn't slowed him down and this year he will be driving up to Lake San Antonio to provide LIVE feeds to Empfield who will provide color commentary on Slowtwitch.com. Make sure to check it out!

The Bjorn in the paragraph above is legendary Swedish-über-biker Bjorn Andersson. He won the race two years ago and finished in the top 7 again last year. This is a testament to the difficulty of the bike course. In a day now when many former short-course athletes from the ITU and non-drafting classics are turning over to half-ironman racing, to have a cyclist winning these races is in many ways a flashback in time to the days of Wolfgang Dittrich and Jurgen Zack.

Jordan "Rappstar" Rapp will round out our possé driving up to the race. This guy has been a constant mover in the long-course world this past year. Most recently, he captured 3rd place at Ironman Arizona last November and won the SuperSeal race in late March on the Navy SEALs base. He is looking lean and fit and will likely have a great performance in the hills of Wildflower.

I'm excited about the possibilities this weekend. I'm coming off three good cycling weekends and am feeling strong on the bike. This run course is very tough and not for the faint of heart. I raced last year as an elite amateur and finished second overall to Nick Thompson, but now this year we will both toe the line in the pro race. I am just looking forward to putting my head down and working hard all race and see how I have improved over the last year.

It's been hard being away from Em and the pups this past week and I wish she could have been out here to race this weekend too. I really wish she could have acted as my swimmer on Saturday as she is tearing up the fast lane at Flatirons these days.

Later,
LF

Deer Trail RR

2009-04-26T09:14:00.003-06:00

I'll post more later but currently I am not listed in the race results from yesterday's Deer Trail road race. It's nearly a two hour drive back to Boulder so Em and I didn't stay around for the results to be posted after the race yesterday so I only found out now.

It was a tough race yesterday, lots of exposure over terrain similar to Iowa and Minnesota, and that means lots of rolling hills. A group of nine of us managed to pull away from the peloton and with 20-k to go, a group of five of us broke away. We worked together until the last kilometer, said good race to one another and then sprinted up the final hill to find out the final pecking order. I launched the early sprint and then let up to give up the lead out to another rider. Greg Kraus, who did a lot of work out there on the road today, put in a great effort and jumped too far ahead to pick up his wheel. Another former pro triathlete, Nate Llerandi, also put in a lot of hard work on the road, grabbed Greg's wheel and crossed in second. I managed to pick off two of the riders and crossed in third place.

Today is the Haystack TT in town, a 16.5-mile course. I did some good recovery last night using the NormaTec MVP, a compression recovery tool popularized by the Garmin Slipstream and Astana cycling teams. My legs are feeling a bit tired from all the work in yesterday's race, but I'm going to give the TT a good go today.

Em is off to the pool now for Jane Scott's 1.5-hour Sunday swim practice. It should be a quieter crowd today with a lot of the usual suspects racing at St. Anthony's today.

LF

Lab Rat

2009-04-24T05:04:00.004-06:00

Two weeks ago I scheduled an appointment to visit Dr. Inigo San Millan, to run a series of human performance standard tests at his CU-Denver lab. Wednesday was my day with Dr. San Millan and I learned a lot from the US-educated, Basque-native former medical director for pro cycling teams including Astana, Saunier-Duval, ONCE and individual riders like TdF winner Alberto Contedor.

The last time I had performed any lab tests was nearly six years ago when I was living in Belgium and was required to get a battery of tests completed to participate in Belgian Tri Federation races. Dr. San Millan administered a similar test in terms of the equipment used, and parameters measured, however his protocol for testing was far different from the cardiology-based test I had received years earlier.

The biggest difference was the length of time during the test at which he kept me cycling under specific watts/kilogram loads. He explained his reason for keeping this level at 10 minutes was because at 4 or 6 minute intervals, few distinctions could be made between Rider A and Rider B. However, you can see distinct differences when the intervals near 10 minutes in length.

I can't give out all the secrets on the values we found or his recommendations as to my current fitness levels, but I will say it was quite an enlightening process. His major goals with each athlete are to ensure an athlete is not overtraining or drastically underperforming and he does this by closely monitoring blood. He suggested two tests each season for any athletes, serious or rec, as he nearly always sees athletic performance diminish during the summer months during the peak months of the racing season.

I've posted a short video of my test you can see by clicking on the title of this blog entry.

LF

Front Range Cycling Classic

2009-04-20T05:54:00.003-06:00

"Be a short dog in tall grass until last climb."

Those were the last words of wisdom I was texted by a friend before yesterday's 51-mile road race down on the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

I call him a friend because he knows my methods all too well. I'm a triathlete by nature, what can I say! I get a bit antsy when the peloton is too big, especially when there are hills involved in the course and I like to break things up.

Halfway through the 4-loop rolling hill course, that also hosted the '86 world championship road race, I forgot this wisdom, got on the front of the peloton and drove hard up the steepest climb. Even though the group shattered and dissolved from 90-plus riders down to a select group of 11, I likely extended myself too much. Throughout the next 1.5 laps, I continued to antagonize the remaining riders with perky efforts in both the flats and on the climbs, even convincing fellow triathlete, XTERRA pro Brandon Rakita, to take stabs at the front with me in an effort to further splinter the remaining front group.

During these efforts and within the last five miles, I started cramping pretty bad. It was probably a combination of the 5 hour energy shot, the pot of coffee, the lack of water, and the Red Bull I had on the drive down from Boulder, but nonetheless, it was happening. My legs locked when the winning move was made and I played the part of a cracked rider trying to hold his s*&t together. I did manage to recover in the lead up to the final three climbs towards the finish and worked together with another Boulder local from the Excel team to pick off a few riders who started to fade. In the end, a group of four, including Brandon, stayed away and I crossed the line in 8th or 9th (results aren't posted yet).

Talking with Brandon after the race, he mentioned the course is part of their local Sunday group ride and it was obvious he was strong and knew the course well. He finished 4th on the day and shows he will be ready for a good showing on the XTERRA tour this year.

A quick shout out to another former XTERRA pro Greg Kraus who let me stash my car keys and passport in his car after the guards at the base gate wouldn't let my car on since I had left my license at home (shhhhh). Instead, I got a nice three mile uphill warm up ride to the starting area, thinking I was going to have to race with constant rattling in my pockets. Greg showed he is back and riding strong after breaking his collarbone in the final 200 meters at Valley of the Sun in Phoenix in February while leading in the GC standings. Like many other XTERRA pros, he has decided to focus on bike racing this year as the racing organization has changed their allocation of prize money, spreading it thin and expanding their US race tour, forcing athletes to spend more money on traveling with less available money to earn.

Next up is Deer Trail road race next weekend (hopefully some of my VeloNews team members will show up to race) and then Wildflower 1/2. I need to start running!!!

one day in Fruita

2009-04-17T21:12:00.005-06:00

This is one BAMF! He's my old (and yes, he is old!) colleague from my previous working stint at Inside Communications, which is now Competitor Group. At the time, Mark Gouge (Gougie) and I were the ad sales team for Inside Triathlon magazine. We shared office space with the ad sales guys at Velo News magazine and so the crew of us become a tight knit group. Once each year, typically in the spring, we ventured off the beaten path and took an ad pit retreat into the mountains in hopes of finding warmer weather and some sweet singletrack.

The pic above shows Gougie standing by the site of the most horrifying crash I have witnessed in person. Me, Gougie and Nick Ramey were all jostling for position and doing what guys do best and trying to drop one another out on the trail. Gougie pecked his way in front of Nick and I and was tearing through the singletrack like a man possessed until he jumped off a rock ledge with too much gusto and smacked head first into the stone wall he is standing in front of in this picture. Nick and I were only 5 to 10 meters behind but we halted at the ledge and watched in horror as we thought we had just witnessed Gougie end his life.

We rushed down to him and Nick bent down and picked him up by his shoulder...POP. The good news was Gougie was alive and without any head or spine trauma. The bad news, he had severely separated his shoulder and broken his collar bone.

As the 6 or 7 other riders trickled in and saw Gougie cussing up a storm (not to mention he was trying to convince anyone who would listen that he could mount his bike again and ride it back to the trailhead), we knew he had to get back and get medical attention before he lost his mind.

Enter Saint Greg Thomas. Greg was Gougie's ex-teammate during their adventure racing days and had competed in an Eco Challenge so we gave him the task of ushering Gougie back to the trailhead where our cars were parked. This was only two or three miles, but walking along while tending to a gimpy arm and balancing two mountain bikes would take them over an hour.

For better or worse, Gougie made the rest of us finish the rest of our scheduled loop, and we not only finished it, but still caught them before they reached the cars.

Fast forward nearly three years and this BAMF had the cojones to travel back to the site of his crash with his remarkable better-half, Beth, on their mountain bike vacation to Fruita this past week. I hope he shuddered when he saw this spot, but knowing Gougie, he was thinking how he wished Nick and I were there riding with him so he could outsprint us to the ledge before jumping and making a clean landing.**

Gougie, I'm eating another bowl of Jamaican Coconut ice cream in honor of you and your BAMF-ness!

-LF

** I just received a message from Beth on Facebook that Gougie crashed again this past weekend and may have broken a rib. No sympathy from this guy (or from Beth as far as I could tell)!

Superfrog Success

2009-03-30T11:50:00.005-06:00

I'm sitting in the San Diego Airport (again) waiting for my colleague, Todd Carver, to arrive from Denver. We will spend the day on the US Navy SEALs Amphibious Base working with an elite athlete core of SEALs on their individual bike fits. Elite Bicycles frame builder and master fitter, David Greenfield, is also on hand conducting top notch fits.

Yesterday was the culmination of my early season winter training at the Superfrog 1/2 triathlon in Coronado. Coronado is 5 or 6 miles south of downtown San Diego and although it is now predominately a tourist trap, it is also the home of the NSW (Naval Special Warfare) Community. The half-ironman, the Superfrog, is the longest running long distance triathlon in the world and the SEALs are deeply embedded in the history of triathlon as some of the very first competitors.

This year, I raced the Superfrog individual event and Emily was the swim leg of a very strong relay team. Her cyclist was Swedish uber-biker, Bjorn Andersson, and her runner was a local San Diego Kenyan, Okwaro Raura. They ended up winning the relay in 3 hours, 42 minutes and change, over 10 minutes ahead of the second place team. As a bonus, Bjorn's bike split was a mind-numbing 1 hour and 59 minutes over the 56-mile bike course. He was flying which says good things about his winter training. Now that splits have been verified on Superfrog's website, www.superfrogtriathlon.com, it shows both Okwaro and Bjorn demolishing previous course records on the run and bike.

The last two Superfrog races, I ran into race day mishaps including a run course navigational error (i ran off course while in the lead and was DQ'd) and last year a rear cassette rattled loose. My goal this year was to have a solid, and god-willing, a mechanical-free race.

Rumors floating around the transition before the race pinned the water temperature in the Pacific at 57-degrees, so I wore two caps, and felt quite comfortable throughout the two lap swim. I even opted for a pre-race warm up and felt fine. This kind of makes me think the water was in the low 60's. Anyways, my friend Dean Cummings was at the starting line and instructed "no mechanicals" this year and I was happy to oblige!

I exited the two loop, 1.2-mile swim in second place, roughly one minute behind Aussie Luke Bell and just ahead of Chris McDonald. Chris and I exited transition together and took off after Luke. This was the second race I've done reading power wattage now, and I forced myself to pace the early miles at nothing over 340 watts. Because it was a four-loop bike with numerous out-and-back sections, we would have plenty of time to gauge ourselves against Luke. Chris and I have similar riding styles and effectively pushed each other so we caught Luke after two laps.

The rest of the bike was uneventful and my average wattage over the 56-miles was 325 watts, with an average speed of just under 26 m/h. At the end of the third lap, Chris told me I almost dropped him, so the fourth lap I picked up the pace and that dropped Luke off our pace. Exiting transition together with Chris, we had 30 or 45 seconds on Luke.

The run at Superfrog is 90% sand, both along the beach (hard-packed) and through the SEALs training ground (soft-sand). I dropped off Chris' pace in the first half-mile and Luke passed me around that time. I had no illusions of hanging with them, but wanted to stay conservative and hope they had gone out too hard and underestimated the toll that running on sand puts on the body. Two miles into the run, Luke pulled up with what looked like cramps, which he later mentioned was a slightly pulled muscle. It must have been OK as he finished the race. Chris meanwhile extended his lead. At the end, after 13.1-miles of painful sand running, I crossed the line in second place in 4 hours 2 minutes, over six minutes behind Chris, who won in 3 hrs 55 minutes.

It was a good day for the Finangers. Unfortunately Emily wasn't able to defend her two consecutive individual Superfrog wins, but an injury limited her to swimming on the relay. This race is a staple on our yearly schedule as the organizers run a Wildflower-like grassroots race with the best cause I could imagine - proceeds and donations go to helping children and wives of fallen SEALs. This year, with the introduction of a $10,000 prize purse, same bigger names in the sport came out of the woodwork. In the Olympic Distance, SuperSeal event, was Jordan Rapp and in the Superfrog 1/2, Bjorn Andersson, Chris McDonald, Renata Bucher, and Luke Bell all took part.

Cheers,
Lars

Chris, Bjorn, Jordan and Lars recovering with Normatec MVP after the race

from snow to superfrog

2009-03-27T09:58:00.006-06:00

We're escaping Boulder tonight after our biggest DUMP of the year, 13 inches accumulated in our backyard yesterday, and are heading to San Diego for the Superfrog half-ironman.

Superfrog (www.superfrogtriathlon.com) has become a staple on our racing calendar. It is the longest running half-ironman triathlon in the world, this year being the 31st running. Emily has had two great performances here and is the two-time champ. Unfortunately, she will not be able to race the individual half this year due to injuries that have kept her from cycling and running this winter. Instead, she is on a monster relay team including triathlon's top male cyclist, Bjorn Andersson, and a local San Diego runner Okwaro Raura. We know Bjorn well but will meet Okwaro for the first time this weekend.

I will race the individual 'Frog for the third time and would be satisfied with a mechanical free race. I've been in the lead of the race twice, only to succumb a bike mechanical and a navigational error on the run course. The competition will be stiff this year with Luke Bell, Jonas Colting, Jordan Rapp, Matt Lieto, Chris McDonald and 3x champ Mitch Hall all racing for a share of the prize purse. This is not your typical triathlon though with 90% of the run course crossing hard and soft packed sand. It is draining on everyone and it is mentally very taxing. With that said, I think the best athlete will still come out on top.

Stay tuned for pics from the Expo tomorrow.
L & E

why Aussie's are such quick swimmers

2009-03-20T06:07:00.002-06:00

click on blog title to view video

wanna hike in the buff? head to switzerland

2009-03-18T04:38:00.003-06:00

click on blog title for link

golfing in Saudi -- on grass

2009-03-11T19:31:00.004-06:00

we piled it all in yesterday. Bryan (B) and i scheduled a 6:30 tee time at the hill course and were the first ones on the course. the night before, a sandstorm blasted up from Riyadh but it settled overnight and we played with a bit of wind but not a blink of sand.

as kids growing up in RT, we played golf using artificial grass mats. wherever the ball would land on the tar-lined course, you would go through the process of toweling off the ball and plopping down the grass mat directly behind the lie of the ball. we joked there was no such thing as a bad lie on that course.

we ended up playing 18 holes at the Dhahran Country Club, which features 18 grass and 9 of the old mixed tar holes. the grass on the course was imported from Georgia, but the course felt more like something in Scotland or Ireland with the nasty bushes in the rough that swallowed any errant ball.

B used the round as a warm up for his upcoming best ball tournament where he will partner up with our old swim coach, Chuck Peterson. Chuck and his wife, Pat (CUDA CUDA) have been playing now for four years, which is good timing as they will retire back to the golfing capital of the world in Jacksonville, Florida at the end of the year. On another note, B and I had a good laugh when Chuck sounded disappointed his future teammate could only muster to shoot a 50 on the front nine. better luck in the tourney B.

Sandland - Day Two

2009-03-09T22:03:00.005-06:00

We picked up the Benchich Boys and girl (Mike's wife Elisabeth) and brought them back to Dhahran with us. It was the first time back to Saudi in 14 years and they were chomping at the bit to get back.

After a few hours of sleep, Emily and I went to the Security Dept to get our temporary ID cards. These cards are needed to enter into any facility in any of the four Aramco compounds. Once we had these, we drove down to Ras Tanura (RT) to spend the day on the small compound where I grew up (1982-1995).

RT is home to one of the world's largest oil refineries and this alone made the compound a popular target for Sadaam Hussein's scud missiles during the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Luckily the US had patriot missiles they used to defend the compounds which thwarted all but one of the incoming scuds.

RT is also located on the Arabian Sea in the Persian Gulf, and throughout the years my family had two different houses only a few hundred meters away from the beach. Emily and I swam at the North Pool and had two lifeguards standing at full attention as we were the only two swimming.

After a quick lunch of Emily's new favorite "Arab bread and cheese" we picked up Mike and Elisabeth and took a tour of the compound and revisited all of our old childhood houses. Each house on the compound is identical on the outside but different parts of the camp held the 2, 3, 4, and 5 bedroom houses. A housing list within the company signifies which kind of house an employee and his/her family is most likely to get. My Dad managed to move to the head of this list in 90/91 as he stuck out employment with the company during the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait and the Persian Gulf War.

The four of us took a walk along the beach sidewalk, which was only one-mile long, and waded in the gulf for some pictures. Bryan, who has recently revisited his athletic roots with half-marathon running, was out for a run and we drove back over to the pool area to meet up with him.

The 50-k drive back to Dhahran was crazy as driving in this country always seems to be (note: i will post a separate blog on driving in this country..it's worth it). A quick nap and Mom cooked up a small feast with BBQ chicken and strawberry, alcohol-free daquaries. That's right, there is no alcohol in the country either. My old baseball coach, Rich Hunter, stopped over and it was great to visit. Tomorrow I will stop over to Mark Stenov's house to pick up a road bike he is letting me borrow for the next few days. The compound is not that big, but Mark told me about "the loop" which is 40-k long in which cyclists here ride loop after loop. I'll withhold judgement, but I can't imagine riding a century consisting of four identical loops.

Peace,
LF

Day One in Sandland

2009-03-08T09:13:00.006-06:00

We logged 15 hours of flying time with Lufthansa yesterday and arrived in Saudi Arabia in one piece. Flying from Denver - Frankfurt - Bahrain is faster than the Minneapolis - Amsterdam - Dhahran leg we used to fly back when I was a kid. Maybe it goes by faster since I fall asleep right away where as a toddler I used to try and stay up and watch whichever movie was showing. Yes, flights go by faster when you sleep on them.

Mom and Dad were waiting in Bahrain for us and after slipping the customs agent 10 euros worth of Bahraini dinars, we passed through security and started on our way to Saudi.

Bahrain has certainly changed since I was last year five years ago. Manama, the capital city, has skyscrapers lining the Persian Gulf and is littered with bright and neon lights, fast food chains, and speeding drivers.

Our first stop was a tour of the "black flag" district, a strict Shiite neighborhood where inhabitants have been known to set fire to the car tires of innocent passerbyers. My Dad, always one to try and impress his guests, thought it would be a great initiation for Emily on her first visit to the Middle East. Needless to say, a great hush of anticipation fills the car when Dad takes us on these wild adventures. I'm happy to report despite receiving some wild looks, our car made it out of the district with car tires intact.

The next stop was to cross the 13-mile Causeway, a bridge that joins Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The bridge is divided in half and each side is identical: 6.5-miles long with the same humps and bumps along the road. The only difference is, you kiss goodbye to a modern Middle Eastern culture and say hello to the most conservative Muslim country in the world. Pork, booze and rights for women are left in Bahrain. Sorry to say. Fortunately, Westerns have become experts at sneaking all of the above into the country on a daily, weekly and yearly basis. These have become the tricks of the trade.

We made it home late, well after midnight, and were greeted by a very tired, but happy-to-see-us Golden Retriever, Jasmin. Day one complete. Tomorrow we travel to Damman to the new international airport to pick up Michael, Bryan and Elisabeth Benchich (M & B were my best childhood friends). They are here for the 75th year anniversary of Saudi Aramco and are coming back into the country for the first time in 14 years. Can't wait to see them.

Peace,
LF

Travel Day?

2009-03-06T07:43:00.001-07:00

It's merely the size of an empty wallet, small enough to fit snugly inside your pocket, and tiny enough to evade detection before carelessly ending up in the washing machine. It also holds the power of keeping citizens confined within their country's borders if it is not in your possession while traveling internationally.

One month ago my wife and I finalized our travel itinerary to visit my parents who live in Saudi Arabia. One month ago we put into motion the tedious process of securing a Saudi Arabia visa which would provide us single entry and exit access into the otherwise closed country. Today is our travel day, specifically at 5:00PM tonight, and we have still not received our passports with country visa back from the Saudi Consulate here in the US. I would say I am worried it will not show up, but for some reason I have enough blind faith in a culture that tends to always wait until the last minute to produce the goods.

People always ask before vacations or longer trips if I am "excited" and my answer is always the same. I never seem to get excited until I am checked into the airport and board the airplane. That is when the trip begins, before that there are too many factors out of our control that can delay or terminate the process.

What I am excited about is to show my wife the country where I spent the first 13 years of my life, to see my best friends from childhood who are also flying back to "the big sandbox", and to even race in a sprint triathlon back in my hometown! It was in my father's P.E. class in Ras Tanura I raced a triathlon for the first time and almost 15 years later I compete at a professional level in attempt to earn a prize check!

The swim for this tri will be in the Persian Gulf and not the local swimming pool like in 8th grade P.E. and I won't be racing to get an A (finish all 3 sports), a B (finish 2 of the 3 sports) or a C (finish 1 of the 3 sports). My folks live in the international community of Dhahran, where the US military made it's home during Desert Shield and Storm, and their teacher friends have volunteered to outfit my wife and I with bikes to use on race day too.

I was told our little blue books would be arriving this morning via FedEX Overnight delivery and they have almost an hour to fulfill that promise. After that, our trip to Saudi Arabia might be put on hold until another time! But, I continue to hold out hope.

-LF

Chelsea the cat

2009-03-03T14:21:00.008-07:00

My mom just called me from the vet's office down in Texas with the news that she had to put our cat, Chelsea, down. He fell in the pool last night because sometime yesterday he went blind. My parents said he was walking around the house running into furniture last night. His kidneys were failing and he wasn't going to improve so the vet told my mom that if it were her cat she would put him down.

So, in memory of Chelsea I am going to write down a few highlights of his 18 years with our family:

-We almost didn't adopt Chelsea. They were giving him away at the general store in Francestown, NH and we resisted at first and went home with no kitty. A little while later two kids came by the house and told my mom their dad would kill the kittens if they brought them home. That was enough to convince my mom to adopt him.

-We named him Chelsea because we thought he was a girl cat. When my mom took him to get him spayed the vet told her he couldn't spay the cat because it was a boy. Oops.

-It turns out Chelsea was too young to be away from his mother when we adopted him. He started nursing from our Golden Retriever, Cali, and amazingly enough Cali started producing milk for Chelsea even though she had never had puppies. To stop the nursing we started giving Chelsea milk to drink. 18 years later he still would meow very angrily at the fridge for a saucer of milk every morning.

-Chelsea lived in NH, Alaska, California and Texas. In NH he would hunt the frogs in our pond in the back yard and bring them to the window. He also killed a bat that got into our house when he was just a kitten.

-In Alaska he would fight the local cats and had a bite taken out of his butt and his ear. It happened right around when Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear. He thought hunting Canadian Geese was a good idea. He stalked them and when he went to attack they turned the tables and instead attacked him. That was entertaining for the family.

-He slept with Cali on her dog bed until she died about 5 years ago. After that he couldn't be in the house without a lap to sit on. He just walked around the house crying until someone picked him up or sat down so he could cuddle. If my parents were out of town or not giving him the attention he deserved he would just go to one of the other three houses in the cul-de-sac and make himself at home, usually entering through their cat doors and ending up on one of the beds.

-Most recently he started losing a lot of weight and wouldn't eat the dry food my mom was feeding him. So, she started buying him salmon- only the best after he grew up eating Alaskan salmon. She kept this up to try to get him to gain weight until at a dinner party at the neighbor's house she found out he had been eating at the houses on both sides of my parents and just not eating at our house. Sneaky.

He was 6 pounds today at the vet's office, 1/3 of what he used to weigh. He had a great life and I know my mom will miss him. Mom and Dad buried him in the back yard in Texas, his favorite place to hunt snakes, squirrels and mice.

random updates from the past week

2009-03-01T20:58:00.004-07:00

It's been awhile so I wanted to post a quick update...

I spent a few days last week in the California-Danish hamlet of Solvang with my colleague Todd Carver bike fitting Vision Quest camp members. We spent the majority of those days in a hotel room while the campers biked 4-6 hours/day, but I did sneak away for two runs along portions of the Tour of California time trial course (very hilly). The concept of this camp was brilliant as it focused on teaching cyclists, but mostly triathletes, how to effectively ride and communicate in group road riding settings. A class or camp like this should be a pre-req for all triathletes to learn how to properly handle a bike out on the road and with a group.

After we left the camp in Solvang I spent Thursday night in Santa Barbara, had a great run on the beach and got a free pass to the local Y for a few swims in a disgustingly warm pool (unfortunately the 50m outdoor pool along the beach, Los Banos, didn't work with my flight itinerary). This place is like Boulder but on the Pacific Ocean and I realized I could easily see living out there someday.

Back in Boulder, I hopped on my first group ride of the year out to Carter Lake, a Saturday group ride of about 70 strong. The group usually breaks apart at the top of a one-mile climb to Carter Lake and at the top of the climb this past Saturday we had the local country Sheriff waiting for us with lights flashing. The officer has been known to crack down on cyclists riding in groups so I was just happy to have brought my ID along so I would only get a ticket and not a free ride to the jailhouse. I didn't quite know how the officer would ticket all of us, but luckily the officer just gave us a group warning.

Since it looked like the rest of the ride would be spent in one long, strung out paceline, I flipped a left turn and rode out to Masonville. On the way back towards Boulder, I realized the combination of a stiff headwind, very few long rides on the bike, and low fueling would make for a long ride back! When I finally made it to Hygiene (15 miles outside of Boulder) I peeled into the gas station and ordered buffet of sweets (donuts, Snickers, Mountain Dew, Coke, Lil' Debby cookie and an egg salad sandwich). It took all of that to reverse my bonk and get back home. I learned that Emily had a bit of trouble with the headwind too (maybe she'll chime in for more on that story).

Magnolia has become a weekly staple of my run training this winter and every time I head up there I wonder why we don't live up there yet. It is my favorite workout and is always very tough but is a great fitness booster. This afternoon, I had the 15.5-mile out and back on the dirt and gravel roads to myself again.

Our old roommate, Fred, came over for dinner tonight. He's leaving Tuesday for New Zealand to race the Ironman down there. He is going very good right now (like he always does November - May) and I think he's ready to uncork a Kona qualifying performance if his race goes according to how well he is training! In one particular instance on Saturday, he easily pulled off the front of the group ride while putting in ten minute sustained effort. We had to organize and work quite hard to pull him back into the group.

Em and I are waiting for our passports to come back with our visas for our Saudi Arabia trip this upcoming Friday! I am excited to have Em meet the Benchich Brothers and to see my parents and the country where I grew up. Worst case scenario, if the passports don't show up, we will spend the week in neighboring Bahrain and everyone will just have to drive across the Causeway (which separates the two countries) to visit us.

All for now,
lars

make it 29

2009-02-20T08:07:00.003-07:00

for my birthday earlier this week, i mixed up the training routine a little bit. the day included:

29-mile ride on Computrainer, 29x400 intervals on Monarch Rd, 29x100 steady in the pool

my legs are still a bit sore today as i haven't had much speed work so far over the winter. half of the 400's out by the Res were into a very strong headwind so i was going nearly 2-minutes on reps INTO the wind and 70-seconds running with the wind.

Emily met me at the pool and swam the 100's with me and she was circling me like a tiger shark on a turtle.

many thanks to all you facebook friends and for those who gathered at Sherpa's.

Site of the Day

2009-02-19T06:22:00.005-07:00

Red Bull always finds unique ways to market their snorting good energy drink, but when you're half the can size of your competition, you've got to outsmart them. For this particular event, Red Bull is sponsoring an epic cycling and triathlon camp from the southern tip of Sweden to the most northern tip. It will be led by none-other-than UltraMan World Champion Jonas Colting and über-biker and past Wildflower winner Bjorn Andersson. It runs two weeks between May 17 - 31st and includes personal coaching and all the Red Bull you can drink. Check it out here (www.tosweden.se) or by clicking on the blog title.

Big man with dance skills

2009-02-16T09:44:00.001-07:00

The Svein Scale

2009-02-15T14:53:00.009-07:00

In one of my earlier posts this week, I provided a link to a NY Times article on Garmin Slipstream pro cyclist Svein Tuft. It talked about the burly Canadian and his fitness adventures leading into his life as one of the premier cyclists in North America and the World. The article was one of the more inspiring stories I've heard in some time and I while out on run earlier this week, it had me thinking about some of the adventures, or misadventures, I've had so far. In no way does it stack up on the same scale as Svein's pursuits, but nonetheless I wanted to write these down.

The summer after my senior year of college, a cross country teammate and I rode our bikes from the Canadian border lining Glacier National Park in Montana down to Juarez, Mexico. We rode beefy mountain bikes (mine a neon Gary Fisher purchased on Ebay) and towed Trail Bob bike trailers loaded with 80-pounds of supplies including food, tent, clothes, water purifier, and even a trail map. Our route followed the Continental Divide and all in all took 40 days to reach El Paso, TX and Juarez. My companion's parents met us in El Paso and provided a ride back to the Midwest. Perhaps overwhelmed with everything I had seen during these 40 days on the road, I asked them to drop me off in Joplin, Missouri and over the next two days road my bike into southwestern Iowa, finally ending in my hometown Decorah, Iowa. This was the trip that made me realize I still had a strong competitive drive and gave me the confidence to begin training for triathlon and my first Ironman race.

The next year I moved to a suburb of Brussels, Belgium and while there met another American who turned out to be a very strong cyclist. Mike worked for Guidant in their International office in Brussels and had been there for two years. He invited me to ride with a local Belgian team and told me I HAD to race the Tour of Flanders citizen race (this takes place on the same course as the famous Classic race only one day before the pro race). I took his advice and rode the longest 287-kilometer route (they also offer a 150-km and 75-km choice) which features old jagged cobblestones, including over 20 short and steep cobblestone climbs! My hands and feet were raw and worn after this day of adventure and at one point I had to hand over a few precious Euros for a calorie dense Belgian chocolate pastry to jolt me out of a near BONK.

Biking up on the Peak to Peak Highway with Fred Dreier in a blizzard, taking refuge in our then-boss's house in Nederland to warm our hands and feet, only to have to leave again and descend down Canyon in the same blizzard with Eldora ski traffic bunched up behind us.

In October and November after moving to Boulder, my housemate Brett Cody and I attempted Longs Peak but were unable to complete the trek as snow drifts had covered up the marked trail signs and we found ourselves free climbing up a route we thought would lead us to the summit. We made the wise decision to turn around and try it another day. For me, the next attempt was the next day. Having researched the route after our unsuccessful attempt from the day before, I returned to the trail head at 5am and power hiked up to the Keyhole and up the Trough to the Narrows. At this point, there was so much snow on the mountain in the final 100-meters up to the summit that I used my gloves to punch hand holds in the soft snow and kicked my hiking shoes into the snow as foot holds. Luckily at the top were two others who had ascended the same section up to the summit with climbing equipment and I asked them if they would mind if I follow their path back down. I used their hand and foot holds to complete this tricky section and once I got back to the Trough I was able to slide down on my snow pants using a stick for steering and slowing down. Cody and I hiked Pikes and Elbert that same month.

The next fall in 2005 while training for IM Hawaii, I took a page out of former pro triathlete, and current multisport coach, and a wild haired adventurer who has hiked the Pacific Crest Trail among his feats, and put in a 14-hour training day consisting of a road bike ride from Boulder to Longs Peak trail head, stashed the bike in the woods, power hike (run when possible) up the mountain, and make the return trip hopefully in one piece. I held my wits together until the final hour of the bike ride back home when I mistakenly called Velo News tech editor Leonnard Zinn (who had loaned me his bike lights for the adventure -- rode up Lefthand Canyon to Ward at 3AM) and asked him if he left a key to the house under the log in front of our house. I thought I was talking to my roommate who I should have known was at work. I made it home but did end up falling asleep in the middle of a BBQ party early that evening. This was a key training day that prepped me for my best finish to date in Kona, 9:19:59 (Emily would tell you my time was 9:20).

The Norwegian version of the popular Ironman distance in triathlon is called the Xtreme Norseman (www.nxtri.com). This is a point to point race featuring a swim in the bottomless and frigid 51-degree Hardangarfjord, a 112-mile bike climbing over 7,000-feet, and another 6,000-feet on the marathon, most of which is on a 9-mile mountain road with 10% average gradient. I don't mind the cold water too much but the air temperature was also cold and I regret not taking the time to pull on knee warmers. Emily, who really is the toughest woman I know, ended up winning the woman's race by three or four hours. I ended up bonking on the hike up the mountain but was coaxed to the finish line by Emily after she caught up with me. In the picture, she is still running while I have been walking for most of the last 9 miles.

We seem to have a knack for racing over challenging courses as we've since raced at Ironman Lanzarote, World's Toughest Half in Auburn and Superfrog Half in San Diego. Last year I completed a few doubles including; 26-mile Mt. Evan's Hill Climb with 8,000-feet elevation gain on Saturday followed with the Boulder Peak Triathlon the next day, and Ironman Canada with a three-man relay team at 24 Hours of Triathlon the following weekend. In just over a month will be heading back to Superfrog again.

These adventures are nearly 100% self-inflicted, but I can say I draw considerable inspiration from human endurance pursuits from adventurers like the late Goran Kropp. Let's hope there are more opportunities in the near future for more sporting adventures with an mandatory rule of always making a round trip out of the affair.

Prepping for Saudi Arabia

2009-02-12T10:31:00.008-07:00

In less than one month, Emily and I will travel to Saudi Arabia to visit my parents. The timing of the one week trip falls in conjunction with a KSA, or Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, reunion trip for families and friends who once lived in the Aramco Oil compounds of either Dhahran, Ras Tanura (RT), Udilyihah, and Abqaiq. In the last few years, the government has slowly opened up the country for tourists as it was once impossible unless you had a government sponsored visa, or were Muslim, to even enter the country.

This will be the first time in over five years I have been back to Saudi as more time seems to elapse between trips these days. There is a long itinerary planned for KSA reunion attendees, but I'm fairly certain Em and I will steer clear of most of these functions. Unless she begs me to take her on tour buses, guided tours of refineries and water treatment plants.

I'm certain we'll spend our time in better ways, much like the way I spent the fifteen years I lived there; swimming and snorkeling in the Persian Gulf, playing golf on the sand and tar courses, a night or two of camping in the desert, local shopping in Khobar, and nightly shawarma (gyro-like sandwiches) feasts! This will be even better since my best childhood friends, Michael and Bryan Benchich, will be there too. Michael is bringing his wife, Elisabeth, and Bryan claims he is bringing his A-game for a golf showdown! My Mom and Dad are members of the local Dhahran triathlon club and there is even a sprint triathlon in my childhood hometown of RT while we're there. So, Em and I will get some good training in leading into the Superfrog 1/2, which consists of large portions of beach running through the half-marathon!

Writing about these plans gets me excited but I will surely have to remember that what might be awesome for Michael, Bryan and I might be agonizing for Emily. She's been a good sport so far though, even going so far as to work shawarmas into our weekly dinner menu!

Maasalaama (Arabic for good bye)
LF

Talking in your sleep

2009-02-09T20:56:00.004-07:00

I just found this notebook where I wrote down a conversation Lars and I had as he was falling asleep one night. He actually started the conversation after the point when he was already snoozing.

Lars: Waiting for them to pack it in?
Emily: Who?
L: Thome
E: Who is Thome?
L: He's on 2nd base- Charles Bartlett.
E: What? The White Sox? We're in bed. You're asleep.
L: No. There is a blackout. Everyone is wearing black and the White Sox are wearing black uniforms.
E: No, we're in bed.
L: No, we're watching the White Sox and Joe Biden riding away on a three-wheel bike up Left Hand.
E: Why is he riding a tricycle?
L: He is riding away from the debate.

At that point I was laughing too hard to keep talking so I had to stop and write it down. I am guessing this happened during the baseball season when the White Sox did, in fact, have a 'blackout' (where all the fans wear black) in their one-game playoff game against the Twins to win their division.

This guy is really cool: Click here

2009-02-08T16:29:00.007-07:00

I saw this link on Slowtwitch and my first impression was "WOW! This is one BAMF". If only more professional athletes had the wealth of life experiences to match Svein's, then sporting culture would have more interesting personalities to follow.

commute gone wrong

2009-02-07T22:06:00.002-07:00

these past few weeks i've been threatening to make the bike commute from Boulder to our Retül studio in downtown Denver. well, yesterday was finally the day to give it a shot. we've been fortunate here on the front range this past week with day after day of sunshine and warm temps so before another weather change, i put my Elite Joule Pro Carbon to work.

after asking a few cycling friends around town which for a recommended route into Denver, i wasn't left with any good options. i got a bit of a late start and decided to drive out to Superior and eliminate all the familiar riding in Boulder. so with my macbook and clothes packed in my padded Avia backpack, I started up the famous Morgul-Bismarck course from the Kevin Costner movie Breaking Away. on the way into Denver, i stuck to major roads including Hwy 128 past Interlocken golf course, the Rocky Mountain Airport, down Wadsworth Parkway, through Old Town Arvada, down 38th St and Wheat Ridge Cyclery, and finally onto the South Platte River Parkway, past Coors Field and to our studio! the ride down took 1 hr 20 mins. and now for the ride home....

before leaving our studio, i quickly researched the commuter bike routes in the Denver metro area and found what looked like a good route, a path less traveled by cars! with my trustee directions jotted on an old Inside Tri business card secured in my wind vest pocket, i had little trouble navigating through the side streets of Arvada and Wheat Ridge. then, after cruising on the Clear Creek Trail for 5-10 miles, the trail ended and T-d off into a busy highway with no shoulder. stupid me, didn't leave the office until 3:30 and after over an hour of riding, i was still riding around Arvada, easily an hour away from my parked car in Superior! Luckily Arvada has some road shoulders dedicated to cyclists so I was able to ride hard without having to worry about cars. finally, i found a familiar road, Wadsworth Parkway, and linked back up to Hwy 128 and finally McCaslin Blvd and back into Superior. by the time i pulled into the parking lot, it was pitch black outside and it had taken me 2hrs and 25mins to get home.

first things first, i'm investing in a bike light in case future mishaps occur. i'm also researching a better way to navigate through Arvada.

Reunion time

2009-02-03T21:03:00.010-07:00

This past weekend Lars and I flew up to Minneapolis to relive my glory days of college swimming. My sophomore year at the U of MN our swim team won the Big 10 championship for the first time in school history. Michigan had been the dominant team for the 12 years prior to our win so it was a pretty big deal.

We flew up on Friday and my friends Terri, Amy and her hubby Brandon picked us up at the airport. We were all staying with our friends Jenny and Chris and their 18-month old Clare who live about 45 minutes from the airport. We didn't want to be late for the big celebration so we went to check out Dinkytown before the swim meet instead of driving out to their house. Dinkytown hasn't changed too much since we left but all the college kids walking around made me feel old.

Amy and Brandon got married 3 years ago and after that Terri came up with the name for our travel club. It had something to do with the initials of all of our names and we made a deal that we would all meet up at least once a year. We haven't all been together since that wedding. This weekend would have been perfect but our friend Beth, one of the captains from the 1999 team, had to move to France about 10 days before we arrived in MPLS.

After the meet we were all pretty tired from all the excitement so we crashed as soon as we got back to Jenny and Chris' house. We woke up super early on Saturday to make it to swim practice in St. Paul. It was just like the old days except that I am a lot slower now. After practice we went to meet some college friends of Lars, Erik and Bo, for some coffee.

The rest of the weekend was spent telling old stories, bowling, getting to know Clare and playing games like Family Feud and Celebrity. I'm happy to say that Lars, Chris and Brandon got the top score on Family Feud with the name of Da Boyz. The best that the girls team could come up with was the 4th best score.

It was great to see everyone and I am looking forward to the next travel club meeting. We definitely missed Beth and hope next meeting we will all make it.

Special thanks to Mat and Kelly for watching our two pooches this past weekend. Here's a pic of Mat tossing the ball for Thorskie. I'd be willing to bet he woke up with a sore arm the next day! And another one making Kelly look much smarter than her boyfriend!

You pick the winner

2009-01-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

Shawarmas and night running

2009-01-27T23:01:00.002-07:00

Today started out every bit as dreary as the past two have been, but then around noon time our famous Colorado sun came out to and allowed us to play. Chris Lieto flew into town for a 3D bike fit with Todd Carver today at our Retül studio in Boulder and after three hours of fitting with his Trek TTX and Madone 5.5, it was time to show him Flatiron's outdoor heated pool. By chance, Dave Scott was catching some rays and hitting the laps hard, and assigned he and Chris a 20x100 set. I did my thing, which usually consists of a mixture of 100 and 200 IM's. We were budgeting our time as Chris needed to get out to the airport to catch his afternoon flight but once they had completed their set, Franko showed up with video camera and me, Laura Tingle, Dennis Meeker and Lieto all raced a 50 freestyle to cap it off. I'll let the suspense build as to who won this hotly contested race, but to find out the winner, check over at the new Retül blog later this week (http://retul.blogspot.com).

The days continue to get lighter but I was on grocery duty tonight, so after Emily and Thor got back from a short run, I took off for an out and back on the Wonderland trail. I truly love doing this one in pitch black and letting my eyes adjust to the dark. Once that happens, it's like running in the middle of the day. Well, except all other senses are also on high alert. We've had a few mountain lion spottings in North Boulder lately so I made sure to run on the crunchy part of the trails and not the packed down snow, but if a hungry cat was out there preying I'm sure that wouldn't have stop it from striking. Running at night usually also motivates me to work in a series of harder intervals too (pretending to run away from mountain critters, etc).

We capped the night off with our most recent favorite meal, shawarmas! Growing up in Saudi Arabia, my parents would always treat us to chicken shawarmas in Khobar on the weekends after baseball games or even during the week in the neighboring town of Rahyimah. In fact, Em and I are looking into a reunion trip of sorts back to Saudi early in March so I can try to explain to her a bit more in depth as to why I am the way I am:) All kidding aside, my best friends from childhood, the Benchich brother's will be going back as well, so we are looking to take a trip down memory lane!

more snow

2009-01-25T15:59:00.004-07:00

lots of running this weekend since we've been getting a nice dumping of snow and i couldn't get myself to hop onto the trainer. instead ran a 4-mile XC race, 1 hr afternoon recovery run, and a long run today.

i've been sitting on the downstairs couch watching cycling and flipping through a few movies on the boob tube since my day started early. Em is upstairs doing a yoga program on the tv (it's hard...i tried it yesterday).

a 1.5 hour run this morning over in south Boulder, on the trails i ran at lunchtimes when i worked for Inside Tri, and then Em & i swam at Jane Scott's 10AM sunday master's class at Flatirons. it's always surreal swimming outdoors while getting snowed on with only a few feet visibility. the main reason i'm motivated to get through these 1.5 hour sunday swims is our habitual stop to boulder's best eatery, Big Daddy's Bagels!

trying to be a runner

2009-01-24T11:52:00.004-07:00

this morning i tested my running mettle and entered the Fast & Flurry-ous 4-miler at Harlow Platts Park in South Boulder. i figured i needed some work on my high end and what better way than to enter a running race against real runners.

a few negative observations first:
- at 180 lbs, i usually have a 30 lb weight disadvantage over the others on the starting line. in other words, i always joke that i could eat my fellow competitors (see the above pic from Laguna Phuket 6k fun run to see what i mean!). i shadowed the Thai guy in the Herbalife jersey for the first 2k and finally went around him when i concluded he was not providing even the slightest draft for me.

- the course was three loops with lots of twists, turns, ducking under trees, dancing over roots, climbing up short steep hills, and was 90% on grass and dirt. this meant, i had to be nimble and agile, again, a disadvantage against the 130 lb wafers (competitors)

a few positives:
- no pressure. it was a good test of fitness and not knowing or caring who the competition was meant i could run my own race and see how i ended up

- 25 degrees-F at the start which meant there would be no chance of overheating (even wearing a stocking cap, gloves, and shorts)

- racing on grass meant i raced in spikes for the first time since '02 when i ran St. Olaf Cross Country my senior year of college

- free winter stocking cap for signing up (a real runners kind from Boulder Running Co)

- listening to JP Henry scream out "Warrior Power" seconds before the race start on the start line brought back memories of high school and college races. NICE, JP!

- having a cheering squad: Emmy and the two pups.

- only getting passed by one person, Darin DeRueck (yeah, i know he's 40-somethin'...but he gets faster as the race goes on)

- passing four runners who went out to fast and moving up from 18th or 19th or so into the top 15

- all the pain was over in less than 25 minutes (22:50 was my watch time). i haven't worked that out yet but it should be 5:43 or 5:44 pace per mile.

- watching Thor almost chew off Colleen DeRueck's baby girl's fingers because she was holding a stick (Thor LOVES sticks)

- coffee time now sitting inside the house!

Here's a report from the Daily Camera: http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jan/24/cabada-de-reuck-claim-fast-and-flurry-ous-titles/

New Retül video

2009-01-21T20:12:00.002-07:00

Just finished a video on Tim DeBoom's visit to our Retül studio. My Suzuki SV650 makes a guest appearance but Tim opted to cruise around on Franko's Ducati superbike instead. Wonder why?

sun on these pale bones

2009-01-17T08:49:00.005-07:00

while the rest of the country is suffering through sub-zero, freezing temperatures, here on Colorado's Front Range we are in the middle of a string of sunny and warm days. that means it's time to log some hours in the saddle.

okay, the picture above is not exactly from outside our window, but from our recent tropical vacation to the phi phi islands off the coast of thailand.

early season flagstaff mtn

2009-01-15T21:48:00.004-07:00

well, i have some work to do. after a fairly easy two hour ride with neighbor John Shippey in the flats around town, we finished the ride with an effort up Flagstaff Mtn to the Amphitheater. the roads were clear of all ice and snow and the temp was cold but bearable for still being January. the effort up to the Amphitheater was a reminder of why training in winter sucks. it was a reminder that the body is coming out of hibernation and needs to adapt slowly to these efforts. it hurt bad, the whole 15 minutes of climbing, but it left me hungry to get recovered so next week i can shoot for a faster time or go another mile further up the mountain. hopefully by early February i'll be able to get in the ballpark of my usual timed efforts up Super Flag. for those who don't live in Boulder, that's our 4.7-mile mountain with some steep sections that weigh in at 17% grade - the halfway point in called the Amphitheater.

a tour of boulder's hwy 36 - post wildfire

2009-01-08T21:02:00.017-07:00

Wildfires hit between Lee Hill Rd and Lefthand Canyon in North Boulder County

North Boulder towards Lyons was hit hard

This photo is two miles east of the Lefthand & Hwy 36 intersection

A barn and a horse farm were both lost to the flames after the fire jumped over the hwy

Heading down the roller coaster section towards the Neva Rd intersection

Pushed all the way up to the popular riding intersection, Neva Rd.

Looking up towards the Hogbacks running/hiking trail bordering Dakota Ridge

This is taken from our friend's porch in Dakota Ridge. The fire stopped about 30 meters in front of Diane's front yard.

The popular and heavily traveled Dakota Ridge running/hiking trail

Fence outside of our condos knocked over by the intense, 55mph winds on Wednesday