The inaugural Red Bluff Challenge mountain bike race was held this past weekend in the Spillway Hill area. The event was a real success, and highlights why the State Park continues to lose users and events to other venues. One of the highlights of the Red Bluff event was the hard work by dedicated volunteers who cleaned trails and cut in some new and challenging technical sections. The running community will get a chance to “enjoy” the new routes during the Jan/Feb Trail Running Series. Pictures of the Red Bluff event are posted at http://s486.photobucket.com/albums/rr228/bcullins/Red%20Bluff%20Challenge%2010-18-09/?start=all.

There were also a couple of down sides to what was otherwise an extremely successful event. Despite multiple requests for assistance, the San Angelo Bicycling Association continued its recent tradition of not supporting mountain bike events; in fact, there wasn’t a single SABA board member present for the event. There were also very few local racers participating; in fact, more cyclists came from Amarillo and Lubbock than from the local area. Makes you wonder (1) why should anyone join SABA, and (2) were the local racers intimidated by the West Texas Series regulars who came from out of town?

Changing gears, have you ever looked back in old training logs to see what workout you did on this same date a few years ago? I skimmed through some of my old training logs recently, and came up some interesting log entries for the same weekend in October in past years. The importance of keeping a training log is that you can look back and find patterns that suggest why good (or bad) things happened related to your training. One of the things I noticed was that my 1996 fall cyclocross season was less than stellar. Turns out that I was doing more running than cycling that year, and so the power and bike skills just weren’t in place. I struggled all season with my bike form.

However, when I looked back at my 2003 log, a completely different picture emerged. I had started a very focused cyclocross training program in late spring, with a long base period of base rides, tempo bricks, and technique work. One of the primary goals for that year was to elevate my lactate threshold as much as possible, so as to perform better in shorter but high intensity events. I also spent 10 days in Colorado during the summer of 2003, with multiple days of long hard climbs or trail runs at altitudes of 9,000 feet and above. As the 2003 season progressed, the results started coming around, as listed below. The take home messages: (1) keep a training log and (2) review past logs to see what led to good race results.

· 2003 Armydillo 10K: 3rd place 50+ men

· 2003 Concho Valley Road Race: 6th overall open men

· 2003 Wurst Cross CX race: 1st 55+, lapped my field

· 2003 ASU Turkey Trot 5K: 4th overall male

· 2003 Smithville Dirty Duathlon: 1st male 50+

· 2003 REI Austin CX race: 1st male 55+, lapped field

· 2003 Texas Cyclocross Championships: 1st male 55+, state champion

In my most recent Standard Times column, I wrote about safety for cyclists and runners during the shorter days of fall and winter. That column is posted at http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/oct/16/precaution-name-of-the-game-in-low-light/. Since the column was published, I’ve had two near misses where I encountered runners after dusk wearing dark clothing. Read the column, folks, and wear stuff that’s bright and reflective when working out after sunset.

The 2009 Team San Angelo community survey is currently open. Please take a few minutes and provide your input related to cycling, running, and multisport in San Angelo. Go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=JSqpxTWQgCQlJ5QefVvEtw_3d_3d to take the survey.

UPCOMING EVENTS

October 24: Quest for the Cure 5K, Angelo State University (Texas Hall parking lot), www.angelo.edu/asufit
November 1: West Texas Series mountain bike race, Abilene, http://www.wtcycling.com/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=2887
November 21: Turkey Trot 5K, Angelo State University, www.angelo.edu/asufit

New event Red Bluff MTB Challenge

Special blog update for a new event see event flyer below.

It’s fall, the race courses will actually have some mud this year, but I won’t be able to race cyclocross this season. It seems that serious CX training just isn’t compatible with my chemotherapy treatments every other week. I’m holding out hope that I can at least be “pack filler” in the Texas CX championship race, scheduled for January 16 (my treatments end in late December). To remain sane, I’m riding my CX bike whenever possible and doing “mini CX workouts” (read: slow motion stuff that’s about the same as my pre-race warm-up routine). One of my stay-sane rides is a short combo on-and-off road circuit that takes about an hour at an easy pace. I wrote about this route in my most recent cycling column (http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/oct/02/take-a-spin-on-one-of-my-favorite-routes-around/).

Speaking of cycling, the San Angelo Bicycling Association just elected new officers for the coming year. They are John Woiton, President, Dominic Santos, Vice President, Rita Grafton, Treasurer, Roy Jones, Secretary, and Christy Nesbitt, Member at Large. I’m sure the new board already has a priority list of initiatives for 2010, but if not … I’ll list three items that might be good to address:
(1) Improve relations with the mountain bike community.
(2) Encourage a more positive attitude toward multisport athletes (we represent a majority of the local cycling population)
(3) Take a more aggressive stance against dangerous riding in the Loop Group and other pack rides.

Although the national trends for obesity are still on the rise, I’m seeing a glimmer of hope locally. I’m basing that on the larger turnouts we’re having for cycling, running, and multisport events, and the increasing number of beginner/entry level participants. As an example, 700 runners and walkers turned out for yesterday’s Pick Ribbon run here in San Angelo. Obviously, if you did a “visual survey” in the Wal-Mart parking lot, you would realize that we have a long ways to go before we actually start having a slimmer population.

Angelo State University has several events coming up that may be of interest to local athletes. On November 21, it’s the 2nd annual Turkey Trot 5K run and walk on the ASU campus. This fun event has the distinction of having pies as the primary awards for category winners. For swimmers, Mike Buck (Road Lizards VP and ASU ROTC commander) has worked with the university’s Recreation Department to get a Masters Swim program in place. See flyer on the right for details. Finally, the ASUFit Health Fair will take place on Wednesday, October 14, in the University Center. Get details on all of these on-campus events at http://www.angelo.edu/services/fitness_wellness/newsletters/October2009_Newsletter_final.pdf.

UPCOMING EVENTS

October 8: Road Bike TT series, http://www.sanangelobicycleassociation.com/
October 10-11: Texas Road Cycling Championships, Copperas Cove, http://www.txbra.org/db/events/2009FortHoodClassicV4.pdf
October 17, Heart Walk 5K, http://www.roadlizards.org/Upcoming%20Races/Heartwalk.pdf
October 18: West Texas Series mountain bike race, Concho Bike (San Angelo), http://www.wtcycling.com/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=2887
October 24: Quest for the Cure 5K, Angelo State University (Texas Hall parking lot), www.angelo.edu/asufit
November 1: West Texas Series mountain bike race, Abilene, http://www.wtcycling.com/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=2887
Dec. 10-13: Cyclocross National Championships, Bend, OR, http://www.visitbend.com/Bend_Oregon_Activities_Recreation/National-Championships/Cyclo-cross/default.aspx

The current Health Care Reform debate is starting to really piss me off. About all we’re hearing from our brainless leaders in Washington and the news media is straight party line stuff. What I want to hear from these lame brain jackals is why we don’t make 6:00 am Physical Training sessions mandatory for the general population to help solve the Obesity Crisis. The estimated cost of obesity in the US for the current year is 147 billion dollars (that’s a bunch of Big Macs and Slurpees!). Read more in my 9/19 rant that was published in the San Angelo Standard Times .

On the flip side, I am constantly impressed by both the quantity and quality of amateur athletes that we have here in San Angelo. You expect to see fast cyclists, runners, and triathletes in Austin or Boulder, but here in the West Texas desert?? As an example, take a look at the list below. These folks finished the 2009 Air Force Marathon or half marathon today in Dayton, Ohio, Good job, folks!

Brandon Bowers San Angelo, TX 24 M 4:56:15
Michael Buck San Angelo, TX 49 M 3:30:10
Gloria Interrante San Angelo, TX 23 F 4:39:07
Ruthie Kreuzer San Angelo, TX 28 F 3:57:54
Nathan Parker San Angelo, TX 25 M 3:04:45
Benjamin Passons San Angelo TX 37 M 3:42:39
Georgette Young San Angelo, TX 46 F 5:34:24
Paula Lasley San Angelo, TX 24 F 2:13:56
Gabriel Manlutac San Angelo, TX 28 M 2:24:13
Jennifer Manlutac San Angelo, TX 25 F 2:24:14
Jeanice Smith San Angelo, TX 24 F 2:38:11


Rumor has it that more people are starting to use the Spillway Hill and Twin Buttes trails instead of the State Park, due to poor trail maintenance and other issues at the State Park. If you’re not familiar with the Spillway area, take a look at the map on the right or drop me a message and I’ll fill you in. Spillway is a great place to take the mountain bike or to get in a good trail run. One project that I’m working on is a proposal for a “Volunteer Work Pass” for the Middle Concho/Spillway area. Mountain bikeer Ty Johnson suggested this, and it’s a great idea. The concept would that people who volunteer their time to work on trail or perform other volunteer tasks in that area would be rewarded by the city with free pass to the Middle Concho area during the times when they are collecting gate fees. This would encourage volunteerism, and also provide a good partnership between the city of San Angelo and the local bike/run community. One of my daughters manages an Outdoor Volunteer program in Northern Colorado that could be a great model (on a smaller scale) – read about her program here: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/News/2009/sep/3/variety/outdoors-near-your-backdo . More on this later when the proposal is finished and submitted.

The ASUFit activities for 2009-2010 are about to kick off. ASUFit is a Fitness and Wellness program for university employees and students, but many of the activities are open to the regional community. Things will kick off on October 14 with a Health Fair and Brown Bag Luncheon. Other planned activities include a Fall Fitness Challenge, several 5K runs on campus, monthly speakers, mountain bike clinics for students and staff, and possibly on on-campus short course mountain bike race (dirt crit). For more information on ASUFit, contact Katherine Garrison at 486-6244 or e-mail katherine.garrison@angelo.edu.

Final note, again): Both the cycling and running clubs are looking for a few good people to step forward and serve as club officers for next year. If you are interested in serving, contact the appropiate club president to self-nominate yourself for an office.

UPCOMING EVENTS

September 19-20: Fort Davis Cyclefest, http://www.pbbatx.com/Documents/2009%20Tour%20Flyer.pdf
September 26 (rescheduled): Hot Dog Run, http://www.roadlizards.org%20/
October 3: Shannon Pink Ribbon Run, 10K/5K, http://www.roadlizards.org/Upcoming%20Races/Shannon.pdf
October 10-11: Texas Road Cycling Championships, Copperas Cove, http://www.txbra.org/db/events/2009FortHoodClassicV4.pdf
October 18: West Texas Series mountain bike race, Concho Bike (San Angelo), http://www.wtcycling.com/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=2887
November 1: West Texas Series mountain bike race, Abilene, http://www.wtcycling.com/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=2887
Dec. 10-13: Cyclocross National Championships, Bend, OR, http://www.visitbend.com/Bend_Oregon_Activities_Recreation/National-Championships/Cyclo-cross/default.aspx

The weather has started to cool off a bit, with lows dipping into the 60’s at night. I’m always reminded that I no longer live in Colorado when I see someone headed out for a run wearing a jacket in 65 degree temperatures. Maybe we’ll get lucky this winter and have some snow to run in a few times so these folks can work out wearing down parkas. This is also the time of the year that I would normally be getting all excited about the upcoming cyclocross season, but – due to the chemo treatments I’m currently enjoying, I’ll have to spend this season watching CX videos. Here’s a good one to watch: http://crosstube.net/Home/Cyclocross+%252F+Veldrijden+%3A+UCI+World+Cup++World+Championship/P9WMOA7dbH0%26f%3Dvideos%26app%3Dyoutube_gdata.html

The weather didn’t completely cooperate for yesterday’s Burma Road time trial (a little humid and some wind), but it was a lot nicer than the gale force winds during the Burma TT last spring. Shane Plymel turned in the fastest time of the day, demonstrating that he’s still the man when it comes to racing against the clock on the bike. Results should be posted on the San Angelo Bicycle Association’s web site soon, and I’ll get pictures of the event uploaded to Photobucket this coming week. For those of your who haven’t ridden the Burma hills, the picture on the left gives an idea of how much fun (read: painful) the course is.

With the return of cooler weather, more running events will take place over the next few months. Both the Hot Dog Run and the Habitat 5K will take place this month, with the big 5K/10K Shannon Pink Ribbon Run taking place in October. ASU will hold the 2nd Annual Turkey Trot 5K in November, and then in December the Armydillo 10K and the Resolution Run ½ marathon will take place. All of these events, of course, are simply training runs to help you prepare for the Trail Running Series in January and February. Take a look at the Upcoming Events link below for more cycling, running, and multisport events.

My most recent column for the Standard Times newspaper dealt with the fact that we have a diverse cycling community here in San Angelo. Hard core roadies, mountain bikers, casual fitness riders, and triathletes – we have a broad range of people who participate in cycling. My central theme was that none of us fit into a singular “mold” as relates to how we choose to enjoy our sport. I received a number of comments related to that column, and I want to share a couple of them with you. The messages are self explanatory, I think, and should give all of a little food for thought.

“I want to thank you for reminding me of the joy of riding a bike around the neighborhood with kids. I'm a 46 year old, out of shape mom who used to love run, and many years ago, used to love bike riding for the sheer joys of freedom and wind in my face. Tonight I took out my bicycle, and my 11 year old helped me air up the tires. We rode for 20 minutes in our neighborhood. What fun! I am looking forward to many more evenings of pleasure. Your message in today's column was truly inspirational.”

“One of the things that has turned me off to Loop Group at times is the attitude that so-and-so (let's say triathletes) aren't "real" cyclists and that somehow the roadies occupy a higher rung on the food chain. (Interestingly, you don't see that sort of attitude among runners.)”

Final note: Both the cycling and running clubs are looking for a few good people to step forward and serve as club officers for next year. If you are interested in serving, contact the appropiate club president to self-nominate yourself for an office. The cycling club contact is Christy Nesbitt, and for the running club please drop a message to Jeanette Passons.


UPCOMING EVENTS

September 12: Hot Dog Run, http://www.roadlizards.org%20/
September 12: Comanche Warrior Triathlon, Big Spring, http://www.comanchewarriortriathlon.com/
September 19: Home Run for Humanity 5K, http://www.roadlizards.org/Upcoming%20Races/Habitat.2009.pdfSeptember 19-20: Fort Davis Cyclefest, http://www.pbbatx.com/Documents/2009%20Tour%20Flyer.pdf
October 3: Shannon Pink Ribbon Run, 10K/5K, http://www.roadlizards.org/Upcoming%20Races/Shannon.pdf
October 10-11: Texas Road Cycling Championships, Copperas Cove, http://www.txbra.org/db/events/2009FortHoodClassicV4.pdf
October 18: West Texas Series mountain bike race, Concho Bike (San Angelo), http://www.wtcycling.com/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=2887
November 1: West Texas Series mountain bike race, Abilene, http://www.wtcycling.com/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=2887
Dec. 10-13: Cyclocross National Championships, Bend, OR, http://www.visitbend.com/Bend_Oregon_Activities_Recreation/National-Championships/Cyclo-cross/default.aspx

After watching all 200+ competitors swim the 1,500 meter open water course during last week’s Wool Capitol Triathlon, I may just have to take swimming lessons. Of course, I could just talk my youngest grand daughter Stephanie into teaching me – she competed in the Colorado Summer Club state swim meet last week and won the 200 meter Freestyle for her age group. As with most competitive swimmers, she routinely does workouts that involve longer distances than those of most sprint and Olympic distance triathlons.

Have you ever thought about what type of background the cyclists, runners, and multisports folks that you ride and run with have? I started thinking about this last week after I interviewed the Overall Female winner of the 2009 Wool Capitol triathlon (Natasha Van Der Merwe). She was a professional tennis player until a year ago, when she decided to give triathlon a try.

Unlike some other countries, we don’t really have a wide spread club system here in the US where we identify and “grow” talented kids into top level cyclists or triathletes. Instead, the majority of our young athletes participate in public school and collegiate sports such as basketball, football, track, soccer, swimming, and volleyball, and then some of them take up endurance sports later in life. Makes you wonder how good some of these people would be if they had been introduced to competitive cycling or multisport at a young age …

Natasha Van Der Merwe and Brady O’Bryan topped a large field of over 200 triathletes to win the Wool Capitol event and earn USAT Regional Champion titles for 2009. The championship event, directed by Ironhead Race Productions, took on Sunday, August 9th and attracted competitors from multiple states. The race course was Olympic distance, consisting of a 1,500 meter open water swim, 40 kilometer bike, and a 10K run.

Masters (40+) and Grandmasters titles were also awarded during the event. Sharon Sander of San Antonio was crowned the Female Masters Champion, with Roger Whacker of Houston winning the Men’s Masters title. Ann Wacker (Houston) and David Sing (Austin) topped the respective Grand Masters fields.

Awards were also handed out to winners in age group and team relay categories. San Angelo athletes who placed in their age groups included Ashley Gay, 2nd Female 25-29, Ruthie Kreuzer, 3rd Female 25-29, Tamra Deckers, 2nd Female 30-34, Kevin Hawkins, 1st Male Clydsdale 20-24, and Shane Plymel, 2nd Male 40-44. In the team division, the trio of Nick Mathers, John Gilliland, and Ben Passons took overall honors with a time of 2 hrs 24 min 56 sec. Full age group results are posted at www.mychiptime.com/searchevent.php?id=3410.

My wife, who is German, asked me recently if a German had ever won the Tour de France. After doing some research, I discovered that a German team completely dominated the 1940 TDF event. The picture on the right tells the story ...

Ever wanted to browse a foreign bike catalog to see what the folks in Europe ride and wear? If so, check out this link: http://www.rose.de/. Rose is a German company that has a catalog the size of a phone book.

UPCOMING EVENTS

September 12: Hot Dog Run, http://www.roadlizards.org/

September 12: Comanche Warrior Triathlon, Big Spring, http://www.comanchewarriortriathlon.com/

September 19: Home Run for Humanity 5K, http://www.roadlizards.org/Upcoming%20Races/Habitat.2009.pdf

September 19-20: Fort Davis Cyclefest, http://www.pbbatx.com/Documents/2009%20Tour%20Flyer.pdf

October 3: Shannon Pink Ribbon Run, 10K/5K, http://www.roadlizards.org/Upcoming%20Races/Shannon.pdf

October 10-11: Texas Road Cycling Championships, Copperas Cove, http://www.txbra.org/db/events/2009FortHoodClassicV4.pdf

October 18: West Texas Series mountain bike race, Concho Bike (San Angelo), http://www.wtcycling.com/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=2887

November 1: West Texas Series mountain bike race, Abilene, http://www.wtcycling.com/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=2887

Dec. 10-13: Cyclocross National Championships, Bend, OR, http://www.visitbend.com/Bend_Oregon_Activities_Recreation/National-Championships/Cyclo-cross/default.aspx

Great week! My youngest daughter Cathy Jo (CJ) and grandson John have been visiting from Colorado. This has been a fun week, even though I "bottomed out" on blood counts because of the latest chemo treatment. We’ve hiked, biked, paddled kayaks, hung out at Baker Street, and eaten more fat foods than usual. The high point of the week was an off road excursion on bikes with the daughter and grandson – not a hammer session, just a casual "hike on a bike" through some desert country after a nice rain. Mud is good!

I’m trying hard to maintain a positive attitude and keep up a regular workout schedule, but it’s hard to accept that (temporarily) I’ve got to settle for workouts appropriate for someone 60 years old. Here are my training log notes for the past seven days - please don't tell my oncologist. He doesn’t want me to "train" and thinks I'm content to just walk the dammed dogs after work!

Saturday: Am walk/jog on dirt road from Hell, 10 min fast walk, then 5X 2 min run w/ 3 min fast walk recovery. PM warm up on treadmill and 30 min gym session.
Sunday: Easy pace ride from house through Spring Creek Park and back. 13 miles, 56 minutes, HR remained under 120 BPM

Monday: PM easy bike cruise with daughter and grandson, 50 minutes.
Tuesday: No workout – legs tired, rest day. Side effects of chemo ruled the day ...
Wednesday: Same as Saturday, 10 min fast walk, then 5X 2 min run w/ 3 min fast walk recovery. Running seems a little easier than I expected (maybe because I’m 20 lbs lighter?).
Thursday: 60 min mountain bike ride with grandson (lots of looking at bugs, etc.)
Friday: AM 60 min road ride to Mid Concho with daughter – nice pace, legs felt a little stronger than earlier in the week.

The daughter that was visiting from Colorado has come full circle as relates to cycling and workouts. She was an up and coming mountain biker as a junior, qualifying for the USA’s junior world championship team for the 1994 worlds in Vail. She raced for Fort Lewis College (Durango), but unfortunately suffered a serious hip injury as the result of a training ride crash and had to give up cycling. Fast forward to today, and she’s a 32 year old single mom who’s decided to lose weight and get back into recreational cycling. To help further her cause, I built her up a Redline cyclocross bike that’s perfect for cruising bike paths, dirt roads, and smooth single track. Given her natural ability, she’ll be an animal on the bike again within a year or so.

I just finished my newspaper column that will appear on Saturday, Aug 9th. The theme for this column is "Technology Assisted Fitness", otherwise known the Tools Used by Techno Geek Athletes. Log onto http://www.sastandardtimes.com/ and look for the column in the Sports section.


UPCOMING EVENTS

August 13: Road bike TT series, www sanangelobicycleassociation.com
August 15: Southland Shuffle, roadlizards.orgAugust 29: Tiparrary Creek King of the Rockies mountain bike race, Winter Park, CO, http://www.epicsingletrack.com/default.asp?page=racedes/race8des.html
Dec. 10-13: Cyclocross National Championships, Bend, OR, http://www.visitbend.com/Bend_Oregon_Activities_Recreation/National-Championships/Cyclo-cross/default.aspx