Stuart Lynne earns a silver medal at Canadian Track Nationals.  Read his account here.

It's been a long 2009 season and a lot of you are taking your well-deserved unstructured time or complete rest.  Some are preparing for cyclocross while others are just rebuilding your endurance base and having fun.

I think it is a good time to take a moment and list some athlete accomplishments so far this season. You all have done some excellent hard work and it has really paid off. Check it out:

Brad Schrock: Brad has been working with a travel-heavy work schedule and despite this has racked up some solid placings in his local crit series.  In the Tour of KC, he came in 11th on day 1 and 13th on day 2 despite being held up by a crash in the finale!  Brad's dedication and persistence despite his busy schedule always impress me.

Chris Peariso: Chris set his main goal this season as the Men's Pro Solo division of the BC Bike Race.  Despite having no experience with the terrain or that style of racing, Chris managed a solid 7th place overall.  Excellent!

Ellen Kirtley: Ellen came into her final countdown to the Senior Games burnt out and stale.  She asked me to coach her starting only 2 months before the big event and I wasn't sure we could really salvage her form.  After a lot of rest and some very specific training, Ellen managed 11th on day 1 road race.  In the Day 2 road race, she played the wind to her advantage and placed 4th!  After the road races, she set her sights on the 2 TTs - her specialty.  She didn't disappoint - one 4th place and one bronze medal later she headed home with a successful Senior Games in the bag.

Heather Gundersen: This cyclocross superstar's road season got off to a solid start with a 3rd place at Banana Belt, 11th overall at Cherry Blossom SR, and 4th at King's Valley RR before scoring a win at the Table Rock RR.  Since the spring, she has remained consistent with a coupe of top-10 rides at Mt Tabor and a bronze medal at the OBRA TTT Champs.

Jane Adams: Jane has continued her winning ways this season with a whole slew of top places and wins in a variety of races all along the East Coast.  Her highlights include a 3rd at the Kenda Cup East and 2nd places at the Williams Lake Classic and a well-deserved win at Michaux.  Jane is gunning for a result in next year's Dalby Forest World Cup race in her native UK.

Jennifer Reither: JennX has had an awesome season, beginning with an 11th place in the pro race at the Tour of California Women's Criterium in the pouring rain.  Since then, she has been steady on with solid rides in South Carolina and Tulsa Tough.  In June,  a 10th at the Manhattan Beach GP preceded a 3rd at the San Pedro GP.  She recently went to Master's Track National Championships where she earned a silver medal in the points race and a bronze in team pursuit.

Mark Miller: Mark has been racing both on the road and off, with great results.  He got his season off to a good start with 11th at Cherry Pie RR, followed by a slew of top 10 MTB results: 3rd at Horning's Hustle, 5th at Bear Springs Trap XC, 7th at Spring Thaw XC, and 4th at both Pickett's Charge and Return of the Jedi.  Nice work!

Mike Benno: Mike has had a solid road season, with top-15 placings in a variety of events.  Highlights include 12th at King’s Valley, 6th at the OBRA RR, 3rd at Mt Tabor, 2nd in the Vancouver Courthouse Crit, and two wins in the Mid-Summer Crit Series.  Mike has been resting well and is now 100% focused on cyclocross!

Shawn Tevendale: Shawn is a versatile MTB racer focused on endurance challenges.  Shawn has been dealing with on-bike nutrition issues this year, but his focus has paid off with 8th at the Cowbell Challenge Marathon and a 2nd place at the 18 Hours-Scouts Honor.

Steven Hunter: Steven’s season focus is cyclocross, but his road results are nothing to snicker at.  He has managed 15th, 14th, and 13th, respectively, at the Eugene Roubaix, Silverton RR, and Rehearsal RR.  He’s also managed some solid PIR results of his own while working for his teammates!

Stuart Lynne: Stuart is a stellar BC Master’s rider.  He’s a regular top-contender in his class and has reached another level this season.  His results include PBs on a variety of TT courses, both flat and uphill, including one at the Mt Seymour HC in the pouring rain.  He also earned a gold medal at the BC Master’s TT Champs and won at the Mt Washington and Cypress Hillclimbs along with the BCMCA Team TT, at which he arrived rock star-style via helicopter.

Susan Peithman: Susan’s season has been trying at times, but despite this she has managed some great results.  A 4th place at the Sublime Sublimity CR was followed by top-10 rides at Banana Belt, Piece of Cake RR, and the Cherry Blossom SR.  More recently, 6th and 7th places at the Swan Island and Vancouver Courthouse Criteriums have put her in good position for her build-up to cyclocross.

 

You’ve all worked hard for these results and they speak volumes about your dedication and persistence.  Here’s to more great success to come!

These guys stopped by to talk business for a couple of days and I had the privilege of showing them some of the local riding.  They are promoting their new adventure-sports website by riding their bikes down the West Coast and talking to outfitters along the way.  When they wanted to meet us here at LCA I was skeptical, but it turned out to be a great meeting.

Afterwards, we went for a spin.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see all we had planned, but I am sure they will be back!  Read more about our ride here:

http://www.swaesports.com/blog/2009/08/01/adventures-in-san-francisco-a-beautiful-ride-cut-short/

This post is mostly about trying to assuage my guilt about not having posted anything in a while.  Stay tuned as there are articles in the works.  In the meantime, here is a photo I took from Belvedere on a ride today of the fog cresting the hills of the Headlands and descending on Sausalito:

Afternoon fog descends on Sausalito

Giving the pre-ride briefing

Riding by the Bay on the way to Sprint Day

Making use of Marin's bike path system

Kevin climbs the Sisters above Stinson Beach

The quiet, sun-dappled lanes of Marin County

Well, AT&T's great quality of service put paid to my attempts to keep a daily journal of Marin Camp 2009, but in the end it's the camp that counts and it was fantastic.  We finished up yesterday with a spectacular 150km loop that included Marshall, Tomales Bay, Point Reyes Station and Alpine Dam.  When it comes to amazing riding, you can't really go wrong with Marin and yesterday was proof of that.

Here are some photos from camp:

Camp Begins!

Hunter talks technique on Sprint and Race Finish Scenario day

Traditional photo from the top of Mt Tamalpais

New toys!

Anthony's bike on Alpine Dam

Stacey showcases her tabletop leadership skills in Yoga class

Apparently, this fellow once broke both arms falling off this bike. Ow.

Oh my.  Sprint day always flattens me and this one was no exception.  The warm California sun makes things a bit easier, though, and this camp is really coming together well.  After a great sprint workout, which included tuition in the technique of sprinting, we broke into teams for race finish scenarios.  These are always a blast, and a fast way to learn about how different tactics work in a race setting.  Now our internet is down, with the AT&T technician explaining that it was "no big deal, because we are all at the Retreat to relax."  Um...NO!  In reality, I have always hated AT&T and now I just hate them more.

Happily, I have internet at home where I am doing our laundry!

Photos to follow.

March is always exciting as the it's the month in which I run my annual training camp in Mill Valley, California.  Living 5 minutes away this year has made organizing the camp a bit easier, and it has started very well indeed.  I think there are three basic ingredients that go into a great camp: fantastic lodging, awesome food, and amazing riding.  Marin and Ralston White Retreat have all of that.  What's more is that we have a comprehensive itinerary which includes not only first-class tuition in training with power, but also lessons on how to eat properly, how to rest properly, as well as two fantastic massage therapists on staff, and a yoga class or two led by my sweetie.  To top it off, the weather could not be better, with clear sunny days in the 70s forecast for the entire week.

This year we have a fantastic group of people who have come from as far away as Florida to ride and learn.  We also have excellent support from Quarq Technology, Clif Bar, Cyfac, and StudioVelo.  All have been instrumental in helping to make this camp great.

Today began with a nice surprise for me from Quarq in the form of a brand new Cinqo Saturn mounted to a set of 177.5mm SRAM S900 cranks.  Sweet!  After introductions all around, Hunter dove right into "How to Train and Race with a Power Meter" while the campers ate breakfast.  From there it was onto the bikes and out over the front side of Mt Tam, with 5-minute and 1-minute tests on both climbs and flat.  The plan after that was to head back for lunch, but after a brief meeting we all agreed that coffee at the Depot Cafe was in order.  After that, it was an easy spin back up the Retreat where lunch was waiting for us.

After lunch, we turned our attention to cornering and descending.  I like to do my "cornering clinic" on the first day of Marin Camp as the twisty nature of the roads make for a great practice area for what is taught.  Marin is a climbing camp, but by the same token it is also a descending camp, so it pays to learn the tricks of the trade.

Tomorrow is sprint day, hopefully with photos to follow.

About a month ago, Jeff and I signed up to ride the Berkeley  Bicycle Club Team Time Trial.  I hadn't planned on racing much down here, but the idea of a TTT always gets my attention.  The two-person format is particularly appealing as it reminds me of my early cycling years, paging through Winning magazine and reading about great races like the Trofeo Baracchi when I wasn't busy watching taped-from-TV videos of the 1987 Tour for the hundredth time.  Good times indeed.

I have always thought that TTTs are one of the hardest events in cycling.  They require a rider to ride at the upper edge of their LT zone and then try to recover just below that between turns at the front.  More riders equals more recovery, but with only two riders per team allowed at this event, we were all in for a tough ride.

The course is one that has been used for years.  It runs clockwise around San Pablo Reservoir on what might best be described as varied terrain and road surfaces.  At times it was so rough that I wondered how anyone on a TT bike managed to hang on.  The rough roads, vicious climbs in the last 10km, and occasional water draining across the roads from recent rains made for a very European feel to the event.  We had a grand time.

After spending the night at Jeff's place in Moraga, we rode 30 minutes to the reservoir, signed in, stashed our warm clothes, and headed to the start.  We arrived with 10 minutes to spare and got down to the job of focusing on the next 45 minutes and the effort it would take.  The biggest mistake you can make in a time trial is to start too fast (well that's the 2nd biggest mistake - the biggest is to arrive late to the start!).  We made sure to start steady and work into it, saving something for the hills.  Jeff is quite the climber, so when it got steep I did my best to hang in and not sound too whiny.  In the end, we did well enough - mid-field with no aero equipment.  We were both pleased with that and celebrated by riding over the hills to Berkeley and meeting our sweeties at TK for lunch.

Here are some photos from the event:

Towing Jeff on a slight rise

It looks like Jeff is struggling up the climb while I sit in, but the reality was the opposite!

Today was the long day of camp - 100 miles of breakthrough riding to finish the camp on a high.  The B-group did a sweet out-and-back to Jalama Beach while the A-group did a loop over Drum Canyon and down to Lompoc before hammering the outbound leg of Jalama.  That cashed a lot of folks' chips, but on the inbound portion of Santa Rosa Rd, superstar pro Chris Peariso took off with only Carl and myself able to follow.  We then proceeded to do all we could to just hang onto his wheel for the next 45 minutes home.  Neither of us was able to take even one pull - we termed it "PearisoPacing" since he may as well have been a motorbike.  Here are some photos from the day:

Custom Quarq nametag - just like the pros!

Verdant green hills of Santa Barbara county

Ocean view from Jalama Beach

Jim taking things very seriously indeed

And a short film of the group heading out of Los Alamos:

This year’s Solvang Camp was attended by some of the nicest folks who have ever come to camp, and it was a great pleasure to spend a week coaching, riding with, and getting to know the 2009 Solvang crew.  I hope next year is just as good, and now I am really looking forward to Marin!