Willow!

Time trials and me don't always go as planned. This year having my own dedicated time trial bike has really paid off.   With Fisk being only two weeks prior, it didn't leave a lot of time to correct the issues that plagued me there.  Strange enough this year the weather at the start was in the low 40's, really fricking cold.   My recent training in Kentucky the past two weeks has spoiled me with warmer weather.  I really wasn't excited to race in the cold. I still toughed it out and put the skin suit on, you really shouldn't wear those under 55.   My goal for the race was to hit the 6, 2.2 mile laps as hard as possible.  So after a 35 minute warmup I was ready to roll off the start line. Due to the alphabet seeding I was once again the first Cat 3 to start.  This year I was hoping to not get past by anyone.  The race started bad for me, my pacing was horrible.  I had this issue at Fisk, by lap three I got it corrected.  However those seconds lost add up.

The only main complaint I had in the race was the cars trapped on the course due to poor timing by corner marshals.  I got impeded by a few cars, oh well...probably cost me 5-10 seconds.  Finally going into 5th lap someone past me.  I figured a Cat 1 would pass me at some point.  He would be the only to pass me, and he only got 10 seconds ahead of me in the next two laps. His passing me pushed me to go faster, further proving the point my pacing was bad if I could hang with the Cat 1.   I finished in 30:44, a new PR for me at Willow, hitting almost 26 MPH average. I though at the time when I finished my result would be poor, however it was enough for 4th in Cat 3 and 18th overall. I lost out on 3rd by 4 tenths of a second.  While I am happy about the result, I still wish I would have been on the podium, darn car traffic. I guess my time trial legs are back, now I just need to fix my pacing issues so I can be strong at the state tt.  Next up is Cone Azalia, this will be the real test but I feel ready.

Below is a little video that Marisa filmed and then I edited on my new iPad 3. 

Full Results

Fisk Knob

This past weekend I finally got my first race of 2012 out of the way.  Fisk Knob this year was scheduled for mid April, a change I defiantly like.  The weather was much warmer for the change, actually near the 70's.  Unfortunately the crazy Michigan spring has caused a whirlwind of allergy problems.  The past three weeks have been miserable for me, however the allergies finally feel like they are getting better this week.  For the most part of this off season I have dodged major sickness.  It also seams that the achillies tendon is starting to finally get better.   I was actually able to train for 14 hours one week, last year 8 was a struggle.  Breaking this barrier has allowed me to get in good shape for the start of the 2012 season.   So going into Fisk my goal was to repeat a podium like I had last year. Unfortunately with Fisk you only race in age groups, meaning that there is a chance I will race against higher category racers. 

Due to a business trip though I had to make sure I started the race earlier.  Luckily the promoter was able to move me to the 16th starter.  This is good and bad, typically the big dogs start later in the day.  That would mean I probably would have no carrots and have to just try and pace myself hard.  Everyone starts in 30 second intervals, so at least I would have 15 people ahead of me with up to 8 minutes time buffer.  

After getting in a 50 minute warmup I was ready to go.  I started hard and caught my 30 second man in the first 2 miles.  This would be a common trend, before I reached the halfway mark at 8-9 miles I had passed 10-11 of the 15 starters in front of me.   My allergies defiantly played a role though in the day, I could never get going at 100%.   I kept trying to fire the legs though knowing the last thing I wanted was to get passed and I really wanted to be the first person to cross the line.   So I kept going in the pain cave.  While most of the last 4 miles is uphill, I had a nice cross/ tailwind to help push me along.  Before the last corner I had picked off 14/15 starters in front of me.  With only 1.5 miles of uphill to go I just punched it, it hurt but I clocked in a 43:47.  Unfortunately I never caught that last person, so I was the second across the line. 

Since I had to be in Kentucky that night I left the race right away not knowing results till later.  However I ended up 5th in my 25-29 age group and 25th overall.  With the quality of competition greater then the previous year I was very happy with my results.  Time trials have been a struggle for me since I hurt my tendon, the race against the clock really exposes lack of fitness.   So for me I felt very good to be competitive even when my allergies were killing me.  All and all I have managed to take the bad of last year and make it into something good for this year.  I am very excited to see what else I can do this year.

Results

First Outdoor Ride of the Year

Recently I got a chance to ride outside for the first time of the year.  It was also the perfect opportunity to break in my new camera mount.  Last year I wasn't able to catch very much footage due to mount stability and breakage issues.  However for 2012 I have a nice new CNC'ed handlebar camera mount that should hold up to everything.  So I decided I would give it a pounding on the local icy trail.  Below is some video from the ride, I am still working out the kinks on how to best edit the video.  Enjoy!

Cross Country Skiing

This winter I decided I would hang up the bike and take up the sport of nordic skiing.   I have never been on skis much in my life, so this was going to be a new challenge.  Michigan actually is a very good state for winter XC sking, however this year the temps have been higher then normal and the snow fall has been minimal.  Despite the conditions I have still managed to get out skiing a few times and am well on my way to learning decent form.  XC skiing is a much better way to spend the winter rather then biking in the extreme elements.  Overall the off season is going well and everything is looking good for the bike racing season next year.  Check out the video below, I finally edited some video I took at the Milford Criterium.

Year in Review

Well it's about time that 2011 finally came to and end.  There wasn't just
one incident I want to put behind me but many.  Never in my life have I had
a year with so many health problems.   Bronchitis, asthma, kidney stones
and of course my Achilles.   Putting all that aside though outside of
racing my year was good.  My racing season wasn't a complete bust either, I
managed to get my first class win in a mtb race.  Iceman I also got some
redemption of the mishaps of the previous year.  My road season I just
would like to forget and turn a page to this year.

For 2012 I have a lot to look forward to.  First of which being some new
teammates that should make the road season a lot of fun. Most of all
though, starting the year healthy.   Last year gave me some new motivation
and anger.  Hopefully I can turn that energy into some good results.   As
far as goals for the new year I have only two, stay healthy and enjoy
life.

2011 Race Results
Mar.27.2011 Fisk Knob Time Trail (2/9 Mens 25-29, 16 Overall)
Apr.30.2011 Willow Time Trail (6/14 Cat3, 38/204 Overall)
May.01.2011 Cone-Azalia Classic Road Race (20/32 Cat 3)
Jun.18.2011 DanCihak Memorial Duck LakeTT - StateChampionshipTT(12/12 Cat 3, 76/116Overall 40k)
Jul.09.2011 Criterium Detroit City (DNF)
Jul.10.2011 Terry Reisch Memorial Charity Race (DNF)
Jul.16.2011 BTR Bike Race Criterium (DNF)
Jul.23.2011 Maillot Jaune Road Race (DNF)
Jul.24.2011 Le Champion Pave Criterium (17th Cat 3)
Jul.31.2011 Milford Criterium - State Championship Criterium (DNF)
Aug.01.2011 Hines Park Time Trial (9th Cat 3)
Aug.20.2011 Maybury Time Trial - Mountain Bike (1st/7 Sport 19-29, 14/101 Sport Division)
Aug.28.2011 Birmingham Bike Festival (26th Cat 3)
Sep.05.2011 Debaets-Devos Pro-Am Memorial Bicycle Race Criterium (21st Cat 3)
Sep.11.2011 Addison Oaks Fall XC Mountain Bike Race (1st Sport 19-29)
Oct.15.2011 Peak2Peak Mountain Bike Classic (DNS Sick)
Nov.05.2011 Iceman Cometh Mountain Bike Challenge (10th 28-29 Age Group, 397/3744 Overall)

Iceman Video

Iceman Cometh 2011 : Raw/Unedited Cam Footage [Part 1 of 4] from Brandon Love on Vimeo.

I show up often in the first 9 minutes, but at 9:20 the guy with the camera follows me until I finally drop him.
...the video best describes the race, enjoy

Iceman!

Iceman Cometh has come and gone along with another interesting season.   My training prior to Iceman had been filed with sickness and work travel from Mexico to Kentucky.  I missed Peak to Peak unfortunately suffering the after affects of getting sick in Mexico.  So next year I will finally have to give that race a try and have a proper warm up race for Iceman.   Despite not racing in some time my legs were feeling rested and strong going into Iceman weekend.  I also changed up my preparation for this years race,  now that I am a more competent mountain biker I spent my time focusing on speed.  Riding dirt roads rather then working on trail technique. 

This years edition of Iceman would be traversing mostly the same course of the previous year with a few small changes to add some excited.  Despite the race being billed as a 27 mile point to point this years edition was rumored to be about 30.3 miles, making the sub 2 hour goal a little bit harder.   Given last years performance I had a lot to look past and a lot to improve on.  I also took the opportunity this year to arrive in Traverse City a day early to test the new finish loop.  I'm glad I did because it had a few fun surprises. 

Last year I experienced bonking, water freezing, bike problems and a busted leg.  So this year I brought an insulated camelbak along with a revised nutrition plan, tools, and the leg is still just a work in progress.  The weekend's weather was amazing, at race start it was still a frigid 32, but the skies were clear with sun warming the air to the mid 50's by afternoon.  Unlike last year where I got to start in wave 3, I had been demoted to wave 6 based on my finishing time due to my problems last year.  This would only mean I would have to pass more people and have less riders to pace with.  Basically from the start I would have to go on my own and just push the envelope.   My main goal for this year was revenge, break two hours, and also reach the podium.

9:15 my wave left Kalkaska and began our Journey to Timber Ridge in Traverse City.  Our wave started fast, I did my best to stay near the front but also conserve energy and warm up.  Unfortunately my gearing and lack of being warmed up led me to lose the top 3 guys in my wave.  If I could had stayed with them at the start I might have had a better time and a wheel to draft off some.  As we entered the double track trails I was probably around 20th, I mostly just tried not to push the envelope and not crash.  I knew I would be picking off riders soon enough.  After the fact I wished I would have pushed harder to get the whole shot, however its hard to say how much that effort would have hurt me later in the race.  I might of lost 2-5 minutes working through the pack, or risked bonking from the hard early effort and losing that much time later on. 

As I picked riders off though I gained more and more wheel suckers(drafters).  I would drop them time and time, but more would come back.  I could have let them take a pull, but it would have just slowed me down.  As I bridged gaps to groups of riders I always found myself doing all the work breaking the air.  If I did find a break of a momentary rider to draft off, I usually dropped them on the next hill.  This was the entire race for me, along with dealing with traffic lines on some portions of single track.  The penalty of losing my early start wave is exactly what I got.  Me generally being the faster guy not finding relief with other fast riders to ride with.  Iceman is a strategy race where pace lines and drafting can net you not just seconds, but like 10 minutes. 


I finished the race safely in just over 1:58, beating my goal of 2 hours.  I ended up 10th and missed my podium, but given the year I had the race is still a success.  Next year I earned my faster start wave back and will have fast riders to work with.  That should help with my new goal of breaking 1:50 and landing a spot on the podium.







Check back for Video soon!