To Kopp or Not to Kopp? - 03/29/07

Well, yesterday it was in the mid-60s. Today when I woke up at 6am, it was 28 and it had dumped 4-6 inches of snow. Here it is, 12:30pm, and it is still snowing. And tomorrow calls for rain at least, if not more snow. Given that Sunday's race is half off-road, these 2 days of bad weather will jeopardize our ability to race.

So, to do the Koppenberg or not to do the Koppenberg? That will be the $1M question to answer. A little wetness is OK; it packs the dirt down and actually makes the roads more rideable. However, the problem with the dirt roads is that a lot of moisture turns them to mucky clay. Unless the sun blazes and the temps soar, the roads will be a sloppy mess on Sunday and no one will be riding on the dirt.

It would be a shame if the race were cancelled. It's a good way to start off the season, and they just re-graded the road earlier this week. All possibly for naught.

Time will tell over the next few days, but it's not looking good right now . . .

"300" Reasons to Kick Ass - 03/27/07

So, I saw "300" for the second time this past weekend. Great flick; I highly recommend it. What hit home this second viewing was the no fear attitude of the Spartans. It brought full circle my years as a collegiate swimmer and the fact that, as a member of the most successful dynasty in collegiate sports' history, we never considered losing. The word or any of its derivatives did not exist in our vocabulary. To consider losing at the NCAA championships would be blasphemous.

Somewhere over the ensuing two decades, I lost a piece of that killer instinct. I had thought it was fully intact until last Sunday. Something shifted inside my head and I realized that, to that point, my edge had been a little blunted. I'm not sure when it started to happen, nor do I care. What's important is that I noticed the bluntness of the blade. In a flash, the edge had been honed to its former sharpness. Clean. Ready.

A key line from the movie comes from King Leonidas, as King Xerxes' vaunted army is rushing forth to seemingly overwhelm and destroy the Spartans. He turns to his 300 men and shouts, "Give them nothing! But take from them, everything!" This is how I plan to approach - no, attack - racing this year. Every race will be a battle. I'll fear no one and give no one credit until it is earned and deserved. I'll fear no race nor any particular rider. To do so would be premature and serve no purpose but to give me an excuse for a sub-par performance or for losing. A victory may not be my crossing the line in first; it may be classified as giving the perfect lead out for one of our sprinters. Or something else, based on a particular race's goals as defined by and and agreed upon by the team.

This year should prove to be a wild, fun ride. I'm looking forward to the first test this weekend, the Koppenberg. My training shows I'm ready. The result will be what it will be. But I expect nothing less than the best.

Till later,
Nate

The Time is Nigh - 03/23/07

In just over a week, I'll be toeing the line at my first race of 2007. Feedback Sports has already experienced some early successes this month, with Tim Malton lighting it up at one of the Stazio crits a couple weeks ago. That dude us F-A-S-T! When he moves up to the 3s, we'll have so many end-of-race weapons we'll have a difficult time deciding who to set the leadout train for. Will (hopefully) be a nice problem to have.

Everyone is gelling well and the team is looking particularly strong. Next weekend's race, the Koppenberg, is always a doozy. We get to do 6.5 laps of the course, so 35.5 miles and 7 trips up the (expletive) hill. If the hill weren't rutty dirt, it wouldn't be so bad. The key will be to nail the first half-lap, which is the run-in to the first traverse of the climb. If we're too far back, we're screwed. It is best to anticipate about 6-8 minutes of initial and complete discomfort due to a high pace before being able to settle in somewhat. The goal is to be at the front that first time up the climb. Let the monkeys fall off and screw things up behind me and avoid playing the yo-yo game.

Winter fitness is better than ever. Weight is leaving me lean and mean. No expectations on this one - its sole purpose is to blow out the rust. But, I will say that I will be disappointed if I do not finish in the front group, regardless of how big or small it ends up being.

More later . . .

Nate

Scott Kornfield - I Miss You, Dude - 03/11/07

Scott Kornfield

I thought about Scott during my ride yesterday. Five hours will give you a lot of time to think about a lot of things. As I wound my way up Flagstaff Mountain, then further south for three long passes up NCAR before meeting the team for some pacelining fun out toward Carter Lake, I thought about Scott while on the terrain and among the settings we most love - the mountains.

Scott and I were happiest when the road pitched up. The more challenging and grueling, the better. Thinking about Scott yesterday was bittersweet. A smile creased my face as I thought about our challenging rides together in the mountains. But then the events of the day he died crashed through the fun memories like a battering ram through a castle gate. Snapshots of him getting hit, the look on his face, the sound of the impact and the traumatic fallout of events as I turned around, threw my bike down and ran back to his broken body flipped through my mind, unwelcome, like a slide show.

I found myself gripping my handlebars more tightly and clenching my jaw. A pit opened in my stomach. Here it is almost two years after his death and, at times, it still haunts me. Yesterday, I hit a ripple.

And that's OK. Hitting the ripples is expected. It's not fun, but it's a fact of coping with tragedy. Scott is sorely missed by many people. It should never get old thinking this, saying this, or sharing this with both those who knew him and didn't know him. He was and remains a special person.

Scott, we're going to create some Sonic Booms for you this year.

See ya,
Nate

The Racing Season is Upon Us! - 03/11/07

In just 3 weeks, the racing season will officially open on April 1st, with the Koppenberg race in Louisville. Feedback Sports will be well-represented in both the 4s and 3s. Those of us who moved up to the 3s are confident the switch will occur fairly smoothly. Despite the heightened competition, we raced every bit as fast - and, in a good number of cases, faster - than the 3s did last year (when we were spurring the flanks of the 4s).

My goals are totally focused on the 15-day stretch in July which spans 3 consecutive weekends of racing and hits 3 of the 4 State Champ races - the crit, followed by the HC (also the national championship), and then the RR. This and the fact that 3s races are, for the most part, longer than the 4s races, training consistently this winter was pretty important.

I just looked back at my training log and compared where I am today to the same time last year. In short, it's all good. I've logged more hours on the bike, have put in signficantly more long rides, and am leaner and stronger. Despite the quirky winter we've had which dumped more snow in the valley than I can remember in the past 15 years and brought with it some brutally cold spells which prohibited riding outside for weeks at a stretch. And I have yet to start ramping things up! As an example, I'm about 2 minutes behind my litmus test up Flagstaff Mountain - the climb I use as a benchmark for my climbing fitness. But, it's early-March, so where I am at is about perfect. If I'm 2 minutes behind come June, then I'll be worried!

The team is gelling well, training well and I'm confident we'll show solid results in both categories. While April racing won't necessarily tell the tale of how the entire season will go, it certainly will set the tone. I, for one, am excited to get out there and start racing!

Ride safe,
Nate