2017 Tour De Bloom, By Chad Eder
This was only my second time racing the Tour de Bloom but it has already become a tradition. The race offers large fields in every category, one of Washington’s only hors catégorie climbs, a well-officiated road race and features a criterium than can best be described as surreal.
Mission Ridge Hill Climb
Although a mass start, I am convinced this race is best considered a TT effort. Combining the morning chill, nerves and adrenaline, the first 2km are a punch in the face. After settling in and using riders ahead to drive me on, I finished 9th with a 60-second PR.
Downtown Twilight Criterium
Without doubt, the crit is the main attraction. Loud music, thousands of people, plenty of beer and crazy-fast racing must be experienced to understand. I was thrilled to be in the mix for the entire race. I competed for one of the primes and bunch sprinted to a 10thplace finish, which move me into 7th overall.
Waterville Road Race
About 30 minutes north of Wenatchee, the road race is held in open fields and rolling hills. The wind seems to be more difficult for racers from the west side...
Only 10km in, I found myself in a tidy nine-man break. Most of us were so proud of ourselves that we did not even react when 2 Audi team guys attacked
and instantly had a huge gap. (They ended up surviving for the win). Our remaining seven worked together pretty well but if I was to have any chance
of making the event podium, I would have to beat this group. I attacked at 3k only to be caught a bit later. I attacked again at 900m, got a gap but was caught and ripped to shreds in the last 200m. I finished 8th which was good enough for
an overall 4th place. Against the backdrop of one of the best locations that Eastern Washington has to offer, TdB is an excellent event.
Mission Ridge Hill Climb
Although a mass start, I am convinced this race is best considered a TT effort. Combining the morning chill, nerves and adrenaline, the first 2km are a punch in the face. After settling in and using riders ahead to drive me on, I finished 9th with a 60-second PR.
Downtown Twilight Criterium
Without doubt, the crit is the main attraction. Loud music, thousands of people, plenty of beer and crazy-fast racing must be experienced to understand. I was thrilled to be in the mix for the entire race. I competed for one of the primes and bunch sprinted to a 10thplace finish, which move me into 7th overall.
Waterville Road Race
About 30 minutes north of Wenatchee, the road race is held in open fields and rolling hills. The wind seems to be more difficult for racers from the west side...
Only 10km in, I found myself in a tidy nine-man break. Most of us were so proud of ourselves that we did not even react when 2 Audi team guys attacked
and instantly had a huge gap. (They ended up surviving for the win). Our remaining seven worked together pretty well but if I was to have any chance
of making the event podium, I would have to beat this group. I attacked at 3k only to be caught a bit later. I attacked again at 900m, got a gap but was caught and ripped to shreds in the last 200m. I finished 8th which was good enough for
an overall 4th place. Against the backdrop of one of the best locations that Eastern Washington has to offer, TdB is an excellent event.
2015 SEA OTTER RACE REPORT, BY CRAIG GROENDYKE
Greg Turpen and I went to Monterey Ca. last week for the 25th Sea Otter Classic to race the Mountain Bike Cross Country Event on Sunday morning. For those who have not been to or heard of Sea Otter, “It is BIG”. 10,000 participants, 420 manufactures and vendors exhibiting everything in the bike industry you can image. Sea Otter runs for 4 days. The center of all the activity is the Laguna Seca Raceway and uses the BLM Fort Ord Reservation.
We did a pre ride on Thursday of the course, and went back on Friday to meet Jerry and Ty Fox, former Chinook members now living in Redmond. Greg road the course again with Jerry and Ty and found that we had missed part of the course on Thursday. The course markings had been moved after we road on Thursday. This is why it is a good idea to pre ride! Friday I checked out the vendors and got a little sunburned. I think it got to 80F. Saturday Greg and I did a 1 hour ride in Monterey and Pacific Grove, on part of the 17 Mile Drive. Wow. Right on the shore of Monterey Bay. Beautiful! So far so good. More rest than last year. Legs felt GOOD.
We woke up Sunday to FOG and temperatures in the upper 40’s, low 50’s at race time. Our start times were 7:46 and 7:54 AM. For me it was knee warmers and arm warmers. Off we went, Greg had over 40 in this race, I had 7 riders. I had ridden against 3 that I knew. Stan Ford (69), who had won this Cat 1 65-69 XC race 4 years in a row and finished 2nd at last years XC National Championships was the focus of my attention. Off we went and another rider, Rich Mazella (65), went right to the front. I settled in 4th place. We got to the first hill and Rich just started to ride away. Stan was just letting him go. I decided to ride a little harder and went after Rich. Up a hill and then down a gravel road, a couple of minutes later I was catching Rich and no one was in sight behind me. The course descends to a paved road, and I had caught Rich, so off we went together. The next section of single track Rich lead and I was able to stay with him for several minutes, before he pulled away not to be seen again. Still no one in sight behind me. After some up and down, paved road and finally the steepest section of single tract, I heard a rider behind me. It was Stan. We basically road the rest of the race together, never more than 20 seconds apart. He got ahead on the single track descents, and I would catch and pass him on the climbs. A lot of the course was on gravel roads. So, I could see him and slowly reel him in. That might have been my downfall. We got to the last climb and I am about 15 seconds behind Stan. I start reeling him in. Just before the top, there is a steep section of about 20%. I see Stan get off his bike. I thought, I’ve got you. He is a couple of seconds ahead when I get to the top. He told me later that he got off the bike because he had a cramp. The cramp did not last very long. He jumped on the bike and was off. A short section of twisty single track, a hard left turn uphill, puts you on the Laguna Raceway. 40 plus MPH down the race way and I am not going to catch Stan. I finished in 3rd place, 8 seconds behind him. Last year Stan beat me by about 14 minutes. This year I improved my time on nearly the same course by 14 minutes. Needless to sat I was VERY HAPPY! A lot of work and help from Greg this past year, got me on the Podium. Greg finished 8th in his race against a stacked field. This year’s course favored a climber and had very little single track descending, which is Greg’s strength. Stan told me he saw my time from last year and said, I don’t need to worry about him. Then he asked me, what did I do different this year? I said, I rested more. One extra day of recovery after the pre ride made a huge difference for me. The course was about 23 miles and had 3,500 feet of climbing. It is hard for me to pre ride that much and not be a little tired.
Next year we would like some more riders from the Tri Cities to come with us. Mark your calendars, April 14 - 17, 2016 is the 26th Sea Otter Classic. I am looking forward to going again. I move up a age group, and so does Stan.
Mountain Bike Nationals 2014
From Craig Groendyke
2014 Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships - July 5th - Sun Valley/Ketchum, ID
The Mountain Bike Marathon Cross Country National Championships returned to Sun Valley area for the second year in a row. This year was nearly the identical course that I road in 2013. 2 laps around Bald Mountain, 38.6 miles and nearly 6100 feet of climbing. I was hoping the weather would be cooler this year, but not so. 90 F and clear skies were what Mother Nature offered up.
I arrived late morning on Friday, and contacted Lori Selby, who was also racing on Saturday, and we did a pre ride to checkout the steepest climbs on the lower section of the Cold Springs Trail. There are two short sections with 22% slopes on this climb that eventually takes you up to 8200 feet. We rode back to the S/F and then up a ski area service road to access the lower section of single tract trail that takes you to the S/F. We rode down a few of it’s hair pin switchbacks to get a feel for the turns and trail conditions.
My start time was 8:12 AM Saturday, and off I went. Master men 55 - 59, 60 -64, 65 - 69, and 70+ starting together. My goals this year were: to improve my total time, not get any cramps (like I got in 2013, and Lori got this year), and to keep my energy level up through the race. After my pre-ride the day before, I decided to not go too hard on the first climb and save some energy for the second lap. The 2014 approach included: dill pickle juice, for cramp prevention; Hammer Sustained Energy drink for easy to absorb fuel; plus lots of Hammer Endurolytes, GU gels and a Camelbak filled with ice water. Pickle juice may sound disgusting, but it works! You wand to drink it chilled, as it has a bit when it gets warm. I used about 9 oz’s during the race. Thanks to Greg T for the idea.
The pickle juice, Endurolytes, and lots of water took care of the cramping. The Sustained Energy drink and gels took care of keeping the fuel level up. Thank goodness there was a breeze blowing on the south side of Bald Mountain to help keep the body temperature in check. The second lap was ridden in 90 F temperatures and 15% humidity. I had to continually remind myself to drink water and fuel. The second lap climb was about 10 minutes slower than the first lap, but I could feel the fatigue coming on fast as I approached the top (8200 ft elevation). The down hill run back to the S/F was accomplished in 1 hour and 4 minutes 28 seconds on the first lap and only 20 seconds slower on lap 2. I felt real good about that as I also wanted to improve my descending skills for this year’s race. 2014 time was 5:03:00, 18 minutes faster than 2013. After the race, I was tired but not hammered like I was last year. I finished in 5th place, so, happily, I figure all my goals were met this year. Now all I have to do is to figure out how to climb faster and take my descending skills to the next level (without getting injured).
Lori Selby finished 2nd in the women’s 50-54 group and Aaron Stites, who had a 1:20 PM start time and had to ride his entire race in 90 F conditions, plus the added bonus of a 10 mile loop over the top of Bald Mountain (9151 ft), got 5th in the men’s 35-39 group. All three riders from the Tri-Cities made the podium!
Thanks to everyone who I have ridden and trained with this year, especially those who persevered the cold winter training night rides and the more recent Whistran radio tower rides with me.
Craig Groendyke
2014 Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships - July 5th - Sun Valley/Ketchum, ID
The Mountain Bike Marathon Cross Country National Championships returned to Sun Valley area for the second year in a row. This year was nearly the identical course that I road in 2013. 2 laps around Bald Mountain, 38.6 miles and nearly 6100 feet of climbing. I was hoping the weather would be cooler this year, but not so. 90 F and clear skies were what Mother Nature offered up.
I arrived late morning on Friday, and contacted Lori Selby, who was also racing on Saturday, and we did a pre ride to checkout the steepest climbs on the lower section of the Cold Springs Trail. There are two short sections with 22% slopes on this climb that eventually takes you up to 8200 feet. We rode back to the S/F and then up a ski area service road to access the lower section of single tract trail that takes you to the S/F. We rode down a few of it’s hair pin switchbacks to get a feel for the turns and trail conditions.
My start time was 8:12 AM Saturday, and off I went. Master men 55 - 59, 60 -64, 65 - 69, and 70+ starting together. My goals this year were: to improve my total time, not get any cramps (like I got in 2013, and Lori got this year), and to keep my energy level up through the race. After my pre-ride the day before, I decided to not go too hard on the first climb and save some energy for the second lap. The 2014 approach included: dill pickle juice, for cramp prevention; Hammer Sustained Energy drink for easy to absorb fuel; plus lots of Hammer Endurolytes, GU gels and a Camelbak filled with ice water. Pickle juice may sound disgusting, but it works! You wand to drink it chilled, as it has a bit when it gets warm. I used about 9 oz’s during the race. Thanks to Greg T for the idea.
The pickle juice, Endurolytes, and lots of water took care of the cramping. The Sustained Energy drink and gels took care of keeping the fuel level up. Thank goodness there was a breeze blowing on the south side of Bald Mountain to help keep the body temperature in check. The second lap was ridden in 90 F temperatures and 15% humidity. I had to continually remind myself to drink water and fuel. The second lap climb was about 10 minutes slower than the first lap, but I could feel the fatigue coming on fast as I approached the top (8200 ft elevation). The down hill run back to the S/F was accomplished in 1 hour and 4 minutes 28 seconds on the first lap and only 20 seconds slower on lap 2. I felt real good about that as I also wanted to improve my descending skills for this year’s race. 2014 time was 5:03:00, 18 minutes faster than 2013. After the race, I was tired but not hammered like I was last year. I finished in 5th place, so, happily, I figure all my goals were met this year. Now all I have to do is to figure out how to climb faster and take my descending skills to the next level (without getting injured).
Lori Selby finished 2nd in the women’s 50-54 group and Aaron Stites, who had a 1:20 PM start time and had to ride his entire race in 90 F conditions, plus the added bonus of a 10 mile loop over the top of Bald Mountain (9151 ft), got 5th in the men’s 35-39 group. All three riders from the Tri-Cities made the podium!
Thanks to everyone who I have ridden and trained with this year, especially those who persevered the cold winter training night rides and the more recent Whistran radio tower rides with me.
Craig Groendyke