A Skin Suit?!

Whoa, Check out the Hammer Velo kits. We will sure stand out in a crowd. With the crazy colors, patterns, the flash and the STRIPES I feel very costumed and its COOL! Alia is pumped to have her team jersey too. I have shorts and a short sleeve jersey too, but the skin suit feels great!

Connecting with RAO and ROF Racers Near and Far

What a great week for reconnecting with far flung friends. We heard from Al Smudz, RAO winner, 2007 & 08 and super nice guy from Michigan and David Holt, who is not only a helpful and encouraging man, but also a new Sebring record holder, this week. Word is, while qualified for RAAM, AL has his sights set on Furnace Creek 508, a race through Death Valley October 3. Someone close to me believes Al could very well be the big winner this year.

Al was the previous over all record holder at Sebring 24 w/489.8 in 2008. Al reports that David road 490 miles Feb. 14/15, 2009 with the support of his wife Susan. Al lent support while riding the 12 hour race as a training ride and then joined Susan. Now I’m not sure, but I believe David is in the 50+ category and holds at least one other 24-hour record.

Glenn Johnson’s not been riding much but is working hard to make LaCultra a great ultra race just over the border in WA. May 23-24.

It’s about time to see or hear from Ricky Martin, the happiest solo racer at 2006 RAO. He was looking to race RAAM in 2009, but I haven’t seen or heard from him for a while. I heard through the grapevine that Urs Koenig, the man who is too often called a machine because of his steady, strong and consistent riding is preparing for this year’s RAAM. The truth is I don’t know Urs except how he looks on a bike and how amazingly steady he rides. Just the same, he will be exciting to follow on this year’s Race Across America.

We look forward to seeing David Holt at the Davis 24 hour challenge in early April. Before that we look forward to hearing how George Thomas and Terri Gouch’s newest race, The Hill Country 600 near San Antonia, Texas March 14 – 15 goes.

For me the race scene is local. This weekend the Banana Belt series begins out at Hagg Lake. I am nervous about it, but also excited to be racing as part of Team Hammer Velo.

Hammer on …

Ultra Marathon time Trialers Show Up at Jack Frost TT

I had fun racing the Jack Frost TT, but there were other highlights about Sunday’s event I am excited to share. Pulling into the venue we spotted Sandy Earl, female ultra racer extraordinaire. Minutes later Bill Nicolai, Hammer Nutrition’s photo and testimonial celebrity and 60+ ultra marathon racer. While we were warming up another outstanding and very fast ultra marathon cyclist, Kenneth Philbrick, came by. It was great to see and visit with these wonderful people. The circle of ultra marathon cyclists is small and at every event the racers and support crew tend to get tight relying on one another.

I know this because I’ve been supporting my man, Hugh on what is now considered short and not so hard ultra races of 300 miles way back when to more recent RAAM qualifying events. He’s modest about it, but it is pretty dang cool that he has ranked 5th in the UMCA (www.ultracycling.com) two years in a row and somewhere around top 10 the year before. There were other ultra marathoners out there including Hammer Velo’s team captain, Jeff Tedder, who has team experience with ultra marathon racing, and yours truly. I did the Ring of Fire, a 12-hour TT last fall and am looking forward to the Lewis and Clark Ultra (LACultra, www.lacultra.com) this spring and the Ring of Fire in the fall. I mention these races because I hope that my Hammer Velo teammates will consider doing these races and/or Race Across Oregon (www.raceacrossoregon.com/) as individuals or teams.

So finally Sunday provided a great experience to gather and race with my new teammates and see some of the people who I’ve come to value and respect through Oregon’s ultra marathon race scene. It was a fun race and a fulfilling day.

2009's First Race

It was a nice day for a bike race. The whole family headed to Vancouver, WA for the Jack Frost TT. It was my first time along with Hammer Velo junior teammate, Kolben Prebel. I found it to be surprisingly fun. Hugh beat his 2005 time by 2 minutes.

I was anxious about being able to push myself and ride hard throughout the 12.4 miles. I kept in mind something Dave Burnard told me last week while we were on a ride. Such a short race was not about riding tempo, but going all out, anaerobic, all the way. I didn’t think I would be able to do it on my own, but when I was on the course hearing my hard swift breath, I knew I could keep it up. “Recover when it’s over.” I told myself. I was pleased that I kept my speed consistent 21-19 mph and my heart rate high all the way. I did it and that made it fun for me.