Wicked Mountains

Hampshire 100/Mt Washington Auto Road Hill Climb “King of the Mountains Double Dare”

My resolution post Pro XCT was to “put the mountain back into mountain biking”.  I had a blast and wrapped up the national series with 3 wins 10 podium finishes and 2^nd over all For sure that was a lot of laps and I was jones’n to get out and do some scary stuff on some deep trails.

As I planned the double trouble weekend that bordered on absurd.  I said to myself “Tinker did it last year.” Should’a thought about that one a bit…  Ha ha ha.

Saturday was the 40^th annually Mt Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hill Climb. A race steeped in legend and lore. It is so hard to get into that someone has to die for a spot to open up and the weather at the top is among the worst weather in the World. Winds exceeding huricane force take place on this mountain an average of 110 days out of the year! http://zielonko.org/bike/new_england/mtwash.htm

I thought to myself pre trip yeah yeah; I know it’s a steep road and what not.  I went with a gear easier than normal 34 with a 12-28 on my 12 pound Cannondale Super 6 EVO. This was however like going to fish for jaws in the little dingy they use in the movie.   BAD IDEA.

Because the road is closed to riders 363 days of the year and I arrived the night before it was going to be a “surprise” to see what’s up there. Yep it was a surprise alright.  Clouds flying at you like fuzzy parade floats at 45 miles an hour. You even brace for impact and then just every thing goes fuzz for a second. The back to blue it’s kind of strange while in an anerobic trance.

Prior to the race I bet friend /coaching client and climbing specialist Cameron Cogburn that I could take him in the double.   He rocked a 4^th at Leadville last weekend and has the second best time on Mt Washington ever recorded so I knew it would be good.  We agreed on percent based formula for our bet.

The gun went off and we quicky ground to a near hault on the first 14% pitch.

I realized quickly the legs I had hoped for where still in my checked bag, I suffered hard after the first couple thousand feet of ascent.

Cameron set off in pursuit of Tom Danielsons record.   I set to a hard pace and was moving pretty good for my lack of specific prep.  The first incline was very steep and had mean pitches relegating me to for the rest of the climbing into low back twisting 55 -65 cadence.

I took in the jaw dropping scenery as we approached treeline realizing I was getting 3^rd and that was that.  Switchbacks twisted like intestines of some mythic beast…then  the road gave way to packed wet sand.  Dripping in sweat from the intense effort we rounded a exposed switch back and it was like someone opened a door to and arctic wind storm. 45 mile an hour 45 degree gust and I was chilled to the bone in an instant. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Washington_(New_Hampshire)

I remembered the wind whisle thru the spokes and the intense pain in both feet.  Some spectators in costum yelled “almost there”!!    expecting to see the top I saw a tower sticking out of a cloud another 1,400 feet vertical feet above..  “o damn”  I paced myself so I wouldn’t fall over in the final 24 percent corkscrew. The crowd was going nuts, it was pretty sick, like a mountain top finish in the Tour.

I crossed the line after 44 minutes and it was like an arctic weather station triage zone! Fans yelling and people wrapped like refuges in complimentary blankets, the wind was raging in the thin air. Would I do it again? yes but with a massive gear swap and after a month of Jenny Craig! Cameron won and was 3+ minutes ahead so I had some work to do! Based off the precent formula I would need to win by almost 20 minutes a near impossible feat.

200 miles south in the rolling green mountains of New Hampshire riders were gear up for the Hampshire 100 a test of grit  and single track fortitude.  But we where still a 3 hour drive from the race. I was nervous about having not raced longer than 3 hrs this year and more so because my huge gear workout blasted my muscles to a cramped spaghetti.

6:45 came way too early we set off with the lead group and played it as efficiently as possible. A lead group formed and luckily it was flat for a while letting me wake up my legs. I managed to ride a super steep power line climb and used the technical single track as a wedge to pressure the other riders. It seemed only Christian could follow in this stuff and I vowed to fight for this one having had a bad day yesterday. It was all or nothing.

I pushed hard to open a gap at mile 55 and got a minute gap after pushing an impossible to hold pace.  I decided to make a break for it a really long break!   On the rail trail sections I imagined my chasers working together to close down on my narrow 2 min lead.  Pushing while my legs were still good was the plan get a gap “if I fade out Ill just try to hold on”

Some how and I have no good reason for it other than it was my day… my motor turned full diesel and I could drive the big ring for much of the last 25 miles! I had one hell of a second wind and remembered the race that crushed me last year.

Remembering the bet I had made with Cameron Cogburn the day before that I could take him in the diabolical double.  Last I heard Christian Tanguy was 10 minutes back and Cam in 3^rd.   I need 20 minutes to claim the game so I was in full tt mode!   Well; Camerons freehub blew while he was in 3^rd a few minutes back, I had no clue so I just put it to the maximum.  We agreed to a re match at the Alpine Loop Gran Fondo.

I won by the largest margin I have ever won any race by almost 17 minutes!
I can’t forget the thrill of racing the lead moto down a couple of the sweeping final single tracks and pinning it xc style sliding the turns and going for seconds, It was sweet awesomeness.

16,000 ft of climbing in a weekend within only 8 hrs and 107 miles the big mountain adventure is BACK!  Next stop Shenandoah 100!

Thanks to Team Sho-Air/Cannondale for the bikes and support; Arnie Mostowy and Tom Barton for support on site and Goodales Bike Shop for the bike build!
http://www.northeastcycling.com/Hillclimb_Races.html for those looking for all the dirt on the north east hill climbs.

http://www.strava.com/activities/76096809

Strava from the Hampshire 100 – not big climbs but plenty of roots, single-track and deep forest.

http://dirtwire.tv/2013/08/hampshire-100-the-movie/

The Summer Crux

“Crux: bottom line; the bulls eye; the hard, main challenge. The word stems from the Latin word “cruc” or cross and implies great suffering.” Though I plan on lots of lung-searing, leg-burning intervals my hope is that the leader the of race feels like he is doling out the suffering.

Todd Wells and I are locking horns in an exciting battle for the Pro XCT overall. Trailing by 35 points after close second at the Bump and Grind last week, I am fired up for the remaining 4 races. Just one spot next week would put me back in the lead, so 35 points is actually a small margin.

In addition to the Pro XCT’s of course are the two National title races I am pumped on; Marathon National Championships  in Sun Valley and Cross Country National Championships at Bear Creek PA. After that I might add a stage race later on like Breck Epic, or I might just go fishing and call it a great year and start building a cabin on top of a cliff somewhere, nah…

Back to the latest happenings since the May training block;

I took a few days off. Work on the Gran Fondo is going great (mostly thanks to my wife Erin)

We are very excited to welcome aboard Flow Porsche of Charlottesville . We share their enthusiasm for doing things with exceptional style and panache. Check out their page, and take time to sign up for the Porsche newsletter for great photos and stay up to speed on all amazing new cars they have and are about to launch! This year’s Fondo will have an even more robust finish line party with bands, beer and fun. I think we’ll have more reasons for everyone to come check out the scene. It’s great to welcome back New Belgium Brewing; I just tried the ROlle Bolle and it was crisp citrusy summer beer with hints of honeysuckle – or maybe that’s just a smell wafting down from the cool mountains nearby.

Next up, “Blood Camp” in Beech Mountain North Carolina was fun – kind of. Right after Bump I drove up to meet with star climbing ace and winner of the Mt Washington Hill Climb; Cameron Cogburn. Let’s just say he goes up hill like Porche 911 turbo. We hit some epic rides in the high-country including 3 days and 30,000 ft of climbing on Sugar, Roan, little Switzerland and Beech mountain!  I was tired from two hard races, as you might imagine, but stoked because with this the prep for the summer block is mostly done!

Speaking of Switzerland; it was awesome seeing Joe D at Tour of Swiss this week riding solo of the front on the queen stage. So close… he was caught in the final kilometers of the climb, just a warning shot.

Last couple weeks have been awesome thanks to the hard work of the Sho-Air/Cannondale team and the great support is paying off for all of our team members and we have collectively hit the pay dirt: Max the “mountie” Plaxton scored 7^th and 5^th in the opening World Cups! Pua came back like Rocky at Bump and Gring to double-up XC and short track!

Our super champion manager Ty Kady showed us how its done with wins in the xc and stxc! Also at Bump and Gring, I had a surprise 1^st short track win of the season and nailed it!

Ryan Trebon and I finally worked together and I gave him a podium kiss! Ha ha ha…

I was so excited after the short track I couldn’t sleep. The next day, I was groggy but rode an aggressive cross country race and lead Wells by 10 seconds for several miles after “blood rock” and “Jekyll and Hyde.” Lapped traffic on the course was frustrating and lost me a couple seconds, then it was back together with 2k left!!!  My bad line on the last turn cost me! Note: outside line is worth a couple feet in a final sprint.  I was 2^nd by a tire in the Cross Country! Dang.

Pro XCT Bump n Grind was a fun one nonetheless and a great event hosted by some awesome folks down there in Birmingham.

Massanutten Hoo Ha rings in the summer for me, and was super-cool to win the 25^th annual race on a new course and in rain-slick conditions.  Nick Waite was flying and, unfortunately for him, flew off the course and landed on some rocks! OUCH!

The ground work has been laid and now its time for some high-intensity, shorter rides and of course some fun new races. I have not been to Wisconsin or Missoula, Montana before, so its going to be a blast to try out both races that receive great reviews.

The crux is here. Time to punch it and put my best races together for the summer’s peak. Stay tuned; you can rest assurured I will be putting the hammer to work and having some fun!

Jeremiah Bishop

Sho-Air/Cannondale

(Check out some more of the great pics on Facebook by team media guru John Muller.)

Spring Racing is ON!

I love the kickoff to race season. After a long winter of preparation, tough training and laying all the groundwork of things, it’s cool to getting to the real fun – time to fly!

The smell of fresh flowers and new rubber seems to excite the senses. Seeing old friends, making new ones – and of course riding new trails – makes it a blast, no matter the results.

My goal of jumping into the fray of shorter Pro XCT races is two-fold. One goal is to build speed for the big targets of the year – summer stage races like TSE, BC a few NUE races and maybe Marathon Worlds. Second is to make sure we have the Pro XCT #1 plate for the opening rounds. With my teammate Max out while his knee heals, I really wanted to put a good effort in so that we have a strong start to the season. I’m excited for when Pua and Max are back with us in a few weeks.

Highlights of the last couple weeks included getting in some great results, staying in cool places and bonding with the team.

Winning at Bonelli Park! I had legs of steel and attacked the race hard, earning my first PRO XCT win of the year and the points lead!   It was amazing to deliver the win and the #1 plate to Scott Tedro (our team owner and longtime friend). The team support crew including Jordi, Paul, Johnie and Ty all did a great job and allowed me to focus on going fast!

The feeling of showing up to the next race at Fontana with the #1 plate was a great one! I had little to prove, but did have to throw it down.  I knew I’d bring some heat on this race and ride my heart out, but I was just not sure if my legs were recovered from Tuscarora Offroad Weekend’s mud-fest where the running was a shock but sliding down mud shoots and squirmy turns was a hoot.  In pre-riding Fontana I was on-point and feeling the Flash had never been so dialed! The day before the race, I did a hot-lap that could cook a goose. My teammate Alex Grant was hot on my heels though and I knew he would ride well (in fact he was 6^th on race day!).

In the race, Todd Wells was a tenacious competitor, but I was feeling amazing and attacked on lap 3 to forge ahead. I nailed the course’s technical rocky single-track lines with purpose. It was an intense course, but every second started adding up.  I extended the gap to 45 seconds with just 10 minutes of mostly downhill flat riding left and POP! I gasped as my victory lap turned into the race to repair my chain. I had my quick link in my mouth and chain tool out…15 seconds, I reached from my chain tool and went to work pushing out the dead link… 30 seconds… Wells rolled by “bummer man,” he said surely feeling some sympathy. The chain pin dropped in the dirt……….. ‘Damn!’ picking it up and getting it back in place seemed to take forever.… My hands shook and sweat burned my eyes.  I kept my calm, and pushed the pin out with my chain tool and got the quick link in place. With care, I jumped back up to speed just in time to be joined by Scott racer Cameron Jette who was riding strong. I punched it with everything I had just in case I could salvage the day. Indeed a Silver medal was a surprise and being 90-seconds back from Wells retained my #1 points lead by a 75 point margin!

Great riding by my other teammates on Cannondale in the race was a highlight, Ben Sontag of Interbank Cannondale scored in 4^th   in the XC moving to 3^rd in the standings, and Keegan was 4^th in the short track! Cannondale’s ‘cross specialist Ryan Trebon was 3^rd in short track, I was second after a nail biter sprint. It showed that Cannondale means business in North America’s biggest races, and with Sea Otter Classic and Whiskey 50 up next we are ready for some great racing action.

Time to put on a show, SHO-AIR style!

– Jeremiah

Pro XCT #1 In the Books! Silver Medal, But Drew First Blood.

The hill country of Texas was the backdrop to an awesome battle that had some of the world’s best mountain bikers torching it full-blast – many for the first time this season. With every bit of ammo they had, the men and women fought it out on the 6-kilometer technical corral strewn marbled course. Rocks were flying, sand and dust swirled, as riders put in maximum efforts in the sweaty dogfight.

As I was warming up, news came over the radio that my teammate Pua was with the medics and had broken something. I cringed at the thought, tuning this out and racing a smooth strong race took all my concentration.

As is the case for the first race of the season, none of us North Americans had a clue how much we really had in the tank – myself included. This however did not stop me from spending every match in the book and putting attacks down in an effort to stretch the field.

Zanstra and Kabush went.
I covered.
Wells dug deep.

We chopped each other through turns and it got aggressive out there. However, the course’s short punchy climbs and brief straightaways kept the pack together. I did have a good answer to most of the heat put on by Zanstra, Kabush and Wells, but it was Aussie Dan McConnell finishing off his summer who had just a little more kick than I. I lead the KOM and was on the front feeling strong most of the race.

It wasn’t until a harsh attack with two-to-go that had us on full pace. Kabush was railing the turns, McConnell was in tow, and so was Wells. I heard some commotion in the back there. A wreck – I think – may have held him up a little? Now it was just we three: Kabush and me with McConnell on the attack! Full speed, but my lines allowed me to roll up on him.

I did put a surprise few attacks on the technical section but the rock slab line only proved to put me into the lead for the sprint for which I had no practice since last season.

Alas, a perfect approach to the finale except my legs had one-less match than required to best a world-class rider in summer fitness.

A very good race!

About as fit and sharp as I wanted to be with twenty days left of winter! So I’m excited about the coming races. My teammate Alex Grant too was on-point for a snow bird – rocking the top-ten! I think his season will be his best yet, given this first race was a mere sprint.

After the race, we had a little ice cream party with M&M’s cookies and treats to celebrate the weekend and to keep the mojo going post-race. A drink and some quality hanging out, watching bad YouTube videos that Alex found and voila: laughs and good times! It was a memorable weekend that had many highlights like the 1,600-acre ranch with a mountain top castle that was our home for the week. There’s nothing like an endless pool that looks out over an entire county!

There was even a grotto; a blue lagoon a couple miles away on the property that had an outdoor hot tub built next to it. SHO-AIR is all about pimpin’ it out.

All in all, I’m very happy with my strong effort and form for this early and with having a great run to hold the torch for the team. I wish Pua a speedy recovery from her fractured fibula. I think by the time Sea Otter rolls around, we will all be back in full attendance with Max back on his game. Sometimes a little rest does a body good, so take it when you got it, be mellow when you don’t.

Thanks to the SHO-AIR/Cannondale staff Ty, John, Paul, and Jordi for keeping the Scalpel sharp, the logistics smooth, and the weekend fun!

– Jeremiah

[Recap, video interviews, and links to photo galleries from the event are available here. – Editor]

Fire in Ice

Today I came to several groundbreaking realizations:

1. If you are wearing a down coat, no one suspects you could be shirtless underneath. This feels very sneaky and fun.
2. A cornered possum does not have that much it can do to defend itself from predators.
3. If you have not raced in several months, it’s tough to tell how you will do in your first race despite hard days on the bike.

 

Perhaps these things don’t have much in common; such are thoughts as they cascade on a cold winter day.

Yesterday’s jaunt in the snow was (I hope) one of my last nasty winter rides for the year. Next week I line up with the rest of the probably-more-tan-than-me pros at Mellow Johnny’s Pro XCT for a test of who’s done their homework.

The sky today was in conflict: snow one minute, and the curiously warm rays of the golden afternoon sun the next. I was content just to get anything in today – the last week has been miserable. Two days of trainer rides; a cold windy motor-pace day; and today seemed to have me in pajama-mode not wanting to ride bikes. I found motivation in that I will be in sunny Texas soon and the winter is nearing an end here in Virginia – the warmer conditions to come are the rewards for the hard winters days.

I was SO glad I made it out to the mountains because it was beautiful. There was some exploration to be had and I even got in some tempo climbing on one of my remote go-to training grounds. The sky swirled one minute with snow curtains and ink colored clouds. Then as if by script I ascended a south-facing climb of shale and long gold grass and the heat was twice what I expected – my own personal desert. The fire in the sky has come back and it was not to be denied.

I enjoyed the rest of the ride; the rain sprinkles, a new logging track I have never seen before, and the general feeling of working outdoors is invigorating especially given how busy the coming month will be. After the ride, I changed out of my clothes and realized I’d forgot a shirt. So, jeans and a parka it was. As I went in to pick up some spicy Indian carryout, I smiled knowingly.

The pre-season has been a good one; with a lot of tough training, good times with friends and family over the holidays, and camps in Cali and SC.

It is always better out there than you think it will be and you’ll be glad to be outside feeling alive. So, when in doubt: get out!

Perhaps no one else knows what’s under the parka, but I do and it’s a lot of bike rides and some solid good times outside.

JB