'08 to date race report

Here is a...I wanted to say short but...long synopsis of the ‘08 season to date. Most of these race reports have come from bits and pieces of emails to TJ.

I really didn't get back to consistent training until about mid April. I guess thats what happens when you buy a house that needs work- and you have to live in it while you remodel everything :) It was about this time though, I had started to think about the race in Angel Fire on Memorial Day weekend, and I knew that if I set a goal to race and finish there, I would train hard for it...and in turn fall back into the rhythm and routine of consistent training from here on out. I can't even begin to explain or where to start about what I've learned from TJ throughout this season. There is a lot more to having a cycling coach than just having someone set up a training schedule.

The first test of my ’08 season came at a Buck Hill Thursday night event on May 8th – 22nd of 40 - about what I had expected given my lack of attention to training (see previous post). Then that weekend was the Spring Cup race at Salem Hills Park in Inver Grove Heights, which is a flat out drag race from start to finish. A basically flat non-technical course. Yeah, I had no horsepower to offer – 19th of 21 in my age group and 92nd of 133 overall in the Sport class. Looking forward to '09 for a much better finish there. The following Thursday, 23rd of 53 at Buck again.

May 25th - Angel Fire, New Mexico on Memorial Weekend. I drove to Denver, and my parents and I drove the rest of the way to AF where we stayed in a realy sweet condo at the base of the mountain. Mom and Dad have really helped support me in this- it makes such a big difference to have your family and friends in your corner cheering you on! Not just at AF but the whole season Mom and Dad following my progress and encouraging me to keep going when the chips were down a couple times. For the race, I did alright for my first mountain race in a couple years getting 12 of 17. I had stepped up training but only in the few weeks prior to get ready and took a lot of questions to the race with me. I came away with a lot of answers…and of course more questions. The next Buck race later that week was 8th of 27- using what I learned in AF, I beat a lot of riders I couldn’t before- sooo….I wasn’t riding 100% before AF??

June 8th MNSCS#2 at Afton Alps Ski Area. From email: The race today at Afton Alps was awesome! It rained all night Saturday so the course was really wet, slippery and soft. This course has some pretty decent climbing built into it for around here, and some of the rock sections riders were having a lot of trouble with- especially since they stayed wet the whole time. I finshed 37th of 118 overall in Sport and 7th of 22 in my age group- 4th thru 8th were all within 45 seconds of each other. I’m really happy with that (in hindsight I can think of ways I could’ve made up some of that 45 seconds during the race)- I don’t think I’ve had a top 10 in this class...well, never with more than 10 riders. I felt much, much stronger on the climbs- I even up shifted and passed a few people on the climbs! I’m not used to that! Maybe the track conditions played in my favor a little today being wet and all, but I gained 5 minutes on the rider that took second at the Spring Cup (he won today). My legs felt great during and after the race, no cramping, or lower back issues either. I can’t wait to do more training!!!

The next two races were at Buck Hill- 3rd of 37 (first top 3 at this venue), and 6th of 46 with probably my hardest crash ever- didn’t break, dislocate, or cut anything but slammed myself into the ground as hard as ever- felt that in my shoulder and neck for the next 6-7 days.

June 22nd – MNSCS#3 at Mont Du Lac Ski area by Duluth. From Email: The climbs are different at Mont Du than at Afton- Aftons were longer with an average grade and Mont Du’s climbs are shorter but much steeper- lots of quick, but very steep climbs, lots of riders in too high of a gear from the dh and stalling half way up. I finished better than I thought I was doing during the race- 5th in my age group, 5:35 back (finished couple minutes closer to the same guys that finished ahead of me at Afton) Overall I was 27th of 92 ~6 min back. With that, I learned something again about climbing, but too late in the race.

I got a decent start – maybe 10th in my wave at the top of the initial climb going into the singletrack, but I felt pretty blown up- after the race, talking to others I found out I wasn’t the only one though. The end of my second lap felt better than the end of my first, my warm-up could’ve been better, especially with the shorter race this year. Last year they raced 3 laps, and I didn’t see any reason for change. My lower back started to act up a little bit in the beginning of the second lap. I wasn’t real excited about the race until I saw the times, then I felt better- after the initial climb I just felt like I got passed by everyone for some reason, but I didn’t. Then, another 3rd place at Buck Hill the next Thursday.

June 29th – MNSCS#4 at Mankato Ski Area. This race was awesome. I took 4th in age and 11th of 82 overall. There was some good climbs, good technical stuff- a really swoopy section appropriately called "the Luge"- it was extremely slick from rain the previous day and proved to be very hard on some riders. I had some fun with it and practiced some smooth two wheel drifting en route to my best finish of the season in the MNSCS series.
July 6th – Wisconsin Off-Road Series (WORS) in Eau Claire. Uggggghhhh. Frustrating. I was holding my own very well with the legs of the Wisconsin "roadie" mountain bikers. There’s drafting in mountain bike racing??? But in the two lap race about ½ way through the 2nd lap, POP goes the tube. AAAHHH!! I was 4th in age and around 15ish overall out of 298 riders!!! I was really hoping to get that good finish in my first time racing in cheeseland. UUgghh! Still frustrated as I write this in August. Fun course though, and WORS puts on a really spectacular event. Tons of riders, spectators, stuff for kids and familys- definitely a real "event".

July 12th – Snowmass Village, CO. Long, long drive to Denver, stay over night, then another 3 1/2 hours to Snowmass Village. Once again, Ugggggghhhh!! -except for other reasons- 2hrs and 43 minutes was my time with THE longest steepest climbs I’ve ever done. I’ve raced this course twice before but only the short loop once and then the Long loop once- this time one long and one short. My back was KILLING ME!! Five of us at the line, I lead everyone up the hill and into the singletrack for about 10-15 minutes. 2nd place and I got a decent gap over the others. I was pushing hard to stay in front, and started to feel it so I backed off just a little bit, he went by and just tried to keep him in range since it was going to be a long race- and then hopefully strike towards the end. Well, at the top of the short loop (~34 minutes in) I felt my lower back muscles tense up and start to ache- just like at Angel Fire. I let up and tried to relax them and go easy- still a lot of racing left, but then here comes the gnarly rough dh side of the course. That was it. Every single rock and root was absolutely horrible. The last part of the dh section is on the fire road- really smooth and my back felt a little better so I made up some good time there, and coming through the line to start the long loop up the hill I felt great again, and rode steady but pretty fast, trying not to aggravate it, but once I started the slower steeper climbing over roots and rocks in the singletrack again, the pain was back. I literally had to stop a couple times for about 30 sec each and stretch my lower back muscles-couldn’t bear to ride one foot further at times- then I felt good for about the next 5 minutes of rough trail but then it crept back up again. My throat was sore at the end from all the wincing and grunting noises. Coming thru the finish the announcer says "here comes Dave Slovick from Minnesota…real strong looks like he’s just starting the race!!" Because I was smiling once I got into the smooth stuff and my back pain toned down so I could really crank hard! Legs and lungs felt awesome!...even after 2hrs 43min of suffer…I mean riding! Then back to Minneapolis…long drive WAY late into the night and early morning.

Two days later, I go to New York/New Jersey for work. Fun time overall, but, 4-5 hours of sleep per night with too many adult beverages and throw in the already sleep deprived body- good recipe for illness. Started to feel it on the way home (after sitting in JFK airport for 6 ½ hours and then another 1 hour just for good measure on the plane- not a Delta fan- 5 of 6 flights delayed more than 2hrs or cancelled).

July 20th – MNSCS#5 at Red Wing. Just a day after getting back from the NY/NJ/Delta airline experiences, I decided to race anyway to keep the points coming. I started bad- did not get a good warm-up, and just got worse from there. Crashed a few times and even had to push my bike up a couple hills- hadn’t done that in awhile. 10th place and 34th of 94. YIKES!! ...‘nough said about that.

July 27th – MNSCS#6 at Spirit Mountain. Started to feel sick- really sick that week so skipped the Buck race again to try and get some good recovery. From Email: I was not at all 100% recovered from being sick, but I did feel well enough to give it a try. I got in probably my best warm up yet, but I could tell my power and focus was not quite there- so thought I’d just try to have fun with it stay hydrated and whatever happens. They started the entire Sport class in a mass start- which was awesome- about 5 or 6 of us took off from the start, I was 3rd, and we had no traffic to work through. I was pacing myself with Bruce Klehr, who’s won the last 4 races in 30-34 and finishes in the top 3 overall every week. I was surprised, it wasn’t taking a whole lot of extra effort to keep the pace but more just being as smooth as possible. For about half the first lap things were fine and then somehow- still not sure what happened- I whacked my knee cap into the shifter clamp on the bars around a turn really hard- got a nice gash- and my knee stiffened up pretty bad. Goodbye Bruce- he was gone. Took a few minutes for it to loosen up as I rode- in the meantime I got passed by a few riders and started to drift back a bit- my head was still stuffed up and could feel the fatigue set in more and more as the race went on, it was kinda hard to focus and stay smooth through the singletrack- in the last mile or two I got passed by a guy that know I’m faster and I just could NOT catch and pass him back before the end- he finished about 10 secs ahead. But anyway, I finished 13 of 82 overall and 5 of 11 in the age group- 5 minutes back in both. Not too bad- all things considered I felt pretty good about it- I needed a decent solid race finish again- and no crashes, so that’s good. I love that course and Duluth is just awesome anyway.

My back did act up again though in the 2nd and 3rd lap in the rough singletrack after the climb to the top. Today my lower back muscles are a little sore. Hoping with no race this weekend, my muscles/body will have some time to settle a little bit and I can completely get rid of this lingering cold or flu or whatever it is.

July 29th – Doc says "You have bronchitis." NOOOOOOO!!! I was still coughing a lot and stuffed up again so decided to go in. Kind of thought that’s what I’d let myself get to but was still hoping for better news. Done for at least a week- VERY light short one hour rides for training. Too much traveling, poor nutrition, and extreme lack of recovery/ sleep amounted to this.