WORS #2 Crystal Lake Classic-2nd place, now that’s more like it!

The lead out at the Crystal Lake Classic in Rhinelander Wisconsin is a sandy road for about a mile into a holeshot of single-track.  With a call up I just made sure to stay up front and save everything for the holeshot.  I jumped for the holeshot a bit early but the pace was so chill I figured if I ramped up the speed enough no one would come through.   I hit it pretty hard I guess because everyone I read and talked to said the pace went crazy right there. 

Leading a WORS race is a bit intimidating at times, especially early in the year with as much talent as had showed up to Rhinelander, so I didn't work too hard as to go into the red and be counter attacked by someone. After a few sections of single-track I looked back and seven had made the initial break, Me, B. Matter, Tristan, B. Eppen, Mike Anderson, Tyler Gauthier, and Ben Koenig. I punched it up every climb to keep anyone from just sitting on and made sure to use the single track skills to make em work, even though I did lay it down once while leading...

By the end of the lap it was just me, B. Matter, and Tristan.  On the flat road sections we fed and took it somewhat easy, knowing this course is hard on ya and a race of attrition in many ways.  2nd lap we started trading the lead a bit, but I did a lot of work. 

3rd lap Matter went to the front going into the single track with a blazing pace. I held on and Tristan slowly disappeared. 

Brian gave a nudge of the elbow to come through in between some single-track sections and I was like "no way man, your killing me".  He got me to work the road section on the last lap though and we started seeing a lot of lap traffic.  Going into the single-track Matter took over and did almost the exact thing as lap 3.  I was fine till a bobble and a lapped rider formed a very small gap going into a climb about half-way through the lap , Matter gunned the climb and I could not close it .  His advantage grew to about 50 seconds at the finish, so he was flying!  2nd on the day is an awesome result though, shows that my goal of contending for the overall is not out of reach. Maybe next time I will play it a bit smarter on workload and be more aggressive when I am feeling good, this is a good confidence builder for that kind of stuff.

My favorite thing about this picture has nothing to do with the podium.  Man that just wins my heart, when ya show love to what I love most!

Here is a little post race interview with a cameo by Asa.

Thanks for Reading,

Nathan

Photo/Video Credit: Dave Reich, Amy Dykema, John Senkerik, Connor Mccoll, Kelli Piotrowski, Claire Cannon

What we support and are all about!

In the spirit of Wheel & Sprocket/ Vision’s mission to build  “A New Generation For Cycling”, tonight we hosted our first Monday night mountain bike group ride and started in house with Asa (6 yrs old) here completing her first five mile off-road loop, climbs and all, as well as climbing to the tower at Lapham Peak. 

We also had some High School youth, Parker and Connor Mccoll, on hand learning how to do Lactate tolerance reps with their Dad.  Another goal of of Vision, to get whole families involved in the sport of Mountain Biking together.  Since our Series, WORS, hosts weekend long events for the whole family to participate in from Beginners to Pros, only makes sense to develop the next generation in this same way.  Perfect chill off-road ride in the park for everyone, from first timers in mountain biking to the serious racer in need of recovery after the weekend, all are welcome.

Monday nights, Lapham Peak, 5:30 meet-up and orientation if needed, riding from 6 pm till whenever.  Might start having some grill-out/food afterward if weather is nice and we coordinate for it well.  Email me to get on group ride update list, nathanguerra@hotmail.com , or just show up and have fun.

Race Video: Iola Bump n Jump: WORS #1, 2011

Wisconsin Off Road Series 2011 Race #1: Iola Bump n Jump from Nathan Guerra on Vimeo.

Quick edit: Forgot to put a picture of the podium in the video, ended up 7th, for my  goals it is a throw away result and take the 5 points toward series overall, but those are needed too, not too bad for  having a flat and some asthma issues.  Congrats to Tristan, he did an awesome right up after the race that can be found here.

The week after this race was the start of my hardest training period yet this year.  Gun Show Tuesday was insane!  Ask around, anyone I talk to says it’s the fastest show in town. Check it OUT!   Wednesday I rode to the trails and happened to see and ride with a few of these fine people!  Thursday was suppose to be endurance, but when the legs feel good during a intensity build you don’t waste it, ended up throwing down almost test numbers on the power meter on the last half of my ride.    Friday was a nice recovery ride home after doing some of this at the Muir Trails.

Saturday I got this crazy idea in my head to ride down to the Muskego crits for a little extra time on the bike, some intensity, and to save on gas.  Did the Cat 3 and P/1/2/3 races.  So I saw personal best numbers from that ride both in the endurance category and in the supra max category, somewhere around the 1 minute range.  30 minutes total in supra max and like an hour at or above Threshold total, good day of training.  Total time on bike was like 5 hrs 53 mins and 120.1 miles.  All I had the entire time was Powerbar of course, man that stuff works!  Good nutrition mixed with a great Base in place after this winter has me feeling good all the way to the end of these rides.

Speaking of Nutrition, maybe you noticed the new Sponsors in the videos and linked on the blog here.  One Sponsor I am extremely happy and blessed to announce is Standard Process.  They Provide amazing Organic Whole Food Supplements and they also supply a line of Herbal Products.  On top of this they are a local company, and just happen to have their whole company based just down the road from the Southern Kettle Moraine unit in Palmyra, WI.  Huge Organic Farm, R & D, Distribution, Business office, the whole works right in our Mountain Biking back yard.  Just got my first batch on Monday! 

They been around since 1929, so they know their stuff, and I am so glad to be working with them to try and get the best results possible.

To end the week (training weeks end on Sundays for me) Lindsay and I are going to the trails for a long date day/mothers day ride and dinner.  Great way to cap off an amazing week of training.  Oh yea, and no more asthma so far, hope things keep getting better as I work with the Doc. 

Last thing, Quick Shout out to my man Danny Kaukola.

Hope to see ya soon or maybe house a roadie for ya? And I am having a ton of fun at these crits…although getting on a team may enhance my results, but I think this way is better training…

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Announcing Team: Wheel and Sprocket/Vision

Figure people would want to know who is this Team Wheel & Sprocket/Vision Don was announcing this past weekend and kept handing us all that free stuff in the Venue space? 

Look for these new team kits at Rhinelander (fingers crossed on production time….).  If somehow you have not heard of  our title sponsor here is where you can find Wheel and Sprocket.  Vision is an extremely ambitious non-profit Organization I have started to make Cycling a household sport in our culture.  Website launch is coming soon and you can read the rest of our mission below these pretty pictures to whom all credit goes to Brianna Dederich, Super totally awesome kowabunga (and any other adjectives) to work with her!  Good friend of ours for years and if you need a graphic artist I highly recommend her.

 

This sweet logo really personifies everything Vision is about.  Huge thanks to my Brother-in-law Emery Ullenberg, also highly recommended for all your graphic related needs.

Vision is a non-profit Organization. Our Mission is to make cycling a functional household sport, in order that people and their environment may benefit from the well-being cycling provides. We start with local communities and grow influence into the County, State, Regional, and eventually the National level.

Our Vision is implemented through 4 Values.

Youth Development-Think Highschool and Middle school Mountian bike leagues

New Cycling Infrastructure

Public Health and Wellness:

Energy and Environmental Sustainability

I will save the rest for our website launch, but you get the idea.

Thanks for reading, see you at Rhinelander!

Iola and figuring things out.

Exams are in full swing till tomorrow night so a short Race Report for Iola.  Short story, led race till the “wall”, flat tire for a lap going backward to 7th, finally fixed it and finished in 7th. 

Photo Credit: Lynne Senkerik

I love seeing all my friends and familiar faces at the first race.  The relationships gained and camaraderie amongst my competitors has really grown into some cool friendships and I am extremely grateful for their commitments to the sport.  Racing against these guys every other weekend is such a privilege!  Another Privilege is the new team I am managing and it was in full swing at the venue space this weekend!  Make sure to look for team Wheel and Sprocket/Vision at every WORS race this year!

My flat tire aside, my top secret time trial courses and power numbers all say I am in better shape than ever before, but yet at Iola tis weekend I felt like I was suffering worse than racing from 100th to 43rd with a broken wheel at Sea Otter 2 weeks ago.  I have always wondered why I struggle at the April-June and September-November races.  I really hate excuses, especially when I hear them coming out of my mouth, and so I have usually just written off this nagging feeling of being limited by a physical ailments…anyways most say bad results early on is because the fitness is just not there yet, or I am over my peak late in the year, not sure I could say this is the case though after the amount training and racing I put in so far.  After 3 years of racing Pro I have begun to see a very consistent pattern in results directly correlated to time of year and how bad I am suffering from allergies and I think it is getting worse.  It is the same feeling I have had on really long base rides outside during pollen season, but on the base rides the limiter on power and breathing just sets the bar lower and lower as the ride goes on till I am wheezing and I get home and cannot breathe for a while.  Well in races it is the same way, just harder to discern because I am so focused on pain and discomfort just being a part of it…if I red line I do not recover and I just have to hold a steadily decreasing pace over the course of the race.  Right now in my basement, and when I was down south, this does not happen and many times I feel better and better as the intervals go on and my recovery times have been amazing lately.

The seasonal patter is the same every year, I suddenly come on very strong when it gets hot and humid and the pollen chills out.  Think Crystal Ridge, Ore to Shore etc.  I always thought it was due to gaining fitness from racing, but after being in other environments racing this year and having raw data to compare to other points in the season I suspect it is more than fitness.  So I have scheduled an appointment with an allergist/immunologist to try and figure this out.  Especially after my recent, fairly scary, asthmatic experiences on long rides on pollen heavy days.  Lots of work has gone into being in great shape right now and I am hoping the Doc and I can come up with both a short term fix and a long-term solution to all my silly allergies.

What I am really happy about is figuring this out now rather than later.  This is where having a workout log and power files have really helped me understand some things. 

Thanks for reading!

Now back to having fun with EXAMS1

Nathan