camblog

"The Classics" begin

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 03:31:00 +0000

I guess the bit of weight training and team support paid off. I nearly had a double win weekend Mason Lake and Banana Belt number 2. I missed the win at BB by .0135 seconds, mere inches in a bike throw. I'll try to start my sprint .05 seconds earlier next time to avoid defeat.

After the Boise TT last weekend the team podium is up to 5 in the three states. Not a bad start.

This weekend I'll be on a solo mission at the Independence Valley road race. Last year I was dropped from the chase of three fighting for 4th, but took the sprint for 5th. A good result, but I'd like to improve on it. I'll certainly have more motivation and fresher legs.

My next races will be Piece of Cake in Woodland, WA, then Kings Valley near Corvallis, Brad Lewis Criterium, and then the Walla Walla Stage Race. The latter three events will be team events, with Walla Walla being the big target we'd like to repeat at.

So far the WA scene has been pretty competetive. Ongers at Gin Optics has had a nice March run, Hagens-Berman is on the board with Reynolds and Harm. Carter is under-powered and looking to Tubbs as they should, and BRI is looking for a miracle or the form of Stevenson to appear as it will at some point. The Garage are again large and under-performing and Wines of Washington is more irrelevant than ever with the loss of Stangeland to Gin.

I won't be in the hunt for either the WA Cup or the season points title, but I will be trying for the best results possible when I do show up and I will try to have fun and enjoy the racing when I can make it out.

Time for some smack down

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:10:00 +0000

I haven't posted my whole program yet. Will do soon. This weekend will be the first serious foray after getting my legs handed to me at Cherry Pie. Since then there have been some big mileage rides, many sprints, and some base-power intervals.

A group of Idaho boys will be coming over to show their stuff at Mason Lake #2 & Banana Belt #2 the following day. The program has a lot to prove, and we are confident with any of our guys in a break, or in a field sprint.

The Banana Belt results looked like it was a hard fought contest with Elken coming second. I bet he wasn't too happy with that. Not sure how it all went down there. The Mason Lake report sounded pretty amateurish, unless you were the dominant team in the break. Teams looked to be happy to have "a" guy in the break, and then the field spurted along behind them giving up 2 minutes or so in a lap. A solo win by Ongers looked impressive, but at this early stage it says more about the lack of preparation of the rest of the guys.

bobs-bicycles.com will find out just how tough the fields in WA and OR are when we have a team of 7 or 5 riders in the race. I know that the guys will be highly motivated after making the big drive and getting to race in some large fields.

See you at the races.

Better infamous than anonymous

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:32:00 +0000

Listen to Prudog, don't get me mad!

Well, I should have know that encouraging Prudog to up his game would result in me being lampooned by him. While he has used exaggeration in his "profile" of me, I of course see the humor in it, and there is some truth to it. I'm sure anyone that really knows me would agree that the characterizations out there are out of proportion to the truth, and few people are actually elbowed or called douche-bags. And if anyone has been, they most likely deserved what they got, or maybe it was an accident? A certain person was put into a pole accidentally...

The training has been going okay. This week I didn't ride outside once, but it was still pretty good. Weights on Monday (12 45's on there this time + whatever the platform weighs = 540+ on the leg press), 10" sprints w/ 2' rest on the rollers x 20 on Tuesday (52 mph max.), 3 x 15' @ 30 mph (roller speed) Wed. and a nice 25 mph avs roller ride on Thurs.

Last Saturday we got snowed on and frozen again but got in 3000 ft. of climbing and 4hrs. Sunday was a big, slow group ride. I'm talking, if you take a pull you pull-away kind of slow. I'm talking big waste of my precious time, I guess I'm riding alone nice and steady and averaging 19.6 mph and staying in zone 3 slow. I will be bringing the ipod again for sure this Sunday so I have something in my ears if there is no one that can ride at a reasonable speed. I'll even pull people down the road if they want...

So, overall, feeling fit and strong and ready to compete. We'll be hitting Cherry Pie with a strong squad and won't have a hangover this year so maybe I will win the real sprint and not just the field sprint like last year. I'll be happy if we podium of course, no matter who does it. Hopefully the first event won't be too miserable weather-wise.

Looking to "Hulk-out" with 14 45s on the leg press tonight. Then it's into the wind Saturday and only a 40% chance of rain. Looking to do 2 of my circuit loops and get 5200 ft. and 80 miles in.

I'll post my personal race schedule soon for all the fans out there.

Freezing on the bike and warm on skis

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:43:00 +0000

What's more miserable, riding a bike in the winter or cross-country skiing? Well, I suppose skiing could be miserable if we headed out in a blizzard, but nasty weather usually means we don't make the trip. Meanwhile, no matter what the weather, if I'm in town on the weekend, I've got to get on the bike.
Last Saturday eight of us headed out into the worst conditions for cycling, 33 degrees and wet, and met wind, rain, and sleet. I went through 3 pairs of gloves and my feet took about an hour to thaw out once I got back home. 66 miles took over 4 hours to complete. Luckily when I got a flat tire the skies were clearing up and it wasn't too bad out, but standing there my feet had no feeling left.
I know that as usual, by heading out and getting miles in I will end up being one of the best prepared riders in the state, and that is what gives me the motivation to head out and coax others to face the elements with me. Hopefully it will pay off for them too.
The weight of the rain bike, and my unwillingness to head right into zone 4 on the hills had me dangling off the group a couple times, but I think hitting the weights pretty hard on Thursday also caused some fatigue. I upped the incline leg press weight to 360 lbs. plus whatever the rack itself weighs--probably another 40 lbs.
After the tough outing on the bike Saturday we headed up to Hyak for some skate skiing on the Iron Horse trail. The weather was nice, no wind and about 30 degrees, no snow falling. So, skiing was much more pleasant that riding a bike in the lowlands. The trail there has about 20 ft. of total elevation, which sounds easy, but isn't. You have to kick and pole constantly. No jumping in the tracks on a downhill or just taking it easy. Granted there are no super steep walls that you have to grovel up, but after 15 miles of flat skating I was pretty worked. Did I mention I towed Marieka in the Chariot for about 6 or 7 miles? I was doing that while sticking behind Sarah and John, whom I can leave behind just fine without the Chariot. Towing the Chariot puts me on their level and makes it a lot tougher. I was probably feeling the strain of towing the Chariot out on the way back, and I was taxed for sure in the end.
Today I will get a well-deserved massage and I hope the shot of B-12 last night will also add to my recovery. I assume I am not losing any weight because I'm 1) building some upper body mass from skiing and 2) lifting weights with the legs and 3) replacing fat with muscle overall from doing more aerobic activity. Absolute weight is meaningless since muscle weighs more than fat, and fat comsumes oxygen, DOES fuel you, but does not directly contribute to power like muscle does. I assume the weight will decrease after some interval and sprint training begins and of course once racing starts. I'm hoping to have an even better sprint and sustained short-term high end than before anyway, and might lose some of my modest climbing abilities in exchange.
Thanks for reading this boring stuff. See you in the sleet!

In the snow for the Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 22:00:00 +0000

Nothing like escaping the rain and coming over to Wenatchee to the snow. Yes its sketchier if you have to drive in a blizzard, and snow and ice on the ground is trickier than wet pavement, but there some things you can only do in snow. Like skiing or snow-shoeing.
We came over on Friday and had a smooth drive with no rain or snow. I was pretty wiped out from the drive so I just hit the couch for the most part. Saturday the idea was for me to head over the Leavenworth and ski a bit and then be me by Sarah and Marieka for the Chariot-on-skis maiden voyage. After the drive in the snow though, we decided I would be solo though since it was snowing and not looking like it was going to clear up soon. I did a big loop of the Fish Hatchery and the snow was pretty thickly piled on top of the groomed track, not making it the fastest conditions. Then I attached the Chariot after getting it all set up, which only takes about 5 minutes: skis & bars with waist attachment.
I headed out for another big loop and I could really feel the weight and mass back there. I was still skiing faster than some other skaters, but it was hard work. At the end of the lap I was ready to take the thing off and ski freely!
During these first two laps it was snowing light to heavy, and on the final lap it cleared up and I was able to truly appreciated the smooth gliding sensation that is skate skiing. The drive home was also way smoother than the way out as the late afternoon sun was shining under the light clover.
My legs really felt the efforts of the first outing and I'm sure the Chariot pulling added to the fatigue.
The next day was more or less a rest day, though we did do a husband/wife snowshoe from the athletic club that was 35 min. uphill and 25 min. downhill on a nice narrow trail that is marked for hiking AND, get this, biking. Nice to see there is no anti-cycling sentiment over here in the land of individual rights.
It snowed all day long on Saturday so it was a good thing we didn't try to skate since I already mentioned that skating on a heavy track is not ideal.
We did head out on Sunday though, and it seems the weather forecast came 24 hours early, giving us the Xmas day weather on Xmas eve. Yeah! Light clouds and sun, and no snow. It was a bit heavy anyway since the groomer only made one pass and all that snow will take a few days to get really packed and set and fast. I strapped the Chariot on and we all did a short loop, and Marieka was out like a light. Then Sarah took over and I cruised along sans poles. Then we split up, and Sarah tackled another short loop loaded, I went out for two big loops.
My arms are pretty worked today, as well as my pecs and shoulders from double-poling in the tracks and doing V2 technique at high reps on the fairly flat terrain. It doesn't blow your arms out like V2 alternate can where you are really weighting down and powering on your poles, but the high reps certainly produce fatigue in their own way. I'd like to see which is actually the faster technique.
Today we shared gifts after Larry made us all some nice berry waffles. I'm stoked to have received some nice new slippers as mine were really kicked, and these are practically like sport clogs, though fleecy. Sarah got me the new Reggae book I checked out at my school's library: The Reggae Scrapbook.
The book has some wild features like Peter Tosh's death report recreated in faux aged paper, real show flyers lightly glued to the pages that have been autographed by the artists, and other items placed in little envelopes throughout the book. There's also a DVD with interviews of artists that were done over the last few decades by the author with essential artists. This book now presages my previous favorite Reggae book by Chris Salewicz: Reggae Explosion. Looks like we'll be heading back to the "Wet" Side on Thursday. Hopefully it won't rain everyday until I go back to work on the 3rd.

Cheers!

Training procedes

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 16:42:00 +0000

Though some days it feels like I'm shackled to the house and my lovely daughter Marieka, I've been fortunate enough to get some hours in during the week on the bike, in the gym, and up to 4 hours on weekends. Though I tend to be skeptical about weight lifting, I feel like I've already gotten some benefit from the 3 or 4 sessions I've done thus far.

I do incline leg press, alternating with calf raises on same apparatus in weight, now 300 in plates, then back extension and weighted crunches at 130 lbs. and then leg extensions and curls using 95 lbs. now. I start and finish with some pedalling on the gym ergo. So far I feel like I can stay seated when climbing up to 8 or 9 % grades, even on the rain bike.

The weekend training has been a bit dissapointing from a group perspective. Granted its only December. The first ride we had 9 guys, with 5 finishing the whole thing, then a snow-out, followed by 2 of 5 finishing the route. The next day, last Sunday, no one but me showed up for the "normal" direction of the training route I put together. The only company I had was a purcupine eating on the side of the Waddell Creek Road. First time I've seen a live one up close. They definately do stick their quills up, but its a myth that they can shoot them out.

The walls at the end definately hurt, at least the Mur de Brawne did at 16%. With 15 or so hills on the route the little flat road there is can be taken easy, while the rest guarantees quality miles at zone 3 and zone 4 on the steeper, longer hills. I'm pretty convinced using this route for the majority of my winter weekend miles is the right choice. This way I won't be wasting my time in zone 1 or 2 while waiting for the line of riders to get done with their pulls. Actually, there is no line of riders to speak of yet, but my point is that flat roads are lame for training unless you don't know to ridea paceline. Otherwise, they are tedious and fairly useless in making you are better rider unless there's a bit of wind or some spunk in the group, but that takes mushing from people like me. I'd rather just have to hit hill after hill and leave the task to gravity.

So far the Valley team is not showing much enthusiasm. The two of us being most consistent aren't on the Valley team as it is. Now that Flack is done with cross maybe he will actually show up at 10 and be part of the group, or maybe Yanni will start showing? If not, I've already moved on. I'm just trying to be a mentor and guide to those that want to ride with me while I get prepared. One things for sure though, Olympia-based racing is at a low point, and if the team doesn't start doing something about it they are going to have a hard time convincing their sponsor to keep financing them.

The blog lives

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 01:43:00 +0000

I'm not going to attempt to fill in the blanks since the last post, other than the fact that I got 15th at crit nats which was a good result.

Of course the biggest news in my life is the arrival of our little girl, Marieka Olivia Campbell who's now 2 months old. She's pretty great and seems to be about average as far as the screaming hysterics go. I can do nothing in the breast feeding department which can get frustrating.

I never realized how much I took my free time for granted. Now I am responsible for another helpless human being and one of us always has to be with her, and that leaves me with 2-3 hours some days to train or do anything alone if that ever happens.

Somehow I'm going to get fit once again and race for Bob's Bicycles in '08. I'm excited about the strong team that we have and will be pumped for the races where I'm racing with some teammates.

I plan on doing a lot of miles on one circuit in particular that packs about 2,500 ft. in 40 miles. I'll assured of quality miles that way when I'm able to get out. See the route below and check out the hosting site in general. Its free and really cool--mileage, elevation profile, and othere people's routes available for viewing.

http://www.routeslip.com/routes/67448

As for racing I will scale things back to two races/weekends a month in general and try focus on the better courses and prize lists. I'm hoping to do a bit of travelling with the team and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

That's all for now.

#3 (?) and Falling OR "Now that BARR event was worthy"

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:51:00 +0000

State Omnium. 3 races, three chances to score points or be crushed by the competition depending on your legs.
While I had some questions as to if the event would take place at all, it did, and while there were only about 30 riders in the 1/2 and most fields, the 1/2 field contained all the top-ranked guys.
Hopes of points in the TT were dashed with a mile or so to go when Nick Clayville put :59 seconds in to me. You can't expect to have done well when you've just been pac-manned by your minute-man. So yeah, got smoked, 0 points. And the State TT Champ Chris Teufel honored the gold by crushing, and staying on course, and making his start time, and getting 1st place.
Things got really fun for me and everyone in the crit when 1)Andrew Pinfold and one of his B.C. mutant-henchman-crushers showed at the race and 2)my shoe retention system busted 10 minutes into the race. Did I mention the course went up and down a small mountain? Turns out I had good legs anyway but couldn't really use them too much due to the shoe, but threw in a few digs for fun and in the end went for the sprint and got a top-10, my minimum goal for most races.
Luckily I was able to borrow my host's shoes and pedals and take the start in the RR where Pinfold added two more mutant crushers to the mix. I don't know how much the change of footwear affected me, but I wasn't too great on the hill, but at least I didn't lose contact of the second group. But seeing that I was in the second group each time and that I had a whole 3 points so far I had nothing to lose and put in a solo move for 10 miles that put me in the company of Pinfold, McKissick and Clayville at the top of the climb. Unfortunately, not only did the rest of the front group get back on, but later, the whole rest of the field--15 guys, some with lots of points, caught back on too.
So it was gruppo compatto into the hill (another solo move got mowed down by Mick W.) and it was 2nd group time, at least this time I lead the 2nd group up to the top of the hill. But....that was it. Too few dudes with too little horsepower, too late. And me being alone and a sprinter was left to take the 2nd group scraps in hopes of a few omnium points should there be any left.
The three other dudes I was travelling with all DNF'd so they were itching to leave the venue so I didn't see the results. I have the feeling the B-ham crew that put the event on are so relieved that the nightmare is over that they will never post the results to their website and it will say "coming soon!" forever. Hopefully they'll send the results to WSBA.
McKissick was definately a deserving and classy winner: going 3rd, 1st, 1st, and 1st Rate rode super well and probably ended up 2nd and 3rd in the overall.
I'm looking forward to racing in my own fully-functioning shoes at Criterium Nationals this Sunday.

BARR vs. "Rider Ranking" points

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 16:52:00 +0000

If anyone actually read my blog, I'd propose a poll. Since no one does read it, I'll just blog into cyberspace...

Which is cooler/more prestigious/the best measure of WSBA riders, the BARR (State Championship series) or the season-long rider rankings points?

After many years of the BARR and fewer years of the rider rankings actually being diligently tallied (thanks Martha & Co.!) I believe the season-long points to be the best measure for a number of reasons.

Numerous thoughts on the two rankings:
1. Every race you score a top-10 in is scored. Thus it is more comprehensive than the BARR.
2. Since every WA race is included, someone that is scoring all season and is thus able to carry their form well is rewarded more.
3. The BARR is Time Trial-heavy with a TTT, a 40K TT, and the Hillclimb TT. Throw in the ITT in the omnium and you've got 4 TT's that go toward the BARR, compared to the RR, the new and poorly attended CR, the good ole Crit, and the RR and Crit in the Omnium. That's a 4 to 5 ratio to determine the Best All-around Road Racer. Keep in mind that the USCF does not award upgrade points for time trials.
4. A nice feature of the season-long points is that it also includes any BARR results one gets, making all BARR events of equal value to any other events during the year.
5. The season-long points scoring is now improved (imho) so that all races have a flat point value without any subjective criteria.

My points will probably become more redundant if I go on, so I'll stop now.

Q: Who is number 2?

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 16:38:00 +0000

No, not a reference to The Prisoner (check that old English TV show out if you haven't) but rather a reference to the WSBA season-long rider rankings. A: Me! Temporarily at least. After getting 3rd at Volunteer Park (see www.wheelsinfocus.com for excellent photos as usual) I made it up to runner-up to Darth Tubbs, who of course has double or so my 704 points.

As for the race itself, I raced very conservatively since the finish line is a nice straight and long way from the final turn, and I wouldn't mind a field sprint. I've won three sprints (1 for a the win) there before, so why get creative/stupid? The splits I followed came to naught as Wines of WA among others seemed pretty deteremined to have the group together.

The final 3, then 1 man break seeemd doomed fromt he start due to the lack of stars in the move and the fact that gravity is on the side of the chase at the VP course. So it came back, and on the last lap I followed Nick Clayville's attack, but didn't pull to avoid suicide, and we were swarmed just as the road went uphill. I stayed on Nick's wheel to stay safe, but he was fading as you'd expect along the right curb. I didn't panic and waited to get to the final corner and opened up my sprint.

Nick ended up 15th and I was able to come by everyone but Andrew Martin and Chad Nikolz. So, on the one hand I'm kicking myself for not being in better position, and the other I'm happy to have my 1st top-3 in a 1/2 race in a while. It was also fun to get a nice result in front of lots of friends and family that made the race a meeting place for the afternoon.

For the rest of the season I will 1) try to beat Chad in a sprint and 2) earn as many ranking points as possible. I won't be doing every event by any stretch due to Crit Nats (yeah) and baby classes, etc.

Nationals, etc.

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 18:26:00 +0000

The Seven Springs road course is tough. 3000 ft. of climbing per 30 miles X 3. I was settled in at the team's condo 2 days before the race after the travel day from hell. I was planning on riding 2 laps and my two teammates had said they were only up for 1 lap since they'd done the TT the day before. Matt Weyen got 9th in that race which was a great result since he was only 30 seconds down on the winner. Had the course not had 3(?) turn-arounds, I think he would have been only 15 seconds down since he probably kept his bike in his gigantic 55x11 (or whatever) the whole time. Good on him for getting a top-10!

Anyway, I wasn't too eager to do 2 laps of the course either it turned out, and so we settled with one. Then the rest of the guys showed up the next day, and we did another lap, and again, I didn't feel up to doing more than 1 lap. Just riding the course fairly steady is that difficult. Not a good sign if you are supposed to compete with 150 guys that are motived for a national championship on such tough course.

Come race day, the plan was to get 1 or two of us in an early move, and I was one of those guys, and then everyone else was going to support Matt since he was our sole leader since our other top rider went home after the TT claiming he was sick.

When the gun went off, I attacked and Steve Tillford, The Evergreen, came with me and another guy somehow came with us, but he was worthless and riding a bike made out of bamboo. Yes, a bike made out of bamboo.

Tillford and I swapped pulls and were going really hard. We got about 40 seconds and when we hit the short wall climb Tillford accelerated and I thought he'd ease a bit, but he kept the gas on. I should have killed myself to stick with him, but I held back and made it to the first long climb. After a little while up the climb the field came along with a few surges and I jumped on one of them. Soon the field engulfed us and I made my way to the back of the field, getting spat out too far from the top of the climb. I got over in front of the group of stragglers I was with, but the field was out of sight, end of race for us.

I rode another lap, mostly alone, and picked up Brandon and we completed the second lap together. Last we'd heard, Matt was trailing the lead group by 15 seconds. He'd flatted, chased, caught back on, and then got popped since they were just then cresting the last big hill. He rode in for 32nd or something.

After packing up we headed to Pittsburgh and after much confused driving in downtown Iron City, we eventually found the Southside which we'd been looking for. I'd stumbled up on it in 2001 while on my big racing trip in the east and remembered it was really hip. So, on our last bonked legs, we found a mediteranean cafe with a grouchy waitress and got some dinner at 10 pm.

Beer is cheap in Pittsburgh. You can find $1.50 bottles, $1 pints, and even $5 pitchers. Quality may vary.

After Nationals the next big event was the Boise Twilight Criterium, now a part of the USA Crits series. Sarah and I drove over in 2 days and made a bit of a vacation out of it. Unfortunately the Geiser Grand Hotel in Baker City, OR, along with all other lodging, was booked due to the annual Miner's Jamboree. Ooops. We had to keep moving east to Ontario, OR to find anything. Avoid Onatario, by the way.

We stayed at Hotel 43 a block from the course and hooked up with Brandon at his new pad. We did a little ride and my legs felt like they'd returned to normal after feeling horrible the whole week. We hit "Los Betos" for some delicious and cheap burritos before heading back to the luxury of Hotel 43.

The race was stacked with national crit talent and the stats were as follows: 44 miles, 29 miles per hour avs. I was too late for a $200 prime and made a couple of probing attacks, one that caused me to get passed by 40 or so guys as the field came by single file. Everyone was on the rivet at least.

In the final laps it was pretty dark and hard to see who the riders were and what were only shadows. I decided to toughen up and moved up on both straightaways in the last laps until the final lap where it was all out. I was able to pass a few guys in the sprint and ended up a respectable 20th.

Upon returning from Boise I drew up my training plan for criterium nationals in mid August. Somehow I must recover from the training pre-road nationals and at the same time, have really good form: speed and sprint, for crit nationals.

So far so good. Not tired, was able to kill the club ride, did a sprint workout and a motor-pace this week. Oh, my damn calf. It's a little gamey, but holding together.

Yesterday was the Whale of a Criterium, the last event of the WA Cup. I needed to beat Tubbs by 13 points to pass him to take 2nd overall. He ended up 2nd and I 4th. So, I didn't pass him. I gave it a shot and was clsoe, but I should have been in the top 3 on the last lap, but that's where everyone wants to be. It was really competetive and sketchy the whole race, especially in the last two laps. It was an accomplishment just getting up to the position I was in in the last laps with eight corners to deal with. It was nice to do well in a tough field and get decent prize money.

Next up is Volunteer Park on Sunday. I am feeling confident and will have some old friends in attendance to put a show on for. Too bad the prize money will probably suck if I end up doing a good result.

Tour d'Indonesia postponed!

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 19:02:00 +0000

Maybe updating the blog was bad luck? Due to the sponsor's request the race will be run in November. The team will not accept the inviation more than likely in that case. The probable one-in-a-lifetime thing is not going to happen.

I guess I'll update this thing finally

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 16:25:00 +0000

I guess I'll update my blog since I had one request from Andrew. I imagine there is a silent majority of thousands that also want an update too, so here you go.

Well, let's start with BABY NEWS. It is still due on our anniversary, September 22nd. I hear Lance's b-day is the 18th, so 3 days early would be kind of cool. I share my birthday with none other than Eddy Merckx, so having those two b-days in common would be nice coincidences for a cycling family. We keep accumulating baby stuff, both hand-me-down and purchased, and all the tests etc. are good.

And now, RACING UPDATE: Let's start with the Methow Tour. The racing was super close from the TT on. There were 5 of use within 3 seconds of each other from 5th place down. I hate thinking about a couple of seconds. I'll take a 15 second beating any day. Needless to say I was happy with 7th, but mad about being a tiny bit too slow.

In the crit I took 4th and the $100 prime. No, there was no $400 prime on offer. The wind, etc. made it hard to hear so people thought there were different primes that really didn't exist. I was lucky to be on the attack when the $100 was announced so it paid to be aggressive. The finale got botched due to a guy blowing up right in front of me through the last 2 turns.

I really wanted to repeat my win in the road race, especially since it was my birthday too. The possibility of 2 nights at Sun Mtn. Lodge was also motivating, which was the stage prize in 2006. Anyway, 3 guys attacked early and it seemed like suicide. Hagens-Berman chased, but didn't get the job done. Maybe rotating the wrong way in the wind was the reason?

Shawn Ongers ended up keeping the gas on when Ecker and the Recycled kid sat up and then Morgan Schmidt jumped across to him. I tried too, but got reeled in, and that was the last we saw of those two. In the end I had to settle with 3rd. Turns out I tied for 3rd on GC and was given 4th on tied-breaker rules. The lame thing is that 3 of Ongers points came from the charity rule that gives a free 3 points to anyone finishing on the lead lap in the crit. If it was a timed race he'd have gotten 2nd on GC though, so I can't be too upset. Needless to say, it was nice to get a podium finish after quite a while.

The chronology gets a bit jumbled now...I'll get back to this in a bit, gotta watch the finale of Stage 2 of the TDF here.

The BALLARD TWILIGHT CRITERIUM was in there the next week I think. No, it was actually the week before...I was starting to have some form and looked to be aggressive in front of the crowd. Maybe my attacks would result in the winning move or some nice primes? Nope. Futile solo move, failed breaks, and some lousy primes. I ended up 12th and out of the cash. Fun to see some friends at the race though. At some point I will redeem those 25 Dicks dollars. Maybe all in the form of fries. I wonder what $25 in fries looks like. A grocery bag full?

Uh, what was next? No, what was before? The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic. Since I was still teaching, I couldn't do the whole race, and I was only going to have a remote chance in stage two (or the final crit. stage) so that is what the team focussed on. It was nice to go to a big race and be with the team. I got a lot of protection and feeds from they guys. Rose did an awesome ride on the NRC stage to take the climbers jersey. Things were pretty easy until the last big climb when the attacks came. I was a bit too far back, wove my way up to the last wheel who was Kenny Williams, but he up and sat up, losing the the wheel and making it just that bit too hard to stay in contact. And that was that.

The Boston Harbor Circuit race stage championship was poorly attended. Too bad. Home course and one I designed when I was with Broadmark. Team tactics won out as a move slipped away on an easy section of the course and the blocking/chasing down ensued. I blew it and the break was gone. I was happy to at least take the field sprint easily from Kenny (yes, he was trying because he was the next guy behind me.) So, 10th WSBA rider on the day. Not great, but got some coveted points.

The next week was another hometown event, the State Criterium. I failed in my bid for my 4th consecutive win in the Masters race and lost to Todd G. who took 2nd last year. Cool for Flack to make the move with him and get a nice result for once. I took 3rd and a $50 ibike gift cert that I used to get an oversized bar mount finally.

In the 1/2 race Nikolz and I were the only two riders to really not want to lose to the two-man break of Nelson and Johnson. We dangled, they dangled. We got caught by the field. The same four guys as last year sprinted for 3rd with the same result for me, 6th. I did my best and also snatched 2 Axley sunglass primes.

And so the blur of criteriums began...next was the Masters State Championship in Des Moines. (I don't think these hyprlinks are going to lead to the results directly, oh well.) Anyway, I won it. It sure wasn't easy either. I sat in for a bit and then went on the attack. I think I was in three different breaks. I took a sweet Skuut prime that the baby will love once it is a toddler. Flack rolled across for the beer prime which he did not split with me, deadbeat. Thus I had to purchase a Maudite once back in town, and it was cold, not hot from being on display. By the way, what is with the single bottle of beer prime anyway? Yes, it was 22 oz., but coundn't they pony-up for a 4 or 6 pack?

Back to the race. The final break was me, Flack and Gallaher and it looked like we had it sewn up with 2 to go. Turns out the long downhill into the headwind was taking a bigger toll on us than the field and they had a lot more pop for the uphill stretch. With one to go they were on our heels and the catch was made right before the 3rd turn. Not to be denied, I forced my way in about 7th and opened up my spint after the final turn with quite a few guys ahead. I didn't panic and increased the speed, eventually moving up the left side where there was some room and finding the wheel of Aaron Levin with only 30 or so meters to go. I was able to come around him just before the line and combine the bike throw and victory salute in a single motion. It was Masters, but they were all cat. 1's and 2's so it was not easy in the least. 1 win, 1 gold medal for the year. My brother Dave was there so it was nice to do well in front of family.

Next up was the Joe Matava crit after two days of 90 mile training days. This race has one of the jittiest prize lists in the NW, but there is always a big field since it is close to Seattle and a lot of those guys will not travel more than 30 miles to race. I was conservative, but did get in some breaks, unfortunately the last one was with two to go, yatta yatta, swarm, sketch, sit-up, have a nice parade Burien.

Sarah dropped me and Flack off in Tacoma to ride back the long way to Oly to get some nice training in.

I kept up the miles on Thursday and got in 85 or so with the last 2 hrs. with the Oly 6 PM ride. The racers have been spotty at the 5:30 ride, so to avoid a solo or small group slog I had to deal with the potentially sketchy and slower group. It was good to follow wheels and spin the hell out the little ring to try to get my legs to come around as I had been feeling pretty blown the first two hours out. I was able to ride in 39x13 up to 27-28 mph for 30 min. before going to the big ring.

Friday I opted for a few errands on the bike in place of the scheduled 4-5 hrs. after feeling cracked on Thurs.

Saturday was the thankfully the last of the criteriums for a while: Redmond Derby. My highpoint was losing a $100 prime by an inch. That would have equalled 4th in the final.

The next day was the Masters Road Race at Longbranch. This has to be my favorite road course. It's where I took my Sr. Gold medal and later my Silver and Bronze medals in the Masters. Yesterday I was able to take the Masters Gold for the medal rainbow. All the climbing lately has paid off as I got stronger and stronger especially on the steep hill, now the finish, where I was able to sit using 39x23 quite a bit. After an attack filled first lap I was a bit frustrated that no one was really counter-attacking and the next thing you know, 6 guys have a 10 second gap through the start area. Perfect! I made the bridge and commenced working and we stretched the gap to 2 minutes pretty fast as all the teams of the small field were represented.

We rode cohesively for the most part until 2 to go where Gallaher made a vicious attack on the old feed hill. I covered that thinking that might be "it" but then Mick Walsh countered that. I covered Mick and we worked, thinking this was "it" but we caught by Gallaher and Holmes, with Garage now gone completely. Mernaugh from Excel had been cast away a while before. So the four of us pretty much saw that we were at a stalemate after last attacks by Holmes and then Walsh. I wasn't going to risk attacking and being chased down by the three of them when I could wait for a sprint. And that is what I did. Holmes made last-ditch big-ring attack on the wall and after he blew I held the front and waited quite a while to ramp it to the line, not wanting to give a lead-out to Gallaher on the slow ramp to the line.

So, two Masters Championships and two Gold medals. That will be my last race until joining Team Bobs-bicycles.com at the Elite Road Race in Pennsylvania. I was happy to perform well on the steep terrain and over 4000 ft. of climbing in less than 100k. If nothing else a bit of a confidence boost before the big event.

Besides doing a big build-up for nationals I found out that I got 1 of 3 spots for the composite team we will be on for the Tour d'Indonesia! That is is going to be crazy for a number of reasons: Asian, never been; 10 road stages; super international field; 4 star hotels.

I will try to blog from Indo if I have the means and energy.

Turns out Symmetrics showed up

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Sun, 27 May 2007 02:27:00 +0000

Who would be at Enumclaw? Svein and crew, yet again. This year their domination was just silly. Crushing his own TT course record of 12:44 with a 12:25 ride. I thought I was fast by shaving 5 seconds off my time from last year that got me 12th. Nope, too f-ing slow kid. Good for 23rd. Maybe okay if it were a timed race, but not so hot on top-1o Omnium scoring.

Luckily, or rather, without needing any luck, Matt Weyen did a good ride to take 4th.

Then, the shit really hit the fan when it rained cats and dogs for the first 10(?) minutes of the crit. and the top-1o selection ocurred in the first 2 laps. Matt again rode strongly, but for 11th and no points. Probably the most destroyed the race has ever been at the event, and Mr. Tuft won his second stage from a 3-man break. Ollerenshaw and Ecker were there too with him. Nice ride by Ecker who was also with Ollerenshaw in the break at Piece of Cake.

Then, in the road race Symmetrics pulled back the Bob's-inspired break where we had Brandon and Justin Mayfield. They had 30 seconds at base of the climb and were reeled in 3/4's up. Then it was panic stations throughout the field as 17 dudes rolled away. Again, Matt made it and was set to go high in the standings since he would probably get some good points and Tubbs and Ecker among others didn't make the split.

That was it for the rest of the pack. All points up the road, and we weren't going to help chase even if it would have done any good. Then, to make the somewhat tenuous situation nearly hopeless, Matt went down before the final climb and limped in in 14th place to secure 11th overall. Really a good ride, but overall a shellacking for the team, and pretty much everyone but Symmetrics. McKissisk did a good race overall and took 2nd in the road race, and Washington's road champion Chris Daifuku took 4th I think. I guess he is worthy of the jersey and title then.

So, now we see if the 8-man star-studded Bob's squad can produce anything at Mt. Hood. Our biggest race of the year with our best line up. It looks like the weather will good, so that is one less hardship to face there.

See you at stage 1.

The heart of the season is here

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Fri, 18 May 2007 16:03:00 +0000

This is definately the time of year that the early season stars are having the wheels fall off a bit and those that are peaking later are beginning to show. The latter couldn't be better illustrated the the NW's very own 1,000 pound gorilla, Kenny Williams. After he effortlessly bridged to the break, he made the four of us not on his team, and of course those he left in the pack, look like fools. He drilled it for back to back $100 primes and then kept on going for the solo win.

Meanwhile, few riders even showed up to Wenatchee. Great weather, great courses, great prize list. But are the morale and legs gone? Part of the being somewhat successful is having the stamina and drive to keep it going and get the most out of yourself, especially when the "good" races are happening.

Anyway...nice to race with Tyler Farrar again, in his hometown no less. He beat Kenny on a loaner bike from Kenny in the TT. Pretty nice gesture from a person you all have intimated is nothing but a "cannibalistic poacher." He's more than that people. And now he's off to show the world what a steady diet of NW amatuer carrion can do for the form at the Pan Am games. Nice to know I was used as a sparring partner/punching bag before the big event! Good luck there. And good luck to Tyler as he heads back to France.

As for the rest of the Wenatchee event, I was happy to place 9th, two back from Russell Stevenson in the TT from hell. Then bridging the gap in the crit felt good, and those points got me a lucky 10th place, last in the money after dropping out of the road race. I'll call that stage "training" since I didn't do much racing in it. I did do 5,000 ft. of climbing in less that 50 miles, so it was pretty tough anyway.

Back at home I've kept the pressure on the legs with Mon-Thurs: motor pace, club ride, motor pace, club ride. Mon.-Wed. was really hard, but I think I've eaten enough to get the aching out the legs so that I'm primed to ride well at Enumclaw. There is nothing like motor-pacing. If you go that hard in a race and crack you will get dropped and be gone. If you crack behind the motor, it waits for you, and you have to keep on suffering at close to 30 mph again. I did 2 30 min. sessions each day and averaged about 27 mph on rolling terrain. We came in at 38 mph for about 3 K at the end of Monday's second session, and that felt pretty good.

The boys are heading over today and we will try to repeat our success from Walla Walla. The Omnium format makes things a bit more chaotic, but the race will be overall less difficult than WW. I'd really like to have the opportunity to get support and go for the overall if it seems like that is our best shot. Who knows who will be at the race though and how tough the riders will make it? I just hope we take the title however it is done.

See you in the peloton.

"I was a race poacher." The horrifying storying that couldn't be told...

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Thu, 10 May 2007 15:46:00 +0000

Poaching. Let's see, what does that really mean? And should convicted/accused poachers feel guilty? Defensive? Or just 'fess up?

Nice to see that this term is in circulation in the NW these days. Hopefully it will remain current, and have the same long legacy of phrases such as "Campbelling/being Campbelled" and "schlonging."

Now poaching is a very serious crime and all such charges must have firm evidence to have any sort of credibility. And like all serious crimes, it is best if the defendent just 'fesses up to the charge rather than claiming innocence or a convenient alibi.

I'll confess. For instance, I've won the Olympia Capital Criterium the last three years in the Masters division. This would stand as outright poaching if all I did that day was the masters event, since I am a cat. 1. It is/was poaching, but by entering the pro/1/2 race later in the day, I can get away with it since I can say it was a "warm-up." Of course if those fields were a bit tougher, maybe it wouldn't be considered poaching at all. There's a lot of gray area. And tons of examples that could be brought forth.

Now, on the other hand, when a certain mountain bike PROFESSIONAL won the AMATEUR national road race, this was out and out, undisputed poaching. The Pro had tons of class, talent, and experience, but no ROAD PRO CONTRACT. What was he to do? Not race the AMATEUR champs. After all, it was right there in Utah, a mere 6 hour or so drive away. That was undisputed poaching.

In between these two examples is when there are two events in the same region on the same day, and an established champion chooses to do the easier event, and then goes ahead and wins it. Why be defensive? It is what it is. The poacher's presence at either event would have caused trepidation among either field--the poacher was just going with the surer bet. Or maybe grandma lives on the course or something. That would be a good excuse.

Charges of poaching can only be leveled at individuals that are capable of winning races. You can't just hurl the charge at anyone that is doing "the other" event in the region on a particular day. Those individuals are simply "doing the other race." They weren't going to strike fear in the hearts of either field. They are simply making a prudent choice to not recieve a complete ass-kicking at the tougher event.

The fact is, to poach, you have to be a winner. It's really a compliment. It's never easy to win any bike race.

(*Pros that are home and not away with their team get an automatic exemption from poaching charges no matter where/how hard the race they enter/win.)

Another solo mission

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Wed, 09 May 2007 15:35:00 +0000

Well, the boys took a licking at the Gila for the most part. Mart Santurbane has been going well all year and has been doing NRC/pro am events all year. He converted his good TT into a high 20's finish, but a cold spread through the team, Matt crashed and got the sickest of all, and Derik was feeling some effects of the bug and not enough training. And then of course there is the altitude and pro team tempo and power.

Our cat. 2's did awesome with a stage win and a 2nd as well, but the lack of neutral feed about killed the 3 of them, and killed Justin M. and Chris Stuart's chances that they had in their break that had 6-8 minutes on the field. All three required IVs post-race, but I guess Justin M. has an aversion to needles. That left him cooked for the duration I hear.

The line-up for Wenatchee was already tenuous, but now it is basically scratched from the team's programme. So, climber extrordinaire that I am, I am now "free" to ride my own race. What a joke! I have managed a top-10 in the Omnium in the past and have won the crit there before, so it isn't that bleak. I'll target the crit, do as good a TT as I can, and try to not get left behind to early in the road race. Maybe I'll attack from the gun again and get a head start? Why not?

Oh, my back. It is feeling much better. The massage was painful on Monday, but it was much needed. And now I am feeling the legs that I should have had at the state champs had I not had the back injury in the first place. Last night I finished the Oly club ride solo with a nice 1/2 minute gap, then rode strongly in our three trips up Tumwater Hill. The wind was brutal last night and I had to bridge a 20 second gap at one point that really was a test. Easily as hard an effort as in a race.

Hopefully it wasn't just the combination of Naproxin and the muscle relaxant I had taken!

I hope there is a good field over there now that it isn't the State Omnium. In the past not that many people did all three stages and the championship drew more people I think. So, another solo mission. 3rd week in a row. Hopefully guys will be rejuvenated for Enumclaw in 2 weekends.

WA State Championships

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Mon, 07 May 2007 15:47:00 +0000

I can't blame pros and crosswinds this time. This week I am blaming a stupid "everyday life" injury on hampering my abilities. I was doing some re-con on my sailboat on Saturday to make sure we could motor it over to Longbranch on Sunday and I hurt my left low-back pulling the cord on the motor. I jacked it pretty good and did the usual recovery routine (ooops, should have iced) but there was less than 24 hours to race time. I didn't think it was too bad, and the legs themselves felt good from an easy week.

I felt good and progressively felt worse and the back was to blame. The "wall" at Longbranch is enough to wreck your back, let alone having an injury to start with. Oh well. I just tried to enjoy being in a race and not doing something horrible while I knew I probably wouldn't be contending.

After getting gapped pretty badly the 2nd to last time up the hill I decided to go "all-in" on the last lap and instigated some good attacks and hit the wall with a tiny gap. Once caught I was done. I didn't think I'd be contact if I tried be cautious anyway so I went down in flames.

Crash!
There was a terrible crash involving a Garage guy overlapping his teammate and hitting the pavement hard with the side of his face. I heard his arm was broken and at a 90 degree angle where it shouldn't have been. Not good to see that stuff.

Now it is "get the back fixed" mode and getting set for Wentachee. That road race will not be kind to a weak back, so I hope I heal fast. It will be nice to be riding for/with some teammates over there. I hope they are not too blown from Tour of the Gila.

Vance Creek crosswinds...

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 16:17:00 +0000

Well, that didn't go like I wanted it to! A classy field containing 5 pros, including a mended Tyler Farrar made for a good bunch.

After all the smack-talk and WA Cup business, Wines of Washington actually seemed to have a game plan and raced like a team! It wasn't just Stangeland being strong on his own for once. Hats off to them for putting guys on my wheel repeatedly. I made some moves early on after some surges in the wind, but they were not successful.

Later, I was complacent going into the crosswinds and field split. I told myself to sit on and see if the others could close the gap and luckily they did. Then, when I should have gotten to the front before the next crosswind, I only made it a little ways up. Then it split again, I gave the others a chance to close the gap, and then gave it a solo effort and probably got within 5 seconds but they were checking back and ramping the pace up pretty heavily.

Seeing that the main team left out of the split couldn't close the gap, a gave it solo try as it was clear than me helping pull wasn't going to do the trick. I did nearly make it, and really didn't need to hear "nice work" said sarcastically from that team's "leader." I didn't say a word back in the race, but I guess here in print I'll say, "nice work yourself douche bag!" "Notice all my teammates (none) and the target on my back?"

The race was pretty much over there, but there was some spirited and non-sensical attacking with the lead group up the road at 3 minutes with 15 or so riders. I added to the ridiculousness with a late attack, but chose to shut it down the last time past the parking lot.

Maybe I'll have better luck at Longbranch?

Spring update!

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 15:02:00 +0000

Wow, it's easy to slack on the blogging...That last photo there of my nose looking to be in Ian's ass was quite a while ago, but my form is more or less the same.

Let's see, what races have gone down since then?
3/24: Independence Valley RR in my neck of the woods. The blogger, jza @ http://raceoregon.blogspot.com/ covered the race well and I wrote it up for the www.Teambobs-bicycles.com site, but the synopsis is, tough race. I missed the break and had to kill myself to not miss the 2nd group split on Michigan Hill. I big-ringed the sucker and was able to leave some fast dudes behind. I left the 2nd group behind for a while when I got in a chase group of 3, then got left behind by them, but I was able to dust Kenny and Donald in the sprint for 5th, which is not too chumpy.

I had my sights set on a winning the next day, 3/25 at Tour de Dung #2 where I've won many times. I did a good race and created what looked to be the winning break, but I was all alone and couldn't bank on support from the rear. After 100k or so we got caught by Reynolds, Williams, and McArthur, and Reynolds astutely attacked right away. Neither Stangeland nor Williams seemed much interested in chasing him right away, and I can only believe they both figured they would be helping me right into the win if they did. So, I missed out and even botched it for 2nd by basically doing a crazy effort from 700 meters out or something and ending up 5th. At least I was going for 1st and not settling for 2nd, but then again, I just should have settled for 2nd and then mocked the other's tactics. Hard to do that effectively when you blow it yourself.

Then came the end of March and I took a miss on the North Shore CR which was part of the WA Cup. If I was in the leader's jersey I'd have gone all the way up there for the 8 AM start (lame!) and chincy prize list. So I fell further back in the WA Cup...

The next day, I again was picked as a favorite and was personally feeling like I could take the win at the Cherry Pie Road Race down south in Woodland, WA since I took 3rd there last year from the break that left some good riders behind. I looked to do the same this year but I was marked pretty heavily as was Even Elken, my old travel buddy from the Broadmark days, and Doug O., the other pro in the race who was also an old road dog from B-mark.

E and I missed the winning move, but Doug didn't, and he took the win. I tried for the field sprint, but it was just too slow and bunched and I could only take 8th in the sprint and a little cash. That was frustrating for sure.

4/8 was the Brad Lewis Memorial Crit. Damn, what a trip that one of us up and died, of a heart attack no less, while racing in his team's event. I wasn't there on the day, and I'm pretty glad. It was a bit emotional taking part there this year considering what had gone down a year ago. He was one of the nicest dudes I've met in the sport and really an example of a guy that made racing and training a life-style to be respected.

Of course I wanted to do well, but it was wet and quite slippery. Hagens-Berman had a bunch of dudes and Rubicon was there with a fast squad. I simply missed the break by being too far back and then was marked by the teams. I tried chasing and had pro help from Tom P. and some from Morgan S., but those dudes were gone. I bailed with 2 to go for the meaningless sprint for $0, and called it a workout.

Then it was off to Wenatchee for some vacation and training. Did two 5+ hours rides with one of them climbing a ridiculous amount as well as being quite windy up on the Waterville Plateau. The wind made me cut my planned ride short, so I had to climb Badger Mtn. a second time to not wuss-out.

Next day rode to Leavenworth via the sweet back roads route that Tyler Farrar showed me quite a few winters ago when we hooked up for a ride. Then it was up Beaver Pass, the old State Champs course, and back on th eHwy 2 along the Wenatchee River which was super big and white-watery. There was a sweet tail wind too to make up for all the damn wind that day and the one before.

Then it was off to Ocean Shores (open sores) for two nights at the Quinalt Beach Resort that Sarah was awarded. This was near total recovery before TST. I gambled by playing some Texas hold-em which I love. I doubled-up my $40 investment then played some hands and lost it all. I'd won 3 hands in all.

TST on 4/14 was the biggest race of the year, and the first time I'd be racing with a decent sized Bob's team. Justin Rose and Mayfield, and Brandon A., and team director Tad came over to stay with me and race. Contrary to what some have believed, it was a fast race. Just because Symmetrics isn't there or lots of out of towners, it doesn't mean the field is weak or something. For one, Kenny Williams could have been there, but he chose to poach Kings Valley which a much weaker field, and Russell Stevenson was supposedly recovering from getting his ass kicked in the muddy Sea Otter pro cross-country. As far as out of towners, there were a few Canadian teams, my Idaho teammates, and quite a few Oregon riders.

The winning break contained 2 Washington riders (Adrian H. and Nathan from Garage) and the rest were 2 Canadian pros (Symmetrics and Mtb-er Ricky Federeau) and then our own Justin Rose and Oregon's H-B rider Andrew Fischer.

The weather was good that's for sure, but the pace wasn't slow. Ask anyone that was there. Being a NW Cup race I wanted to do well, and again played my cards as well as I could against the better climbers and took my 3rd 7th place at TST by dusting the 20+ second group.

I was especially pleased to capitalized on Stangeland's tactical error by making sure the tempo went way up on Dewatto right when we caught him there. He got 0 points and I 45 or something, narrowing his lead a bit. It was especially satisfying to get Justin Rose in the winning break in his first shot at the event and letting everyone know what Bob's is capable of.

I took a miss on Seward Park the next day. Been there, won that twice. A course far too easy to sit-in on and quite a cluster in the finale at times...

Now, finally getting caught up to date, Bob's sent a full team of 8 to the Tour of Walla Walla. As jza points out, this is the biggest and best amatuer focussed stage race in the NW now. With the addition of stage 1, it is also the longest amatuer event. See the write-up that I helped write for www.teambobs-bicycles.com for all the details.

In short, we did exactly what we set out to do from start to finish. I didn't really believe we could do it, but we did. We took the jersey and defended it to the end, and even finished the crit with super class by taking some primes and 2nd place with a gap. It was a huge blow to H-B but they were all gracious and congratulatory in defeat. I was especially proud at road captain for the event. I made the right calls, the guys believed in me, and our top GC guys did a great job. Our domestiques laid it all out in the big road race and kept that sucker together for 96 miles. I personally put out efforts I didn't think I was capable of, and those are the most satisfying days on the bike. 80 versus 8, and we came out on top!

There, I'm caught up. Next up is the Vance Creek Road Race where I am usually on the podium. The last time I was there I won the silver medal in the WA state RR, narrowly missing the gold which I sought as the highest tribute and dedication to my mother who had just lost her battle with lung cancer. Maybe I will take my first win of the year there and dedicate it to her memory? I be flying solo, but that hasn't stopped me before.

March 17 & 18 Race Reports

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 05:07:00 +0000

Tubbs beating me for the 2nd day in a row

Mason Lake, WA (Stage 3, Overall)Posted on Thursday, March 22 @ 15:20:34 EDT Topic: Men's Elite Team

Rob Campbell secures 3rd overall in the Mason Lake series with a 6th place in race #3. Besting Kenny Williams (1st Rate Mortgage), but coming up short against Ian Tubbs (Hagens-Berman)in the field sprint, Campbell added to his 4th place from race #1.

(I wasn't looking to go too deep in this race--no reason to really. Michael Emde and Micheal Murdin meanwhile chewed their arms offs like animals caught in a trap to stay ahead of the field. Hats off to them, I just don't see the point to bury myself for so little. I was happy to have enough points available in the field sprint to score somemore and come away with a podium spot in the series after not having to do a lot to earn it.)

(I was happy to have fairly fresh legs, though I'd logged over 100 on Saturday after riding to and from Mason Lake and doing the 70 mile race. The rain may have helped wear me down and give the me the low-level cold I have this week. I was also happy to have Derik riding in my service as he put in work at the front the chase several times. In the end I was beaten by Tubbs, but by doing very little I also earned good points toward the WA Cup.)

The following day at the Market Street Road Race, Derik Archibald rode strongly in service of Campbell in his quest for victory. Archibald kept the field intact during several breakaway attempts by the field, and in the end the undemanding course allowed for a field sprint. Again, Campbell was bested by Tubbs, but this time it was for 2nd on the podium.The result propelled Campbell into 3rd place in the Washington Cup series, a mere 15 points out of first place. Team Bobs-Bicycles.Com leads the team classification in the WA Cup after round #3. Campbell and the team will attempt to take the leader's jersey after round #4 at the Independence Valley Road Race near Olympia Saturday the 24th of March.

(20-30 mph winds are forecast for Saturday and it has been raining steadily for about 12 hours with not end in sight. Independence will be tough. I think that a decent selection will form in the flat exposed part of the course after the Michigan Hill climb. Hopefully I can make that selection and sprint out of it for the win.

Should I take the WA Cup jersey I will try to defend it to the end. If I don't, I'll keep trying to get it, but will probably take the start at Piece of Cake where there will be $1000 for the pro/1/2 men. That race will conflict with the North Shore Circuit Race, a WA Cup event. The WA Cup will only pay $250 for first, with a lot more effort and events. Speaking of prize money, I'll be hitting Sequim #2 on Sunday in an effort to win it and the third Sequim race later on. There's also $1000 for the pro/1/2 men for the series. I've won there several times and have taken the series overall too. Hopefully things will go my way and I'll repeat.)

That's all for now. I'll be back with race news after this weekend.

Not all soldiers think alike

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 05:33:00 +0000

Unless one goes out of their way to speak to a soldier or search for their views in print, you might mistakenly assume that all soldiers "believe in the mission" and support the decisions of the commander in chief. This week I spoke with or heard the views of at least four soldiers.

Only one of them is buying the war and believes that those trying to end the war through protest are "clowns" in his words. He believes that the protesters at the Port of Tacoma are "protesting the troops." I told him I didn't think that was the case, and that they were more than likely protesting the weapons and materials the individual soldiers were loading onto the ships. This soldier believes that they are all wasting their time and that "there are better means of protesting." I told him that I'm sure many of them are using a variety of means, contacting their elected officials, writing letters, holding meetings, and acting like "clowns" as he called those exercising their 1st amendment rights of free speech and assembly.

This soldier is completely ignorant of the facts regarding Saddam and any connection to Bin Laden/Al Qaida. He buys the line that Saddam was in cahoots with Bin Laden, a story that was put forth by the administration to frighten the nation and dupe Congress into signing on to the war. Just about anyone that has been conscious in the US is now aware that there were many, many lies told to get the war going, and the sweeping electoral defeats of many that voted for the war in Congress got the boot last November. Were you paying attention to that soldier? Is that more "clownish" behavior?

This guy has sadly put his head in the ground like an Ostrich in order to not deal with the fact that he is a lifer who is doing the dirty work of the Oil Oligarchy currently in power. While all soldiers pledge an oath to obey the commander-in-chief, the same oath requires them to uphold the constitution of the U.S. When their commander breaks the law, they have the right to refuse illegal orders. This is the grounds which the Watada case lies on.

The soldier in question gave the hackneyed knee-jerk response that Watada "shouldn't have taken the money and benefits...blah blah blah..." I assume he is ignorant of the fact that Watada wished to be treated as a citizen with rights and that he requested to not be sent to the place where he believed an illegal war was being pursued, Iraq, and instead wished to be sent to Afghanistan. The court martial will probably not be successful and the case is currently on hold after a mistrial was declared. My guess is that they knew they were 1)going to lose and 2)create a lot of publicity for the anti-war cause at a time when the build-up was being implemented/failing like the whole adventure has. But I digress...

The danger of soldiers like this one is not that they are stupid, but that they possess a decent intellect. Somewhere along the line they make a conscious or unconscious decision to remain ignorant to the facts about the justification for the war, the situation on the ground in Iraq, and the horrible treatment that the huge numbers of wounded soldiers have recieved in the government hospitals, in the rejected claims of post-traumatic stess disorder, and assistance in readjusting to civilian life. All issues that have faced all vetarns who have been used the by government and the corporations it serves. This isn't even mentioning the aspect that many intelligent soldiers must allow themselves to see the enemy and those they are supposedly fighting to "liberate" as sub-human others that are both a major inconvenience, and at the same time, the reason they in a foreign country "serving their country."

This guy is sadly "just following orders" like a good German in Nazi-era Germany.

Thankfully, prior to speaking to this soldier I had spoken with another that is thankfully not on active status. He told me about how he voiced his opinion in the presence of some other soldiers and nearly had them attack him when he said the new war on Iraq was ridiculous. He told his comrades that Iraq was a beaten-down paper tiger that had already suffered from years of embargo and starvation. What threat did they possibly possess? Apparently to think aloud and to question was enough to raise the ire of the others to the point that they could not intellectually function. Even as rear support personnel they still did not value intellectual debate and free thought. It is dangerous to be free and to think while you are being told it is time to gear up for liberating a country that has been ruled by a despot who has order the torture and killing of citizens who have questioned and resisted his rule. The irony.

Other glimmers of hope came through when I saw two soldiers take the microphone at the Olympia City Council meeting on live t.v. Most of the meeting was taken up with support for Councilman T.J. Johnson who, like the "clowns," went to Tacoma to use his constitutional rights of free speech and assembly, and was also arrested to make point that he believes the war is illegal and he is willing to break trespassing laws to make his point. A classic civil disobedience tactic that results in more press for the protestors cause and when a respected figure takes part, gives more legitimacy to that cause. Anyway, two young veterans that had served in Iraq spoke out in favor of T.J. and against the war. They've been there. They've seen and heard the public outcry and protest. They don't feel inclined to put their heads in the sand and relinquish their rights to free thought and speech. They are smart enough to see that they didn't serve their country, but the oil corporations used them.

Sadly, a few weeks before these encounters with soldiers, my half-brother called me out of the blue to tell me that he'd signed up with the Army. He told me how they'd duped him into believing that he had an amazing IQ and that he was in line for Airborn Ranger training once was called up for basic training, etc. I told him they were lying to him and that he would be in the infantry, private first class, or whatever. I doubt very much that 28 year old former truck drivers with a felony weapons charge on their record are going to be in an elite unit.

I guess he has had enough of freedom and the responsibilities of fatherhood and the grind of work. He has few options, and hadn't shown an aptitude for school, or else he'd be seeking some other job skills or training. I only hope he doesn't have to kill or hurt anyone and that the same doesn't happen to him. If he makes it home safe and sound I hope that he also sees the world with a new set of eyes and is able to see the injustice of the war and how it was fought to secure oil and territory for the expansion of U.S. interests.

Port of Tacoma protest video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1_lmvhkv3c&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-w7g_8ZCYU&NR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWmLufB6Bsw&NR

Team Bobs-bicycles.com get together

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 16:18:00 +0000

Last Friday Michael and I made the big drive to Boise to meet Vern, the shop owner and team sponsor, do a photo shoot, hang/meet the rest of the dudes, and do a little time trial. It was actually quite busy, with minimal time for hanging out at Brandon and Amanda's pad near the smelly dairy farm. Thank goodness they are moving into town and away from that wretched stench. I guess I didn't notice it in the summer since we quickly entered the sanctuary of the AC inside the home then.

Anyway, 9 hours to Boise from Oly via Portland, but the silver lining was that it rained non-stop pretty heavily while we were gone, so no love lost as far as missing the drenching.

The photo shoot was painless and it was nice to get our partial kits. Hopefully it will stay cool and I'll bwe able to actually race in the Team Bobs longs sleeve jersey.

Vern and Nancy are super nice and have been in the business for a long time and are super stoked to support a serious group of elite-level bike racers. Hopefully things will continue to develop and the team will become a launch pad to the pro ranks like some other NW teams have been.

The riding was nice after the individual photos, and during the ride 600 digital photos and a couple hours of film/video were shot for promotional purposes in the Boise area.

It was fun to answer counter-attacks from the team's awesome climbers while being filmed. I wonder what my face looked like? It was definately race-pace efforts and an opportunity to show the guys I'm not just a sprinter.

Sunday we did the Jason Broome Memorial Time Trial and I was shooting for 4th on the team and I did that with my 12th place. I got smoked by the top 5 guys, and Team Bobs took 1st and 2nd. Those guys are studs. I was pleased with my ride considering I don't focus too much on time trialling and it is early for me to have good legs in a time trial. Maybe I'll work it a bit more this early season.

Here are the results:
http://www.spondoro.com/results/JasonBroome/2007/results.pdf

See ya later,
Rob

So I have a blog now too

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 22:31:00 +0000

Well, I had to sign in to make a post to another blog today and one thing led to another...I now have a blog. I once had a webpage hosted by my college, but I graduated and it disappeared. That was a mere 5 years ago, before blogs existed. This is much easier than maintaining the web page, but it went away and I didn't bother seeking other means. But now, everyone has a blog. I have a myspace account, but I haven't done anything with it. I guess I have enough "friends" already.

So anyway, I guess I'll mostly be making posts about bike racing and other stuff that comes to mind.

Okay so here goes. Bike racing season 2007. I'll be racing for Team Bobs-bicycles.com out of Idaho this year. Bob's Bicycles is a bike shop in Idaho that does a lot of ebay and online retailing. They are the 4th largest Giant dealer in the nation! Thus, we are riding Giants this year, and I like mine a lot. I've had several Giants since Broadmark was sponsored by them when I was with them.

The team is made up of three guys from "the coast" me, Derik Archibald, and Michael Gallagher, and eight guys from Boise or other parts. Basically last year's ICO team with a few more additions. Every guy on the team is a "closer," or will be once the form comes around with some more racing.

So far we have already scored top-3's in Washington, Oregon, Arizona, and New Mexico.

My results so far:

Cherry Pie Road Race, 14th (Took field sprint after D got in the winning break, and MG was in the second group). I was happy to just finish the race considering I'd been at a bachelor party the night before...

Ohop Roubaix, 2nd (MG took the win after attacking on the 2nd lap. I duelled with Lang Reynolds and eventually rode away with M. Emde to seal the 1-2 in that awful race. My hands and arms were wrecked but some massage did the trick the next day.)

Mason Lake #1, 4th (Took the field sprint again. We helped chase--well Derik did--to bring the Tubbs break back that included our own Justin Rose. I was hoping to get in the next successful break but I was pretty marked and I don't think people wanted to either let me go or be faced with dealing with my sprint should we get a nice gap. What can I say? The price of being a good rider I guess. At least there was no cash on the line, and I was able to test the sprinting legs. By the way, where's the challenge? I came from way back and dusted everyone. I look forward to being able to do that at a more prestigous event soon.

Next up: drive 9 hours to Boise for photo shoot, team ride, some time trial, hanging out with team.

noreply@blogger.com (camrob) — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 18:40:00 +0000

This "art" is what can happen when a 9th grader has access to your computer. They just might "microsoft paint" you into a compromising position. At least me killing bunnies while doing a cyclocross is better than the one they made where I'm covered with bees while taking a sprint win on the road...