In the (Feed) Zone
w/Mark Swartzendruber

National Championships and a State Championship Tom Trawl

July is quite a month in the world of fringe sports. We have The Tour de France, World Cup Soccer finals, The US Grand Prix and for major sporting events we have Wimbledon, or events such as the Open Golf Championships of Britain, at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland and the Major League Baseball All Star game.

Did I just call the World Cup Soccer a fringe sport? How American of me. Sure thirty billion people world wide tuned into the World Cup, including some unfortunate Somalis who were killed by Islamist Militia hit squads for publicly viewing the matches - a crime against the principles of Islam (as reported by the Associated Press). Meanwhile, here in the US a few million watched and feigned interests in much the same way those who attend opera pretend enjoyment. It makes them feel that much more urbane and cosmopolitan, but in truth we can't wait until the World Cup no longer takes ESPN TV time away from Ultimate Fighting and NASCAR…Real sports. Speaking of fringe sports, I participated in the Grandaddy of all *yawn* sporting events, The US Elite National Cycling Championships and Masters Nationals, held at Seven Springs Resort in the Alleghany Mountains of Western Pennsylvania.

Clearly, We Have Fallen Upon Hard Times

Western PA is one of the most topographically and aesthetically appealing regions of the country that I've ever seen. The Alleghany Mountains form green ridge after green ridge as far as the eye can see. The roads are well paved, and the two lane state highways are lightly traveled. The terrain is brutal and relentless. 10% pitches, one after another. I searched the roads from the gritty industrial towns of Latrobe, Greensburg, New Stanton, Mt. Pleasant, Scottdale and Pleasant Unity for a run of flat road and failed to find any.

The towns are for the most part depressing little burgs perched on hilltops. Block after block of homes are built in close quarters with very little or no front yard. Brick, aluminum and asbestos siding show years of soot built up from the long shuttered steel mills and coal mines. One can review the old Tom Cruise movie "All the Right Moves" in which a young pre cult Tom plays a High School football star looking for a way out of the cycle of hopelessness.

It's a shame it couldn't be different here.

Twenty-Third

Twenty-three is a fine number. It is the number of the most well known Psalm of the Bible. Michael Jordan wore the number 23 during his NBA career. Twenty-three falls within the arbitrary line of demarcation that assumes excellence. We call that line the "Top 25". NCAA programs strive to maintain a position in the Top 25 rankings. Coaches are hired and fired based on their ability to coach teams into the "Top 25".

I finished in the Top 25 at the Elite National Championships Time Trial on June 6. I was 23rd. Like the Psalm. I was 23rd fastest of the people who showed up to race. The entire nation's worth of Category 1 cyclists did not show up to race. Several of the registered riders posted a DNS next to their name on the results list. A few of the riders who started posted the letters DNF next to their names. I speculate that a majority of the riders who Did Not Start, made the decision to take a pass on the time trial after doing recon of the parcours, a brutally undulating 30k course that never allowed for the rider finding a rhythm as you worked your way from over 50 mph in the 55x11 to single digit speeds in a 42x25 or less and back again.

You just can't write much about a time trial. The three top women posted faster times than I posted. Despite the fact that the women are all Olympians and podium finishers at the World Championships, it's still a bit of an ego bruising. The fastest men posted times over the 30k course about 4:30 to 4:00 faster than I. My time over the 30k course was almost exactly 3 minutes slower than the time I posted on the 36k course in Salt Lake City last year. The Salt Lake course was by no means a flat course. This will give you some perspective as to the severity of the terrain.

I attempted to tackle the course with a 55,42 on front and a 11,23 cog set on the rear. Mistake. In addition to not having enough gears on the upside, my bike was not shifting into the 23. I was horribly over geared. Upon completion of the course, I got in my car and drove to a bike shop in Greensburg, PA to purchase a 12,25 cog set.

I read that David Zabriske described the 52k Time Trial course in the Tour as the hardest TT he'd ever done. Their course had false flats up and down. I wonder what he'd think about the Seven Springs course. It's like a series of uphill time trials strung together for 30k. It's ridiculous

Ian McKissick won. He deserved it.

Fighting Boredom and Losing

I was unable, due to the overwhelming response to the Nationals being moved off the West Coast, to register for the Elite Road Race. I made the mistake of assuming that I could wait for a week after registration opening before I logged on to register. When I logged on, all that was available for the Road Race for both Elite and Masters was the wait list. Hence, I spent nearly a week between time trial events. To fight boredom I rode my bike, opting for two a day sessions, rather than a single long ride as the terrain left me completely tapped after two and one half hours of riding. At home I can do 6 hours without difficulty. I can ride 5 hours in California without so much as blinking an eye. The Alleghany Mountains are a different matter.

I watched more Hardball, Mad Money with Jim Cramer and Tour de France re runs than I'd ever care to under normal circumstances. I did manage to accomplish a small bit of productive work while connected to the internet, but otherwise, the days were long. One day I visited the Latrobe Brewing Company.

Rolling Rock beer is brewed at that facility…Until July 21st. In another good news/bad news story, the owners of the Rolling Rock beer brand sold the label to BUD (Anheuser Busch by stock symbol) in a move that likely made sense to the owners of Rolling Rock, but made no sense for BUD. However, while the owners of Rolling Rock likely made a respectable profit on their investment, BUD did not buy the brewery, only the recipe and the brand. In another potential blow to the already on hard times region, another 3500 jobs could go by the wayside as a result. I went to the Rolling Rock brewery company store to buys some soon to be rare souvenirs. I have a soft spot in my heart for the Rolling Rock brand. Here is why. Six years ago, I went to retrieve a golf club from the trunk of my then 16 year old son's car, I found a half empty 12 pack of Rolling Rock beer in his trunk. I confiscated the Rolling Rock and grounded my son for at least a month as I recall. He's learned a lot since then and is now an upstanding and responsible Dean's List Finance and Economics major. I bought him a very nice Ashworth brand golf shirt with a Rolling Rock emblem on the left breast 50% off of $52.

The Registration Issue

When I picked up my race packet, I found out that the USCF was holding a series of town hall type meetings to get rider input on whether or not there should be some sort of qualification standards for participation at National Championships. I would hope to shout! This is all I will say. Two years ago, the Elite Road Race winner was Chris Walker. Last year the Silver Medalist was Ben Raby. These two gentlemen were unable to get registered. However, a former team mate of mine, who mysteriously become a Category 1 racer without ever having a top 10 finish or winning a race managed to get himself registered to race and managed next to last place finishes in both the TT and Road Race a day and a half (metaphor) behind the winners.

In reviewing the list of entrants for the Masters 40-44 TT and road race, I noticed a name that I will not mention but it is close to the opposite of the deceased lead singer for AC/DC. This entrant is a Hooterville racer that I have wracked my brain to recall having ever finished a race, let alone winning, placing or showing. It does not seem right to me that he will be one of the 100 riders who will get popped and withdraw from my age group's race on the first climb while former champion Chris Walker and others such as Steve Tilford and Mark Southard are not in the field.

The USCF must reconsider the eligibility criteria for national championship participation. Being a minimum Cat 3 and having a high speed internet connection seem to be too broad of an eligibility screen. National Championships events should by nature be somewhat excusive. At very least the previous years 10 in all events should be given automatic entry if they choose to participate in the following year's Championship events.

Masters Time Trial
Or
How I Spent A Week Of My Life Without Having Anything To Show For It

I woke to a resounding thunderstorm at 8:58 a.m. My start time of 12:33 was barely 3.5 hours away. I had a bowl of Cheerios and decided that I'd do my preliminary warmup in my hotel room, where it was not raining, then drive to the venue later. This I did while I watched the curiously contested stage 10 of The Tour de France.

Once at the venue I parked next to a couple of fine gentlemen, the time trial champion of Virginia and a friendly chap from Pennsylvania. While we chatted about the brutal nature of the course and having to ride it in the wet, I finished off the warmup on the trainer as the rain dissipated. By virtue of my silver medal finish in Park City last year I was slotted in the next to last starting position between strong MN rider John Bagley and last season's gold medalist Randy Corcoran.

I thought I was doing well when I passed Bagley, then my minute, 1:30 and 2:00 minute men before the turn around. I was given a reality check when Corcoran passed me, rather emphatically at roughly the 8k mark. I expected him to pass me but I was hoping to hold him off until at least the turn around point.

Unlike last season, I had no song in my head to help me keep the rhythm. If I had, it would have been some sort of ugly, syncopated, modern music mish-mash with Flight of the Bumblebees for 30 seconds and The Death March for 3 minutes. Despite not having an internal metronome, my mind did not wander. I was focused. This is what I focused on: I was in too much pain to sing. The only thing in my head was how damn hard this course was. It was obscenely difficult. 40+ mph descents with turns at the bottoms on wet pavement is brutal; couple that viciousness with a series of 12% grades that range in length from 300 meters to a half a mile and you cannot imagine the pain I experienced as I tried to keep Corcoran within eyesight. I managed to do this until I got about 3 miles from the finish and then I exploded. I hit a rough spot. I would have done well to keep him within 30 seconds - one minute overall.

At the start of the race, if an official had come to me and gave me the option of

A. Completing the Ride
B. Not riding but being given credit for a time faster than The World's Strongest Man and improving over your Elite time by over a minute

I would have opted for B and never looked back. I did both A and B above. It was, it was not good enough for a medal. I finished 7th. The top 4 riders all posted times under 46 minutes. They would have all placed in the top 10 of the Elite Nationals.

Andy Applegate of Ashville, NC, a perennial and multiple time national champ was the winner. The rest of the very deserving podium looked like this:

2. Dirk Pohlman Knoxville, TN
3. Randy Corcoran Albuquerque, NM
4. Michael Hutchinson San Jose, CA
5. Ramon Benitez Glenwood, MD

Following this up was the 2005 40-44 Road Champion Robbie Robinette at 47:46 and me at 47:47. The difference of a brake on a downhill corner or the one time that my chain derailed off the big ring coming over the top of one of the heinous hills. I just have to conclude that 183 lb is simply too much weight to carry on such terrain. This was a course in which weight trumped wattage.

IL State Time Trial

In possibly the slowest winning time in the history of State Championships, I managed to salvage the 10 days of time trial efforts from being a complete waste of effort by taking gold at the state time trial. The time of 56:22 was turtle like. I had myself clocked at 55:22 so I suspect a math error by the officials, but regardless, it was slow. The last time I went over 54 minutes in a TT was at the 2003 Nationals in Louisville, KY when I had bronchitis. Everyone rode slowly. Here is why

1. 100 degrees at race time
2. Brutal high humidity and heavy breezeless air
3. It was so hot, the oil and chip asphalt was melting and made the roads sticky
4. The course was about 750m long

Next weekend the Rhino rolls into the region for the final two Superweek races. He wants me to be his tow truck in the closing laps so he doesn't have to waste energy getting to the front in the late stages of the race. We'll see. If all goes well, that will make a better story than this has been.

Disappointed but not despondent,

Druber