Cyclocross season is a wrap...

After 14 weekends of cx racing in the books, Team Ramirez is ready to close it down and hang our bikes for the holidays. It was a season of hard racing on grass, dirt, sand and mud.   The greatest reward this season was watching Donovan enjoying himself with the sport and its community. He had some hard knocks and falls at races, and he would always wipe the tears, regain composure, remount and pedal away hard with determination.

This is it! Last race! 

I absolutely loved that he rode the venues in preparation for a couple of his "A-races" in order to do better. He is already asking about going back to some of the harder ones to do better next year. Aside from the whole racing scene, Donovan is just excited to be on his little bike. Watching him ride around the neighborhood and being able to hop on our bikes and go tear around the park together is pretty awesome. As a little post-season project, I plan on making his little bike lighter and upgrade his drivetrain. No, he's not going to be on ZIPPs anytime soon, but with a few new parts, some re-purposed and others generously donated, we are going to make his little rig the envy of his field. :-)

The highlights of our seasons:

Donovan- 7th in WA state; 

                4 x top-10 finishes.

JC- 3rd in WA state; 

       1st in SCX Series; 5th in MFG Series

       1 win; 7 x top-5;  12 x top-10; 

I feel I did well. Maybe more than doing well, I found consistency and was able to battle hard up front week after week, which was something I was not able to do last year. 

Finishing the season in style. 

Thank you for reading. Happy Holidays to all. PEACE!

owls...

Theresa found this image and it killed me. LMAO...

WA State CX Championships

It has officially started being cold. I mean like mid-high 30's cold. And this year's cyclocross state championship races were once again held at Arlington, some 40mi north of Seattle. Well, let me tell you, it is noticeably colder just 1hr north of here, with a little dusting of snow and frozen puddles in the fields. With hours in between our races, we decided to bring a tent, some chairs, a table and heater to be comfortable. Though it didn't rain, the tent provided an established area where we chilled and stayed warm between races.

Papa- you sure you know how to operate that?

Both of the boys on Team Ramirez seem to be having good form as the close of the cross season nears, so going to the championship races was a must.

Donovan went off first. Though the fields were small, you could tell this was the championship race- I only counted 1 mtb in his race. All the other kids were on light aluminum machines, most with gears, (soccer) cleats on all their feet = seerious bees-ness....

Chris Froome wishes he could clear barriers like me...

He is starting to develop a bit of a rivalry with some of the guys on the Rad Racing squad.  Donovan is psyched to have walked away with a very respectable 7th place.

Push to the line! Good for 7th place. In the state.

Next up was his old man. After fumbling a bit at the start (new cleats r in the mail!), I made a strong push in the first 2 laps to get myself back to the front of the race. Pretty soon I was riding in 3rd, just 4seconds behind Jon, with Peter hot on my heels. There were some technical sections on the course today which played to Jon's strengths and instead of catching him, he continued to put time between us. By the end of the race, I was running out of gas and felt Peter closing in, but managed to hold on to 3rd.  The guy that beat us all by a zip code is a good guy, last year's champ and a bona fide Cat1-2, just trying to fill his points quota to go race where he belongs.  

Jon (2nd), me (3rd), Peter (4th).
Good pals, good times, completely spent...
(Nick Adsero half cameo on right... we'll be racing together soon, bud...)

This time, since it was the championship race, aside from pats on the back, we came home with one of these for 3rd spot:

Overall, it was a good day at the races. Thank you Theresa for putting up with your nutty family! 2 more races left in the local calendar. But before then, Happy Turkey break if you are in the USA.

Thanks for reading.

Team Ramirez Does It

On a cold, rainy Sunday afternoon, the Ramirez Squad went out to Parkland WA for some more cross racing. Though the fields were smaller than at other races, the usual suspects were there, so competition was bound to be like always- tough. Under cold and gray skies, the Ramirez boys did what they do best, and raced their hearts out.

First to race was Donovan. He patiently waited for the officials to start his race, and then took off, making quick progress into his field. He handled the barriers like a seasoned vet, and judiciously picked which sections to run his bike. He went down some of the gnarly sections without fear.

Final effort towards the finish...

Unfortunately in this sanctioned series, 6-9yr juniors are only allowed to do 1lap, which left him wanting to race more. He was stoked to finish in a very respectable 10th place. Donovan then got to hang out in the Team Bus while he ate lunch and recovered from his effort.

10th place!! Yeah baby!!

Next up was his old man... After a not-so great start, I fought myself back into the top 4, doing good battle with my friends Jon and Peter. Meanwhile, the gap to Dmitri in 1st kept growing. On the penultimate lap, I was in 2nd, spectating buddy Nick gave me a split of 15sec. The plan became to go full gas every pedal stroke. I was sliding every which way, taking lots of chances. I caught Dmitri's wheel at the final turn to the long finishing straight, at that familiar point when the ambient noise level goes down, letting me know I am just this side of tunnel vision. In that same instant, Theresa's LOUD voice to 'Push it!' brought me back, and I sprinted with all I had left to my first win this season. I let out a loud scream at the line, moments before coming to a complete stop, and folding over my handlebars in a dry-heaving/oxygen-debt mess.

Looks like Dmitri (L) and Jon (R) are holding up the little dude in the middle...

I don't usually like to toot my own horn, but this felt pretty epic, specially with my family there.

What does one get for such heroics you may ask? Your picture taken, a pat on the back, and if your S.O. is super awesome, a cookie to share.

thanks for reading.

oh-so-close...

This past Sunday, cross racing took place at my favorite venue, Woodland Park. Why is it my fave? 1)B/c it is very close to where we live, 2) is challenging, 3)1100 people come out and cheer, and 4)b/c it is the season ender for MFG series, everyone brings out their A-game ( 5)B/c I've won here before :-)  )

Riders Ready! Let's go already...

So in preparation for the big day, Donovan and I went out to the park a number of times to practice, so that we both knew what to expect. That also gave him a chance to try his new tires out.

Photo by Raymond Kwan

Donovan took off, happy to have gears to help him move along faster and better over the terrain. He took a few tumbles, and a couple really frustrated him.

Photo by Raymond Kwan

I admire his spirit for dealing with mishaps in the middle of the race- He takes a second or 2 to react to what happened, shakes it off, gets up and remounts ready to keep pushing his little pedals. Every time. Much like his old man, emotions got the best of him afterwards, specially when things didn't go as he planned.

The thrill of finishing...

Speaking of his old man... he managed to fight hard and keep 2nd place. The winner made the smart move to pour it on and open a decent gap which became impossible to close thanks to the throngs of lapped riders in our race.

All but one guy (Steve) saw this... so close...

It was a really good day of racing, followed by a great time hanging out with a number of our friends who came out to be a part of the scene, along with 1280+ other cheering fans. Very cool...
jc

let's review.... cross season, it's another reason... for eating cookies...

The coolest thing so far is watching Donovan tear around on his new bicycle and step up to race with the juniors... and pick off a few of the older kids ahead of him....

The kid in the cool leg warmers in the midst of battle....
(awesome action shot courtesy of Raymond Kwan)

Here's what his old man has done so far this year:

MFG#1 - 6th place;    MFG#2 - 14th place;    MFG#3 - 21st place
MFG#4 - 6th place;    MFG#5 -   6th place

Starcrossed- 10th place

SCX#1 - 8th place;      SCX#2 - 5th  place;     SCX#3 - 5th place

I feel I've been doing good battle, but just haven't been able to quite put a winning race together (yet). I felt like I almost had it the previous weekend, went form 9th to 2nd on lap 2 and then took the lead... only to fall, and fall, and slip again down to 6th. Oh well....

Exhibit A:
 MFG #5 could-have-been winner; instead got kit muddy by falling.... 
(evidence photo courtesy of Raymond Kwan)

Let's see what happens the remaining Sundays.

In the beginning....

...there was this little kid, doing cyclocross on his little single speed bmx bike. He was having a lot of fun, and he thought it was cool doing the kiddie races. Soon though, he decided he was ready to race with bigger kids, on the adult's courses. He had trouble getting up some steep stuff, and getting his little bike over some barriers. It probably felt like his bmx was made of lead at times. Other times he would have to stop pedaling as he was spinning out on his one gear, while the rest of the older kids pulled away from him. It didn't matter much, he still gave it everything he had every race he did. Win? Loose? Nah... it's all about the fun....

And this past weekend, it just got a whole LOT more fun (and faster) for that little kid in the cool leg warmers!!

Hey 9 to 11yr olds... guess who got just a little faster this week?
Yep, this 7yr old.... 

I got gears! As in MORE THAN ONE! 

430! You and your funny bike with discs are about to eat my mud... 

Proof he had a little more fun than usual? I give you Exhibit A:

HUUB

I am stoked to count on HUUB's support for 2014 and onward. HUUB supplies gear for the water, equipping fast swimmers and top triathletes in the world with wetsuits and skinsuits, including guys like the Brownlee Bros and, of more recent notoriety, Freddy VL.

Rocking for HUUB at my pool...

HUUB's departure from traditional materials and wetsuit features used by others, and only applying science-backed features which actually benefit swimmers has me very excited... I can use every bit of help in the water....

Features that make a difference....

Finally, it's cool to see more companies departing from thinking of women as small men. I bet there's a number of fast ladies pumped to see a wetsuit design like the Aura. Nice work HUUB!

Here's to faster swim splits! :-)

'nother Sunday of off-road madness...

Donovan and I got our racing ON once again this past Sunday. Very fast course, one which I've won in the past and I was looking to reclaim again. After a slow start, @ about 15th wheel, the field was strung out for lap 1. Starting lap 2, however, the 7 leaders jumped hard, and the field did not react. As soon as I caught on to what was happening, I pushed it and got into no-man's land between the dumb, complacent field and the front.

Racing solo for 4 laps to the front...

I fully committed to my move and rode a hard tempo. Simple: I would either blow up or get on up to the race winning move.  It took me 4 laps to close the 20sec gap by myself, and when I got back on to 6th at the start of the last lap, I made the mistake to get off the gas for a few corners to catch my breath- shoulda just kept on pouring it on & into tunnel-vision land.

Getting back on in 6th place...

The other 5 guys had saved 1-2matches for the sprint and they rocketed away from me... another 6th place. To my credit, the rest of the field came in 25sec behind me...

Donovan had a great time, and he finished his race on his little boat anchor. He took off and had a great start... up until he spun out on his little single speed bmx

I rode behind him to remind him of a couple of tricky areas, but as always, he did it all the racing by himself. Including getting over barriers and stairs.

 The finish line and the awesome feeling of having given it a great effort.

Theresa and I decided he has been such a trooper, never complaining about how heavy his bike is, or how he spins out on flats, or how hard it is to get up hills, that he deserves a real bike. We want his experience to be enjoyable, not frustrating like it has been at times the last 2 races. So I am on the search for a Redline Conquest 20 for him. That should allow him a more level playing field to the 9-11yr olds he's racing... Until next Sunday... and thank you for reading

some more racin'...

The racing this weekend was pretty good. First, got a chance to watch the live-video feed of the IM World Champs that took place in Kona, while dissecting all things swim-bike-run over a couple beers with my buddy Ryan. So that was cool, I kinda felt like a lot of those people who go over to their friends' homes to watch 'the game' every Saturday or Sunday...

Then Sunday brought on some really hard cyclocross racing, courtesy of muddy/grassy conditions

Photo above & below courtesy of Woodinville Bicycle

I gotta say, I'm just happy my bike didn't break, as the mud & grass combo destroyed many drivetrains on the day. It was a really hard day, pedaling on that terrain was absolutely energy zapping and leg destroying....

3 laps to go!? R u kidding me!? I don't have 3 laps left in me...

And you hear me talk about the camaraderie this particular sport has, so here is a good example. After a really tough battle with each other, zero hard feelings, and we swap war stories, and enjoy a cold brew....

L to R: Randy (9th), Ryan (6th), Nick (1st... we'll get you next time!), and me (5th)

'til next time... stay tuned for more racing from Donovan as well...

The awesomeness of being a parent

Donovan came out yesterday for his first cx race of the season. The venue is a MTB'ers course, and it has some really steep climbs. In addition, it features one of the harder and longer sand sections around here.

The one thing to keep in mind is Donovan is 40lbs. His bike is a single speed bmx, and is also like 40lbs.

Final instructions & encouragement from racer #330

Donovan took a look at the kiddie "race," and decided he didn't want to race with the little kids anymore- he wanted to race with the junior boys & girls. So he lined up with the 9-15yr olds... Theresa was concerned, as this was the real course the adults race on, not a diluted 2min easy flat loop. And they were doing 2 laps. I reminded Donovan of his own little mantra "u can always jump off your bike and run up anything". Injured as I was after my own race, I sucked it up and made sure I was always close to him, cheering him on, letting him know he was doing great, I knew the terrain was going to really test his determination.

The course pummeled Donovan. HARD.  I watched my son fall time and time and time again, and push his bike more than he was able to ride it. On the last really steep hill, I gave him a push, and when he crested, he said 'OK, that's enough, Papa...' letting me know he was doing it on his own. When he made it back down to the beach for the 2nd and last time, I could see in his little face he was totally exhausted as he stumbled and fell down on the sand for the umpteenth time. At this point, his race had ended a while ago, the course was closed as they were getting ready for the next race. I told him he had put on a great effort and that it was ok to be done at that point. He gave me a resounding NO!, got up, grabbed his bike and kept on moving, leaving me there with a knot in my throat and a sense of pride I can't describe.

There was group of the fast guys warming up, who on purpose were riding behind him, cheering him on, helping him at times. Afterwards, they came over and told him how awesome he is.

So a cop pulls me over...

It's near 2pm, I'm in downtown Seattle, on my way to a meeting, using the bus lane. Said bus lane is restricted to buses from 6-9AM and 3-7PM. So a cop flashes his lights, I pull off into the parking lane, he stops his cruiser on the bus lane. I turn my van off, lower my window... oh, the cop is approaching on the passenger's side, so I reach over & lower that window... The guy has a ton of decorations on his uniform, he is asian, pretty much all gray, & looks friendly...
Cop- I'm pulling you over b/c you've been using the bus lane for the last 3 blocks. Do you want to tell me why you are doing that? (cop rests his forearms across the open window, interlocks his fingers)
JC-B/c the lane is unrestricted from 9-3, according to the signs (I point to a sign ~200ft away)... right?
(Cop looks at sign for a couple seconds... then looks down at the ground in front of him)
Welllllll... looks like I better do my homework before I pull people over, huh....?
(I kind of just smiled, I didn't want to say anything that would come across as being a smart ass. Cop raps his hands on the inside of the door, looks around in the van...)
Hey, tell me about these vans...
What would you like to know?
At this point we proceed to have a friendly chat about engines, and cost of maintenance, and mechanics in Seattle, and Syncros, and the Z-bed in the back, and cargo capacity, and so on, and so forth for about 10minutes. I am now late for my meeting, and the cop has been blocking traffic and the cruiser still has the lights on. I end up having to tell him I need to get to a meeting, and he apologizes for keeping me, shakes my hand, and that's that...

Funny...

First really muddy race of the CX season!

This past Saturday it rained hard, like, all day long. It was a crazy storm, which forecast a really muddy racing Sunday. Which it was. But before we get to that point in the story...

with 40minutes to go, I'm out on the race course, warming up, when I roll my rear tubular. $#@&! Now what? Lucky for me, FSA graciously provides race-support services at no cost. So I mosey on over to their van, and one of the FSA mechanics offers to let me borrow a wheel, and then works his magic to set my brakes, and rear derailleur to match this new wheel. 20minutes to go. Thanks FSA, for pimpin' my ri.... er... wait a sec... So the neutral support wheel has pretty much no knobs, and I am 100.0% certain I will wipe out on the first mud section I hit with it. I  am fortunate to find my good friend Jesse, who is borrowing a pair of my wheels, and without hesitation offers to give it back, as he borrows one of his team's wheels. 10minutes to go.  Thanks Jesse, for pimpin' my... oh crap... I have to readjust brakes and derailleur for this wheel. I get to work behind my van with Teddy's help. 5minutes to go. Teddy has to go line up for his race, which starts 1min after mine. I am fiddling with hex keys madly until I kinda get everything right, and scramble to the start. "1minute to go!," says the starter, as I get there. I jump over the fence, wiggle my way at the front line, say hello to my buddies lined up next to me, who were wondering WTH I was... I have just enough time to tighten my shoes, and realize I left my glasses in the car.

Photo courtesy of Woodinville Bicycle

Got up to 3rd, and then fell down numerous times to finish 14th... oh well, it was a muddy good time, followed by some beer drinking and camaraderie...

Funny story... kinda.... well... maybe not....

Theresa and I attended curriculum night at Donovan's school the other nite... You know, where you get a brief introduction to your kid's teachers, and what methodology they will be using, etc., etc. So... we sit in his writing/reading class, where he has a new teacher this year. Since she is new, this lady begins by sharing a bit about herself, her interests, etc. She has on overhead projector on which she shows us photos of her many travels: Japan, Africa, Mexico... and this is the image that she shows for my homeland:

La calaca: tilica y flaca...

So I'm sitting there, quickly scan the room, and realize NOBODY else is seeing this but me. She goes on to say she is fluent in spanish, so she should be able to connect better with the kids that are native speakers, and then her presentation continues. After the presentation is over, and while parents are talking to her, I grab my phone and take the above picture.

Part of me thought it was funny, (hilarious, really), part of me was suspicious (of the likely 100's of photos you have, THIS is the one u choose?), and part of me was really bothered by it (lack of attention to detail).

A little more cross racin'

The one really cool thing about cx is you can go out every weekend and give it another go, as opposed to triathlon, where you need to plan things out a bit more carefully.

Good rivalry with Nick Adsero.
Today I fell on the last lap & Nick opened a gap I couldn't close down. 

Photos courtesy of Woodinville Bicycle

So let's see what next weekend brings....

Right on the heels of summer...

cyclocross starts off here in the PNW.

Photo courtesy of Woodinville Bicycle

First race is in the books. I managed a bit of a hat trick last Sunday, starting in the penultimate row, about 50-60guys back, and working my way up the field to 6th. Not bad for the first outing, considering I had my doubts after being only 2weeks removed from a long walk at Challenge Penticton.

One more bike ride before school...

Donovan and I went for a bike ride this weekend, to wave farewell to the summer. I'm sure we'll keep riding throughout the Fall/Winter, specially with the start of cyclocross, but this was the last ride of the 'summer'...

"Papa! You sure you should be taking a photo while riding...?"

Well-deserved bar after arriving at the turn-around point.

There may be something to this....

As seen on display at a grocery store in Manson, WA...

"8 Horns A Plenty"

Challenge Penticton 2013

I would first like to thank Challenge for the amazing experience they put on at what is my favorite race destination, and congratulate them on taking a very strong first step to making their first event in North America what I am sure will become a premier event like Roth.

I have never felt more welcome at a race. Period. This sentiment was echoed by all the other guys and girls I talked to. The Challenge staff treated us like rockstars. I mean, it was crazy how nice they were, how genuinely interested and happy everyone was that we were there racing. This became much more evident later in the day.

The days before the race found the majority of Pros scrambling to find swimskins, as there was the very real possibility race day water temperatures were going to make it a non-wetsuit swim for us. I would like to thank Deb from HUUB for her willingness to help me out, and for being so nice. Deb let me borrow a swimskin that would sit in my backpack all day, thankfully. Even though we were allowed to wear wetsuits, it was a very ROUGH swim. I do not ever remember Lake Okanagan being that mad, and it sure made for very slow swim times, and a good amount of lake water ingestion for some of us.

Once done with the swim, my plan was to keep low, constant watts throughout the ride. No matter what. And I stuck to my plan. I will confess my legs were tired, and I wondered how the run was going to go, but I had done what I set out to do: let the race go and give myself a chance to REALLY run. I started the run dead last, and 5th female.

And run I did (at least for a little bit). Once I found my run legs, I started ticking 6:30s per mile, and started picking off people, and was well on my way to getting into the top10 within the first 8miles. Somewhere, somehow, I bruised my right foot, and it became painful enough to stop me dead on my tracks. My run became a walk, and it was only thanks to Elmar Heger that I got shuffling along again. 

So there we were Elmar and I, walking, jogging, talking, 20some kilometers away from the finish... let me tell you- shuffling through a marathon is more painful than actually running a good one, mainly because thoughts of disappointment and negativity abound. I just wanted to be done... When I did cross the finish, something unexpected happened- I was greeted with smiles, and a hug, and was thanked for not quitting by both Kelly, Challenge pro liaison, and Felix, Challenge CEO.  I spent some time in the medical tent, due to nutrition and hydration mishaps. And then I was able to take in the fantastic atmosphere around me.

Thank you Challenge for the absolutely awesome experience. Thank you Robert @ First Endurance for your continued support despite the hard knocks these last seasons. Thank you Mike, Su and Anja for letting me crash at your house again. And of course, thank you Theresa and Donovan, for all your understanding and patience and love and support. We will get it right....

thank you all for reading 

jc

Bike check-in at Challenge Penticton

A few images from the day before race at bike check-in:

Catching up with local rockstar and buddy Olly Piggin.

The Baggs- Chris and Amy.
This particular photo was kinda crazy, as I had the audacity to ask legend Lothar Ledder  to snap the pic. Ha...

We each got our very own spot, on nice carpet. To my left was Jeremy Hopwood, to my right, Scott DeFilippis. I was cool to see Scott was actually SMALLER than me, as I'm usually the smallest guy...