Cold Enough Already

Cyclocross racers can go too far in their quest for Svenness.

The 2015-16 UCI cyclocross calendar came out last week. Two of the events will have an impact on the Wisconsin Cycling Association series in which I participate. The Trek CXC Cup in Waterloo is tentatively scheduled for late September as usual, but race organizers are trying to move the event to October 10-11. With so many Wisconsin racers in action at the Trek CXC Cup, the WCA will not schedule its own races on the same weekend. So, it matters which weekend Trek gets, but it doesn’t matter very much.

Moving the Jingle Cross races to December 4-6 will be much more significant. If you are wondering why a UCI race in Iowa should affect the WCA calendar, then look at the results from years past to see how many Wisconsin racers make that trip. The WCA has scheduled its own events during Jingle Cross before, but this year that doesn’t seem likely. The Wisconsin state championships probably would be held on Saturday, December 5, if not for Jingle Cross. There’s a decision to make. Should the WCA hold the state championships on November 28? That’s immediately after Thanksgiving, a weekend on which the organization historically has not held races. Should the WCA stick with December 5 at the risk of losing some of its best racers to Jingle Cross, where UCI points will be up for grabs? Or should the WCA go a week deeper into December at the considerable risk of sub-zero temperatures and heavy snow, which will have a negative effect on racer and spectator turnout?

As recently as 2011, Wisconsin held its state championships in November. For the 2012 season, the WCA moved the championships to December 8. That move made sense because the midwest regionals were held on the following day at the same venue: Badger Prairie in Verona. USA Cycling then held its national championships at Badger Prairie one month later and Wisconsin racers enjoyed something of a home field advantage. But the midwest regionals and the national championships have moved on to other cities and they are not well-attended by Wisconsin racers now that they are far away. Meanwhile, Milwaukee’s Dretzka Park has become the new home of the state championships, hosting the event on the first Saturday in December for each of the last two seasons. As the 2013 state championships began, the wind chill was 12 degrees below zero. At the 2014 state championships, frozen ground contributed to several crashes and injuries. I hope those who advocate moving the 2015 state championships further into winter will read this article about the experiences of the top American pros at a race in Oregon in 2013. The “historically cold” conditions cited in the article would not be uncommon in Wisconsin in mid-December.

Our fellow cold-weather neighbors in Minnesota and Michigan hold their state championships at the end of November. Wisconsin doesn’t just continue to schedule its championships in December; it now contemplates delaying them by another week. For the handful of people who intend to compete at regionals and/or nationals, the Illinois state championships already present an opportunity for a December tune-up. For almost everyone else, pushing the Wisconsin championships into mid-December is a bad deal.

Wisconsin is not Belgium, where the average daytime high in December is 43 degrees. Yes, racing in sometimes adverse weather is part of what makes cyclocross a great sport, but conditions can become so extreme that racers are taking foolish risks. Our late-season races already are characterized by snow and freezing temperatures ... and dwindling participation. In several categories at last year’s Kringle Kross—held in snow-covered Hales Corners Park on November 16—turnout was so low that one could reach the podium simply by finishing the race. Racing in extreme conditions doesn’t just endanger the participants, it also reduces the quality of the competition. Delaying the state championships by yet another week would be the wrong move.

In Transition

Some of you know this already: today I am out of a job. My employer eliminated 13 positions as part of a corporate reorganization and now, after more than 19 years with the same company, I am scrambling to find new employment. I have known this day was coming for almost 3 weeks, so the job hunt is already in progress but so far it has yielded nothing.

It would be hard to overstate the seriousness of the situation. I have a wife, two kids, a mortgage and a car loan. I need an income, plus medical and dental insurance coverage. My existing insurance coverage will continue through the end of this month and there should be enough money to last through the summer, but after that I will be in desperate straits if I have not found a new job.

I have resigned myself to a big pay cut, little or no vacation, and a return to commuting after four years of working from home. By most measures, whatever comes next won’t be able to match what came before. I will seek comfort in the intangibles. I liked my income and benefits but I did not like the work itself. Maybe my new job will be more fun and interesting.

Obviously, it remains to be seen what all of the changes will mean for my cycling ambitions. If I have to abandon my racing plans to accommodate my new work schedule—or simply because I can’t afford the entry fees—then that’s my new reality. But no job will get all 24 hours of my day. There will be time in my life for cycling … maybe not the 337 hours, 16 minutes and 12 seconds that my Garmin recorded in 2014, the equivalent of more than 42 work days, but some time. This is one of those moments when cycling, no matter how much I love it, is proved to be just a hobby. Unless …

What if I could find a job that would capitalize on my love for cycling? It takes people to manage bike shops, to represent the manufacturers, to write for cycling publications, to organize racing associations and events, and so on. Why not me? I combine knowledge of and passion for cycling with a successful work history that includes journalism, sales, and no small amount of computer expertise. Some people would caution me that work is work and play is play and those things are fundamentally different. I get it. No doubt, there are people in the cycling industry who have plenty of knowledge and passion but whose business acumen is lacking. No doubt, there are others who get sick of the whole cycling thing by the end of the workday and then start to focus on other things during their spare hours. No doubt, there are still more for whom cycling is incidental—the sales process is what they love and cycling just happens to be the current product. But if there were an opportunity for me to get into “Cycling: The Business,” then I would have to take that chance.

In the meantime, the now-daily routine of scouring Help Wanted ads continues.

Extending My January Record

A few solo miles wrapped around an hour with El Reyezuelo …

Following the 26-mile route you see above, today I finished off January with a total of 241 outdoor miles. That’s a personal record. Not too long ago, I would not even consider riding outside in January. I have thought of myself as a serious cyclist since 2004 but I didn’t do my first January ride until 2012. I racked up 117 miles that month, and another 83 in January 2013. Last winter was uncommonly cold and I didn’t ride outside at all in January. My total this month wasn’t just better than any previous January, it also was better than my best February (137 miles in 2012) and my best December (175 miles in 2012). This month we had 21 days at or above our historical average daytime highs, and I proved to myself that I can ride pretty comfortably at or even a little below the freezing mark.

February is going to start with snow and a big temperature drop. We are on the northern edge of a storm that is going to hammer Illinois and is expected to bring at least a few inches of snow to Washington County between tonight and Monday morning. That’s no good for me, but the snow might have only a short impact. The long-range forecast predicts the return of above-freezing temperatures for next weekend, followed by a week in the high 30s or even low 40s. My February mileage PR will be in serious trouble if that forecast proves true.

More Input For West Bend Parks And Trails

My time at City Hall was short today—30 minutes, tops—but it proved to be another good opportunity to talk about bike-friendly ideas for West Bend. Last week I spent 2 hours with the Parks, Recreation & Forestry staff. This evening I spent most of my time with members of the Park and Recreation Commission. Most initiatives need support from the department, the commission, and the Common Council to become a reality. So far, so good: I have not hit any significant resistance to the idea of trail development at Park Site O. I can expect some from the Common Council if I go looking for tax money, but hopefully I won’t need it.

After conducting open-house sessions for the public and gathering opinions from an online survey, the city has a lot of ideas to consider. Many people voiced support for bike lanes and/or trail expansion, but I don’t know whether they considered the costs or that their requests, in some cases, were for things beyond the city’s jurisdiction.

The photo above shows a big map on which meeting attendees were encouraged to make notes and to draw new trails. Perhaps the most ambitious of the recommendations was for a connection between West Bend and the Wild Goose State Trail. That’s hard to imagine. A bike trail parallel to State Highway 33 would run for more than 25 miles before reaching the Wild Goose. On the Eisenbahn State Trail the closest point to the Wild Goose is at Eden, and that’s still a 9.5-mile gap. Perhaps someday the Wild Goose and an extended Eisenbahn will meet in Fond du Lac. More realistic were the recommendations for a connection between West Bend and the Ozaukee Interurban Trail and for an extension of the Eisenbahn south to Jackson, with which West Bend shares a school district. Other suggestions included a parking lot for the Eisenbahn at the Rusco Drive trailhead, mountain bike trails at the landfill west of Villa Park, and bike lanes for busy Paradise Drive and 18th Avenue.

The online survey will be active through February 8 and I encourage you to speak up for cycling in West Bend even if you are not a city resident. Don’t be afraid to be ambitious—it’s fun to dream big—but remember that the city has limits both physical and fiscal.

Is It Time For The Milwaukee River Trail?

I was at City Hall for 2 hours today, talking to the staff of Parks, Recreation & Forestry about things I would like to see in the future of West Bend’s parks and trails. You wouldn’t call it a meeting; today’s gathering was more of an “open house.” The department will do it again on Thursday, Jan. 29, 4-7 p.m. Hopefully, that session will get better attendance. I was one of just a few visitors today. Despite the low turnout, I felt like my time was well-spent. If you can go next week, then do it. If you can’t attend, then take this survey to let the city know what you would like to see.

I’m all about Park Site O right now and the folks from Parks, Recreation & Forestry have expressed support for trail development there. But I also was interested to hear about the prospect of development along the Milwaukee River near the airport. The new trail would link to existing trails in Quaas Creek Park and would look something like this:

We might see some development this year. And as the city pushes its corporate limits farther to the east, we could see additional development in the future. With cooperation from other municipalities, someday we might even see the realization of this old idea from the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission:

Wouldn’t it be great to have a Milwaukee River Trail connecting West Bend to Newburg, Fredonia, Saukville and Grafton? Once you get that far, you can connect to the Ozaukee Interurban Trail, which connects to Milwaukee County’s trail system, and so on. Washington County needs an east-west trail corridor to offset the strong north-south bias created by the Eisenbahn State Trail and the Ice Age Trail. A revitalized Milwaukee River Trail concept might be just the thing.

A Rush And A Push

This charming man and his entourage would have been a little under-dressed today.

Earlier today I did my 6th ride of the new year. I have covered 125 outdoor miles already, a personal record that surpasses the 117 miles I rode in January 2012. Due to extremely cold temperatures, last January was a complete shutout. February was rough too. I didn’t do my 6th ride of 2014 until March 18!

My mileage goal this year is 5,234, which would get me to 50,000 lifetime miles. (I like round numbers.) This is how I planned to get there:

050 January

050 February

500 March

500 April

500 May

750 June

750 July

750 August

500 September

500 October

250 November

134 December

As you can see, I didn’t expect a lot from January but I expected something. I had to concede that we were not likely to have a repeat of last winter’s exceptional cold.

Today was the end of Week 1 of my 12-week winter plan. It was supposed to be a rest day, but the weather was nice enough to permit an outdoor ride and I have to take advantage of such opportunities. With 4 outdoor rides and 2 indoor trainer rides in the last 7 days, I logged 8 hours in the saddle. And though my body weight is up significantly from where it was during the cyclocross season, I’m lighter than I was at this time last year.

Not a bad start … and January isn’t over yet. Being so aware of the numbers makes me want to extend my January record. Perhaps the bar was set low, but I am happy to be ahead of schedule.

Dusting Off The Trainer

My 2015 mountain biking season began today on a road bike in the home gym.

Early last winter I didn’t feel compelled to train hard. My first competition goal was a WEMS race on June 7, and even that was more of a tuneup for a WORS race on August 24 than an important objective by itself. I didn’t log any indoor trainer time in January 2014, then I made a good effort throughout February, and by early March the weather was nice enough for outdoor rides.

For me, trainer rides are a necessary evil. Prior to today, my last one was on December 4. In the meantime I did 7 outdoor rides and 8 hikes. That’s fine for general health, but not enough for race-level fitness. With 4 mountain bike races tentatively planned for this May, I couldn’t wait any longer to get back into structured training. So, today was Day 1 of a 12-week plan. It’s not an indoor training program per se; I will get outside whenever I can.

If this is a typical winter, then by March I should be doing most of my training outdoors. When the 12-week plan ends in early April, my base will be solid and I should have an opportunity to work on mountain biking skills. And skills matter! In 2014, my first laps at New Fane were 31:30 and 31:50, respectively. By the end of the summer, I was routinely turning consecutive sub-27:00 laps. I attribute only some of that improvement to fitness. Sharper skills and a deep familiarity with the course were more important.

My hope this winter—and every winter—is that we will get less-than-average snowfall. It’s the snow and not the cold that keeps the mountain bike trails closed in the spring. If we get an early opening, then maybe I will add the Greenbush WEMS race to my schedule so that I’m racing on all 5 weekends in May!

Recommendations For WCA Cyclocross

For a moment, let’s forget about today’s debacle at the USA Cycling National Cyclocross Championships in Austin TX. If you haven’t heard the news, the championships were postponed until Monday after Austin’s parks department raised concerns about the damage the races were causing at muddy Zilker Park. The show will go on tomorrow … albeit without some of the players.

This evening I would like to focus on the Wisconsin Cycling Association’s 2015 season. We are just three weeks away from the year-end party for the 2014 season, so now is a good time to start the conversation about the changes we would like to see. I have some ideas …

Give us points for the Trek CXC Cup. It's the biggest cyclocross race in the state, and the WCA wisely refuses to schedule series events on the same weekend. But is there a way to reward series riders for their Trek CXC Cup performances? The Iowa series counts Jingle Cross Rock ...

Fix the registration process. Pre-registering should benefit both the racer and the promoter, but for the racer it’s usually a better deal not to pre-register. Our fields don’t fill up, so you are not going to miss your chance to race. By pre-registering you lock yourself into a non-refundable commitment that in many cases—thanks to USA Cycling’s service charge—actually costs you more money than in-person registration. Everyone needs to check in at the registration desk anyway, and sometimes it’s actually faster if you’re not pre-registered! Is WORS-style series registration a possibility? Would more racers pre-register if they could buy into the entire series with a single discounted fee?

Standardize the call-up criteria. No one should be able to buy a call-up by pre-registering. That system can place slower racers ahead of faster ones, leading to unnecessary dangers in the early moments of a race. In 2014, some races based call-ups on pre-registration (and, by extension, on USA Cycling’s flawed race predictor) and some on series points, while others didn’t do call-ups at all. Pick one standard. I recommend series points, which generally will reward those who perform well consistently, and at worst will reward those who most frequently support WCA events. When calling a rider to the starting grid, use the rider’s name and number. Riders and officials don’t always recognize each other’s faces, and I have seen people taking advantage of their anonymity by occupying starting grid spots they didn’t earn.

Standardize podium times. Podium presentations should be part of the published schedule for each event. Give the officials enough time to score the race properly and to resolve any disputes. Pick times that don’t conflict with other races in which the riders might be expected to compete. For example, don’t schedule the Cat 4 Masters podium during the Cat 4 Open race.

Standardize number placement. I would rather show up at the race venue with two numbers already pinned on my jersey than to have just one number about whose placement I was unsure. Many racers care about number placement—if they didn’t, they wouldn’t ask about it days ahead of the event. It’s an easy “win” for the WCA to establish a standard that applies at every race in the series.

Brag about yourselves! Race promoters, if you have special amenities like flush toilets, heated changing facilities or a bike wash, then say so! Those features are hugely attractive to racers and belong on your flyer and your Facebook event page and/or website.

Keep everyone in the loop. Recognize that good ideas can come from anywhere. What happened to the 2013 racer survey? Its findings were never shared with us. Will there be a survey to wrap up the 2014 season? And don’t wait until August to publish the 2015 schedule! Even if you can’t publish the entire schedule at once, get the dates out as soon as you know them.

These are not earth-shattering changes; they’re little things that really add up. What sets a “series” apart from a loose collection of races is consistency. That’s what I want most of all: a set of standards whose execution is so routine that all I really have to worry about is my performance on the course.

Park Site O: Not Just For Bikes

One possible configuration for multi-use trails, avoiding the wetlands near Quaas Creek.

Over the last several weeks I have presented my ideas for bike park features at West Bend’s Park Site O, an undeveloped property that spans nearly 80 acres. The location is a blank canvas and the possibilities for cyclocross, mountain biking and even a pump track are exciting.

The city has neither a plan nor a budget for Park Site O. Nothing will get done without volunteers. To express your support for trail development, please complete this survey from Parks, Recreation & Forestry. On January 21 and again on January 29, you can meet the department’s staff to discuss the future of West Bend’s parks and trails. The meetings will be held 4-7 p.m. at City Hall.

Getting support from different groups of cyclists is essential. Getting support outside of the cycling community is important too. There are several recreation options at Park Site O that have nothing to do with cycling. If you can imagine roughly 2 miles of trails spread over a rolling landscape with no abrupt elevation changes, then you can imagine snowshoeing and cross country skiing. (But don’t imagine groomed snow unless you plan to groom it yourself.) Take away the snow and the park could be an excellent place for trail running and cross country running. By using a combination of turf trails in the spectator-friendly prairie and dirt trails in the woods, one could easily devise a 5,000-meter course … probably not a single, 5,000-meter lap, but still. If you are familiar with the national championship-caliber course at UW-Parkside in Kenosha County, then you should be able to see the potential for something similar at Park Site O. At any time of year, Park Site O could be a good place to enjoy an easy hike or a geocaching adventure.

Please take the city’s survey and attend one or both of the meetings if you can. Tell the city you support trail development. This is a rare and special opportunity, so don’t miss it!

Passing The Savings On To You!

Further to yesterday’s post … if you are a cost-conscious mountain bike racer, the Wisconsin Endurance Mountain Bike Series is an outstanding value. Here’s the WEMS schedule for 2015:

05/09 Northern Kettles Endurance Challenge @ Greenbush
05/23 Stump Farm 100 @ Suamico
06/06 18 Hours of Alpine Valley @ Elkhorn
06/20 Wild Ride Buzzard Buster @ Hatfield
07/18 Thunderdown in the Underdown @ Gleason
08/08 Southern Kettles Classic (Emma Carlin Trails) @ Eagle
09/12 RASTA Rock N Root @ Rhinelander
09/19 Northern Kettles Fall Epic @ New Fane
10/03 WEMS Championship (location TBD)

If we can assume that series registration fees and per-race prices do not change from last year—the details are not yet available on the WEMS website—then the entire season can be enjoyed for as little as $205 for the short-distance category. You will pay a little more to compete in the middle-distance or long-distance categories. For most races in the series, the short-distance category is about 3 hours or 30 miles, middle-distance is about 5-6 hours or 60 miles, and long-distance is about 10-12 hours or 100 miles.

Yesterday I wrote about a couple of options for my 2015 calendar that would give essentially the same experiences as the “name brands” but without the high registration prices. WEMS races are longer and yet cheaper than Wisconsin Off-Road Series races. And WEMS doesn’t require a USA Cycling license, which by itself is $70 annually. (I have a license anyway. For some people, $70 is a barrier to participation. Others just prefer not to support USA Cycling.) On the WEMS calendar there is no greater example of value than the 18 Hours of Alpine Valley. The race will begin on Saturday, June 6, and continue through the night, finishing on Sunday, June 7. There’s nothing like it in WORS, but it should be a lot like the non-series Wausau24 race, whose entry fees range from $45 to $140 per person. So, the Alpine Valley race is cheaper and an opportunity to earn series points and 100 miles closer to my home. As so many ads for so many products have asked us, “Why pay more?”