Thu - August 24, 2006New BlogI started a new blog at dougswanson.blogspot.com , check it out. I had to do it,
this one was getting kind of old school. Now I can update much easier. I know
blogger is trendy and all that, but it does work remarkably well.
Posted at 04:34 PM Read More  Wed - August 16, 2006I'm Back, sort of.Well faithful blog readers, I am back.
It's been a crazy month and I don't have energy to talk about it all on here
right now, but I did want to get a brief recap of what has been going on. I am
married. It was a great wedding, I really enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks to
everyone for their support and love, we have been overwhelmed. Leading up the
our big day we were doing wedding stuff all the time. There was a different
party every night for a week. Then we went on our honeymoon to Vancouver, B.C.
It was a great place, with perfect weather, and we took full advantage of it by
hiking and site seeing and a little BC mountain biking just to top it off. The
mountain biking out there is for real. I wish we had trails like that here.
I hope to start updating more frequently as I have time. Things are slowly getting back to normal. I've already done two races since I got back last week, Ore to Shore and a TNT time trial last night. Ore to Shore didn't quite go as planned, as in, I didn't win, or make any money. I guess I didn't expect too much since my training has pretty much been non-existant, but I always go for the win no matter how I feel. I got the holeshot and set myself up at the start, but this Simonson dude just dropped us all like a bad habit. I was the only guy to hang with him on the first climb, but then he rode me off his wheel. I kind of sat up because I didn't really have him marked but he proved to be very worthy of the win. I got into the chase group, recovered and then rode hard on the front on and off for an hour or so. No one else really wanted to chase too hard. So I maybe over did a little, but I wanted to win, not settle for second. Unfortunately, I forgot to eat a drink enough, I didn't have enough water with me, and I didn't take enough out on the course. Coupled with my hard efforts, I bonked bad and rode in on my low gears. We had a fun ride back in the VW camper with Scotty and Sara KJ. Sara won the race of course, since she is the best in the midwest at those kind of races. Tuesday night I hit up the local TT series. It's right by my house so I couldn't resist the chance to hit it up once before the end. I didn't feel great, but I guess I felt good enough to win and set the course record. The times are all screwed up though. I don't know how hard it is to take TT times, but I guess it must be harder than you think because no one ever seems to be able to do it. It was fun anyway since I really like rocking the TT bike. It's still my coolest bike... Well, I need to hit it for tonight. I'm racing Spirit on Sunday, see all you MTB dudes up there. Posted at 06:21 PM Read More Fri - July 14, 2006A break, Race Season part 2After Northfield I didn't ride for a few
days. I started to miss it pretty quick and got my 'cross bike set up to train
on. Anne's family has a cabin up near Fergus Falls, MN. The roads up there are
sweet. Very few cars, rolling hills and lots of neat dirt roads. The only
problem is that I always get lost. So I strapped my GPS to my stem with some zip
ties. Marked the house as my starting point and went off for an adventure. The
only problems I've been having these days is carrying water. Two full bottles
barely gets you an hour and a half when it's this hot, and even that is pushing
it. I usually don't do a ton of long riding in the mid summer, so I am not well
versed in where to refill bottles. I used to find parks with drinking fountains,
but they seem to be in short supply when you really need them. I have some work
to do before I am fully ready for CX season. My bike fitness is decent right
now, but my technical skills are dusty and my running is poor. I am going to
start to work in some short intense stuff into my daily rountine. Those that
ride with me know that I don't have a structured "program" anymore. For me it's
a mix of how I feel what I want to accomplish next. Once my body gets used to
the efforts, then I just have to focus on doing it. I don't use a heart rate
monitor, a wattage meter or even a speedometer. Sometimes I do look at my watch
to see what time it is, but that's all the numbers I need these days. But that
GPS sure was nice to help me find my way
home...
Who is going to win the tour? How many former mountain bikers will be on the podium? Posted at 04:58 PM Read More Wed - July 5, 2006Another State Champ in the Family
Dan won the Minnesota State Crit Championship on the 4th. He really put together a strong ride and showed everyone a clean set of wheels at the line. I was able to help him a bit, pulling back moves and doing what I could to keep the race under control. Our whole team really showed their Green at this race. Everyone put in some amazing efforts. I say good job team! A clean sweep of the State Championships! With 3 different riders. It really goes to show you how much depth our team has.  Posted at 06:55 PM Read More Thu - June 29, 2006State ChampOk , I know I said I wasn't going to
update for a while. And I guess that is true. But I had a minute this afternoon
and I'd thought I'd post something. I won the MN state road race championship on
Saturday. It was an uphill sprint in the end out of a group of about 12. I've
never won this race, so it was very satisfying for me to finally put that in the
bag. It really is a shared victory with my Nature Valley/Penn Cycle teammates.
The reason I'd never won this race before is that I had always been outnumbered
by Flanders or GP. But this year we brought a full slate of green guys and kept
the race under control to set me up for the sprint finish. Thanks go to AJ, Matt
M, Micah, Sickboy, Ian, Mean Dawg and Dano. Everyone gave what they could and it
worked out well. I'm proud of our team this year. I think we are really starting
to understand each other, and the way these MN races play out. Our A team has
won the state champ TT and RR titles, the Opus team title, a slew of RR's, Crits
and TT's, and Dano is leading the rider of the year competition at this point.
Next week is the State Championship criterium. Originally I hadn't planned on
going, but I think I might be able to swing it. We'll see. Ok, that's all for
now...
Posted at 04:37 PM Read More Sat - June 17, 2006NVGP : Stage 3 Minneapolis Crit - Crash and BurnMy race ended last night at the
Minneapolis crit. It started raining as soon as we started. And it got darker
and scarier by the second. I was feeling great at first, but soon the rain was
coming down in sheets and I couldn't see a thing. My contacts were killing and
my tires started sliding around like I was on ice. Of course my brakes didn't
work either, so the combination became too much. I couldn't believe we were
actually racing in it. It was dangerous and stupid. I'm really upset that they
didn't call the race sooner. As it was, about about 14 minutes I crashed into a
barrier. I was unhurt but I fell off the back of the field. As I got up to speed
and attempted to chase back on, I crashed into another set of barriers. My
brakes just didn't work in time so I couldn't slow down. I impacted into the
fences at well over 20 mph. Instantly, my arm was killing me and I could only
think of getting off the course as soon as possible. I couldn't move my wrist
without serious pain. I sat on the curb and some people helped me with my bike.
By now I was soaked to the bone, I thought my race was over and my wrist was
broken. The leaders came by and another crash happened at the same corner, and
as I walked along the course, another crash on the next corner. I heard one lap
to go, they were calling the race off. Quickly, I jumped on my bike and pedaled
to the finish to get a time and the ability to race the next stage. I got into
the car and tried to strip off my wet clothes but I could use my left hand at
all. Any twisting motion made my wrist feel like hell. After some icing and
rest, I felt like I would try to continue stage four. I got myself up and my
stuff into the car. Dan got us down to the race. I then got on my bike and tried
to figure out how I was going to hold on to the bar. I was ok on the tops and I
could sort of use the brakes but I couldn't stand up at all or sit in the drops.
The angle on my wrist was too painful. I knew I would be worthless in the race
in this condition and for my safety and potentially that of others I had to bag
it. I didn't want to crash because I could barely hold on to the bars. Besides
that, Anne was flying in from Bangkok at 1 and I would now be able to greet her
at the gate. I was really bummed to watch the race take off without me in it,
but I knew I had made the right call. After getting Anne home I went to the Doc
to get some x-rays. We didn't find any serious damage. Maybe a light crack on
one of the middle bones there, but nothing to worry about too much. Mostly just
a bad sprain. I think I should be back riding in few days. It doesn't really
matter though. I am going on break. I knew NVGP was going to be my last race for
a while. I was bummed I had to end it this way, but that's how it goes
sometimes. Maybe I'll recover and do state road next weekend, but I'm not going
to push it if I'm hurting. I've had a great spring and I have no regrets. I'm
looking forward to spending some time with Anne and going up north to play in
the lakes. I'm excited to get married in just over a month, and for our
honeymoon to Canada. Once I'm back from that, I'm going to start training hard
for Cyclocross and continue with my later season goal of making the worlds team.
I might take the blog offline for a while and come up with something a little
different for the next half of the season. I'll post more when I decide. Thanks
to everyone for the support. I truly appreciate it. We'll keep in
touch.
Thats my new gauntlet. And the other pic is Tilford and Page battling in the rain. Tilford won because when it gets crazy he gets going. Posted at 07:33 PM Read More Fri - June 16, 2006NVGP Stage 2 : Cannon Falls Road RaceThis stage was going to be hard. Despite
it's easy appearance on paper, only 58 miles and relatively flat profile, the
winds and the strong Health Net team were going to make everyones legs hurt.
Bad. Right from the start the HN guys lined it up. Behind them it was chaos. It
was nearly impossible to hold your spot in the peloton. Everyone knew things
were going to hit the fan once we hit the crosswinds and wanted to be as close
to the front as possible. The winds came and the carnage began. HN was drilling
it at the front. The rest of us were left to fend for ourselves. I was pretty
far forward but not far enough, I had to make some insane efforts and started
passing guys into the wind. Everytime I would latch onto the tail of the HN
juggernaut someone would let another gap open. I chased as hard as I could, and
no one could help me. Dumb riders were everywhere, trying to bridge the gap
alone, which just messed up our effort. If we had just formed our own line and
worked together we could have bridged the gap. There is a huge difference
between how the PROS and not-pros ride. Most of the Amateurs seem to be afraid
that if they ever go to the front they will instantly be dropped. I think there
were only about 10 guys that actually took pulls. Where as the top guys will get
to the front when it's needed. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but a lot of guys
were content just to sit there and let the race ride away. I was pretty
frustrated, but there isn't much I could do about it. With that wind there was
no way I could close it down alone. Our group settled in, about 30 strong or so
and rode to the finish. Ian and Mean Dawg made the group. I guess Dan was in a
group right behind us. On a crosswind section later in the stage, I went to the
front to try to hurt the group a bit. It was pretty sweet for a few miles as I
traded pulls with Aric and Pete Hanna, just like the capital crit eh guys!?
Well, I thought I was still ok in the Amateur GC, but it turns out some dude
made the split from ABD so I lost 5 minutes to him. That sucks, but what can you
do? I felt strong and rode the best I could. I finished 30th, right near the
middle of the main peloton. And really, I had a fun time, and that's all I'm
really looking for out of this crazy race. Dan got called for doping control and
we had to wait 2 hours for him to pee in a cup. Dan is like a camel, he only has
to pee like 3 times a day, so I knew it would be a while. It's pretty funny that
Dan got tested. The only thing he rides on is Awesomeness, I guess if
Awesomeness is a banned substance Dan better be worried. They should really only
pull random tests out of people in the top 20 or so. Why waste your money
testing people in the middle of the field? If people are doping to finish there
I don't think we really need to worry about them. Well, Dan took it with a good
attitude. Probably happy to get some quality blog material, eh Dano! Tonight is
the Minneapolis crit. Whoo Hoo...
"Hey man, did you see my Awesomeness pills up there?" Dan says before a winter training ride. Posted at 09:32 AM Read More Thu - June 15, 2006NVGP Stage 1 TTMy goal for this stage was to finish
under 9 minutes and get a top 10. I knew my time trialing was coming along and I
finally feel like I'm getting used to the position a bit. I took off at the
start and the bike just went up to 35 mph with little effort. I knew it was
going to be a solid ride right away. I pushed about 35 until the hill, switching
between my 54X11 and 12. On the little hill I slowed to 30 then ramped it back
up to hit the turn around at just a few seconds over 4 minutes. I passed my 30
second man shortly after and was still feeling good, but it was getting harder
with the wind change. On the final stretch I was pushing too large of a gear
perhaps, but I kept an eye on my time, it was going to be close... I stood up
and sprinted for the line and nailed an 8:54! Good enough for 7th overall, 2nd
in the amateur category by 1.5 seconds! Ouch. It sure would have been cool to
get the jersey, but I was very pleased with how I rode. It was a long night of
hanging out and trying to stay fresh for 10 minutes of racing. Worth it in the
end, but a long night anyway. Well, I need to go prep my bike for stage
2...
 Posted at 11:54 AM Read More Sat - June 10, 2006NVGPNext up on the plan is Nature Valley
Grand Prix. I have been anxiously awaiting this race for a few weeks now. I
haven't been feeling super this week though, I think I might have over done it a
little during my stage race last week. Too much hard riding and not enough rest.
I've pretty much been sore and tired since Sunday. I decided the best thing I
can do at this point is rest as much as possible and try to recover before the
TT on Wednesday. Honestly, I'm not too worried. First of all, I'm pretty much
not going to win NVGP. There are too many really good roadies there with strong
teams and experience. I have done 2 NRC stage races in my career so I am pretty
much a rookie at it. So without the win in mind, I really have to come up with a
new goal. There is an amateur jersey to be had, but I don't really think that
matters that much to me. Frankly I have no idea who won it last year, if they
were good, or if they are pro now. I guess my goal is to try to win a stage, or
at least, make an effort to win a stage. Last year, I made so efforts like that
and I think they were much more memorable to me than my final GC placing. I went
for it at the Red Wing stage, forcing a move that ended up forming the winning
break. Granted, I wasn't in it, I wasn't strong enough, but it was fun to
actually make a difference in the race, rather than just riding along in it. So
I guess that's my goal again this year, I want to make my presence known. I also
want to be top 10 in the opening TT. I need to take 30 seconds off my time from
last year. I think my new bike will save me at least 10 seconds, so I just need
to focus a little and knock off a few more. Who knows? I'll do my best, have
fun, and not take any crap from some of the so called "pros" out there. Last
year, this guy from Colavita cut me off and forced me out of the line. Oh the
Johnny Pro's will be out in full force. It's gong to be a good
time...
Posted at 02:10 PM Read More Sun - June 4, 2006My Own Personal Stage Race: Stage 5, State Capital Crit, St.PaulToday was the final stage of my
week-long race. I actually felt pretty good coming into it except for a few
weird muscle pains from sitting in the TT position for too long. The course
today was really good for me, with a nice little kick of a climb into the finish
line. These are the kind of sprints I can usually do pretty well in. The
promoters did a great job hosting this event. The venue was very professional
and the course was well blocked off and safe. They even had trainers to warm up
on and coolers with culligan water. Nice job. The race went down like this : Dan
made the first move on lap 2 and got away with a few other dudes. They got
chased down about 4 laps later and I countered hard. Hareland and Hanna marked
it and we were off. Ian came out of nowhere and joined us, so Nature Valley was
in the power position. I was feeling great and was taking hard pulls, especially
on the climb. It's been a few years since I lapped the field in a crit, so I
wanted to make it happen. Every one of those guys was working hard and making it
a great race. We finally caught the field about halfway into the race. As soon
as we did I worked my way through it and attacked off the front right away. I
don't think we were even in the field for a whole lap. Unfortunately, Ian didn't
make it through, so it was just Hanna, Hareland and I. There was another strong
break ahead of the main field. With a few laps effort, we bridged up to it and
took a breather for a few laps. Timmer was there for Hareland and GP had
Fairbanks and Sedgwick, but I was isolated. I tried attacking, but was quickly
brought back by the group. Content to wait for the finish, a top three already
in the bag, I settled in and waited. With two to go Timmer lined Hareland up. I
was third wheel, GP was behind me. On the penultimate corner, Fairbanks started
to lead out Hanna on the outside. I was about to get boxed in. I cut hard into
the gutter and started my sprint early on the small rise. I was accelerating and
downshifting the whole way up. With the line in sight, Hareland was right next
to me. We were wheel to wheel. I shifted down again and started to pull away
from him. Then we bumped, his shoe hit my rear wheel, and I rolled in for the
win. Everyone was saying how sketchy it was, but it just felt like a bump to me.
I don't think I moved over on Aric but if I did it certainly wasn't intentional.
So it was kind of a funny win in that sense. Hareland was cool about it after
the race. It's pretty funny how close we are in every race we do. We have
similar racing styles and it usually works out that if he is in a move, so am I,
and vice versa. It's fun having good competition, since that's what this sport
is all about.
I found out there is a time trial on Tuesday. Dan said it wouldn't count for the stage race since I already took a rest day on Friday and to have another rest day on Monday would equal too many rest days, thus negating the effect of it being a real stage race. I was looking for a Monday race, but there doesn't appear to be one, so I have been declared the GC winner of My Own Personal Stage Race 2006. It's been a good run with 4 wins and a fifth. I though first place was going to be a good nights sleep, but I also got some Dairy Queen cake. My mom said it was for Dan's birthday tomorrow, but I'll pretend it was also part of the prize list... Posted at 08:33 PM Read More |
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Published On: Aug 31, 2006 09:30 PM |
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