Past 3 Weeks

I feel like I've been neglecting the blog the last three weeks, but no more of that! The truth is there has been a bunch of new things in the past 3 or so weeks it's been hard to keep track of it all, and of course to eventually get it down in writing...errr...typing I guess? Well sit down, and make sure to crack open an energy drink of choice because this one is going to be a long one..

Let's start off with the new trails that will be at the Radlands very soon! For those of you who don't know, the Radlands is going to be a trail system in northeast redmond, and the trailhead is by the High Desert Sports Complex. You know the one with the BMX Track, RC Airplane Field, and some softball fields. I have to say I am really excited about this project that the Trinity Bikes Cycling team is a huge part of. There is truly going to be something for every skill level there from beginners to pros, but let's talk about the most recent trip I made out there.

From Left to Right (Bob Gilbert, and Chris Dodson)
 Checking out the massive amount of trail options out in the
Radlands in Redmond, OR.

My teammate Bob Gilbert, and I made the short trip from the home base out to the Radlands to meet up with Chris Dodson from the Central Oregon Trail Alliance to flag up some new trails to work on when we have our next trail build day. We spent approximately 5 hours wondering around like a small group of lost sheep scoping out all the technical features we could fit in to the new trails, and ya know what? It was worth it!

Bob popping a squat..errrr...I mean making a makeshift map
of the trail.

The phrase of the day had to be "That's a beautiful slab.", and it was for good reason. For those of you who don't know I'm talking about slabs of rock, which you can either ride up or down on your bike. There is going to be one section of trail with a rock feature littering the trail nearly the entire time you're on the bike, or at least that's what it seemed like when we flagged it out. I'm going to have to unofficially name this trail mini moab, and everyone will know why soon enough! But like I said before there is going to be something for everyone in this trail network, so if rocks aren't your thing, then there is plenty of other trails that will be smooth, and flowy for your riding pleasure.

All that being said we do need support from the community to make this happen quicker! The Trinity Bikes Cycling Team will be hosting a trail build day to continue improving, and expanding the trail system. It will take place at the High Desert Sports Complex on March 10th. I will have a link with more information as soon as it's up for everyone to check out! We need to get everyone out there!

Now let's move on to the following weekend. Sean Lewis sent out a text message to everyone, and before I knew it we were set for a Sunday breakfast followed by a ride up Gray Butte. Mr. Lewis as we now call him arrived right on time at 8:00 right when he said he would be there. The only problem? Well the rest of us were just waking up (Sorry Mr. Lewis). None the less shortly after he arrived everyone was up, and before

Shane Johnson Trinity Bikes Team Chef making some
yummy deliciousness. 

we knew it the aroma of eggs, and french toast filled the house, thanks to Shane of course...After we fueled up on some amazing omelettes, and french toast the 4 of us (Sean Lewis, Shane Johnson, Bob Gilbert, and I) were ready to shred it up on some Gray Butte action. For those of you who don't know it has some nice climbing in it...Not exactly the best idea after filing up on a massive amount of food, but it was largely agreed upon we would just take a nice easy Sunday ride. In fact, Bob and I joked that we would let Sean, and Shane beat us to the top of the climb after our 3 hour ride the day before, and for me 2 consecutive 3 hour days on the bike before that. Let's just say when you get a group of competitive cyclist together you can pretty much throw the idea of an easy ride out the window. Needless to say everyone was had there heart rate pinned to the max for the majority of the ride. I won't say who came out on "top", but I will say I wasn't going to let my long rides before this one be an excuse. At one point in the ride we were just riding into the fog, which gave you an odd sensation as you weren't to sure what was coming up next, but it was extremely fun as well. There was some close calls on the downhill with Shane nearly going down, and nearly careen down the side of the trail.

Hey wait a second, isn't that the 2nd crash in a short period of time Shane? Eh buddy? You need to learn how to stay ON the bike sir. All kidding aside it was a great ride that was mostfully mud free...Well until the very end, and our mostly clean bikes got covered in Mud. There was also a high speed downhill on a nice dirt road that reminded me of the Super D at Return of the Jedi in Merlin, OR...Oh boy, I'm excited to do that again! After all was said, and done it was time to head back to catch the Super Bowl, and of course enjoy some amazing Nachos! Hey....We earned it that day!

Now finally I'm onto the most recent....This past weekend! We were off to Salem again, only this time not for flagger training..Nope...We were going to OBRA Officials training! This time there was 5 of us crammed into the little Subie. It was Shane, Shane's other half Sam, Bob, Cory Tanler and I this time. Of course I completely forgot to call window on the way over, and I ended up sitting in the middle. Not exactly the most comfortable position with 2 other guys in the back seat. I took this as an opportunity to get my time trial position dialed in. Elbows together, shoulders in...Yup, you get the idea. All kidding aside we made the best of it, and before we knew it we were in Salem again!

This time I came knowing they would have all sorts of goodies to eat once we arrives, and boy did they! They took care of us with Bagels, Muffins, and an assortment of juice, and of course coffee..I was excited to learn more about what it takes to put on a race on the OBRA side of things since I will be putting on a race this year.

Sunset in the Valley from my perch on the bike

Oh I almost forgot! Trinity Bikes was there in full force, not only did we have Bob, Shane, Cory, and I there, but Juan Ramirez, and Sean Lewis meet us there. That's 6 out of 9 of the team members, not a bad showing at all...We learned the ins and outs of OBRA officiating, and scoring. Basically what it came down to was we need to get ourselves out there on some crews and learn from some first hand experience.

After that was done we needed to stretch our legs after the long cramped ride in the car. It was a brisk hour and and half ride followed by some Jack in the Box. Not exactly the first choice when you're an amateur cyclist, but hey we were hungry and a burger sounded good. After an amazing 1,500 calories with the water cooler of strawberry fanta. No Bob, It doesn't taste like syrup that sir is a lie. Before we knew it were back home, and next up on the plate? A 4 hour ride with Shane the following day.

Shane Johnson after the majority of the climbing

We were determined to get at least 4 hours in on the bike, so we headed out on lost pine to Prineville, and then out to Prineville Reservoir. I severely underestimated the amount of climbing that would take, and what was supposed to be a zone 2 aerobic ride quickly turned into a threshold get to the top as fast as possible ride, before to long we had to turn around and head back or the 4 hours we were shooting for would soon become 5 or 6. Everyone knows the old saying "what goes up must come down?" right? Well, that 4 mile climb turned into a 4 mile downhill with the top speed being 59.8MPH according to the Garmin. That's right, faster than the majority of speed limits in Oregon.

Now I must confess I am a bit odd when it comes to on the bike hydration, and nutrition. Odd being that I can go for long distances of time without water or food. By long time I mean 3 or 4 hours. Of course not all of us are built that way, and Shane was out of shot bloks after we reached Prineville for the 2nd time, which happened to be at hour 3 and approximately 57 miles in. Needless to say Shane needed energy, and he got it in the form of a Snickers bar at the local grocery outlet. He said it was the most amazing Snickers bar he had ever had, but I know that was just because he was on the bridge of bonking big time. With Shane now fueled up we continued our way back to Redmond, and let's just say I still had energy left even without eating anything, while also having about half the water still in my water bottle. So of course I decided I would set the pace for the ride back, and I did just that. It was just that someone who will go unnamed didn't draft like he should have, and ended up yoying back and forth. When all was said and done we got back 20 minutes over the 4 hour mark we set, and at 77 or so miles.

Of course Bob was sitting there all kitted up, and hadn't gone for his ride, so I joked to him come on Bob let's go! And well we did...We went for another 26 miles with some steep hills thrown in. Let me tell you one thing those steep hills hurt real bad when you have already logged 90 miles in before it. It was the good kind of pain I was experiencing though! The kind that you know will make you a stronger cyclist in the end. By the time we got back I had put in 103 miles in five and a half hours. By far the longest ride of the season, and one of the longest rides I have ever done, but I'm sure with this 20 hour week of training I will get close to that mark again very soon! What doesn't kill you makes you stronger right?


Thanks for reading, and until next time keep the rubber side down

-Austin Line

It's almost here...

So it's been awhile since I've made a post, and I thought that with the first race of the season approaching now is a better time than ever to make one. Of course just because I haven't updated this blog in a few weeks doesn't mean I haven't blogged at all...I blogged about our recent trip to the Valley for some flagger training, and since I don't feel like re-posting it. You can check it out here on the teams blog here..

http://trinitybikescycling.blogspot.com/2012/01/flagger-training.html

It's been a whirlwind past few weeks to be honest. I just completed my first week of Base 1 training, which is putting me right on schedule to be in top form for Mountain Bike Nationals in Sun Valley, Idaho and of course the Cascade Cycling Classic in my good old hometown of Bend, Oregon. To be honest the legs aren't feeling to bad after the 15 or so hours I put on them this week, so I'm extremely excited to keep this going, eventually building up with some high intensity stuff...Oh did I mention in two weeks is the first road race of the season? Yup in two weeks Shane and I will be heading down to Corvallis to test our early season legs..I'll be sure to let everyone knows how that works out. Although I'm not expecting much, I would love nothing more than to have a decent result down there, but it won't be the end of the world if I don't...If there's one thing I have learned it's that people who are fast in the spring usually are toast by the time summer comes around, which is when the racing really begins.

I have to mention one last thing before I wrap this post up. I have to give a huge thanks to Bob, and Shane. They are not only my teammates, but are two of my best friends whom I consider family more than anything. We push each other to train, and when were training we push each other harder than anyone ever will. There's an extremely positive vibe within the team right now because of that. We are expecting big things out of ourselves, and the team this year. Everyone better watch out for the blue and white checkers this year! The Trinity Bikes Cycling Team is going to be making some noise!


-Austin Line

2012 thus far and something BIG

2012 thus far has been well...In a word.. relaxing.... It's been nice not having a set training schedule as I'm currently in the so called "prep" period of my training. That all changes soon as I enter real training after this week is done. It's also been nice just riding around with a few of my new teammates, and hitting up new trails that i've never been on before. FYI Grey Butte has some good trails, but they can be a bit sticky. I've been roaming around seeing what the Redmond area has to offer as opposed to Bend. To tell you the truth it's been kind of refreshing. But enough with that let's move on to what really has me excited this year.

I've been put in charge of putting together a criterium that will be in Downtown Redmond. I am extremely excited to be putting together an event like this, and I feel it has the potential to become one of the better events to go to on the road schedule in Oregon. We're still in the planning process, and we will know soon the where and when very soon. We're looking to have the date and course set in stone as soon as next week. All I can say right now is it's going to be in downtownish area of redmond, and will take place in early August. If I had to say one thing about the courses I've come up with so far. It would be it's going to be a fast fast fast race. All you roadies better make sure you have this weekend open because it's going to be one heck of an event.

This is the last week of a lackadaisical schedule..Come next week it's GAME ON

Top 3 Goals for 2012

As I tried to sleep last night I ended up pondering my top goals for 2012...It ended with quite a bit of pondering really since I only slept about an hour last night, so bare with me as I'm functioning on limited sleep. If this post seems like it's turning into a massive compilation it probably is due to sleep deprivation. Anyways....Let's get this started shall we?

This is probably the race I'm most looking forward to, but that is probably because it's the first big race I plan on doing in 2012...Heck this is probably going to be the biggest race I have ever done in my mostly local cycling career. It's in April so I have about 3 and a half months to get ready for Sea Slaughter oops....I mean Sea Otter...Basically from what I've heard is Sea Otter is one big cycling extravaganza taking the course of about 4 days...There's road racing, mountain bike racing, and cyclocross at Sea Otter now. A far cry from when it was just purely a mountain bike race, but the changes are what is making me the most excited about it. Ya see me being a roadie, mountain biker, and sometimes cyclocross makes this the perfect weekend. Although I will have to pass on the cyclocross festivities at Sea Otter. What I am planning on doing for sure is of course the XC mountain bike race, but then there's also the road stuff I plan on mixing in. They have a Criterium race on thursday, which I'm super stoked about since well ya know...Over the past few seasons I have become somewhat of a crit specialist..It must be in my genes or something, as I like to say these legs were made for sprinting. Perhaps what I'm most excited about is the circuit race, which takes place around the legendary Laguna Seca raceway. That's pretty much a dream come true for me...It's going to be tough with doing that friday morning, and then the XC in the afternoon, but I know my limitations very well, and I could do well if I don't slack off training until then. All in all should be a jam packed extended weekend full of good bike racing, and friends. Hopefully I will have something to bring home by the end of it.

Oh yes, The Stars and Bars....I am of course talking about the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships that take place in July somewhere in Sun Valley, Idaho. If I had to rank what would mean the most to me to accomplish it would be taking home the cat 1 19-24 stars and bars back to good ol central oregon. I mean...It's a fricken National Championship...

No not the Tour De France Jersey...I'm talking about the Cascade Cycling Classic Yellow Jersey..Well more specifically the Cat 3 Men Yellow Jersey..I've done this race two times in the past, and both years I helped a teammate to win the overall. Well this year I plan on changing that...This year It's my turn to grab that yellow jersey. There would be something special about it because It's a huge hometown race for everyone in Central Oregon...We have to fight off those pesky traveling intruders off that try to invade and steal our glory, which makes it such a challenge..The best part of the Cascade Classic is the support you get from friends, and family that almost always make it out to a stage or two..There is 4 stages, which makes it a tough tough race. They consist of a nice hilly first stage, followed by a time trial, and then my personal favorite the Downtown Criterium. I love going to opposite way on one ways...Plus the cheering hometown crowd doesn't hurt either. The last stage is a circuit race that takes you up Archie Briggs, or what I like to call it the wall of crushed hope and dreams. Ya see since I come from a mountain bike background, my tactics are a little bit...Well let's say unorthodox..The past two seasons I have tried solo breakaways and nearly got away with it if it wasn't for the wall of a hill that is Archie Briggs...Hence the name wall of crushed hope and dreams..Hopefully this year I won't need to put myself in position to try for a solo breakaway. But hey who knows? Maybe this time it will work?


Those races and my top 3 priorities for 2012, and my training will revolve around them...It should be an exciting year with the new squad, and a couple new races I'm looking forward to, and one I'm looking to come back to, and finally check it off in the win column...That's all for now...Time to go for a quick ride, while these guys are still sleeping...


-Austin Line

Reflecting on this past season....Well sorta...

With the new year quickly approaching, I have decided to take a look back at this last season, and reflect on it....If I was going to grade my season I would give it an incomplete. I started to late, and ended way to early than I had anticipated. My main goal for the season was to be in top form for the US Mountain Biking Nationals that took place in my good old backyard in Bend, Oregon in September, and then bring that form into my first real season of cross. Part of the plan was to start training way later than usual because of this, and well it turned out to be not such a bright idea after all...

By the end of July after I had completed the Cascade Cycling Classic my training became rather sporadic, and unstructured. So when Marathon Nationals came rolling into town I was severely unprepared, and I'm the type of person who if I'm not ready for a race of that caliber I would rather skip it, and cut my losses.

I did learn a valuable lesson from all this, and that is to prioritize for multiple peaks in the season rather than one main goal event, which is exactly what I will be doing for next season. The plan as of right now is for me to peak in time for MTB XC Nationals in Sun Valley Idaho in July, and carry that peak into another goal race for 2012 in the Cascade Cycling Classic that takes place a week later in my hometown. Then begin building for another peak for cyclocross. (I will have another blog post highlighting my racing schedule in more detail soon) So yet again I will be a jack of all trades cyclist dabbling in road, mountain, and cyclocross.

The funny thing about taking this approach is, I am in kind of a middle ground with my riding right now. Basically riding hard when I feel like it, and riding however much I feel like it for the given day. I am still keeping some high intensity stuff thrown in there to ensure I don't lose to much of what I have gained this year, but the preparation for next season just so happens to start on the first week of the new year. What are the odds of that? And you know what? I'm super excited about it to, which is something I can't say I felt about this season, and part of the reasoning behind that is I had someone amazing in my life, but things went south, and needless to say she is no longer in my life anymore, she knows who she is...But ya know what? In a weird type of way it's only adding fuel to the fire that burns inside be to accomplish what I want in my life. Mainly what I want to accomplish in cycling, and this year is going to be my year because of that fire that's making me chomp at the bit to start working hard in preparation for next season. If I had to sum up how I'm feeling about this next year it would be this....

"This is a new me, on a new team, with a new plan."

and on that note it's time to wrap it up

-Austin Line

New Year, New Motivation, New Team...

With 2011 in all it's glory coming to an end, I decided to bring aboard a blog for the new year to give out race reports, and other random things that I feel like writing about. Let's see where should I start...

2011 was an off year of sorts for me..I started training to late in the season, and really never trained like I should of to achieve the results I wanted..Was it burnout after a couple years of going hard at it, and racing nearly every weekend? It's a possibility, but to be honest I believe it's probably the best thing that could of happened. I am back with more motivation than I have ever had, and have a ton of things to be excited about for the 2012 season.

The biggest change that I made for the upcoming season is a switch to the Trinity Bikes Cycling team. This is a move that I'm really excited about for various reasons. It was hard to make the switch to a new team, and move on to a new chapter in my racing, but I know this was the right decision for me.I'm not saying that my previous team, Sunnyside Sports isn't a great team, because it is. In fact I will miss the everyone over there on the Sunnyside Sports team that supported me when I first started, and they are truly great people over there. I just thought that it was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up. There is so many reasons I am excited about being part of the Trinity Bikes team.

I love the smaller team vibe you get from being on a team with a select group of people, who not only are great riders, but are also probably my closest friends. These are guys that I not only spend time racing, and training with, but they are the guys I hang around when I'm not racing or training as well. That is something I really didn't have the past few years, and is one of the biggest reasons for coming aboard for 2012 (And Shane wouldn't leave me alone until I finally signed the contract to join. Just kidding buddy...)

There is many other things though..Like the feeling of being part of something bigger than just racing. I got a taste of the community events that I will be participating in as a Trinity Bikes Cycling Team member. Like when Bob Gilbert, and I went down to a local elementary school to help the people at Commute Options teach the kids not only how to ride safely, but show them how fun cycling can be. It gives you the feeling of giving back to the community, which I can't get enough of, and call me over sensitive, but it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside that I'm doing something good. Giving back to the community for all that I have been given in this life.

Trinity Bikes will be putting of cycling events this year, which I'm excited to be a part of as well. I got to help in the 2nd Fat Tire Crit, and there's nothing like going in the parking lot, coming up with a design of how you want the course to go, and then seeing it come to life as you put it together. This was of course with the help of Bob Gilbert..Then ya go, and see the little kids, and how much fun they have riding around the course, and after they're done they cheer and watch us in the A race. It's kind of weird because I don't think of myself as an elite cyclist (At least not yet :)...) But these kids truly look up to us, and it's fun to talk to them after the race, and answering the many questions they have. Then of course at the end of the day we're able to do a few laps with them, which is always a good time.

I'm sure there are a bunch of other reasons that I'm leaving out, but I'm running out of time here. I have been spending quite a bit of time with my new teammates doing some cold winter rides, and we're all looking forward to the possibilities this team has for the 2012 season. I will be posting up another blog on my main goals, and focus for the 2012 racing season, but I'm still putting the finishing touches on that, so it will be up as soon as I finalize where my focus will be next season.

Until next time, keep the rubber side down

Austin Line