Huangshan MTB Festival Race Day

Well, it was a beautiful day to race. Just like the day before, it stayed warm and I could still wear a short sleeve jersey. I would wear the Astana Stars and Stripes jersey worn last year by Levi Leipheimer. I love to wear this jersey because it is the US National Champion Jersey. I feel that even in China, I can represent the US when I race. It gives me extra motivation to do my best.

In the 20 km open men's category, there were over 200 participants. We would all line up at the start and ride for maybe 2km before we got into the single track. I was lined up close to the back of the group, so I was unlucky on the first climbs. I can climb, but people ahead of me could not climb and it forces the group to have to walk or run with there bikes to pass the people who can not climb. This problem makes it harder to pass people and get to the front of the race. I was able to pass many people and start to move up to the front.

It was an exciting feeling riding, climbing, and passing people, but it did not compare to the adrenalin rush on the downhill sections. Since it was single track, there was only one thing to do, just do it. I successfully road the downhills sections, even the twisty technical section. This section went straight down and at the end had a sharp right turn followed by a sharp left turn and then downhill again. This section was the section the day before I could not ride. Race day on the single track, I would not think, I would just react. After that section, I could feel myself trembling. It was an amazing feeling. Then, I maneuvered through the rock garden with no problem. I was feeling very good. Race day means race face. I like the look of concentration on my face as I fly through the course.

For Suzhou, the team was overall very successful. We took first place in the Men's 40 km race, 4th place in the Women's 40 km race, and 3rd place in the Women's 20 km race. All in all a special day for everyone. If you are in China during March, this event is a must do for anyone who likes mountain biking.

Huangshan MTB Festival 2009 Recon

Well, it has been quite a while since I have posted my adventures. I have been told that I will return to my home country by the end of June. The economic crisis has now effected my life. There are always two ways to look at things and I am finally coming around to see the glass as half full and not half empty.

I was really not sure if I wanted to go to Huangshan and participate in the event, but I decided to take a chance and get on the bus and go to the biggest mountain biking event in China. It was a decision I was really glad I made. I enjoyed the whole weekend of riding and I will never forget the event. The only regret I have is doing the 20 km race. I should have done the 40 km race. Next time!

Friday we would meet in the morning and load up the bus with a group of about fifteen people eager to participate in the event and all of our bikes. We would take a four to five our trip to Hongcun where the race would start. Friday was considered a reconnaissance day to get to know the race track. The race was to be Saturday morning on broad casted on China national television CCTV 5.

We arrived and had lunch then checked into what is known as a family hotel. This hotel is a small hotel with maybe 15 rooms owned by a local family and very inexpensive. I do not actually know the price because the whole weekend including hotel, registration, and one meal was 700 RMB ($102.19 US). Depending on how many beds were in the room, was the number of people who would stay in the room. My room had two beds, so I would share it with Jiri, the only other foreigner with our group. He is from Poland and has been biking since before mountain biking was considered a sport!

I loved the local hospitality provided by the family at the hotel. It would have to say it was a little different than other hotels, but it made the weekend all the more enjoyable. It felt like a real adventure with new experiences. Below are a few pictures of the hotel.

The one thing that I think westerners would not be able to get use to in this hotel is the bathroom. It is quite different than the bathroom seen in many western hotels. The shower is part of the sink and the bathroom is the typical public bathroom you find in China. Showering was a much different experience with this type of device. Also, the whole bathroom gets wet when one showers. For large westerners it would be a real challenge to have to squat and do their business in the bathroom. Maybe this type of bathroom would cause many to loose weight just so they can go use the toilet, haha.

Well, after check-in, we would go ride the course. It was a very interesting course. There was some nice climbing, very nice single track, dangerous rocky uphills, fast and furious downhills, rock gardens, and twisting technical downhills. This day I would feel a little weary of the competition to follow. I come from a completely pancake flat town with no climbs and no descents. I have learned all my little downhilling ability here in Suzhou. I can climb all day and would prefer a hilltop finish over technical descents. Below you can see some of the sections of the course.

2008 Shanghai Marathon

Well, it has been a little over a week since the Shanghai Marathon. It turned out to be a beautiful day to run. It was a little chilly, but blue clouds and very sunny. I was very excited and motivated to run. It would be a very packed day with over 13,000 runners for the half marathon and the full marathon. Another 7,000 would run the 4.5 km fun run.

I would say it was a case of all the usual suspects running in the Marathon. Above you can see Team Delphi up bright and early ready for the long run. All of us participated in the Hangzhou Half Marathon and were ready to go three weeks later with our second half marathon in November.

The start of the Shanghai Marathon is something really special. The elite runners are separated from the rest of the field by group of soldiers. When the marathon starts, the elite runners start running along with all the soldiers and the rest of the field. After about one hundred meters, the soldiers pull of the course and the race is on.

Here you can see the group of soldiers that would start the race with us. They would have to run pretty fast with about 13,000 people running behind them. The actual starting lane for all these people is actually quite small for the number of runners starting the race. In Houston, we had one three lane street for just the half marathon runners. In Hangzhou, we also had a three lane street for all the runners. Here it is pretty important to be close to the front. Even though your chip time is recorded, all results are based on your gun time. So if you are close to the two hour cut-off for the extra prize you have five minutes less to finish. Even worse if you are close to the three hour cut-off to be listed as a finisher, you better finish five minutes earlier.

As you can see, a sea of people waiting for the start of the race. There is really no place to stretch or warm up. At least it was nice and warm with all of us so close together. As we got closer to the start of the race, all of us would get excited and compress even closer.

Here I am in the sea of people all smiles and ready to run. The excitement fills the air and you get so pumped to start the race, that you have to remember not to go all out on the first couple of kilometers.

This year my training had been much better than the previous year. I was expecting to be able to run the race under 1:50. I was a little bit nervous because the last two weeks, the training had not been very good. I missed my 14 mile long run and only done 13 miles a week for the last two weeks. Rain showers had messed up my schedule and my longest run after Hangzhou was 9 miles. I was really not to sure how I would do.

The race started and I was feeling pretty good, so I let my own body set the pace and I would just glance down and see how I was at the mile alerts on my Garmin GPS. I was doing excellent. The first eight miles I was running eight minute miles. I was on track to better my Houston Marathon time. On the ninth mile I had began to slow. By the tenth mile I started to feel a slight pain in my left ilio band. This feeling is not a pleasant feeling and I know that in minutes you can go from running to walking. I slowed down the pace and finished the half marathon with a respectable 1:48:47 gun time, 799th place.

I think I really needed those last two weekends of long runs to keep the legs and the ilio band in shape and used to the fatigue. Well, at least I was able to break last years mark by about a full nine minutes.

Last year I received a finisher's certificate and a pair of 95 RMB ($13.87 US) Win-DO running shoes for finishing under two hours. This year, it was a pleasant surprise to receive a finisher's medal as well as the finisher's certificate. For finishing under two hours, I received a Mizuno Cap and a Mizuno wrist band.

On a sad note, the first death for the Shanghai Marathon was recorded in this half marathon. He collapsed about 200m before the finish line. The half marathon race is not a distance you want to run without a good deal of training before hand. Death is the worst that can occur, but there are many other injuries that can result from not training correctly. So if you plan to run the half be sure to find a training plan and train hard for the race. I have found running this distance very fulfilling and I will run the distance next year somewhere on this world!

Hangzhou Half Marathon

Last Sunday was the Hangzhou International Marathon. It included four events. These were the full marathon (42K), the half marathon (21K), short marathon (13.8K), and mini marathon (6.8K). The theme was Run Along Beautiful Scenery. The race would start at the Huang Long Sports Center with a beautiful run around West Lake to the beautiful Six Harmonies Pagado and then back around the other side of the lake. It was truly a beautiful run, but also a painful run for someone who has always lived and run in the flat lands.



As you can see, the race course had various elevation changes. Even nearing the finish, there were small short steep bridges considered as part of the "flat" section. Those little steep bridges would add salt to the wound.

So Saturday we were off to Hangzhou. We had decided to take the bus. Train was not an option due to time limitations. The bus station is similar to bus stations across Mexico, except there were many more buses leaving and arriving to many destinations all over China. I think many foreigners use the bus, but today at 9:00 am we were the only foreigners to be found in the bus station. The bus took two hours to arrive at Hangzhou.

Once we arrived we had to purchase the return tickets for the next day. There were about 10+ lines full of people purchasing tickets. Here we were able to use our Chinese and purchase the tickets without much difficulty.

After purchasing the tickets, we would queue up in the taxi line. This line was extremely long and we waited 20-25 minutes as many, many taxis queued up and took many passages all over the city. We would take a 25 minute taxi ride to our Hotel and then off to the stadium for my runners package.

I asked one of the guards in Chinese where the package pick up for the marathon was located. He pointed us out in the right direction. I would say the pick-up location was what you can call a hole in the wall. There were no real signs, we just walked from one side of the stadium until I decided to peek around the corner and there it was! I just call it plain luck.

The rest of the afternoon was spent finding a Pizza Hut to load up on spaghetti and walking around a shopping mall. Dinner was spent with a few friends from Shanghai who came to race the following day. We ate at a delicious Chinese restaurant in the Xi Hu Tian Di right by West Lake. We would call it an early night and get ready for the big day.

Above you can see Team Delphi ready for the Half Marathon. This event would be the first half marathon for both Freddy and Nina. Ravi would be competing in his second half. Well, Sagar, Bill, and I have each done a few. This event would be my fifth half marathon.

Keeping with the Olympic spirit of 2008. I would run in the official Chinese Team T-shirt. It is made by Adidas and it is Climalite to help dissipate sweat from the skin. In fact I was in full Adidas gear except for my Asics Nimbus running shoes. This year I purchased some new running socks because my good long run socks are starting to develop holes in them. I did run a few long runs with them, but when it came down to the race, I stuck with the old Adidas socks which have now made it through countless long runs and five half marathons. I guess I am superstitious.

The weather was beautiful. It was perfect for a nice long run. A little chilly, but not extremely cold. The sun was out, so I decided I would run with my sunglasses.

There was some traditional dancing and music to get us ready for the long run!

Once the race started, the mass of people would start going. Even though we were the second group (behind the marathoners), we still had a very slow start. It was just as if everyone started moving forward, but walking. I picked up some speed by the quarter mile and was able to get into a very fast pace. I checked out my Garmin 305 results and for about .4 miles I was running under 7 minute miles. I know I was going fast, but with my Garmin 305 average mile display I still couldn't get the exact pace read-out. Beginning the second mile, my Garmin 305 had me at 7:30 pace. Using my Garmin 305, by the third mile I was at the pace I wanted run. I thought about the Houston Half Marathon (the best organized half I have run) and the pace setters yelling out the pace every mile. Here I was thinking about how the guys with balloons were keeping the pace. For a while, I was running with the guy with the blue balloons (4 hr marathon). He was definitely running faster than a 4 hr marathon. He had no running device to know pace, no pacers shouting out the pace every mile. I wonder what was his time for the marathon. Did he get close to the four hours?

It was a beautiful run around the lake. The first water stop was at the 5km point, then at each 2.5km interval. I had trained on my long runs only drinking water every 5km (Shanghai will be every 5km). So, I considered the extra water and sports drink a bonus and I felt I remained well hydrated throughout the whole race. As mentioned before, the race was a little hilly, but manageable.

After a nice long run, it feels good to come down the final straight with the finish line in sight and friends and family their to cheer. It felt good to complete the race.

I had finished the race in 1 hr 51 minutes 26 seconds. I figured it was an OK time for a little hilly route and also the fact that I am in the meat of the training program for Shanghai. Next weekend is the longest run on the training plan (14 miles), then two weeks of taper before Shanghai. I am hoping to improve this time. I hope the legs remain strong.

After the race, we had a our lunch and headed for the bus station to return home. Enclosed are some pics of the station and the bus we took home.

2008 Suzhou Look-Shimano Road Race

Today was the 2008 Look Shimano Road Race. It was held near Green Lake in Weiting. The starting line was less than a half a mile away from my house. The race would be 110 km road race around a 5 km loop. I would consider it like a crit that would be run in the US.

My cycling buddy Zhang Zhong Ming would participate. He works for the local Trek store in SIP and represents Trek in many of the races. He rides an Aluminum Discovery Channel Trek Road Bike. He is a really strong rider and can keep up with the peloton very well. He might not be fighting for the win, but he will be in the main group when it comes to the line. He invited me to participate and I probably would have participated if it wasn't so close to the Hangzhou Half Marathon. So, I decided not to race.

Above are a few pictures of the peloton. Some of the usual big racers from the Chinese Trek Racing Team and the Chinese Specialized Racing Team were present. This race would also be a really fast race. They were doing laps in about 8 minutes per lap, an estimated 38 km/h. I probably would have been able to keep up for about 6-7 laps before I would be dropped from the peloton.

This race was very well organized. All streets were completely closed of from motor traffic. In front of the peloton was a police car and then a police bike. Behind the last cyclist was also a police motor bike.

Zhong Ming in the peloton. He is besides one of the few foreigners I saw riding this race. I can tell by their faces that they are moving really fast. There is alot of concentration.

Another picture of Zhong Ming in the peloton on one of the corners of the race circuit. After a few laps, I no longer would see him in the peloton. He was unlucky and suffered a flat tire. In these races there are no neutral service help vehicles or team cars ready to pass out wheels. A flat usually means game over.

Well, I did not get to see all of the race. I don't know who won or how the final sprint turned out. I was off to a lunch wedding to celebrate a new beginning in the life of one of our engineers! It would be my first wedding in China.

Taicang Jincang Lake International Bike Festival

This last Saturday was the Taicang Jincang Lake International Bike Festival. This event would would be a road racing event for the whole family. Saturday the road racing categories included the Elite Race, Children's Race, Middle School Race, and Open Race. Sunday would be the team events. These would include the Club Relay, Company Relay, and the University Relay.

The event had many sponsors and they would be able to display their products at the festival. The sponsors included Giant, Specialized, and Trek, along with other sponsors for exercise equipment and outdoor gear

I would participate in the Men's Open Division. This race was a 30 km road race. It would be my second road race in China. From my previous road race experience, I knew this race was going to be very fast. I was not sure how fast I would ride. I did average about 30 km/h in the Shanghai Duathlon, so I was sure I should be able to go faster.

Our race would start at two o'clock in the afternoon. We arrived a few hours earlier to complete registration. Here I am taking the bike to the registration area to pick up my race numbers. I was given No. 3.

The whole day had been pretty gloomy. It rained in the morning and I was wondering what the day would hold. I was definitely hoping to race.

Here Freddy and I are at the starting line. Freddy would also race his first road race. We spend a good amount of time at the starting line. The weather was an issue and the organisers were concerned with safety. Finally after, 30-40 minutes, the race organisers decided that we would race. They had a general announcement that the race would begin and they also announced that it might rain, so we must think about safety throughout the race.

We were all ready for the race to begin. Once the race started, the speed went up really quickly. There was one major accident at the start where I saw one guy go down and another guy flip over him. It's kind of interesting, you see it, you pass it and you keep going at 30+ km/h. We hit 43-44 km/h for the first two kilometers. The main group quickly sped up. I ended up with a group of three foreigners and we were working together for a the first 15 km. We actually were doing pretty good. At the turn around, we could still see the main field probably less than a km ahead of us. Then at km 16. I tried to pick up the pace and got a cramp in my calf. I was forced to reduce my effort and for 1/4 km I shook off the cramp. I got back to speed, but remained a distance away from the group that was working with me.

The last 2 km were uphill. A great Spring Classics's finish. Here I come pulling to the finish line with a nice group trying there hardest to catch me. They had been working together for the whole race at the turn around at km 15, I had seen them. When I my calf cramped up, I was sure they would catch me, but they didn't. I was not going to let them take me out at the finish line. I had raced to hard to lose anymore places.

I put my head down and pulled the bike all the way up the 2 km ride. I keep up the pace 33-35 km/h all the way up to the finish line. They were really going to have to ride very, very hard up the hill to be able to catch me.

They didn't catch me. I made it to the finish with a good lead ahead of the next group of riders. I had completed the 30 km race in 50:59. I averaged 35.3 km/h. It felt good.

I had enjoyed the race. I would like to get in the peloton next time. I need to work harder at the road racing and mountain climbing. I think by next year I should be able to race harder. I would say, not bad for an old guy competing against a lot of younger guys.

What's next? Well Hangzhou Half Marathon!