TJ Woodruff ONLINE

Flying in Flagstaff!

click the pic for more, courtesy of www.fountain-photo.com

I love it up there… Flagstaff has that real ‘backyard appeal’ in that I would love for it to be my backyard. It’s got everything a MTB addict could want. Trails within riding distance from house - check. Long sustained climbs on dirt - check. Technical singletrack climbs - check. Trees - check. Dirt - check. High speed descents and steep technical descents - double check. Views - check. And my most recent discovery, an epic race course - check.

The finals were contested on a single lap of approximately 26 miles. It had everything mentioned above and more. John, Steve, and I rode to the start and didn’t even have to mess with a car which is a victory in and of itself. A bit of a warm up and we were charging up the mountain. I followed Kevin down the first hair-ball descent and then up the climb, only to watch him ride off the course with his head down pedaling like mad. Those of us chasing just five seconds behind all asked “Where’s Kevin going?” as we continued on the course by taking a left turn. It’s too bad that one of the fastest locals missed the three signs marking the course…

The first half of the course was mostly climbing, traversing and more climbing. By the 40 minute mark I was starting to open up a gap so after grabbing a feed from Chad (thanks!) I rallied hard on Pipeline before dropping into more rock-strewn lava field singletrack. It was all about keeping steady and not over cooking the engine. Hard, but steady, hard but steady… This was the same route that took me 3:15 to ride just six days prior and I bonked horribly in the process..

The transition to fire road climb came at an hour and five minutes and my gap was growing. A neutral feed courtesy of Swiss American Bikes (thanks!) went a long ways to keep me topped off and cool. I dug hard up the fire road to the very top of the course before looking back. No one was in sight and I must have had a minute on the field at this stage of the game. As if I wasn’t nervous enough already, now I had 45 minutes of gnarly descent ahead of me. I kept it smooth and avoided taking the big risks. I did a couple hike-a-bikes and bobbled a couple times, but for the most part I was really ripping it and I absolutely loved every minute. Last time I was on this trail it was totally amateur hour compared to race day. I was putting the Four Stroke to good use and it only begged me to give it more speed.

I made it through Upper Moto unscathed to grab another feed from Chad (thanks again!), check behind to see no one, and hammered the other direction on Pipeline. Flying down Dog Food I knew that I could win by just keeping it smooth from there on out. The most demanding trails were behind me at this point and I was looking forward to the climb up Rocky Ridge. I knew that I would be riding that stuff well since I wasn’t feeling too beat up yet. The bike was perfect for the course. The suspension optimized the traction and kept rolling resistance minimal while the feather-light 26″ wheels accelerated and negotiated boulders like no other. Through Rocky Ridge I was able to ride the rocks well which only helped the finish line come that little bit sooner. My time of 2:14 and some change was about 15 minutes faster than I would have anticipated and was a full hour faster than last weekend’s bonked pre-ride. Awesome!
It was a great battle out there and I was stoked every moment of the race. It was one of those days were I must have had a smile on the entire time. I couldn’t have asked for any more performance from the BMC equipped with NoTubes wheels. The equipment was perfectly suited for the terrain and didn’t let me down on a single account. The three feeds out there kept me fueled and without them it very well could have been a different outcome. Hopefully Flagstaff has us all back for another race sometime soon; apparently it’s been nine years since those trails were last raced. I was happy to of helped welcome them back.
A lot of plans are in the works, but my next race could very likely be the WORS in Wausau. More on that and more to come… Enjoy the ride, the rhythm, and the flow. -TJ

John and I made the drive up to Flagstaff Saturday morning so that we could get in a couple mountain bike rides. Flagstaff has all of the right ingredients - singletrack, dirt, trees, rocks, altitude, and views. None of which are in short supply and we even found a spot or two of snow to ride through. The terrain at 9000+ feet  is challenging physically and also technically, so it’s super easy to lose yourself in the moment. At one point I had to remind myself where I was and what month it is - such moments are the best therapy.  John and I used to ride mtb’s back in our Eau Claire days, but it was pretty cool to see him ripping the technical stuff out here. The guy’s got skill! I on the other hand felt a little out of sorts, but managed to hold my own for the most part.  It’s been a slower than ideal return to the bike after having the teeth pulled, but hopefully I’ll be full strength sometime soon now that I can eat again. As we pre rode the State Finals course Sunday I got a pretty good bonk going before slowly finishing out the course. John on the otherhand was still rockin’.

This Saturday is the Arizona Series Finals and the course will make for nothing short of an epic battle. It’s got a huge amount of climbing, but it’s also extremely technical so it’s going to take some serious skills to stay at the front. Hopefully I can be up there, but the locals will surely have their advantage.

Thanks to Steve for showing us some of Flag’s finest. Next update will be the race report. Stay tuned. -TJ

Life has been rough since Friday when I had all three (that’s all I had) of my wisdom teeth yanked. In just thirty minutes of wrenching its amazing how much havoc one oral surgeon put into my face. It’s been nearly six full days and things are still swollen and sore. I got on the bike today and sixty minutes was plenty enough for me to be done. Every crack in the road seemed to rattling my face around 10X the normal amount. Being off the bike recently isn’t even the worst of it as I’ve been absolutely craving every food with any texture. Mashed potatoes, applesauce and yogurt aren’t very satisfying any more, but anything crunchy is too much to handle. I bet by the weekend I’ll be able to touch my upper and lower teeth together once again… I tell ya, having dental insurance and getting to go through all of this is such a wonderful thing. Seriously though, at least they’ll never have to pull them again.

Things in Tucson are in a bit of a transition as we go from hot to really hot. High temps are now in the upper 90’s by mid afternoon so it’ll be early morning training once I’m back in commission. The race scene here is pretty much coming to an end until next fall’s cyclocross scene kicks off, so I’ve been scheming up some summer time plans. Nothing is 100% certain yet, but I’ve got some fun ideas floating around in the my head. Thoughts of singletrack and varied weather keep me going. Up next will either be the NMBS in Santa Barbara or the Arizona State Championship MTB race in Flagstaff. Of course the better competition will be in Santa Barbara, but the thought of keeping it local to race on some absolutely killer trails is very tempting. Maybe for MTB they actually award a jersey (unlike the ‘cross championships) which would be pretty cool to race for.

This weekend will be a re-kickoff of the training as I get back into the groove of things. I’m really looking forward to the summer racing! Best of luck to those competing at Collegiate Road Nationals - of course I’m partial to those who I coach, but hopefully everyone there has a fun time. The U of A team sent full womens and mens squads up to Fort Collins so they ought to fair well in the DI fields. Chloe will have an 11 tooth cog to go with her 50t chainring this time, so all the girls should be on high alert since she’s been out-sprinting most with a 50×12 gear.

That’s all I’ve got for now, enjoy the ride (and all those crunchy foods). -TJ

Have a look in the Garage for links to some bike stuff that’s been collecting dust lately. Help me clean house by helping yourself to a deal or two or three. Enjoy the riding while I’m laid up for the weekend - without my wisdom teeth.  -TJ