TJ Woodruff ONLINE

Having placed 2nd at last year’s Ore to Shore I was really motivated to improve on my result. I knew that I could be in the mix and with some great training rides within the past couple of weeks I was feeling good and ready to give the race my 100% energy.  Traveling to Marquette with Chad made for an old school road trip and we got in a great pre ride on Friday with the company of Matt and my 212 bros Chris and Mike.  Flying through the final 20 miles of the course was a great refresher as to just how much fun this race is and fast the trail allow you to go. Overnight rain showers had the course in perfect condition and I was ready to go. All of the MI, WI, and MN riders were there with only two notable exceptions so it was sure to be an intense race.

Mike did the leadout on the pavement and the 212 train was rolling smoothly until I was forced to exit the front group with a rear puncture. It was one of those flats that you knew it happened right away. I kicked up a softball-sized rock with my front wheel and it went squarely under my rear wheel. It was enough of an impact to put some small cuts in the sidewall just above bead on either side of the tire. I used my CO2 to seal off one side and Sova graciously supplied some more air to get me back and rolling down the trail two minutes after stopping.

I was in full chase mode, trying to negotiate my way back to the front end of the race, passing what must have been 100 riders in the process. Inspired by Brian Matter’s ride from ‘08 (he flatted in just about the same spot and chased back to finish 7th) I was still racing and more focused than ever. My goal was to contact the fast guys near the front and get myself back into some sort of contention, whether for the win or otherwise I wanted to be in the mix.    After 50+ minutes of solo chasing I was caught by Doug, Marko, Jeff, and one other rider to my suprise since these were the guys that I thought I was chasing. It turns out that they had taken a wrong turn so poor luck for them made for good luck for me since I now had riders to share the workload with. Jeff and I did the bulk of the pacemaking and if any of us would catch the leaders I would have been happy with my efforts. We rode hard across the paved section and were still charging once in the woods.

At twelve miles to go I felt my rear tire getting soft and before I knew it I was dismounted and scrabling to put in an inner tube. This time I found a two-inch long square headed nail lodged into the tread. This was likely the source of the slow leak and with the low pressure before I stopped I managed to put another cut into the tire too. This time the tire was more or less done for so installing the tube was the only option. I got the tube in and the wheel back on the bike only to discover that I had nothing left in my CO2 but the white cloud that exits once the canister is empty. Eventually Nathan Guerra stopped and offered me his CO2 cartridges so that we were able to ride in to the finish together. At this point we weren’t so much racing, but rather enjoying the trail and finishing off what has been an adventurous race. I was completely drained at the finish, happy with my riding and bummed about my luck. Such is racing on occasion and I’ll be more motivate for the next one…

Thanks to Adventure 212 and Specialized for the support and to Justin for the late race bottle handup.  Chad’s help allowed me back into the mix early on and Nate’s help allowed me to ride it in instead of walk. There’s an awful lot of great people in this sport and I’m thankful for all the help along the way.  See you at the Border Battle on Sunday!

July was a busy month, full of a lot of good times on and off the bikes. It included a WORS race, a National Championship, and a MNSCS event. Off the bike there was camping, birthdays, and even a wedding (well the wedding was actually August 1st) all spit between WI and CO.

The biggest race highlight was finishing 2nd in the Singlespeed Nationals race. I’ve done limited riding on a single before so it was something not necessarily in my element. This made for some awesome pre race nerves, but by the race started it was largely business as usual. One gear or not bike racing is largely the same in that whoever focuses and works the most usually wins, this assuming that you show up with good fitness.  Using a 32×20 allowed me to sit on some of the climbs to finish out the three long laps of racing. I was with JJ for 1/2 a lap, but he got away near the top of the climb while we struggled to pass Expert racers in the singletrack.  For the most part I rode the race solo and the time gap to JJ stayed at roughly a minute for the bulk of day. I was having fun with the course and figuring out just how hard to go on various climbs.   JJ is a CO guy and we’ve got back and forth in previous races when I’m using gears and he’s on the single.  The Tucson Daily Star even did a little write up: here.

Prior to Nationals, the Eau Claire crew put on a good WORS showdown with the Fireracker race. I was recruited to race with a fork mounted camera, but so far none of that footage has surfaced. If and when it does, there’ll be a couple good crashes and plenty of chasing to be seen since I was off the lead group for most all of the race before finishing fourth.

And to close out the racing for the month I got over to Elk River, MN for the Singletrack Attack last weekend. It was my first ride back from Colorado and unbeknown to me my front tire hadn’t fully sealed itself prior to the start of the race. About 10 minutes into things I was forced to stop and add CO2 from the Big Air. This did the trick, but several riders were able to go by so I had some passing to do and it didn’t take much for the lead trio disappear and I wasn’t able to join in. Another fourth place was the result.

Up next will be the Ore to Shore. I’m excited for this one and hope to have another good go at it after finishing 2nd there a year ago.  I’ve been able to get in some solid training for it, so if all goes well it ought to be an interesting race at the front end.  Over and out,  -TJ

Don and the WORS crew put on a fantastic Subaru Cup once again. I’ve been able to do this event three consecutive years and it keeps getting better. The racing was fast and duking it with familair rivals was a lot of fun.  Just as with the past two years, I placed third in the XC once again. This time the action was much closer and I had to overcome a poor start. Such is racing, but perhaps a cleaner start would have afforded me another attack or two to use later in the race…  In the end Tristan had the best timed acceleration and none of us could reply. Jesse came just a bit closer than I did to finish second while we dropped Matter who finished for forth.

Super D and Short Track were each really fast with some good battles going on. I lead the Super D through the woods before Tristan got by, then we were both jumped by Matter going up the sole climb on the course. A fun super D and some fast times for sure.  It was a bummer to have lost air from my rear tire during the STXC since it limited how hard I could ride the downhill which included a couple of hard corners.  Brian and Chris were charging hard with Tristan in tow. I don’t know that I would have been with them at the end, but none the less it would have been more interesting to find out instead of needing to ride conservatively so as to keep the tire on the rim.  All tallied up (this year by points, not time) I finished 3rd on the Omnium.  Not quite the win as from last year, but good riding none the less.

Aside from all the race action, the real highlight was catching up with a lot of great people who I don’t see all that often.  Peariso’s were an awesome host and it was really cool to have a place to relax, hang out and enjoy the weekend.  It was great to see many familiar faces and to be back at WORS. Thanks,

The couple weeks spent in Colorado have gone by awfully quickly.  Weekend races book-ended weeks full of great riding. There’s been a lot of afternoon rain showers out here so the mountains are borderline lush. Having just my 29er here has meant some extra time spent on the trails enjoying the thin air, the green and the mountain trails.

Climbing Vail (by Brian Schaning)

Teva Games was to be a practice race for the Colorado Springs Pro XCT race. Having raced Teva the past two years I knew that it would be a good test of the climbing legs with some fast, fun descending. Nothing too technical, but enough to test to the skills a couple times. A lot of guys had a similar idea to use Teva as a warm up since a lot of the series guys were there in what made it a more competitive field than ever. Twentieth was an alright result all things considered. Chloe and I met up with Brian post race to take in some of the festivities that make the Teva Game unique. We watched some fly casting, rafting, trials, and rock climbing before getting a pizza and eventually making the drive back to Boulder.  It was an action packed day trip for sure.

The following day was a 50 mile mtb ride with Chloe. Experiencing the Heil-Picture Rocks-Hall ride was awesome. The singletrack was built for bikes and it flows like no other.  I had to go back on Wednesday to do it all over again…

STXC Action (by trailwatch.net)

On Friday we raced STXC and Saturday was the XC in Colorado Springs. It was odd having a Sunday w/o racing but I made due. The STXC course was fun to ride but 100% not suitable for more than 15 or 20 racers. I’m sure that the course used works well for their local series, but it was a joke to have 40 or so of us out there at once. With no call ups given for over 1/2 the field and the widest sections at about eight feet wide, to say that moving up was a challenge would be a huge understatement. From the back I made my way up to 23rd before being pulled.  Maybe next time they’ll have a suitable course for us otherwise I won’t be too interested…

Up and Out! (by trailwatch.net)

Saturdays XC was going to be tough. The climb wasn’t necessarily steep, but it definitely wore on the legs.  It was after 12 minutes or so of climbing that we encountered the rocky technical challenges on the rolling terrain of the upper part of the course.  And the downhill was never a no-brainer. It was consistently inconsistent with changing surfaces from rock to dirt to gravel with fast corners, tight corners and plenty of boulders to negotiate.  I felt alright about the course but knew the technical nature of the loop would be my biggest challenge.  I had an excellent start and rode in the top 20 for the entire first lap, following Andy Schultz on the descent.  A large number of riders gained on us while descending but I mostly maintainedposition the second time up the climb. The second time down the descent was my fastest, but significantly slower than what other riders were doing. At the start of the third lap I had lost some ground despite more or less doing the same pace.  It was probably seven riders or so that went by me on the third lap and the fourth and final lap was the same story as I finished 35th.  Sure it’s still just better than mid pack, but that’s not really what I was going for. The fitness was mostly there for a top 20, but the skills were glaringly lacking.  It’s frustrating, but simple – I just have to learn how to shred more!

Up next is a return to WI for the Subaru Cup.  The fitness is good and I’m pumped with the idea of racing fast with the Brians, Lalondes, and my 212 bros.  After doing three nationals it’s refreshing to think about being in the front end of a bike race once again… See you there.

Thanks to Adventure 212, Specialized, and all of my family and friends for helping to make all of this bike racing possible. The racing community thrives on thegenerosity of many and I’m grateful for the opportunity.  Next time I return to CO Springs, I’ll be rallying that downhill faster!  -TJ

I traveled south for the latest stop on the Pro XC Tour.  The race was in Pelham, Alabama and my sister’s family lives not too far away in Georgia, so the relatively close proximity made the trip out all that more alluring since I could visit them for a couple of days on either side of the race. This was my first trip to the South and it ended up being a fantastic time. My nephew Mason is nearing two years old, so he’s an awful lot of excitement to be around. He loved seeing all the bikes!

The course consisted purely of screaming fast singletrack along with a couple extended sections of pavement to complete the loop. This made for intense racing since there wasn’t much along the lines of vertical gain to separate the race, instead it came down to lap one positioning and singletrack speed.  I had the call up for the final spot on the second row so that wasn’t so bad but the bottleneck entering the singletrack wasn’t the best. Being just five spots further up could have made a huge difference that first lap since there was essentially zero passing opportunity.  Hitting the paved climb on the first lap, just over 10 minutes into the race, I was sitting 27th  and not much changed from there. I went on to finish 25th after zipping through five laps of the course.  It was 90 degrees and humid, but fortunately I had excellent family support in the feedzone.  Going through 100 oz in 100 minutes was serious,  drinking only when I was thirsty.  And to think that the locals were saying that it wasn’t all that humid…

Up next will be the Teva Mountain Games in Vail, CO. Thanks to Adventure212, Specialized, and NoTubes for the support.  -TJ

Being the first week back to Wisconsin why not do two races instead of one? I had the opportunity so I went for it. Having done neither race since 2005 it was enjoyable to relive some past experiences while out there on the courses. Back in ‘96 the Cable Classic was the first mtb race I ever did so it’ll always remain a favorite to attend. Without doing an official tally, this may have been my 10th year at Iola. 

At the starting line @ the Lakewoods it was 34 degrees with small snow flurries floating about the air. It had rained overnight so the course was saturated and heavy in some spots but fortunately never too slick elsewhere. I ran my Crow/Raven tire combo and had great luck with them.  Somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes into the race I was able to separate myself from the rest and get out of sight. Up to this point it took a sizable effort since we were mostly on fire lane dirt roads from the start.  The final hour of the race had predominately more singletrack and it was all about enjoying the ride – keeping it fast and flowing all the way to the finish line for the win.  Having family and friends there made it a great reminder of why Wisconsin races will always have that unique appeal. Our post race pizzas from the ideal market were a big hit. Who new that there was a stone oven in Cable? I’ll definitely be back for another!

Sunday came around and my legs were feeling alright, but I was generally tired from Thursday’s monster drive and also the race on Saturday. I’ve learned not to give much consideration to how I feel prior to a race since I know that I can do just fine despite any minor nuances. I felt good with the warm up and knew that I’d be in the mix.  The first half of the first lap was just as planned. We were going fast and had separated from most of the WORS Elite field. I was fine with the hard efforts and ready for some good racing action.  However on the less physically, more twisty turny second half of the lap I somehow got gaped off from the front group somehow. Maybe my tree weaving skills could use some fine tuning, maybe I just wasn’t accelerating hard enough out of the corners, or maybe I just wasn’t paying enough attention, but one way or another a small gap opened and I didn’t really ever get to close it down.  For laps two and three it stayed at just 10-15 seconds. On lap four I went by Nathan then on lap five I went by Eppen before the finish. Aside from the first couple of miles I had done the entire race on my own pacing with little or no cooperation or battling with others. Not the most exciting day tactic-wise, but it felt good to stick to the pace, see it through to the finish, and come home with a respectable third place finish.  Hopefully next time there’ll be more battling and maybe I’ll have that little bit of extra snap in my legs.  

The summer race plans are coming together and there’ll be a couple of trips in addition to doing mostly Midwest stuff. Up next is the Bump’nGrind in Alabama followed by a couple of CO races.  Summer’s nearly here and there’s plenty of racing to be done.   See you next time, TJ

Sea Otter was awhile back, but figuring I ought to pick up where the blogging left off, here we go. I had one of best rides ever at Monterrey. It was one of those days were things really clicked and the sensations from the body were mostly all good. Pushing hard, focusing on the task, and going fast were all second nature despite suffering a flat front tire early in the race. I could feel that it was getting soft and when I stopped 40 minutes into the race a visual evaluation led me to try adding more CO2 in hopes that it would seal and hold whatever puncture had occurred. I may have only been off the bike for 75 seconds, but the minutes prior to and also immediately following the fix were somewhat nervous since I wasn’t sure it was holding air or not.
During the stop I lost a lot of ground. Thirty guys or more flew by and it was slow going once I was back in action – and it sucked. Fortunately I was able to get over it, regain my focus and get back to business. From this point on I was on a mission to regain lost ground and by the finish I had worked my way back up to 22nd. I had no clue as to placing at the finish line, but regardless of the number I was pumped. Regaining concentration can be hard to do but I was successful at it. At the end of the day it turned out to be my best ever national level result and considering the flat fix as well as the competition I can help but think about how things could be even better next time. The support of the new team, Adventure212, was phenomenal and the entire Sea Otter experience was a great time. My Specialized couldn’t have been any faster. Thanks, -TJ

Today wasn’t quite what I had in mind, but there’s always another crack at it tomorrow… It was a nervous day on the roads out to the Mogollon climb and it took a fair amount of work to cover the 87 miles getting to the base of the climb. On the way up things started all right, but shortly after beginning the second half of the climb I hit the limit of how fast things could go. Getting dropped isn’t fun but I kept it together and got myself to the top the best I could. Part caloric deficit, part altitude, part ? got the best of me and I wasn’t my best those last 6.7 miles of today’s stage. A couple of small breaks were away and some riders survived to finish amongst the leaders today while others popped on the climb. Tomorrow ought to be a good one with several climbs along the route. More to come, -TJ

Rolling through the hills of Fort Ord with Chris P. and Bender.

Sea Otter is shaping up nicely thus far. The weather has been great and the company of teammates has been a lot of fun.  I’ve got the bike mostly dialed after having some interesting issues with front wheel traction on our initial ride.  I’ll typically race with low tire pressure in the 20-25 psi range so I inflated the Raven 2.0 front tire up to 25 prior to setting off on the course.  The entire lap I was fighting the front end of the bike as if the headset was binding even though off the bike the headset was just fine.  Turned out that the contact patch of the tire is/was so huge that it was just biting into the ground that much… So with some more tire pressure up front the bike is once again handling as normal. Who would have thought that it’s possible to have too much traction up front? Only on a 29er!

My approach coming into Sunday’s XC is a little diffrent this year as I’m opting out of the Saturday  Short Track.  The xc has always been a fine line as far as race speed versus glycogen stores goes. Last year I had a solid result shaping up only to run out of steam coming back up the long climb to the finish. By avoiding a 20-25 minute near max effort, I ought to have that much more glycogen in the tank for when it matters most this weekend.  All my eggs are going into the XC basket! I hate passing up a race, but the xc is where my attention has been placed this weekend and I’ll be going for broke en route to the finish line.

Race report to follow,  -TJ

Our MTB national series opener went off today and most things went fairly well out there. Early season racing is always hard to figure out but things were more ‘on’ than ‘off’ for me.  My plan was to manage the start by getting/maintaining good position while not maxing out the effort so that I could have plenty left for the duration of the five lap race. Given the demands of the course with the sizeable initial climb this was no easy feat, but things actually played out all right. Once to the top it was steady lap times and keeping on the gas until the finish – never backing off too much or surging too hard.  Finishing 31st will help with the Sea Otter call up and it gives me some confidence that things are close to being in order. I know that I’ve got more in me and even better results aren’t far off. Being that we raced a more demanding course this year it was good to get a result far better than any of my three previous Fontana performances. 

The 2009 season ought to be fantastic and Fontana was a nice way to start things up with the Adventure212/Specialized team.  Chris made the flight out so that he could get in a race prior to Sea Otter and placed well considering that most of his ride time has been on rollers coming from WI…  It’s been a fun weekend and the support of the team has been a great help.  Colt @ CyclingDirt.org has done well with creating the MTB dedicated ‘inside scoop’. If you haven’t seen the site, you’ve got to check it out – and often. The newly organized US Pro XCT series seems to have a good vibe going and the racing fields were as big or bigger than I’ve seen them during the past four years. I say this is the year that mountain biking starts it’s comeback!

Sea Otter is the next goal on the horizon.  Thanks for the support,  -TJ