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I’m updating over at www.traviswoodruff.com so check it out if you’re looking for the latest. Thanks!

Untethered

tjwoodruff — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 05:12:05 +0000

The past couple weeks have been all over the place. Right after Fountain Hills I flew back to Wisconsin for five days so I could be with the family as my mom was expected to have heart surgery. It was great to be home and see the family, but of course once back to Tucson life was going full-tilt once again. I had two days to pack up the entire apartment, pack what I could into the car and sell the rest on craigslist, clean the apartment, and then drive stuff to Lake Havasu for storage before stopping in Rosamond for a night. Immediately after this Jenna and I picked Paul up at LAX before making the drive up to Monterey for the Sea Otter. Our heads were spinning and our bodies were tired out before we ever raced our bikes. Luckily we had some great accommodations and even better hospitality which allowed us to rest up prior to Sunday’s main XC event. Thanks Zanders!

The second row call up was pretty cool, lining up right behind Liam Killen, next to Christoph Sauser, and just in front of Thomas Frishneckt; some pretty fast company… A relatively easy start on the pavement had me in good position before hitting the dirt. I went backwards a bit on the first lap, but knew that guys would be popping hard on lap two and sure enough, they popped. I did too, but only about 10 feet before the line so it was all good. The last miles were battled out hard with Michael Simonson from Michigan, the powerhouse champ from Iceman ‘06. Unfortunately for me, he had one extra surge that I couldn’t match, but I was just happy to hang on and pick off those late race riders as we battled it out. 44^th is much improved from my 2006 Sea Otter performance and finishing in front of a couple paid pros is always rewarding. A huge thanks goes out to Michelle Peariso, who took care of my warm ups at the start and did bottle feeds during the race. This was some huge support and the race would have gone much differently without her help.

Now I’m back to Rosamond for a couple of weeks and I’m looking forward to building on that rhythm once again. I felt it in the xc and with a couple solid weeks of training that fast feeling should only become more refined before the NMBS #2. Thanks for tuning in after such a long hiatus here. Life is on the road from here on out and it feels good to have that sense of freedom.

Enjoy the ride, -TJ

Overdue, the latest of the New Year

tjwoodruff — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 22:36:14 +0000

That’s likely the longest drought in the history of my website. I apologize to those of you who stop by regularly. It hasn’t been a lack of interesting things that’s kept me from writing lately, rather too many of them all happening at once. So far this year I’ve moved into new apartment, bought some furniture, acquired some roommate, began training with earnest, and met Tom Danielson. Of course I’ve been logging the coaching hours as well as a couple over at Arizona Cyclist.

The rides have been going off without a hitch and I’m excited for what’s to come in 2007. Starting a new season with another year of experience and fitness can only lead to good things and progress is already being made. Jason Tullous, a friend and CTS co-worker, is taking my mind off of my own workouts and planning things out for me. I’m already realizing the benefits of his objective opinion. Even a coach can use a coach…

Most of my rides have been 4-5 hours and include about an hour of interval work. This coupled with ample amounts of rest and off in the right direction.

Sunday I was fortunate to join Chloe at a cycling related dinner party hosted by some local sponsors here in Tucson. There were some familiar faces, but most were new to me, so I met a lot of folks. Meeting Tom and Kristen Danielson was pretty cool. Tom’s preparing for big things at the Tour of California and Kristen is building a base for NORBA series to come. It’s not everyday you meet such people, especially due to such a random occasion. They are enjoying the Tucson weather as Durango has seen some harsh winter conditions recently. Cool people enjoying life via the bike – Awesome.

This weekend will mark my return to the infamous Shootout ride. It’s been a couple months, so chances are I’ll have something blog worthy. Check back in for to come. Enjoy! -TJ

Spooner Report, thoughts on the coming year

tjwoodruff — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 22:34:22 +0000

My time here in Wisconsin has gone by quickly. With several family occasions for Christmas I’ve been busy visiting. It was great to see everyone and enjoy the season here. With some congestion remaining in my airways, I’ve been taking it light with the training, though I did get out to ride some City Park singletrack the other day. It was so strange to be out there riding on dry trails, when normally I’m venturing the same paths with skinny skis underneath me at this time of the year.

Once back to Tucson I’ll be moving into a new apartment. This one will be bigger allowing the company of some racer-type roommates. Of course Tucson will be THE place to train this winter and I’m happy to soon host some friends with the same ambitions. The only challenge will be finding some furniture! My current place was furnished, so I’m on the look to fill up the new place… I’ll be sleeping on the floor to start things out.

With the new year just around the corner and your busy schedule returning to some level of normality, perhaps you are thinking about your own training. I’ll take this opportunity to make a shameless plug for my own coaching business: www.MomentumEndurance.com. I’m looking for new recruits in the coming year. All those that I’ve coached have shown measurable improvements and nearly all decide to continue using my services as they develop new goals each year. Many think of upgrading bike parts, but this year why not make a commitment to building your engine? Give me a call or drop me an email if you might be interested or want to learn more about what I can offer.

Keeping it Real, -TJ

Between Travels, from beach to northwoods

tjwoodruff — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 22:37:37 +0000

Mexico was awesome and Chloe and I had an amazing time. We could not get enough of the shrimp tacos, the sand or the sunshine. The beaches were nearly exclusively ours and every aspect of the trip was relaxing.

Tomorrow at this time I’ll be back home to Spooner to spend the Christmas season with my family. Two very different vacations spots, but equally attractive. All for now; expect an update from ‘home’.

-TJ

An Epic of Small Proportions, AZ singletrack bliss

tjwoodruff — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 22:45:21 +0000

So my lack of blogging has left things in a pathetic stateÂ lately, sorry. I donât really have any excuses so Iâll spare you while letting you know whatâs been the latest here in Tucson. Riding and working, mostly.

Today I did âan epic of small proportionsâ? with Dejay, Mark and Monique: 42 miles – lots of it singletrack, 5+ hours of pedaling time, 4600 ft of climbing. It was a ride that encompassed the most sweetness for the given length. Dejay has been riding these trails for the past six or seven years, so he knows his playground quite well and I was fortunate enough to tag along for the adventure. Some of the terrain was over my head, and it was awesome to find some stuff to challenge myself with out there. Iâll surely be back to ride these again!

This past week I also got my first couple of days in at Arizona Cyclist. Of course I felt somewhat out of place as there is much to learn whenever starting something new. My first bike sale was a $4000 Orbea Orca, so I must be doing something right thoughâ¦ Itâs a really cool place and everyone is excited to be working there so itâs a good shop atmosphere. Not a bad gig for a couple days a week.

Last weekend Chloe and I did the final Dust Devil race at Estralla on Saturday before racing the Tucson cyclocross event on Sunday. We barely got out of Phoenix Saturday as the Taurus had some serious issues going on. The belt broke which left us without power steering, overheated, and with a drained battery on some rural road just out of the county park. A whole long series of events occurred and in the end we received help from no less than eight strangers who went out of their ways. We also visited three car part stores and I rode 10+ miles on bike in search of parts to get back on the road. In the end we were able to find a shorter belt to bypass the AC pulley which had seized up. We made it back to Tucson late and exhausted from a long day spend in the desert. All of this after a two-hour mtb raceâ¦ I placed 2^nd while Chloe was 1^st. On Sunday, I was able to ride away from all the rest once again in the cyclocross race. Chloe also raced the Menâs A and placed an impressive 4^th. She was happy not to be lapped my no one else besides meâ¦ At least Sundayâs winnings covered some of Saturdayâs car expenses. All cheap adventures in the end, and I wouldnât trade any of them.

Tomorrow itâs back to the shop and the start of a short week. The beach is calling my name already!

-TJ

Current Happenings, your Friday edition of the Tucson Report

tjwoodruff — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 22:49:08 +0000

The UCI has recently released itâs rankings and Iâm currently sitting 1124^th in the world. That might put me out of Olympic contention for 2008, but Iâll keep at itâ¦ As if the Olympics were ever on the current radar, but itâs still fun to look at all the names. In real news Iâll be starting at Arizona Cyclist on a part time basis starting on Monday. This is a very cool shop and they are 100% into the high-end mountain bike stuff. Theyâve assembled a great team of employees and I am excited to be a part of it as the store continues to thrive in a big way. With a second Tucson location specializing in high-end road equipment theyâve got a grasp on a very niche market.Â This job will sublementÂ my coaching income, but really Iâm most excited because it will allow me to further network myself within the Tucson cycling community.Â Chances are that Iâll meet some awesome people through this place, and who knows, maybe I’ll find some potenital clients too.

In other news Iâve been doing some apartment searching too.Â My current place has worked wonderfully, but as of January Iâll have roommates and thus a bigger apartment becomes necessary. This is just a studio, so it would be impossible for any others to move in. AÂ RV 2006 reunion of sorts will be the norm for the winter months here as Jenna, Justin, and Paul will all be spending some time down here training. Iâm looking forward to having some roommates, a bigger place, and of course cheaper living expenses. Craiglist.com, Apartments.us, and rentnet.com have all been searched daily, but Iâm still trying to find the âbestâ? place out there. Maybe such a place doesnât exist, and everything really is quite mediocre, Iâm not sure. Iâll just have to keep searching and come up with something by the end of the month.

Tomorrow will be the third and final race of the Dust Devil series up at Estrella park, which is the greater Phoenix area. I was beaten at the last one, so Iâll be lookingÂ for a small amount of personal redemption. With a couple weeks of training in my legs maybe pedaling hard wonât seem so foreign this time. Â Tristan had some fun comments about how heâs still in season while everyone else is starting the next season already.Â Of course there are many approaches to take and I think cyclocross racing is one of the best out there if you can figure out how to take a break and thenÂ regroup for the spring mountain season successfully. Itâs been fun to follow his success this fall and I wish him the best of luck as he narrows in on another great ride at Nationals. Do it to it!

And if you havenât found this blog already, you best check it out. Brian Matter will surely provide you with some quality reading. This guy has been there and done that with the mountain bike racing and heâs got the stories to prove it. Who else has met Weird Al through bike racing!? This stuff is great, and the old school pictures are second to none.

Keeping it Real, -TJ

Cyclocross Tucson Style, on the MTB dualie…

tjwoodruff — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 22:50:34 +0000

The line closest to the tree was the fastest…

Video Clip, for those of you with High Speed or lots of patience.

Today was the first in a series of three cyclocross races here in Tucson. This one was in Himmel Park, just about 6 blocks from my place so it was a quick ride there. A couple laps around the flat course and I had a good clue that this was going to a fast, full on affair. There were no run-ups and two double-barrier sections along with no real natural obstacles. Taking off full steam from the start I never really had to look back much as it was instantly a two man break. We had a substantial gap after three or four laps (we did nearly twenty) and we both took our turns at the front. Midway into the hour long race I could tell that I was feeling more comfy than my break partner so I kept the pace high and only sat in for short breaks. With about four laps to go I was free to ride my own pace and my now ‘chaser’ flatted with two laps to go. I kept riding hard as there were lapped riders to chase down. Too bad for Glick, he lost his chain multiple times otherwise I’m certain that we could have battled hard out there. Still he managed third after numerous stops to remount the chain.

Of course Chloe also won, lapping all of the women twice in the 30 minute race. Luckily they also started the solo Junior male with the women’s field so she got to beat the state champ.

I’ve been training all week and it really feels good to be going at it once again. Six weeks of riding at will was a good break, but I seem to work well with some objectives at hand. NORBA ’07, here I come… Keep it real, -TJ

Race Recap

tjwoodruff — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 22:52:45 +0000

You can now have a road bike that’s cooler than mine. The Dura Ace SRM is officially up for sale. After a season of racing expenses I could use the money much more than the SRM for now. And I’ve got the backup PowerTap wheel that will continue to feed my number hungry mind. It’s posted on RoadBikeReview if you might be interested. The SRM is absolutely incredible and still in great condition since a bulk of my year has been spent on my mountain bike. Drop me a line if you might be interested.

On Saturday I got beat in the local race held at McDowell Mountain Park. After leading on the start I took a wrong turn at an unmarked intersection and had to turn around after coming to a complete stop. This let two guys by and I had a hard time pulling them back. It wasn’t until halfway through the race that I passed one of the guys, and at that point I assumed the other was still off the front so I kept charging hard. Going out for the final Sport loop the eventual winner finally pulled around me after following for nearly all of the Long loop. At this point of the game I had absolutely nothing left to up the pace so he soloed to win in the last ten minutes of the race. Apparently I was leading when I thought I was chasing since there were no finishers ahead of us. Who knows where the other early leader went. If just the mention of a Sport loop or a Long loop sounds confusing, try remembering this sequence: Sport/Tech loops, Sport/Tech/Long loops, Sport/Tech loops, Sport/Tech/Long loops, and then Sport/Tech loops to finish the race. I had to make myself a cheat sheet to stay on top of this one…

That’s the Tucson report. Of course it still feels just like summertime here with daily temps in the upper 70’s to lower 80’s. All for now,

Geek Testing

tjwoodruff — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 22:56:31 +0000

So I’ve recently added the Powertap wheel to my SRM equipped Litespeed Siena. Why ride with dual powermeters you ask? Well, to learn of any possible discrepancies between the two of course… Perhaps, if nothing more, I’ll learn how efficient my drivetrain is with this project. Such a setup definitely classifies me as ‘Bike Dork’ or as ‘The Bike Geek’ as said in some formerly published article. No I don’t intend to use this setup for the long term, but I’m curious to see how they compare with each other for at least a week of training.

I know that the elections have come and past, but I figure it’s better to post this shot late rather than never. I rode by this lawn nearly every day as it’s on the Third St bikeway here in town. It’s the greenest lawn in the city and it has an ‘Educators for Conservation’ political banner curbside. I was lucky enough to have my camera along one of the days when the sprinklers were spraying all over the the lawn and the sign. You might not be able to see the water beads on the sign, but notice the wet sidewalk. I guess conservation can some how exclude water conservation. We are in a desert here, aren’t we? Perhaps these were the folks needing an education on conservation!

And the random picture of this post; my tostada snack. It was simply too beautiful to eat before taking a picture. So I’ll leave you that to chew on. The off-season is drawing near its end as the training will soon resume. Stay tuned,

-TJ