New Year’s Resolution: A Month in the Making

About half of people give up on their new year’s resolution in the first month. It’s taken me that long to put mine into words.

The quote I’ve strived to live by the past couple of years is “The Man in the Arena,” an excerpt from Theodore Roosevelt’s speech, “Citizenship in a Republic:”

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

I loved this quote the first time I read it. Everyone that is worth their salt should want to be in the arena and should fear being one of those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. But somewhere along the way my interpretation became skewed. I thought simply saying yes to new experiences and entering the arena was enough. I lived with this as my credo and went on many a new and exciting adventure but something was missing. Although I tried heaps of new things, I began to feel as though I was spreading myself too thin. I was the man in the arena for cycling, traveling, partying and work. And all this was okay, because even if I failed at something, at least I was daring to try everything. With the 2012 World Track Championships nigh and the London Games a short seven months down the road, acceptable failure and trying new things isn’t good enough.

When originally writing this post, I was ready to cast aside Teddy’s words for a new source of inspirational motivation…William Ernest Henley’s short poem “Invictus” perhaps? “…I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” However, after reading the passage a few dozen more times, I found new and stronger meaning within Teddy’s words. Going forward, when my face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, or when I come short in training or a race, I’ll find personal strength and resolve in the meat of this quote. Now, I realize it’s not enough to simply enter the arena, whether it’s the velodrome for track worlds or London for the Paralympic Games. Rather, my goal is to strive valiantly and spend myself in worthy causes.

In short, my new year’s resolution for 2012 is to selfishly pursue my dreams and fulfill my responsibilities. In addition to cycling, this will be my approach to working at Verizon, representing U.S. Paralympics and my sponsors, and any unforeseen undertakings down the road. If I need to sacrifice frivolous experiences to get there, then so be it. I will gladly make that choice, because I’m no longer settling for simply being the man in the arena. I want to be the man atop the podium.

Track Worlds 2012: Camp 2

Since we’re now charging through our third team track camp, I figured it’s about time to comment on the second camp.

Coming off our strong training block in Tucson, our second team track camp in Carson went exactly as planned. Dave and I came roaring in, kicked puppies, broke through brick walls and stood up next to the edge of a mountain and chopped it down with the edge of our hands… That is, until the second half of camp when we laid broken bruised and battered at the foot of said wall, mountain and puppies.

The second track camp was a  huge confidence boost for the majority of Team USA. Now, we’re again comfortable on the track. Our time splits are dropping and trending more consistantly. And, we’re learning/rediscovering how to dig deeper for longer and properly hurt ourselves.

Come day four and five, the compound fatigue finally caught up with Dave and me. The harder we’d dig the slower we’d go. To close out camp, coach hit us with a proposition to make sure  we weren’t holding anything back. With money on the line, he wanted us to do the fastest flying kilo of our lives. Although Dave was offended that coach felt it necessary to motivate us with money, I didn’t share his moral qualms. Rather, I took this as an opportunity to get some cash in hand and pay it forward to our camp soigneurs and mechanics for all their hard work. After getting all tricked out with aero equipment, we sized up our entry with the rest of the team cheering us on from the apron. We certainly came in hotter than our previous effort but had to abort a half lap in due to a rear flat and some gnarly fishtailing through turns one and two. We made it off track safely, swapped wheels and began preparing for another attempt. For our final effort of the second camp, we came in hotter than any effort before but not fast enough. The collective groan from our team informed us that we didn’t beat coach’s time target. The effort was still faster than any previous and was a good way to end camp.

*** No puppies were hurt during camp or the writing of this post.

Indoor Training

Recently, I was asked to provide insight for prospective blind/visually impaired cyclists on indoor training. With the hope that it may help others whom aspire to a life of fitness or competitive cycling, below is my response.

To start training indoors only three things are necessary: a single bike, a stationary trainer and a fan.

Bike – A busted single bike that isn’t even road worthy is all you need, nothing fancy. You need to be able to peddle and shift. The brakes don’t need to work and the front tire doesn’t need to inflate. Currently, I use an early 1980s Fuji lugged steel frame with drop-tube friction shifters. I’ve used this bike for the past five years. The front tire may hold air, I wouldn’t know, because I’ve never needed to use it.

Trainer – I’ll hold my hand to the fire for a Cycle-Ops fluid trainer… At least their second generation model. Fluid trainers cost a bit more than wind or magnetic trainers, but they’re much quieter and more smooth. I’ve also heard good things about Kinetic trainers but have personally never used one.

Fan – It’s incredibly easy to over-heat while training indoors. Having at least one large fan constantly blowing on you will provide the necessary airflow to cut down on profuse sweating and over-heating. A box window fan or oscillating floor fan will do the trick. If this isn’t enough, then grab another fan or two.

If riders have progressed beyond simply logging time on a saddle to doing specific interval work, then I’d recommend getting an audible laboratory timer. These are the closest things I’ve found to an audible bike computer or stop watch. The best thing about the lab timers are they can count down from a specific preset time, they alert you every minute from 10min to go and every 10sec from 1min to go, and they have a repeat function so once the clock hits zero it automatically starts over. Oregon Scientific may still sell a talking heart rate monitor. Some people swear by these but I’ve never gotten a good readout from them when they worked and usually they would short out from sweat fairly quickly.

DISCLAIMER: riding indoors is incredibly boring. A rider will either need a great imagination or TV/music. And, with the sound of the bike on the trainer and the  blowing fan, they’ll want to be able to hear the TV or music (another reason to opt for the fluid trainer). I generally watch football, hockey, the biggest loser, mindless TV or a movie I know and don’t need to concentrate on while riding the trainer. But, if I’m doing specific interval work, I’ll mute the TV so I can hear the timer and concentrate on the effort.

Paralympic Race Resume

Clark Rachfal (visually impaired cyclist, Annapolis, MD)

Dave Swanson (pilot, Tucson, AZ)

Men’s Paralympic/Para-cycling Tandem

2012

• 5th – 1km TT, UCI Para-cycling Track World Championship, Los Angeles, USA
• 7th – Match sprint, UCI Para-cycling Track World Championship, Los Angeles, USA
• 7th – 4km Pursuit, UCI Para-cycling Track World Championship, Los Angeles, USA

2011

• World Ranked #2 – UCI Men’s B/VI Tandem Road Rankings
• World Cup Title – 2011 UCI Para-cycling World Cup series
• Bronze – Time Trial, UCI Para-cycling Road World Championship, Roskilde, DEN
• Gold – 1km TT, Para Pan-American Games, Guadalajara, MEX
• Bronze, 4km Pursuit, Para Pan-American Games, Guadalajara, MEX
• Gold – Road Race, US Paralympic Road National Championship, Augusta, GA
• Gold – Time Trial, US Paralympic Road National Championship, Augusta, GA
• Gold – 4km Pursuit, US Paralympic Track National Championship, Carson, CA
• Gold – 1km TT, US Paralympic Track National Championship, Carson, CA
• Bronze – World Cup Road Race, Sydney, AUS
• Bronze – World Cup Time Trial, Sydney, AUS
• Silver – World Cup Time Trial, Baie-Comeau, CAN
• Bronze – World Cup Road Race, Baie-Comeau, CAN
• 5^th – 1km TT, UCI Para-cycling Track World Championship, Montichiari, ITA (new US record, 1’05.418”)
• 5^th – Match sprint, UCI Para-cycling Track World Championship, Montichiari, ITA
• 6^th – 4km Pursuit, UCI Para-cycling Track World Championship, Montichiari, ITA
• 2^nd GC – Defi Sportif, Montreal, CAN

2010

• Gold – Road Race, US Paralympic Road National Championship, Bend, OR
• Gold – Time Trial, US Paralympic Road National Championship, Bend, OR
• Gold – 4km Individual Pursuit, US Paralympic National Track Championship, Colorado Springs, CO
• Silver – 1km TT, US Paralympic National Track Championship, Colorado Springs, CO (new US record, 1’05.51”)
• 1^st – Stage 2 Time Trial, Bizkaiko Bira Stage Race, Bilbao, ESP
• 1^st – Stage 2 Time Trial, Urt Velo 64 Stage Race, Bayonne FRA
• 2^nd GC – Urt Velo 64 Stage Race, Bayonne, FRA
• 6^th – Time Trial, UCI Para-cycling Road World Championship, Baie-Comeau, CAN

2009

• Gold – 4km Pursuit, UCI Para-cycling Track World Championship, Manchester, GBR (US record, 4’26.472”)
• 4^th – 1km TT, UCI Para-cycling Track World Championship, Manchester, GBR (new US record, 1’05.727”)
• 5^th – Time Trial, UCI Para-cycling Road World Championship, Bogogno, ITA
• Gold – 4km Pursuit, US Paralympic Track National Championship, Carson, CA
• Silver – 1km TT, US Paralympic Track National Championship, Carson, CA
• Gold – Time Trial, US Paralympic Road National Championship, Bend, OR
• 1^st – Arizona State Tandem Time Trial Championship (new 40K course record, 51’58”)

2008

• Gold – 4km Individual Pursuit, US Paralympic National Track Championship, Colorado Springs, CO
• Bronze – 1km TT, US Paralympic National Track Championship, Colorado Springs, CO

2007

• Silver – 4km Individual Pursuit, US Paralympic National Track Championship, Colorado Springs, CO

On the podium, accepting gold medals for a 1st place finish at the Track World Championships in Manchester, England!

Going for the gold at the Velodrome in Manchester.

Paralympic Race Resume

Track Worlds Training: The Camp Between Camps

After a week of riding in Tucson, Dave and I are headed back to L.A. Our Tucson road block was precisely what the doctor ordered. I’m now in the best physical condition for January that I’ve been in since wrestling my junior year of high school. After a moderately easy ride through Saguaro National Park at sunrise, I weighed in this  morning at 149.5 lbs. Now that I’m down to fighting  weight and my confidence is sky high, I’m ready to attack this next track camp and build towards the World Track Championships, Feb. 9-12, in Los Angeles. For those interested in attending and cheering on Team USA, additional information may be found on the event website at – www.paracyclingla2012.com.

To complement the Tuesday and Saturday group rides, Dave and I passed the time with  interval work on the road and stationary trainers. For this, we again utilized my talking timer. Actually, I was a little surprised the timer still worked. While doing intervals at home between Christmas and New Years, I accidentally, but unremorsefully, smacked the timer off the handlebars of my bike and across the basement onto the concrete floor. But alas, the timer is nothing if not resilient and lives on  to make our training miserably efficient.

The Tucson group rides were as fun as ever. We took it a little easy on the Tuesday  ride not knowing if we were fully recovered from the track. We kept the group  together until Gate’s Pass. The group was content for us to set pace until the first steep kick half way. Then, as the group started to bunch, Gord Fraser  (former pro and resident Tucson bad mama-jama) launched an attack as though he was back on grand tour form. Many tried to follow but none were capable. Dave and I continued at our pace, moving up the climb nice and steady, spinning the gear as much as possible, with our breathing under control. We began pulling back several riders that jumped us only a little while previously. This was a confidence boost, because we could tell how hard they were working and knew that we weren’t anywhere near failure.

The Saturday morning shootout, like in December, was again a monster of  a training ride. Including  former Tour d France rider Gord Fraser, Clara Hughes (the only woman to win multiple  medals in both the summer and winter Olympics) and the pilot of the French Paralympic tandem that won the World Championship road race this past September in  Denmark, Dave and I counted 15 professional riders on the shootout. The ride  started hot and stayed that way all the way to the finish. We always say the shootout  is the best way for us to mimic a tandem road race. This time, it was more true than ever. Each time Dave and I attacked, the group rallied and chased. With a break up the road, everyone expected us to do the chasing. When we swung off front to take a breather and let other bikes pull, the group would lollygag about waiting for us to attack the field. We kept the break away in sight until we reached rolling terrain (i.e. tandem country). We used our momentum advantage and hunted down the breakaway like gazelles on the open Serengeti. We went into the sprint hill with the peloton, and due to some sketchy riding, oncoming traffic and miscommunication, Dave and I didn’t finish as highly as we would have liked. Despite that, we felt good because there was always more power in our legs when called upon.

In addition to our training on the bike, Dave and I got back into the habit of doing core workouts. Our first session was led by Dave’s Tucson coach, Chloe Black. Armed with her regiment and pointers on technique, Dave and I tore ourselves up every other night. Also, we found another masochistic use for that talking timer – ever wonder whether you could bridge for a minute or do leg lifts and V-sits for two minutes? Set a timer and find out!

Dave and I were blessed to close out this training block with another regenerative visit to Camp Dennis in Chandler with Pat and Barbara, our cycling godparents. Although Pat made us go for a solid training ride on Sunday, Mrs. Dennis pampered us with home cooking and made us watch the divisional round of the NFL playoffs… This was ideal until she made us watch the second half of the Broncos-Patriots game (ugh, poor Tebow).

Our second track camp began Jan. 18. When this post was initially written, Dave and I were at 30,000 feet en route from Tucson to L.A. I’m proud to say this was the first blog written with the aid of the Bluetooth keyboard my sister and her fiance, Derik, gave me for Christmas and my Verizon Wireless iPhone. This could probably be an entire blog post in itself, but technology has certainly made my life easier and less stressful which is great for weeks like this when I’m turning my mind to mush by racing and playing bikes!

Track Worlds 2012: Camp the First

My confidence was certainly shaken due to subpar training throughout the holidays. And, not knowing how my legs would respond at our first team track camp, my goal was to simply survive. From years past, I remembered the first track camp always being the hardest. We ride the track so infrequently, that although it is familiar, an acclimation period to get comfortable and fluid is necessary…that acclimation period lasted about a day.

After a couple days of training, I began to get frustrated. Frustrated that Dave and I couldn’t feather our efforts and hit our target times. And frustrated teammates were passing us at the end of efforts. We’re supposed to be the biggest baddest bike on the U.S. Para-cycling team. And there we were, getting passed at the end of efforts by single bikes and a new men’s sprint tandem. I was glad everyone else was riding so well, but at the same time, I wanted to make sure they never passed us again.

With a couple deep breaths, and the realization a teammate was able to shout an entire sentence of encouragement as he passed, I calmed down and began to smile again. It became clear to me that although we were on the track at the same time, going the same distance, we weren’t doing the same efforts. Dave and I were hammering on the front leading the pace line while everyone else sat in our draft, relaxed and worked on getting comfortable at or above race pace.
In the end, the entire experience was highly motivating. I reminded myself that my goal for the camp was to survive, and we were doing that and then some.

As the camp drew to a close, our technique became sounder, our efforts improved, and we were having fun. Although our lap times weren’t where we wanted them to be, this was our starting point and not where we’ll be on race day. I knew that with this camp behind us, the upcoming ten day road training block in Tucson would top off our strength and endurance reserves and bring us charging into the second team camp.

December Rollercoaster

Track season began back in October, but training didn’t get serious until December. I was in Tucson training with Dave Dec. 1-21. We didn’t want to go into Track Worlds without a proper endurance base like last year. So how do we prep to finish a four minute event? By flogging the crap out of each other for tens of hours and hundreds of miles a week for three weeks straight.

My first week in Tucson, was mostly acclimation. Although I had been training and racing since mid-October following my two week offseason, this was my first time on the Tucson group rides since August and they kicked my tail. Part of it’s going to altitude and another part is that we try to ride off the front of every group ride…and another part still is that I just don’t mimic the same intensity and repeated spontaneous spikes of exertion while riding at home on the trainer. This time around, we also had the added benefit of mock racing several pros wintering in Tucson. So, between Dave and me riding to get our rhythm back and these being the strongest group rides with whom we’ve ever ridden, it was a great way to blow out the cobwebs and get our winter training started.

In addition to the Tucson group rides, sprint workouts and 80 mile rides to nowhere, we also had several two-a-day training sessions scheduled with evening intervals. Fortunately, our coach had the forethought for me to bring the computrainer to Tucson so Dave and I could suffer side-by-side without either one of us (Dave) over compensating for the other (me). Since Dave and I rarely ever run a clock or computer on my Tiemeyer road tandem, I also brought my talking lab timer from home. if we’re doing intervals on the road, I clip the timer onto Dave’s jersey pocket. If we’re in the house on the trainers, I clip the timer onto my brake or shifter cables just like when riding in the basement at home.

This timer is a ruthless task master. With it’s built in repeat function (any desired fudge-factor between when a completed interval ended and the next begins is eliminated. Also, the audible timer has the added training benefit of giving Dave an idea of what it’s like for me to have information relayed by him during a time trial or road race. In short, 30, 20, or even five seconds can seem like an impossible eternity when you don’t receive constant feedback and are uncertain of its conclusion. That being said, constant feedback is not realistic, however, this is still an interesting and useful training technique to better understand what the other one is dealing with during a race.

And, as if that wasn’t enough, Dave and I skipped our first two rest days to instead hit the gym and blow up our legs. After eleven days of intense non-stop training, Dave and I were physically and mentally spent. Fortunately for us, phase two of our training block was about to begin.

For the second half of our Tucson training block, a friend and teammate, Sam Kavanagh, flew in from Montana. With Sam now in the mix, the training intensified and the mood lightened. The three of us pushed each other as only we can. Dave, Sam and I met one another at the same U.S. Association of Blind Athletes development camp at the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center in 2006. We’ve each been there to witness the highs and lows of each other’s Paralympic progress, and if we have our way, we’ll be walking side-by-side as part of the 2012 Paralympic Games opening ceremonies in London.

Dave, Sam and I wanted to close out our training block by going huge. Our plan was four rides, three days, 15 hours and 275+ miles of riding. We began on Friday, Dec. 16, with noon intervals up Mt. Lemmon (until the road turned to ice above 5,000 feet) and evening intervals three abreast in Dave’s living room. We backed this up with my longest ride to date: 115 miles from Dave’s garage to the Shoot Out, up Madera Canyon and a mere 50 miles or so back home. Everything was going according to plan until we headed to Phoenix to close out the block with Pat and Barbara Dennis, our cycling God Parents. Our general apathy, fatigue and rain convinced us to take Sunday as a recovery day and move our endurance ride to Monday. Although our apathy persisted, we pushed through (mainly due to Pat’s badgering) and surprisingly found a bit of a rhythm…that is, until Dave and Sam noticed a pulled spoke had blown a bullet-sized hole in the rear wheel of the tandem. Discretion being the better part of valor, we headed back to the barn and cut the ride to three hours. And, in case anyone’s wondering, the rear tandem wheel was a 28-spoke A23 wheel from Velocity USA. We’ve beaten the crap out of those wheels since my Tiemeyer road tandem was built and I’m amazed they lasted this long. They took thousands of miles of tandem abuse, and although we probably will go with Velocity wheels with higher spoke counts for the tandem in the future, there’s no doubt in my mind that Velocity A23s are rock solid for a single bike.

The broken rim.

Our four day weekend was brutal. If it wasn’t for Barbara Dennis’ beef tenderloin, we would not have survived. All that remained between us, the holidays and our loved ones was another double-day with the Tuesday group ride and evening trainer intervals. But alas, it wasn’t meant to be. My Christmas vacation started late Monday evening when my stomach began doing Greg Louganis style back flips. Dave and Sam still trained Tuesday while I laid in the fetal position on the couch watching the final eight hours of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

On Dec. 21, I flew home feeling mostly recovered from that 24 hour stomach bug. Once home, I sank fully into the indulgences of family, friends and all the trappings that come along with the holidays. Between Christmas and New years, I dragged my sorry carcass onto the trainer in the basement and struggled to replicate my training from Tucson. Without Sam half-wheeling us up Mt. Lemmon or Dave telling me to pick it up on our final trainer effort, I couldn’t get my head around training and it showed. In Tucson, I trained with a  swagger, even going as far to call new personal best levels for the evening’s power intervals in advance. At home, I balked while wondering whether I could undo in one week what it took three weeks to build.

Now, the new year has dawned. I’m on the west coast for dedicated track training and am uncertain what to expect from my legs when our first track camp begins tomorrow, Jan. 4. The only thing i know at this point is that we have a little more than a month to get in our best possible form before hosting the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Los Angeles, Feb. 9-12.

Clark with his family on Christmas.

Clark and his friend, Hannah, ring in 2012.

2011 Para Pan Am Games Recap

Team USA closed out the Para-Pan American Games in Guadalajara with a  bang. The U.S. delegation finished third in the overall medal count  behind Brazil and Mexico, respectively, with 132 total medals and  second in the gold medal count behind Brazil with 51. The cycling team did our part winning both the total (24) and gold (9) medal counts for cycling.

Racing certainly didn’t begin as planned. Dave and I took second in our road time trial by 45sec in a 21km race to the Canadians. Although our legs began to come around, we could only manage bronze in our 4km pursuit on the track two days later. For me, this was somewhere between frustrating  and infuriating, because we’re definitely faster in our time trials and  kilos, but somehow that hasn’t translated to a middle distant event  like the pursuit which we haven’t set a new personal best time in two  years! (argh!) Despite how we raced up to this point, the Guadalajara velodrome is a beautiful track and the crowd was losing their minds during the races. In our pursuit final for bronze, it was difficult to hear the countdown clock and lap/time splits from our coaches because of the loud cheering and the U-S-A chant.

With half of our races in the bag, Dave and I made up our minds that we were done leaving ourselves in positions where we needed to justify our performance or make excuses about how we were out of sync, how the altitude effected us, or about how our offseason just ended. Dave and I avenged our time trial and pursuit performances to claim gold in the 1km sprint. We took Patrick Dennis’ advise, “ripped the lips off” of our competition and set a new  personal best by 1sec with an 01:04.47. A good chunk of this was due to the Guadalajara velodrome being a fast track and the kilo being short enough not to feel the effects of altitude. This was 1.5sec faster than we went at Track National’s in L.A. a month and a half ago.  We’re realistic about what time we can post in the kilo at world’s this  Feb. in L.A., but it’s still nice to record that time, validate our training and hard work, and set a new  American record. The road race on the other hand did not go as planned. With two tandems in the race, the Colombians raced smart and worked over the rest of the field (us, the Canadians and Argentineans). While everyone else was  racing to win, the Canadians were racing to podium. In short, we  realized this too late, did too much work and got caught out in the  finishing sprint by fading to forth out of five.

The Opening and closing ceremonies were held in the soccer stadium and  were awesome! Dave and I chose to march in the opening ceremony with Team USA despite having  a morning race the next day, because we’ve never been to a competition of this magnitude or one involving all other Paralympic sports. The  march-in with the raucous crowd made it all worth while, and the  variety of Mexico’s top musical performances (including a mariachi  production) put it over the top! I kept asking our resident Mexican  teammate, Vincent Juarez, who the performers were as he sat there  awestruck, but he’d just reply that they were super famous in Mexico  and he didn’t remember their names. The highlight of the closing ceremony was Mexico sweeping the podium and being awarded the medals for the wheelchair marathon. I imagine it was a very cool feeling for the Mexican wheelchair athletes, the entire delegation and all the spectators in attendance to see Mexico sweep the podium, hear their national anthem and then receive an in person address from their president.

During our time in Guadalajara, the Mexican event organizers, U.S. Paralympics’ staff and our team staff took great care of us. Whether we were  training out on the road with our own personal security escorts or  pre-riding the road course with a rolling barricade of Federales, we  never felt unsafe or in any sort of danger. Also, big shout out to the U.S. State Department for providing additional Team USA security. The State Department agents were very nice and professional even though they stood out like sore thumbs – putting 6’4” 230lbs Americans in plain clothes in Mexico doesn’t exactly make them blend in.

Even though our team didn’t peak for the Para-Pan Am Games, collectively, we crushed. Several of us had races we wish we could have  back and do over but it doesn’t work that way. In reality, we’re all  well positioned to put in a strong showing at Track World’s this Feb.  But for Dave and me, our results in the time trial, pursuit and road  race are akin to throwing napalm onto an already raging inferno.

Offseason?

Since returning home with a bronze medal from Road World’s, my schedule and mental/physical state have been all over the place…hence why this is about two months late.

I celebrated my birthday the first weekend home from Denmark with family and friends. This four day spectacular, or the Birthday Stimulus Package as I referred to it, probably saved or created a thousand jobs in Maryland and made me long for last year’s month long Summer of Clark. But alas, after a Friday night Orioles Game (that they won!), an autumn beer festival on Saturday, the Maryland Renaissance Festival on Sunday and a family dinner on Monday, Sept. 19, the 2011 incarnation of the Summer of Clark came to a screeching halt.

With less than two weeks at home, it was time to hit the road again. We made our way to L.A. at the end of September for our track national championships. Along with the rest of the crew who was on the road for the past six months, my feelings towards racing the track were a mixture of apathy and dread. I really didn’t want to be on the bike at that point, but I also didn’t want to lose.

In the week leading up to the races, my emotions were all over the place. I’d wake up in the hotel and curse L.A. and the track. Once at the track for training, I was there to win and would train like it. As soon as we left for lunch, I’d renew my tirade on the evils of the track.

Fortunately for us, Dave and I carried our peak road fitness from road worlds to track nationals. In our 4km pursuit qualifier, we (and by “we,” I mean “I”) had a substandard race full of mental lapses and still matched  the times we were setting in L.A. last Feb. leading up to track worlds. In the pursuit finals, we aimed for our target pace for worlds and wound up running a bit faster. Although the race ended in 2km (eight laps) when we caught the other bike in the finals, we were riding on world record pace for those 2km. Did we have the form to finish on world record pace? Probably not, but it gives us loads of confidence and a new goal for track worlds in Feb. Our second and last race at track nationals was the 1km sprint (aka, the kilo). For us, the kilo was gravy on an already successful weekend. Likely thanks to the lack of pressure we placed on ourselves, Dave and I turned in a personal best time on the Home Depot Center velodrome and completed the kilo in 01:06.154.

With nationals in the rearview mirror, I got back to what the offseason should have been all along – nothing. I was home in Annapolis only long enough to do laundry and hit the road again. The next  week plus was spent at the Outer Banks of North Carolina. While my parents golfed, I’d sleep until whenever before slowly waking and walking for hours with the dogs on the beach. Before I knew it, it was time for happy hour on the back deck…life was good. I closed out my time at the beach with several friends joining us for the weekend. This downtime was exactly what I needed to recharge the batteries and get me excited about training again.

Once back home, I briefly re-entered the real world. You know, the one where people work in an office. More and more, it’s becoming clear to me that I cannot train to compete at the highest level while working 9-5. This is why I’m forever grateful to Verizon for giving me the flexibility to work remotely and train on location with Dave and the rest of the team.

Before the offseason officially ended, I went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival one last time with my sister. As much fun as the trip over my birthday was, it was incomplete…I didn’t win the axe throw like last year. I won’t say the axe throw was my only reason for returning, but it was a big part. Upon returning to the renaissance festival a month prior, I was shocked that the guy running the axe throw remembered my name from last year, but I guess that shouldn’t have shocked me. After all, how many blind people do they have attempt the axe throw, not to mention win it. So this time, I was prepared for my heroes welcome. With a sizable  crowd waiting for their turn, I took my usual spot at the left-end of the rail with my sister and the axe guy helping aim me. My first four axes were all over the place. I sprayed them left and right, high and low. Not just missing by inches either, I’d miss by several feet. It wouldn’t have surprised anyone if they cut my game short in order to ensure everyone else’s safety. All of this made it that much more stunning when I planted the last axe square in the heart at the center of the log target. Again, the crowd went nuts as I took to the podium and received my woody (a wooden medal, the sort that USACycling should award to 5th place at domestic races).

John, Rachel, Erin, Nakiessa and Clark at the First Annual Maryland Harvest Beer Festival at Homestead Gardens.

Julie and Clark share a birthday celebration at the beach house.

Katie, Melissa, Clark, Sean and Ashley play champagne glow ball golf at The Currituck Club.

Clark sinks another battle axe into the heart of the log to win the coveted woody!

Road Worlds in Retrospect

• Third in the Road World’s time trial is the best Dave and I have placed on the road internationally;
• Finishing 16^th in the road race doesn’t make us happy, but at least we finished with the main field and stayed off the pavement; and,
• These results provide no clarity to whether Dave and I will represent the U.S. in London at the 2012 Paralympic Games.

What feels like a lifetime ago, back in September, Dave and I competed at our third consecutive UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships. For the first time at Road World’s, we were on the podium. In 2009, we were off the time trial podium in 5^th place by 13 seconds. In 2010, we were in 6^th and 9 seconds out of third. This year, we finally broke through. Keeping our 2011 streak alive by getting on the podium in every road race or time trial we started this year, Dave and I rode into third – 6 seconds ahead of 4^th and 5^th and 8 seconds out of second. Even before stepping onto the podium, Dave and I knew this result and award were different than ones previously earned. At Track World’s in 2009, We responded to our World Championship win with unbridled jubilation. This time, after three years of hard work and our previous road results turned in this year, we both expected this podium finish. More than just being happy with the result, we were relieved – finally, we had a result at the Road World Championships that reflected the time and hard work we put towards this sport.

These are two links to interviews Dave and I gave immediately after crossing the finish line of our time trial (http://www.on-sport.dk/video/3227050/clark-rachfal-and-david) and after the time trial podium ceremony (http://www.on-sport.dk/video/3228083/interview-med-bronzevinderne).

As usual, the World’s road race was a completely different beast.  Dave and I raced hard, smart and wound up 16^th. We tried to place ourselves in numerous breaks and chase groups, but none of them managed to stick. On lap three, the three bikes that would eventually make up the podium attacked through the feed zone (poor form) and stuck the gap. None of the other countries with multiple bikes in the race seemed too concerned about this break, that is, until on lap five out of seven, the Spanish asked us what was up the road. Needless to say, we were stunned by this. Despite getting time splits to the break in multiple languages each time through the feed zone and finishing straight, the Spanish were under the impression that a single bike was just a minute ahead of the field. Dave responded to them, “no, 5 bikes, 2 min.” Okay, so we didn’t have the number of bikes correct, but we at least knew up the road were multiple bikes with a multiple minute advantage. After this exchange, two of the three Spanish tandems took turns hammering on the front of the peloton to give their third bike a chance. The peloton finished over a minute behind the break. Dave had us positioned well throughout the race. And, we may have had a fighting chance to finish in the top 10 for the first time in a World’s road race if we weren’t run off the road with just under 2km to go (sigh), but such is racing. After getting back on track and moving up through the field, we went into the roundabout of the finishing straight three-wide and exited two-wide (the Belgian tandem stopped abruptly with some help from a road-side barrier). We sprinted out of the roundabout for as long as our legs would allow to avoid the carnage that is a tandem wreck to finish upright and in 16^th place with no regrets. And yes, this did end our road podium streak for 2011.

Throughout our week of racing in Roskilde and the two extra days my parents and I spent in Copenhagen, my favorite part of Denmark was the people. Everyone was super nice and helpful…it probably helped that everyone spoke English very well. In addition to the people, we really enjoyed witnessing how ubiquitous cycling is to Danish culture. The vast majority of cycling in Denmark wasn’t done for exercise or recreation, rather, it’s an utilitarian means of transportation and way of life. 

This was the largest U.S. team I’ve traveled with on an international trip thus far, and as always, it wouldn’t be a success without our eclectic and talented coaches, soigneurs, mechanics and staff from U.S. Paralympics. Also, big thanks to Verizon, PowerBar, Velocity USA , Tiemeyer Cycles, Shimano and Under Armour for helping Dave and me get ready to race!

Clark and Dave racing in Roskilde, Denmark.

Clark with the Road Worlds Team

The unofficial Team Photo - 2011 Worlds Team