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The Coach(ed) Corner: BC Survival Camp

By Jason Sumner
Published: Jul. 4, 2008
Pro and not a pro.
Pro and not a pro.
Photo: BCBR Staff

I’m going to start this week’s column with an extended photo caption. On the left is Andreas Hestler, professional mountain bike racer and member of the Rocky Mountain Bicycles team. On Thursday, he and partner Max Paxton grabbed the stage 6 win at the BC Bike Race, a seven-day affair that started last Saturday north of Victoria on Vancouver Island, and finishes Friday in Whistler.

Hestler and Plaxton sailed around the 40.4-mile day 6 course in Squamish, stopping the clock in 3 hours, 15 minutes. When this photo was taken, he’d already been back to his hotel, taken a shower, then driven back to the race venue where he proceeded to socialize and drink beer.

On the right is me about 10 minutes removed from finishing the same stage. Along with teammate Reed Melton, we completed our out-and-back adventure in a shade over 5 hours, placing 53rd in the men’s open division. I’ve not had a shower, nor done much besides dropped my bike, Camelback and helmet on the ground, and plunked myself down in a lawn chair. Hestler was kind enough to buy me a pulled pork sandwich and round up a bag of ice for my bruised thigh and palm.

Point being, no matter how much coaching, power metering, training, resting or praying I do, the pros are operating in the stratosphere, while we are closer to earth. It’s humbling when you get to see it up close and personal.

Thursday was also a humbling day on the bike. On a course that basically consisted of two monster climbs, and two extended technical singletrack downhills, there was no place for a cracking racer ─ like me ─ to hide.

Our author and his teammate Reed
Our author and his teammate Reed
Photo: BCBR staff

After riding a solid stage 5 (Reed and I were 33rd), the wheels came off Thursday. It was all granny gear going up, and lots of crashing going down. I honestly lost count of the number of times I hit the deck, but it must have been around six. Fortunately body and bike survived relatively unscathed and will live to fight another day.

The trails in these parts are not for the faint of heart, and while I’m a decent technical mountain biker, being completely shelled really changes things. You’re just not as sharp when you’re cross-eyed.

The personal lowlight came late in the stage during the descent of the Powerhouse Plunge. This steep, rooted, rocky, twisty, nasty, heinous trail ate my lunch. At one point, I had one of those hateful episodes where you crash, jump back on your bike, roll 10 feet and crash again, jump back on your bike and crash again. Racing really breeds stupidity sometimes, and it’s startling what happens when you lose confidence and rhythm here.

Finally, my teammate Reed basically took my bike away from me for a few seconds just so I could get my head straight. The good news is that things settled down after that, and we actually gained two places in the overall standings, jumping to 36th.

Friday morning, we head up to Whistler for what I’m told is going to be another monster challenge – big climbs, technical trail. No parade laps on the Champs-Élysées here.

All that said, if you like mountain biking and have ever fancied tackling a stage race, you should put the BC Bike Race on your to-do list. The trails are amazing, organization solid, and the scenery spectacular. It’s been a pretty amazing experience, and one I know I’ll repeat.

It’s also worth noting that, despite my apocalyptic day, all the work I’ve done with coach Neal Henderson has really paid dividends. In the last six days, I’ve ridden more miles with more intensity than I’d previously imagined possible (running total: 31 hours, 300 miles ─ on a mountain bike).

Anyway, there’s a keg of beer outside the RV I’m using as my temporary press room, so I’m going to wrap this up. Hestler’s not the only one who should be having a good time.

* * *

For obvious reasons (I’m smoked like Kansas City BBQ) we’re going to skip the Q&A this week, but if you’d like to ask coach Neal Henderson a question, please send e-mail to CoachNealQandA@gmail.com. Please include your name and hometown. Questions may be edited for content and clarity. I promise we’ll answer them all next go round.

* * *

Editor’s Note: Jason Sumner is a 37-year-old, 166-pound freelance writer and Cat. 4 bike racer who is working with a cycling coach – and now training with power – for the first time in his life. Sumner underwent a full battery of lab tests at the beginning of the season, producing a 250-watt lactate threshold, a 3.2 watts per kilogram score and a VO2 max of 51.5. His 2008 goals include improving on his usual mid-pack finishes, not getting dropped on the weekend group rides, and learning something along the way. He is documenting his experiences for VeloNews.com is this twice-monthly column.

His coach, Neal Henderson, is sports science manager at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine and a well-regarded elite-level coach. Henderson’s clients include Garmin-Chipotle’s Taylor Phinney, Jelly Belly’s Scott Tietzel and Trish Downing, a nationally ranked paraplegic athlete. Henderson is also the winter triathlon coach for the U.S. national triathlon team, and was recently named USA Cycling National Development Coach of the Year. This summer he’s heading out on the road with Phinney, helping the young phenom get ready for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Henderson is working with Jason Sumner on a pro bono basis.

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