More Spy+ Optics

Last year we were fortunate to have SPY optics as a team sponsor (I may have been responsible for setting up the deal) and I continue to love and wear their products even though I am now buying them retail. Like many cyclists, my intro to performance sunglasses came from Oakley. While I enjoyed my Oakley glasses, I always thought they were very expensive - something that becomes apparent when you end up with scratched lenses from road debris and need to order replacements. So, when SPY launched their performance line, I was intrigued. The initial models (the Alpha and Quanta) offered lightweight models with a respectable price and great color options. With lenses that are easy to replace (both in ease of install and the dent in your wallet), they were an excellent addition to the market. SPY then released the Screw, offering the same great qualities of the earlier models with the full shield lens that many racers prefer. Working with some of the SPY team, we outfit my team with great glasses for the 2013 season.

As a follow-up from my review of the great Screw sunglasses, I was excited to finally get my hands on the newer, super-light Daft sunglasses. Going from a standard full-frame shield glass like on the Screw, the Daft moves to the ultra-light setup of just attaching arms to the shield itself, removing the frame from the lens to reduce weight. The Daft model also features a larger shield (similar to what is now offered on the Screw-Over model) to improve sight lines, and looks amazing.

 I have now been wearing the Daft sunglasses for about 4 months and through a variety of races (from rainy and long road races to fast and hot criteriums). I can definitely say that the weight reduction is nice (not that the other SPY glasses were heavy, these are just SUPER light) and the ventilation is great (no fog up yet!). Unlike what I have heard about some lens-only shield glasses, I have been able to wear these in humid, wet races while wearing a cap and have no fogging or glasses-cap contact.

 The Daft come in either a white or black frame (for now) and both models come with 2 lenses (the white model comes with a very slick green/blue mirror lens as well as a yellow lens for those wet or dark races). I am sure that SPY will continue to add colors to the lineup as they have done with the other models as well, so if you are looking for something a bit brighter, just wait. I absolutely love these glasses and look forward to racing cyclocross with them as well (I am sure the coverage will be great for keeping mud out of my eyes too). If you are in the market for some performance shades for cycling (or other sports), definitely check out the Daft.

As a cyclist, I often find myself wearing my racing glasses off the bike as well. My girlfriend finally had enough of me looking silly (race glasses don't go well with nicer clothes), so I picked up a set of the SPY Helm glasses last summer. These glasses offer a classic wayfarer-style look and fit, have SPY's high-quality lenses, and let me enjoy clear vision on any outing.

So, in continuing my review of products I enjoy, I highly recommend SPY Optic glasses, and hopefully will have an opportunity to work with them again in the future.

Getting there - WA state Road championships 2014

 This past weekend was the 2014 WA State Road championships, this year held up in Bellingham on the Northshore RR course. The course, which I have only raced once before, is only about 8 miles long, so for the Road Championship minimum distance we had to ride 10 laps. The field wasn't huge (results say 34 starters) but as it was a state championship race, the strong riders were in attendance and it wouldn't be an easy race. We started with three racers: Matt, Alec, and myself. This was Alec's first race since he crashed in March, so while he was excited to race, he wasn't sure how it would go. Matt and I both were feeling ok and decided to see how the race played out without locking into roles. We figured there would be a break at some point, so we would both watch and see if we could make the jump.

 The course is rolling and generally defined by the two climbs each lap. Starting from a local restaurant (the Fork), you immediately start a stair-step climb that takes you out toward the "official" lap point. At the top of this climb, the road flattens out (maybe even a small downhill) before an off-camber right angle turn into a small uphill. Here you then accelerate down a short hill to the lap point and make a 90-degree turn to the left. A longer flat section offers a time to sit in temporarily, although this also seems to be an area for kicking the pace up as well. At the end of this straight, the road kicks up for a short climb before the field flies into a downhill section at full speed. A sharp right turn at the bottom of the hill before another small downhill section to keep the ride at speed. Then begins the soul-draining section of the course - a long, open stretch of gradual uphill. The road looks like it is flat but actually averages around 2-3%, so you begin to feel quite drained by the later laps. At the end of this section you get a moment of rest before the 2nd climb - a longer section that kicks up toward the end (and is the site where most riders fall off the back). Once you force yourself over the crest, you are rewarded with a long winding descent back to the Fork to begin the lap again. This continues until the final lap, where instead of making the left turn at the "lap" point, you instead go straight into a short but brutally steep little hill before a flat roll over the line.

 As I mentioned earlier, the fact that the race was a championship meant that the main players were in attendance and ready to rip each others legs off. From the gun we were racing at a brisk pace, with small attacks literally going from the beginning of the race. The field stayed roughly together for the first lap, but eventually the strongest of the field managed to break away in a group that contained a large selection of HSP riders. Matt ended up in a small group in-between the fields that slowly drifted back and rejoined the main peloton. Our field got into a rhythm of rotation and were slowly closing in on the lead group after a lap or so, but couldn't close it down completely. At this point, our field was starting to lose riders - casualties of the high chasing pace. It was on lap 4 that Alec pulled the plug and rode with a few other riders on a cool-down lap before heading back to the cars.

 The reduced peloton (still containing Matt and myself) continued to work together, but the leaders had a significant gap and we wouldn't see them for the rest of the race. At this point, the race was turning into a game of attrition; it seemed that every lap would result in riders disappearing off the back. On lap 6, a strong Apex racer attacked off the front of the group and pulled away from us. The field continued to rotate, but it was disheartening that the Apex rider stayed away (I would later learn that he quit at the end of that lap, but I assumed he had caught the leaders and finished with them).

 Toward the end of lap 7 Matt and I had a short chat about how tired we were. The relentless climbing and chasing was wearing down all the riders and I could tell we had slowed down compared to previous laps. Matt asked if I intended to finish or not since he was feeling spent. Since we were soon to start lap 8 of 10, I figured that as long as I stayed with the group I could finish. At this point we had 8 riders left in the peloton. As we started lap 8, I noticed we had lost more riders and were down to 6. We started charging along the flat section and suddenly Matt was not in the rotation - I realized he had pulled the plug. Shortly afterward, the 10-Speed Hero rider (another strong engine in our little group) also disappeared. It was now just 4 of us: Starbucks, Olympic Ortho, Therapeutic Associates, and myself.

 For the rest of lap 8 and lap 9, we all rotated evenly sharing the workload of hauling toward the finish. I didn't know how many riders were up the road, but figured we were well out of the placings (and we hadn't seen anyone fall back from the lead group, so I assumed they were all together as well) so I was happy to work to get to the finish. Once we finally began lap 10 however, things definitely changed. During the flat sections the work was relatively even, but suddenly I was leading up all the hills. Going up the last hill, I could tell that the others were attempting to save something for the finish. I had been having small cramps for most of the lap, so I figured I would let them play and just ride my race. We flew by the Fork for the last time and into the stair-step climb together. As we approached the top, Starbucks took his chance and jumped ahead. The other riders looked at me to chase and then continued to sit in as I worked ahead at my own pace. We rounded the final corner and down into the finish stretch watching Starbucks stay roughly 500m ahead. Finally, as we hit the short hill, the other riders jumped past me. I stood to climb and immediately was back to seating as my legs refused to work any harder. I rolled across the line to end up 16th for the day.

 Our group ended up finishing roughly 13 minutes behind the leader. It turned out the lead group had splintered on the last laps as well, with 2nd place finishing a minute back, and 3-9 finishing another minute back from #2. #10 was about 45 seconds off that group and 11&12 finished only a minute ahead of our group. 2 more riders finished about 7 minutes behind us, and were the last people to finish (16 DNFs).

 Definitely a hard race, but I was happy to have finished, even if I did not contest my group. Now it is time for a little break before we hit the peak Criterium season.

Full Results here - Northshore RR - 2014