Oh what a day! Weatherwise, that is. I mean, it's August 21st, it's in the 40's and I'm shivering at the 6 am start. I didn't have any plans as far as pace and even though I'm considerably stronger that last year, my climbing isn't great due to the 3-4 extra kilos I find myself carrying around this year. All muscle. Sure, keep telling yourself that, Alex.
I haven't done jack for distance either, having opted to try doing the mtb thing this Spring/Summer. So weeks would go much like this: Race Sunday, Monday off, Tuesday moderate, Wednesday a little interval session, and by Thursday I'd be already shutting it down for a race the following weekend. But I suppose "base" carries over year to year and I guess the 13k+ miles I've done the last two years would carry me through.
I fully expected road conditions to be at their worst as it has been one of the driest Summers in recent memory. (Though as I type it is in fact raining.) I opted to go with the Michelin Jet 30mm's but I think they may actually be a closer to 35. I ran moderately high pressure @60 psi to avoid possibility of pinch flats. They're moderately light at ~340 gms per, but I wasn't so much concerned with weight as I was with cornering washboard descents at high speed and traction on loose gravel at 20+% gradient.
We shoved off at 6:07, little did I know that Doug had planned on me riding with Pain Cave, Kevin, and the Corner Cycle boys. Sorry Doug. I ended up riding with 4 Benidorm guys, two of which were on 29ers. They are doing Shenandoah 100 in a couple weeks and figured this would be a great "training" ride for it. They were keeping up with us though we weren't going at breakneck pace, just a solid steady tempo. I did notice that their was a distinct advantage riding a mtb on the marbly decents, although lugging nearly 30 lb bikes up relentless climbing started to take its toll. I think by mile 50 or so and some 7000+ ft of climbing they told us to go on without them.
This was my 3rd stab at the beast and I still don't really know the route. Efforts to upload route to Garmin were unsuccessful. (I need to learn how to do that correctly.) Several times we would end up following people that we thought knew where they were going, only to end up a 1/4 mile up the road. Another time we actually added another 1/2 mile and missed the first covered bridge. Oh well, all good. It was funny to see the first timers hitting the climbs WAY too hard. I just repeated the mantra I always tell myself on rides of this nature, "There's alot of game left." Not to sound high and mighty, but rides of this length and difficulty must be respected or they will certainly tear you a new one.
I was hitting all the climbs right at or at times slightly above LT. The 34x28 minimum was perfect, though I was wishing I hadn't lent my 11-30 to Brian by about the 60 mile mark. Some of the climbs were quite loose, notably Archambo (cleaned, Yeah Baby!) and the middle and upper parts of Hillman. (I personally think that sector 2 between Heath and Green River is the worst with these 2 climbs and Franklin.) I frankly remember a guy coming into Heath (after climbing Mountain Rd) complaining he had to stop and walk. Apparently he didn't get the memo after I looked at his bike with standard gearing and 25s. One guy summed it up for him, "Poor equipment choice, my friend."
I was feeling pretty good, though I probably could have lightened my saddle bag a hair. I was prepared for Armageddon: 2 tubes, half a dozen zip ties, 4 tire boots, 5 patches, a multi-tool, a chain tool, 2 tire levers, and 3 CO2's. I think the bag weighed in at 3 lbs., pushing total bike weight up to about 22.5 with the Jets. Better to be safe than sorry I guess. I was very confident railing the descents at high speed and the CX bike performed flawlessly.
We took an extended lunch break at the Green River Covered Bridge. I found the Roast Beef sandwich hit the spot though I knew the 400' climb coming out of the stop would probably have me burping half of it back up. It's always difficult to get the blood back in the legs but after 10 minutes they're good to go but your body's pissed off at you again. Maybe it's just me but I get to a level of fatigue at about the 4-5 hour mark and it never gets worse. Yeah, I hurt but I feel I could keep going indefinitely as long as my mind keeps telling my legs to keep moving. Maybe it's the Hammer Perpetuum or I'm just better able to burn fat as fuel. I guess that's one thing I've found I'm particularly good at (relative to myself) - the long sufferfest type rides. Unfortunately for me there are no medals, awards or prize money for my "talent". Oh well, I've always been drawn to hard things and over my first 3 years of riding I've managed to try a little of everything- Road, MTB, and CX racing, hillclimbs, and 7-8 hour death marches like 6 Gaps and D2R2. I've always come away from the long ones with a tremendous sense of completion. No matter where I "finish" I'll always have that and that's enough for me. I had doubts this year going into D2R2 primarily because in the days before the event I had some freak back issue out of nowhere. It literally was so bad that it was waking me out of a sound sleep whenever I rolled over. I questioned my ability to be able to ride for 8 hours, on no less a course like D2R2. But I have to say, that JB riding two weeks off a horrific crash at Nationals inspired me to forge ahead.
The rest of the ride was uneventful. It reminded me when I was a kid when my buddy and I would seek out the biggest hills around just to go down the other side. It literally is climb for 10 minutes, descend washboard for 5, repeat 40 times. Brian, Paul, and I met up with Andi, Brian's wife, at the optional Green River Road water stop at ~mile 80. What are the odds of that? We cruised Green River Road at ~23-24 mph only to have an entire Bike Barn Racing Team blow by us at upwards of 30. Apparently they had no idea what was in store for them at Nelson Road because as we hit the climb, it looked like someone threw a grenade in their group as they were scattered all over the road. Paul and I were hitting the climb at a good clip and it was at this point that Brian wasn't feeling too hot. We took the turn where the 100k and 180k split and waited about 100 meters up the road. Apparently we did the stupid thing not waiting AT the turn. Brian waited for his wife to catch him and rode in with her. If you're feeling like absolute dog meat then you might as well pack it in. You made the right move, buddy, and don't worry we're well aware of your ability to rip our legs off at any time.
And then there were 2. Paul was riding ridiculous. He was rocking a single 38t up front with an 11-28 in the back. I think it probably helped on the loose stuff when a turn of the crank actually equated to significant forward movement- kinda like trying to ride the granny ring through tech stuff on the mtb. I ripped Greenfield Road at almost 50 (49.8 to be exact) but started to feel a little insecure with the Jets as they chattered on the turns. It's funny how 112, Lyonsville Rd., and later Call Rd. take on this calm before the storm sort of persona. You're enjoying probably the tamest few miles of the ride when you can't help but look up at the ridge and you're hit with this sinking feeling- that is where I must go. Suddenly at mile 96, with upwards of 6 and a half hours in the legs you see the sign for Patten Hill. Patten Hill for me this year was all it's cracked up to be and then some. The paved wall at the beginning softens the legs up real freakin' nice and then the real fun starts when you hit the dirt. Forget about standing up. It was way too loose. The ensuing 10 minutes were a sight for sore thighs- churning away at 45 rpms while trying to pick lines through deteriorating road conditions, praying that my rear tire would hook up with something so I wouldn't waste another kj of energy. I entertained the idea of walking for about a half millisecond but then quickly realized I couldn't live with myself if I did. I know, ridiculous. I made it into the rest stop at top of Patten about 15 seconds after Paul.
Coming out of the rest stop we hooked up with a group that must have been among the first to shove off that morning. Matt Surch was there, a rider from Tall Tree Cycles in Ontario who finished in our leading group of 6 last year. Todd Holland, another strong rider from the area, was also there and I knew this was going to be a fast drive to the finish. It's all downhill from there anyway, so how bad could it be? Well, not really. South Shelburne Rd. is a bitch. It's usually at about this time that I'm completely sick of climbing and South Shelburne just gnaws at you. (Gee, it only took 100 miles and 11000'.) Matt, another rider, Paul, and myself upped the pace a bit. I was quickly entering the "let's get this fucker done" state of mind. Todd caught back on an ensuing descent and we hit Hawk's Rd. like it was a CX race for crissakes. It was getting real hairy in there as we were passing (or attempting to pass) 100k traffic. I backed off a bit and settled in behind some riders because a.) I didn't want to be "that" guy and b.) I didn't want to crash or cause someone else to crash. The problem is alot of these riders aren't great technical riders and they fishtail all over the trail, not realizing someone faster is coming up their side. Yelling "on your right/left" only unnerves them even more. It wasn't until a guy on a mtb behind me yelled "just hold your line" was I able to finally find a proper hole through. Whatever the case, I made it through unscathed though I have no idea how I didn't crash or flat on a pile of rocks I hit towards the end.
Seeing the group about 200 meters up the road, I gave chase for a while, but decided to just ride tempo to the finish. I ended up coming in about 20 seconds behind a group of 3 or 4, including Paul. I stupidly forgot to check in until about half hour after pounding a couple of ice cold Cokes. My ride time was 7:46, a bit slower than last year, but as I said we took several wrong turns and road quality was down a bit. It was probably a wash though, as the weather was ideal compared to last year when at times it felt like a convection oven. Here's the Garmin file.
Because the pace was much more civilized than last year I actually took in the scenery. Imagine that. If you are some semblance of a serious rider, this is a ride you must do before you die. Even if you opt for the 100k, you will not be left unfulfilled. There are countless scenes of rolling hills and breathtaking farmland that could be used as postcards. If you don't count Greenfield Road and Rte. 112, I bet I was passed by no more than a dozen cars in 111 miles. Support was again fantastic and it keeps getting better. I made one suggestion- a couple cases of cold Coke at the top of Patten would hit the spot. Food was catered by a nearby business and was also quite good. Sandy and organizers put on another incredible event and I look forward to D2R2 2011.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Beast of the East- and oh yeah, I suck at descending
I should have known driving up that this one was going to go down in the annals. Anxiety regarding the impending pain was in the air. Ignorance is bliss I guess because I had no idea what I was in store for.
Looking out the window while heading north on Rte. 100, I could see Mt. Snow in the distance. My immediate thought was, ah, it's not that steep. I should probably not make quick assumptions. This being my 7th mtb race ever, I've come to the quick determination that I'm not a big fan of ski resort races. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the sustained 20% climbs (who wouldn't?) but these courses are just up, up, up, and down, down, down. Pat's Peak a couple of weeks ago was an absolute sufferfest- 2:40+ in 90 degree heat with a blown back and triceps. I've never experienced a pain like that on a bike. Ever.
Well, Mt. Snow couldn't be as bad. Or could it? I found out we were doing 3 laps of a roughly 6 mile loop. Like Pat's Peak it would be climb for 25 min. and descend for 15. Only thing was that the descending would be roughly 100x as hard. This was to be a course where a good technical rider would excel. And that good technical rider is not me. Lining up, we've got like 15 in our group. Whistle blows and I'm settled in to roughly 10th place as the climbing begins. I was feeling pretty good, though a trend started to develop where I'd pass a couple guys on a climb and get passed back on an ensuing singletrack descent. I remember thinking early on that this course wasn't too bad. Boy, would I ever be wrong. The last section of singletrack that shot you back down to the start/finish was ridiculous. I was sliding all over the trail and it felt like I started riding a mountain bike yesterday. I ended up washing out on a mud-covered root and going over the bars at slow speed, hitting my head (lightly) on a tree. At this point I made the executive decision that I didn't want to pull a "hilljunkie" (sorry, Doug) so I ran the rest of the tech section in lap 1 and lap 2.
Just after coming out of the woods on Lap 2, I was caught by the first Pro woman who started 2 minutes behind me. I've been making a habit of getting girl'd of late and that, along with the fact that I was getting beaten by guys I know I'm stronger than, was starting to wear on me. The rest of lap 2 and all of lap 3 went something like this: Open up gap on Pro woman (all 94 lbs of her) on climbs and let said gap evaporate on ensuing descent. On final techy descent I let her go and she thanks me. She says, "Come ride with me" as she goes by, and I stick to her like glue as she starts railing the descent. I follow her lines and I feel like I can semi-ride a mtb again. It's by far the fastest I've ridden this section all day. I guess maybe I need a little carrot dangling in front of me in the form of attractive woman to get me through the techy stuff.
I ended up having to open up a bit of a sprint to the finish as a guy in my class was bearing down on me. Not the greatest result on the day- 9th, but I'm still holding onto 3rd in the series standings. The last couple of races haven't been my best efforts or should I say, results. Unfortunately for me, mountain biking has a huge technical component and a more adept rider can gain huge chunks of time on a course like Mt. Snow. I was getting a little frustrated but I have to remind myself that I've been riding a mountain bike for less than two years and yet here I sit 3rd in the series as a Cat 1. I'm racing against guys that have been riding a mtb for 20 years. I'll get there.
Stats for metrics geeks:
17.02 miles, 2:11, 3651' vert
Lap 1: 43:02
Lap 2: 43:54
Lap 3: 43:27
How's that for consistency?!
Looking out the window while heading north on Rte. 100, I could see Mt. Snow in the distance. My immediate thought was, ah, it's not that steep. I should probably not make quick assumptions. This being my 7th mtb race ever, I've come to the quick determination that I'm not a big fan of ski resort races. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the sustained 20% climbs (who wouldn't?) but these courses are just up, up, up, and down, down, down. Pat's Peak a couple of weeks ago was an absolute sufferfest- 2:40+ in 90 degree heat with a blown back and triceps. I've never experienced a pain like that on a bike. Ever.
Well, Mt. Snow couldn't be as bad. Or could it? I found out we were doing 3 laps of a roughly 6 mile loop. Like Pat's Peak it would be climb for 25 min. and descend for 15. Only thing was that the descending would be roughly 100x as hard. This was to be a course where a good technical rider would excel. And that good technical rider is not me. Lining up, we've got like 15 in our group. Whistle blows and I'm settled in to roughly 10th place as the climbing begins. I was feeling pretty good, though a trend started to develop where I'd pass a couple guys on a climb and get passed back on an ensuing singletrack descent. I remember thinking early on that this course wasn't too bad. Boy, would I ever be wrong. The last section of singletrack that shot you back down to the start/finish was ridiculous. I was sliding all over the trail and it felt like I started riding a mountain bike yesterday. I ended up washing out on a mud-covered root and going over the bars at slow speed, hitting my head (lightly) on a tree. At this point I made the executive decision that I didn't want to pull a "hilljunkie" (sorry, Doug) so I ran the rest of the tech section in lap 1 and lap 2.
Just after coming out of the woods on Lap 2, I was caught by the first Pro woman who started 2 minutes behind me. I've been making a habit of getting girl'd of late and that, along with the fact that I was getting beaten by guys I know I'm stronger than, was starting to wear on me. The rest of lap 2 and all of lap 3 went something like this: Open up gap on Pro woman (all 94 lbs of her) on climbs and let said gap evaporate on ensuing descent. On final techy descent I let her go and she thanks me. She says, "Come ride with me" as she goes by, and I stick to her like glue as she starts railing the descent. I follow her lines and I feel like I can semi-ride a mtb again. It's by far the fastest I've ridden this section all day. I guess maybe I need a little carrot dangling in front of me in the form of attractive woman to get me through the techy stuff.
I ended up having to open up a bit of a sprint to the finish as a guy in my class was bearing down on me. Not the greatest result on the day- 9th, but I'm still holding onto 3rd in the series standings. The last couple of races haven't been my best efforts or should I say, results. Unfortunately for me, mountain biking has a huge technical component and a more adept rider can gain huge chunks of time on a course like Mt. Snow. I was getting a little frustrated but I have to remind myself that I've been riding a mountain bike for less than two years and yet here I sit 3rd in the series as a Cat 1. I'm racing against guys that have been riding a mtb for 20 years. I'll get there.
Stats for metrics geeks:
17.02 miles, 2:11, 3651' vert
Lap 1: 43:02
Lap 2: 43:54
Lap 3: 43:27
How's that for consistency?!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Sports Drinks- Don't Believe the Hype
Throw out your Gatorade, boys. Stumbled on this article on Cramping:
http://www.sportsscientists.com/2007/11/muscle-cramp-part-iii.html
Basically the gist of the article is that we have been famfoozled by advertising (what else is new?) to believe that cramps are caused by electrolyte loss. It centers on neural fatigue theory: Fatigue causes cramps by interrupting normal balance of spinal reflex control.
Essentially there are receptors called muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organs located within muscle tissue that initiate reflexes responsible for protecting muscle from excessive load or stretching. There are specific pathways for this process described in the article that you can (try to) decipher yourself.
I personally have experienced the calf cramps while swimming. I can tell you it is most definitely NOT from electrolyte loss as I never swam longer than 1 hour. Contracting the calf in a shortened position (in sustained plantar flexion) for a long period of time creates optimal conditions for cramping.
Another interesting point of the article is the section describing how pushing your body beyond it's level of fitness, i.e. trying to do a challenging 7-8 hour ride when you've only been doing 5, also disposes you to cramping. This would explain why my hamstrings cramped last year on D2R2, the only time they've cramped on the bike. My legs weren't ready for the load, especially given that I was overgeared. Also throw in the fact that when riding a bicycle, your hamstrings are in a shortened state while continually contracting and you'll be screaming sweet baby Jesus when those babies involuntarily contract.
This is just a theory, but it makes sense to me.
http://www.sportsscientists.com/2007/11/muscle-cramp-part-iii.html
Basically the gist of the article is that we have been famfoozled by advertising (what else is new?) to believe that cramps are caused by electrolyte loss. It centers on neural fatigue theory: Fatigue causes cramps by interrupting normal balance of spinal reflex control.
Essentially there are receptors called muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organs located within muscle tissue that initiate reflexes responsible for protecting muscle from excessive load or stretching. There are specific pathways for this process described in the article that you can (try to) decipher yourself.
I personally have experienced the calf cramps while swimming. I can tell you it is most definitely NOT from electrolyte loss as I never swam longer than 1 hour. Contracting the calf in a shortened position (in sustained plantar flexion) for a long period of time creates optimal conditions for cramping.
Another interesting point of the article is the section describing how pushing your body beyond it's level of fitness, i.e. trying to do a challenging 7-8 hour ride when you've only been doing 5, also disposes you to cramping. This would explain why my hamstrings cramped last year on D2R2, the only time they've cramped on the bike. My legs weren't ready for the load, especially given that I was overgeared. Also throw in the fact that when riding a bicycle, your hamstrings are in a shortened state while continually contracting and you'll be screaming sweet baby Jesus when those babies involuntarily contract.
This is just a theory, but it makes sense to me.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Domnarski Farm
Sorry for the race report delay oh faithful three readers. Last Sunday I headed up to another Root 66 Series race with B. Cantele at Domnarski Farm in Ware, MA. It was to be two 10 mile laps for the Cat 1's and for anybody that broke an hour, you got $10 and a "kick in the ass" from Matt Domnarski himself. Weather was questionable heading up. I'm still a newbie to all this so any help I could get from Mother Nature would only help in the technical department. Apparently, they had been hit by a deluge the day before and earlier that morning. Pre-riding affirmed this as the course was quite wet. So yeah, there would be alot of running, er, walking really fast.
My starts have been terrible so I focused on series points leader J. Harris. I was probably about 5th or so heading into the singletrack, which was a mere 100 meters from the start line. I immediately dismounted and ran as there were a couple of small brook crossings early on and I didn't want to risk a bobble and lose valuable spots. I stuck to Harris like glue until he botched on a wet off-camber rock and I went by. I held him off for a while, maybe another 10 minutes or so, until he came by on the steep, long techy climb. He was gasping for air as he went by and it got me thinking that I don't think I'm trying hard enough. I keep having this fear that I'm going to completely blow up in a mtb race and everyone's going to pass me. So because of this, I find that I'm holding back 10% or so. This is evidenced in my lap times which are usually within 2% of each other. You'll see what I mean later.
Getting to the top of the long climb, Harris was now gone. There were 2 guys in my category that I kept within sight. The fireroads up top were flat, fast and wet. These were big ring sections involving zipping around (or through) large puddles. Well, the latter didn't work out too well for me as my front wheel decided to wash out at around 20mph and Alex went for a little, I mean, BIG swim. I'm talking entire body immersed in the puddle type of swim here. I stopped, took stock of body- Everything ok physically. Checked wheel- Fine. Brake lever and handlebars were functional, though they were twisted about 5 degrees from center. This was annoying but I didn't feel like taking any more time to fix them. I remounted and off I went. I probably lost about a minute. I wondered how much bacteria was now covering my body. I was completely covered in shit. Ah, the joys of mountain biking.
B. Cantele, starting a minute behind me, caught me soon after, as I slipped on a wet off-camber root while circumnavigating another puddle/swimming hole. I stayed with him for a while through the fireroad sections but once we hit the singletrack he too was gone. The lap continued on in some twisty singletrack with a few crossings of uber wet rock/mud sections. There were some nice bridges in place that helped you through but I found that running them was WAY faster than "cleaning" them on the bike. We made it out to the power line section in back and this was a real doosy. You came out of the woods and immediately in front of you was a 100 meter wall pushing 25+% grade. Needless to say it was painful. It flattened out for a spell and kicked up to an equally hard grade and length, then a 30%+ section that was unrideable (for most) and then it came back down to ~22% for another 100 meters. There was a nice descent on the other side of this ballbuster which provided for much needed recovery. The rest of the lap was a mixture of swoopy singletrack, mud, rocks, bridges, and more mud. There were a couple of unrideable steep rocky sections in the back as well that required a dismount.
Just before the end of the first lap the 3 chasing 40+ guys caught me, some 7 minutes plus after B. Cantele passed. So, barring mechanical catastrophe, he had this one in the bag. Crossing the start/finish, I my lap time was 1:00:51. Had I not decided to swan dive into the biggest puddle on the course I probably would have went sub-hour and won my first money racing a bicycle. And a kick in the ass. Oh well. Anyway, one of the 40+ guys continued on, but I hung with the two others the rest of the race, one of them being M. Gunsalus. The other guy was better than Mark and I on the techy stuff but we were outclimbing him. So the three of us see-sawed back and forth for the next hour or so. I felt pretty good being able to climb with M. Gunsalus, well at least within a couple of bike lengths on the steepest pitches. I had no idea where I was in my category, as usual. I think I passed one other 30+ on the second lap and as I said before, the series points leader was gonezo on the first lap.
I ended up running alot more in the 2nd lap and I was actually feeling pretty good doing it. The rest of the 2nd lap was a blur although I got thoroughly pissed when a guy came up from behind the three of us and totally went off the trail around a deep mud section while we were running through it. I don't know what kind of rules there are as far blazing your own line on a cross country race course, but that was bullshit if you ask me. His "line" was clearly WAY faster. Whatever the case, the group of (now) 4 of us finished the last lap together all within 5 seconds of each other. My time was effed up by over a minute as M. Gunsalus and the other guy in the 40+ were shown to be 2:10 ahead of me, when they started only 1 minute behind and I finished with them. Being an exact numbers type of guy, I was annoyed by this but I guess there are bigger things to worry about.
I did, however, find out that I ended up 2nd! First Cat1 podium in only my 4th race as a Cat1! I was and still am pretty pumped about that. I didn't wait around for the results as there seemed to be a big cluster eff, but I contacted Matt and he's going to mail me my $50! I'm not in it for the results but it's a nice validation of all the work I've done on the bike in the last 4 years. Who knows, maybe I can make it to the top step by year's end, but I am certainly enjoying the journey.
For number geeks:
1st lap 1:00:51
2nd lap 1:03:24
Finish 2:04:15
19.80 miles, 2458' climbing
My starts have been terrible so I focused on series points leader J. Harris. I was probably about 5th or so heading into the singletrack, which was a mere 100 meters from the start line. I immediately dismounted and ran as there were a couple of small brook crossings early on and I didn't want to risk a bobble and lose valuable spots. I stuck to Harris like glue until he botched on a wet off-camber rock and I went by. I held him off for a while, maybe another 10 minutes or so, until he came by on the steep, long techy climb. He was gasping for air as he went by and it got me thinking that I don't think I'm trying hard enough. I keep having this fear that I'm going to completely blow up in a mtb race and everyone's going to pass me. So because of this, I find that I'm holding back 10% or so. This is evidenced in my lap times which are usually within 2% of each other. You'll see what I mean later.
Getting to the top of the long climb, Harris was now gone. There were 2 guys in my category that I kept within sight. The fireroads up top were flat, fast and wet. These were big ring sections involving zipping around (or through) large puddles. Well, the latter didn't work out too well for me as my front wheel decided to wash out at around 20mph and Alex went for a little, I mean, BIG swim. I'm talking entire body immersed in the puddle type of swim here. I stopped, took stock of body- Everything ok physically. Checked wheel- Fine. Brake lever and handlebars were functional, though they were twisted about 5 degrees from center. This was annoying but I didn't feel like taking any more time to fix them. I remounted and off I went. I probably lost about a minute. I wondered how much bacteria was now covering my body. I was completely covered in shit. Ah, the joys of mountain biking.
B. Cantele, starting a minute behind me, caught me soon after, as I slipped on a wet off-camber root while circumnavigating another puddle/swimming hole. I stayed with him for a while through the fireroad sections but once we hit the singletrack he too was gone. The lap continued on in some twisty singletrack with a few crossings of uber wet rock/mud sections. There were some nice bridges in place that helped you through but I found that running them was WAY faster than "cleaning" them on the bike. We made it out to the power line section in back and this was a real doosy. You came out of the woods and immediately in front of you was a 100 meter wall pushing 25+% grade. Needless to say it was painful. It flattened out for a spell and kicked up to an equally hard grade and length, then a 30%+ section that was unrideable (for most) and then it came back down to ~22% for another 100 meters. There was a nice descent on the other side of this ballbuster which provided for much needed recovery. The rest of the lap was a mixture of swoopy singletrack, mud, rocks, bridges, and more mud. There were a couple of unrideable steep rocky sections in the back as well that required a dismount.
Just before the end of the first lap the 3 chasing 40+ guys caught me, some 7 minutes plus after B. Cantele passed. So, barring mechanical catastrophe, he had this one in the bag. Crossing the start/finish, I my lap time was 1:00:51. Had I not decided to swan dive into the biggest puddle on the course I probably would have went sub-hour and won my first money racing a bicycle. And a kick in the ass. Oh well. Anyway, one of the 40+ guys continued on, but I hung with the two others the rest of the race, one of them being M. Gunsalus. The other guy was better than Mark and I on the techy stuff but we were outclimbing him. So the three of us see-sawed back and forth for the next hour or so. I felt pretty good being able to climb with M. Gunsalus, well at least within a couple of bike lengths on the steepest pitches. I had no idea where I was in my category, as usual. I think I passed one other 30+ on the second lap and as I said before, the series points leader was gonezo on the first lap.
I ended up running alot more in the 2nd lap and I was actually feeling pretty good doing it. The rest of the 2nd lap was a blur although I got thoroughly pissed when a guy came up from behind the three of us and totally went off the trail around a deep mud section while we were running through it. I don't know what kind of rules there are as far blazing your own line on a cross country race course, but that was bullshit if you ask me. His "line" was clearly WAY faster. Whatever the case, the group of (now) 4 of us finished the last lap together all within 5 seconds of each other. My time was effed up by over a minute as M. Gunsalus and the other guy in the 40+ were shown to be 2:10 ahead of me, when they started only 1 minute behind and I finished with them. Being an exact numbers type of guy, I was annoyed by this but I guess there are bigger things to worry about.
I did, however, find out that I ended up 2nd! First Cat1 podium in only my 4th race as a Cat1! I was and still am pretty pumped about that. I didn't wait around for the results as there seemed to be a big cluster eff, but I contacted Matt and he's going to mail me my $50! I'm not in it for the results but it's a nice validation of all the work I've done on the bike in the last 4 years. Who knows, maybe I can make it to the top step by year's end, but I am certainly enjoying the journey.
For number geeks:
1st lap 1:00:51
2nd lap 1:03:24
Finish 2:04:15
19.80 miles, 2458' climbing
Monday, May 31, 2010
Coyote Ugly
I should have taken James Harmon's words to heart when I asked about Coyote Hill's mtb course: BRUTAL.
Headed up early with (40-49) Root 66 series leader Brian Cantele and his wife Andi for what would be a 3+ hour drive. We dropped off Andi and her trusted Giant in the neighborhood of Walpole, VT for her (what would be) 5 hour slog to the race in 20+mph headwinds. She gets the tough (wo)man award for the day.
Arriving at the race venue, I soon realized what Brian meant by terrible accommodations. It's bascially a narrow pitched dirt road that you just park on the side of. Warming up, my legs felt like cement pistons and I was thinking that this was going to be a sufferfest. At the start, I saw some familiar faces from the previous 2 races I've done.
I'm still getting the hang of this whole mtb race thing. It seems I can't get my effort dialed in just right. My miles being primarily aerobic on the road, I suppose going anaerobic repeatedly over a nearly 2 hour period is going to take some getting used to. In essence it's a glorified cross race. Being a notoriously slow starter, the first mile or so was tailored more to my strengths. The deal was they sent you through a field that kicked up and out onto a dirt road. The dirt road nagged on for another kilometer or so at a solid 15% grade. Near the top, it shot you into some fast swoopy singletrack which provided for ample recovery. They had started us 30's with the singlespeeders and I was wishing CB2 was there for "carrotting". I got into the woods about mid-pack which is significantly better than my previous starts. I seem to get this anxiety thing through the techy stuff when someone who is better than me starts breathing down my neck. So being the (too) nice of a guy I am, I usually let them pass when it opens up. I know, I know...
After the swoopy descent, we were back to a climbin' in the form of a techy, rocky kicker that was pushing 20+% gradient. I was thinking that this was going to be a whole lot of "fun" on the ensuing laps. The singletrack after this point just got progressively more technical. I kept the usual suspects in my sights with Robbie Carmen and Kerry Robair just ahead and Craig Kennedy a few seconds further up. Kerry ended up flatting or something on a rock garden in the first lap and I had to dismount and run by him. There were several small brook crossings and myriad roots to traverse. My feelings about roots became eerily reminiscent of my feelings about rocks toward the end of hiking Mt. Washington. This course was far and away the most technical to date. I would give this course a solid 8.5/10 whereas Winsted is maybe a 6.
I picked off Robbie in the feedzone after semi-attacking in the field. (Sorry if that was against mtb etiquette, Rob.) I began to find my legs on the beginning of the 2nd lap and absolutely cooked the dirt road climb before the singletrack. I think I picked off 3-4 riders here including Craig. I hit the singletrack descent as fast as I could in order to "disappear" but keeping in mind that "I still have to go to work on Monday". It's interesting to note here how much slower the better technical riders get when they're tired. Rode the 2nd lap primarily by myself until someone was coming up hard. I didn't look back but I was thinking that it had to be a junior as the way he was railing the rocky root descents, he wasn't thinking about tomorrow. I let him pass and paced off him for another 10 minutes or so until he disappeared.
The deep mud sections were getting worse and I dismounted and ran for probably 2 minutes each of the last two laps. I started to think that a little running maybe a couple times a week would be beneficial for times like these, especially when my calves felt they were being blowtorched. My 2nd and 3rd laps were faster than my first which again is indicative of my pathetically slow starts. I felt like I was maintaining speed much better "over the roots and through the woods" and braking much less. I ended up in 6th about 7 minutes down to the winner after being (again) misinformed that I was 4th. Oh well, the elusive podium will have to wait. If only three guys ahead of me had untimely mechanicals...
All in all, it was another positive mtb race experience. I feel like my tech skills are coming along nicely particularly on a course as tough as Coyote Hill. Brian won again despite being (finally) pushed a little on the final lap. James represented well in the Pros finishing 4th. After feeling like I fought an hour and 45 min. MMA match, I sit here with battered body wondering how James did 4 laps of that course on a single speed with zero suspension. Crazy.
Headed up early with (40-49) Root 66 series leader Brian Cantele and his wife Andi for what would be a 3+ hour drive. We dropped off Andi and her trusted Giant in the neighborhood of Walpole, VT for her (what would be) 5 hour slog to the race in 20+mph headwinds. She gets the tough (wo)man award for the day.
Arriving at the race venue, I soon realized what Brian meant by terrible accommodations. It's bascially a narrow pitched dirt road that you just park on the side of. Warming up, my legs felt like cement pistons and I was thinking that this was going to be a sufferfest. At the start, I saw some familiar faces from the previous 2 races I've done.
I'm still getting the hang of this whole mtb race thing. It seems I can't get my effort dialed in just right. My miles being primarily aerobic on the road, I suppose going anaerobic repeatedly over a nearly 2 hour period is going to take some getting used to. In essence it's a glorified cross race. Being a notoriously slow starter, the first mile or so was tailored more to my strengths. The deal was they sent you through a field that kicked up and out onto a dirt road. The dirt road nagged on for another kilometer or so at a solid 15% grade. Near the top, it shot you into some fast swoopy singletrack which provided for ample recovery. They had started us 30's with the singlespeeders and I was wishing CB2 was there for "carrotting". I got into the woods about mid-pack which is significantly better than my previous starts. I seem to get this anxiety thing through the techy stuff when someone who is better than me starts breathing down my neck. So being the (too) nice of a guy I am, I usually let them pass when it opens up. I know, I know...
After the swoopy descent, we were back to a climbin' in the form of a techy, rocky kicker that was pushing 20+% gradient. I was thinking that this was going to be a whole lot of "fun" on the ensuing laps. The singletrack after this point just got progressively more technical. I kept the usual suspects in my sights with Robbie Carmen and Kerry Robair just ahead and Craig Kennedy a few seconds further up. Kerry ended up flatting or something on a rock garden in the first lap and I had to dismount and run by him. There were several small brook crossings and myriad roots to traverse. My feelings about roots became eerily reminiscent of my feelings about rocks toward the end of hiking Mt. Washington. This course was far and away the most technical to date. I would give this course a solid 8.5/10 whereas Winsted is maybe a 6.
I picked off Robbie in the feedzone after semi-attacking in the field. (Sorry if that was against mtb etiquette, Rob.) I began to find my legs on the beginning of the 2nd lap and absolutely cooked the dirt road climb before the singletrack. I think I picked off 3-4 riders here including Craig. I hit the singletrack descent as fast as I could in order to "disappear" but keeping in mind that "I still have to go to work on Monday". It's interesting to note here how much slower the better technical riders get when they're tired. Rode the 2nd lap primarily by myself until someone was coming up hard. I didn't look back but I was thinking that it had to be a junior as the way he was railing the rocky root descents, he wasn't thinking about tomorrow. I let him pass and paced off him for another 10 minutes or so until he disappeared.
The deep mud sections were getting worse and I dismounted and ran for probably 2 minutes each of the last two laps. I started to think that a little running maybe a couple times a week would be beneficial for times like these, especially when my calves felt they were being blowtorched. My 2nd and 3rd laps were faster than my first which again is indicative of my pathetically slow starts. I felt like I was maintaining speed much better "over the roots and through the woods" and braking much less. I ended up in 6th about 7 minutes down to the winner after being (again) misinformed that I was 4th. Oh well, the elusive podium will have to wait. If only three guys ahead of me had untimely mechanicals...
All in all, it was another positive mtb race experience. I feel like my tech skills are coming along nicely particularly on a course as tough as Coyote Hill. Brian won again despite being (finally) pushed a little on the final lap. James represented well in the Pros finishing 4th. After feeling like I fought an hour and 45 min. MMA match, I sit here with battered body wondering how James did 4 laps of that course on a single speed with zero suspension. Crazy.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Giro
What an interesting Giro it's been. I like how the promoter likes to push the envelope, particularly with the stage of the strade bianche that Cadel won and today's nasty hillclimb time trial up Kronplatz. No hiding there, just straight watts per kilogram my friends. I guess I like the unpredictability of stage outcomes with the stage where 50 some odd guys got away and gapped many of the favorites by close to 15 minutes. This last week will be beyond epic. I'm getting tired just thinking of it. I can't imagine how those guys are feeling some 2+ weeks into it. I'm really rooting for Cadel or as an outside shot, Sastre. I'm still waiting for this bump in form that you usually see from him.
Tough ride tonight, 50 miles, 3700' climbing, 18 mph avg. Felt pretty strong on the climbs despite mtb race Sunday and spirited hike with Em up Mt. Alander yesterday. Creaking bottom bracket needs to be attended to asap. I'm thinking tomorrow would be a good day off, maybe I'll mow the lawn. Probably encountered the biggest douche ever in the 4 years I've been riding. Hanging out the window, I get:
"Nice tights, asshole. Do you suck his dick?" (referring to Mark who I was riding with)
It really goes beyond my commenting but I'm still some 3 hours later looking for the humor in that one. I will say that if that were my kid I'd be thoroughly embarrassed.
Tough ride tonight, 50 miles, 3700' climbing, 18 mph avg. Felt pretty strong on the climbs despite mtb race Sunday and spirited hike with Em up Mt. Alander yesterday. Creaking bottom bracket needs to be attended to asap. I'm thinking tomorrow would be a good day off, maybe I'll mow the lawn. Probably encountered the biggest douche ever in the 4 years I've been riding. Hanging out the window, I get:
"Nice tights, asshole. Do you suck his dick?" (referring to Mark who I was riding with)
It really goes beyond my commenting but I'm still some 3 hours later looking for the humor in that one. I will say that if that were my kid I'd be thoroughly embarrassed.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Old school "training" and racing...
Or shall I say, down to. I've dropped ~8# over the last 3 weeks, currently a svelter 152 and change. Definitely feeling faster on the climbs. I've started riding my CX rig with a large water bottle weighing ~.3kg about a month and a half ago. I've since graduated to a smaller bottle half-filled with sand at ~.5kg and finally about a week ago, a full bottle weighing a full kilo. To tell you the truth, I don't really know it's there, probably because I've lost more bodyweight than I've put back on the bike with "training bottle". The bike with "training bottle" and full large water bottle weighs over 22# and pedaling this thing around has without a doubt made me significantly stronger. To check my progress, I did my first real fitness test early last week on my unloaded cross bike on a nearby climb that rises ~400 ft. over one mile. I was surprised to see that I was within 3 seconds of my PR despite riding my unloaded CX bike at ~18.5# and my bw at the time was 154.5. Last year, when I set the PR, I was on my sub 14# Cervelo and my bw was 148. If my math is right, I'm producing roughly 7% more power than last year. It might actually be more than that if you factor in differences in frame performance (Giant TCX is a tad more noodly than the R3SL), drivetrain drag, and tire width (23 vs. 25). Whatever the case, I believe I'm onto something here and I highly recommend trying it, even if it means getting dropped from time to time. But hey, you've got nothing to lose: If I hang on the climbs, you get them thinking, damn, he's got a kilo of sand. Or if I happen to get dropped, well, you should drop me.
Speaking of Cervelos, I went up to Hot Tubes last Friday to pick up Black Betty. Toby did an outstanding job. Now all I need to do is buy new shifters, brakes and other miscellaneous parts. In the meantime, my buddy Brian has upgraded to a 29er so it was an opportune time to buy his Titus Racer X. The bike is multiple steps up from my Specialized Epic Comp. It weighed in at a scant 23.5# the other day with Stan's ZTR race wheels. I'm extremely happy with ride quality, as it climbs and descends like a missile. Now I just have to catch up to it. So yeah, due to some prodding from the Cycleworx crew or Cyclejerks as Brian calls us, and SS guru CB2, I've entered the world of mtb racing. I did my first race at Winding Trails (what better place I guess) as a Cat 2 and finished 2nd. Probably would have been victorious had I not entered singletrack DFL (30+ in field) and been taken out by a number of riders. Oh well, scored a nice pump and got to hang with infamous hilljunkie.
Upgraded to Cat 1 due to additional "prodding" from Brian. Would have been nice to actually win a race in Cat 2, but I guess I'd rather finish mid-pack against better competition. We headed up to Orchard Assault, with Cat 1 mtb license in hand, and no bottle holder to speak of. I believe the latter is what led to my undoing. I had one large water bottle and drank roughly 2/3 of it over a 2 hour period. It was relentless climbing with some swoopy singletrack. I think I had over 4000' over 18 miles. It was 7 laps of a 2.6 mile loop or so. I guess that's what you have to do when you only have a few acres to lay out a course. They lined all the Cat1s up together, the gun goes off and Brian was pretty much instantly gone. I am notorious for ridiculously slow starts but I managed to be middle of the pack and probably burnt too many matches in the first couple of laps on the climbs passing people. My hydration, or lack thereof, started to take its toll in the 6th lap as I resorted to having to granny this section that was probably pushing 25% gradient. My last lap was progressively worse and I got passed by 2 or 3 guys. I was glad it was over as my back felt like someone jammed a pitchfork in it. I crossed the line 9th out of nearly 30 starters. Not bad for first Cat1 race despite imploding in last 1/3 of race. Brian finished 8 minutes or so ahead of me despite numerous stops for mechanicals. James won his first Pro race while Josh rounded out the podium. On the bright side, at least I have strong riders to chase after (well for a couple of minutes anyway) in order to get faster.
Winsted Woods was yesterday. The course is literally in my backyard. I've probably done a dozen or so laps of the course over the last month so I knew the lines pretty well. Hey, due to mediocre tech skills, I need all the help I can get. Lining up, the 30-39s had I think 15 guys. Of course, going into the woods, who's in last place? Yep, me. I figured it would be a 2 hour effort so there'd be plenty of time to pick people off on the climbs. Besides, I'm down to an even svelter 151 so I'm feeling better when the grade pitches upward. (If only I could drop another 15# I'd be down in CB2 territory.) So I work my way up the field and I'm probably mid-pack when CB2 comes by halfway through 2nd lap. I gladly gave him a clear lane as to not impede his progress. The countdown was on when Brian would come steaming by and sure enough, maybe a minute or so later he came upon me. On the upper ridge of the course, he pulled me through the traffic, yelling encouragement. How he's talking at all I could not figure out. I guess when you're an anaerobic animal you don't need much O2 to supply power to the wheels. I probably picked off 4-5 guys during Brian's "tow". I crested the top of the rocky climb not far off him and I was glad to take a cup of water from the guy up there in order to rinse the vomit back down my esophagus that was slowly creeping up. I kept Brian in sight for another minute or so and then on another kicker he was gone, as he passed maybe 6 guys, including CB2. My last 2 laps were unceremonious. In retrospect (I know, I know) I probably could have ridden them harder. I caught and passed a few 19-29s and they misinformed me that I was in the lead. I rode tempo the remainder of the lap. I honestly could have done another lap if I had to which leads me to believe that I didn't go as hard as I should have. (This was definitely NOT the case at Orchard Assault.) I'm thinking that the new water bottle holder had something to do with it. I wish I had ridden harder though, as I was only 30 seconds or so from the podium. Oh well, I'll be there next year. James finished just off the podium with Josh in 7th despite numerous mechanical issues. That's a mental victory in itself. Brian blasted the 40+ field to smithereens and the venerable CB2 was victorious in the SS. Everyone came over the new house for post-race refueling. Sorry about the burnt veggie burgers, Charlie and Josh! I'd like to thank the lovely Em for cheering me on (as usual) and Kevin and Kara (with child) for their support as well.
Speaking of Cervelos, I went up to Hot Tubes last Friday to pick up Black Betty. Toby did an outstanding job. Now all I need to do is buy new shifters, brakes and other miscellaneous parts. In the meantime, my buddy Brian has upgraded to a 29er so it was an opportune time to buy his Titus Racer X. The bike is multiple steps up from my Specialized Epic Comp. It weighed in at a scant 23.5# the other day with Stan's ZTR race wheels. I'm extremely happy with ride quality, as it climbs and descends like a missile. Now I just have to catch up to it. So yeah, due to some prodding from the Cycleworx crew or Cyclejerks as Brian calls us, and SS guru CB2, I've entered the world of mtb racing. I did my first race at Winding Trails (what better place I guess) as a Cat 2 and finished 2nd. Probably would have been victorious had I not entered singletrack DFL (30+ in field) and been taken out by a number of riders. Oh well, scored a nice pump and got to hang with infamous hilljunkie.
Upgraded to Cat 1 due to additional "prodding" from Brian. Would have been nice to actually win a race in Cat 2, but I guess I'd rather finish mid-pack against better competition. We headed up to Orchard Assault, with Cat 1 mtb license in hand, and no bottle holder to speak of. I believe the latter is what led to my undoing. I had one large water bottle and drank roughly 2/3 of it over a 2 hour period. It was relentless climbing with some swoopy singletrack. I think I had over 4000' over 18 miles. It was 7 laps of a 2.6 mile loop or so. I guess that's what you have to do when you only have a few acres to lay out a course. They lined all the Cat1s up together, the gun goes off and Brian was pretty much instantly gone. I am notorious for ridiculously slow starts but I managed to be middle of the pack and probably burnt too many matches in the first couple of laps on the climbs passing people. My hydration, or lack thereof, started to take its toll in the 6th lap as I resorted to having to granny this section that was probably pushing 25% gradient. My last lap was progressively worse and I got passed by 2 or 3 guys. I was glad it was over as my back felt like someone jammed a pitchfork in it. I crossed the line 9th out of nearly 30 starters. Not bad for first Cat1 race despite imploding in last 1/3 of race. Brian finished 8 minutes or so ahead of me despite numerous stops for mechanicals. James won his first Pro race while Josh rounded out the podium. On the bright side, at least I have strong riders to chase after (well for a couple of minutes anyway) in order to get faster.
Winsted Woods was yesterday. The course is literally in my backyard. I've probably done a dozen or so laps of the course over the last month so I knew the lines pretty well. Hey, due to mediocre tech skills, I need all the help I can get. Lining up, the 30-39s had I think 15 guys. Of course, going into the woods, who's in last place? Yep, me. I figured it would be a 2 hour effort so there'd be plenty of time to pick people off on the climbs. Besides, I'm down to an even svelter 151 so I'm feeling better when the grade pitches upward. (If only I could drop another 15# I'd be down in CB2 territory.) So I work my way up the field and I'm probably mid-pack when CB2 comes by halfway through 2nd lap. I gladly gave him a clear lane as to not impede his progress. The countdown was on when Brian would come steaming by and sure enough, maybe a minute or so later he came upon me. On the upper ridge of the course, he pulled me through the traffic, yelling encouragement. How he's talking at all I could not figure out. I guess when you're an anaerobic animal you don't need much O2 to supply power to the wheels. I probably picked off 4-5 guys during Brian's "tow". I crested the top of the rocky climb not far off him and I was glad to take a cup of water from the guy up there in order to rinse the vomit back down my esophagus that was slowly creeping up. I kept Brian in sight for another minute or so and then on another kicker he was gone, as he passed maybe 6 guys, including CB2. My last 2 laps were unceremonious. In retrospect (I know, I know) I probably could have ridden them harder. I caught and passed a few 19-29s and they misinformed me that I was in the lead. I rode tempo the remainder of the lap. I honestly could have done another lap if I had to which leads me to believe that I didn't go as hard as I should have. (This was definitely NOT the case at Orchard Assault.) I'm thinking that the new water bottle holder had something to do with it. I wish I had ridden harder though, as I was only 30 seconds or so from the podium. Oh well, I'll be there next year. James finished just off the podium with Josh in 7th despite numerous mechanical issues. That's a mental victory in itself. Brian blasted the 40+ field to smithereens and the venerable CB2 was victorious in the SS. Everyone came over the new house for post-race refueling. Sorry about the burnt veggie burgers, Charlie and Josh! I'd like to thank the lovely Em for cheering me on (as usual) and Kevin and Kara (with child) for their support as well.
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