What A Wild Month

On April 29th I finally graduated MSU with a BS in Aerospace Engineering. That's right, I'm officially a rocket scientist. This was an exciting steep for me, but a sad one at the same time. The next day I was packing up my apartment to move home. Yep, I'm a poor unemployed college grad living with mom and dad again.

I then spent the next few week trying to focus on finishing my training for Syllamo's Revenge 125k. The week before the race I did a pre-ride of the 25mile loop that we would ride twice during the race. During this ride I had several first: first time being completely lost on the mountain bike, first time seeing a black bear, first time seeing a beaver run down a trail, and my first time to run over a field rat. Then came the race, most mentally draining thing I have ever done, my body felt great all day but it mentally hurt. This race deserves a dedicated post.

The next few weeks brought no riding at all. I was focused on jumping through the hoops to join the Arkansas National Guard. That's right, I'm officially Specialist McCool (and a rocket scientist!). I'm going to basic on August 15, 2011, then AIT. My MOS will be 94D.

Once everything for the Guard calmed down I decided to start back riding. Went on a short ride out at Big Dam Bridge, Emerald Park and Burns park. This ride was ok, the worst part of it was not having riding gloves (lost one at Syllamo). Swung by one of the LBS to pick up some gloves and noticed that the Tour De Rock was the next weekend (tomorrow, 20110611). Ran Monday morning (I need to get in some running before basic) then registered for the Tour Monday night. Although the run destroyed my legs I decided to ride the ATV trial around my house Tuesday. Then Thursday I went out to Camp Robinson to get in some real mountain bike fun.

The legs are waking up nicely and I feel strong going into tomorrow. I've heard of people training for months for this tour (that's right, this is my first tour) but I'm just jumping in last minute to do it, is this a good thing to do? We will see.   

I have more on my mind but will be updating again tomorrow night and some more next week. Stay tuned for more. 

View from the top of Emerald Park

More from Emerald Park

And more

And more

Had to bail on the way down due to downed trees.

Sounds like fun!

View form bottom of Emerald Park

Mud hole in ATV trail

View form top of ATV "climb"

Same spot, other view

Can't seam to start a ride when its below 90*.

    

Burned Out? Time to Reset.

It's been 3 weeks since Ouachita Challenge. I've had a few post that where up-beat since OC, but I've had something lingering issues. The week after OC I did 2 days of Zone 2 riding followed by back to back 3 hr days down at the Nox. A low volume, low intensity week for me. But I never got to feeling "normal." The next week I started off by hitting it hard and long. On Tuesday and Thursday I did a long hard rides (zone 4 or low zone 5) followed by group rides (3 hr total). On Wednesday I did WNW.

Saturday I did 2 hr of just riding. At this point I should of steeped back and took some time off. I was tired, bad tired. On "just riding" days I usually ride at zone 3, on this day it was Zone 1 peaking Zone 2 on hills. Then on Sunday came my Mini Burn Out. Waking-up at 5 am I was tired, very tired. My legs, my brain, everything. I pushed through my tiredness and got on my way to the trail. Less than 20 min into my drive to the trails my car started to have an issue of 5th gear poop-out. This was the last straw, I quickly turned around, drove home and slept till I awoke naturally.

After this Mini Burn Out I made a deal with myself to not touch a bike until WNW. Rain started on Monday and did not let up till Friday morning. No WNW, no early start to my Peaking Block.

Friday I went on a nice group ride with David and Kevin! We met at 6:30am and rode out to the Noxubee Refuge to do hill repeats on Bevil Hill, the biggest hill around Starkville. 100ft of climbing in 1 mile. The ride to Bevil Hill, 5 repeats, then the ride back totaled 3 hr. I finished out my ride by doing an additional 1 hr solo. A good 4 hr ride with a several hard race pace efforts.

Bevil Hill

Seen this guy more than a few times out at the Refuge

 I'm feeling good again. My Peaking Block started good and will continue up until 7 days before Syllamo 125k. The plan is to do a 4-5 hr ride every-other day (with the exception of graduation day and the day I move). What caused the Mini Burn Out? I would like to think it was the stress of graduation, moving, and searching for a job. I hope that I will be able to avoid Burn Outs once this school thing is done and I get a chance to settle down.

Tomorrow will be fun, 5hr out at Lake Lurleen!           

I Have Tasted The Cool-Aid That Is An Epic 29er. And Now I Want A Pitcher To Myself!

Over the past few years I have been able to test ride several bike at my local trails. And during this time I have never found a bike that I liked more than my 09' Stumpjumper HT. Well I finally found something I do like more.

Last year I try the 29er cool-aid but was not excited about the results. I test rode the 10' Stumpjumper HT 29er test bike that we had in the shop. At 2lbs heaver than my Stumpy it felt sluggish. It was not just the extra weight, it was also the 29er wheels. Being an Engineering student I understand that even at the same weight it will take more energy to accelerate the wagon wheels around turns, up hills, and across flats. More over I was use to running 20-25 psi in my tires but had to run 30psi in the test bike. I believe that the difference in tire pressure negated most of the advantages that people associate with 29er wheels. This one test ride turned me off to 29ers completely.

Then this year I had a chance to test ride the new Specialize Camber. I was highly impressed with the way that the Camber rode. Quit plush while still having quick and snappy handling. It felt like it was much faster than my stumpy, but the stop watch said otherwise. At more than 3 min slower over a 3 mile loop it was clear that, although a great trail bike, this bike is not designed to be a race bike.

This Wednesday I got a chance to ride the shops Epic 29er test bike. Boy that little test ride opened my eyes. Even after Ouachita Challenge, I've always thought that a 29er full suspension bike was overkill. If I was able to ride that trail, at speed, on a 26in HT then why would you ever want/need a full suspension 29er? Well it's simple, there bad @ss!

I did my test ride on the first Wednesday Night Worlds that Starkville has ever had. During my ride over to the trails I notice one of the small quarks that the new epics have. While seated the suspension boobs though its suspension sag. Nothing major just different than my Stumpy. Then during the parade lap I notice another quark. This quark involves the brain in the rear suspension. The brain engaging and disengaging was noticeable over small low speed bumps. Again nothing major, just different.

During the "race" I never notice either of these quarks. I was able to stay on Kevin's wheels though some really tight trails and was able to pass him for the "win". The momentum that the 29er wheels produce was very welcomed (and noticeable) and was produced without slowing the steering. This momentum helped me keep speed and smoothed-out my power output. This quality would be very welcomed during an endurance race. As I followed Kevin, I told him that the Epic seamed to force me to ride smoother. "Smother? Are you crazy?" Maybe, it's just the feeling that I got during my short time on the bike. Could I Monster Truck over everything on the trail? Sure. But did I? No.  I was able to produce the same time over the same trails as I use to on my Stumpy. But this was on a longer course and the day after pushing myself for 2.5 hours just under LT.

So do I want a Epic 29er? You bet. Even at 5lb heaver than my stumpy, and having wagon wheels, the bike never seemed sluggish. Not once, going around turns it felt snappy, accelerating out of turns it felt smooth, and it hid it's weight quite nicely up the hills.

The only things I would change about the bike I rode would be the handle bars (replace with my carbon ones), the grips (replace with my Ergons), the wheels (build up a light weight racing wheelset), and replace the crank with a XX unit. I think that with these upgrades that the bike would only be 2lb heaver than my Stumpy, but over all a better endurance racing weapon.

       

Ouachita Challenge Race Re-Cap

As noted in my last post, me and Kevin drove 7 hr form Starkville to Oden Saturday, then went on a short pre-ride of the staring single tack. 3 miles in, 3 miles out. My legs felt ok at best and my technical skills were vastly lacking. I decided to stick with my racing plan and see what panned out.

The plan was to do whatever was needed to hit the single track at the back of the lead group then find my rhythm for the remainder of the race. On Sunday I tried my best to make this plan a reality.

After the short 1 mile naturalized start the pace quickly picked up to an uncomfortably fast pace. About halfway up the next to the last hill before the single track I decided that it was costing me too much energy to keep up with the lead group, so decided to fall back and start searching for my rhythm.

I hit the single tack about a minute behind the leader and immediately started to get passed by people. For the first hour I would have group after group catch and pass me. Quite frankly I was embarrassed with myself. I felt like I was in way over my head and was going to wind up DFL.

After about an hour I started to feel better about my situation and started riding stronger. Just a few minutes later I blew past Aid Station One.  Then I started climbing up the single track of Blow Out Mountain. After a few miles of climbing I was thinking to myself "This is not nearly as bad as people warned." Less than 5 min later I was off the bike walking up this hill. This hill was extremely steep and coved by nothing but loose rock. Once over the top of this climb there were several sections of ride-able rock gardens that I had to hike-a-bike over due to other riders walking in front of me. After walking for a total of ~1 mile on Blow Out Mountain the trail turned downward.

My technical skills had been improving all day and hit a high point during the descent off of Blow out Mountain. I was quickly catching and passing people on every type of bike: 29er, 26er, hard-tails, and full suspension. This got me pumped as I worked hard to pass several people on the short road section leading to the last bit of the Ouachita Trial.

I had 1.5 bottles of Cytomax left by the time I reached Aid Station 2. I decided to stick with my nutrition plan and take on more Cytomax at this Aid Station. This turned out to be good on the nutrition front, but not so good on the racing strategy front. As I was getting my bottles refilled I was passed by a few of the riders I had passed on the road. I quickly caught up to a slow group of 3 rider going up the next hill. They were going so slow that I was turning an uncomfortably slow cadence in my lowest gear (22-34 on a 26er). I was behind these riders at the worst possible time, the trail was steep and narrow with no room to let anyone by. For 2 or 3 miles I was stuck behind this group bobbling every time I would hit a root or rock. Finally at the top of the hill I made a quick pass and railed a sick downhill to the end of the Ouachita Trail.

I was happy to see the Ouachita Trail end, but sad at the same time. It was a stupid hard and fun trail, but its end brought ~8 miles of road leading to the Womble! The road section was not a time to rest at all. Sunday saw strong winds that seemed to always be right in your face. I took it easy on this section hopping to be caught by a group. With a few miles left to the single track I joined a group of 3 riders and took short turns pulling at the front.

Blowing through Aid Station 3 I knew the Womble was just a few minutes away. After about 10 minutes of hammering gravel roads I turned onto some sweet single track! The Womble is very similar to what I normally ride on. Show me roots and I can tell you how to ride them, show me rocks and I'm lost. I just could not help but smile as I flowed through the flat section of the Womble (not to mention catching and passing several people on this section).

Then going up the first hill of the Womble I hit a point where I was done (about 45 miles in). My core and upper back was killing me (legs still felt strong) and I started to get a headache (my typical first sign of dehydration setting in). There were several times between Aid Station 3 and 4 that I thought I was going to quit once I reached Aid Station 4.

Then just before I reached Aid Station 4 I popped my first caffeinated Gu. Once at Aid Station 4 I asked for water in my bottles and had some cool water pored over my head. Boy what a boost a little caffeine and a cool head can give you. The thoughts of quitting were firmly out of my head.

The remainder of the race was a blur. All I really remember was finding a new corner of the pain cave I never knew existed and dumping most of my water over my head. I finished the race strong with a time of 5:37 and placed 33rd over all. Despite thinking I was DFL most of the race and having some issues, I still met most of my goals and had a finishing time that made me happy.  I indentified some of my weaknesses and had a fun time in the woods!

My nutrition was spot on for a race of this length but could use some tweaking. When drinking just Cytomax I was wanting more electrolytes and when drinking just EFS I was wanting the lactic clearing properties of Cytomax. My core and upper body strength needs working on, as well as my ability to climb long hills. Time to tweak my training and nutrition over the next 6 weeks before my A priority race, Syllamo's Revenge 125k!

On a side note, Kevin killed it all day and placed 4th, less than 5 minutes behind 1st! Congrats Kevin and everyone ells that finished this year's Ouachita Challenge.             

Ouachita Challenge Pre-Race!

Just got done driving 7 hr to Oden, AR. Once here me and Kevin picked up our packets then took a short Pre-ride. We rode in 3 miles from the start of the Ouachita trail then turned around. This section of trail can only be described as ROCKY! Over all my legs felt OK at best, and my technical skills are definitely lacking. Going to stick with my plan of attack tomorrow and see what pans out.

Photo dump:

Spent some time here this week doing taper rides.

Had some break issues on Thursday.

Packing!

Kevin having fun at Arkansas Cycling and Fitness. Maybe we should do something like this in our shop!

Start of Ouachita Trail

Small sample of the rocks!

Only in Arkansas! (this coming form an Arkansas native)

Catching Up: Tour De Tuscaloosa

The week before Tour De Tuscaloosa was the last big training week before Ouachita Challenge. This meant that this week was going to be a hard one. This was the last week of Build 1. Build 1 did not go as planned. Spring break was the first week which only brought 6 hours of ride time. Did plenty of races in during this time (Rouge Roubaix, Tuffburg and Tour De Tuscaloosa).

The week before Tour De Tuscaloosa:

Monday: off

Tuesday: Two sets 10 min cruise intervals, spent just over 20 min just under LT

Wednesday: Three sets 1X1's, spent over 15 min above LT

Thursday: 3:45 min MTBing the Nox. Went XC race pace the last 20 min (to trick the body into thinking it was a longer ride) climbing up Charlotte's Web.

I think I need a bigger car!

Ready to go!

Three Bridges reroute

Lake Choctaw

 Friday: Recovery Ride (RR)

Saturday: Off (was expose to be leg openers but work and weather dictated otherwise)

Sunday: Tour De Tuscaloosa, 30 miles, Cat 5, Hilly

Tour De Tuscaloosa

Love the design, hate the fit!

 On Friday I talked to Kevin about my race strategy. He suggested I just attack early, attack often and make it fun for myself. It's not like I could win money for it, and it was a C priority race. Well on race day I took his advice, and boy was it fun!

The start was neutralized for about half a mile before the racing started. A mile into the race the biggest hill on course started. Everyone in the group slowed down as they started to climb... That is everyone but me. I got spat out to the front of the peloton and people started to draft off of me. Hum, time to have fun! I attacked on the very first hill of the race! As I neared the top I looked back to see the group stretched out in one big line behind me. Heck yeah! Make them work to draft you.

After this initial climb I rejoined the group and the course flattened out as we rode across the ridge of the first hill. Nothing spectacular happened until we started the decent. The decent had "breaking rumple strips" going across the road. Most people had to check there speed as they passed over these strips, I did not. I flew past several people as I was once again spat out to the front of the group. I decided to just take it easy at the front and see if anyone would pull around me.

To my surprise no one passed me until we turned back toward the start finish line. The section of road leading up to the finish had several medium length steep hills. As we started climbing again, the group picked up the pace, so I sat back in 10th place and waited for a break away to form.

The break way formed just as we crossed the finish line for the first time (10 miles in). I bridged the gap as the group started to climb the big hill for the second time. I rode with the break away, exchanging pulls,  until we reached a small kicker hill just before the big decent. My body decided that my climbing legs were done for the day, so I slipped back into the main field just as we started the flat section flowing the decent.

On this flat section the main group could see the break away. With about a mile before we turned back toward the finish line one rider yelled out that "We needed to pick up the pace to catch that break away." No one responded so I went to the front again and hammered away at LT trying to pull the group back up to the break away. As we turned toward the finish we had caught the break way, except one rider that rode off the front to finish first.

Once the climbing started up again the group passed me and left me dangling off the back. Just survive these next few hills and catch back on before the big climb... Yes, back on! 10 miles left, save some energy early in this lap then finish strong.

I managed to stay with the group up the big climb, then sucked wheels across the ridge. Once again, just before the kicker climb, I was spat out to the front of the group. Killing the climb I had open road ahead of me as we started the decent. The lead moto was having trouble staying out of my way as I dove through the turn at the bottom of hill. I had a couple hundred feet lead on the group at this point and decided to attack the flat to hold them off.

The pack caught me as I was turning toward the finish for the last time. I sat in the group (about 20 of the starting 50 where in this group) trying to recover before the sprint. Topping a small roller hill the finishing straight was slightly down hill. I sprinted for all I was worth and was positioned well to win the sprint (for 2nd) until I spun out my compact crank! Once spun out I had a few people re-pass me as I finished top ten (official results have me at 15th, but the person that drafted me to the finish was placed 13th). Not too bad considering that I attacked early, attacked often and had fun with the race!

Tour De Tuscaloosa HR and Altitude Data

     

"I Got So Bored On My Long Ride Today That I Road My Allez On a MTB Trail!"

Spring Break:

Sunday: Rouge Roubaix, Drive 2 hr to Kevin's house for food, Drive 3 hr to Starkville.

Monday: Clean road bike, load car, drive 5 hr to Little Rock

Tuesday: Spend time with Mom, Talk to local bike shops about group rides, find out about Nitro ride at 6:30. Do Nitro ride with 2 Ex-pros, 3 Cat 1 riders, 5 Cat 2 riders, 15 Cat 3 riders, one other Cat 5. (You know you're going to be in pain when your bike is the cheapest by $3k) Keep up and ride strong for first 30 min, push the pace up some shorter climbs, get dropped by second lap.

Wednesday: Spend time with grandparents, shop for new phone, spend time with 3 year old nephew.

Thursday: Ride road bike for 4 hr, including 30-45 min of riding the Allez on a MTB trail, receive Dads new smart phone to avoid new contract. (Should see many more pics on this blog now that I just have to carry a phone)

HTC Tilt 2, 3.2 Mega Pixels

 Friday: Drive back to Starkville, work on HW

Saturday: Wake up early to do leg openers, clean bike and get packed for Tuffburg, drive 3 hr down to Hattiesburg, search for motel, finally crash around midnight.

Sunday: Tuffburg!

Tuffburg:

As usual sleep did not come easy or steady the night before. This has become quit the problem for me. Despite not getting excited or nervous about a race till I'm at the start line I'm still having trouble sleeping. Once 7am rolled around it was time to get up, eat, repack the truck and drive 20 min to the race start.

Coming off of 2 big regional races its strange to come back to your local races. At the regional races you might have one or two people that know you, and know how strong you might be. Heck I was lucky if more than 5 people at these races knew my name. No sooner than I stepped out of the truck at Tuffburg there were people asking me how I was doing, how my training has gone, and a few congratulated me on my races this year.

Only a hour and a half to race start: Get registered, Get dressed, Start warming up! Watched the Beginner Class go off then test road the first 3 miles of the race course. I knew from last year that it was going to be flat, tight and full of turns. I also knew that the start would decide who did well and who would struggle. I was surprised at how fast I was able to dive into the sandy over hard pack turns of this section. A few practice starts and some tempo riding, then it was time to start.

Lining up at the start I knew that there where 5 people who might be in contention for the win (David A, Tyler, KC, Butler, Me). One thing I also noticed is that I was the only Cat 2 19-29 racer that was not in a team kit. The starting roll call was taken, then an announcement of 15 seconds. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....

....Sprint! Yes half a bike length on David A, Cr@p cant clip in! Had to slow just a bit to get clipped in and was passed by David A and Tyler both. As the starting straight ended I was closing in on Tyler's wheel but then at the last moment KC cut me off. Hitting the single track 4th was not my plan.

After a few turns it was clear that KC was not on form this early in the year so I asked to pass on the next wide section. I followed him through a few more turns before finding a spot to pass. "Passing on Left." As I pulled up next to him he decided he wanted to sprint to the next turn. Time to grow sharp elbows and pass. I was already out of eye sight of David A and Tyler and was not happy about being behind KC. I dove to the inside of the next turn and powered out of it passing KC.

About a mile later the course opened up to a short double track climb. As I turned on to the double track I could see David A and Tyler just finishing the climb. Halfway up the climb Butler passed me. Going down the back side of the climb, across a road then up a short washed out pitch I managed to pass Butler as we hit single track. Butler stuck on my wheel for the next several miles till I took a small spill.

Passing Butler, Lap 1

 After a short rooty climb there was a rooty descent that ended with a hard right turn into a small drop, landing in a sand pit then a left turn. My front wheel washed out and Butler passed me as I tried to get going again. The spill jumped my chain off the chain rings, so it took me longer to get going then I was expecting.

Running remount

 Crossing the finish line I knew that I had 10 more miles to chase down the leaders. I saw Butler turn into the woods just as I turned onto the finishing straight. Double shot caffeine Gu, change out bottles, then chase! About 2 miles into the second lap (about the time the caffeine hit my system) I passed Butler on the side of the trail with a broken chain. Being back in 3rd and with caffeine surging through my system it was time to really push the pace!

As I charged down the trail people would tell me that David A and Tyler were just up the trail. I continued to push until I saw David A. With these trails it's hard to tell exactly how far ahead someone is. With all the switch back running so close to each other David A could of been 30 sec ahead or 5 min depending on where we passed each other. The first time I passed him I figured we had 6 miles left and I was about a min and a half behind him. Next time we passed I was only 1 min behind with 5 miles left. Would I catch him, or would he see me chasing and turn it up a notch?

Face of pure pain!

 With less than 4 miles left I was finally on the same switch back as him. Then with 3 miles left I made the pass. Crushing the last 3 miles I finished 2nd. Less than 30 sec behind Tyler and nearly 1 min ahead of David A. Not too bad for the first XC race of the year!

Tuffburg HR and Altitude Data

Tyler 1st, Me 2nd, David A 3rd

      

A Little Late: Falling Behind

It's been 2 weeks since my last update, but since then I've had 2 races and spring break to deal with. So this week will have a few posts to update you with what's been going on.

Rouge Roubaix Race Recap

Well my last post was a kind of a pre-race pump up for me.  Leading into my second race of the year, and my first B-priority race, it was time for me to take an off week to mark the end of my Base 3 training. During this week I should of been on the bike every day doing recovery rides or leg openers.  Well I failed at that. Between School and other life obligations (read laziness) I only managed to get in a leg opener ride on Thursday and another leg opener on Saturday. 

Compressor Power Analysis

 Saturday night brought very little sleep as the excitement for the race started to build up in me. This was going to be my first century and only my second road bike race. Was I ready? Did I have everything I needed? Did I ride enough gravel? Would I be comfortable riding with a group of 70 other Cat 5s?

The next day I was out of bed and eating with only 3 more hours to contemplate these questions. Off went the Grand Fondo, off went the Cat 1/2 race. O cr@p, what side dose my number go on? Do I have all my food ready? Time to line up already?

Start

Before I knew it we where off.  The first several miles was a neutralized start. Then the race started as we turned onto High Way 66. The pace picked up as we rolled down the road with the only sound being the clicking of shifting gears and the humming of tires. Then as we approached the next turn the group let it be known that this was a Cat 5 race.  "Slowing, Right turn!" was heard coming from more than just a few people.

The next section of road consisted of rolling hills, winding turns, and more unnecessary announcements of group actions. About halfway through this sections the group "Nature Break" was suggested. As the racers pulled over there where more than a few people wondering what was going on.

With less than a mile left till the next turn the racers rejoined the group. Then came a dip in the road which caused everyone to suddenly yell "Slowing" so that they could craw over the dip, then turn left back onto High Way 66.  

This should of been the point where I started to move up in the pack, with about 5 miles left till the first gravel. But I was boxed in and was not aware of exactly how close we were to the gravel. In fact my general movement was rearward, further behind the contenders in the race.

First Gravel

As we turned onto the gravel I became painfully aware that my race plan was over. I entered the gravel sitting somewhere around 40th and had to quickly work my way around 15 or more slower riders. By time I got around these riders I was already 50+ yards behind the lead group and watched as my friends pulled to the front of the group to push the pace. The chase was on. I went about 90% LT trying to catch up with the lead group but about 1 mile into the gravel they pulled around two turns and was out of sight. I backed down to about 110% of my endurance pace and proceeded to suck the wheel of anyone that passed me.

The Catch

Once the gravel ended it was time to chase down the lead group. I knew that it was very likely that they slowed down considerably after the first gravel section (thanks to talking with Kevin). Keeping my pace steady I had a group of 3 people catch me. I worked with this group till we picked up another group, then another, then another. Once I was able to see the lead group I was shocked that there was only one person still on my wheel. Back on, time to regroup and see what will pan out.

Second Gravel

Another Nature Break and 30ish min of cruising along at 20+ mph and it was time for more gravel. This gravel section had a short pothole infested road leading to a steep gravel climb followed by several miles of rolling hills. I made sure to hit this climb in the top 10 (the lead group had swelled to 30+ with some women and master riders mixed in). About half way up this climb it was obvious that there were 4 groups that would form. I was feeling good and was going to be placed in the second or third group...

...Or so I thought until halfway up the climb when I looked over to see who was passing me. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I had ran off the road as I glanced over at the other riders. Forced to walk the rest of the climb I finished out this gravel section riding on my own.

The Chase

As I rounded the last turn of the second gravel section I could see 3 groups ahead of me. A group of 2 ~100 feet just ahead of me, group of 3 ~ 50 feet ahead of them, and a group of 4 ~ 150 feet ahead of them. Wait to get caught by a group, then chase, or chase now?.....

....Chase Now! Going all out I decided I wanted to latch onto the group ahead of me. After sprinting for a few seconds then riding at LT for a few min I was still ~50 feet behind the closest group as they merged with the group ahead of them. At this time I realized I was not going to be able to catch them. So I sat up, took in the sights and extra energy, and waited to be caught by a group. Before too long I was back in the chase with a group of 5 other cyclist. We all took our turns pushing the pace in the wind and resting at the back. As the group neared the last gravel section only 3, of the then 10 cyclist, were still taking turns at the front.        

Last Gravel

The last gravel section started with a long steep hill climb. I was able to climb the hill ok until I rounded a corner and could not see the end of the hill. At this point I did some mental math comparing speed and energy usage and decided it was time to hike-a-bike. With the hike-a-bike done and knowing that there were some other climbs and descents coming up I decided to test my road bike handling skills (or I should say how well MTB skills translate to riding road bikes on gravel at speed) and tried not to break going into turns. This worked out well as I was able to pass several people on that last section of gravel. Before I knew it the hard parts of the race was over...

...Or so I thought

Just Let It End: Chip-N-Seal From H3ll

After a short smooth road section we hit the worst roads I've ever ridden. If the gravel at mile 75ish was a slap to the face, this road at mile 85ish was a Nut Shot delivered by a mule. It lasted right around 10 miles and was so pothole infested that riding over it in a full size truck at 20mph would hurt. Trying to keep the pace high on this road took everything out of me. Less than 3 miles into this section I was mentally done, my digestion started to shut down, and I was hurting to just suck the wheel of anyone around me.

With ~4 miles left to go the roads finally smoothed out. My motivation picked back up and my digestion started to process energy again! Riding in a small group of 5 I decided it was time for me to do my dues at the front and eat the wind. Climbing up the next to the last hill I felt good, strong, and ready to go. No more than a few hundred feet into the climb I heard the people behind me complain that "This hill better stop around this next bend." I knew we still had 3+ min of climbing to do (this hill was part of my leg opener ride the day before) so it was time to put in some more energy to see how well I could finish. I felt sorry for the people who pulled me through the Chip-N-Seal section, as I turned up the pace they just could not keep up (I know that this is generally looked down on but I wanted to see how my legs would respond to one more hard effort 5 hr into a race).

At 5 hr 30 min I crossed the finish line of the hardest race I've ever attempted. Looked around for people I knew, did not see anyone so I grabbed some water, laid down for a bit, then spun back to the start. Turns out that I finished 16th only 21 min behind the winner.

HR and Altitude Data: Rouge Roubaix

 Speaking of the winner, Kevin won in spectacular fashion. Riding away from the lead group on the last gravel section and TTing it for the last 20ish miles to win by more than 6 min. The other Starkville guy I ride with, David A, finished 9th in his supper hard Cat 3/4 race. Congrats guys, and to everyone who finished that crazy hard 106 mile race!

Dude, I Just Lost a Contact!

This past week I took the time to go get my eyes checked again.  Got myself a new set of glasses and a new set of contacts. I'm having to wait till Tuesday for a full box of contacts. Well today on my long ride the wind was so strong that it blew one of my contacts out!

Training this week has been ok at best.  Took Monday off, and Tuesday as a recovery ride.  Wednesday brought 5 min pyramid intervals, and Thursday was my last gravel ride before Rouge Roubaix! Then it decided to rain all day on both Friday and Saturday.

Short Stop at the Refuge

After taking an unexpected day off (Saturday) I decided that Sunday's ride would need to be a good one. And boy was it! Started off with Kevin, David A, Parisa and me fighting the wind and cold as we headed out to the Noxubee Refuge. First hour was a little slow, but once we hit the Refuge, Kevin and Parisa peeled off and David and I picked up the pace.  The next hour and a half was filled with fighting the wind, side by side, as we pushed a high endurance pace over the rolling hills surrounding Starkville, MS. At 2 hours 30 min in, Kevin rejoined our group. Once we got back into town, 3 hour 30 min in, David peeled off to head home.

Some Rolling Hills

It was at this point that the pace really picked up.  The next 45 min we pushed a high tempo pace as Kevin and I headed down Old Westpoint.  Kevin showed me a cool little road just pass the highway which became our turnaround point. On the way back to town I blew up, with only 30 min left to go. Kevin was kind enough to pull me on into town where we split. By far my hardest long ride. But defiantly what I needed going into my rest week before Rouge Roubaix.

Train Bridge at Turnaround

Old Road Bridge at Turnaround

Rouge Roubaix is my second race of the year and my first B priority race.  Each of my B priority races are placed at the end of a rest week.  Rouge Roubaix is only my second road bike race and my first century. The race course has 3 gravel sections which total 25 miles. I am very nervous about this race, both because of my inexperience in road bike races and riding with a group on gravel.  Even with my reserves about this race my goal is to finish with the lead group. Talking to Kevin, who did this race last year, I expect the lead group to be less than 10 of the 50 starts in Cat 5. Below is the official description of the race pulled from the website.  

Welcome to home page of the Rouge Roubaix. A classic 100 mile road race that covers the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Feliciana’s. The race starts in St. Francisville, LA and travels north and west through the back roads of West Feliciana Parish and Wilkinson County, Mississippi. You will encounter a constantly rolling terrain, and a few climbs that will test all racers. The road surfaces will vary greatly. You will encounter chip and seal, sandy gravel, smooth as glass asphalt, and some roads that are just plain bad. This race is a classic test of man and his machine vs. the terrain and elements. It would be unfair to attempt to predict what type of weather to expect for the Rouge Roubaix. You should come prepared to battle 80 degree heat and Louisiana humidity (it’s worse than Houston). You should also come prepared to expect temperatures so low that your water bottles will freeze. And then again, if the cycling Gods are with us, we will get one of those perfect spring like days where it will be tough to break a sweat.
http://www.rougeroubaix.com/

Southern Cross 2011 Race Report

First let me say that this is my first attempt at Blogging, and sorry if it sucks!

 

Well the race session is officially upon us here in the deep south. On February 26 over 200 crazy early session racers lined up to kick off there year with 52 miles of Georgian hill climbing fun!  Most were on Cross Bikes others on Mountain Bikes but all were ready to test there off session fitness gains.

I was especially eager to test my fitness as this is my first year following a true training plan with clear yearly goals. My goal for this race was to finish in less than 4 hours 30 minutes. This goal was set simply based on the distance of the race and the results from the 2010 race.  The week leading up to the race was not a recovery week or even a easy week. This race was both a C priority race for me and the first race of the year.  This meant that the weekly work outs of 5 minute pyramid intervals and longer gravel rides were not cut out or cut short. 

Thursday night was the first part of the week that was out of the ordinary.  Fine tooth cleaning of the Stumpy and packing.  Friday brought nearly 7 hours in the truck with four other eager mountain bikers.  Got into Dahlonega right around midnight local time.  That night I wound up not being able to get comfortable in the large plush bed in the motel room so I decided that sleeping on the floor was best.

7 o'clock came way too fast. Was up and had ~700 cal in me by 7:30.  Before I knew it about 200 races were starting to line up at the start line. Not knowing what to expect in the Cross part of the course I lined up toward the outside and about 3 rows deep.  Eddie O'Dea thanked all the sponsors then exited stage left.  We heard him shout "Ready" and with that everyone started to roll.

I started to get frustrated during the starting Cross part of the course because I knew that I could go faster than the Cluster F#ck of people in front of me would allow. Then came the first run up. I'm a Mountain Bike racer ok, not a cross bike racer or tri-athlete, a Mountain Bike racer. Running, especially in cycling shoes, is not something that is natural to me. That first run up lost me most of the spots I was able to pick up during the Cross course.

After the run up the course opened up on the road heading out of the Winery. It was on this road that I started to look for a group of riders about my speed to draft off of. I passed several groups of people going too slow for my liking and watched as a few groups blew by me faster than my mounting bike gearing would allow. After about 5 min of hammering down the road I hit the start of the first gravel climb of the day.  Once on the gravel I stopped looking for people to draft off of and started settling down into a climbing rhythm that I knew I could hold.

I knew that there were going to be some big climbs on the day and that the first really big one would end at about mile 13. Well this first short climb was over before I could find my rhythm.  A short downhill allowed me to pass a few people, then started the real fun for the day.  A long steep climb of about 8 miles stretched out in front of me. Once I got into my groove it was all over.  I stepped into the pain cave for an extended stay. The climbs I train on, living in Mississippi, are 5 min long at most. My biggest weakness in endurance racing (other than my lack of experience) is long hill climbs.  After climbing for about 20 min I started to look for the end of the climb. "It's just around this bend", nope. "Well then it's got to be the next bend", nope.  During all of this me and a single speeder started to play yo-yo. If the pitch increased he would pass me, if it would decrease I would pass him. At about 45 min into the climb the single speeder warned me, as he passed me for the last time, that it got even steeper towards the top. After a few more bends in the road I saw what he was talking about.  Over the next half mile there was not a single person still on their bike.  Dang, I guess I will use my granny gear after all.

Once the steep section was cleared we hit the first aid station, 1 hour 30 min in.  As I approached the aid station workers asked what race I was in. I replied 50 and they pointed me even further up the hill. This was the low point of the race for me, I was expecting the aid station to be at the top of both big climbs for the day. My feeling of defeat was only compounded when I realized that I was solidly in No Man's Land. No one in sight ahead of me, no one in sight behind me.  O well, put your head down and HTFU!

I'm not sure when I started to pass people: was it across the top of the mountain, or was it when I used most of my 100mm fork to my advantage on the descent?  Not too sure, but before I knew it the second big climb of the day was stretched out before me.  This one was allot less intimidating.  It was only 4 miles long and never got really steep. About half way up this climb I pass a guy on a Cross bike and was surprised as he swung across the road to draft me. After a few min I ask if he was getting much of a draft off of me (at 5'7" and 140lb I don't put off much of a draft, especially at 9mph).  We talked for a bit before the last steep section of the climb caused him to drop off.

Back at the aid station I handed off 2 bottles asking for water, laid down my bike for a nature break and when I turned around the aid station workers had put my bottles on my bike and had it standing waiting on me! Big thanks guys!  The next few miles brought nothing of interest. At mile 35 I saw a strong rider starting the next descent and decided that I wanted to pass them before the descent ended.  After chasing for a mile I saw one of there full water bottle become a fast moving projectile. As we started the next climb I pull up next to the rider just as she asks if anyone has a spare bottle. With 20 miles left and 3 full bottles I felt like I could afford to lose some weight and help a fellow racer out. It turns out that this rider was Andrea from the Brick House Racing blog. We talk for a few min before she picked up the pace and I fell in behind her to draft.  On the last climb of the day she dropped me and I was relegated back to No Man's Land.

On the last descent of the day I remember thinking that this road look familiar.  Well it should, I spent an hour of close study on it during Fools Gold. Don't remember how long it took to get off the mountain or how many people I passed.  All I knew for sure is that the gravel road section of the race was done.  With 10 miles to go I put my head down, pulled my arms in tight, and hammered away. As a course worker informed me that there was only 6 miles left the Cross bike guy from earlier swung pass me and told me to get on.  Thanks! I'll take any help I can get!

At mile 50 the Cross guy pulled over and asked if I had a multi-tool.  I did and handed it off to him. As I pulled into the Winery I was horrified at the last run up. That run up felt like trying to run up a mountain after 51 miles of riding in the mountains. Half way up my calves and quads cramp up! Not going to slowing down, not going to slowing down.

It was about this time that 5 people started the run up, this group included Andrea and the Cross guy. Time to push it!  Too bad it was too little too late.  All 5 people passed me and I cruised the remainder of the course and finished with a time of 3 hour 44 min!  That's over 45 min faster than my goal!
 

HR and Altitude Data: Southern Cross

The post race wine tasting and food was great. The ride back to Mississippi included stopping by Oak Mountain to put in a lap.  That ride was the first time I've given blood at Blood Rock. Then it was back to school on Monday. It's taken me a few days to get back into training but I feel like my legs are responding well and hope to crush it at Rouge Roubaix!