Getting Back in Gear

Again, a single entry to catch up on a bunch of things.

Half Marathon

I had taken about a month off from serious cycling to get ready and run the Columbus Half Marathon.  See my previous post about the actual race day activities and results.  The next two weeks sucked as I caught a cold for the first week and then it rained the entire second week.  So I had two weeks without much exercise at all, gained a few pounds. 

Essay Contest

 On Oct 30th I saw that there was an essay contest in Dirt Rag.  The due date was Nov 1.  So I hastily scrapped together an essay about riding the whole of the GAP and C&O trail in one day/night.  340 miles in 30 hours.  It is a ride I very much want to do, but at this point it will have to be a fictional essay.  I have been thinking for a year about writing a murder mystery novel that features this area, so I brought out some of those ideas for the essay.  I hope I win ... a Pivot Mach 5.7 is first prize.   Trick or Treat night was actually on Halloween this year.  We went out for a cold hour ... in the rain! 

Riding Again

I was finally able to get out a ride again after 7 straight days of blustery, cold rain.  That hurricane Sandy did a number on us with precip but nothing like the NY/NJ coast.  So I can't complain too much.  I got out on Thursday evening for a short 30 mile ride.  Then all day Friday for a long 68 mile ride to Columbus (see below).  Today (Sunday) I joined Gorrilla and a group of five others for a solid gravel ride.  We started in  Glenford and did 43 miles with 4500 feet vertical.  It was beautiful roads, several I've been on before but some new stuff too.  The whole route was up and down, a real climbing sufferfest.  Sada was having a bad day and so it was fun being in front of him most of the day; I know he can kick my ass without problem on a regular day.  I was surprised that I was able to hang in with the group and not be the one at the rear that everyone waits for.  I was strong right through the last climb!  I did almost lose it on one gravel corner; got the rear going sideways and managed to save it.  John said it looked impressive, I said it wasn't intentional.  Guys were on very different bikes.  Regular cross bikes (as in $15k bikes that weigh nothing), a single speed steel rig and even a 29er hardtail. 

Bikes

On Friday I rode in to Paradise Garage to test ride a couple of bikes.  Mostly the new Salsa Warbird.  I got there to discover it was the Aluminum version, not the Ti as I had been told.  They had it set up way too high, more like a geriatric hybrid than a gravel RACING bike.   So it was very hard to get a feel for the bike since the set up was so wrong.  But Salsa did design this bike with a tall head tube so it does sit up a bit more anyway.  The Al was very stiff, probably too much.  I really need to try the Ti.  I also got on a Foundry carbon Auger.  It was very sweet and soaked up the bumps with aplomb.  I thought it outshone the Salsa even though I thought I would like that bike better.  The Auger has these sexy carbon seat stays.  It is super light.  I really like John's Ti Warbird so I will wait to try one at Freeze Thaw.  Either way, I don't have the $4k for a new warbird so I'll have to win the essay contest or wait a while. 

Fall Ramblings

This is a catch-up entry on a couple of weeks.   In late September was "take your kid mountain biking day".  There was a big event organized at Alum Creek.  Unfortunately it had rained hard the night before prompting the cancellation of the said event.  Eli and I went anyway and we brought along John Sada and his ten year-old son Anthony.  John rides tons but he is very new to mtn biking.  Anthony rides quite a bit for a 10 year old but is also new to mtn biking.  We set off for a lap on P2 and it was immediately loads of fun watching these two newbies navigate the trail for the first time.  Log overs, skinnies, and the wet roots all through them for a loop.  But to their credit they wanted to ride the stuff over and over again, each time being willing to learn the techniques and give them an honest try.   We did our first lap in about an hour.  So much fun was had that everyone wanted to do lap 2.  So we set off again.  This time John and Anthony took off in race mode.  Eli and I had a good lap too, but were fed humble pie back at the car by the two Sadas.

Last week I did a cross ride up to Gambier.  It was a bit chilly, but the major problem was the wind.  I caught steady winds of 20mph with gusts up to 30 or so.  They were coming out of the south so I had a nice ride up, but a nightmare coming back home.  I really haven't done any long rides in the latter half of the summer, so this was doubly painful.   I think I averaged about 10 mph coming home.

During the summer olympics I got inspired watching the African lope effortlessly along in the distance running events.  I still fondly remember those days.  So I signed up for the Columbus Half Marathon.  I really haven't run hardly at all this whole year.  So I did about a week of easy running, then I spread 5 real workouts over two weeks: 2 long runs of 9 and 11 miles, 1 tempo run of 5 miles and 2 track workouts (quarters and halves).   Then I got sick in the week leading up to the race (see above nightmare windy ride as the cause).   I still had sniffles this morning for the start of the race as this cold was still lingering a bit.   To be honest, I wasn't sure I could do 6:30 pace, and anything faster seemed out of reach.  

I started at 7:30am this morning in the "A" corral about 10 people deep.  I did a 6:36 mile to open things up and it felt pretty darn good.  So I picked it up a bit and logged 6:15ish for the next few miles.  Muscle memory was kicking in good and things were going smoothly.  I was working my way through the field.  By mile 8 I accelerated a bit more and started hitting some miles in the 6:10 to 6:00 variety.   This was simply lovely.  Then I started to tighten a bit (lack of training and that it was 37 deg).  I help 6:15 on the last 3 miles but it was very difficult to keep the legs fresh.  I crossed the line in 1:21:11 and I'm very happy with that.  Far from my 1:12 PR but what can I expect with only 5 serious training runs all year?  

It is funny how I can train pretty regularly for 3 years in mtn bike racing and struggle to crack the top 25%.  Then I basically fall out of bed without hardly any training and run 6:12 pace for a half marathon -- finishing in the top 1/2 of a percent.   I have a runner's body -- low on power but light and very efficient.  

Fatbike Adventure in Hocking Hills

It is funny, but about this time each year I get the hankering for a fatbike adventure.  It isn't anything necessarily planned, but maybe coming off the high volume racing season my body and mind are ready for a different kind of riding and I naturally gravitate towards the fatbike and its relaxed, go anywhere, mentality.


Fatbike Adventure Ride Following the Buckeye Trail from Matt Kretchmar on Vimeo.

This year I made a trip south of the Hocking Hills region to follow segments of the Buckeye Trail that were rideable.   It had rained heavily the day before so the going was kind of wet and muddy in places; glad I brought the Mukluk.   I logged four hours of riding time with about 40 miles of exploration.  A fun day indeed.

My sister has caught the fatbike bug too.  She has a 2013 Pugsley on order through her local shop.  I've been sending her links to videos, ride reports and photos to torment her while her bike still hasn't yet arrived.

 

SM100 Race Report

Well ... it rained a lot, I crashed a few times, and I had to pull out.   There comes a time when a person has to measure up to the amount of suffering they are willing to endure, and I hit my limit in this race.  I'd like to think I can endure significantly more suffering than the average American (afterall I sign up for these 100 mile mtn bike races and I have a long history of elite marathon running), but there were definitely more people out there willing to suffer more than me. 

The race started off reasonably well.  I set off on a medium/hard race pace and climbed through the first hill without too much incident.   The air was very humid (100%) with moderate temps around 70 .. still I was sweating heavily and drinking a lot too.  About an hour in to the race two things happened.  First it started to rain, just moderate rain, but still significant rain that was wetting down the course.   I also managed to catch up to Vicki Barclay who had an early flat and was well back in the field.  We climbed and pushed the "Climb 2" hike-a-bike together and I stayed on her wheel during the fantastic descent.   I was pushing it a bit hard but this was part of my strategy today ... to go harder from the start.  

I paced her on the flatish road section and then pulled away going in to climb three.  I stopped at Aid 2 about a minute longer than her so set off with the goal of catching her on the third and longest (so far) climb.  It was a grueling affair made much worse by the thick mud covering most all of the climb.  Somewhere between a slog and a slippery mess is the best description.  Still I managed to reel her in and stay on her wheel through the top.   The descent down the other side was more technical.  Not bad, but rocky in places.   Vicki was rocking it and I was pushing myself just a little too far beyond my comfort zone.  Keep in mind that Vicki and I both are passing people on the descent, so it is not like I'm a slow wuss or something.  Its just that Vicki is friggin awesome.    I twisted my front wheel in a rock garden and went down for the first time.  No big injury or anything so I picked up my bike and immediately set off even faster to try to catch Vicki's wheel.   This was my big mistake.  About 5 minutes later I went down again, much harder this time and busted up my knee pretty good.  I had a nice blood flow and some heavy bruising.  But more importantly, I was shaken and lost my trail mojo.  I backed off the "follow Vicki" strategy and just set off at a mental recovery pace.   Physically I felt good to go, but I was not in the "flow" anymore. 

Things were good until the fourth climb.  This was supposed to be a smaller affair but it proved to be my undoing.   It was rather technical but the real problem was the pouring rain.  Severe thunderstorms had moved in and had been dumping copious amounts of water on everything; we rode in these conditions for over two hours.   The trail became a slick mess and now my confidence was really shot.  The trail was cut on the side of a 45 degree rocky slope and was only about 12" wide.  I got crossed up in a slippery rock garden and fell ... the wrong way.  I tumbled off the side of the mountain and rolled about 3 times before I came to a final rest in a thicket of thorns.  My knee was banged up again as well as my thumb, my hip and both elbows.  It is amazing I didn't get hurt worse.  It took me 10 minutes to untangle myself and scrambled with the bike up the steep slope to the trail.   Then I walked ... a lot.  My knee was hurt and I wasn't eager to get back on the bike in these conditions.  I was mentally done.

I must admit, I HATE MOUNTAIN BIKING IN THE TORRENTIAL RAIN.  I can ride in the rain no problem, but not technical rock gardens and precariously narrow trails.  I can't do it.  Other people can as lots of people seemed to be busting it down the slippery hill no problem.   I was done.  I walked much of the single track descent and then rode the "trail" back to Aid 4.  The 4 miles of trail in to Aid 4 were more like a stream than a trail.   It was all water everywhere and I had no idea if there was a mudhole or a rock in the middle of it. 

I got in to Aid 4 and then made the decision to bail.  I was hypothermic, it was pouring rain hard.  15 miles of easy road cruising and I was back at my car.  Showered and left.  The whole place was a bloody mud pit and I was ready to get out of there.  Drove 6.5 hours back to Ohio, showered again and crawled in to bed. 

This course was more technical than I had thought.  I think it is harder overall than W101.  I can certain ride this course and probably do well in it, when it is dry.  I probably could have even toughened it out in the miserable mud conditions if not for the two bad falls.  I was just pushing it too hard, too far beyond my ability and I paid the price.    I don't think I would set off on another 100 mile mountain bike race if the forecast called for rain.  I did four of them this year: Cohutta was lovely; W101 rained a bit at the start and then hard at the end; Hampshire was a wet course from recent rains and was technical, muddy and slippery in lots of places; and the Huricane Isaac misery of SM100.  For a year that was marked by extreme drought all summer, I didn't have great luck with my races.  

Now I just want to recover physically and recover my desire to ride a bike again.   Maybe some rail trail exploration is in order this fall.   And maybe some single track riding in DRY conditions.

Hampshire 100 Race Report

The Hampshire 100 was yesterday and a great race it was.  It is amazing that each NUE course can have such a different personality, and this one was certainly that.  The first 20 miles were relatively flat and fast as advertised, then the next 40 miles were frenetic.  It seemed like we were never riding anything more than a few minutes -- a field crossing, single track in the woods, out on a paved road, turn on a side road, now it turns to dirt, now it becomes a jeep trail, now we are back on single track, then through someone's back yard.  It never settled into any rhythm.  There were no big epic climbs but tons and tons of small punchy ones, and most of them seemed to be about 20% grade on loose sandy, babyhead rock surface.   Lots of hike a bike.  Lots of bog holes with thick gooey mud.  

I can't believe how many people's properties we rode through.  I know what a headache it is to get permission from a small handful of property owners for some of these races.  That they could get 80 different people to say "yes, I'll be happy to have 300 psycho bike riders come through my yard" just blows me away.  There must be a real spirit here of sharing access to old right-a-ways and such ... much like England's famous lanes.   

The single track must not get much play there.  It all looked immature.  Clearly some of it was just cut the week before (gee, I think I'll make a 50 yard connector trail through here).  Some of it seemed very new until you hit a bridge that's been there for more than a decade.  On parts of the course we looped twice, the single track was nicely dug in on the second loop.   A lot of these trails are short bits and pieces; no epic 15 miles of continuous, flowly single track to be found.  It was all hard earned grunting and roots and rocks and rough going. 

We started in waves at 6:45 and I went off in the men's open, which was first.  Given that my strategy is to start very slowly, I wasn't real happy about that as I was going to get intercepted by the fast guys in subsequent waves.  Fortunately the first 20 miles of the course were very open and it was easy to allow everyone to self sort.  We did a loop around the camp ground then out to a gravel road.  The first 3 miles were all wide, fast gravel and downhill to boot.  A narrow bridge crossing backed things up for just a moment.  Then lots of gravel rail trail.   We hit the infamous section of riding along the rail bed.  Sure enough, a guy 4 spots in front of me clipped a pedal on a rail tie and flipped up and off into the woods.  Unfortunately his bike stayed on the trail so we all had to dismount and walk around. 

Then more rail trail, dirt roads.  Some climbing helped break things up a bit and then we climbed up the backside of Crotched Mountain Ski resort.  We did some single track through the woods to come down the front side.   Then a very long section of rail trail then went for many miles.   The last bit of it paralleled an old airstrip and was full of deep sand.  Slogfest!

Then we hit the two big climbs: the wall and the power line.  Both were hike a bikes.  The wall started out nicely but then got too loose and too many babyheads to be worth riding.  But this was the first of much hike a bike -- most all of it you could probably clean if you wanted to, but the effort needed to climb it wasn't worth it, better to walk and conserve your matches.   This was all at 25 miles and I was beginning to think this course was going to be really hard.  I had no idea.

The next 20 miles was very rough.  We hit this long section of logging path that was very crude and difficult to ride.  Lots of bogs and water crossings and slippery roots including one section where I carried my bike above my head through waste deep pond crossing.   I was off and pushing the bike lots.  I gotta say this was the dark section of the race and I was worried about having the chops to actually finish in a reasonable time.  The last 10 miles had some nicer single track and I managed to get back to the park in about 6:30 ride time for the first 63 miles. 

I then realized that I wasn't in that bad of a position.  I had beaten most of the 100k riders back for loop 1 and I also knew that I had 20 good fast miles to get back in the groove.  I think the constant struggle in the muddy single track had taken more of a mental toll than a physical one.   I replenished my food supplies and set off on loop 2.

My goal was to pick up 10 places in the last 36 miles.  That was pretty conservative but I didn't think there were that many riders in the 100 miler.   I got my first five in the 15 miles of rail trail; they weren't coming back at me that fast.  We finally hit the cutover section and I was starting to feel good again.  I was climbing well and picking up some slower riders.  I got to 10 and then let one get past me from behind.   We rejoined loop 1 and I started railing it.  Riders were coming back to me in waves and I even reeled in the guy who went by me before.   In the last 10 miles I kicked it up another notch and was humming way faster than I had been through here previously.  I got up to 32 riders I caught and just 1 that got by me and I think stayed out. 

I crossed the line in 9:59 of ride time and something like 10:24 on the clock.  It was a very good success and I can't believe how good I felt at the end.   I had even more kick than I had at W101 and didn't feel as wasted as I did with that effort.   I really think my conditioning is coming along! 

A short two weeks of rest before I head down to SM100. 

Family Rides on the Erie to Ohio Rail Trail

Eli pounding out miles on primitive rail bed.

I'm using this in between period (in between races) to get some family time.  Thursday I took Eli to ride the Heart of Ohio trail from Centerburg to Mt Vernon and back.  The first 7.5 miles is very smooth asphalt but the last 5.5 miles is primitive rail bed with big chucks of gravel and lots of overgrowth.  It was a real slog for those 10+ miles (to and back) on that path.   We picked up speed once we hit asphalt again and raced a storm system back to the car.   A quick stop at a local diner in Mt Vernon gave us some fuel for the return trip.

Family on the Holmes County Trail

On Saturday we packed up the family minivan and headed to Killbuck OH to ride the Holmes County trail to Millersburg and back.   It is a double wide paved trail with half for bikes and half for Amish buggies.  We saw about a half dozen buggies on the pathway and several others tied up at local businesses along the path.  Kind of like a super highway for Amish.   Unlike this blistering hot summer, Saturday was the one chilly day we've had since May.  It hardly got about 60 for the ride and we mostly froze.  Once again, we raced a storm back to the car but avoided getting majorly wet.   This was Dyl's first real ride this summer so she was a trooper to make the 15 mile round trip (with pizza lunch as a bribe in Millersburg). 

Both the Heart of Ohio and Holmes County trails are part of the larger Erie to Ohio cross state trail.  It will be fun to get this completed. 

Gravel goodness, old Mike climbs a gravel farm road.

Today I got out with J.G. and old Mike for some gravel grinding.   JG  rode his warbird prototype, I was on my Masi cross bike and old Mike showed up on a Trek full susp 26er!   Wow, the guy is strong but this was probably not the right bike for the ride -- he was suffering near the end.  We got in 61 miles of gently rolling gravel goodness in and around Mt Vernon including the primitive rail trail that Eli and I had done a few days earlier.  We pushed it and my legs were tired of hanging on JG's wheel for almost four hours.  I was glad to have old Mike there as we were better matched. 

Friday I head to New Hampshire for the Hampshire 100, my third NUE race of the season.  I'm excited to try something very new.  The long range forecast calls for rain, but this is so far out there is a very good chance things will change completely by race day.  Still, I hope we don't ride in the rain all day.

Post Race Ride

The first real ride back from any NUE 100 miler is a tough one.  Fortuitously, we planned a 3 day family vacation in Hocking Hills this week (see horse riding pic!), so I got extra time off the bike.  Today I went out for a 60 miler of hills on the cross bike.  

As expected, my legs felt a bit sluggish but it wasn't as terrible as it could have been.  I managed to keep a good pace climbing up the many steep hills and recover on the flats.   I found a new abandoned train bridge that was cool and stopped to take a quick pic.   It was on Claylick Rd coming out of Tobosso. 

I was planning to stay off the gravel today but it wasn't to be.  Apparently the south end of Pleasant Valley Rd isn't paved.   A car had gone by about 7 min ago and the dust just hung thickly in the air.  With no rain for many weeks, there is about 2" of fine silt on all the gravel roads that just gets kicked up in the air with the slightest provocation.  With only a slight wind today, the dust just hung there coating everything including my lungs.  

Stats: 58 miles, 3k feet climbing, 16.4 mph avg pace.  

2012 Wilderness101 Race Report

This weekend was the Wilderness 101 race in State College, PA.  We awoke to 100% humidity and foggy conditions.  Fortunately the cloud cover kept the temps in the 70s most of the day, so it wasn't blazing hot, but the humidity meant lots of drinking all day.  We had a few sprinkles near the start and then got caught in a hard rain in the last hour. 

Last year I DNF'd after going out too hard in the first third.  So I was looking to meter my efforts out a little better this year and to still break the 10:07 time I posted two years ago. 

The first section of the race went very well.  I kept the heart rate in the 140s and 150s for the most part and got myself through the four climbs and to the Wipple aid station at mile 40 without much trouble.  One of my brilliant moves this year was to strap the Gas Tank bag to my bike and fill it with food.  I grabbed my sandwich after coming down Little Shingleton Rd and using the long flat stretch to eat a big meal before rolling in to the feed zone.  I was able to keep this same nutrition strategy all race -- using climbs and flatter parts to eat from the bag and not spend as much time in the aid stations.  I spent a total of 20 mins in aid stations this year compared to over 40 mins two years ago.

My dad drove around this year to meet me at Whipple and at the mile 70 station (off 322).  This kept him off the course and it was nice to be able to meet up with him at key points.

I rolled in to Whipple right at 3 hours as predicted and was out after about 10 mins, taking a can of coke with me in the tank bag.   The two big climbs loomed ahead.  I was able to keep a good tempo using mostly lower gears to spin rather than grinding bigger gears.   This helped keep the legs fresher.  The descent off Croyle went well, I got held up by traffic about half way down.

At Aid 3 I grabbed more food and downed a Gator Aid and was out within 5 mins.   Next up was the big rocky single track sections of Sassypig and Pigpile and Beautiful and No Name.   The rocks were hard but I managed to pass through a half dozen people in there.  This all the while fighting off cramps.  I then went to my pretzels quickly and I think the salt and carbs helped keep off the cramps.  Between Whipple (mile 40) and Aid 4 (mile 70) I must have past 50 or more riders.

I ripped through Aid 4 quickly, downing a gatorade, filling my camel back and refilling the pretzels.  The long climb up Stillhouse was a bear and I could feel the fatigue in my legs.  The going was kind of rough too which made the climb that much more difficult.  I only picked up about 3 people on the climb.  The next section on Sand Mtn felt long and arduous.  The road kept going up.  Then there was a ripping descent on a very rough road -- panther run.  I kept hitting large rocks and having my bike be deflected a foot or more left and right.  I must have really pounded the bike through that section, fully testing the suspension and wheel integrity.   Then more fire road climbing with rumbling thunder overhead.

I breezed through Aid 5 quickly, only topping off the pack.  It seemed like 9 hours was still a possibility.   I really hammered the last 11 miles.  3 miles of bike trail, a medium big climb, and then 5 miles of rail trail.   My legs were fried but I kept the pressure on.  During the last big climb the rain came down pretty hard and we got plenty muddied in the last rail trail section.  I finished in 9:03, just missing the 9 hour cut.

All in all, this race was a big success.  I was aiming for sub 10 hours and beat that time by nearly an hour.  I had cramps early but managed to subdue them and continue with the race.  I put on a hard but even pace, especially over the last 60% and didn't blow up nor did I hold anything back.   The only way to get faster is to do intervals and strength training ... gotta climb faster if I want to go faster.

Summer Riding

Once again, I've been slow in blogging so there is lots to catch up on.

Lake House:  I did my usual early summer ride up to Sandusky to my parents' lake house.  I choose the Karate Monkey single speed this year.  Yup, 119 miles of mostly road on a single speed 29er mtn bike.  It wasn't as painful as it could have been, but it was plenty hard.  There was a solid headwind out of the north the whole way so I couldn't go fast anyway; good day to choose a slower, more conservative ride.  

Laura's Pugsley:  Laura gave me permission to bid on eBay on a Surley Pugsley.  We won and now she has her early bday present, a 16" white Pugs.  I gotta be honest here and say that her bike is cooler looking than my Salsa Mukluk.  Maybe a pound heavier, but cooler looking and that white is sharp.   She is loving it which is all I could ask for to nudge her gradually towards mountain biking. 

Dad, Jen, Laura and I explore the North Coast Inland Railtrail outside of Norwalk, OH.

Laura Lookin Fat

Job: I am now officially unemployed.  My stint as Dean ended on July 1 and I don't start as professor until Sept 1.   Still, there is lots to do up at the office, but it is certainly along way away from the busy dean thing.   June-O was, as usual, all encompassing for four weeks.  Lots of days that were 16-18 hours long and the rest were 12 hours.  It is just a bugger and it comes at exactly the time of the year when you feel most like you need a break.   I handed in my key and now it is all Mark.  Funny, it is taking me some time to actually learn to decompress and relax; it wasn't as fast coming as I thought.

Storm: We had that same straight line bugger storm that brought 80 mph winds and knocked tons of trees down.  We lost power on Friday and didn't get it back until a week later, almost to the minute.  It was incredibly hot that whole time with temps in the upper 90s and 100s and a sufferfest without AC.  Fortunately Laura's parents got power back on Monday so we camped in their finished basement.  It made riding hard when there is no power and it is so bloody hot.

Cute Couple?

Coming Off Detweiler

Nice View Over Bear Meadows

State College:  We went to State College for Arts Fest week and took the fat bikes.  A great trip.  I got Laura out for a 20 mile ride on dirt roads and jeep trails.  She did great.  I got 5 hours in the next day.  I found the Tussey Ridge trail and it lived up to its billing.  It was 4 or 5 miles of pure rock garden.  I was doing ok until my wide bars caught a tree and I splatted my shin on a rock.   Then I seemed to be out of rhythm and have too many pedal strikes.   A full boinger would be better than the fat bike which is heavy and bouncy.

In the "small world" category, I had to neat encounters at the end of my ride.  As I was coming down Bear Meadows Rd, a car with a couple of bikes on top give me a nice toot.  Wasn't sure if it was because I was just a mtn biker or because I was on a fat bike.   They turned around and chased me down ... turns out it was the Athens Bicycle jersey.  They were from Athens OH here for an OU mtn bike reunion of sorts.  I also ran in to David Shipp in Freeze Thaw.  He was in town from Virginia and vaguely remembered teaching my cycling class.  

Back in Ohio, I also snuck in a trail ride with John G and a group out at Mohican.  We did a lap in 2:25 and I could have easily gone much faster.   The SF100 was working great with the shocks rebuilt.  I had good legs and managed to pull away from John on the big covered bridge climb.  Still he was on his Mukluk so it wasn't a fair fight, but I did have good legs. 

Wilderness 101 is just two weeks away.  I'm not sure I'm in the fitness place I planned to be.  I think I'm fine for the time/distance but could use these next few days to do some more speed work so my heart doesn't jump out of my chest every time the grade bumps up over 5%.   Then Hampshire 100 is 3 weeks after that, then SM100 two weeks later ... that is already two full weeks in to the school year!  When your summer doesn't start will July 1, it seems to go by fast.  I got in a good speedy cross ride today with some big climbs and then a whole bunch of testy hills.  Again, good legs.    

Mid May Thoughts

A whole bunch of random thoughts to catch up on.  So here it goes, in all its jumbled glory.

I've been hoping to get Laura more in to mountain biking.  Her leg issues are really putting a damper on her running and while she loves her cross bike, I felt like this might be a good opportunity to gently nudge her toward mountainbikedom.    I'd have to play this carefully though, providing just the right incentive without seeming like it really matters to me.  She's taken a liking to my mukluk for its fun playful demeanor.   With the seat lowered, it is just barely tolerable for her.  She took it out for some field/path exploring a few days ago and then to the BioReserve two days ago for a real trail ride.  She said she walked down a few of the steeper hills but overall it was a glorious success.  Who knows, maybe a size small fatbike is in her future.

Right after Cohutta I took my Superfly 100 in the shop for some TLC.  I do an excellent job of maintaining the bike, but it is now three years old and has several hard ultra races on it.  The shocks were showing their age.  So the Trek store said it usually takes 10 days or so to send in the shocks to Fox and get them rebuilt.  That was almost 3 weeks ago and I haven't got the bike back yet.  Not that I'm super concerned with my busy job coming up in June, but still, it is taking way longer than they said.  And I expect it will be expensive too.  They are also running new shifting cables and suspension pivot hardware.  I just put a new chain on, the cassette and chainrings are all good.

On last Saturday, I took Eli to Alum Creek Phase 2.  This is our third outing there and I can see him make progress each time.  He is still too little (just turned 7) to make it up the steep climbs (especially with a rigid ss kid's bike) but he is learning valuable skills.  I even saw him make a tricky steep switchback in the beginning .. he let his front wheel drift out wide and then hammered it to make the tight steep turn without flopping.   I was very proud of him.  He was railing it for about 2 miles, hitting berms, doing the logovers, etc. and then the wheels came off when he wanted to catch big air on his favorite jump and couldn't manage to get it just right.  We rode the next 2 miles with him being mostly grumpy and "tired".  He came out of his funk at the end and we had a good last bit.  He even did the 30 yard elevated walkway (about 15 feet up at one point) without much trouble.   We hit two bike shops on the way home.  Roll-Polaris had a Pugsley Black Ops in Laura's size ... hmm. 

The next day (Sunday) John G and I went to Mohican.  I was hoping to maybe get two good laps in.  Again, with the SF100 in the shop, I took my El Mariachi.   John and I both commented that the trails seems bumpier than in previous years ... more roots and stuff.  I definitely noticed that Salsa hardtail was bouncing around more than my cushy SF.  When we got to the parking lot, there were a lot of other riders there that we knew.   Two of them, ostensibly slower than us, took off right away to get a jump on us.  Three of us followed.  John, as usual, rockets off to superhuman pace.  They guy just doesn't have any other speed.  He was supposed to do a 150 mile gravel ride the day before but only managed 20 miles when his tire came apart.  So I think he was somewhere between "angry" and "energized" for this ride which didn't help things.  I went into the red zone quickly on the first climb and managed to stay on their wheels till Mile 7 where the second major climb is.  We whizzed by the first group and then shot off up the Mile 7 climb.  I fell off the back with legs that were already showing fatigue for that 45 minute sprint.  I stayed aways back from them for the remainder of the ride, catching up from time to time when they stopped.  At mile 19, one of our group had his rear wheel come apart.  There wasn't anything I could do so I rode onward.  They joined us back at the car after having used the roads to bail out and limp home on the bad wheel.  I was glad not to do a second lap as I just went too hard in the first section.  I did my lap in 2:30ish -- not my fastest time but pretty close.  I could have gone faster with a more conservative start as I was really flagging in the second half.

I am supposed to ride up to Sandusky tomorrow.  It is 120 miles and I've done this trip each year.  Last year we had favorable winds out of the south pushing me along.  I joined Jeff B at mile 60 and he hammered the last 60 miles for us.  I managed 19 mph with 6:19 on the clock.   Way faster than I would normally do it.  I am not sure I can match that time this year.  I will start at 5:30am (just enough light to see) and hope to make it up there before 1pm.  John G says he is getting up early to join me for the first half.  Jeff B plans to meet me at mile 45 this year but can't come all the way up.   So I will probably have faster company for most of my ride and then suffer the last 30 miles or so by myself.  To make matters worse, I've been fighting a stomach bug for the past few days.  I think I am better today, but still 120 miles is a long ride!

I received my Vascacha in the mail yesterday from Eric Parsons of Relevate Designs.  I got his tank bag and food bag last year and they are great.  This touring seat bag will come in good use this summer.   I hope to make a mostly-road trip to State College in 2 or 3 days (350 miles) and to do the GAP trail between Pitts and DC this year (340 miles each way).   I still have to clear all this with the VP of Domestic Affairs though.   Been eyeing a Ti Fargo and reading Tour Divide race reports ... fun to dream about such stuff.  I'll have to start small.  

 

Post Race Planning

After Cohutta, I've had some time to reflect on my performance and plan for the next.   My training has consisted primarily of LSD -- a long ride each weekend with as many hills mixed in as possible.  This training has allowed me to finish a 100 mile race and not blow up half way through.  But I want to go faster and I don't think this kind of training will allow that.

Back when I was marathon running, I had four staple workouts each week: the Sunday long run, a short interval workout, a long interval workout, and a long tempo effort.   In my bicycle training, I am basically only doing the long part.  I think (I know) that the faster efforts were critical for my marathon success because they made race pace seem easier.  I need to add intervals to my cycling regiment.  

I will try to mix in at least two workouts that fall in the later three categories: short intervals, hill repeats, long intervals, and tempo efforts.  I need more cycling time at high speed so that race pace feels easier. 

Cohutta 100 Race Report

The Cohutta 100 race was this weekend.  I took the day off from work on Friday to drive down to TN/GA border, check in and then get some rest.  The race went off at 7am on Saturday and I finished late in the afternoon.  Then drove part way back to arrive back at home before Noon on Sunday.

The race course was a bit different this year.  The same basic beginning, but then we went further South to grab some single track on the Pinhotti #2 section.  Backtracked on the same course before diving off on another section of the Pinhotti trail.  Then followed roughly the same course back to the start, cutting off about 10 miles of single track but adding some other stuff to close it out.  I clocked it at 103 miles with 13600' climbing in 10:17 clock time (9:45 ride time).  It was definitely harder than last year's race and I loved it.  Last year's course was hard, but there was just too much stupid gravel in the middle and so I liked breaking it up a little.  I also liked the out-n-back format because I got to see the return pros coming at us.  And I knew kind of what to expect of the second half of the course.   I also liked that it was a harder.  Jeremiah Bishop said that no one will call this the "easy one" anymore; I agree.  It isn't the most technical at all, but it is a legit sufferfest.  

My plan was to start at the back, stay fairly conservative for the first two-thirds or so, and then see what I had left.  I lined up more than 75% of the way back, purposely trying to put myself among slower riders.  I would guess there were 300 or more riders (later I learned almost 400 started).  We set off at 7am on the dot with moderate but humid temps.

On the first section we climbed about 3 miles on a road and I stayed right with the folks around me.  We entered the first section of single track and it was wheel to wheel.  The pace was just about right, I had no inclinations to get around anyone and no one behind me seemed eager to pass either ... a nice start to the event.  After about 40 minutes or so, we cross the infamous rock river section, go across a bridge and then continue on the single track climb.  I went around 2 or 3 guys here and then had open trail in front of me for a long single track climb.  I moved out here for the first time actually applying a little power.  It felt good but I was wary of how much more toughness lay ahead. 

After a long time, maybe an hour or more, we dumped out on the first gravel road section.  It was flattish for a few miles before climbing gradually and then more steeply.  I was ready to be off the single track as the pace was slow (10 mph) and the effort hard (harder than I wanted).  This first gravel climb is 2000' and I remember it well from last year.  It is in my perfect zone -- a steepness of about 10% where I can climb quickly and efficiently but staying away from the steeper stuff that exposes my lack of power.  I made good time here picking off about 10 or more riders on the climb.  Once on top, there are a few small rollers (200' or so) and I went past lots of people.  I felt my effort was steady but harder, maybe even a little harder than I wanted. 

I also went through my camel back on this climb and rode 30 min without water.  No huge deal, but I was surprised how quickly I was drinking.   I knew from last year's cramp fest that I needed to drink more.  The temps were much higher in this race too, approaching the 70s by now and I was sweating a good bit.  So my plan was to drink often and I was.

I rolled in to check point 3 (mile 36) and ate half my foot-long sub and downed a coke.  I needed the food at this point and I needed water.   The next section was tough with about 5 medium climbs in the 500' range, and they were steep buggers too.  This is where I got hurt last year but I knew this year's stuff was just the prelude to harder pieces yet to come.   We then had a mega descent of about 5 miles.  The lead riders were coming back up this monster hill so it was fun to see them.  Jeremiah Bishop, then Cristian Tanguy, then some other guys.  I saw Gerry Plug and Garth Prosser too.  We finally rolled in to Check Point 4 (mile 51) where I topped off my water and went for the south loop.  I was surprised how many return riders were already there (this was check point 5 too).  I figured they were an hour ahead of us at that point.  I really thought I was closer to the "main pack" so it was a little disconcerting.  Still I kept my focus and headed out.

The southern loop was a blast.  This Pinhotti #2 was an absolute dream.  Tight twisties, ups and downs, berms, smooth single track goodness.  I was ripping it.  I have never been known for my descending prowess, especially on technical single track.  But I got to say that NOT ONE SINGLE rider passed me on any downhill this year.  And I passed quite a bit, both on gravel and on single track.  I know the 29er full susp buys me some "talent", but I must also be getting better at the technical riding and maybe I weigh more too! :(    After ejecting from the singletrack bliss, we started the MONSTER climb back up.  Maybe 1/10 of the way up, we returned to Checkpoint 4/5 where I got my bracelet and ate/drank lots, including the second half of my sub and another coke.   I knew what hell lay ahead.

This is mile 63 and the start of the hardest part of the course.  The next five miles went straight up without respite.  Maybe averaging 15% with sections above 20%.  It was just a killer.  I knew it would be hard, but this was freakn hard.  And blistering hot.  And there were monster horse flies all over us.  My gps was showing silly speeds of 3mph or so which was depressing.  But I kept my heart rate in check at 160 or less -- I still had many hours to go and couldn't risk blowing up or bringing on the cramps.   I also just barely started feeling the pre-cramp twitches in my legs and would back down the pace a little.  Standing from time to time helped too.

We finally crested the climb only to face the five 500' medium climbs.  I recalled from looking at the map that we would dive off on to the next section of single track before returning to check point 3/6, but it seemed to come forever.  I kept thinking, "after this next climb, then the singletrack" only to find yet another gravel climb.  I also started having dark thoughts, mostly of the "I'm lost" variety.   But then a pink arrow would appear and reassure me.  I picked off a bunch of guys here.  I felt slow, but I was going past a stream of guys going much slower and no one was passing me.

We finally hit a section of Pinhotti singletrack -- I think it was the South Fork section.  It was more of a grassy jeep trail, but it was still a nice relief from the gravel climbs.  There was a surprise creek crossing at the bottom which soaked both feet but the cold water felt good.   Back at Aid Station 3/6 I ate more and drank lots.  We had mostly descending ahead, but my legs were very tired, on the verge of cramping, and I knew there were more gravel climbs mixed in.

After some absurd rolling teasers, we shot down a long descent and then hit a bunch of smaller gravel climbs.  I passed a lot of people and then found a small handful of guys who seemed to muster some energy and came back at me.  We would swap places for the next hour or so but no one could get much out of sight of the others.   Then once we hit the last check point (1 & 8) with only 13 miles to go, I put the hammer down and went by a bunch of guys.  We entered the last singletrack section of about 5 miles.  I remember last year that this was mostly down hill, except I forgot about all the short punchy climbs mixed in.  Steep little buggers hidden from view around a blind corner.  They were painful but they also helped me go by another slew of riders.  I finally dropped out on pavement and then put my head down for the last 2 miles in to the finish.  I wasn't letting anyone get by me!

I clocked in at 10:17 with 9:45 of ride time.  I needed all the stoppage time, or rather I needed to eat and drink that much.   I clocked 9:20 last year (8:50 ride time) but this course was more than an hour longer so I think I did better.  I didn't cramp this year too.   Both years, this and last, I felt strong at the end only holding back some so I didn't cramp out.  I finished 82 in the Men's Open.  Maybe about 100th overall.  That would place me in the top third to quarter.  There must have been a ton of attrition because only just over 200 finishers are reported in the results. 

I need to figure out these cramps so I can put more power down in the last quarter of the course.   I also need to develop more power so I can climb faster.  Maybe eat more on the bike so I can cut my stoppage time down too.  But mostly climb faster.

A good race for me!   Maybe a good start to the season!

Confirmation Day

A very good ride today.  We did the John Martin ride which totaled 66 miles and 4900' climbing.  The route started from the Newark Y (8 extra miles for me) and climbed the length of Blue Jay.  Then down 668 and hitting hill after hill enroute to Somerset.  The way back was slightly less hilly but we still had to negotiate 757 and Fairmont.

I was a little late leaving the house and thus missed the group send off by 10 minutes.  I caught the B group on the first big climb on Blue Jay.  They were going to be slow so I went through them and continued on.  They said the A group was well ahead so I figured I'd be going solo for most of it.  I actually caught the A group (it was really the A- group as most of the fasties were with Gorrilla up north) at the top of Flint Ridge.  We rode together down to Somerset.  The group was initially keeping a good pace but the relentless hills were obviously wearing on the group.  So I bid them adieu at Somerset and rode home solo.  I really gassed it hard with a favorable tailwind from the south.

I know I went harder than my target effort for Cohutta.  But I rode 65 miles, 4 hours and lots of hills with a solid hard effort.   And I wasn't totally spent at the end.  I think I'll be good in two weeks.

Paris Roubaix Prep

Watched Paris-Roubaix on tv this Sunday.  I was supposed to go out for 2 or 3 laps of Mohican (50 to 75 miles) but then got inspired to ride roughshod over crummy roads.  So I went out on the cross bike instead to complete numerous "sectors" of gravel goodness. 

Special thanks to my wife who allowed me to disappear for 8 hours on Easter Sunday.  Its a big ask.  I did have a very nasty week with no workouts for several days and I spent all day Saturday doing important husband and daddy things.

I aimed my bike due NNE and went for the nastiest gravelly messes I could find.  The highlight of the trip was a down-then-up of Stone Quarry and also an ascent of Bats Nest.   Both of these non-roads have been abandoned back to the ATVs, rain washouts and wilderness.  Certainly SQ is doable on a mountain bike, but it is a chore to clean on a skinny cross bike -- too many washout opportunities on off-campus drainage ditches.  Bats Nest is entirely rideable.  

Sorry no pictures.  I ended up with 96 miles, 6:45 on the clock, and 6500' of climbing.  I'll note that NONE of my small town service stores were open (Easter Sunday?) and so I was short on water and food.  And there was a nasty 20 mph wind out of the west that made the going rather rough ... probably cost me an hour of ride time.   But I did the ride three weeks out from Cohutta and feel like I'm ready to go. 

Speed Ride

This weekend called for a bit of moderation.  I was supposed to go up to Michigan for Barry-Roubaix, but my legs were still so tired from last week's major outings.   I also desperately needed to tend to several house chores and I just couldn't abandon the family and leave all that here for them to take care of.  The final nail in the coffin was the crummy weather expected up north. 

I snuck in a quick 20 miler to loosen the legs on Friday morning.  Then an hour of hill repeats on the SS for Saturday.  Then I joined the John Martin ride midday on Sunday and got stuck with the fast group.  Fortunately some of them had been "graveled" by Gorrilla the day before -- something insane like 125 miles with 8600' climbing.   So they took it easy on me.

It was my first outing on the road bike since last fall.  Man is that thing light and fast.  It is amazing how easy it is to sit in a group at 25mph ... all when I've been working hard to maintain 12 mph on the mountain bike trails.  We did some substantial climbing in our 56 mile ride -- all the short, steep, power climb typs.  And I hammered the hills hard to keep tempo with the group.  Major leg pain! 

Again, I emerge from the weekend totally spent.  This kind of riding is good for me as I've been doing mostly LSD all winter.  I can ride long, but I am slow.  So getting some speed in my can't be a bad thing in this last month leading up to the start of the NEU series.  

Camp Cohutta, Part3

My Spring break ended with a three day weekend "training camp" to State College.  Eli and I departed Friday morning for a guys weekend.  We arrived in SC around 2pm just as the UPS truck pulled in the driveway with my new deraileur.  Thirty minutes later, the new shifter was in place and we were good to go.  My Dad, Eli and I suited up and went out to Coburn (yes, 45 min more in the car) to ride one of the train tunnels.  We got in a good (good for Eli) 9 miles on mostly flat rail trail.  But there were muddy sections and the tunnel was full of deep puddles and big rocks.   Eli wasn't up to navigating the rocks in the tunnel even though I was pretty sure he could make it through. 

Start of Old Shingletown Descent

On Saturday I ate a big breakfast and then was out the door shortly after 8am.  I took a full bladder of water, two full bottles, can of coke, ham sandwich, two tubes of cube chews, two granola bars and a big bag of swedish fish.  I would need all of it to make it through the day.  It was a foggy chilly start with temps around 45.  I wore a jacket to start and kept it through the first climb and descent before stashing it in the pack.

My plan for the day was to ride strong all day and not cramp up or blow my legs for the end.  That meant being judicious in applying my climbing power for much of the day to not burn out too soon.  I hoped to log 8 hours of saddle time, get close to 10k feet of climbing, and to practice riding lots of rock gardens.

I started out through Boalsburg and began the fire tower climb of 1000 ft on Laurel Rd to join the W101 course at roughly mile 30; it is a nice climb because most of it is 5% to 7% and you can keep a good rhythm.  Then I jumped off on to Old Shingletown Rd which is a bumpy descent dropping 1000'.  Funny thing, there were about a dozen Asian hikers way out in the middle of this path?!  Then it is a gentle cruise down to Wipple's Dam to start climb 2.

The drop in for Croyle Run descent.

The climb up Greenlee Rd is a long one, some 1300 feet vertical.  The first half is a forgiving 7-8% but then it rises up to 12-15% for the second part.  It seems to go up forever.  Just at the summit you enter the Croyle Run drop.  You feel much like a ping pong ball bouncing back and forth across the rocks.  Mostly you point your front wheel down the center and pray for the best.  I made it down without incident.  It looks like someone had gone through there to prune back the bushes -- thank you!

Dropping down in to Alan Seeger I met four young women hikers.  It is nice there were other people out enjoying the day.  Alan Seeger truly is magical, like being in a different world.  Old growth forests line both sides of the road and you feel like an Ewok is going to pop out behind the next tree.  The aroma only adds to the magic, the air always seems cooler and fresher in here.  But the respite is brief, because a 25% wall faces you immediately out of Alan Seeger.

The climb on Seeger Rd is a true brute.  The road gains 1200ft but most all of it is 12% to 16% without much relief.  The first quarter mile features grades between 17% to 25%, so it kicks you in the legs right from the get go.  Today I was able to set a good tempo, staying seated most all of the way and grinding up at a halfway decent clip. Yet still being able to keep my heart rate and effort level in check.  I stopped for a lunch break up near the top at the turnoff for the fire tower. 

Then the real insanity starts with several trails that are mostly all rock with a few dirt gardens sprinkled in.  Pigpile, then Sassapig, then Sassafrass, then Beautiful Trail, and the insane drop off of Noname Trail.  In the race last year I went out too hard.  I suffered badly on the climb up Greenlee and was completely blown by the time I limped to the top of Seeger Rd.  I had nothing left and when I encountered the never ending rocks, I had zero strength. I walked almost all of it.    

"Rock Chute" going down Sassafras

But not today!  I settled in a comfortable pace and was able to navigate almost all the challenges.  Tons of rocks, rock bridges, rock see saw, rock ramps, rock gardens on top of boulders, big rocks, little rocks, rock this, rock that.  Even a rock chute down a steep sketchy descent with a loose, off camber switchback right in the middle.  I nailed it all only dabbing a handful of times.  I was having such fun I forgot to stop to take pictures.  It was really nice to know I can make those big climbs and still have the legs to make it through the rocks.  Still, I was ready to be off them by the time I finished Noname. 

Top of Stillhouse Hollow Climb

I crossed 322 at the underpass and then climbed the big, steep jeep trail that is Stillhouse Hollow, the last true monster climb on the course.  I rejoined the early part of the course (mile 10?) and followed it back through Crowfield to Penn Roosevelt.  Then the climb on Thickhead Mountain and down Detweiler. One more climb over the top to Bear Meadows and then a nice romp on Longberger before heading home.

In all, I was out on the bike with a ride time of over 8 hours, 80 miles, 9500' climbing.  It was truly a smashing success.  I feel very ready for the 100 milers coming up this season.  Now just add to the fitness and not get injured.   

I took two bikes to State College, the Superfly 100 and my new El Mariachi.  I ended up riding the El Mariachi exclusively, so the SF just went along for the ride.  I really really love the Salsa bike. It just seems to fit so well.  I like the 2x10 gearing, the wide bar, and the looks.   It has this kind of underdog thing going for it too -- it isn't an exclusive race wagon, just a blue collar get r done kind of bike.  But it works.  I'm half contemplating riding it for the Cohutta race.  I know the SF is about 2lbs lighter, it has full susp which will make for a more forgiving day, but I'm just in love with the Salsa bike at the moment.  Maybe it will help me go slower at the start!?   

Special kudos to the good crew at Freeze Thaw.  My shifting was still not dialed in and I arrived all smelly and dirty after my ride.  They fixed up my bent deraileur hanger right on the spot even though they were obviously very busy.   

Camp Cohutta, Part 2

Today was my second major ride of the week.  It was a brilliant 78 degrees today, more like June than March.  Bright sun meant I needed sunscreen and lots of water, I was summer sweating. 

I took the day off from work, got the kids on the bus, and drove down to Lake Hope State Park.  I got started just after 10am and set off with already warm conditions.  I brought both the El Mariachi and the Superfly 100 today, but picked the El Mariachi and rode that all day long.  No regrets, it is a great bike and a super comfortable position.  The gearing is just perfect -- use the small ring for trail riding and steep climbing, the larger ring for fire road descents and gentle ups.  The front fork is decent, but doesn't have the magic feel of my more expensive Fox.  The bike feels firm, but not lightening carbon fast.  Still I spent a good chunk of the day in the saddle and wasn't needing to get off.

I rode lots of trails, more than I thought I would.  Sidewinder twice, Copperhead twice, Wild Cat, etc.  And some good fire roads too.   The trails were wet in a few spots which meant lots of mud, but mostly dry and fast.  The stats are 50 miles, 5000' climbing and 5 hours -- the five trifecta!   It was less than I thought, but it was still a good day.  The best part is that I felt strong all the way through.  Even in the end I felt like I had another few hours in me if necessary.  This is a very good sign for mid-March.  

The only downer of the day was a mechanical in the last few miles.  I was finishing up on the last bit of single track and picked up a sizeable stick in my rear deraileur.  I am pretty sure it is bent and the shifting is not working properly.  I ordered a new one and had it shipped 2-day express to State College -- hopefully it arrives on Friday and I am good to go again for Saturday.  I always have the Superfly as my B bike!  :)





 

Camp Cohutta, Part 1

This week is training camp, Camp Cohutta.  It is my spring break and I'll take two days off from work.  My goal is to get three hard rides in and two or three smaller rides. 

Last night I got out for about 10 miles with 1500' climbing ... hill repeats on the Karate Monkey SS in town.  Today was one of the bigger rides.  I rode south of Brushy Fork and Flint Ridge to hit Mullbury, Bear Mountain and a bunch of other barely-roads.  I logged 54 miles, 3:36, with 4k ft vertical.  It was a little short of a "big ride", but it was an honest effort.   Wednesday is my very big ride, so I can save a little leg for that. 

It was a gorgeous day with sunshine and temps around 65.  I wore shorts and a short sleeve jersey for the first time.  There was a stiff wind of 15mph out of the southwest which made the return trip hard, but otherwise perfect.  

As I am logging these longer rides, a few things come to mind.  Foremost, I feel my legs fatiguing much too quickly.  Forty miles in, and I can feel them going.  I can still climb, but my speed drops considerably.  I just need more miles and more saddle time to prep for Cohutta's distance.   This year the Cohutta course is changed with more single track and now 14k feet climbing.  I am targeting 10 hours time, so I need my longer rides to be 6 - 9 hours.  I'm just not there yet. 

I also need stronger climbing legs.  My speed is just too low.  I feel like I am crawling instead of tempo-ing up a hill.  More strength and more stamina.   I've noticed my speed dropping over the past two weeks, since the Southern Cross race.  So maybe it is just fatigue from training, but I don't think I'm logging that many miles to make the speeds slower.  Maybe my older body just needs more recovery leading in to a race. 

Putting In The Miles

This weekend I had to work Saturday, so ride on Sunday with blustery winds, cold temps and several small snow squalls.  I had joined up with John and John (and later Rick) to ride cross, but I just didn't have it in my legs to stay with the faster guys.  I think I was still feeling the hard effort last weekend at Southern Cross.

So almost immediately I broke off from the small group and went my own way.  I managed to get in 62 miles with 5150' of climbing.  It was a slower day, though, only managing 14 mph.  The winds and cold temps made it tough, but mostly I was interested in LSD, not a hammerfest.   I did get my climbing and mileage in though, so it was a victory.  The roads were lovely.  A heavy rain on Thursday had tamped down the dust, but the roads had settled in to a perfect fast riding surface with hardly any mud.

Next weekend is the start of spring break.  I am hoping for at least 4 tough rides, half of them on a mountain bike on trails or in the mountains.  Maybe a trip to Lake Hope?  Maybe a trip to State College with the kids?   Maybe get two days off from work?  Spring Break is always full of hopeful ideas. 

Two Big Weekends

Muskingum River Ride

The last week has been good for cycling.  Last weekend, I finally got out on my 80 mile route to Dresden, then Zanesville, then home.  I mapped out this ride six months ago and have been waiting for an opportunity to go -- one aborted attempt 2 hours in due to icy rain a few months ago.  It was a chilly VERY WINDY day.  Of course, being a route that is East of here, I had tailwind there and fought a fierce headwind most of the way back.  I think I logged 84 miles in a touch over five hours, 4200 ft climbing.  The only downside was a set of strained abdominal muscles; with a week to go before my first race of the season.


Southern Cross

On Friday, I took off from work and drove down to northern Georgia, just a few miles south of Cohutta last year.  It is an easy interstate drive, as easy as 600 miles can be.  Race day brought sunshine with a chilly stiff wind.  We were mostly in the trees so the wind wasn't terrible, but the temps never really got much above the low 40s.   About 60% of the people were on cross bikes, the other 40% on mountain bikes -- most of them with cross type tires.   One of the top finishers summed it up best when they said they would have preferred to be on a mountain bike, but think they were probably faster on a cross bike.  I kept thinking how much fun I would have had on my new El Mariachi hardtail, but the cross bike was faster.

The course consisted of two long climbs of about 2000 ft gain and bunches of rollers and smaller climbs.  It was probably 80% forest service roads with 6400ft vertical in 51 miles.   This course suited me perfectly, I like the longer sustained climbs. The roads were in great shape, a bit rockier on the climbs but smooth on the descents.   The course layout was nice and the nearly four hours passed quickly.

I was rocking the descents, not usually my specialty.  They were moderately steep (5-10%) and had lots of switchbacks and blind corners.   I was able to find a dirt grove in the gravel and really rail a number of corners.  It was thrilling and I had a net gain of 2 riders!  

The start and end "cross course" hurt bad.  It is not my thing and I just got it over with.  I was passed by 4 riders in the very last two miles, all on the cross course.   I also went out too fast again and didn't have pep in the last half of the race.  I wasn't blown, but I think I could have been 5-10 minutes faster overall with a more conservative start and putting more oomph in the climbs.   I picked up a dozen spots in the last big climb, but probably should have picked up another dozen more.  I finished in 74th place (out of 300?) with a time of 3:53.  Not a bad showing at all.  And it was fun to ride these roads, even if it meant a 9 hour car ride on either side.

February Century

Finally I got a break in the weather and I took full advantage of it.  I had already put in for a day off from work (supposed to be a ski weekend ... but no snow), so I decided to keep it work-free and set off on a long adventure.

I mapped out a route that went north via Mount Vernon, through Fredricksburg, and on to Bellville.  After refueling for lunch in Bellville, I followed the rail-trail to Butler, a long slog south to Gambier, then Martinsburg, St Louisville and home.  My weapon of choice was the cross bike, not anticipating any gravel, still there were roads that I hadn't been on before and the cross bike allows me to explore unexpected mud and gravel without worry.  RidewithGPS showed the route to be 104 miles with 4500 ft climbing.  
I set off at 9am with temps still a bit chilly, 30 degrees at the start with a hard frost on the ground.  There was a nice 5-7 mph wind out of the south which help blow me all the way up to Bellville.  I made good time even though I tried hard to keep my heart rate in a low zone.  Legs felt good and energy remained high for the 3 hours up to Bellville.  The roads between here and there were mostly gently rolling, with some flatter, faster sections.  I jumped in to a local pizzeria shortly after noon and didn't mind the 15 minute wait to get my personal pizza.  Temps were rising in to the mid 40s now, sunny skies.

Once I turned back, I notice how much the wind was blowing.  I followed 5 miles of paved rail trail to Butler and then headed out into hilly country.  The hills were larger, steeper, and unrelenting.  I faced a stiffer headwind down in to Gambier ... it seemed never to come.  I finally rolled in to main street Gambier, now about 20 minutes behind schedule, more tired and hungrier.  I grabbed a drink and crackers from the local mart and watched the Kenyon students lounging about.  Most were smoking and trying to look James Dean cool.  I was too tired to care.  This was the hard part, mile 74 and a lot more hills to come.  At least the wind was dying down now so I was only fighting gravity and not a headwind also.   But this hard part is why I need a long ride.  To be tired and know there is still much hard work ahead but not give up or back down.

Just before rolling in to Martinsburg, Rick gave me a buzz.  He was thinking of joining me earlier in the day for a large part of the ride, but instead choose to catch up with me later in the afternoon for my return leg.  He was heading up to Martinsburg follwing my return route backwards, we rendezvoused in downtown.  It was a great help having him along, I grabbed his wheel and the speed increased notably.   It was nice now having to concentrate working harder to stay with him, even though I was pressing harder than I wanted.  I managed a good show until we hit the steeper parts of Welsh Hills Rd.  After 94 miles, my legs were mostly blown and I puttered up those hills pretty slowly.  

In the end I logged 99.87 miles - I didn't feel compelled to ride down the block to make it 100.  I also recorded 5700 feet of climbing ... more than my route anticipated.  And all in 6:20 for good time.  Considering I've only ridden 70 miles once this year and nothing much in the last three weeks, I did much better than expected.  I was dead tired but not completely blown away.  Hopefully a sign of good things to come.

Ride Interrupted

This winter has been both great and terrible for cycling.  It is the warmest winter with the least snowfall we've ever had.  Freaky warm ... feels like spring most of the time.  That would be good.  But it has also rained tons.  We just got through a stretch in January with precipitation on 20 out of 22 consecutive days.  Only a few of those were real "wash outs", but still, rain it is.  It feels like the trails will take about 3 years to dry out enough to even think about mountain biking ever again.

This past Saturday I cleared my schedule for a 6 hour, 80 mile effort.  I left in the morning with the slight chance of being joined by a few flurries at some point.  I thought I could live with a few flurries and still get in my time.  But two hours down the road it started to rain, hard.  Freezing cold, non-stop, sideways rain.  Fortunately I was passing through the small town of Frazeysburg and managed to find shelter from the spitting wind.  But I clearly wasn't going to ride another four hours in this stuff.  Time to call in the reinforcements (wife with minivan).   It rained hard for about 90 minutes or so.  This really sucks!

Sunday, I planned for a 4 hour ride in the 60 mile range.  I got to the edge of town and was greeted by 30 mph head winds with gusts even stronger.   Ok, I could have toughed it out.  Though the sun was out, it was a chilly 30 or so, with windchill in the lower teens.  But I just didn't have it in me.  I turned around and went back to the basement to log 2.5 hours on the trainer.  Good workout, but still not 6 hours on the road with real-life hills instead of imaginary trainer ones.

Tuesday was a beautiful spring day (in January!).  So I went out with lights on after my wife got home at 5:30ish.  Nice air temps but again very windy.  There was the slight chance of precipitation LATER that evening.  Once again, I got about an hour into the ride and the rain came.  Cold rain coming at me sideways with 20 mph winds.  Yuck!  Fortunately I could turn with my back to the wind and TT'd my way home in about 30 minutes.

I've got Southern Cross coming up in a few weeks.  Its only 50 miles, but I haven't ridden 50 miles in several weeks.   Friday is supposed to be nice again and I already had the day reserved vacation from work (supposed to do a ski trip, but no snow!).  So I will head out for 80 miles or so on Friday.  And hopefully ride with Todd on Saturday or Sunday for 30 miles or so.  It will probably hurricane or earthquake or something, or maybe a plague of locusts?  

Yup, nice weather but not so nice.  Ride interrupted!

Powder Day

John G enticed me to take the fat bikes out to Mohican for some winter trail riding.  We had about 3" of snow here with a bit of crust on the top from a spat of freezing rain.  But up in Mohican, it was all snow ... 7" of slippery powder.

The temps were great, about 25ish the whole time.  It was deep and slippery enough to require quite a bit of walking, especially up the hills.  The tires tended to wash out on off-camber stuff, which is prevalent on the narrow, hilly Mohican trails.  But still, we did about 2/3 riding and 1/3 running/hiking.

Steve came along too on a borrowed Giant POS bike.  It was totally the wrong tool for the job.  But he was a real trooper and never complained about the hard work and inferior equipment.  We did some swapping of bikes to him on the Mukluks for a taste of the cycling candy.

The ride ended promptly when we were doing some parking lot goofing off and I put a foot through some ice and into 18" of water.  A soaker at those temps meant a numb foot the whole drive home.  We logged 5 miles of trail riding over a 2 hour span, and then another hour of messing around.  Three hours of snow riding feels like 5 hours of road riding, at least to me.