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.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
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.
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.
Monday, September 3, 2012
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.
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.
Monday, August 20, 2012
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.
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.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Family Rides on the Erie to Ohio Rail Trail
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| Eli pounding out miles on primitive rail bed. |
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| Family on the Holmes County Trail |
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.
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| Gravel goodness, old Mike climbs a gravel farm road. |
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.
Friday, August 3, 2012
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.
Stats: 58 miles, 3k feet climbing, 16.4 mph avg pace.
Monday, July 30, 2012
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.
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.
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