Pontiac Lake XC

What a day for racing. Sunny skies, comfortable temps, and no rain. After a week of constant showers, the trail at PLRA turned out great. The corners were fast and tacky and there were no real slick spots to wipe out in.

First lap was riding with the main group, then I was caught up behind some riders. Kuhn, Lummis, and Mike Bartlett got away, so once I was able to pass I was on full gas to make up a 30 second split. About 2/3 of the way through the trail I had closed the gap and brought back two other KLM guys(Buccaletto/Goddard). Lap 2 saw the group together until Lummis attacked and it was him and Mike alone. I was stuck behind a rider and didn't even notice what happened immediately. Just before the end of the lap I had bridged back to the group again solo, so it was the three of us until Buccalleto(sp?) caught up after the start/finish. Mike lead out the lap and then 3-4 miles in before the campground I went by him and gapped the group on a climb. I kept the hammer down for the most part, caught myself sliding the front tire out, and was able to roll in for 3rd.

RESULTS
Photos

After a bad race at Big M, I got some decent training in and some needed recovery to get the job done. It was a fun race with the group breaking up, changing and battling for third the whole time. I had a good race and enjoyed it. That's what racing is all about. It was nice to see a large group of Elite racers out today to put up some stiff competition.

I spent the past weekend ona group camping/cycling trip at Fort Custer. Was able to get in a few decent rides and a fun night ride on the green trail backwards. Friday I was hoping for more time on the bike, but a new chain was skipping all over. After some time, I was able to get a new casette in my hands for a smooth skip-free ride.

I was planning on doing the TT on Sunday since I was there and I could get in some intensity, but with a rain from 8:30pm on Saturday and all through the night and morning, I decided to skip that. I was not up for an hour training race in 55 degree rainy weather. Not to mention trashing a new drivetrain with only a few miles on it. Instead, I will be waiting for this weekend. Pontiac on Sunday should be a good race. With the forecast for the next few days of rain, it will be interesting as to how the trail conditions will be. Lets hope I can keep the rubber on the ground this time around.

Happenings

So here is a recap of the past few weeks.

After Boyne, I did some riding to stay in form for the USA Cycling Nationals. I went to Vermont for the race two weeks ago looking for a good result. Well, it poured rain Wed, Thurs, and Friday night before my 8am race on Sat. The course is very technical and hard without mud, and add thick goopy mud to the equation and you have slip sliding. I was third to the top of the 3 mile climb with the leaders on lap 1 and somehow rode the downhill clean until the very end where I nailed a rock buried in a mud bog and flew into the mud coating half of my body. I had to take my gloves off since they were coated in mud and my hand were still sliding on the grips. On lap 2 I stopped halfway up the climb to wash my gloves off in the stream. That was in the 1/2 mile hike-a-bike section. I still made it to the top in 3rd place, but then it went downhill from there! I think I crashed like 10 times. If I didn't fall sliding off the roots, my tire would stop by smacking a rock sideways. Eventually I flew off the bike and had one of those long moments in the air where I saw the rock I was going to land on. I hit it smack on with my kneecap. Stood on the side of the trail for 2 minutes. Walked some, rode some, then slid out on some more mud and roots and nailed my wrist. I finally got down to the bottom of the mountain and called it a day. 2 out of 3 laps, but the mud on the downhill kicked my ass. We have nothing like that around here. If it was dry, i think it would have been a different story. I had great form and felt great climbing up to the top of the Mt. I just didn't have any mud/rock/root combined technical skills. Also running semi-slicks in the mud doesn't help a bit. Lessons learned.

Since I was so battered and bruised and cuts all over, I decided not to go to NC to race. Good thing, because it turned out to be the same damn thing. Mud. Except this time, I heard the opening climb was full of peanut butter and people were all over the hill looking for traction. Lots of mud, lots of hike-a-bikes is not what I look foreward to in Mt bike racing.

I took 4 days off the bike as a mid-season refresher and because it hurt bad to pedal with my knee and hurt holding the bar. I took a few easy rides after that, met Randy for a ride, did the Monday Night road ride on Hines Dr, then went to a family get together for a few days.

That lead to this past weekend where I raced Big M. My legs felt fine, they were not sore since I have not ridden that much or hard in a long time. I rode with the main group for 2 laps and felt okay, but did not have the power I normally have. After a slight bobble on the trail, I lost the main group and could not catch back up. I lost my rhythm and couldn't keep the power going. I had not wattage and no leg speed whatsoever. The heart rate kept on dropping and I flipped the switch from race mode to survival mode. I finished the 5 laps, but rode myself backwards from 5th to 12th in 3 laps. I did not go to hard at the begining, I just had one of those days where the legs were dried up of power. I think it was from a lack of much training and hardly any intensity over the past 3-4 weeks and a lack of pre-race preparation the days before. I'll be back at it this week, getting the efforts in and the time in the saddle. I'll be doing the last two USAC races and look to improve.

The past few weeks have been great learning experiences. From placing well at Boyne, to not keeping the rubber side down in VT, to pedaling backwards at Big M. I am looking foreward to the last part of the season and improving on my results.

I'll have some pics up later.

Boyne Marathon Report

Did a pre-ride of the course on Thursday and it was pretty much the same course I have ridden 30 times. It is my favorite MI course, and I know it well. Boyne was actually the second MTB course I had ever ridden, right beind Island Lake. That was 5 years ago when I decided to start MTBing and rode only a few trails and times that year. Progression...

Race started at 10AM with a decent sized group of Elites going off. We took off and I just sat in and kept my pace. Some people went by me and I let them ride away. By the top of the ski slop I was riding with Shawn Meredith somewhere in the 7-8 place. On the downhill, I crashed and I guess he did too, not far behind me as I could hear him say something. On lap 2 I rode solo the entire time while making the passes of lapped riders much earlier than expected. At the start of the thirs lap I caught up to John Meyers and rode behind him. Before the hike-a-bike climb a mile or so in he had me go by. Not too far up the trail I caught John Cowan and rode with him. He set a good pace and flowed through the singletrack very well(yeah, he's from Boyne). We were riding 4th and 5th place. Climbing to the top of the ski hill, we spotted Herriman and Lummis, but never saw them once we got to the top. Near the end of the lap while passing more people on a wide corner, I flew into a tree sideways and tried to hug it in an effort to reducing the impact on my ribs. Luckily I wasn't too hurt, so I grabbed my bike and chased. I caught John again in the beginning of the trail and rode with him until the ski hill where I let it out. I laft him behind and had Lummis in my sights. I passed him before crossing the golf cart path and kept on climbing. I came out at the top and was ready to keep the pace high when I heard skipping. Shit, I looked back and had picked up and bush in my casette. There were leaves in it and a thin branch hanging out. I knew I couldn't stop, so I pedaled away with a skip-skip-skip every pedal stroke. Luckily the course was mostly downhill and I was able to keep away. i finished third with Simonson in first and Herriman in second. It was a great race for me. The course is suited better for my riding with longer climbs and less flat two-track.

RESULTS

The lovely color of green ground into my casette

No Ruby for me this weekend, but I'll be putting in some last minute rides before heading out to the USA Cycling Nationals in Vermont in 2 weeks.

Stony Marathon

Raced the marathon out at Stony yesterday. The rain from earlier in the week provided the trail with some good precipitation to keep the trail in good shape. The normal gravely two-track corners were there, but overall it was smooth and fast.

I rode most of lap one with the main group until the last two-track section where I decided to back the pace off a bit. Laps 2-3 I rode with Niel Sharphorn rippin it on his SS. Lap 4 I rode alone passing more lapped traffic. Lap 5 was alone until I passed Greg "I flat every race" Kuhn as he was flipping his bike back over. He came back and went by me later on in the two-track. Lap 6 was keeping the rubber side down and finishing the race off without anyone passing me. I finished 8th with a time of 4:08. I fell twice on gravel in some two track corners. The first one wasn't bad, but the second one came at about 1 mph on the tight switchback from the last singletrack to the two-track 3/4 of the way through the lap. I fell right on my hip-bone and ankle. That is when I wish I hat more fat on me. That sucker kills.

Next up is the Boyne Marathon next week. Should be some fun climbing the ski hill.

Lumberjack 100 Recap

2 for 2
That's two starts and 2 finishes.
I went into the race looking to beat my 8:32 from last year. Inside, I really wanted to see a 7 at the begining of my final time, but I didn't know if it was possible. I did a pre-ride of the inner-loop on Friday and the trail was in great shape.

Race started around 7am and was slow. I thought it was supposed to be a fast rollout, but I thought it was very mellow. I stayed in the top 20 or so riders and ended up riding by myself for most of the race with a SS'er from MN behind me. I did a 1:50 lap, which was around 8 minutes faster than last year. Lap 2 was 1:54 and I was feeling good, but riding all alone again. Lap 3 came and I was again alone pedaling along on cruise control until I hear a smart-ass comment about my bike come from behind me. It was none other than Lummis coming back from a mechanical problem. I picked up my pace a rode with him for a little bit on the inner loop while passing 3 people. It felt good to open the legs up a little more, but then I decided I was only 65 miles or so in, so I needed to keep my pace a little slower. Two of the riders passed me back a few miles later, but in the outer loop I caught them again and put a gap on them. I did a 1:59, which meant that I had 17 minutes to spare on my last lap in order to beat 8 hours. I knew that all I had to do was turn the cranks and I would achieve my goal. Yeah, that happened, but my mental game went down hill. I was at the point where I was wondering what the hell I was doing. I do not like having an inner and then outer loop go by the pits/parking lot, beacuse there were a few times I wanted to call it a day and go sleep. On the outer loop, I broke a spoke, but easily stopped and twisted it around another spoke before going again. There were a few times I was feeling sleepy tired, but I knew the bugs would kill me. Once I got over that monotonous flat and bumpy section, I was doing much better. I got to the climbs and got back in a rythm which helped. I ended up getting 17th overall in 7:56, 36 minutes faster than last year. I think if I would have had some people to ride with on the last lap, I likely would have been able to keep the pace up. I did get passed by 3 people on lap 4, which costed me places, but that is endurance racing.

Overall, it was a great weekend. A blast. Rick puts on a top notch race and great awards banquet. This is quickly becoming Michigans best race. Sure we have Iceman, but LJ100 is a class of its own.

T-5 Days

The Lumberjack 100 is on the way. I am ready for it. I am looking to post a better time than last year, but I don't know by how much. I know I am a better rider this year both handling wise and fitness wise. The course should be different. Backwards. That first sand hill w/ 200 people should be a riot. Can you say redline first 5 minutes!

During my riding last week, I decided to do a couple longer rides to make sure my legs were ready and butt was in shape for some time in the saddle. Rode 5.5 hours on Thursday from home to ILRA, dirt roads, all 4 loops of Highland, and some of Proud Lake. Then on Saturday I rode home to 2 laps of ILRA, 2 loops of everything at Proud Lake and then a loop of Milford to finish a 5 hour and 75 mile day on the MTB. Add that with a touch of intensity and I should be good to go.

After the LJ100 I am going to be in Lelenau the next weekend for a family trip, but should be able to get in some good riding while I am there. The next week is Stony marathon, then I will be up at Boyne the following weekend with the fam racing, so I will likely chamois up and get some high intensity miles in the legs. Should be a good month coming up.

Brighton Stage Race

I had a decent result this weekend at the first ever Brighton Stage Race. It started with a TT on Torn Shirt at noon on Saturday. The tight and twisty trail made for some close times. I ran a clean run until the end of the third re-route where I hit a 1ft tall stump, stalled, and fell over. I got back on, but my chain was off and I was on an uphill. I jumped off, put the chain on, and then I was on my way. After that I felt like I was flowing pretty good throught the trail. I finished it off in 29.06 in 6th place. There was only something like a 6 second spacing between 4th place and 7th place, so it was all close.

The short track was on the open grassy area in front of Bishop Lake. I was blown away from the get-go as my starting power blows. I was pedaling hard, but the legs just seemed to not have the power in them. After about three laps, I felt better and started picking people back off again. In the end, I came in 12th place out of the 16 that raced. Not a great result, but the short track is shorter, so I didn't lose too much time. Oh, I was also one of the geniuses who rode and additional 7th lap! I was playing follow the leader. At the end of the lay, I sat in 9th overall in the stage.

Sunday morning brought the cross-country race with 5 laps of a shortened Murray Lake with some extra grass, two-track, and gravel road. Again, I think almost everyone went by me by the time we hit the single-track, but I started picking racers off. After lap 1, I rode the next three laps with Dan K. at a good pace. I was a little stronger on the hills, but he can shred the singletrack, so I sat behind him and learned how to ride. By lap 4, I was cornering much better and moving my weight around. For the three laps I rode with him, we could see Bill Clikeman back about 15 seconds, and we kept on pushing. Finally in the middle of lap 4, we didn't see him, but knew he was not too far behind. On lap 5, I took off and rode a good lap. I kept it flowing and pushed it hard. I clocked my fastest lap of the day at 27:42 on the last lap, and came in at 7th place. Maybe I could have gone a bit harder on a few earlier laps, but I was happy with my race and I got a riding lesson, so I am sure it will all pay off. That put me in 7th overall for the stage, so not a bad weekend of racing.

Ride with Loppers!

The Brighton Stage race is almost here. The last two days have been crappy weather with on and off rain during the day. I was able to ride out to Brighton Rec today and check out the trails. They are in great shape. There is no mud, and they are not a loose as I have seen them lately. The surface is tacky and should make for some fast races. The new re-routes in Torn Shirt have gotten better and someone made a new re-route on the third re-route where the tight switchback was. Now there is a turn before it and the logpile that threw riders into a tree has been taken out.

I spent just under 4 hours trimming the first 4 miles of Torn Shirt. It was starting to get really overgrown and there was a lot of low hanging branches ans trees/bushes. Especially in the middle grassy section of the trail there was a lot of stringy bushes and pine trees that took a while to cut back and get off the trail. The remaining 1.5 miles of trail isn't nearly as bad as the first 4 miles, but there are still a few low hanging branches people should watch out for. I stashed the loppers in my Wingnut hydration pack and rode the rest of the trail. With these conditions it should be a fast and FUN weekend.

Back at It

been away from this thing for a while, and it is time to get back at it. After the Greenbrier race, I took a good week of riding and topped it off with a trip to the Fort. Did not race, but rode a bit on Friday and Sat and supported on Sunday. The parents raced and finished in their sport classes with a 5th and 6th. From there it was back home and time for more riding. I hit up some new places and routes in the past few weeks. I rode to Proud Lake and did all 4 loops a few times. Some good trails with decent climbing. Nothing technical, but it is all up and down. I also did a ride from my house to the Poto. Just over an hour later of dirt roads and Lakelands rail trail, I was there. But, the trail was soaking wet. They must had gotten much more rain than us, since Murray Lake and Torn Shirt were in great shape on my way back home. I did those trails at Brighton Rec a few times in the past week to get ready for the Stage race this weekend. It should be a blast and the weather looks to be perfect for it. I am going out there again tomorrow, but not to ride, but rather to trim the trail on Torn Shirt. Some of the middle section is fast, but branches and bushes hanging out in the trail make it not so enjoyable. I am looking foreward to all races, but most importantly, where the Short Track race will be. Here comes a half hour of pain!!!

I have looked at my schedule and have planned it out for a while. After the stage race, I will start working towards getting ready for the USA Cycling Nationals in VT and then the NMBS race in NC. Those are at the later/end part of July, but I have some events before that. I am thinking of racing the Hanson Hills race for training in a few weeks since I will be up there anyways, and then the next event is Lumberjack. Thats mid-June, and the next week is a little family weekend trip up to the sand dunes, so my road bike will be in full on climb mode as I'll ride the best roads in (lower)Michigan in Leelanau County. After that is the Stony Marathon, and that is it before the big races. It will be a jammed packed few months of pain, and I am looking foreward to it!

Greenbrier Challenge Recap

I spent Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday over on the east coast playing in the rocks. Did two laps of the Greenbrier race course on Friday to get the legs up and running after 8 hours in the car. The course was not something you would find here in Michigan. It started off going uphill about 75 ft before leading into a screaming fast flowing descent that was all about jumping over the water bars. This quickly led into a full on rock infested dowhill that had multiple turns. The line changed almost every lap with rocks getting moved over by tires and others coming out of nowhere. You had to keep the eyes up and tires down. I sucessfully made it through all times and it was a blast. You don't get that kind of adrenaline here. The cousr shot out onto a gravel(all stone, no dirt) trail that eventually turned and went through a creek 20-30ft wide and about 6-8" deep. There was then a small climb and some mud pits. After that section is where the fun began. A 1 mile climb with 350ft of climbing which is very steep and rocky for the first half before becomeing more gentle with the grade. I made it in the middle ring both laps, but in my smallest gear 32-32. I figured for the race with legs working hard before the hill, I might want a smaller gear, so I put on the granny later. The trail goes into a low grade before another fast swooping downhill. Then climb number 2 which consists of all rocks where you have to pay attention and pick lines carefully. It goes up 275 ft and finishes on top of a ridge. You quickly hit some moderate downhill before the best downhill. It screams down over rock, between trees, over roots, water bars, shale, and of course a few thick mud pits before wrapping around the lake to finish the 5.7 mile loop with 735ft of ascent.

Rode a lap on Saturday to keep the legs fresh, then chilled the rest of the day and went to Hagerstown for a bit while it rained.

Sunday was race day, but I had to anxiously wait all day until 3:30 before the gun went off. So, I sat and watched the racers go down the last downhill all morning. Our campsite was right off the trail, so we sat and watched all categories go through. The at 1:20, I saw the UCI Elite/Pros go through a few times before it was ready to stretch and warm-up.

Finally the race was off, and I found myself in a 3-man pile-up in the first gravel corner 15 seconds in. Some guy biffed it and 2 of us couldn't stop in time. I kept my legs planted to the ground, but the bike fell below me. Not bad, I put the waterbottle back in the cage and was off. Oh, off dead last out of 21! I passed 3 or 4 people before the first climb, where I climbed it while going by 4 or 5 others who were all walking. Then found a line of 6 or so who riding together. Go to the second big rocky climb and picked my line well while going by more riders. I was just about to the last downhill when a guy passed me. He wasn't too slow on the downhill, but he slowed before the big mudpit, which eventually got me coated from head to toe.

Lap 2 I quickly passed the rider in front of me on the first climb. I rode the rest of the lap by myself picking off Semi-Pro racers on the climbs. I flew down the last descent not even knowing what I was hitting. I just grabbed the bars and let it roll.

Early in lap 3 I passed the second place rider from Trek/VW East and never looked back. I just kept my pace up and went with it. I had to jump off for a quick bit on the steep climb when I got caught behind a rider. I ran up a bit, tried to start but couldn't. Run somemore, then finally got on and rolling. This costed a little time and showed to be my slowest lap.

Lap 4 I was passing more Semi-Pros, lapping later expert men and women, and I just kept it up. i amde the steep climb again, and just kept the power going. Came in the finish shoot after my 4 laps in 2nd place. I was happy with the finish. I rode well, paced smart, and tore up the downhills. It was extremely fun.

Since the award were over after 7, it we knew it would be late getting home, so we had decided earlier that we would stay Monday. So we rode a nice lap and checked out the scenery before driving the 8 hours home. Good trip, great event, and I might have to come back again.

Results

Yankee Springs TT Report

A nice weekend, a nice race, and a nice result. It doesn't get much better than that. The weather turned out to be in our favor and was sunny and mid-70's. The team did a pre-ride Saturday afternoon and conditions of the trail seemed to be good. Some sandy corners, but all was good. Nothing like a fast and FLOWING course.

The race started after a unique Van Halen version of the National Anthem! I was third off the line and passed my 15 second man a few minutes into the loop. I was looking for the first starter, but didn't find him until mid-way through the trail where he was camped out on the side of a hill looking like a spectator. From there on out, I saw no one. I was looking behind to see if anyone was coming, but nothing. I was handling the bike really good today. I spent some time riding laps of Torn Shirt and Murray Lake last week and it seemed to help. Better than sliding all over at Pontiac. I had one quick slide-out where I almost fell, but just a quick knee down. In the last mile I pulled a stupid rookie mistake by looking behind me since I thought I heard a chain. I didn't see anyone, but I met a nice inch thick sapling. It bent over, but I had to unclip and let it slide trough so I could keep going! Just before the finish I was passed by Christian Tanguay who eventually won the race. It was fast and fun and a really good turnout. I cracked the top 10 with a ninth place finish of 46:00. I was happy with the result and not really any bad mistakes today. The Western Chapter did a great job and put on a fun race.

Next up is the Greenbrier Challenge in Maryland this weekend where I am sure the competition is going to be strong. It sound like the course is what I like, one big climb in it like Boyne.

Pontiac Lake TT Recap

Lesson learned-greasy mud throws the bike down fast!

The race went well, I tried to keep the rubber down, but that sure as hell did not happen. I put a decent 42 minute lap in for the first loop, and a lap 12 seconds slower on the second loop. Not too bad, but I was really tentative on lap 2. Overall, I am happy with the result. There are a lot of places where I can make up time, so just a little work and handling should do the trick.

I started off in the middle ring and then not being able to hit the big ring. As soon as I eased it off, I was able to shift up. The lap was going good and the body felt great. About 3 miles in I slid out on a greasy corner. I could feel it going...I threw a leg out...I kept sliding...then I fell. It was one of those falls that you know is coming, but I dragged on for so long. I kept the pace up and eventually caught my 15 second man on a loose, rooted climb. Not too far after, I was cruising down the trail and was carrying all of my speed through the corner when all I knew I was down. It was quick. No reaction time at all, I was just down on the ground. I guess that is the safe and best way, but it was quick. Shawn was right behind me and hit my down bike and flew over. Sorry about that. I got up and my bars were twisted, so I decided to pull the tools out (I did try to force the bars over, but it was not happening. I started loosening one bolt when I realized I was a dumb ass. I put the tools away and went on my way. I guess I whacked my brake caliper into my rotor because it made a horrible high pitched sound the rest of the race.

Lap 2 came and I was riding good, but braking in every corner. After a guy went by me, I got some more motivation and picked up the pace and went by him not too long after. I came in at 1:24:16, my fastest Pontiac yet. 14th overall isn't too bad, better than I was expecting.

After looking at my bike later, I noticed some carnaige. I have a nice sized dent in my top tube. I lined it up and it matched with my brake lever. The lever snapped out of place(like it should upon impact) and it crushed my top tube. That exlpains the twisted handlebars. It doesn't look broken, just a nice indentation.

Pisgah National Forest

Why, why did we ever have to come back. The riding is just so good and the views of the mountains and waterfalls/streams were magnificent. To bad reality has struck and so has Michigan weather. Give me a break, low 30's and 29 degrees on Friday. WTF? Why can't we just have 80 degree temps like the last few weekends down south? Okay, so this is how it went.

-Drove down to NC on Friday and got to the campground around 8 pm. Put the tent up, moved it, moved it again, and then took it down. All thanks to Ranger "stormin' Normin'" Somehow, he had a problem with all of our tents and decided to change his mind in the 15 minutes that he was gone. Oh well, it all worked out...except for the zipper on the other tent!!!

-Rode some dirt road to Candy Bottom, then hit up Daniel's Ridge. Some good techy climbing and some good efforts thrown in. We rode by a really neat waterfall and it seemed like we were riding through the jungle. Leaves were on the trees and the rivers were flowing at full stream.

-Finished up the day with some screaming fast downhill sections that were super fast and flowy. It sure did get the adrenaline flowing. Temps were in the high 70's and it was a picture perfect day. Cleaned up and then went shopping before hanging out at everyone's favorite store(Sprawl-mart.)

-Day 2 had a nice long ride in store. It poured on us the night before, but seemed to stop in order for us to get some time in the saddle. We rode up Laurel Mt and had lunch at the top. It turned into an epic ride with a good solid rain after a long hike-a-bike section. It cooled off and the wind set in. The rain made it for some fun times cruzin' down the downhills with wet roots and rocks. The downhill section was a blast. Some tough switchbacks and then narly rock gardens and some drops.

-Rode up to Pilot Rock and saw the view. It was much better than the 10ft view of haze from Laurel Mt. The weather had turned around and the trail was in good shape. Closed off the ride with a fast and fun downhill then a road climb back.

-Day 3 turned into a beautiful day. Around 80F and sunny skies. The ride of choice was Black Mt. It was a really fun fire-road climb to the top at a good clip. It then turned into singletrack and some hike-a-bike sections. We stopped at a great view of the mountain valley with a scope on the road that we had climbed. Once we got the the top, the fun notch was kicked up. The downhill was the best I have ever ridden. We screamed down it and rolled off water bars that seemed to never end. Flying over rocks and roots and flowing through the corners made the entire trip worth it. We descened for a while until we hit some other trail that flew down the rest of the Mt. with whoop type jumps and fast wide corners. It was my favorite ride of the weekend and I wish we had that stuff around here.

-Then...we had to leave. Randy, Amanda, and I took the 10hr trip back to poor old Michigan. It was a great trip and well worth the time and money invested. I only wish I had an entire week to ride there. The trails really seem to help the technical skills and overall handling of the bike. I was home about 2am this morning and had to get up just past 6 for school. Time to make up that lost sleep.

Now, what shall the weather do? I hope it stays dry tomorrow so I can ride down to the Poto and get a quick lap in and back home. I am assuming it will take somehwere around 3.5hrs for the loop. We shall see...

Out-running the Storm

It was a beautiful spring day when I left on my ride at 1:30. I new the meteorologists had called for T-storms, but I didn't really care. I just wanted to ride. I opted for a gravel grinder today and the roads were in prime shape. Even the road grader was loosening up the road and smoothing the potholes out. After my interval session, I rode north over to Highland Rec. Typically known for its quickness in drying out, I decided to try the trail. Dry. No mud at all. I wasn't syrprised since I have heard other trails in the area are ready to roll. I was planning on riding A and B loops, but when the thunder was booming and rain was coming down, I decided I should shorten the ride. I chose the D loop, so I could pop out onto the road and cruise the 17 miles home. The skies to the north were really dark, but to the south it was still sunny. Just before I got to the road, the light rain went to heavy downpour. I threw on some armwarmers and hammered it down into Milford. Once I was at Wixom Rd, I had outrun the rain. Good, because it was coming hard. On the way home, I only encountered some rain once, but it wasn't too bad. It was a nice ride though. A few hours with no cars and rural back roads is something I enjoy.

Chickasaw Trace AMBC Recap

What a weekend. We left Friday morning at 6am and pulled into the park in Tennessee around 2:45 TN time (1 hr behind). Set up the camping stuff and then went for a ride. The trail was fast and flowy, just what my body needed. My adrenaline was flowing and endorphins were popping out like crazy. The first trail ride of the year, and it was a good one. The loop starts on a gravel road with a loose gravel switchback onto the paved road. Once on the road, you ride down a little bit before you shoot down a screaming fast downhill, into an open field and then on the singletrack. The trail had a good amount of rocks and root strewn throughout, but was very manageable. Later on in the trail was where most of the climbing was. You would climb, then decend on very fast, long, curving downhills. It was a fun loop and just what I needed after a long winter.

Saturday was more of the same. Took a pre-ride, but at a quicker pace than the day before. Hung out at the tent for most of the day relaxing and enjoying the 85 degree weather. Made a nice chicken linguine dinner and called it a night around 9pm.

Sunday was race day. My race was not until 12:30, so I had to sit around all morning. It felt like forever, but finally the time came. We lined up and 26 of us started in the Expert 19-29 group. The pace was extremely fast off the line to say the least. The group safely got down the steep dowhill without any crashes (there were nasty ones w/ multiple people in Sport). Since there has not been any rain in TN in 3 weeks, the clay base was very dry and dusty. My mouth was coated, and my lungs were burning. I had a quick lap, and knew I wouldn't be able to keep that pace. I was riding good, but felt like I couldn't carry much speed through the downhill corners. By lap 3, I was able to go through them better without as much braking. Just more trail riding and that should be taken care of. At the end of lap 1, I was feeling pretty good, but fairly hot.

Lap 2 came and went uneventfully. The lap was a few minutes slower, but I was still keeping a good pace. With a mile and a half to go in the 9 mile lap, I started getting some chills. I quickly drank the rest of my GU20 to try and stay hydrated and replenish the salt. It was hard telling where I was in the race, because there are so many people and other groups right after.

On lap 3, my body started to slow down. In the first half of the course where the trail is not as hilly, I could not keep my heart rate up. I was pushing hard, and my legs weren't even burning, but I could not keep a higher pace. I think it was a mixture of chasing too hard on lap 1 and most of lap 2, the 90 degree heat, and some dehydration. I drank my bottles, but it wasn't enough. The bottles were also warm, so I was not getting the cooling factor there. I am a hot weather guy, but going from 40 to 90 and full effort taxed my body a bit. My savior came in the middle of a scorching hot field where a guy was handing off cold waterbottles. I chugged the entire 16oz bottle and felt better. My pace picked up a bit there and I was riding better once i got to the hills. That was just at the right time, because I was craving a cold bottle and a cold pear to eat. Yeah, I am strange. By the end, I still had a bit in the tank. I passed a guy by outsprinting him on the final grassy climb into the finish. At the end I was hot and tired. The legs felt great, but riding 3 laps of the much rougher than MI course put much more demand on the entire body. I ended up 12th out of 26 and got a huge payout of $6.00!!! Hey, it payed for my waffle on the way home:-)

The new Kona Hei Hei Supreme bike worked good. It rides really well am I am still shocked at how well the Fox RP23 rear shock works. That rear travel sure did help down there. I could tell on day one that having the extra 2.5" of travel made the bike hook up much better.

Overall, it was a good weekend of riding, racing, and enjoying the weather. It was a late night coming home, but well worth it. I had a good time and it is fun to see the other competition nationwide and compare. I felt pretty good for March.

Its that time

Time to race! The winter has finally passed, and the races are on the horizen. Race number one is this weekend down in Tennessee. I'll be leaving tomorrow morning early for the trip down. Streets and Maps says 9.5 hours, so that should leave us some good time to get a lap in before we cook and settle in. I am pumped to ride singletrack for the first time since November. I am looking foreward to working out the rust on Friday and Saturday before the Chickasaw Trace Classic on Sunday. It's going to be a long day Sunday. I expect to get back in the wee hours of Monday. Then up for classes. Four days of sitting through lectures and then I am free for North Carolina for 4 days. Woo hoo. A travelin' and ridin' man. It's gonna be fun. Oh yeah, something about temps in the low to mid 80's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the new bike side, I fixed the brake problem. I got a nice hour forty five ride in on it yesterday. I felt like a fool riding on the dirt roads. I was hitting all of the bumps and holes I could find to see how the rear suspension works. I have been riding hardtail for a while, but I think this bike might just work quite well. I give a better review of it after the weekend. I suppose some riding in TN and Pisgah, NC will show the true strenghs of the bike.

Out until Monday. Look back for a race review. Until then, I'll be enjoying the singletrack and counting Waffle Houses!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Wow, haven't updated in a bit. I have had a bunch to do lately. Last week I got some good riding in. The weather was nice for a few days, then got cold again. At least it was sunny out. I closed off the week wrapping up 300 miles. This week is active recovery with a race this Sunday. I was riding a bunch, had to work a bunch this weekend at the rink, then on top of that I had to finish a BIO project, write a paper on Foreign Policy(ugh), write a psych paper, and study for a BIO, Psych, and History test. On top of that, I had to plan and get ready for the trip to TN this weekend. Dang, thats a lot of time and work.

On the interesting side of things, I picked up my new Kona Hei Hei Supreme Frame today. It is sweet. I built it up, but have a little disc brake problem in the rear. Hopefully I can get that fixed for good tomorrow. I took all of the parts off of the Yeti, but I do have a new chainring, chain, and cassette that needed to be replaced. It does ride nice around the yard! The Fox RP23 rear shock works just like the Terralogic X forks. You can pound on it and it surprisingly doesn't move. Here is the built bike. All I need is for my new wheels to come in and it will be complete.

Gloomy with Humidity

That was what it turned out to be today. I swear I checked the weather doppler at least 5 times in 3 different sites before I ended up riding. It was so damn dark and cloudy that I was sure it was going to downpour at any moment. The air was also thick and made it feel really muggy out. I was still able to get away with only wearing shorts and a jeresy. Not bad for March 14th. Now time for reality and 40 degrees.

I tried some dirt roads today to see how they were. Good news is that some are dry, some are a little wet, but overall, a little more warm weather and they'll be perfect. I see some gravel grinders in the very near future.

I saw this bike leaning up against a pole yesterday, but today it was laying in the water.

Thank You Mr. Weatherman

Well, that was nice. Really, really, nice. A good taste of whats to come. Too bad the warm weather is going to leave us and go back to the 30's and 40's. With the temps in the 70's today, I opted for a nice long ride. I spent the first little bit working on some intensity, then rode tempo for the rest of the ride. Total ride time was 4:40, and I was in the sun the entire time!!! I almost felt naked when I started riding with only shorts and a jeresy. Can't get much better than that.
A work in progress...


Time to get back to reality and bundle up! Low 60's tomorrow, but it looks like it is going to rain. If it hold off until evening, I should be able to squeeze a ride in before the showers come down.