Well the wind hasn't let up around Iowa yet. But it is still April. We got a serious dose of temperature increase today which was amazing. On top of that the Big Boss Man let me take out his old 2008 Sworks Tarmac SL2 to get a feel for the frame sizing and ride quality. The wind was only noticible when getting hit with a decent cross wind. It was also my first ride on some decently deep carbon wheels which was amazing as well. Also my first ride on a bike featuring a BB30 standard bottom bracket. Whew that was a mouth full.
The bike rode awesome and I rode decent. I have a tweaked tendon running from my knee through my shin from the lack of warm up this weekend. It was cold enough and raining hard enough that I just forgoed it. It wasn't needed. Besides the whole slight injury thing. Oh well. That's life and racing. My legs felt pretty good as well. Big ringing some of the bigger climbs on Sugar Bottom like an idiot and then cruised into the headwind all the way home. Dropped it into the little ring for that whole stretch to let the tendon spin out and relax.
So now the decision comes down to do I pick up a 52cm or a 54cm frameset. The 54cm works with the 100mm stem that is on it and even with the 20mm offset seatpost. I took some measurements off the Gios and dropped the bars a little bit. The whole fit thing is really coming around when it comes to setting up my bikes. It really doesn't take me long any more to get them really dialed. I just don't know if I want to ride a 120mm stem. Looks goofy but even with that added length the shorter wheelbase of the bike will handle a little better as well.
Oh decisions, decisions. That new frameset will really help with the road training aspect of things. The old Gios just leaves you gassed and soaks up efforts on training rides. That isn't always bad, it just leaves you more fatigued. Also I might have to see what the old Boss man might take for his old SL2. The Sram Red components really worked well. Shifting was super fast and very snappy compared to Rival or Force. I would have to say that when next season comes around, I will definitely be thinking about them for a kit should I get just a frameset.
That's all.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Sylvan Island Stampede Race Report
I crossed the line yesterday way faster than expected. The conditions were about as bad as they could have possibly been, which caters to my riding experience. The mud, slop, cold and sheer attrocious conditions were right up my mental alley. As I write this my eyes are still shedding crap out of them and go blurry every now and then. Talk about a crappy but good day to ride a bike.
I hit the singletrack in probably about 10-11th place and was ready to get my mud bearings pumping. It's been about 8-9 years since I've irresponsibly ridden singletrack in downright destructive conditions. Luckily most of the other people in the field were not ready to handle it. In Iowa, there aren't too many trail systems that are rain friendly. After working past 1 or 2 people in the first mile I had my first mud mishap. I slammed the front of my saddle and the nose of my saddle rocked down into a negative 45 degree angle. Talk about crappy.
I hopped off the bike in an open doubletrack section and with one solid punch put the saddle back to about a negative 10 degree angle. Far from great, but for a day like this one it was perfect. So I was behind a slower gentleman on a FS Hifi 29er who just kept tapping his pedals on just about anything he could. The weather was just taking it's toll. And at this point we were only 2 miles into the race! So I got to catch up to the two people who passed me, one on another SuperflySS and the other guy I don't remember. SuperflySS guy and I started to do some work. We rode the remainder of the lap together and into the second.
At that point we had picked off about 5-6 riders and were working well together. Only problem was all the mud he was kicking into my eyes! My eyes and face were getting slammed and it wasn't helping my situation at all. So come the next gravel section it was game on. Passed him on the short gravel and just headed into the singletrack pushing my own pace. Apparently this cracked him cause at the next trail overlap he was gone. It could have been the pits of mud that were 3-5 inches deep in places as well as all the roots and rock buried in them to immediately stop your progress.
At this point I was riding by myself. I felt really good, but didn't see anyone ahead, nor did I hear anyone cheering for anyone behind me. Oh well just keep pumping the pace. I finally got my second handup thanks to Adam doing some bottle searching. Nate had to drop out cause he smoked a tree with his knee. I felt bad, but that's mud racing on a course that is basically a rocky, rooty pump track. Attention, attention, attention.
I finally saw someone which turned out to be Kevin. He was about a while section ahead on the singletrack. I just kept riding my same pace because I felt like it was a good one and I wasn't 100% killing myself. I actually caught up to him as he stopped to tighten his cleat. It had worked it's way loose and luckily he hadn't lost a bolt. At this point I knew there could only be a couple of people in front of me. I knew it was Nenniger, Shockey, and Cam. As it turns out I had passed Shockey earlier, but hadn't even remembered or realized it. At this point I was on a mission. My mind and body just hit some weird rythym. I can't even explain it.
I caught Nenninger in the muddiest section of all. He tried to put some pace in during a couple of the little open sections, but these were now mud pits as well and his shifting was gone. I just motored past in one of the nastiest sections of all. I don't think he was expecting that. That killed off all but one rider (I thought it was actually two) and I knew next one in line was Cam. He kept pulling through just ahead on the next section of singletrack in multiple places. We kept crossing paths. I couldn't tell if I was gaining or not. I was getting pretty gassed at this point anyways.
I hit the 6th lap with hopes of just holding my position and that's what I did. I did end up putting time into Cam (as far as catching up) but didn't reel him back. My first lap was over 1 minute slower than his, and my next 3 were faster. My 5th was slower, but I know my sixth was faster. One of my lap times didn't register on the Accu-Split. He posted a 22.xx lap and I knew I closed some on that lap.
Overall I took second in Expert on my Superfly SS. The bike is amazing. It is the hands down best race rig I have ever had. My brake pads are 100% gone my the way. The rear brake stopped working with about .5 miles to go which was fortunate. My front isn't fairing much better but does have some pad left. Those are getting replaced as well as the chain.
Thanks to all the FORC crew for and awesome race. Next time I'm working on a better start position. Watch yourselves. All you all.
Muddy.
I hit the singletrack in probably about 10-11th place and was ready to get my mud bearings pumping. It's been about 8-9 years since I've irresponsibly ridden singletrack in downright destructive conditions. Luckily most of the other people in the field were not ready to handle it. In Iowa, there aren't too many trail systems that are rain friendly. After working past 1 or 2 people in the first mile I had my first mud mishap. I slammed the front of my saddle and the nose of my saddle rocked down into a negative 45 degree angle. Talk about crappy.
I hopped off the bike in an open doubletrack section and with one solid punch put the saddle back to about a negative 10 degree angle. Far from great, but for a day like this one it was perfect. So I was behind a slower gentleman on a FS Hifi 29er who just kept tapping his pedals on just about anything he could. The weather was just taking it's toll. And at this point we were only 2 miles into the race! So I got to catch up to the two people who passed me, one on another SuperflySS and the other guy I don't remember. SuperflySS guy and I started to do some work. We rode the remainder of the lap together and into the second.
At that point we had picked off about 5-6 riders and were working well together. Only problem was all the mud he was kicking into my eyes! My eyes and face were getting slammed and it wasn't helping my situation at all. So come the next gravel section it was game on. Passed him on the short gravel and just headed into the singletrack pushing my own pace. Apparently this cracked him cause at the next trail overlap he was gone. It could have been the pits of mud that were 3-5 inches deep in places as well as all the roots and rock buried in them to immediately stop your progress.
At this point I was riding by myself. I felt really good, but didn't see anyone ahead, nor did I hear anyone cheering for anyone behind me. Oh well just keep pumping the pace. I finally got my second handup thanks to Adam doing some bottle searching. Nate had to drop out cause he smoked a tree with his knee. I felt bad, but that's mud racing on a course that is basically a rocky, rooty pump track. Attention, attention, attention.
I finally saw someone which turned out to be Kevin. He was about a while section ahead on the singletrack. I just kept riding my same pace because I felt like it was a good one and I wasn't 100% killing myself. I actually caught up to him as he stopped to tighten his cleat. It had worked it's way loose and luckily he hadn't lost a bolt. At this point I knew there could only be a couple of people in front of me. I knew it was Nenniger, Shockey, and Cam. As it turns out I had passed Shockey earlier, but hadn't even remembered or realized it. At this point I was on a mission. My mind and body just hit some weird rythym. I can't even explain it.
I caught Nenninger in the muddiest section of all. He tried to put some pace in during a couple of the little open sections, but these were now mud pits as well and his shifting was gone. I just motored past in one of the nastiest sections of all. I don't think he was expecting that. That killed off all but one rider (I thought it was actually two) and I knew next one in line was Cam. He kept pulling through just ahead on the next section of singletrack in multiple places. We kept crossing paths. I couldn't tell if I was gaining or not. I was getting pretty gassed at this point anyways.
I hit the 6th lap with hopes of just holding my position and that's what I did. I did end up putting time into Cam (as far as catching up) but didn't reel him back. My first lap was over 1 minute slower than his, and my next 3 were faster. My 5th was slower, but I know my sixth was faster. One of my lap times didn't register on the Accu-Split. He posted a 22.xx lap and I knew I closed some on that lap.
Overall I took second in Expert on my Superfly SS. The bike is amazing. It is the hands down best race rig I have ever had. My brake pads are 100% gone my the way. The rear brake stopped working with about .5 miles to go which was fortunate. My front isn't fairing much better but does have some pad left. Those are getting replaced as well as the chain.
Thanks to all the FORC crew for and awesome race. Next time I'm working on a better start position. Watch yourselves. All you all.
Muddy.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Ready?
Well tomorrow is the first step up of the year. CIRREM brought pain, cold and good mental training. Ouachita Challenge brought physical hardship and training that brought about a better mood for the beginning of the season. Now it is time to stretch the legs on an actual race day. The course will be a load of fun. Rock, glass, and nothing but 2.5 hours of flowy technical singletrack. It will be interesting to hit a rythym and see if it can stick for that long. The course is short, fast and demands 100% attention at almost all times.
I feel ready. Legs felt about 80-90% today which is about perfect. Rain forecast looks like the gearing choice could be a tough one, but could bring about better than average performance. Or it could bring shreded legs. We'll see.
Concentration.
I feel ready. Legs felt about 80-90% today which is about perfect. Rain forecast looks like the gearing choice could be a tough one, but could bring about better than average performance. Or it could bring shreded legs. We'll see.
Concentration.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Sylvan Pre-ride
All I'm saying is put on your beer goggles kiddies, cause things are going to get dizzy! Whoa! That course is tight, twisty, rocky, glass strewn in areas and above all else, pump track-a-riffic. I am all about it besides the fact that I won't be able to see straight after around lap 5. Gearing selection is spot on, and the On One carbon fork feels great back on the Fly. Front wheel is a little more tucked underneath me which is perfect. Also dialed in tire pressure front and rear as well. I am loving my Rampage on the front. As long as it doesn't rain too much the Python will be staying on the rear as well.
I was feeling a little tired early on today, but started to come around on lap two. After that is was game on. I also took a little too much pressure out of the front tire. No rolling of the sidewall, just a little too soft for race day. Conditions were 85% dry with a couple of sloppy parts and only a couple of tacky spots. The trails are pretty much ripping right now. Seems like they are eeking out a pretty decent course this year. And I know cause I didn't race it last year. So take that one with a grain of salt.
Grilling.
I was feeling a little tired early on today, but started to come around on lap two. After that is was game on. I also took a little too much pressure out of the front tire. No rolling of the sidewall, just a little too soft for race day. Conditions were 85% dry with a couple of sloppy parts and only a couple of tacky spots. The trails are pretty much ripping right now. Seems like they are eeking out a pretty decent course this year. And I know cause I didn't race it last year. So take that one with a grain of salt.
Grilling.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Legs are Officially Back.
Hit up my first College Green Group ride since about 2006 or 2007. I don't remember that clearly which year. I rode well on that one but quickly got shelled during a chase situation shortly outside of Morse. Not smart riding on my part. This time around things went better. I rode smarter, pulled when I could, chased when I could, and sat in when needed. I probably could have worked a little more, but oh well. Screw it. I'm a Cat 5 right now (truly if I renewed my liscence probably automatically upgraded to a 4).
I was in trouble in a couple of spots, but it couldn't have gone beter. My back is starting to feel better now as well. My legs feel pretty ridiculously good. I couldn't ask for more. A week and two days after a single speed 80 mile race, I was hitting it up with some of the faster cats in the area. I know if they put the hammer down I'd get eaten alive, but hey, I survived on this day. The Sunday-Monday off didn't hurt and if anything really helped. Maybe it was the Taco Pizza following the Chili for lunch.
Feels good.
I was in trouble in a couple of spots, but it couldn't have gone beter. My back is starting to feel better now as well. My legs feel pretty ridiculously good. I couldn't ask for more. A week and two days after a single speed 80 mile race, I was hitting it up with some of the faster cats in the area. I know if they put the hammer down I'd get eaten alive, but hey, I survived on this day. The Sunday-Monday off didn't hurt and if anything really helped. Maybe it was the Taco Pizza following the Chili for lunch.
Feels good.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Coming back around
What you know about crystals? Timeline crystal. Meditate on past and future. And across the alternate timelines. Mine is special because of the alternate timeline ability.My legs are finally starting to come back to regular function. My lower back is still a little tender when really trying to crank out a decent pace seated up climbs. I upped the gearing on the 'Fly for this season which is a little early. I just rode Sugar Bottom and it is soft and there are about 2-3 inches deep of pine needles in areas. The 1.89 ratio is definitely high. I am hopefully going to get out to Sylvan this weekend to check out the situation. I also might have to order a 35t chainring for those inbetween gears.
I am really going to improve my singlespeed approach this season. I have been of the set it and forget it contingent for a long time, but it is time to kick that habbit. I just know that for certain courses I am going to need a little smaller or a little bigger. I know what my legs can push, but I need to step it up (or consequently down.) Only got one lap in this morning and I know I'll have to step it down a gear for the old SB during this early season wetness/needleness. I also was craving the rigid fork as well. I'll have to slap that on tomorrow or something. I also need to pick up a more serious spacer kit. I am just running those thin 4.5mm 7spd spacers right now and my cog definitley shifts a little back and forth even thought it is tight. I can hear the chain rubbing due to the torque and it not being super tight.
Yay pictures!
Before
After
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Ouachita Challenge Race Report
Well everything went down without a hitch. Well sort of. Pre-ride day left Adam with 2 nastily cut tires. We were just cruising some singletrack when all of a sudden down a really wet section, I hear hissing out of Adams tires. Upon inspection he cut the sidewall and side knobs on both his front and rear tires. They were nasty cuts at that. We drove to Hot Springs and loaded up on tires and Stans fluid. Adam decided on a Rampage front and XDX rear. The shop was Parkside Cycles and they were super cool and let us use their compressor. Thanks to those guys. They had a really nice and cool shop. We got back to the camp site and hung out and ate dinner. We headed off to bed to get some sleep before the big day.
We woke up to pretty gray skies. It was 6a.m. and cloudy. So it was a little dark and and looking like rain might be moving into the area. We headed over to Oden at about 6:45. We stayed at the Ouachita River Haven Resort which was a super nice little spot. It was located right in the middle of the race course and just 3 or 4 miles from Oden. We got there and picked up our race packets and headed to the car to get ready. It was really looking like rain at this point. We got over to the pre-race meeting and then headed to the start line. There was quite the crowd of riders. We aren't talking about Chequemagon big, but these two races are pretty brutal compared to that one.
The start rolled us out on some road for around 2 miles to gravel. Then on the gravel we turned into the sky and climbed and climbed. Once we were ready to dump onto some doubletrack it just kept going up. You could see peoples spirits drop when they saw that. My 32-20 had me spinning quite a bit on the road section, but once we hit the gravel climb and the doubletrack it was perfect. At the top of the climb we finally descended into some singletrack. I was really feeling good.
We road the Womble section I had ridden in the past and I felt like my pace was spot on. My gear selection forced me to take it easy which was great. I took one stop to grab some food out of my bag about half way through. At the end of the first Womble section 21 miles in was the first aid station which I just blew through. I had water and electrolyte drink so I just kept rolling. The legs were starting to twinge a little but nothing serious. This was my first serious singletrack ride of the year so it was going to get pretty brutal and I knew it. I rolled the next section pretty well. Adam caught back up to me and we hit aid station two at about the same time. I reloaded on water and this time some Cytomax, ate a 'nana and some cookies and rolled out.
The next section in store for us was going to be a long one. We were 38 miles in and the next aid the way I figured it was in about 22 miles. I was feeling fatigued now for sure, but I just kept on rolling. I knew that I had to stick this section as well as possible. I was worried about going to hard through this section, but I knew if I didn't I wouldn't make aid station 4 and the 4 o'clock cut-off. This section also had the first "real" hike a bike. There was a really good one in the previous section, but we knew one was coming up. We got to it and hiked for probably around 20 minutes it felt like. We got to the top and cruised for a while. By this time my muscles were really starting to feel some fatigue. My Ergon bag also decided to seperate from my shoulders in this section. Stupid short bolt. I knew I should have replaced it. Fixed it and kept rolling.
Adam started feeling a lot better through the end of this section and started actually riding the climbs again instead of hiking. Unfortunately my legs were way to fatigued at this point to even remotely think about attempting to crank even some of the lower grade rises. I came around a little towards the end of the section and rode some of the last grades and then popped off onto the fire road. Here we had an awesome warning sign for a dangerous descent. Finally! This race makes you forget what a descent is and puts climbing in your face all the time. I know you have to have descents, but it sure doesn't feel like it on this course. At the end of the descent I hit aid station 3.
I topped off with some water downed another banana and headed out towards Blowout. This section of trail had me hiking for probably around a good hour it felt like. Times can probably all be rounded down approx. 25% from what I thought it felt like. I didn't wear a watch (I forgot it) so I just kept one foot over the other. At this point, I had barely anything left in the tank. The decision to ride SS in a race of this distance and caliber this early in the season was kind of dumb, but a good challenge none the less. I know I would have been able to ride more of this race had I had a geared bike. Oh well. Should have bought a geared Superfly, not a single speed. Blowout felt like it took forever. It just kept going up and up. I just couldn't climb any of it unless it was a 2-3% grade. I just kept going into aid station 4. By this time at Blowout, I had some fellow single speeders around. We rolled into the aid together.
The other two I was with rolled out to Big Brushy ahead of me. I just got some Cytomax and headed the claimed 6 miles to the other side of the mountain to the last checkpoint. One thing about the checkpoints/aid stations the last half of the race was no one stationed at them that knew the actual distance to the next point. Oh well I just kept going. I knew that I was pretty much home free. I hiked a fair amount of the first two miles, but then it leveled out and luckily didn't go up the ridge. It just wound around the mountain so I was able to get back on the bike. My legs were spent but I hit that point where your body just finally shuts up and you mind takes over. I passed a couple of people in this section who were in bad shape. I was so happy to get to the top and start descending. There was a guy on a Specialized FS who was my carrot. We had gone back and forth earlier in the race a little and I knew the way I was feeling I would descend better than him. It didn't matter cause he got me back later.
I rolled up to the last checkpoint to find Adam standing there. He was just grabbing a last little hit of water from some bottles they had there. He had only been there a minute or two so I had made some ground back on him. He had a puncture before aid 4 and had to stop and pump it up there. We found out it was only 8.5 miles of gravel and road to the finish. We just cruised it in together. Adam was pretty cracked as was myself. My legs were just so happy to spin that it didn't matter that they were borderline balled up. I was hitting the climbs better than Adam, but I just waited up. We got into this mess together so we may as well finish it together. When we hit the gravel the major temp drop hit me pretty hard. About 1-2pm in the afternoon I put my arm warmers on to prevent sunburn and I was glad I hadn't thrown those in my drop bag to be returned to the school.
All in all we finished in 9 hours and 26 minutes. Slower than I had wanted, but we finished which is saying enough. The 80 mile race is designed for people not to finish. The amount of singletrack before the last 20 miles is great, but pounds you into the ground. The last 20 miles decides who is stupid enough to keep going. In the 60, they miss out on that 22 miles section of singletrack which is replaced by a road/gravel section that saves a lot of energy. I have no qualms with my slow time seeing as A.) I finished, B.) it was waaay early in my mountain bike season, and C.) this was my first race or mountain bike ride over 50 miles ever. There were a lot of people behind us that didn't even finish for any reason imaginable.
So I'm not sure if I got the bug for longer races yet or not. I hurt pretty thoroughly and even as I write this, I am thinking about driving to work. We'll see. I had a blast the first 40 miles and suffered pretty thoroughly on and off during the last 40. I will say one thing, I'll probably never go back and ride that race on a single speed. I would like to try it on a geared bike though.
I'm spent.
We woke up to pretty gray skies. It was 6a.m. and cloudy. So it was a little dark and and looking like rain might be moving into the area. We headed over to Oden at about 6:45. We stayed at the Ouachita River Haven Resort which was a super nice little spot. It was located right in the middle of the race course and just 3 or 4 miles from Oden. We got there and picked up our race packets and headed to the car to get ready. It was really looking like rain at this point. We got over to the pre-race meeting and then headed to the start line. There was quite the crowd of riders. We aren't talking about Chequemagon big, but these two races are pretty brutal compared to that one.
The start rolled us out on some road for around 2 miles to gravel. Then on the gravel we turned into the sky and climbed and climbed. Once we were ready to dump onto some doubletrack it just kept going up. You could see peoples spirits drop when they saw that. My 32-20 had me spinning quite a bit on the road section, but once we hit the gravel climb and the doubletrack it was perfect. At the top of the climb we finally descended into some singletrack. I was really feeling good.
We road the Womble section I had ridden in the past and I felt like my pace was spot on. My gear selection forced me to take it easy which was great. I took one stop to grab some food out of my bag about half way through. At the end of the first Womble section 21 miles in was the first aid station which I just blew through. I had water and electrolyte drink so I just kept rolling. The legs were starting to twinge a little but nothing serious. This was my first serious singletrack ride of the year so it was going to get pretty brutal and I knew it. I rolled the next section pretty well. Adam caught back up to me and we hit aid station two at about the same time. I reloaded on water and this time some Cytomax, ate a 'nana and some cookies and rolled out.
The next section in store for us was going to be a long one. We were 38 miles in and the next aid the way I figured it was in about 22 miles. I was feeling fatigued now for sure, but I just kept on rolling. I knew that I had to stick this section as well as possible. I was worried about going to hard through this section, but I knew if I didn't I wouldn't make aid station 4 and the 4 o'clock cut-off. This section also had the first "real" hike a bike. There was a really good one in the previous section, but we knew one was coming up. We got to it and hiked for probably around 20 minutes it felt like. We got to the top and cruised for a while. By this time my muscles were really starting to feel some fatigue. My Ergon bag also decided to seperate from my shoulders in this section. Stupid short bolt. I knew I should have replaced it. Fixed it and kept rolling.
Adam started feeling a lot better through the end of this section and started actually riding the climbs again instead of hiking. Unfortunately my legs were way to fatigued at this point to even remotely think about attempting to crank even some of the lower grade rises. I came around a little towards the end of the section and rode some of the last grades and then popped off onto the fire road. Here we had an awesome warning sign for a dangerous descent. Finally! This race makes you forget what a descent is and puts climbing in your face all the time. I know you have to have descents, but it sure doesn't feel like it on this course. At the end of the descent I hit aid station 3.
I topped off with some water downed another banana and headed out towards Blowout. This section of trail had me hiking for probably around a good hour it felt like. Times can probably all be rounded down approx. 25% from what I thought it felt like. I didn't wear a watch (I forgot it) so I just kept one foot over the other. At this point, I had barely anything left in the tank. The decision to ride SS in a race of this distance and caliber this early in the season was kind of dumb, but a good challenge none the less. I know I would have been able to ride more of this race had I had a geared bike. Oh well. Should have bought a geared Superfly, not a single speed. Blowout felt like it took forever. It just kept going up and up. I just couldn't climb any of it unless it was a 2-3% grade. I just kept going into aid station 4. By this time at Blowout, I had some fellow single speeders around. We rolled into the aid together.
The other two I was with rolled out to Big Brushy ahead of me. I just got some Cytomax and headed the claimed 6 miles to the other side of the mountain to the last checkpoint. One thing about the checkpoints/aid stations the last half of the race was no one stationed at them that knew the actual distance to the next point. Oh well I just kept going. I knew that I was pretty much home free. I hiked a fair amount of the first two miles, but then it leveled out and luckily didn't go up the ridge. It just wound around the mountain so I was able to get back on the bike. My legs were spent but I hit that point where your body just finally shuts up and you mind takes over. I passed a couple of people in this section who were in bad shape. I was so happy to get to the top and start descending. There was a guy on a Specialized FS who was my carrot. We had gone back and forth earlier in the race a little and I knew the way I was feeling I would descend better than him. It didn't matter cause he got me back later.
I rolled up to the last checkpoint to find Adam standing there. He was just grabbing a last little hit of water from some bottles they had there. He had only been there a minute or two so I had made some ground back on him. He had a puncture before aid 4 and had to stop and pump it up there. We found out it was only 8.5 miles of gravel and road to the finish. We just cruised it in together. Adam was pretty cracked as was myself. My legs were just so happy to spin that it didn't matter that they were borderline balled up. I was hitting the climbs better than Adam, but I just waited up. We got into this mess together so we may as well finish it together. When we hit the gravel the major temp drop hit me pretty hard. About 1-2pm in the afternoon I put my arm warmers on to prevent sunburn and I was glad I hadn't thrown those in my drop bag to be returned to the school.
All in all we finished in 9 hours and 26 minutes. Slower than I had wanted, but we finished which is saying enough. The 80 mile race is designed for people not to finish. The amount of singletrack before the last 20 miles is great, but pounds you into the ground. The last 20 miles decides who is stupid enough to keep going. In the 60, they miss out on that 22 miles section of singletrack which is replaced by a road/gravel section that saves a lot of energy. I have no qualms with my slow time seeing as A.) I finished, B.) it was waaay early in my mountain bike season, and C.) this was my first race or mountain bike ride over 50 miles ever. There were a lot of people behind us that didn't even finish for any reason imaginable.
So I'm not sure if I got the bug for longer races yet or not. I hurt pretty thoroughly and even as I write this, I am thinking about driving to work. We'll see. I had a blast the first 40 miles and suffered pretty thoroughly on and off during the last 40. I will say one thing, I'll probably never go back and ride that race on a single speed. I would like to try it on a geared bike though.
I'm spent.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Lack of Riding
Well not much riding has gone down this week. I have been doing a good core workout since Sunday. I've only ridden on Sunday and Tuesday. Things have been crappy around these parts as far as riding goes. I am really looking forward to riding Saturday though. I just have to get Adam to do it. If not I can always spin to the trails and get in some light road miles and just do about an hour to an hour and a half on the trails. I would really like to get some hurt and miles in the legs. I just feel better come race day when I do. Get's the glycogen in the legs juiced up after a storage cycle. That starts today.
Looks like there are some tornado watches for lower Arkansas right now as well. That is kind of crazy. I headed to work yesterday to get everything on the bike dialed in. I installed a Panaracer Rampage front tire and left the Hutchinson Python on. The newer Pythons have the knobs spaced out farther and taller side knobs. I am digging it. It can be run at a stupid low pressure as well. It is a firm feeling tire. The Rampage is going to be my new jam this season. It just rolls fast. Just as fast as the Weirwolf due to it's tread design, but the chunk of the knobs leaves it a gripper.
I also got some things worked up for my fuel storage. I had some awesome clips on a BioNuclear Hazmat suit bag my friend from the Army gave me that I taped up to my gel flasks. They are bad *ss. They have a sliding clip mechanism so when things get nasty, I can slide them down and then they cannot fly off. Otherwise they will stick in place really well.
I am decided on my setup as well. 32-20 gear and my rigid fork. Minus the gear, it is the setup I've ran for the past 3-4 seasons. I just don't think before a race is a great time to change the setup. I did change tires, but that was a no brainer. I got some good advice from Squirrel as far as the gearing. He was just down there this past weekend and said things were wet on the low parts and amazing anywhere there was elevation. I'm getting antsy....
Looks like there are some tornado watches for lower Arkansas right now as well. That is kind of crazy. I headed to work yesterday to get everything on the bike dialed in. I installed a Panaracer Rampage front tire and left the Hutchinson Python on. The newer Pythons have the knobs spaced out farther and taller side knobs. I am digging it. It can be run at a stupid low pressure as well. It is a firm feeling tire. The Rampage is going to be my new jam this season. It just rolls fast. Just as fast as the Weirwolf due to it's tread design, but the chunk of the knobs leaves it a gripper.
I also got some things worked up for my fuel storage. I had some awesome clips on a BioNuclear Hazmat suit bag my friend from the Army gave me that I taped up to my gel flasks. They are bad *ss. They have a sliding clip mechanism so when things get nasty, I can slide them down and then they cannot fly off. Otherwise they will stick in place really well.
I am decided on my setup as well. 32-20 gear and my rigid fork. Minus the gear, it is the setup I've ran for the past 3-4 seasons. I just don't think before a race is a great time to change the setup. I did change tires, but that was a no brainer. I got some good advice from Squirrel as far as the gearing. He was just down there this past weekend and said things were wet on the low parts and amazing anywhere there was elevation. I'm getting antsy....
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