Lumberjack 100 2012

I have to admit, I had my eye on this one since the beginning of the year. It’s sort of my home course on the NUE calendar, and its’ flatter profile and fast flow suits my style a little better then say some of the other courses with over 13,000 ft of climbing. I also look forward to this race every year because I get to see and hang out with a lot of my local riding buddies and the RBS team. I’d been on some heavy duty antibiotics for about 10 days before the race due to a tick bite, so I wasn’t sure how well I was going to ride. It felt like I was only digesting about ½ my food all week. The other ½ seemed to like to evacuate at about midnight, 2am, 3am, and 4am each night. I don’t recommend getting bit by a tick. It’s not very fun at all. I know… excuses excuses… blah blah blah…

The race start felt a little more mellow than last year. I stayed right on the front as all 400 of us dodged the van pulling into the parking lot. Barry Wicks took the holeshot into the shoot and I was right on his heels avoiding the crash mayhem which happened just behind us. I was lucky. Wicks pushed the race pretty hard up all the steep rolling climbs. At one point, I let him and Kevin Carter go off the front. I thought if Wicks was going to ride like that all day, there was no way I would survive. Fortunately he let up and a group of 6 formed.

It was Wicks, Tostado, Tanguy, Carter, and me for a while, until Edsall, Spreng, and others bridged up later in the lap. I got caught between groups for a few miles during lap 1 when my seat post slipped down. I fixed it quickly and chased back on.  I was feeling pretty good. The pace felt totally manageable and I was taking a few turns on the front trying to push the pace.

Lap 1, so far so good. During lap 2, Tanguy took a hard pull through Road Monkey until he developed a slow tire leak, then I took over for a while all the way up to the fire tower climb. Then on the ensuing rollers, Kevin Carter came to the front and took a blistering pull. I could tell he was feeling good. Wicks found the hot line and came around Kevin on the rocket launch. The rest of had to run as we slid out on the sandy terrain. At that point, I was really feeling it. The heat and humidity was climbing, and my body was shutting down.

I pulled into the pits and loaded up on ice and a fresh camelback of infinit and tried to recover. I was feeling better, but the group on the front was long gone. I’d try to just keep the pace up and limp in for 5^th. It just seemed to get hotter and hotter. The climb up the fire tower took the last bit of energy I had left. Soon later, with about 3 miles to go, Tostado rolled up. He passed me in slow motion and I had nothing left to stay with him. I would roll in for 6^th.

Not too bad. Could have been better, could have been worse. The heat really bothered me at this one and who knows what effect the tick infection had on my endurance. Big thanks goes out to my wife Mitch, and my in-laws Dan and Sandy for getting me through that 3^rd lap. It is what it is. It’s a points series, you have to roll with the punches and save the best placings you can at each race. And when a guy like Barry Wicks shows up, you know it’s going to be a hard day. I think it’s good for the sport though, and it brings up the pace and the level of competition. Congrats to Wicks for the win and a solid ride by Kevin Carter. I think I’m the first one of the top contenders to finish 4 races, so that’s a huge relief. Even if something bad happens in the 2^nd half of the season, I know I have my 4.

So here’s to a successful first portion of season! Now I’ll hunker back down for the next few weeks and see what kind of condition I can bring out for the summer run of hundies. Perhaps I can better a couple of those lower placings and come home with good series finish. Hope to you see you guys out there on the trails.

NUE #3 Mohican 100 2012

This weeks adventure brings us to middle Ohio for round 3 of the National Ultra Endurance Series. With fast singletrack and ample rolling dirt rds, this race is typically a good course for me. Throw in the cooler temps, and the conditions were perfect. The short 3-1/2 hr drive to the venue was a welcome change from the epic road trips of the first two rounds.

Thanks to Rochester Bike Shop, I decided to utilize my new Superfly hardtail for this race. I figured it would help with all the dirt rds and the agonizing “buggy trail”. It proved to be a good choice. No mechanicals to speak of, although my back is feeling it today. The race got off to a quick start with the hill climb prime just outside of town. Native Michigander Jordan Wakely lit up the sprint and took home the extra $200. I decided to lay low near the front and save my effort for the shoot. I managed to be first into the shoot. The trails were dialed. Not much mud to speak of, which was surprising with the rain the day before. The opening climbs strung things out nicely.

As we made our way into the Mohican Singletrack I found myself struggling a little to keep up with the pace. The hardtail had me bouncing all over the roots. I decided to lay low and let a few guys go. I figured I could catch up with all the dirt rds later on. Christian Tanguy turned on the afterburners in the remaining singletrack and built himself up a 12min lead. I found myself working with Kevin Carter, Chris Peariso, and Jordan Wakely. Kevin kept a nice smooth pace as we motored along. Sure enough, out on the dirt rds, we swept up Brandon Draugelis, and Rob Spring, but Tanguy was long gone.

We developed a pace line on the dirt rds out to Mohican Wilderness. I was feeling good, so I decided I would try and break away on the climb out of aid 3. I had a small gap near the top just as we made our way back out onto the dirt rds. I dug in hard and found myself alone, free to open up the motor on the remaining dirt rds.

I kept getting the time splits from people out on the trail. I’d hear 5min, then 4min, then at the end of the buggy trail in aid 4, my wife Michelle yelled 2min. There was a chance! It kept me motivated. But, it was too little, too late. Once I started hitting the steeper climbs near the end, I could feel myself slowing down a bit and paying for my efforts. Christian was going to win. Perhaps if one of the others had broken away and joined me, we would have had enough horsepower to pin it back.

Even though I was tiring, I managed to keep the motor running and held off the chase pack to finish in 2^nd. I was really happy with the performance. No crashes, no mechanicals, and no wrong turns. It was a clean race, and I felt good the whole way through. I managed to take about 30min off my time from last year, so that’s a good sign for the upcoming Lumberjack right here in my home state of Michigan.

We had a great time after the race chatting up and hanging with all the cool people this sport attracts. Big props to Ryan O'Dell for pulling off a great race. I was starting to get down on myself, and the sport, but it’s funny how one good race can turn that all around… something to remember when you find yourself struggling with the results. Congrats to Christian for soloing out a monster effort and the win. And as always, congrats to everyone who finished. 100 miles is never easy. Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you at Lumberjack.

NUE #2 Silly moe's Revenge

Google maps had Mountain View Arkansas clocked out at a 15hr drive from Oxford Michigan. It was going to take quite an effort to get there and back for round 2 of the National Ultra Endurance Series. This would be my first effort at the Syllamoe’s course, so I didn’t really know what to expect. I’d never been to Arkansas, and it’s one of those places only a mountain bike race would bring you to.

The course is very technical and layered with big sharp rocks and gravel. I was a little off the pace heading up the opening dirt road climb, but I figured I would be able to bridge back up once we got into the singletrack. But of course, shortly after we entered the singletrack, I was hit with flat tire #1. Normally the Nano’s hold up pretty well for me and have proven to be a solid choice even on courses like the W101, but this course definitely requires something a little more beefy. It took a little while to fix it. I found myself struggling with the age old debate of a quick blast of C02 and let the stans do the work, or opt for the full on tube change. I chose the latter, and ended up wasting an entire 40 gram canister. Luckily, Dan K dropped me a fresh C02 and I went to work.

So I’m back to rolling down the trail and I’m steadily picking up spots. To be honest, I wasn’t really riding the techy trails all that well. I felt slow, and a little apprehensive about crashing, so I just sort of took my time and picked my way through the brush. Coming down a short descent, it happened again. Flat #2. This time I was stranded with no tube or C02. Luckily with a little begging, I was able to track down a pump, then a few riders later, another tube. I went to work again and got it fixed. Thanks to those who donated for the cause!

OK, so now I’ve lost so much time, that it’s just turned into the principal of finishing this dam thing. I’m rolling along and about to get to aid#5 when it happens again. Flat#3. Holy hell! I have a tube, a pair of C02’s, and a multi-tool. This time I’m getting mid-evil on this thing. I yanked out the flat tube and bit out the valve stem like some sort of possessed flesh eating monster. I peeled open the tube all the way around. Then I took my new tube and wrapped it inside the carcass of the old tube. Voila! Flat fixed for good.

The rest of my race was just me bouncing off more rocks just waiting for the finish line to present itself, but I got through it. Then as I was sitting in my folding chair drinking my recovery drink, the front tire flatted again. How ironic. It was just one of those races that made me want to quit racing mountain bikes. It made me feel stupid, like I am wasting my time with all this. 14hrs of driving to a Podunk town in the middle of nowhere, silly course, mechanicals… all we needed was a thunderstorm and it would have made it a complete mountain bike experience. But for every 3 bad races, there’s one good one, and that’s what keeps us coming back.

I had a lot of time to reflect on the drive home, and tried to focus on the positives, rather than the negatives. At least I didn’t hurt myself, it was still a good training effort, we got to see the Ozarks… etc. I thought about other sports, and other athletes, who go through the same kind of struggles. I thought about how fortunate I am to able to compete at such a high level, and how lucky I am to truly experience my passion. No, it’s not stupid, it’s not a waste of time, it’s what I love to do, it’s what gets me out of bed on a Monday morning, and after a bad race, it’s important to keep reminding myself of that. I’ll still keep having my special moments on the bike that we all chase after week in and week out, but it just wasn’t in the cards this past weekend. With that being said, I hope to see you all at NUE round #3 in Ohio, right there with me chasing that perfect race. Happy thoughts.  

Cohutta 100 2012

This was a race I was looking forward to all winter long. I was anxious to get back into the 100 mile racing after the big accident at the season finale last year. I put in a lot of work into the off season and I felt ready to go. With Jeremiah Bishop, Justin Lindine, Christian Tanguy, and host of other super strong dudes, I knew this was going to be a tough race, and it was. The new version of the course was epic with over 13,000ft of climbing and added singltrack. I was glad I chose the full suspension bike. My new policy is 100 miles = full suspension… period.

The start was furious right off the gun. We ripped up the opening road climb with a 35 mph bar banging scrum into the singletrack. I tried to be as aggressive as possible without killing anybody, which netted me a top 10 place into the bottleneck. The pace was fast through the singletrack and I worked my way up to the front in the open sections. Later, it was Justin Lindine who pushed the pace on the trail. I hung on for dear life and managed to stay with the lead pack out onto the fire roads where the pace backed off substantially.

The pack grew and grew all the way up to aid 3 at mile 37. I grabbed my bottles and quickly bridged up to the others who had rolled thru the aid station. The pace seemed tame, so I decided to go out on an attack of my own and try to split the group. I soon found myself all alone. The legs were feeling good, so I kept the attack rolling, however, the group chased and quickly brought me back before we reached the top of Patato Patch Mt. Jeremiah put in a dig after aid 4 and split the group a little more before aid 5. Bishop looked really strong.

Rolling into the South loop singletrack, Christian Tanguy pushed the pace and I started to feel my early efforts, but I hung tough and didn’t let Jeremiah and Tanguy get too far. Once back out onto the fire rds, it was down to just the 3 of us as we approached the back side of Potato Patch Mt. I had to let Christian and Jeremiah go as soon as the road turned up. I didn’t seem to have that same snappy power I had the first time up Potato Patch. Lesson learned. Tanguy and Bishop motored away.

I drove on, but the relentless slopes just didn’t seem to give any sort of break. I could see Kevin Carter gaining on me, and soon he caught and passed me. He still looked strong. I had no answer, but to just suffer the best I could to the top. You would turn the corner only to see more upward slope. It was demoralizing. On the descent I chased like crazy. I seemed to have recovered, and was back to putting down the power. I knew Kevin probably wasn’t too far up the road, so that kept me motivated to chase as hard as possible.

Heading through the last aid station, I heard Kevin was close. I buried my head and pushed hard. Next thing I know I’m in some guys front yard and dogs are barking at me. Doh! I turned around, then found myself in another persons front yard with kids in a swimming pool. Double Doh! I finally got myself back onto the course not knowing if anyone had passed me or not. All that hard chasing on the descent was for not. It took the wind out of sails, but I pushed on. The fatigue was really starting to creep in on the final singletrack. My hands and arms were sore. I was happy to see that finish line. 4^th! Good nobody passed me during my detour.

It felt great getting back out there on the trails. I love these events. Well I should say I love the first 60 miles of these events. It’s those last 40 that make me question why I do these things. Congrats to everyone who finished, and to those who finished on the podium. If every race is going to be this competitive, it’s going to be a hard season of racing. But it’s that kind of challenge that makes it fun. See you at Syllamo’s!

Waterford Spring Fling

So for the past few weeks I’ve been trying out a little road racing in an attempt to get a jump on the early season fitness. Waterford sportsmans is a stones throw away from home, so I figured what the heck, why not. With CPA Crossings willing to lend me a top notch Madone road bike, I was out of excuses. Waterford sportsmans is a three race road series typically starting the last weekend of March and going every Saturday for 3 weeks. It’s been going ever since I can remember… as far back as when I used to race for the Kinetic Systems Flying Rhino’s, the dedicated shop that has promoted the series since the start.

I will now take you through some of my inner monologue as the races progressed...

Week 1. Dam, this is fast! These corners are freaking me out. Everyone is way too bunched up. I’m gonna crash! No I’m not, Yes I am! Holy crap that was close. Hey look, I’m off the front! Now I’m dangling at the back. I’m chasing those guys down. Why? I don’t know. It’s a good workout. Let’s chase that Bissell guy down. Dam, he’s too fast. I think I’ll pass on the field sprint.
Week 2. BWAAAA! Attack off the line… they’ll never see it coming. Dam, they saw that coming a mile away. These corners are still freaking me out. Let’s attack some more. Let’s chase some more. Hell… let’s just get a super hardcore workout in on the front and call it a day.

Week 3. Whoa! My legs feel great! Let’s attack. Oh! That felt good. Let’s attack some more. I see dudes splitting off the back. It’s working! I feel much smoother around these corners. OK, so I get this now… chase those Wolverine guys… or the Giant guys. Hmmm, or how about chase those Giant guys, but bring a wolverine up with you. Hey, it worked! A group of 7. Let’s whittle this down some more. Attack! Sweet! It worked! Just 2 of us now. Hell, I’ll just attack in the same place again. Holy Crap! I think I’m gonna win this. Just hold on a little longer. Power it out. Grit the teeth. Yes! First win in a loooooong time. That feels good.

Barry Roubaix 2012

This past weekend took us to the West side of Michigan for the first race of the year, Barry Roubaix, starting from Yankee Springs Rec. Balmy temps were on tap which saw most racers in just shorts and a jersey. The rain from the night before left the course in surprisingly good condition. It was soggy in some places, but for the most part, it was fast. I knew my fitness was much better this time from last year. I think I got on the scale last year the day before the race and clocked in at 192… this year I was a svelte 180, 12 lbs lighter! So just the weight reduction was going to make huge difference.

The action got going right away. I kind of thought the lead into Sager Lake Road, the first sandy 2 track about 3 miles in, was going to be elbow banging mayhem with so many racers this year. But it seemed everyone behaved and we all trickled in with no problems. I think I was top 5 when someone attacked and I was gapped off the front of the race. I struggled and chased, and by the time we were back onto the dirt rds, I had made it back on. It took quite an effort and I just wasn’t recovered enough to stay at the front. The 39t chainring up front didn’t help much either. Wish I had a 44. From there I floated back and hung onto the next group. Dan Korienek and I took turns attacking, but nobody was letting us go. I probably did too much work, but it really didn’t bother me because I still wanted to get in a hard workout. About 40 miles in, we caught up to the group that had gotton away earlier, but alas, the top 5 were still up the road. So we played cat and mouse, until we got to the final sandy 2 track section. I went as hard as I could, and Dan and I took turns attacking trying to blow it up the best we could. We swung back onto the pavement and I dug in as hard as I could. At the top a group of 4 emerged, me, Dan, Ernesto, and Adam York. We traded pulls to get away until we reached the finishing straight. Dan lit it up in the sprint… I didn’t even try. I’m surprised he didn’t rip the crankarms off his mountain bike! I rolled happy and spent for 9th.

First race of the year, and I got what I wanted out of it, a good hard 62 miles of hilly dirt rds, and a nice tune up for the first round of NUE’s. The legs felt good. It’s very hard for me to keep the anaerobic endurance up for these shorter punchier events while training for the 100 milers at the same time. Perhaps in the fall, I can work a little more on that. Next up is the Lowell 50, another hard dirt road race to tune up the fitness before Cohutta. See you there!

Boonen after his first bike race of the year.

100 Mile Workday

So with all of the blogs and postings about everyone’s pre-season training, I thought I would add to the hype with a post of my own. I’d like to talk about my training camp, or lack thereof… or more specifically about a particular day that I’m quite proud of. You won’t hear about some trip to Hawaii or a month in Southern California on this blog. No, I’m choosing to brag about a typical work day right here in Warren Michigan, where some of the best training in the world can be had. What’s so special about Warren Michigan? Well maybe nothing really, it’s flat as a pancake, and traffic is shear gridlock, but that’s not the point…

My Wednesday started off with Boonen, the new puppy, whining at 4:20AM. It doesn’t seem to Matter how early I set the alarm, his ability to anticipate it is pure genius. I’m beginning to think that little bugger can read time on the alarm clock. I’m greeted by Boonen along with some angry undertones from Michelle as she’s woken up from a dead slumber. I choose to ignore it, rather than start something at 4:30am I know I’m not going to be able to finish before the 5am wheels up. I throw the cycling clothes on and get Boonen out for his food and potty. Buddy, the older golden, just slides his head under the bed to wait for when normal people get up.

I load on the 25 lb backpack filled with everything I’ll need for the day. No breakfast and just water for the ride in, it’s unfortunate this sport is heavily reliant on how much you weigh. Thanks to daylight savings time, my entire ride to work will be in complete darkness. The wind is light and out of the west, but it’s quite chilly… 35 degrees to be exact as my 1500 lumens lights up the display in front of the bank. I’ll make good time today trying to stay warm. My 40 mile route from Oxford to Warren is quite cunning. It was sniffed out by the great Robert Herriman and keeps me clear from most all of the traffic, although at 5am, that doesn’t seem to be a problem. Hammer, hammer, hammer… I’m trying to make it in 2hrs, but I’ve never accomplished it, 2hrs 10min today, good effort, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I drop my gear off at the cubical and head for the bathroom. You won’t find a shower or locker room in Building 201, the best we have is the 3rd handicap stall. Lets just hope no one has blown it up yet. I pull in for the clothing change and realize I only have one baby wipe left… better make it count and take care of the undercarriage. Last thing we need is a grape sized saddle sore. I retreat to my cubical for breakfast where I’ll spend the next 9hrs. On the docket for today is finishing my mid year contributions for my performance review… this should be interesting.

The morning seems to fly by as I’m still buzzing from my ride in. One of my generous healthy co-workers decides to bring in donuts, I decline, and stick to my oats and protein powder topped off with fish oil for desert. I have a little bit more attitude today cause I rode in. Then it hits me… the idea to pull off the work day century. I may as well, seeing as the weather was beautiful, and the wind shifted and was out of the South. Lets do it! I get to planning the route with some help from my buddy Pat, we come up with a solid 62 mile plan to get it done…

The “work” day starts to come to a close and I’m sort of getting fired up for the challenge. The temps have climbed, and it looks like all I’ll need is shorts and a jersey… a far cry from the full on winter kit I stumbled into the office with. Hell, there’s no one around, I’ll just change right in the cube today to save the walk of shame from the bathroom to the front door in front of my co-workers. They love it though, they think I’m absolutely fucking nuts, but they REALLY get a good kick out of it. I really don’t care, I’ll entertain them if that’s what it takes to get the miles in.
The legs feel good. I seem to be breezing right through every road crossing and hitting all the green lights. This might be a new record. I head North onto the dirt rds for some hill action, and they’re fast and dialed. Seems the road grader hit the East/West rds, good thing I’m mostly heading North. I make my way all the up to Almont to check out this climb I’ve had my eye on for while. It’s surprisingly tough and has a super steep kick near the end. I’ll have to integrate this into the rotation. 91 miles in on the mountain bike and the backpack is starting to wear me down. I head East back home on the rail trail, but it’s still a little mushy. Ugh… I’m feeling it now, but in a weird way, I’m happy the trip is starting to really tax my legs. I’m focusing on the average speed… 18.3, 18.2, 18.1… I dig super hard and decide I’m not letting it drop below 18. I’m really gritting my teeth now… and I go for a sprint to finish myself off on the bridge over M24. Whew! I made it! 18.1mph average and 102 miles… on a workday! I have a moment of great pride. The family was in the front yard to greet me. The perfect way to finish a long day at work.

So I digress back to my original point of what IS the point of this workday madness. I guess my point is that it doesn’t matter where you train, or who you train with, or even how much time you have to train… Good riding can be had everywhere, and a solid training program can be developed to fit almost any schedule with a little determination. It’s the mindset that matters more than anything. Thriving off the determination and perseverance to do what is needed to be in peak condition regardless of the conditions. And turns out, I think I prefer it that way. Thanks for reading, and stay determined to keep the wheels turning in 2012.