Tough race

This past Saturday was the Summer 8 hour at Hardwood hills. I was in the single speed solo category.  Interesting race....the course was great, the conditions were humid.  What else? After crashing for the 5th time during the race, I suddenly remembered..."hey buddy, you are on small block 8's....that's why you keep wiping out"; yes, those small block 8's - (which the only other time I used them was in the spring 8hr solo) are a fast rolling race tire...but they don't grip well, and when you throw in a few wet roots..well one second you are just riding along, the next second you are on the ground assessing what hurts.  Long story short....I am the sorest I have been since I learned how to snowboard...I am bruised all over. Ibuprofen is my friend.

In brief  ...really good course, conditions were humid beyond belief...rain held off.  Shared the pit with Mike Ring(1st time solo, and he podiumed!) John Bragon - yeah John, you are getting faster....it takes a couple seasons to get the body used to the endurance eh?   Let's see an even better PB at the fall event!, and Johns' dad was pit boss for us - thank you!

Finally...another highlight from the day...Ice cold can of beer at the end!

Looking forward to the fall 8 hours....want to do better, go faster!

my placing 4/10  11 laps in 7hrs 37min 22sec....total of approx 112k 

stats from the garmin

Time:	08:52:40
Distance:	95.58 km
Elevation Gain:	2,390 m
Calories:	10,233 C

(the garmin with it's satelite tracking is not so accurate in the single track as it tends to "cut corners", which is why it shows only 95.58km) The "time" shows 8:52 because I forgot to stop the timer.  What is interesting I find is the "moving time" 7:19:48...this means that I spent 18 minutes during the race "stopped".

Timing

Time:	08:52:40
Moving Time:	07:19:48
Elapsed Time:	08:52:45

Avg Speed:	10.8 km/h
Avg Moving Speed:	13.0 km/h
Max Speed:	38.7 km/h

Speed

Pace

Elevation

Elevation Gain:	2,390 m
Elevation Loss:	2,382 m
Min Elevation:	325 m
Max Elevation:	418 m

Heart Rate

Avg HR:	149 bpm
Max HR:	193 bpm

Fitness over forty (or closer to 50)

It amazes me how quickly I can loose my fitness...or let me be specific.  It amazes me how quickly, without training for a few days, and pretty much abusing the body from a nutrition perspective, the top end of the fitness can vanish.  Last week I rode 6 consecutive days  ....(yes one of those days was at Joyride, just to keep the legs spinning), the last day was Thursday, where I pretty much blew up on the final climb...running on empty and then some.  Instead of going home and having a recovery type drink  - this is my favorite

I decided to have a few glasses of this..

Well it may have all kinds of anti-oxidizing properties, but it does not make a great recovery drink.  And yes, for those of you that read my earlier blog about falling asleep sitting up in front of the TV...well this was likely a contributing factor.

Feeling physically depleted on Saturday,  I (with my much better half) headed out for a road trip (car, not bike) for Prince Edward county...very cool area, visited some wineries - lots of cyclists doing the wine circuit; bought a bottle of Norman Hardie county Pinot Noir, (really looking forward to this one) and a couple other Pinot Noirs from other Wineries.  Okay back to "training" , so on this great little day trip, we ate crap (way too hungry...grabbed a club & fries), tasted a good local beer, and listened to some great music at the the Acoustic Grill in Picton - highly recommended.

Well I am all over the map with this posting aren't I? 

Sunday ....sleep, sleep 

Monday did some raspberry clearing at Durham forest, then yesterday was feeling ready for a ride.  

Call Martin...no, he is sailing today.  Okay, who do you call when you want to have your legs bursting, your lungs on the verge of collapse?  Yes...Louis, joined Louis for one of his Durham forest race course preview rides.  The results were similar to a few weeks ago when I posted about this... try to stay ahead of Louis, blow up, collapse, recover, and ride some more.

Now this Wednesday morning, I am feeling much better, completely recovered, and looking forward to tomorrow's hammerfest.

Looking back at the title of this post..Fitness over forty (or closer to 50); the point that I wanted to make (that I seem to have diverted from) was that it still amazes me that the fitness can go so quickly, that recovery is so much longer than when I was younger.  One curious thing I notice though is, the amount of "fun" or "pleasure" that I get from a ride seems to be much more than when I was younger...there is that expression "youth is wasted on the youth" can be so true.

btw... my birthday is tomorrow so, "age" is playing very prominently with me today.

No riding

After riding 6 consecutive days, I have not been on the bike since Thursday night.  Actually fell asleep sitting up in front of the TV on Thursday, after the ride. Felt pretty burnt Sat, & today.  Looking forward to getting back on the bike Monday evening.

Lazy summer solo mountain bike ride

Caught the tail end of today tour stage (great link for streaming it here)....really would love to see Lance take one more, doubting that it will happen.  Once it was over I headed out to Durham for an easy recovery ride ~ haven't fully recovered from Thursday evening ride just me, Geoff & Mark were out for the fastest ride to date....climbing faster than ever.

So the plan was to take it easy..which I was reminded once I was on the trail is not an easy thing to do  when you are on a singlespeed...it is just work to keep the bike moving.  So as I was saying, I wanted to take it easy, and when the trail took me through a raspberry patch, with lots and lots of raspberries I decided to stop for a snack.  They looked so go I decided to take a picture..

After making my way down to 3 rocks, I decided to head back via the road and see if I could find my way into the dagmar property...I was either successful or not....looking at the GPS data, I don't think I was, meaning that the woman that was insisting I was on private property, was right.

Anyways, make my way back to the car and Duh!  Seat bag is unzipped, and no car key :( , I must have forgot to zip it back up when I took the camera out (which I then kept in my pocket).

Retrace my route back to the raspberries...then on a for a few more km, no luck.  A call to Heather, and she headed out to with a key.

Sweat was pouring like an avalanche coming down the mountain....

Yeah, the title is a ripoff of this great tune by the butthole surfers


Crazy
Yeah, crazy. Went out to Durham forest yesterday, was to meet Mark @ 6pm.  Unexpectedly in the parking lot ran into Louis Wong, Kung Fu Sam, Peter & Richard...I mentioned to Mark that it would be an easier ride tonight...ha!  I was wrong.  Louis says he wants to pre-ride/race the Thursday night series race course. 
Fun!  The plan is to pre-ride the 5k course, then race it 3 laps.  We do the pre-ride (it is freakin hot). Then we start...race at your own pace. 
My plan..make it fun for Louis.  Louis is quite a bit faster than me (especially on the climbs) I decide to give it everything I have, no pacing, and hold him off for as long as I can :)  Maybe do only 2 laps. The ride starts, and I surprise him pulling up along side him..he says you can pass me...and I open it up...flying downhills, going for broke...and I have dropped him...heart rate at 170.  I finish the long climb to complete lap 1 and he is nowhere to be seen. So I give it some more. Into the first climb on Lap 2, I am starting to overheat...heart racing, a few shivers.
Glancing over my left shoulder I can see Louis on a switch back , still a fair ways back but gaining on me.  I blow up riding through the pines..and he passes me.  I stick with him out onto the double track, and through the next section of single track..doing some friendly taunting..."I didn't realize you were so slow through the single track" "are you taking a break" (meanwhile I am on the verge of blowing up again).  Stay on his wheel through the next section of double track, then drop the freakin hammer before we get to the single track, and pass him...gain some time through the single track, then hit more double track..starting the climb up to the start/finish he is about 100meters behind me. Trying to stay ahead...no go...he catches and passes me about 50 meters from the finish.  I blow up, sweat is pouring from my head like an avalance coming down the moutain. Shivers.  Off the bike and walk the final 30 meters to the top of the hill.  For some reason I decide to get back on the bike..suck back a gel and some drink and feel better...fly down the hills, climb...bump a few trees..but I can see Louis through the switchbacks (superfly ally) maybe 200m ahead.  Pour it on...thinking I can catch this guy before he hits the final climb. End of race...I didn't catch him, he finished about  a minute and a half ahead of me.  Excellent ride...2 litres of water gone in about 50 min. Legs pumped.
This was not the ride I expected, it was a real blast.  I was on a high for several hours after.
Ride details
A couple other notes...I also did a lower intensity 17k solo ride in Durham on Monday.
On Sunday, like a couple a$$holes, Martin & I decided to do a 110k ride up to Simcoe in 32c+ heat (cooler on the way up, hotter on the way back)...highlight of the day was stopping off in a graveyard close to Goodwood inorder to cool off for a few minutes, and finding a functioning hand pump...icecold water to cool us down and wash off the sweat. Priceless.
Four days of riding and I am spent.

Bike Bling

The wife of a friend of mine said to my wife...it's man jewelery, and with packaging like this who can argue.... The new egg beaters are so pretty I almost don't want to use them.

These new eggbeater 3's are a replacement for the SL's, and come with a 5 year warranty. Not sure what the old warranty was, but they always needed rebuilding within a year.  They do look more durable than the old ones...which are creaking and due for another bearing replacement. Oh yeah, at 144 grams per pedal they are nine grams heavier than the old ones :) (The other items are avid replacement pads, and the Vittoria's for my road bike)

I also have a new Niner carbon fork (Yes, I cracked the original Misfit fork, which was warranty replaced).

The weight at 1.27lbs is almost exactly the same as the old aluminum it is replacing.  I really liked the aluminum Misfit... a fair bit of fore/aft flex which helps in the bumps, however the new fork has none of that.  It "may" be better at absorbing some of the bumps though...where it really shines is in the responsiveness.  There is no lag on the turns...no waiting for the flex to max out before the fork responds.  Actually ..there is one issue I am having...not quite worked out yet.  The Avid Juicy 7 caliper makes contact with a few of the spokes when I am either leaning to the left, or fully weighting the front wheel...really need to get this one addressed...at this point it is only an annoying tick.  Had the folks at Silent adjust it yesterday...didn't quite do it, will try it again tonight.
Final bit is this....can you see the crack...may have to expand the picture...yes seems I cracked the aluminum shaft.  Hopefully FSA will warranty replace it  This is what I have...many of the reviews are not so good..FSA V-DRIVE MegaXo crankset with BB  The Bottom bracket it self went after about 6 months, replaced that with a Cris King.  For now I have taken the XT off my superlight...much better crank.

Noodle ride today & Ravenshoe on Canada day

After checking out the Strawberry festival here in Stouffville, I took the misfit out for a ride on the dirt roads in my area today...really nice ride.  In the '70s a lot of this land was either expropriated by the Feds, or bought out by the provincial government ...all for the Pickering airport..which has still not been built.
What it means for any one that loves the countryside is...no subdivisions, no malls.  Another time I will take pictures of what in my opinion is a real jewel.details are here

Ravenshoe on Canada day  -what a fun place, been riding here for what? 8 years? Only 1km by 1km but it packs 13km of trails into that small space.  An hour and 20 minutes...and you have covered just about every trail.

Something to push against

I have had some really tough, fun rides lately...the most recent being yesterday at Ravenshoe...tough place to ride a rigid SS, especially when you are on some technical rooty trails trying to keep up with the boys riding their full suspension rigs.

However, since the Mohican100, I haven't been "training" for anything, no specific goals, hmmming & hawing over doing the HAN solo...didn't race the solstice...seeing my weight slowly creep up...obviously I need a race to train for - yes, my cycling goals for 2010 have been met...they were : a good ride at the PA, use the Spring 8 hour as a warmup for the Mohican100

Was strongly considering this race...Wilderness101.  I have heard very good things about this race...one big loop, however it is during our (Heather & my) vacation week...I suggested coming with me, but this didn't go over well. So... at the invitation of Johnny boy...I have registered for the Summer Epic 8 hour ....Solo! Not the same as doing a single loit will be 10k loops...and I will go for a PB of 13. I will write more later.
Looking forward to a good long ride on Sunday at Durham with Toby & Louis.