Tues night Albion races

I got out to Albion last night for the Tuesday night races...great series, and a great bunch of people racing.

This type of racing is so different from the long endurance races.  Think three 5km laps all out, gasping for air, quads feeling like they are going to explode.
Summary...a 5k warm up...then
Bang!
15km
58 minutes
Ave h/r 154 Max 170
Ave speed 15.3km/h
Finish invigorated on a high
body starts to shutdown  on the 1 hr drive home
Asleep by 10.15

Mohican 100 report

Summary:
Conditions were terrible
Completed in 12hrs8min - 19th of 33 singlespeed starters

Rain - lots of it.  I was watching the weather closely leading up to the race, and it had rained pretty much every day last week, rolling in to the area on Friday it rained as hard as I have ever seen it rain - most cars stopping on the highway.  It stopped for a while, long enough for me to register and get the tent set up.  It was an early night to bed, as race start was 7am.

It rained overnight - a lot.

Lined up with 600 starters - and it was't raining ....

We headed out of town up a long hill on a paved road, felt good, single speed gearing felt great (32x19 on the 29r), had to remind myself that this is a hundred mile race, take it easy, onto some dirt roads, then down a mud trail...slick slippery.

Before long we were into the Mohican MTB trails...we covered something like 35k of these trails...very cool, bench cut switch backs..technical rock gardens, would be fantastic riding if it wasn't covered in 2" - 4" of mud.  The mud got worse and there were lots of hike a bike sections...seemed like a lot of people were having chain suck issues (again, happy for the SS).

I think it took me about 5 hours to reach the aid station #2 - the 34 mile mark.  Crazy. Things did pick up after this...there were some dirt road sections, some country lanes....and climbs there were some crazy climbs that went on and on that would have been tough to walk in good conditions...add the mud and a bike to push.  Did I mention steam crossings?  Swollen streams 2-3 feet deep.

Here are a couple shots I took while pushing the bike up a dirt road  - I promise I wasn't tilting the camera...it really was that steep :)

Anyways...at this point I had been all over the map mentally...quit at the next aid station, I'm not having fun...I don't want to quit etc.  Well I came to aid station 3, mile 46.  This is where the 100 kilometer racers start to head back.  There was a big sign showing  <-100km  100m->. Decision time. Coming into the station I was close to bonking (last section was a ride across soaked grassy fields..just sucking the power out of the legs) I was getting encouragement from a rider behind me, (don't bale...do it!).  I pulled in to the aid station, popped a couple ibuprofens, and ate a PB&J mmm....*

I took a few minutes and watched what the other racers were doing...waited to see anyone take the 100 mile direction (a long long climb up a grassy hill).  I saw a singlespeeder head up the hill, and thought..what the hell, give it a go.

So climb, push bike, controlled slide down hill, climb push bike... fun...feeling good on the climbs again.  Then some road section, and the skies open up...rain..biblical rain.. I hit the rail trail (10 or 12 miles, gradual up hill) and it is a river...I am riding uphill into this river averaging 3" deep, with sections over 1 foot deep.  During this time I did not see one other rider...I just put my head down and turned over the cranks...being on the SS, I was concerned about getting caught/passed by geared riders (strange..at this point I am only trying to finish the race, and I am still thinking about passing/being passed).  At one point with the rain raging around me (amazing thing is it felt good at first...got all the mud washed off me) I hear a siren - loud.  Really Really loud, like something is going to run me down....I found out later this was the tornado warning.

Before hitting checkpoint 4 (yes, it was a long 26 miles between 3 & 4) I got caught by a couple other riders..one of them was Doug from Syracuse ...he passed me, I passed him, and in the end we ended up working together on the road sections, and just generally chatting, his positive attitude was infectious.

At Aid station 4 it was 28 miles to the end and "only" another 4,000 feet or so of climbing - the rain had stopped, but  the damage was done...the singletrack was 4" deep mud.  Lots of push bike - and the final 6 miles of the race was single track. The final 1 or 2 miles was mostly downhill singletrack switchbacks, rock gardens just trying to keep the bike upright. One final stream crossing and we were at the finish line..

...the beer glass that the finishers get...was filled with beer a few times after the race.

In closing...this was a "mental" race, the decision to keep going.  I am glad I completed it, and the feeling afterwards was really really good. I am already thinking about doing the Wilderness 101  Cleaned up and back at the campsite with my feet up listening to Tom Petty's Highway Companion, enjoying a glass of wine. Cool.
btw...it rained overnight again.
I cannot get over the results of the top people..the top singlespeeder finished almost 4 hours before me...at the same time it looks like half of the 250 registered entries in the 100 mile either dnf'ed or dns.
Full race results are here...http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/national-ultra-endurance-nue-series-2-mohican-100-ne/results


My race details are here

*Yes the aid stations were really well stocked pb&j, bananas, Heed, gels, cookies etc.  The volunteers were truly amazing - so many people .. marshaling, working the aid stations - in some miserable weather, and everyone of them that I met had a smile and words of encouragement.

4 days until the Mohican 100

Friday I am heading down to a place called Loudonville, Ohio to take part in a  100 mile mountain bike race on Saturday.
So this week I am preoccupied with drop bags, tire choices, remembering my passport etc.
As for riding....I am going to take it very easy, a light spin tonight and then again tomorrow.
Last week's riding has set me up well - Joyride on Tuesday, skinnys & Jumps, Thursday hammer ride with buddies at Durham (actually....this ride really knocked to snot out of me....Geoff was out with us (work has meant he can't join us often)....anyways between Alan (way to fast) and Geoff the pace was higher than ever...with me and Geoff racing up the final set of climbs...me in front of Geoff...him passing me and opening a 200 foot gap...then me just relaxing the upper body and moving all energy into spinning the cranks...catching him on the final climb and finishing 100 feet up on him.  Took everything I had.  Love those rides.  Saturday was planning on doing 60 or 70k mtn bike ride..but I learned a good lesson..I hadn't recovered my depleted reserves from Thursday, so I managed 38k with 3200 feet of climbing (went for every hill I could find including the back side of Dagmar).  Sunday was a quick, hard 45k road ride with Mark & Martin.

May 24 weekend Rides

Saturday
The DMBA* Pancake breakfast/take a child ride was on for Sat morning.
A really great job of laying out a course, maybe 4k long that took the little ones through some single track, double track, uphills and down hills to make it a great adventure. Thank you.
Sunday
3-stage ride. Left the house at 7.15 to meet Alan at the base of Osler Bluff.  Alan likes to climb, so do I. This was possibly the toughest, longest climb I have done in Ontario. I was on the SS, running 32x19, and I did have to get off the bike an push in a couple sections....Alan, a strong rider with gears was able to clear the whole thing.

This snapshot 15min over 2km sums up the climb well. My HR is in Red, elevation in green.  Yes it was up up up. Once at the top, we rode over to the main entrance at 2nd concession, and the ride was on.  I have ridden these trails on short travel 26" bikes, a Blur LT with 5" of travel, this was my first time on a 29" rigid SS. Again I am amazed at how these big wheels suck so much up.  I wasn't able to plow over everything like on the blurLT, but rocks that would stop a 26" bike dead in its tracks, I just rolled over.

After covering some of the initial trails on the top, Alan took us to the east side, and down a couple trails I had never been on... possibly the best trail I have ever ridden in Ontario...technical rock gardens switchbacks up and down...then into an insane downhill with more switchbacks.
I could go on an on...but enough to say that it was a really excellent ride that included climbing the escarpment twice, cliff riding with fabulous views of the pretty river valley, rock gardens, and a wild decent down a snowshoe trail.  4 1/2 hours 2 broken spokes and 3 water bottles later we emerged from the forest back where we started.
Back to Alan's place for a beer, and meet his family...then back to Stouffville....wonderful day.  Must get up to Collingwood more often.
Ride stats are Here
Sunday
Beautiful day, working around the house in the sun...then off for an easy road ride...or that was the plan.
Do you ever feel that something doesn't want you to ride?
My floor pump broke...I mean air comes out the sides,,, okay, still can't find my frame pump...put some air in with the minipump and head over to Mark's place to use his floor pump and I am off for the ride.
After 20k or so, decide to take a break...eat a cliff bar and just enjoy being out in the sun...staring out at farmer's fields..then bang! Tube explodes.  No worries...replace the tube with the spare..manage to put maybe 40lbs pressure into the tube with the minipump...easy pedal home....then when I am about 6km from home..I decide to stop and add more air....mistake...the valve snaps, air runs out. No phone :(  long walk home.
*If you mountainbike in Durham, you should join DMBA...the advocacy group working to ensure we have trails to ride. http://durhammountainbiking.ca/  contact them directly or speak to me.

Recovery week

After punishing the body all day last Sat at the spring 8 hour, then recovering with Pizza, Beer, Wine, Jacuzi on Sat. night, my body was feeling pretty sore on Sunday, and worse on Monday...thank the gods for Ibuprofen.
The week has been busy at work...Tuesday I did manage to stop in at Joyride on the way home , spent a couple hours doing nothing other than trying to ride a particular skinny, or land a jump. Love that placewww.joyride150.com
Got out again last night at Durham forest with the crew....felt strong...real strong, felt strong enough to knock the top dog out.. yeah Alan...ha!  I stayed on his tail coming back up from the bottom of GM/WW...pushing hard, feeling strong....everyone else decided...okay let those guys go...on the final straight climb, I decided to pull out beside him, and drop him with my newly aquired strength from the solo 8.  I got about a bike length in front of him, when he looked over at me....and just dropped the hammer leaving me 30 feet behind in seconds~! Ha, jokes on me. Good fun.
Just got back from 75 min of Moksha yoga,, ready for Wine, pizza and TV.

Mansfield spring 8 hour

This was my first 8 of the season..8 hr of solo race at Mansfield outdoor center.
First ever podium...yes, very unexpected, I got 3rd place in the singlespeed solo category.
A couple equipment notes...
I was riding a Misfit(rigid)
32x19
A couple last minute equipment changes
Kenda Small block 8's(first ride on them...real fast)

Ergon grips with barends - Wow, I am sold!
These things are amazing.... The only reason I am able to type today is because of these grips...If you ride a single speed in endurance events, and if that single speed has a rigid fork, this is the way to go.


I had done quite a bit of training earlier in the season (South Carolina), but very little riding in the last couple weeks, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I went into the race thinking
1 - I would like to get 12 laps in, 1 more than in 2009 & 2008
2 - It's a warm up, a long ride in preparation for the Mohican 100 , a 100 mile race I am doing the first weekend in June.
This was the first time Heather, my wife had come out to one of these events, and by buddy John Bragdonfrom Kingston was going to be there, as well as Mark & John Connors would be there doing a tag team with there family...Nice.

Race report
I started at the very back after a last minute run back to the car, add more air to the tires...as I looked down and thought "pinch flat" (good move as I did not flat during the race).

First lap was the busy, as I passed rider after rider...feeling strong, as the race went on I continued feeling good, and having family and friends in the solo pit cheering me on was really cool.

I struggled though a few laps (4, 5? its all a blur) then really started feeling good after 75 - 80k
A "side" thing that was going on during all this was, my buddies Mark & John competing as tag team LuvHammer had vowed to take me down :) some good trash talking over the previous weeks...well these guys were right there, we traded leads 3, 4 5 times during the race, some good friendly banter as we woud pass each other.. maybe around the 8 or 9 laps in, I started thinking...I might be able to beat these guys...this was another motivator to go faster when your legs are screaming stop.

I had decided to call it quits on lap 11...my pace was better than the previous years, I was tired, but someone on the trail said to me "what do you mean this is your last lap, you are climbing far to fast for this to be your last lap". So true...there was still a bit left in the motor, and I had been thinking...I really haven't been passed by too many riders..I wonder where I am...maybe I could actually podium, so as I came through the finish of lap 11, I kept going for lap 12.
riding time 7hr59min41sec
distance 133k
climbing approx 9,000
Advils 4

To close off the day...I got to stand on the podium and get my 3rd place medal..then off to the Pomps for pizza, wine & hot tub. ahhh. Perfect way to end a long day in the saddle.
Interesting notation...all three of us 1st 2nd & 3rd place were on Misfits

strange looking map...does anyone else see an animal with something in it's beak? (yes, this is the race route...12 times over)
click here for the Garmin details


Finally...a really big thanks to Heather, Jamie & everyone else cheering me on, and passing me gel, cliff blocks & drinks :)

Red Rock Country

I was in Utah last week...spent a few days hiking around Zion Canyon with Heather, my wife.

Before we got there...a quick stop in St. George Utah and a look at this beautiful building, the LDS temple...very very white - had no plans to go see it...but the way it stuck out against the blue sky...very impressive.