Fall Series 2014 Wrap Up

After good races at Waco & Tyler I was ready to turn it up a notch for the last two races of the Fall series at courses I knew I could do well at.

First up was Ruston. This is where I started mountain biking and I have so many laps there I know the course as well as anyone. My in-laws also live in town so we go there a few times a year when I get to do some laps to keep things fresh. Going into the race I had my eyes on Bradyn and Neil, who had gotten 2nd at the opening round at Camp Eagle. Off the start I fell in behind Neil to keep my eye on him. I followed him until a Mississippi guy came around at the first fenceline. He led for a bit then Neil and I went back around and MS fell off the pace. I was feeling good and just sizing these guys up; I could tell Neil was strong but I was climbing easier than he was as he was attacking the climbs and I was able to keep right on his wheel without too much effort. Eventually we dropped MS but Bradyn had caught us. Neil bobbled a tight turn, and that put me in the front. This wasn't where I wanted to be going into a long fenceline section, so I just kept a steady effort. I led around to finish the lap, then we all went into the singletrack together to start lap 2. In the first singletrack section with them on my wheel I was taking every bad line I could, not wanting to give anything away and trying to make them work a little bit harder. I wasn't pushing hard just keeping a nice flow pace. When we hit the first small uphill fire road I took it up a notch and they came off my wheel. I kept the pace high through the rest of that section and I came out with a good gap. The rest of that lap I just stayed at a good strong pace and the gap kept growing. This was way sooner than I'd wanted to be off the front but I was feeling great. Coming into the last lap I had a really good gap, I couldn't see anybody behind me even on the longest straightaways so I knew I just had to keep it together and cruise to the finish. 

I got through the first singletrack section and then disaster struck. My rear shifter was starting to come apart, and every time I would try to upshift in the rear it would drop all the way down to the 11t cog. I could downshift back but then it would fall all the way back down to the 11t if I tried to upshift just once. Then it got so loose I couldn't downshift at all. I didn't panic, I decided I could just shift the front shifter and get through the rest of the race. I'd ride the 24x11 on most everything and just go to 38x11 for the downhills so the chain wouldn't be too loose. This was working ok and I was still making good time and not seeing anybody behind me. When I hit a long fenceline section I pulled my multi-tool out while riding and tried to fix my shifter on the fly. The bolt that was coming loose is designed to be tightened from the inside with the cover off, so the part on the bottom is a square. I couldn't tighten it so just had to keep going. About halfway through the lap on a short steep climb I got on the gas a little too hard and the chain snapped from being cross-chained so badly. This is when I panicked. I guess I was thinking that with my shifter screwed up and my derailleur stuck where it was, even if I fixed the chain I'd be right back in the same situation, so I just threw the chain off and started running. I just wanted to get to the finish line. Of course I figured out pretty quick this was a bad idea. I got about a mile up the trail before they started passing me, but I was totally done. I kept moving as fast as I could, but it was just wasted effort. I ran/walked/coasted the rest of the way until the trail passed the spot I'd thrown my chain. It took at least 5 minutes of looking, but I found it. I went back to the bike and of course fixed the chain in a minute or two with my spare link, then I ran my high limiter screw on the rear der all the way in to put the chain on the 3rd cog instead of the smallest. This helped and is what I should've done in the first place, I would've been in a better gear to pedal and the chain wouldn't have been so cross-chained and probably not have broken. I soft pedaled in to the finish, dejected about losing my favorite race in such disastrous fashion and my hopes of winning the fall series shattered.

After Ruston I went into Huntsville seeking some redemption. Afterwards I was satisfied that I'd gotten it. Man, what a race. Definitely one of my hardest, fastest and best races ever. The usual crew was on the line along with Shawn, a cat. 1 roadie from Dallas who had gotten 2nd at Tyler. I knew he was really fit from the way he smoked the finish climb there. Nathan Winkelmann also decided to race with us, not sure why or how; he was pre-registered in the Pro class, but of course it was a pretty good guess he'd be the main one to watch. Bradyn the 15yr old I've been dueling all series was there, along with Neil who I'd first raced at Ruston but knew he was strong. 

I was on the front row and got a really good start at the whistle, pulling out a bike length by the time we crossed the road. This let me sit up a little bit and go in the singletrack on my own terms. Neil was behind me so I let him slip through and went in right behind him. I think Bradyn was on my wheel. We got a small gap on the group and after about 5 minutes Neil let me by. I just tried to keep the pace, but got down the next downhill really fast and had a good climb on the other side of the bridge. I had opened a decent gap but knew it was way too soon to try to keep pushing solo so I just kept it steady, and then Neil and Bradyn came back. Neil took the lead on the fenceline road, and my teammate Michael had come across too so I was excited to have him and maybe we could work together somehow. I fell in behind Bradyn when I took a bad line on the first steep climb at hamburger hill, and we finished most of the rest of the lap like this, until Neil's tire was losing air and started rolling so he pulled off. Several guys had come across, then Michael crashed in the fast sandy sweeper on the homestretch section so me and Bradyn had a small gap until Wink caught us right before the second lap. 

Bradyn was leading into the second lap with me and Wink behind, when we hit the first open section Wink attacked around us and I told Bradyn he had to follow that. He did so we were on Wink's wheel and going hard. We hit a tricky left turn onto a rooty climb, I took the inside line and passed Bradyn onto Wink's wheel. We dropped Bradyn somewhere, and then I was off the front of a bike race with Nathan Winklemann. This was not lost on me, and was pretty cool. We rolled through the feedzone together, and then going down the descent after the nature center we caught another racer. Wink sat up and didn't pass him, then after the bridge when we hit the climb wink attacked me while squeezing around the backmarker. I thought this was kinda cheeky, but I was able to get by and up my pace to reel wink back in. I followed until we got to a sandy jeep road where he attacked me again. Again I didn't go all out to catch him, just upped my pace and was able to reel him back in. This is when I really started to think I could do this, as I felt like he had attacked pretty hard but I was able to bring him back. I think he put in one more dig on one of the small climbs before the jeep road, but I matched him and we hit the road together. He flicked his elbow for me to come around, but I knew this would be bad for us so I stayed back. He started slowing down and flicked again, so I had no choice but to go around. I pulled through the two corners, and I could see they were closing in on us from behind. I told wink if he didn't pull they were going to catch us. He didn't want to work so sure enough Shawn caught us before the big hill. He flew right by, and wink and I responded. I think wink got back ahead of me. They got a gap on me going over the climbs, but I pedaled the downhill afterwards and was able to reattach. We stayed together for a while, Shawn was hitting the climbs hard but wink and I were able to stay with him. Towards the end of the lap wink started letting a little gap open, but we started the third lap with Shawn just in sight. 

As we went into lap 3, wink had let the gap grow to maybe 20 seconds? I felt like he was setting me up for another attack. In hindsight I probably should have went around and set the pace, but I didn't know what to do at that point. Sure enough when we took the left off the road trail onto the rooty climb, he attacked to bridge to Shawn. I went hard to stay with, and went through the feedzone with them just out of reach. When we hit the next big climb I popped. Bradyn caught me and I let him by and encouraged him to go get them. I tried to keep moving after topping out on the climb, but Bradyn disappeared quickly. This was disheartening, but I just tried to keep moving. Soon I started to see him ahead again. I chased hard on the jeep road and big hill and reeled him back in. I rode behind him for a bit, and when we hit the next series of climbs one other guy came up to us out of nowhere. I was a little worried now, since that guy had come up so quick I figured he was riding strong. He stayed behind us, and when we got to the last climb I started to attack around Bradyn. As soon as I started going around he picked something up in his drivetrain and had to slow for a second and reach down to pull it out. I felt bad for seemingly attacking on a mechanical, so I pulled up and made sure we were all back together, but now I was leading the group and had to lead through the fast homestretch. I kept the pace up and neither of them tried anything. When we hit the last tiny length of singletrack before the uphill turn to the finish, I punched it with all I had, hoping to open the sprint a little earlier than they thought and catch them by surprise. I was able to keep them behind me to finish 3rd. This put me 3rd on the series as well, where I figured I would end up after the Ruston disaster. Paul, who had a pretty firm grip on the series finished 11th after too much partying the last few weeks he said and finished 2nd overall. Bradyn, with his consistent finishes and win at Ruston, took the series overall.

TX Cup overall podium

Huge thanks to Sugar Cycles and Skratch Labs for their support and keeping my bike and body running strong. Over the winter I hope to build on this good fitness, do a few marathon races and come into the Spring series hot.

Fall Series Waco & Tyler Race Reports 2014

The Cameron Park Blowout in Waco was the 2nd race of the TMBRA (TX MTB Racing Association) Texas Cup. This is the Fall series, a separate series from the state championship series held in the Spring. I hadn't planned on doing this race, but got the itch after I missed the first race of the series at Camp Eagle. We had a party to go to Saturday night so we couldn't go up that morning for a preride. Instead I had a nice 37 mile road/gravel ride with Lindsey & Dan from the Neilson Devo team. It may have been a little more than I should've done but I don't think it hurt me any for Sunday, and it was good to get some time with them for a little fitness coaching and do some work for myself also. We got up early Sunday morning for the drive to Waco, and arrived with about an hour until race time.

I got my number, kitted up, prepared my bike and nutrition, then went out for my warmup. I didn't do a whole lot, just a few hard sprints up some short steep hills. I might should have done more but I will take this lesson with me to the next race. I haven't XC raced or done any hard efforts in so long I wasn't sure exactly what my body needed to get going for it. We hit the start line, and I lined up on the front row. The start was about 200 yds of road, slightly uphill. I hit the singletrack in second, I wanted to try to stay with the leader and see what my fitness would do. I lasted about 14 minutes at his pace, then I blew up pretty good and started dropping places quickly. 6 minutes later I'd gone from 2nd to 7th! I kept pushing and eventually recovered and was able to get into a good groove. About mid-race I started bringing some of the guys back who'd passed me. One of them was a 15yr old named Bradyn racing up into our age group, he latched on my back wheel and stayed with me the rest of the race. We passed a few more guys, then when we got up to 3rd place he jumped in with us too so we were a group of three. He tried to get away late on the third lap, but I was able to stay with him on the twisties where he thought he could get a gap, then I passed him at the base of the finishing climb. I gapped him but Bradyn was able to stay close and was on my wheel at the top for the finish. There was a short section of road, some fast singletrack, then an open field for the finish. I sat up just a little in the woods to prepare for a sprint. I wasn't exactly sure where the line was, so when I came out of the woods I got on the gas and opened the sprint when I saw the timing lights. I was able to keep him behind me to finish 3rd.

This was a good, fun race and it was exciting to be in the mix. It definitely confirmed that I need to do some top end work for the hard efforts of the start and the short fast climbing in XC racing.

One week later was the Tyler Race at Tyler State Park. I was looking forward to this race because it's more my style, dirt singletrack with some good climbs but not quite as hard as at Waco. I had a fun preride with Raine on Saturday, then we hung out at John & Velda's RV that afternoon. We went into town to sleep at the hotel, while the kids got to sleep "in the bus". Unfortunately I didn't get a great night sleep so I was feeling a little tired Sunday morning. The legs felt a bit flat during warmup trying to sprint up some of the steep hills, but I decided to push on.

I had the same plan as before, go into the singletrack in 2nd and see how long I could hang on. Went into the singletrack 2nd behind the 2nd place rider from Waco, Paul. We started to open a bit of a gap on the field. Legs still didn't feel great but they were going ok and I didn't blow up after 14 minutes like last week so I figured I'd keep givin' it. I took the lead when we hit the paved road at mile 4, I didn't want to but the leader sat up so I cruised by him with just a little power on. I held it for a couple of miles but felt like we were going faster when I was chasing so I let him back by. I held his wheel for a little bit, but then he started to stretch it out a little in places. He'd get a gap, then I'd pull it back, repeat. He had about 10 seconds going into the finish climb, but I had been hearing riders behind us for a few minutes though I couldn't tell how close they were. I was gaining on the leader going up the climb, I caught him right near the top, but unfortunately I heard the 2 riders come flying up behind us and we all came together at the finish chute. Paul and one of the chasers took off into the singletrack, I couldn't chase but tried to keep the gap reasonable. The other chaser was the 15yr old I outsprinted for 3rd at Waco, looked like we were setting up for the exact same thing to happen again. The leaders got out of sight so I was focused on Bradyn behind me. I backed it off just a hair, still fast enough to keep him behind me but trying to save a little bit for the last lap. I gapped him a few times on flowy or descending sections, and he said once he stopped to tighten his skewer, but he was always able to bring me back. This was discouraging, but I stuck to the plan. He never tried to pass, despite the instructions and encouragement from his dad to do so, so I felt like I was making him work.

Leading Bradyn, the 15yr old who was on my wheel at every race. Luckily we will not be in the same age group again!

Late in the race I thought he was working harder to stay with me, but I was also starting to hurt. If I couldn't get a gap on him at the base of the climb I'd back off and leave it for the sprint since that had worked before. It didn't come down to that though, somewhere in those last few ups and downs before the big climb I got a gap on him and he didn't seem to be closing it. I decided this was the time to go, so I turned it up to what I thought I could hold to the finish. My legs were close to cramping when I hit it hard at the base of the last climb so I had to dial it back just a little bit but overall it worked, I was able to open up a 1:10 gap before the finish to take 3rd again. Paul took the win, I'm not sure who the second place rider was other than a cat. 2 roadie guy. Turns out I was less than a minute off the lead; if I hadn't slowed down to race Bradyn I might could've been up there with them but I was pretty cooked at the finish so not sure I could've gone much faster overall.

After this race I was looking pretty good in the points standings and feeling confident about my fitness and the way I'd been racing. The last two races could be considered home courses for me, Ruston where I went to college and really started mountain biking, and Huntsville which is close to home and I have lots of laps on.

Breck Epic - 2014

Wow, what an experience. I was super stoked on it after finishing, but the more I look back on it the better it gets. I would say I'm mildly obsessed with this race now, and it's my favorite cycling event hands down. If I had to give up all the other races throughout the year to just do this one race, I think I would do it.

Finishers get a photo taken immediately after stage 1 and a mat to frame it and your number plate, as well as a huge belt buckle.

The trails in Breckenridge are pretty incredible, and the trail network they have there is mind boggling. SO MANY trails. Whose land are they all on? I imagine lots are on public land, city owned or national forest area, but I think some run through private land as well. It's great that landowners are willing to allow that on their property, and great that the cyclists are able to maintain good relationships. You can also see a lot of work put into their trails; big manmade berms on lots of the trails and handbuilt flow sections (rollers, tables, etc.). We spent a lot of time on "roads" too, and even those were awesome. The roads ranged from wide open dirt roads we saw rental cars tackling, to steep, rocky, loose roads that would be worthy of some fun crawler vehicles.

I have been wanting to do the race for a few years, but with the time commitments it takes to train along with the financial commitments it takes to get there and having 2 young kids at the house, it just wasn't possible until this year. I turned 30 this year, and used that as leverage to finally convince Raine to let me go as part of our summer vacation. I jokingly told my Devo guys that they should come with me; and what do you know they all signed up! Richard and I were committed to the full 6-day race, and Justin and Patrick signed on for the 3-day Epic-curious event. We found and secured an 8 bedroom house in Breckenridge that could house all of us and our families; 8 adults and 9 kids (ranging from 1-10 yrs old). I didn't realize it until after the race, but this whole thing was almost a year in the making. We signed up in September 2013, started training, booked the house around January, acquired equipment throughout the year, and it all came together pretty well. I felt very blessed to have these awesome guys sign on to this epic adventure with me to celebrate my staying alive for 30 years, as well as having their wives and families along for the trip. They're my best dudes, and I'm blessed to call them friends and love them like brothers.

Richard, me, Patrick & Justin after stage 6

Below is a brain dump I posted a few days after the race with some additions now that I've had more time to reflect on everything. I wish I'd had the time to put some thoughts down every day after finishing the stage, but as explained below time was at a premium with everything required to ramp down from racing and prepare for the next day.

The race was a really good vibe all week. Pretty serious racing up front, but good support and fun for everyone.

I started at the very back of the group every single day. This wasn't on purpose, just the way it worked out getting myself and those staying/racing with me out of the house and down to the line. Plus I didn't really want to stand around too long in the cold waiting. Starting at the back probably really hurt me as far as placing goes, since it was nearly a minute before we in the back even moved at all and the front of the group was well up the road by the time we went under the banner. I would try to move up some on the opening road section, but the group was so large it was hard to squeeze through and it took a considerable amount of effort to move forward. There was usually a very steep climb early in the stage as well, so then you're stuck in the back group wheel to wheel. I think this may have actually helped my pacing though, since it limited how hard I could go early on and kept me from blowing myself up. Every single stage I was moving forward all day, passing people on the uphills and downhills, never really being passed myself. This was a pretty good motivator as well, as I always had someone to chase and passing people kept the positive energy going. It feels good to be fast, at least faster than those around you at the time.

All week I tried to ride about a medium pace, never really pushing it. Having never done 6 days in a row like this, as well as being at altitude, I had no idea what to expect as far as how I would recover and be ready for the following stages. Turns out I didn't have any trouble, my legs felt great every day and I was able to maintain my energy levels with plenty of post-race eating back at the house. I never had any moments where I thought I couldn't continue all week. I wouldn't say it was "easy" but it was smooth sailing all week: I had no trouble completing the race. Looking back I wonder if I went TOO easy, but I think playing it safe and riding more on the enjoying it side of things than suffering all week was proabably a good move.

Stage 1 (34.8mi, 5,300ft) was the roughest stage I think. As Mike Mac (race promotor) put it, they put this one up front "to expose any weaknesses in your equipment choices early on." As I said I started way in the back. It felt great to be passing people and moving forwards all day, going both uphill and down. This stage had several hike a bike sections and some rough loose rocky descents. Mike's description was appropriate. Towards the end of the day I caught up with a lady who was going pretty good, she had flatted earlier but turns out she won a couple of Women's Open stages and finished on the podium in the end. I was all over her on the descents, but she got away a little on the last climb that I wasn't expecting; I thought we were going straight down to the finish so I'd kinda stopped eating and was low on energy. The stage finished into Carter Park, with a really fun flow section and some big berms. My time for this stage was 3:50. I felt like I had a good day, but finished 22nd on the stage over an hour off the 30+ leader. Wow, this was humbling and crushed any aspirations I had of chasing a top finish.

Stage 2 (37.6mi, 5,500ft) was one of my favorites. I initially thought it was my favorite stage, but after reflecting for a while I've concluded it was probably 2nd on the list. There was still some hike a bike and a very long singletrack climb on the Colorado Trail (2.4mi @ 9%, all rideable singletrack), but you were richly rewarded with some really, really fun riding. I was able to ride the whole Colorado Trail climb except for once I got hung up behind someone, and here I also decided to stop for a natural break. This was the only time I had to do that all week during the race. There were a couple of big singletrack descents on the Colorado Trail as well as some flowy contour benchcuts that hurt my face from the stupid grin plastered on there. I think this was the stage I saw the first casualty, one of the lead men being backboarded out with a dislocated shoulder. I finished in 4:12, 19th on the day and moved to 19th on GC.

Stage 3 (36mi, 6,300ft) was tough. I decided to take this day slightly easier than I had been, and maybe ride with some friends for a while. I did so on the opening road climb and first steep singletrack climb, but I lost them shortly thereafter. The first climb we hit was singletrack, and we got backed up quite a bit at the first technical spot. After that we climbed up a flow trail with eleven huge bermed switchbacks and a few rollers; it was a bit aggravating climbing UP this sweet trail, but it turns out we got to descend it to the finish at the end of the day. After this we worked our way to French Pass and across the Continental Divide at 12,000 ft. This culminated in a 1.3mi climb at 14.5%; much of it hike a bike. This was the first time we were hike a biking above treeline and you could see the line of pushers stretched out ahead all the way to the summit. After this the descent off the backside was REALLY fun, high alpine singletrack above treeline. If you've never gotten any of that, you need it. The rest of the stage was a little milder, with another crossing of the divide at 11,760' and some fun singletrack riding. I finished in 4:52, 23rd on the stage and slipped to 21st on GC. This was no doubt a product of taking it so easy early on the stage and getting held up behind that big pileup. I could've easily been much farther forward and had a better result, but as I never really "raced" all week I guess this was par for the course.

Wednesday, Stage 4, was Justin & Patrick's first race day. Unfortunately Justin had a crash early in the day and suffered a concussion. He soldiered through 28 miles, but was unable to finish the stage and couldn't start stages 5 & 6.

Stage 4 (42mi, 6,400ft) was the longest of the week and another really fun one, which only included one hike a bike up Vomit Hill. Looking back, I think I would pick this as my favorite stage. If I could go back and ride one stage again, I'd pick this one. I went up the road a little bit off the start as I wanted to see what I could do on this stage as it seemed like it would suit me well. After the first big climb and descent I had continued to move forward and was feeling great, thinking this was going to be a really good day. Unfortunately I then took a wrong turn and rode a mile uphill off course. I lost several minutes, but worse than this I lost the momentum of being further forward in the field and had to repass TONS of people I'd already gotten around. I tried to make the most of it and stay steady and keep moving forward like every other day. We rode some fun singletrack over to Keystone, then a very long climb back up to the Colorado trail. This climb was 6.5mi long at 5% grade. I felt like it was really good for me, as it was shallow enough you could keep a little momentum instead of grinding along in the lowest gear. Then we got to descend the CO Trail singletrack climb from Stage 2: 2.4mi @ -9%. That's SINGLETRACK. Not jeep road, SINGLETRACK. WOW this was fun!! I got to descend most of it solo at almost hair on fire speed, only getting slowed down for a couple minutes at the bottom. I was only about a minute slower than the lead group on this descent, and if I hadn't gotten held up I think I would've been pretty close to the top of that leaderboard. I finished in 4:40, 16th on this stage and moved up to 18th on GC. This stage was 6 miles longer than stage 3, but I finished 12 minutes faster. Part of this was due to stage 3 being a much "slower" stage with all the hike a bike, but I also felt really good on this day.

Stage 5 (28.4mi, 5,000ft) was my least favorite (and probably everyone's). There just really wasn't much fun to it. We started immediately into a very rocky, technical, 8% singletrack climb, then a short jeep road climb, then onto a hiking trail to the top of Wheeler Pass. Most of this was hike a bike for most people, if the steepness didn't get you off your bike the occasional unrideable rock garden/creek crossing would. This finished with a 2 mile climb at 14.5% to the top of Wheeler Pass at 12,500ft. After we topped the ridge we went slightly down through a very wet, technical rocky singletrack before climbing another ridge back to 12,500ft. After this ridge was the big downhill to Copper Mountain ski resort. This downhill was the sketchiest thing we rode all week. Deeply rutted, wet, muddy, rocky and incredibly steep: 3mi @ -15%. For the first time all week I walked parts of this descent. It was just too burly for me and I couldn't get myself going well enough to feel confident. Mike had called it "a descent for the bold" and that day I wasn't up to it. I went faster than a lot of people, but still didn't feel very good about it. After this decent we rode the paved bike path down to Frisco, then straight into a 3mi dirt road climb with some hike a bike sections. At the top of this we got into several miles of singletrack that would normally be pretty fun but at the end of this day I couldn't muster much enthusiasm and just wanted to be done. I finished in 3:49, 17th on the stage and moved to 17th on GC. Not long after I finished the temps dropped 20 degrees and we got sprinkled on a few times waiting at the finish; this was the closest I got to getting wet on course all week. We got very lucky in that respect.

Stage 6 (31.9mi, 3,600ft) was what we'd been looking forward to all week. This was the fun day, with fairly easy climbing and fun descents. ZERO hike a bike. I decided this day I was done racing, and I would ride with Richard since we'd both been doing the 6-day race all week but hadn't ridden together other than under the start banner. He wanted to try to go all out and move up a spot on GC, and I knew that riding together that day would be much more memorable for many years than the difference between a few midpack spots on the GC. We started at the back as usual, and I towed us forward on the road section, passing tons of people in the gravel on the side of the road! I said "on your right" more times than I can count. We still got caught in a big bottleneck when the race went into the first singletrack, but once we got into the climb he rode strong and continued to do so all day. I let him lead the descents while I filmed with my GoPro on, and I would pace us up the road climbs. The last climb was 6.5mi at 4%, so I was able to cruise and pull the GoPro off the bars to shoot some video of the scenery and us rolling up the last climb. I'm still working on a video edit from the whole stage, but here's some of the best quips from the climb.

I can't remember which day, but one of the stages there was a singletrack section towards the end that seemed very "Texas" to me, except it was on a gradual downhill. In the woods, dark loamy dirt, flowy turns, a little rooty and just really fun. As usual I made several passes on this section. Just a random thought, and maybe next time I go back to Breck I will find this trail again!

Nutrition: I raced on Skratch bacon & egg rice cakes and Clif Bloks. I probably ate 2 rice cakes most stages, maybe 3 once or twice. I went through 6-9 Shot Bloks as well most stages. It's really hard to eat anything when you're breathing so hard on a climb, and you certainly can't take a hand off the bar long enough to get a rice cake out of your pocket on any descent out there. We made our rice cakes a bit smaller, about 2 bite size, and I had to be selective on when I would eat them. I stuck the Shot Bloks to my top tube so it only took half a second to grab one and get it in my mouth, a couple quick chews and you can swallow those. These definitely got me to the finish line 1 or 2 days. I am amazed I had ZERO stomach issues in 6 days of racing over 3 hours. This is usually my undoing at marathon events; I'm not sure if I've finally got the combinations and ratios correct, or if my reduced exertion was enough to keep things in check on this race. Basically I ate and drank when I felt like I needed to, not on a set schedule trying to get xxx calories down per hour. For fluids, I drank Skratch Labs exclusively, but not as much as I thought. I only took 2 bottles each day, and it was rare that I actually used much of the 2nd one. My stages varied from almost 4 to almost 5 hours, and I probably never drank much more than 3 full bottles in a single stage. This was really surprising considering the altitude we were at, but I usually don't require that much water down here in the heat either.

Equipment: I LOVED my BMC FS01 29 all week. It climbed very well, and descended fantastically. As I said earlier I was usually passing people all day, both up and down. Had no mechanical issues whatsoever. I didn't really do anything special beforehand like new parts, just made sure everything on the bike was in good condition and working well. I took 4 sets of new brake pads, 3 spare tires, a spare set of wheels, 2 sets of spare pedals, spare cables and housing and a couple of powerlinks to be ready for pretty much anything. Throughout the week I did change F&R brake pads when I thought we might have a wet day (I'd put them on in April before Ouachita Challenge), put on a new chain when it checked over 0.05 with my Park chain checker, and rebuilt my Eggbeaters out of an abundance of caution. I used Schwalbe Rocket Ron and Racing Ralph 2.25s in the Snakeskin version and had no tire issues all week; same for the 3 other guys in my house (2 did the 3 day but did some riding the days they weren't racing). I've managed to puncture these tires in Arkansas once or twice, I really think the rocks there are worse than in CO as far as puncturing goes.

On-bike packing: I carried 2 tubes and 2 CO2s on the bike with Backcountry Research Awesome Straps. In one pocket I had a BR Tulbag with a multitool, another CO2 and 2nd inflator head, spare chainlink, and derailleur hanger; and room in that pocket for a couple of rice cakes. The second pocket had my second bottle. The third pocket had my vest or rain jacket. This was enough to get me the usual 10-15 miles between aid stations. The first day I rode with my camelbak without a bladder, just had my weather gear in there if needed as I didn't think I could fit everything I needed in my jersey pockets. The second day I figured out how to take advantage of the drop bags and still be prepared in case. I'd ride to the start in a vest to keep warm going downhill, then take it off and shove it in a pocket before we started. Then I'd leave a jacket in each bag to grab in case the weather started turning.

The aid stations were fantastic, usually 2 per stage. They gave you 2 canvas bags that were color coded by race numbers, then had your number marked on them; as you pulled up to the aid a volunteer would usually pull your bag out and have it ready for you to get what you needed and drop off anything you wanted to get rid of. If you could fit it in the bag they'd haul it around for you. I usually had Skratch mix singles, rice cakes, and some weather gear in each bag. I also put my regular gloves in the first bag and started in warm gloves and arm warmers as I'm subject to getting cold hands; I'd ditch the warmers and switch gloves at the first aid.

After the race, it was surprising to look back and see how consuming it was concerning time and scheduling. Our daily routine was pretty much as follows:
Wake up and get dressed.
Prep drop bags and take to race HQ by 7am.
Eat breakfast and other morning business.
Race start at 8:30.
Most stages were 4-5 hours long, so didn't usually get back to the house until 2-2:30 after hanging around the finish line eating and winding down from the final descent.
Get back to the house, eat, shower, eat, recover with legs up for a while, eat, bike maintenance (I had 2-4 bikes to work on all week so this kept me pretty busy), eat, then go to race meeting from 5-6pm.
Get back home, eat, finish prep for next day's stage, then go to bed.

If you've stumbled upon this researching the Breck Epic, I highly recommend it, with a few words of caution. First, don't take the riding lightly. There is a lot of very sketchy technical riding especially going downhill, with lots of opportunities to really hurt yourself if you make a mistake. Only do the race if you feel confident in your skills enough to ride at high speed 6" from death multiple times a day for 6 days in a row. Also, be prepared to push your bike a lot (up and down). Second, consider the daily schedule it takes the whole week to get from one stage to the next. Don't go into it thinking it'll be a nice vacation, seeing the town and the sights and doing fun stuff after the race each day. Recovering, bike maintenance and the racers' meeting really consume your afternoons.

Good Training Block

I'm glad to report that I've been getting in some great training lately. The week of the Rocky Hill Race was the first big week at almost 9 hours, followed by a week just over 9 hours and then 10 hours this past week. I dialed in a good route from home to the great trails at Cypress Creek and Cypresswood, and I did that once last weekend and twice this weekend. That gets me 40-50 miles depending on how much trail I ride before coming home. I've also commuted to work a few times, it's ~20 miles each way so it ends up being a 40 mile day when I get home. I'm definitely feeling great on the bike, strong on the road and putting in some fast times on the trail segments. Yesterday at Cypresswood at the mid-point of our 40 mile ride, I put in a good effort on one of my favorite segments, No Brakes. I was rolling fast, knowing I was on track for a great time, and calling "rider!" every few seconds hoping to alert anybody who might be coming backwards. I came around a blind corner and was face-to-face with a girl and her mom pushing their bikes. I came to a nearly complete stop and barely managed to avoid them. It was too close for comfort. I probably wasn't thinking straight because I just told them it was ok, warned them more riders were coming and kept going. But it all happened so fast. When I uploaded my ride I ended up 1 second slower than the KOM, which I currently share with another rider. I was bummed my run was interrupted and I barely missed the KOM, but mostly thankful that nobody was hurt. Putting down a fast run with an interruption like that is also a good sign for my fitness. Here's a video of my effort, the incident takes place at 0:57. I did come across 2 more riders at the end of the trail, but we were both able to make room for each other so I don't think they affected my time too much.

The next race on the schedule is the Mellow Johnny's Classic, this weekend in Dripping Springs. This is also the first round of the USA Cycling US Cup & a UCI C1 event, so lots of big name pros will be out racing on Saturday. Names like Emily Batty, Georgia Gould, Catharine Pendrel, Jeremiah Bishop, Geoff Kabush, Max Plaxton, Sam Schultz, Ryan Trebon & Todd Wells to name a few. We will be there in time to watch the Pro races and get in a preride that afternoon, then I will race on Sunday. This is a tough race, with lots of loose rock and some hard climbs and it usually draws a lot of competitors, but I'm really looking forward to the race and seeing how I can do. I think I will relax a little this week, reading Friel he recommends to take a rest week every 4th week or so. That doesn't mean stop riding, just back off a hair. Hopefully it'll set me up fresh for the race as well.

Rocky Hill Race Report

This weekend was the season opener of the TMBRA XC State Championship Series, held at Rocky Hill Ranch. As I turn 30 this year, this would be my first race in the Category 1 30-39 group: a fast, deep field often referred to as the Pro lite class. I have only really been doing base training up to this point, with my focus more on the Ouachita Challenge than on the XC series. I had a good couple of weeks riding leading up to the race, riding my SS exclusively as my BMC was down for a wheel repair. This was a lot of spinning, good for the aerobic fitness but I was worried it would leave me down on power for the climbs.

Saturday I got a ride in with Patrick and Richard, helped the Loucks move into their new house, then went to a Robbie Seay/Josh Garrels concert that evening with Raine. A busy day with lots of stairs and being on my feet, not the ideal lead up to a race but you can't put your life on hold and lay around all day either.

My race started at noon so I had a relaxing morning leaving home about 8:30. I grabbed the usual McDonald's breakfast on the way and got to the race at about 10:30. I got my number, kitted up and rode a lap of the course. We were doing 4 laps of a 4.5mi UCI style course, so it wasn't too hard to see the whole course. After a few clothing adjustments back at the car and hearing they'd delayed our start by 30 minutes, I took one more lap then started focusing on race time: eating a little bit, finishing off my first bottle of Skratch, and double checking everything.

I got called up in the first 15 riders probably, and took a spot on the 2nd row. At the gun I got off the line well and slotted in about 10th. Up the first few climbs the pace was lower than I thought, but I wasn't complaining as I was able to hold my place well and even pick up a spot or 2. I started battling with a small group, they would generally put time on me on the climbs but I would pull it back on the downhills and faster sections. I was having a hard time pushing a big gear up the steeps as I feared, but I was able to use my little ring to my advantage and simply spin up the climbs, keeping pace well enough without hurting my legs.

At the start of the 3rd lap I got together with 2 guys I know from Houston, we would stay together for most of the rest of the race. We rode that lap together, I never led but just followed to keep my pace on the climbs and catch back up on the descents while resting. At the start of the 4th lap I surprisingly gapped them a bit on the first climb, I knew better than to attack this early but I kept the pressure on to see if they would come back. They did about a quarter of the way through the lap, so I latched back onto their wheels. The lap ended with a long, mostly downhill section after a steep climb, and I knew I needed to be in front for this to pull away before the long flat finish. I managed to get around one at the top of the climb, but still had the other in front of me. I was on his wheel in the early part of the downhill, really needing to get by. I saw an opportunity after a fast down/up dip with a sweeping off camber turn afterwards, so I hugged the inside and made the pass. I put the hammer down on the downhill and managed to open a nice gap that kept me well clear to the finish.

When the results went up, I was surprised to see my name in 7th, but behind the 2 guys I knew I'd beaten. After they got that straightened out, it put me up to 5th! I was stoked to finish on the podium in my first race in this tough class, and have such a great race when not really expecting it.

Pretty sure I stood in the wrong place for 5th, I'm new to the podium thing!

Looking forward, I need to work on building some leg strength while maintaining the spin fitness the SS provides. My BMC was perfect, climbing well and ripping the downhills. I drank 1 bottle of Skratch during warmup, and 1 during the race: it was the warmest ride I'd done in a very long time and the hydration was perfect! Many thanks to Sugar Cycles for supporting me, I'm looking forward to seeing what else the season brings!