Ruston Race 2015

Saturday was the Piney Hills Classic in Ruston. This is my "home" course as I went to college at LA Tech in Ruston, worked at the park while I was in school and have countless laps out there. The course has gone through small changes over the years, but I generally still know it very well as I get to ride it a few times a year and my confidence is high when we line up to race. I won the Cat 3 LA state championship there in 2005, which was my first year MTB racing. It's been 10yrs now since that race, and I think I've been to every version and trying to win again ever since. I came close the last 2 years but a crash and a mechanical problem slowed me down. 2 weeks ago my BMC frame broke and I landed on my head and hurt my neck, so I wasn't even sure I'd get to race this year. I was feeling ok enough to at least line up and ride around, so I brought the Monocog and moved my registration to the SS Open class. The forecast all week was calling for heavy rain on Saturday and we woke up that morning to a steady rain and a lot of water already on the ground. Because of the weather, the turnout for the race was really low, it was just me and one other guy in SS Open. All the Cat. 1 did a mass start, so I was shuffled towards the back pretty quickly with my one gear and the long fireroad start. I built a good lead early on the other SS'er, and then backed it down a half a notch to cruise control to stay safe. I pulled a little more time on him the rest of the race, and held on for the win. It's a bit unsatisfactory as a competitor when most of the competition doesn't show up, but it will still go down as a win so I'll be glad to take it and add one more for 2015. 

We are hanging around LA for the next week until LA Tech homecoming, so maybe I can sneak in a ride or two if the weather ever gets decent.

Ouachita Challenge 2015

This year was my 8th year doing the Ouachita Challenge. My first was way back in 2006, when my little brother Luke and I did the Tour together. We were pretty much "noobs" to cycling, but we made it through the ride and had a lot of fun. I was still riding 26" wheels; and although I had a full suspension bike I found out a week before the OC that one of my shock linkages was broken. I stripped the frame down and built up my old hardtail frame. Hard to imagine riding a hardtail 26" bike on the OC now!

26" wheels; that just ain't right.

After '06 I went back in '09 with my friend Brian to do the race and I've done it every year since. I battled flats and stomach issues for several years, and never could get under the 6hr mark that I had taken as a goal. Finally in 2013 I broke through and finished in 5:58:28, squeezing just under the mark. In 2014 I had an ok race until the very end and managed to set a nice new PR of 5:42. This year I was hoping I would be able to get under 5 1/2 hours, but I hadn't been doing any long rides and felt like I had been struggling with my fitness. I decided that I would ride with my friend Patrick if he was feeling good and try to get him under 6hrs.

We did our usual drive up Saturday morning, in a packed Suburban with 6 guys, 4 bikes on back and 2 on top. Spending time with friends on the way up and back, besides while there, is always a highlight of this weekend. We checked into our cabin and did a short spin, then cooked dinner and got ready for Sunday morning.

Top of the Womble Trail on our Saturday afternoon ride

After breakfast we headed to the school for the start and dropped our drop bags that would be taken to the halfway point. Patrick and I lined up near the front, and then we were rolling behind the truck for the neutral start. After the truck pulled off, the pace went up, but I tried to keep it civil and keep Patrick on my wheel. He lost contact a couple of times as the rollers started on the gravel road, but I waited for him hoping he would get warmed up. After I dropped him again I could tell he needed to ride his own pace and I ride mine, so I kept going. I felt like I was struggling in the first ten miles before we hit the singletrack, losing lots of positions. I tried to just keep a steady pace and hope that my legs would come around. Big Brushy was uneventful, then we were up and over Blowout. I thought I could climb the whole thing but I was stopped by a walker who wouldn't move so I had to dismount and join the line to the top. I rode some new rock gardens I haven't done in the past, then it was on to Chalybeate. This climb is always tough, as it is very steep and seems never ending. I usually have to walk a good portion of it and this year was no different. I ended up stopping halfway up as I discovered that my stem bolt was loose, luckily it hadn't spun on any of the technical rock gardens on Blowout or the fast descent! After Chalybeate is the long road section through the halfway point in Sims. I felt pretty good on this section and made good time up to the Womble Trail.

Through the first section of Womble I felt like I was starting to fall apart. My legs felt ok but I was tired and my stomach was unsettled. Eventually I decided to just stop or else I thought I was really going to be in bad shape. I rested for what must have been 5 or 10 minutes, drank some Skratch and then got back underway. This helped settle my stomach to where I felt ok to keep riding. As usual I was getting close to survival mode by this point in the race. The next big climb was Mauldin Mountain, the last real obstacle to the finish line. I've ridden it several times in the past, but this year it wasn't happening and I walked more than I was happy with. After the big climb up Mauldin you have about 18 rolling miles left, with one steep climb on the road 5 miles from the finish. I started the last climb with a group of 4 that had rolled up behind me after we exited the last singletrack. I tried to stay with them but just didn't have the legs so I rolled over the top on my own and then was off for the fast run-in to the finish. There is an aid station at the top of the climb where the course crosses over itself, Patrick was there as I rolled through and he gave me some words of encouragement. I made it to the finish in 5:38, a new PR by about 4 minutes and 35th place out of 159.

I hung around the finish to watch all my traveling buddies come in, then we went back to the cabin to relax for the evening. We took a swim in the river right below the cabin, then made our way to the hot tub on the back deck. Justin cooked us a delicious dinner and we turned in for the night. Monday morning we woke up and packed, then hit the road back home. It was a good trip and I'm alread looking forward to next year, chasing a new PR and spending a great weekend with my friends.

Chumba Ursa / The Fatbike Sandy

I'm proud to share that I've recently partnered with Chumba Cycles to do some rides on their bikes, starting with Texas' first fatbike race The Fatbike Sandy. I have been interested in the new 29+ or "mid-fat" tire size for a while, and I saw my first one in the flesh last year at Mellow Johnny's. I saw the same bike and rider again this February after the Double Lake Marathon, where I struck up a conversation. It turned out I was talking to Chumba's Operations Manager, and one thing led to another. Chumba has a storied history in the mountain biking world, previously known as a downhill brand and has recently been revamped. I would best describe their bikes as adventure capable trail bikes. They offer a 29er hardtail the Stella, a 29+ the Ursa, their fatbike is the Ursa Major, and they have a 27.5" aggressive hardtail the Rastro. All these bikes are steel and built right here in Texas.

I took delivery of the Ursa the week before the Fatbike Sandy race and got it all set up with my preference of grips and pedals. The demo I was riding had been on loan to a Tour Divide rider with a hand defect which meant he runs his brakes backwards  with the rear lever on the left. (Sponsoring challenged athletes is another area that Chumba is big on, which is really cool in my book.) The XT brakes tolerated swapping the lines back to normal very well with no bleed required and the Ursa was ready to ride.

I managed to get one good trail ride on the bike before race day with a fast group out at the Cypress Creek trails. It took a few turns to get a feel for cornering the beast, but soon it was coming naturally. The wide tires have a tendency to "self-steer" so you have to overcome that a bit, and then getting the bigger bike to turn-in is a bit heavier than my normal 29er. I wouldn't say it is harder, but it takes a bit more input to get it to lay in. Once you get this down however, turning is a pleasure. Traction is never the issue, the only limiter is how willing you are to throw the bike through the corner. It holds a line well and carries good momentum while coasting through the turn; I was repeatedly rolling up on the back wheel of the rider in front of me on a 29er who is a very good bike handler. This first ride was a ton of fun and I was looking forward to the race.

Leading up to the race there had been a TON of rainfall in the trail area, so it was slated to be a mudder. The original premise of the race was the sandy trails and the advantage the fat/mid-fat bikes would have on the soft surface, but it turned out to be a tractor pull through the mud. This didn't turn out to be a good opportunity to test fast trail riding on the Ursa (typical TX riding), but it was a good indicator of the bike in adverse conditions. Traction was absolutely minimal at times, but on most occasions I was able to keep the bike rolling and upright due to the volume and contact patch the tires offered and the stable geometry. To get a real idea of the conditions here's a video I made from my GoPro mounted on the bars.

I got a terrible start, I didn't realize we were immediately turning left and then I completely missed my pedals so I was at the back of the group right away. I charged hard at the end of the road before we entered the woods to take a few spots, then I was able to make a few more passes early on into 2nd place. The leader was also riding an Ursa and he pulled away, riding stronger through the heavy conditions. I rode solo for about half the race, until 3rd place came up behind me riding a fatbike. We battled for a while, it was obvious he was stronger as he was pulling away anytime it got hard going uphill, then I would reel him back in on the flowy and downhill sections. Eventually he got a small gap that I couldn't take back and I made it to the finish in 3rd overall and 2nd mid-fat. We finished completely soaked and covered in mud, but it was a fun day on the bike in a crazy way! I was glad to have the opportunity to race the Fatbike Sandy and represent Chumba on the Ursa, and hopeful to get to do it again at future events.

Making passes at the start of the trail.

There were about a thousand of these on the 17 mile loop.

Mud.

TMBRA Mid-season update

It's late March and I'm halfway through the 2015 Texas XC Mountain Bike State Championship Series. Three races done out of eight, but I won't be making the fourth, so this is my mid-season. It started at the Rocky Hill Roundup; I had a decent race but felt kinda flat and came out in 4th.

The next race was Mellow Johnny's. This was slated to be a mudder and it delivered. It had been raining quite a bit leading up to the race, so much that they floated the option of a modified rain course consisting of mostly fireroads. Saturday night before the race I drove over to Austin to stay with a friend, and it was non-stop rain once I got out of Houston. Sunday morning the rain had slowed to a drizzle, but temperatures were just rising above freezing on my way out to the ranch. This was looking like a repeat of last year when the temps fell rapidly on race morning and the rain came down.

After warming up on the rollers to keep myself dry and my bike clean, I rolled up to the start. The temperature was still well into the 30's, so I was pretty bundled up. Luckily I didn't overdress and stayed comfortable the whole race. I had worn my mud shoes, and the cleats are placed a little differently than my normal shoes, so I totally missed my pedal off the start, got hung up with the rider next to me and finally got going in the back of the group.

I'm near the back in the yellow jacket with black sleeves.

 After this terrible start we went straight up a hill, and I managed to pass a couple of guys on the way up. At the top we went through some tight singletrack that was super greasy, and there was no passing to be done there. After we got out of that I made my way to the front group and rode with them for a bit. Eventually it broke up and I was in 4th or 5th. Through the race I saw 2 guys walking out with flats, so I knew I had a chance at the podium. I went back and forth with another guy through the 2nd and 3rd laps, but I was able to come in ahead for a 2nd place finish. I was glad to be done and stoked for a good finish, but my bike was pretty trashed. I stopped on the way home at a carwash and spent $10 cleaning it up, then immediately lubed the chain and pivots to keep things moving.

Even looking like this, my drivetrain worked well throughout the race.

Next up was Comfort, one of my favorite races and courses. We took the kids over for this one, and after the Kids Cup and Raine's and my preride on Saturday we went to a hotel in Kerrville with an indoor pool to let them swim for a bit before bedtime.

Kid's Cup Swag

On Sunday Raine's race was first, so after getting her on course I started my race prep while taking care of the kids. I got an ok warmup, then it was off to the races. I started about 5th, but when the 4 guys ahead of me went the wrong way on the first turn, I found myself on the front. I settled into 3rd place for the long climb up onto the first loop, and was feeling ok. We got to a critical climb and the leader bobbled in front of me, holding me up and putting me at the back of the front group of 9 guys. Unfortunately I couldn't get around him and the front guys got away, and I was left to pick up the pieces. I made my way up to 6th by the end of the race. This is definitely not what I was hoping for, as my series hopes took a big blow. I've got a few weeks now before the next race, so I'll hopefully get some good training and come back stronger.

2015 Rocky Hill Roundup Race Report

This past weekend was the Rocky Hill Roundup, first race of the 2015 Texas State Championship Series. I went in to the race with high hopes, but could only manage 4th on the day. It was a bit disappointing, but I guess I came out ok and will move on to the next round. 

I got a decent start, going into the singletrack in 3rd. About a minute and a half into the race I took the lead at the top of the first climb when the guys in front of me seemed to slow a little bit. I ended up getting a decent gap after this, but I didn't push too hard trying to stay away as I knew it was too early.

Eventually we formed a group of 4 at the front which turned out to be the selection for the race. I led the first lap at a decent pace, but I just didn't seem to have gas in the tank to be able to do much more than ride around. That first acceleration, which wasn't even that hard, was seemingly the only match I had to burn.

At the beginning of the second lap the eventual winner rolled past me and away, and I could not respond at all. I faded back to 4th, then 5th for a while, but I was able to take one spot back going into the last lap for the 4th place finish. 

A nice overlook behind me, but no time for sight-seeing.

I'm looking forward to more racing and I now have some things I know I need to work on. Big thanks to Sugar Cycles, my BMC was fast out there I just didn't have the energy to push it. Also big thanks to Skratch Labs, it warmed up a good bit during our race but I stayed ok and cramp free the whole race. I know the lack of energy was due to some other factors and certainly not the tasty pineapples in my bottles!

Thanks Ed for the picture and videos.

Raine returned to the start line for the first time in a few years and came out with 2nd place. I was stoked for her, she's been training and it's great to see her back at it. She had a lot of fun so I think she'll be back for more. We borrowed a popup camper for the weekend and stayed out at the ranch. The kids had a blast camping out and playing with new friends all weekend. I suspect we will eventually get a camper of our own, we have many years of these fun adventures ahead and I remember fondly all my families' travels with our camper in my younger days.

Our first family camper adventure.

Race season is here

It starts this weekend with the Rocky Hill Roundup in Smithville. My group will be racing 4 laps of a 4.5mi course; this is a bit different from our more typical race of 3 laps on an 8-10 mile course. It's fun to be turning 20 minute laps coming through the start finish area more frequently, but it also makes for a shorter, more intense race. I had a pretty good race here last year finishing in 5th, so I'm hoping the course will suit me again and I can have a good weekend. Last year it was a bit unexpected, but this year I'm coming in strong and targeting the state championship so I will be targeting a good result. I'm pretty sure I'm coming in with a target on my back after my strong race at the Double Lake Marathon, but I'll try to use that to my advantage.

I submitted to my annual rip-off from USA Cycling yesterday to renew my racing license. $70 to be able to race my bike, and I'm still not sure what other benefits that gets me. Hopefully this will be the last year of TMBRA sanctioning with USAC and they will do their own thing next year. Renewing my license reminded me that this will be my 10th year racing. My first MTB race was in Arkansas at Daisy State Park. I raced beginner and led the whole race but faded hard at the end and got passed with about 100yds to the line. I thought the guy was in another class and I didn't want to put up a fight. I went to that race to get one under my belt before contesting the LA State Championship race at Lincoln Parish Park, which I ended up winning. My little brother and I had an awesome battle going running away from the field until he hit his pedal on a root and broke it. He hung with me for a good while but eventually made a mistake due to the pedal and I was able to get enough gap to stay away to the finish.

2005 Ruston Race results. We left Ruston the next Spring and moved to Houston.

Commuting When I Shouldn't

Less than a day after pontificating my so-called "wisdom" on commuting I went and made a mildly bad decision this morning. I always check the weather first thing when I wake up on mornings I plan to commute. I just want to be sure no freak overnight storm or polar vortex blew in before I bother getting out of bed at 5am. This morning the rain chances and temps looked ok, it was warmer than it had been the last couple of mornings, but there was a "Dense Fog Advisory" in effect. Usually this would be an immediate reason to roll back over and get an extra hour in bed, but this morning I wasn't having it. I'd been set all week on commuting 3 days, even though NONE of the days were ideal for doing so as I had places to be at 6pm. This meant rushing home, showering and changing, and then pretty much right back out the door. I also knew that commuting was about the only way I was going to get any miles this week, hence being set on it. After seeing the Fog Advisory I decided I'd at least check it out, so I looked out the window. It didn't look too bad so I decided to go for it. "If it gets too bad I'll just turn around and at least have gotten a little spin this morning" I told myself. Of course I didn't do that. I rode through some pretty thick soup, my bike and I were pretty damp when I got to work. Luckily I didn't encounter any traffic on the worst sections. I think I would have been seen well enough with my bright light, but still the conditions were much less than ideal. When you're riding on the road, in the dark, super early in the morning, it's probably not the best idea to do so in conditions any less than ideal; dry and good visibility. I got away with it this morning with no close calls, but I probably won't try these circumstances again.

Thankfully I didn't encounter any bridges like in the background on this foggy morning.

Bike Commuting

Over the last year or so I've started regularly commuting to work. I say regularly in the sense that I do it periodically; I was surprised to find I only commuted 36 days last year when I actually went back and counted. That probably accounts for about 75 of my training hours though, which is nearly 20% of my 403 total hours for 2014. When I put it in that perspective it is definitely a contributor to my fitness.

I thought I'd share a little bit of information on commuting that might help somebody get started on this great habit.

My typical car drive to work is about 8 miles straight down a 7 lane highway, so that's obviously not the best way to ride my bike in. I always say "just because you can, doesn't mean you should." On the bike I use a combination of neighborhoods and park paths for a pretty safe 20 mile route, sometimes I will shorten that to about 17 miles with a little bit of dam top gravel road. Luckily my commute is in a direction I ride a lot anyway, so I was already familiar with the area and able to easily piece together a good route. If you need to figure out a route to work, there are some good tools available. One is Google Maps; they have a biking tool that shows dedicated bike lanes, bike friendly roads and bike paths. Another good tool is Strava. You can view segments on the Segment Explore map to see where the popular roads are to ride. Their global heatmap is another great tool to see where people do and don't ride.

Generally speaking this would represent a map of the cycling population density of TX. Interesting that the MS-150 route between Houston and Austin is so apparent.

The most important bike commuting tool is, of course, the bike. I use a Specialized Crux Disc. This is billed as a cyclocross bike, but is super versatile and makes for a great commuter. It doesn't have fender mounts, which would probably disqualify it for some people, but I can't see myself riding with fenders or really commuting in weather that would require them so it's not a problem for me. I'm just not interested in arriving to work soaking wet with a nasty bike. I keep my bike inside at my desk so that would present a problem in itself.

The Crux super commuter, resting up for the ride home.

Plenty roadworthy, we had some great rides at RMNP last summer.

Most bike components are left to preference (SRAM vs. Shimano, disc vs. rim brakes, gearing, etc.) but one thing that does make a great commuter is tire choice. I use Continental Gatorskin 700x32's. These are high volume tires that make for a very comfortable ride over the rough side streets and bumpy, cracked walking paths I ride. They are also very flat resistant so that's one less thing to worry about while riding to work in the dark. Being so big they probably aren't the fastest tires, but comfort and versatility trump that for me. I can take them on gravel if I feel like taking a different route, and if I want to get even more adventurous I can really take them off-road. I've even ridden singletrack for fun! Of course it's not ideal at 50+ psi and with no tread, but it's doable and fun for some variety. It's by my own design that my cyclocross bike affords me plenty of tire clearance to use the 32's, but some people may be forced or prefer to use a smaller tire; I'm sure the 28 and 25 sizes of these tires are great, too. Some may say they would be a little faster in certain circumstances, but I won't get into the tire size vs. speed debate here. I used to ride Schwalbe 28s and those were pretty comfortable too so that's probably a good size choice.

Fun for doing some dirt surfing every once in a while.

A critical aspect of bike commuting for me is having lights. I work 7am to 4pm, so I leave at 5:30am in the dark year round and in the shortest days of winter I get home just before sunset. For a headlight I use a NiteRider MiNewt Mini 350 USB. It offers plenty of light for me even on its lowest setting, and has enough run time to commute all week on the low or medium settings. The light head mounts to the bar easily with a rubber grommet, and the battery goes on my toptube behind the stem with a velcro strap. The attachment has proven solid and trouble free. One definite advantage of this light for commuting is that it charges via USB. If I need to, I can just plug it in to my computer when I get to work for a charge before riding home. There are lots of light choices out there, and some much cheaper such as the MagicShine variety, but this is another place where I didn't want to risk being stranded in the dark at 6am. I feel that this is a full quality light that will give me years of good service at still a pretty good price.

NiteRider Minewt 350 Mini USB

Just as important as your headlight is the taillight. You want something to catch drivers' attention when approaching you from behind to see you from a good long way off. I use a Cygolite Hotshot 2W. This is a nice, bright light at a good price. It has several flashing modes with adjustable speeds so you can choose exactly which pattern you think will make you most visible or choose to have more battery life. I don't really use the flash speed adjustment, but I'll not complain about having more options. A very nice feature of this light is the rechargeable battery. Instead of worrying about when the AAA's in your blinky are going to die and leave you invisible in the dark, you can charge the battery regularly and put your mind at ease. I can commute and ride for several weeks before I get the indication that the battery is low, but I usually charge it once a week. This light is also USB chargeable so I can charge it at work if I need to. It's small and secure enough that it pretty much stays on my bike all the time unless I'm doing a 'cross race.

Cygolite Hotshot

The last thing (or maybe first thing depending on how you look at it) to consider is the work at either end to make the actual commute happen. The most common question concerns showering when I get to work. Yes, I am fortunate that my office has a nice locker room with a shower, so I can get all cleaned up and changed when I get there. Of course I have to have clothes to change into, this takes a little bit of preparation. I always drive on Monday, so I usually bring shoes, a towel, and 2 or 3 days of clothes to work in a bag that morning for the week. I also always drive on Friday, so I'll take the clothes home to wash and replenish for the next week. I leave soap/shampoo and deodorant in my desk. I also leave a jacket at work, the AC is usually too cold for me.

There are a few issues to solve from time to time, but you can usually figure out a way around them. For instance, if there's a 35° temperature change from your morning to afternoon commute, your clothing needs are going to be quite different. Since I don't ride with panniers or a backpack, getting the warm clothes home to use the next morning can be a bit of a challenge. The 2 options are to wear as little as you can in the morning and stuff all the extra in your jersey pocket for the afternoon, or just leave stuff at work every day. You have to have enough stuff to get through the week, or drive a day between rides to shuttle stuff back home, but you make it work.

Maybe your commute is really too long to be practical to keep the length of your day reasonable? One solution if you can get away without your car for an evening is to drive to work, ride home, ride in the next day, and then drive home. You get 2 long rides in and save 2 car trips, but you can limit the extra time spent each day.

Since I use my commute as training time, I try to be purposeful with my time on the bike. The morning commute is usually pretty easy, since it's dark and my body isn't usually ready for any efforts. This can be a recovery ride. In the afternoon I will try to do some intervals or go longer for base miles. There is a nice park on the way home I can do intervals in, if that's my plan I'll take the shortest route to allow me to spend some time there doing work.

Naturally, if you commute by bike an hour each way you will be hungry! I usually go by the grocery store on my way to work on Monday, so I'll grab a couple of frozen lunches if we don't have enough leftovers from the weekend for all the days I commute. I try not to eat out for lunch to save money, but I have to every once in a while and when you have your bike, it's nice to take a spin at lunch on a beautiful day.

Lunch ride.

GHORBA Bigger Ring Challenge Double Lake Marathon Race Report

Last weekend was my first race of the 2015 season, the GHORBA Bigger Ring Challenge at Double Lake. The was was 3 17 mile laps for 51 miles total that I anticipated would take a little under 4 hours. I went into this race with good confidence after my good results in the TX Cup series last year, but uncertain where my fitness would be as I haven't gotten too many long rides lately and I've just started moving out of working on base fitness. I knew though that this was a good course for me and I wanted to have a good race. I lined up near the front, but got swarmed a little bit on the start. I was rolling somewhere in the top 15-20 on the 1.5 mile road section to the singletrack. As we neared the singletrack entrance, a gap opened right behind the leader. I instinctively jumped in it and made a perfect move to go in 2nd place. The leader was none other than Nathan Winkelmann, one of the best riders in TX, multi-time Pro/cat. 1 race winner and a threat to win any race any day. I felt good and followed him most of the first lap, until he slowed and waved me around. I led for a couple of miles until we hit a long gravel road at the end of the lap, then I fell back into the paceline of the front group.

Leading the race ahead of Winkelmann.

We had made a selection of about 6 riders at that point, and I was surprising myself being there and feeling comfortable! Through the second lap I rode 3rd or 4th wheel as we swapped places a few times, but mostly stayed together while dropping a couple of riders out of our group. At the end of the second lap the lead group was whittled down to myself, Winkelmann, Scott Henry and Scott Minard. The Scotts are also super fast guys who race Pro/1 and can win any race at any time. Henry has multiple Pro race wins to his credit, finished 2nd in the 2014 State Championship series and has won it a few times before as well. He used to race for Trek/VW! Minard has been top 5 several years running in the Pro/1 overall as well.

Lead group coming through to start lap 3.

About halfway through the 3rd and final lap I was riding in 4th, feeling good and trying to think through how this race would end and how I could take a shot for the win. I didn't figure I could outsprint Minard or Henry, as they're both very strong guys. I thought I might could get a gap on them in the singletrack, but getting to the front and staying there on the long gravel road at the end would be tricky. There was a good section of singletrack between there and the finish line; that would be my best bet. About this time I was riding behind Nathan and he started slowing way down. The Scotts were riding away, and eventually he confessed that he was getting a flat tire. He asked if I had any air, I did but it was zipped in my pouch. He kept going but would not let me by, so the Scotts got a good gap on us. Eventually Nathan ran off trail in a corner trying not to roll his tire. I rode past but dropped him my pouch with CO2 in it. After this I struggled to get back up to speed though. I knew the Scotts were gone and there was a threat that Nathan would ride back up to me, but I just couldn't get going again. Sure enough with about 5 miles to go Nathan passed me on a short gravel road section and I couldn't respond. I rolled it in to the finish line to finish a few minutes behind the Scotts and less than a minute behind Nathan.

I finished first in my category of 30-39, and ended up 4th overall! This was a great result and will be a big confidence boost going into the State Championship series. Huge thanks as always to Skratch Labs, I truly could not be racing at this level without their product. I tried for many years but always had stomach issues that held me back. I also have to thank Sugar Cycles. They've been supporting me for many years and it's exciting to (finally) be putting up some good results for them. My BMC was super fast and smooth and I know it is the perfect bike to be competitive in all my races. I'm looking forward to the rest of the year!

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.