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!

2013 Race Season Wrap-Up

2013 was a long season full of ups and downs. I started off a bit slow in the TMBRA series as I was focusing my training more on the Ouachita Challenge, finishing decently mid-pack at Waco, Comfort and Mellow Johnny's.

Mellow Johnny's Classic

Next up was Double Lake, my local race where I knew I could do very well. I had a great race, riding in 2nd early with the leader in sight. He got a small gap on a group of 4 of us, and we stayed together the rest of the race. I was feeling good and hoping to make a move on the last singletrack section, but an upset stomach just 2 miles from the finish took me out of the group. I was able to hang on for 5th place. I was happy with my race, and feeling good heading into the Ouachita Challenge.

Patrick and Richard went with me to OC this year, following the usual schedule of driving up Saturday for registration and a little spin, then race Sunday morning. My race went great, I finally broke the 6hr barrier which has been my goal for the past few years. My stomach stayed stable and I was strong throughout the race. I had a minor flat early on but it only cost me a few minutes as Stan's sealed up my Schwalbe Rocket Ron up quickly.

Unfortunately, later in April I broke my hand in a head-on collision at a local trail. I had to get a cast and all that, but thankfully no surgery. I was out of the cast in 4 weeks, but it took a good bit longer than that for it to get comfortable riding and gripping the bars for any length of time. I tried to stay on the bike a bit while in the cast, just doing some short road rides locally. The worst part was that I had to miss the last few spring races, just when I was coming into some good fitness. This was definitely a step back for my season but I had to take it in stride and keep going.

I still drove up to Dallas with Richard to support him racing there. Warda was next, and since Sugar Cycles was title sponsor I went to help out. We worked the feedzone and wherever needed. It was tough being there as that's usually another good course for me but I still enjoyed being out at the race.

Fall started back up with the Camp Eagle Classic. This is a HARD race and even harder when you don't have any fitness! It was a great family trip though, Tate went with us and we all hung out in the river Sunday afternoon after the race.

We took a vacation to Crested Butte in early September where I had a great week of riding. There are some fantastic MTB trails there and I feel like there were a lot more I didn't get to see. The biggest ride I did was up Gunsight Pass, to over 12,000 ft. The trip will require a separate post, I'll get that up soon.

Top of Gunsight Pass

Next up was Ruston, historically my best course as this is where I learned to MTB and I know the trail like few others. It rained Saturday night and Sunday morning, but I was a bit excited for a wet race as this would play well to my skills. I was leading the race early and pulling away, but I crashed on a wet bridge and hit my head pretty hard. I chased back to 2nd but eventually the headache got the best of me and I had to back off finishing in 3rd. I felt like I was getting some fitness from the trip to CO, but a small mistake eliminated my chance for a win.

The last race of the season was at Tyler, we drove up Saturday and arrived just in time for a massive thunderstorm that soaked the park. Looked like it was gonna be another wet race, but the course was actually about as perfect as it could have been Sunday morning. I had a decent race, and while I had the speed to run at the front, I just didn't have the top end fitness to sustain it and finished in 4th.

A little wet at Tyler

I feel like I was strong the whole race though, a good sign going into the marathon season which is going to be my real focus this next year. I'm signed up for the Breck Epic next August, a 6 day stage race in Breckenridge so long training will be my plan.

My BMC was flawless all year after the small incident at Comfort, and was the best bike I could've been on as it's fast, light, and fits my style well. I've learned a lot more about the different suspension settings and where/when to use them to go fast and smooth. The X0 components have been very solid, my favorite part has been the clutch derailleur and how quiet it keeps everything no matter how rough the trail is. As it proved at the OC it's going to be a great marathon bike for the upcoming season.

Wild Azalea 100k

Since the Miles of DisComfort race I've fallen off the training a little bit due to weather and busy-ness at home, but I still think I'm on a good track for the Ouachita Challenge. This past weekend I helped a friend of mine map a course for a marathon MTB race on the Wild Azalea Trail (hereafter referred to as WAT) near Alexandria, LA. The WAT is a designated National Recreation Trail that is 24 miles end-to-end. Being from LA it took me way too long to ride this trail, but I'm glad I finally did. It is very remote and full of amazing natural beauty the whole way. The course incorporates the full length of the trail(out and back on the first 7 miles), a couple of other trails that connect to it, and a few roads to break up the singletrack sections and tie the out and back loop together.

Early doubletrack climb on the WAT

Leafy trail, but easy to follow

 I had a great day on the bike and loved the loop. The LA woods are pretty special to me and this ride was full of them. It had everything from tough climbs, to fast downhills, flowy singletrack, doubletrack, rough sections and a few hike a bike climbs. My new BMC was great, climbing well and riding smooth. My stomach also held up very well for the whole ride. I ate a Skratch Labs rice cake every hour, a Clif Shot Blok or two between them, and a banana at about 3.5 hours. I drank mostly water from my Camelbak, but I did have one bottle of Skratch drink mix that I sipped throughout the day. I think I needed more Skratch mix but that's all I had, so next long ride I'll be better prepared. "Gut rot" has usually been my undoing on rides over about 3 hours, but I seem to be figuring it out, finally.

At the trailhead after the ride

Besides several stops to check the map and the wrong turns we took, Lynn was also having trouble with his chain coming off his chainring all day, so we had to stop a lot to fix that. I didn't mind, it's just worth noting in our elapsed time.

Here's a recap of the route, if you're interested and for my own reference:

We started at the Valentine Lake Recreation Area trailhead and rode east on the WAT. This section is generally fast & wide singletrack with a little doubletrack mixed in and a few rolling climbs. About 7 miles in we intercepted the Kincaid Loop trail that circles the Kincaid Lake Recreation Area and rode that loop clockwise. This loop follows the lake shore, and has some small ups and downs but is generally fast and smooth. We got a little mixed up at the end of this loop, but finally found our way onto the Lamotte Loop which took us east along the lake, then we made our way back down to the WAT away from the lake and continued east. There is a parking area on Messina Rd. where the trail crosses which will make a great aid-station/checkpoint for the race. We crossed Messina and continued east on the WAT until the next parking area at Messina Rd. and State Route 488/Twin Bridges Rd. Here we went east on 488 for a little under a mile and then turned right onto Forest Route 287/Castor Plunge Rd. I believe the race course will head south from this intersection down Messina Rd., take a left on Hamp Smith Rd. then continue south on 287 as we did (this will be a lot better as 488 has no shoulder and does have a bit of traffic). After about 4 miles on 287, we intersected the WAT and turned onto it headed southeast towards the Woodworth trailhead. This section was pretty fun with some nice flow and good climbs. The Woodworth trailhead is right on 287, which we took back to the north to intercept the trail again. We missed the intersection so we had to turn around to find it, adding about 3 miles to our ride. We turned off 287 and headed west on the WAT. This section started with a fast, really fun downhill, but then turned out to be the toughest section of the day. There was some slow going through here with lots of time spent in bottoms that were a bit wet, but still mostly rideable. There were also a few technical root sections that required finesse and crawling along. This section was 8 miles long and did have some really fun sections in addition to the tough stuff. This brought us back to the Messina/488 intersection and we headed north on Messina. This took us to the Kincaid Lake East Boat Launch, where there is a trailhead that heads south towards the WAT. This trail is about 6 miles long and is a LOT of fun and a great payoff for all the hard work to get there. It has some short, steep and tough climbs but flows very well overall. It ends at a big wooden bridge over the lake, which we crossed and then turned left to head south and intersect the WAT. When we got back to the WAT we turned right headed west and continued all the way back to the Valentine Lake Trailhead the way we had started.

Our total mileage was 64.9 miles, negating our extra mileage from missing turns would have been 60.75 miles. This will make a great marathon race course, I can't wait to see the event come together.

Having gotten some good long rides in now I feel like it's time to start some XC racing to start sharpening my top-end speed and fitness. I think that will start with Waco this weekend, back to Comfort next weekend, and then a full weekend of fun at Mellow Johnny's. Then I'll go back to a build phase getting a few more long rides in before the Double Lake race, and finally taper down to hopefully have a great Ouachita Challenge race!

Miles of DisComfort-1st race of 2013

This past weekend the Neilson DEVO team and I traveled to Flat Rock Ranch in Comfort, TX for the Miles of DisComfort marathon race. We were rolling heavy Friday morning to get in a little preride and camp out that night.

Rolling 4 deep

This was to be my first race on my new BMC, and I was excited to get it into some tough trails with big climbs to see how it would do.

New bike, not at Comfort

We had a good preride, checking out the rocks and climbs that are completely foreign to us as Houstonians. It was Patrick and Justin's first experience riding this terrain, so it was great to let them get a taste of it before the race. We had a flat tire and a small issue with a brake line retainer coming off a fork, it was also good to get those sorted out the day before instead of during the race. Richard fell on a rock and hurt his hand, but was able to ride back. We had already set up camp so we got back and cooked up dinner. We ate very well by any standards and relaxed by the fire for the rest of the evening, except for Richard who drove in to the hospital to get his hand X-rayed. They said everything was ok so he went ahead and raced to a top five finish the next day with a bruised and swollen hand.

Friday camp dinner

 

Concerning the race, I had a good day with a bit of bad luck mixed in. There was a heavy mist in the air all morning, enough to get your bike wet sitting around and give concerns about the rocks being wet. I got to the line late like I always do so I was lined up in the very back. From the gun I went harder than I would've liked up the hill but I knew I had to get towards the middle of the group before the singletrack. I did but there was still a lot of stop and go for the first rocky sections. Once we got spread out I felt like I was riding well, making a few passes here and there. About an hour in I started hearing a clanking from the BB area and I thought it was chainsuck, which there was no reason for, but very quickly my cranks locked up and wouldn't turn at all. I pulled over and started trying to figure out the problem. It took me a few minutes to find it, but one of the pivot bolts near the BB had come loose and backed itself out into my crankset, and the head of the bolt was wedged in between 2 teeth of my small chainring! Luckily all the pieces were still there and appeared ok, I just had to figure out how to get them back together. I couldn't get to the bolt through the crankset, so I decided to take the cranks off. Luckily I had a large enough allen on my multitool and was able to get enough torque out of it to get them off. Then I tightened the pivot back up, put the cranks back on and was rolling again. I was stopped for 15mins, which was a bummer but I was glad I could continue. I got back on the gas pretty good for the rest of the first lap and rode well except for letting my front wheel get too low on the hilltop rock garden on the upper loop, my front end slipped down and my stem twisted so I had to stop and fix that also. The rest of the race I just tried to stay steady, I got a little slow at the beginning of the 2nd lap but a rice cake pepped me back up. I took it easy on the climbs, and then rallied the last downhill to finish in 4:58, which was 11 minutes faster than my time last year. I was very pleased with this considering the long (and short) stop I had to make. I had lots of PRs even better than the half-distance XC race I did there in 2011, and several 2nd and 3rd best efforts for the day.



Best part was that I didn't have any stomach issues, I think this is the first long race I've ever done that it wasn't a problem. I ate a few Clif shot bloks, 3 Skratch Labs bacon and egg rice cakes and drank Skratch Labs drink mix. I also didn't feel completely trashed at the end of the race. Considering this I might could've gone a little harder, but I did have some cramps towards the end that might've come on earlier if I'd done so. I had to keep pedaling or keep both legs straight to stop them, but they eventually went away when I got to the mostly downhill off the upper loop. The new bike RIPPED out there, climbed like a goat and gobbled the rocks going down. Zero trouble with my tires, I ran Schwalbe Rocket Ron/Racing Ralph Snakeskins and I threw myself into rock gardens with no concern for my own well being. The Roval carbon hoops took a beating but are still straight and true. Coming down Jimmy's Joy on lap 2 I messed up the entry and centerpunched one of the trees on the runout, HARD. It made a scary sound so I pulled over and checked everything out, it all looked good so I continued to thrash it and it held up just fine.

I'm excited to be way better off at this point than last year, looking forward to some TMBRA XC and the Ouachita Challenge coming up soon.

A lot has happened since the Ouachita Challenge. LOCO Fest was my next race. They got a LOT of rain two days before the race so the course was pretty muddy. They shortened the laps to remove the worst sections, which I was very thankful for. It turned out to be a 2+ hour race as it was so it would have been really long otherwise. It was only me and Bryan Fawley (Orbea/Tuff Shed Pro) in my age group so the results were a foregone conclusion there, but we did start with the 30-39 group so I tried to ride with some of those guys. I spent the day at the back, battling with my friend Lynn Gray over next to last place overall. He would pull away on the climbs and power sections, then I would pull him back on the flowy and downhill sections. We did this until we had about a half a lap to go, I let him get a little too big of a gap through one section and then I started to kind of fall apart and couldn't pull him back. It was fun while it lasted though.

Next up was a local race put on by GHORBA at the Cypresswood trails. The format was eliminator style, with an opening time trail to seed all the racers into categories and heats. The heats generally had 4 racers, and the top 2 advanced until there was a final heat in each category to determine the overall winners. I really like the trails at Cypresswood, they're all flow and the race course just had a little bit of power sections at the beginning where I could hang on until the singletrack. I wound up sweeping the day, winning the time trial, my first heat in cat. 1 and then the cat. 1 final. I did crash in the final and tweaked my front wheel pretty badly but was able to finish the race on it.

One week later Richard and I went up to Dallas to race the TMBRA race there. We drove up Friday afternoon, I didn't feel great on the way but attributed it to a random case of carsickness. During our preride it was really hot I still didn't feel great, but we were mostly taking it easy anyway. Then Richard's chain exploded and we had to call it quits, which I was mostly thankful for as bad as I felt. I had a pounding headache the rest of the evening and then that night I had awful nightsweats until about 2:30AM. I still tried to race the next day, pretty much all I did was ride around to finish. Turns out I was coming down with the flu. It took me out the whole next week, all I did was lay around with 102 fever until Thursday or so. I finally started coming around to go to work Friday for a while. I didn't really feel like riding until the next Wednesday. I was still suffering though with a super low energy level, but I needed to get back on the bike so I just tried not to overdo it.

Rocky Hill, the TMBRA finale' was 2 weeks after the Dallas race where I got the flu. I wanted to race, but I was still pretty down on energy, and my fitness was terrible from the lack of riding. I went out and finished, somehow managed to do so ahead of one person in my class. I felt like I was really only about 75% but it was nice to finish out the season.


The following weekend was another GHORBA race. This time at the Justin P. Brindley trail in Sugarland. I still didn't feel like I had all my energy back after the flu, and my fitness was even worse having not ridden at all the week leading up to it. This is a short race, lasting less than 7 minutes, with about 4 minutes of singletrack and a long finish stretch on a gravel/grass path. This always works against me as I'm just not a power guy and I always get beat on the finishing straight. I decided to ride my hardtail rather than the BMC, feeling like it would pay benefits on the finish stretch larger than the extra speed in the singletrack the BMC would give. I felt a bit squirrelly in the trail since I hadn't ridden that bike on anything other than road for a long time but I got through ok. I was 5th in the time trial which put me about the middle of the cat. 1 division. In the first heat I knew I needed to get a gap in the trail on a couple of the guys, so I made a sketchy pass in the first corner to lead us around and it went according to plan, but I had 2 able to stay with me. When we got to the path the strong roadie in the group, Don, immediately dropped me, and the other guy drafted me until about 100m and then went around. Luckily we went fast enough that I was granted an advance to the 2nd heat due to our finish times. This heat was with Nathan Winklemann (Pro racer) and Don from heat 1. I had kinda gotten an uncomfortable stomach between heats and basically counted myself out from the start. I followed Nathan through the twisty singletrack pretty easily until we got to the power section of the trail and he pulled away. Then Don dropped me hard on the path and I soft pedaled to the finish. I probably could have gotten into the final based on time if I'd gone hard so I have only myself to blame for that.

This brings us to this past weekend. My little brother got married up in Monroe, LA and we went up on Wednesday to hang out and help get ready for the wedding. Since Monroe is only 30 minutes away from Ruston we stayed with Raine's parents and I got to ride some laps out at Lincoln Parish Park. This is undoubtedly my favorite trail, I love riding there and this trip was no different. I had finally started feeling like my energy was coming back and I was able to turn some decently fast laps all weekend without feeling like I was at race pace. I got 2 on Thursday, 1.5 on Friday and another 1.5 on Sunday before we left. My fastest lap was on Sunday, and it included a 30 second stop to try to move a down tree. Got stronger in those few days! I even scored a few KOMs on Strava. I already held some of them, but it was good to see me going faster than I have before! Baby girl is due in just 7 weeks so that will probably be the last time I get to ride there before the race in the fall. It was good to get in some good laps and dial the trail back in.

Speaking of baby girl, she IS due in just 7 weeks! We're getting excited, and scared-er, but I know it'll all be good. We've got her room almost ready for her to come home, with just a little bit more to do. Then it will just be the waiting. Raine is still doing good, just tired a lot. Ben is still growing like a weed. He was the ring bearer in the wedding, and he was having a grouchy day so we couldn't get him to go down the aisle by himself. Raine was a bridesmaid and I was a groomsman and we got to walk down together, so he walked down holding my hand. It was very sweet us all getting to walk together. Raine looked beautiful as a pregnant lady in a black cocktail dress!

There is one more GHORBA short track race (I think) before the summer MTB break. Hopefully I can keep riding and build some good fitness for the fall season and cyclocross. I'm not sure how much I'll get to race with the newborn in the house, but I'll take whatever I can get and hopefully have a better season than I did this spring.

Post-OC Letdown

It's been 2 weeks now since the Ouachita Challenge. I'm still feeling disappointed I didn't get my goal time at the race, but I know I learned a lot and will go back and do better next year. My time wasn't bad, it's just not what I wanted so I'm not really satisfied. I'd been prepping all year for that one day, and to have it go so wrong and just be over with no "next race" to look forward to I've been in a bit of a slump.

Exhibit A, I've ridden my bike only 3 times in those 2 weeks. It's not that I don't want to, it's just that things haven't been working out for me to get out there. Like now, we got a good bit of rain in town yesterday so it'll be a while before we can get on the trails again.

Exhibit B: Saturday Richard and I went up to Huntsville to ride some trail. I was really excited and motivated to get some good riding in. Unfortunately there was a trail run that day we didn't know about so the trails were pretty crowded. After about 7 minutes I had a stupid crash over a 1" root drop. I have no idea what happened, I was in a gentle turn over a few small roots, just cruising, when suddenly with no warning my front end was pushing and then I was smashing myself to pieces on the ground. I got up after a minute of laying dazed and confused to find a bloody knee and a hurt thumb on one hand and a hurt pinky on the other. I rubbed some dirt on it and we got back underway. We were just cruising and having fun, enjoying some good weather and nice trail conditions. Then about mile 6 of 10, on the complete opposite side of the lake, Richard's chain fell off. We couldn't find his powerlink, my 10 speed link wouldn't work, and I'd left my chain tool in the car. So we were hosed. I pushed him most of the rest of the 4 miles around the trail. He would walk up the hills when they were really steep, sandy or rough and I couldn't push him. Then he would coast the downhills. But I pushed him a lot. When we got back to the car, he realized he'd lost his glasses somewhere on the trail. I got the chain fixed and we went out to look for the glasses on the last few miles of the trail. We had to ride slow looking for the glasses, and we were going against traffic so it wasn't much fun. We turned around and rode back, then found that someone had turned in his glasses at one of the trail run aid stations, that was pretty much the only positive point of the day. We got about 5 more minutes of singletrack then we had to leave. It was a pretty dismal day overall, but still was good to just get out in the woods for a while and we did get a little bit of good riding in so I'll take it.

In non-biking/racing news, after Easter I took a couple of days off and we went on a little family mini-vacation. Monday we went down to the Houston Zoo for a few hours, then we drove on to Galveston to stay a night. We found a good deal at the San Luis Resort right on the beach. This was Ben's first trip to the beach and he had a blast playing in the waves with me. We would wade out and I held his hand and jumped him over the waves. Then he got comfortable enough to squat down in the shallows and let the waves hit him. We had a nice dinner, then the next morning we played in the hotel pool for a while. He can't swim or even float by himself in his lifejacket yet, so it was mostly me holding him and walking around, but we did go down the waterslide a couple of times. He loved that. After we checked out we went to Moody Gardens to the aquarium. Ben just wanted to see the big sharks, of course they were at the very end of the walkthrough, but he did really like a lot of the other things. Raine was a real trooper walking around everywhere being pregnant. The idea was hers to go and it was a really good one, it was great to have a long weekend with them just hanging out.

Ben at the petting zoo

Enjoying the view off the hotel room balcony

Ben at the Moody Gardens Aquarium

My birthday was last Thursday, I turned 28. Getting old fast, I am. Friday night Raine organized a guys' night out for me and several friends. We went to Sky High, a trampoline place with trampoline dodgeball and foam pits and such. It was fun, and great to just hang out with the guys for an evening. Much love to Raine for the night of fun.

This weekend is LOCO Fest up in Shreveport. My old friends at LOCO (Louisiana Off-Road Cycling Organization) put this race on and I always try to make it up to support them. They do a good job with the race promotion and the trail is a blast so it's not really a burden to go to. My thumb and pinky from the crash last weekend are both pretty sore and purple, but maybe I can ride? I don't expect much from my fitness due to my not having any good riding lately, but hopefully I can just have a good fun day and enjoy the event.

2012 Ouachita Challenge Trip Report

As much as I love the Ouachita Challenge event, it's always a great trip overall up to Arkansas getting into a little bit of mountains and hanging out with great folks for a long weekend. Since Raine is 20+ weeks pregnant, a 7+ hour drive and chasing Ben around while I raced wasn't the best plan so they stayed home this year. I rode up with my friend John from work, and friend of his who also stayed with us last year, Marc. They picked me up about 7AM Saturday, and we rolled into Oden at about 2:30 or so. I got to see my little brother Luke finish the tour, then pick up our packets and head to the cabin. We had a great cabin at Riverview Cabins & Canoes, just a mile from the event area and start/finish line. The cabin was really nice and right on the river with a great view.

View from the cabin.

Chris from Shreveport and a friend of his were staying with us. We all settled in, then I went out for a little spin to loosen the legs up. I went up the finish road and did a little singletrack, then rolled back down to the cabin. When I got back Chris had been trying to work on his bike, and couldn't get his brakes to work right. I tried to check them out and wound up making them worse. We needed a bleed kit or a new brake at that point, neither of which we had on hand. We all went up to dinner and ate, then found Carl from Lafayette had a bleed kit with him and was good at bleeding brakes so he followed us back and fixed the brakes. He and his group left out and we all hung out for a while doing final prep, then went to bed.

Sunday after finishing my race I hung out to see other folks finish, Marc came in about half an hour after me then John about an hour later. Lisa came in for 5th place in the women's class, she did really great and we were all proud of her. We spun (raced) back up to the cabin to relax for the rest of the day. We went down to the river and soaked for a while in the cold water, it was good for the legs and to cool ourselves off after the hot day. Then we walked back up to the cabin and I sat in the hot tub for a while. We had cooked up a frozen lasagna so we ate that, then just chilled out for the rest of the evening. Spike was having a Star Wars marathon so we watched the second half of Empire Strikes Back and then Return of the Jedi. That was fun and brought back some memories. Then it was off to bed for the long drive home.

The drive home was pretty uneventful except for driving through a bunch of hard rain and my BMC almost getting rear-ended by a hummer in Lufkin. That was scary. It's good to be home to Raine and Ben, now it's time to start some intensity work to get faster in the XC races.

2012 Ouachita Challenge Race Report

2012 is my 4th consecutive year of doing the Ouachita Challenge race. After having a flat in 2009 that cost me 20 minutes and finishing in 6:26, I'd set a personal goal to finish the race in 6 hours or less. 2010 and 2011 both had their issues, mostly nutrition and lack of fitness, and I didn't get my goal those years either. Knowing next year we'll have an infant again, I resolved this year to get my goal. I rode consistently, trying to get at least 2 hours on the bike whenever possible.The last few weeks I've cleaned up my diet, trying to eat healthy and maybe lose a few pounds for the hills. Last weekend I did a 5+ hour ride at Huntsville and felt pretty good after three days of intervals that week. Last week I mostly stayed off the bike, just resting with a little spin on Thursday. Race day has now come and gone, and at the end of the day, this wasn't my year either. I had 2 flats and more nutrition issues, finishing with a 6:24:45. This was a personal best, but still unsatisfying not getting my goal. Here's how the day unfolded.

BMC ready to roll race morning.

Race morning I woke up after a half decent night's sleep and went up to the school where the start and event center were to have some breakfast; pancakes and oatmeal. We went back to the cabin and got kitted up, chilled out for a little bit, then rode the 1 mile up to the start. I lined up about halfway thorugh the pack with my shop owner Kyle and we chatted for a few minutes. When the gun sounded I rolled out easy and assessed the situation. My goal at the start had been to try to surf wheels at the back of the lead group until the hills started and it got too hard, then back it off. All systems seemed to be good to go, so I went with the plan. I found myself behind my friend from Chris from Shreveport. He's really strong on the road, so I knew he would be good to draft on. We got split from the lead group, and I saw Chris starting to make an effort to bridge. I jumped on his wheel and he took us across at 30+ mph. "Good grief," I was thinking, I probably didn't need to be going that fast but I wasn't doing much work and was feeling good so I just went with it. I stayed with the lead group for a while longer but eventually let myself fall off the back to ease my effort. A small group including Chris came off the back a few minutes later, and I found myself riding about 100 yards behind at their pace. I bridged myself up to work with them for the rest of the road section. Shortly after another friend from Shreveport, Adam, who I knew was going to be strong made contact with us. We rotated through a few times, then hit the last few big hills before turning into the singletrack. I'd dropped Chris, and Adam went into the singletrack just in front of me. When we turned in our average speed was 18+ mph. I'd be doing good to average this on paved roads in Houston for 9 miles, much less mostly gravel roads with big hills. It was a fast start, but I felt like I handled it well.

Big Brushy is the first mountain singletrack section, this went pretty well for me and I settled into a nice pace. Adam had blown up and I passed him somewhere along this stretch. I fell in behind a guy I know from Dallas, Michael, who is usually strong and I felt like this was a good place to be. I was feeling great and everything was going well. It'd been relatively easy up to this point, I was just hoping it would continue. We pulled into the first aid station at mile 15 at 1 hour and 15 minutes. I stopped for just a minute to get a bottle from my support crew and let them wipe my glasses that had gotten a little foggy and glary in the morning sun. Michael had rolled straight through so we got separated a little bit. Out of this aid station you go into a nice climb, and I caught back up to Michael before the top.

Next is Blowout Mountain, the rockiest section of the course. It starts with a rocky climb, then has some rolling sections with big rock gardens, marginal to un-rideable. I got stuck behind some people who weren't riding the rocks too well, Michael got a break and got around them but I missed the chance. I finally got around a couple of them and was making good time. We started the descent off the mountain and I was going pretty good, just bringing Michael back in sight when my rear tire started going soft. I think this was about mile 20. I'd apparently gotten too friendly with a sharp rock and cut the sidewall. I pulled off, and tried to get the cut to seal. I picked up the bike and turned it on its side, putting the cut at the low point, trying to let the Stan's settle in and seal it. I fussed with it for a few minutes and it stopped spewing, so I put some CO2 in and tried to get going. I guess when I started rolling and the sidewall got compressed it opened up the hole again, before I knew it I'd burped the tire and lost more air. I pulled over again, added more CO2, and tried to get it to seal. Again I had the same results, so I finally decided to just put a tube in. My friend Rob from Houston pulled over for a second while I was there to check on me, then rolled on ahead. This whole process cost me several minutes but I got going again eventually. I took off and was charging hard down the mountain trying to make up a little time and catch Rob. The last bit of the descent is super steep, and I was rallying it hard passing several people on the way down.

After getting off the mountain is about a mile of dirt road to the second aid station, then more singletrack that goes straight up Chalybeate Mountain. After the flat, the time off the bike, and the effort charging back afterwards, this was a tough climb. I walked some of it, eventually got to the rolling stuff on top and the sweet descent down the backside. I was flying down this, passing several people and having a blast. I caught Rob a few minutes before the end of this section, then we hit the road for the transit down towards the Womble trail. We came onto the road with a group of 4, and we worked together into Sims at mile 30 where the next rider support area was. I picked up 2 fresh bottles, another tube and some shot bloks. The road continues downhill to the river, then it's mostly uphill to where you meet the Womble Trail at the 298 trailhead. I paired up with a random rider named Terry, then caught back up to Rob a little bit later. We worked our way up to the aid station at the 298 trailhead, Rob cramped up a little before the aid station so I kept rolling kinda slow hoping he'd catch back up. I grabbed a banana at the aid station, then headed out on the dirt road to where we would pick up the Womble Trail. I thought Rob was still behind me, so I kept the pace a little lower for a few minutes but decided I needed to keep going. I finished the dirt road section, then got on the Womble where you pick up your first zip tie. When I put my foot down to stop I got my first cramp of the day. I knew this was a bad sign, so I tried to drink a whole bottle before I got back to the aid station and tried to stay at a cruising pace. The trail goes right back by the aid station, so I pulled back in and refilled a bottle then headed out. By this time it was getting pretty hot out, and having been in it all day was taking its toll.

From here we're in for more great riding on the Womble Trail. It rolls along for a while, and before long I saw Rob up ahead. I never saw him pass me, but I guess he got his cramps under control and went by while I was over at the aid station. Mauldin Mountain is the next big climb, and I was able to spin my way all the way up the first big section. It gets pretty steep, and has one tough switchback but I was able to clear it and get all the way to the top. Looking back I think this took a lot out of me and I might've been better off to walk some of it. The next big pitch was tough and I had to walk a lot of it. This is where my race really started falling apart, about mile 42-44 or so. My stomach was just badly uncomfortable, very similar to what I felt last year. My energy was just down to nothing and I started to bonk pretty hard: had to stop and rest for a couple of minutes, wanted to vomit, etc. Rob was riding with me and stopped with me once. I told him I felt like I needed to throw up, then that I wanted to throw up; but I never did. We got going again, he got a little bit ahead of me and then we rolled into the last aid station.

Rob was still at the aid station when I came in, and told me they had Cokes and that I should drink one. This is something I would never do otherwise, but I was desperate and I'd recently read something about Coke being a good mid-ride pickup. All they had was Dr. Pepper which I don't really like, but I drank one anyway. I think this saved my race from total meltdown. I also refilled my bottles with HEED while I was there. Rob had just rolled out and I was getting back on my bike to go with him when I realized my rear tire was going flat again, so I lost him there and wouldn't see him again. I guess I'd pinch-flatted it somewhere along the trail. Thankfully somebody at the aid station had a floor pump and I'd picked up that tube at the support area in Sims, so I was able to keep one tube and some CO2 in reserve. I changed the tube and rolled out.

I'd long ago realized I was going to miss the 6 hour mark, but when I rolled out of this aid station at about 5:40 I was pretty disheartened thinking I was going to be 6:40 or more at the finish. The Dr. Pepper had really picked my energy back up though, and I was just trying to stay steady. There is a good climb coming out of the aid station, and although I was feeling better I started to get a pretty bad cramp in my right hamstring. It got tighter and tighter with every pedal stroke, and since I was already going uphill in pretty much my granny gear I was unable to spin it out. I had to stop and stretch it out, and I slammed a bunch of HEED. I didn't have much trouble with it after that, but I had to back my pace down a little bit. I got off this singletrack, then it's some road down to North Fork Lake, where you pick up the Womble trail again. You also get another zip tie here, and again when I put my foot down to stop my leg cramped up. I caught a guy in this last section of singletrack, then we hit the road that would take us back to the finish. Looking at my time and distance at this point, I started to think that although I wouldn't get my 6 hour goal, I could possibly beat my previous best time of 6:26. The road rolls for a couple of miles, and he gapped me pretty good, then you hit a gravel road climb that's just over half a mile long and averages over 7%. This is the last big climb of the day and is a proverbial punch in the face after all you've been through! For some reason I really like it. I spun my way up nice and steady, and caught and passed the guy from the road before. You go back through the last aid station before rolling down the last 4 miles to the finish. As I rolled through the aid station a guy asked if I wanted a cup of water and I said "yes, on my head." He obliged and dumped a good portion of a gallon jug on the back of my neck. This was just what I needed to get to the finish. I checked my time and distance again and saw that a 6:26 was still within reach. Right after the aid station is a steep downhill plunge that launches you into the high 30 mph range down the gravel road. I tucked in and tried to keep my speed as best I could, then pedaled the rollers steadily to try to get to the finish line. I was counting down the minutes until 6:26, and my pedaling was getting more urgent with every passing minute. "4 minutes to get to the finish line," "you've got 3 minutes," I would say. The finish line is at the top of a grassy little hill, and when it came into view I knew I could beat my 6:26. I pushed with everything I had up the hill and across the line. I was disappointed to not get my goal of 6 hours, but glad I at least got a new personal best.

Looking back I don't know what I would do differently. I felt like I was drinking and eating decently at the beginning, but then when my stomach started feeling uneasy I stopped eating and didn't drink quite as much. This is something I always struggle with, I get this bad feeling in my gut and don't want to eat or drink anymore. Of course this is a downward spiral that I seem to fall into repeateadly. I might could've gone easier off the start, but I was feeling so good and it felt so easy at the time I don't know how much difference it would've made. I guess I'm just going to try some new nutrition, the Shot Bloks seem to make me feel bloated and uneasy. The tire thing definitely hurt me, this felt like where things really started coming apart. I'd heard good and bad things about the Racing Ralphs in the rocks, but hadn't had any trouble at Mellow Johnny's or Solavaca so I decided I could live with them. Rob, Lisa and Kyle were all running the same combo and had no trouble, so I guess sometimes things just happen. Next year I will use a snakeskin version that comes well recommended with more sidewall protection.

Overall I know I was pretty strong this year, definitely having the fitness to go under 6 hours. Without the 2 flats, or maybe with even just the first one, I think I still could've done it. What really did me in was that severely rough time I had from about mile 42-46 or so. Whether the flat ultimitely helped bring this on or not, I don't know. Even with the bonk, I still think I'd have gone under 6 without the flats. That's a good indicator for my fitness, but I can't try to justify my way into a sub-6 time. It is what it is, flats are part of the game. I can't wait to come back next year and give it another try.

I owe a big thanks to the folks who were at the support areas helping me out with bottles, water on my back, etc. My little brother Luke, Brian, Cody & Tiffany, Leigh and anybody else I didn't notice in my stupor. Chris, thanks for pulling me across to the group on the start road, I tried to do my part! Big thanks to Rob for riding with me some and waiting on me once or twice, and especially for telling me to drink that Coke. I'll say it again, that saved my race from a total meltdown. Another big thanks goes out to the organizers of the race and all their volunteers. The event is top notch with all the things they offer like the meals and the great aid stations. The volunteers at the aid stations are also amazing, ready to help with whatever you need with a great attitude. We'll see you again next year!