24 Hours of Great Glen- another one in the books

Not every race starts with cannon fire that causes you to just about jump out of your skin. You’d think I’d know better as I’ve raced the 24 Hours of Great Glen a total of 13 times, but that cannon fire still catches me off guard.

Once again I found myself racing in the solo SS category along with fellow Bikeman teammates, JJ and George Lapierre as well as TWAF teammate A1. JJ and I took up our usual spot walking the lap around the pond with the knowledge that you either have to run super fast to get out front early, or take your time and catch all those running fools on the blueberry field climb only minutes after you grab your bike. Experience does have its benefits!

I got to my bike and mounted up for lap #1 with JJ and A1. The weather had finally come around and we had enjoyed a few days of fairly dry weather leading up to the race. This meant the course was in pretty good shape, and for the most part the course was rideable if you have the legs to do it. That being said the legs I would have needed are still stuck in 2006 and despite my attempts to get to them with the flux capacitor, I was stuck riding with my legs of 2009. Either way I knew it was going to be fun, and my goal was to go and ride and enjoy the weekend.

Originally I had designs on riding 100 miles, meaning I was going to need to ride 13 or so laps. The course had been shortened a bit and was coming in at 7.7 miles and climbing was just under 1000 feet per lap. The riding was going well, having broken the cardinal rule of racing on gear that I had yet to actually give a legitimate shakedown on. I was running my Salsa Mamasita that had gone through a bit of a metamorphosis. Gone was the Reba fork, replaced with an Origins 8 rigid carbon fork. Gone was the SRAM x9 drive train, replaced with a White Industries Eno wheel with a White Industries freewheel. What was still there were the trusty Ergon grips and my 1995 Shimano XT crank. The bike was working and the 30x20t gear was turning over and when it wasn’t my granny gear (me walking) seemed to be working quite well.
The first two laps JJ, A1 and I rode together, laps three and four JJ and I rode together. We were out having fun and enjoying the course. The Hammer gels and Endurolytes were doing their trick keeping me moving (along with beef jerky) and the duct tape that I used to tape my heels with after the second lap were keeping my feet in ok shape.

After four laps my goal of riding the 100 miles began to wane a bit as the miles began to add up and the reality of not having put in the hard work this summer began to show. We rolled into camp after four laps and our families were there asking when we were going to break for dinner. Dennis was thinking he was done for a bit, and I knew that if I sat down I’d be done for awhile as well, so I grabbed a Hammer gel, a fresh bottle and headed out for lap five.

I felt pretty good. No cramping issues which had been plaguing me on rides over three hours for years. The bike was running well and the course was in pretty good shape. I cruised my fifth lap and pulled into camp with the idea that a beer and a burger would taste mighty good.

I got out of my wet and muddy kit and went to sit in the river for a minute to clean up. The water was shockingly cold and any lactic acid in my legs quickly jumped out the pores on the back of my neck and made its way to dry (and warmer) land. It was that type of cold that hurts so good. I walked back to camp feeling refreshed and sat down to a feast of burgers and beers- perfect!

Of course the comfort of camp made it difficult to get kitted back up, and the company at camp made it even more difficult. We ended up visiting with good friends and somehow beer kept showing up. I looked at my bike and said, “we’ll get back at it in the AM.”

This meant I would likely not hit my 100 miles, but I was ok with that. I climbed into my -20 bag and was soon glad I had brought it as the temps dropped. I slept well, awoke to the bagpiper and decided to go get in a lap before breakfast. The sun was up and the air was beginning to warm. The course had improved in some places and gotten a bit sloppy in others, but all in all it was in good shape. I loosened up and my legs began to get into the ride. I came in with an idea of breakfast, but decided to keep it rolling as Dennis was up and ready to go. We cranked out another two laps, stopping to get gel and fresh bottles each lap and then it was time to make the call- put the hammer down and get in two more or sit up and just ride the final lap needed to be at the finish for noon. If I got two it meant I’d get 10 laps, my fall back goal, so I bid Dennis adieu and hit the trail with purpose. The lap went well and I actually felt fast in a couple of spots. I came into the timing tent at 11:35 with a lot of cheers as the crowd likes it when solo’s are going out for that last lap (little did they know I had slept for 10 hours!)


I bottled and gel’d up one last time and put the hammer down. It felt good as I was in the fifth our of riding for the second time in a 24 hour period and I was pleased that my body was reacting well. My arms and neck actually were the sorest parts of me and I knew I only had about 50 minutes left of discomfort. I found I was catching a fair number of people and starting to feel a pretty good grove. I got caught by the two lead teams, and they were FLYING, it was an impressive display. Their speed motivated me a bit and picked up my pace, riding the climbs a bit harder (and longer) and letting it fly a bit more on the descents.

Coming into the Chute the cheers were loud and invigorating. I cleaned the last tricky section and just went hard for the finish. As I rolled in Dennis was there at the dismount point with a bottle of Tuckerman open and ready, I took the hand up and rolled into the tent- feeling pretty good and pumped with the event.

It was cool to see all the Bikeman jerseys at the race. Kudo’s to George, Jason, and Dennis who I got to ride with at various points during the race. Kudo’s to the Bikeman guys on the teams as well. We were all well represented.

For those who haven’t done the race- put it on your calendar for 2010- you’ll be stoked you did.

24 hours until the 24 hours of great glen

I have Europe "it's the final countdown" stuck in my head. This happens every year before the race. I don't really know any of the words other than "it's the final countdown" and then I can hear the power cords being played.

In 24 hours I'll start getting all nervous and feeling like I've forgotten something. Then I'll start wishing the race began at 9am so I would be about to start. That's just the way it is!

So today is the get some work done, get some packing done, gather my food, clean the bikes, give the bikes a shake down ride, try to get our camping space dialed, go home and sleep and then get up and get it going.

In keeping with tradition I'm doing what you are not supposed to do, race brand new gear that you haven't had a chance to ride. That's what I do. I like doing that, it offers a built in excuse if things go south or a great way to really put something through the paces if they go well.

I'll have my trusty Salsa El Mariachi but I'll also be bringing my newly converted and refurbished Salsa Mamasita that is now a carbon forked, White Industries ENO's single speed. I did give it a short ride last night and the fit is close. I may still shorten the steerer tube by a centimeter still- but we will see.

I did build a nice custom chain ring guard out of a spent 32t chainring from 1995. A bit of grinding and then drilling out the pins that help with shifting. As usual it took a lot more time than I had planned- but in the end it worked and that's all that matters! Now I was able to use the 32t as I'm running a 30t for my front ring as my freewheel is a 20t- and yes I'm going for a baby gear, but considering better than 1000 feet of climbing per lap, and hoping for 13 or so laps- that's a fair amount of climing- so better safe than sorry.


K is going to pit for me this year, which will help, especially when it comes to bottle hand ups as I only want to carry one bottle on the bike. It will also help to see her each lap as she'll make sure I'm eating and taking the Endurolites (which I'm hoping help with the cramping).

Either way it's going to be a fun weekend. JJ and A1 are both racing Solo SS as well so we'll get a chance to ride together for a bit (I hope). I haven't ridden with A1 at all this year, so I'm looking forward to that.

That's my take at the moment- oh and in other TWAF news- NK starts work at Bridgton Academy on Monday- so two TWAF'ers will once again be working in the same place! At one point three of us worked together, and at this moment in time none of us work together so this will be like a mini reunion.

Ride safe and hope for sun.

DEA

August is almost here

Summer is slogging by here in the Northeast. The weather has sucked, but that's just the way it is so no point in complaining. What it has meant is that I haven't ridden my mountain bike much at all, I've been racing on Tuesday nights, but other than that it's been road riding.

The Tuesday night races have been fun up at Great Glen Trails. It is more of a TT format, where you can start when you show up and race one of three courses- Mini, Short, or Long. Mini is for the real little kids, short of the kids and beginners, and Long for everyone else. Our routine is we roll up to Great Glen and I ride with Elizabeth for her race (short course) with Emma on the trail-a-bike in tow. It's fun as there is a bit of singletrack on the short course, but it's mild enough that I can ride it with Emma on the back. She's been a trooper as it's been wet so she's getting covered in mud after each lap- but she thinks it's fun so we keep it going!


Liz is doing well, but she's starting to get competitive when she sees the results but when she's actually riding I have a hard time getting her to go fast. I keep telling her that she can just enjoy the ride and check out the flowers and animals, but understand that she won't have a fast time, or she can try to go fast but that it will require some effort. I think he wish is that the other girls would just slow down!

My races have been fine, back of the expert pack. But for a SS I feel like I'm putting in ok times, as there is a fair amount of big ring fireroad on the 5 mile course (that is the long course) and I'm running a 32x18 on the 29er. There is a fair amount of spin/coast/spin/coast. The battle has been between JJ, Charles and I. JJ has been cleaning up but his two week vacation may have tipped the scales- we won't really know until August 11th or 18th as I'll miss next Tuesday's race.

The race on the 11th may be off as well as both JJ and I will have just come off the 24HOGG as solo single speeders. We had planned to do double single but I chickened out as I didn't want to have JJ dictate when I was riding or sleeping. I'm looking at this as either a two or three part race- a five or six hour section, a couple hour section, followed by a morning 5 to 6 hour section. So the high end will be 13-14 hours of actual racing- which means I fully intend on spending some time off the bike. I'd like to get 13 laps as the goal (that would put me over 100 miles), with 10 being the minimum that I'll be happy with. We'll see!

The other wrinkle is that I'm heading down to DC for a few days with my wife and our friends Cecile and Jonathan who are here from France for a couple weeks. That means I'm not sure what I might get in for riding over the next few days. Then we get back and I'm hoping for a big box from Team Bikeman.com World HQ that will enable me to build up the Mamasita as a light, rigid, kick ass SS. Then I'll want to get that shaken down for the weekend, but doing so with no real effort- hmmmm. We'll make it work!

That's it for now, oh here is a pick from Newton's Revenge from a couple weeks ago. This is near the top, that is Chris Proulx from RSN tv16 chasing me with the camera. I tried to give him a good promo, but I was out of breath. He keeps telling me he's going to post the video, but I have yet to see it.

Either way ride safe.

DEA

24 Hours of Great Glen

There is this race, you see, where you ride around this course up in the woods at the base of Mount Washington, and well you just keep riding around for like, a day. Not just the day part of a day, but for 24 hours, actually in some cases more like 25 hours.

Sound's tempting doesn't it. The next big thing on my cycling season that wasn't is the 24 Hours of Great Glen, a race that has been a part of my year for longer than I've been a Dad.

This year it looks like JJ and I are going to race the two person format. I've done the four person, the five person, and solo, so this is a format I have yet to try. I think it'll be fun and it gives me a much better shot at having a sense that we put in a good race than I would have if I raced solo (unless I did the 12 hour format).

I'm getting excited and nervous as I'm still heavy and haven't put in any looooong rides yet this year. If the stars align I'll get in a good road ride on Saturday, out through Bethel and up and over Evan's Notch- we'll see how that feels. It also looks like the Mamsita will be in SS glory for the race- details when the big box from Bikeman World HQ shows up next week.

Just heard from Mary, the event director up at 24HOGG- prize money went UP this year,not a bad thing in a year that many events have been cutting prize money. Of course the downside is that I won't be in the money, but it's nice to know that those that are actually do get some! Top team takes $1000. Overall solo for both men and women walk with $500, and top pro-four person teams (both male and female) walk with $600. There's more but those are the highlights. I wonder what bottom of the results sheet guys get? Hmmmmmm.

Ride safe out there, speakign of that have you checked out Dave Z's site- Yield to Life? Certainly a good cause- but between this and all the Road ID ads I see I feel like I'm supposed to get smacked by a car- been there done that, don't need to do it again.

later,

DEA

Milestone?

Just saw that we've posted 500 times to the TWAF blog, not sure the level of excitement that I am supposed to feel. Does this image show the appropriate level of excitement?


Just got word from Garmin that my 705 is enroute, and when I checked the tracking it is slated to get here today- so I am excited about that. I hate to admit it but I am a data junkie now. I dream of someday running a SRM singlespeed crank just so I can be super cool. Maybe I can get one of the head units in a special TDF color. Here is to dreaming.

So my weight loss is happening, very slooooowwwwwly. I've decided the next time I get hurt and can't do anything for a long period of time that I'm going to ingest tapeworms that I have tied floss to (so that I can pull them out when the time is right) to help with weight control. Not sure if it will work, but it's a thought. Better yet- don't get hurt again and just keep the weight off to start with (boring!).

JJ and I are considering, strongly, racing 24HOGG as a double/single instead of both racing solo. Part of this is that we are both a bit soft this year and, well, he's just flat out old. I have concerns that if he doesn't rest from time to time he may get lost in the woods. Ok that's not really true, or maybe it is- but the truth is I looked at last years results and realized we would have been on the podium as a Double/Single team. With that intel we got all excited. However, since that epiphany I have gone back to look at the registration for this year and it looks like others have found the Double/Single category to be one that is of interest. A few names I recognize and to beat them would take very subversive tactics, like stealing their bikes during the LeMans start or swapping their energy bars with Exlax. As evil as I am I just can't bring myself to doing either of those things. So I'll have to revert to just sending them an email saying the race has been postponed by 12 hours so they show up for the wrong 24 hour period- with a 12 hour head start JJ and I could kick their asses!

No tour to distract me today, and that is a good thing. Hopefully I'll get in a good, easy ride today and then go up to Great Glen tomorrow for the weekly series and put in a good ride.

That's about it for excitement at the moment- but I'm sure I'll let you know if something pops up.

Ride on.

DEA

Check Newton's off the List

“The winds at the summit are currently a calm 10-15 mph, visibility is 65 miles, and it is looking like a beautiful day on top of Mount Washington.”
Those were the words of the race director about 45 minutes before the start of Newton’s Revenge, a race up the famed Mount Washington Auto Road. While I heard the words and enjoyed the idea of idyllic weather, I also cringed knowing the weather gods heard the words as well and I was sure they would look to show just how futile predicting the summit weather could be.
I had signed up for Newton’s Revenge back in the winter when I had had great intentions of rolling into the 2009 cycling season in great shape and having trimmed down to a nice 180lbs. That was of course prior to falling down and going boom at the end of the ski season that left me doing nothing (other than enjoying adult malted beverages) for a month and a half and not getting onto a bike for real until mid May. That left me coming into the season at a legitimate Clydesdale weight, and far from being in shape- but it didn’t matter- I could ride my bike and that made everything A-OK with me.
Toeing the start line I looked up at the Mountain that I’ve had so many great adventures on, mostly in the winter. I thought back to the night my wife and I and a group of friends did a night ride up the road to above tree line, talking our time and enjoying a beautiful summer night. I thought about all the Toughest Two’s I’d raced in (the hillclimb TT portion of the Porky Gulch Classic Stage Race- a race worth doing). But at that moment I realized that today I was riding all the way to the top. Not stopping at two mile, not stopping at tree line, but going all the way to the top- 6288 feet in 7.6 miles.
The cannon fired and we were off. I took it very easy in the start as I had forgone doing a really good warm up with the intent of warming up on the hill. That had more to do with being lazy than it did being a good strategy. I soon found myself spinning my 22x32 and enjoying the gear but not the lack of speed.
I was racing on my Salsa Chilli Con that had gone through a couple changes for the race. The crank had been replaced by a Truvita Stylo 180mm with a 22t chain ring. The rear end of the bike say the SRAM 10 speed cassette give way to a 9 speed cassette 11-32. With that change the Rival derailleur was swapped for a SRAM x9 with I had tried to operate with a 9-speed Dura Ace shifter. For whatever reason I couldn’t get the Dura Ace shifter and the X9 to play nice, so off came the drop bars and the flat bars with the X9 shifter made their way to the bike and all the shifting issues were resolved. I was running bar ends (Ergon grips, the greatest grips of all time) and found the position quite comfy for the climb.
Back to the race, not much exciting happened in the first hour other than being passed by the fast age groupers who started behind me. A couple of them were breathing so hard as they went by that I just couldn’t believe they would make it to the top. Of course I realized that when I usually “race” I breath that hard as well- ahhhh the joys of approaching the event as a tour!
Once about the treeline the views were fantastic. Looking out into the Great Gulf, and being on a bike on the road gave me a great opportunity to dream about skiing next winter, especially when I looked over and saw snow over on Jefferson. I noodled my way up the mountain, not moving very fast, but moving up the hill one turn of the cranks at a time. Newton’s Revenge is a bit smaller race so there were times that I felt like I had the road all to myself, of course that was until a group would catch me and blow by me from behind.
At about the five mile mark I started having some cramping in the thighs and lower back, I decided that walking for a bit to stretch out my back would be a good idea. I would give myself about a minute of walking before I would jump back on, the irony was that when I was walking I found that I gained on a few riders ahead of me, only to just maintain or slip back once back on the bike!
As I rode up I thought back to when I worked for the Summit Road Company, and did press for the big Hillclimb the first time Tyler Hamilton won the event. I rode in the back of one of the vans with the doors open yelling splits to him as we went up, the only problem was the splits were junk as they were being called down to the driver via radio and then yelled to him from me and half the time I couldn’t hear the driver that well. Tyler seemed fine with that and went on to crush the record and drive away with an Audi A4. I thought of how fast he road up that hill, and how slow I was going. I decided I was having a much better time as I got to really enjoy the scenery!
The road is unrelenting, averaging 12% for 7.6 miles, with a finishing kick of over 22% that you have a hard time keeping the front wheel on the ground. You can see the road go up ahead of you and it can get discouraging, then you can see the road below you and your realize how far you have come, it’s pretty cool.
I saw my wife about 500 meters from the summit and she gave me a good boost of encouragement. I then knew all I had to do was make the finishing “wall”. As I started up the wall and struggled to keep my front wheel down I started to panic as I had removed my rear brake to “save weight” (how much does a set of Avid canti’s weigh?) and realized that if my front wheel came up and I started to go over I didn’t have a way to stop it- that was good motivation to push up and through as fast as possible.
I cleared the wall and road across the finish line to get my medal and famed fleece blanket. The winner had been up topside for over an hour, but all the racers are great about cheering everyone on. I found my wife and we did the walk down the stairs to the car where I got cleaned up and just sat and looked out and New Hampshire below my feet. It was a pretty amazing view, and one that was that much better because I earned it on a bike.
I can’t wait to do it again next year.

First MTB Race of the season

It seems odd to be into July and to be finally doing my first race on dirt of the year, but that's how it worked out. I guess I should restate that and say first race off the pave as it was clearly not on dirt but rather in the mud.

So Tuesday was the first race in the Dakine Summer Series at Great Glen Trails. We had planned to arrive at about 5 or so and have myself and my two sons who are 5 & 10 race as well. At about 3PM I got a call from my wife asking my to check the radar as there was a large green blob moving towards us. Knowing that the rain was coming soon we decided to head to Great Glen sooner and arrived there about 4PM. The whole drive up was in the rain but as we pulled into the parking lot the rain subsided. I usually will pre-ride the course or at least do a lap on the short course with my kids as a warm up before racing, however I decided to just go out cold and try to get my race in before the skies opened up.

A couple of friends went off a few minutes before I did and I stood in the start house awaiting the count-down. Eli told me right before I was to go that he expected a 24 minute lap from me. I said "Eli, look, I have only one gear." He just smiled and then I heard the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go....

I was off. Within about 200 yards my heart rate was already at 167. I could feel that I was red lining right from the start. The course changes every year and this year even had some new singletrack. As I rode the mud and roots were wicked sloppy. About 1.5 miles in I came upon a friend who had started before me. She was off her bike trying to get through a really muddy almost bog like section at the entrance of Moose Alley. I figured that maybe she had just picked the wrong line and decided to just ride right through it. I hit it and it almost sucked me right in and threw me off my bike. I came to an abrupt halt and slowly churned through the peanut-butter like ooze and then proceeded on my way. That was almost a disaster so I decided to be a bit more careful as I approached other similar sections.

There was a good bit more of carriage roads before I came to the entrance to Whiplash, a section where I have had some great success riding it and other times great difficulty, including some very bad crashes. With that in mind I stared into it and made it to about the half way point until I decided it was much more prudent considering the conditions and my present heart rate of about 300 that I get off and try to run this section as opposed to ride it and break myself or my helmet, again.

I ran some, but not enough and got back on too soon, I got back off and ran some more and then got back on only to jump off yet again and finally start yelling at my dumb ass as I jogged along, the whole time thinking that the clock was going as I was farting around getting on and off my bike instead of riding.

Finally I was able to get on my bike and actually ride it. I completed Whiplash and headed out onto the carriage road, I had taken my glasses off due to the fog that appeared on them as I was running(walking). I tried to pull them out of my jersey pocket and put them on while going as fast as I could. It was not a good idea as I proceeded to hit a water bar with one hand on the handlebars and almost stuck the glasses in my eye and just plain crash. I averted that mishap and thought I was ready to head back to the start/finish area. My heart rate was still in the low 170's and had been there since almost the start with no let down. I figured I was going to struggle getting back in a good time and as I looked at my clock I was thinking I was looking at a time of about 27 minutes.

I peddled my bike as fast as I could considering what was left in the tank and was cruising along at a blistering 14 mph. I really could have used a few more gears at that moment but was stuck with the only one I had. AS I headed up the final hill I could really feel the legs starting the not feel good and my lungs were on fire. To top that all off I was thinking I was going to taste my lunch again shortly. Gotta love when you get to enjoy a meal twice.

AS I hit the tunnel to the home stretch I saw that I was still under 25 minutes. I drove for the line and came in at 25:01. Just missed the 24. Not too bad considering the amount of time off the bike and being spun out as much as I was. Oh well, that's racing on a single-speed.

After the race everything needed a good hose down and as I was loading the car up with all of our bikes Sven rolled in with his crew. I told Sven's oldest to make sure he took his time on his lap and she asked me what my time was, I fibbed and told her I put up a 30. Guess I wanted to give Sven some false sense of my time thinking he'd take it easy out there.

Overall I ended up in 8th p[lace in the expert division, but I think I was the top singlespeed finisher so that's cool.

My oldest son took second place in his division and our youngest who is 5 and was racing for the first time took first place in his division. Nice job fellas.

Next week is Week 2 of the series as well as the second race in the Red Jersey Race Series.

Good luck to Sven on the hill climb Saturday. Better him than me.

JJ

Newtons Revenge

This weekend is Newtons Revenge, the sibling to the Mount Washington Bicycle Hillclimb. Same course, same hill- different date, different name.
(racing to the top of this, yes there is a road- 7.6 miles, average grade 12%, gain 4400'
I haven't "trained" for the ride, other than riding. I don't have a goal, other than to finish on the same day I start. And until last night I wasn't nervous.

Race nerves- do they ever go away? I felt nerves before the Four on the Fourth running race just the other day- and I'm not a runner so I wasn't really "racing". I felt nerves getting ready for the first race of the Dakine Summer Race Series- which is about as laid back as you can get. I just get those butterflies when it's time to toe the line, yet I don't when I know we are going out for some epic ride- hmmmm.

So last night I began to tear apart my Salsa Chilli Con, which I found ironic as it is still in shakedown mode from the initial build. Off came the chain, cranks, derailleurs, and on went a MTB crank I had bought over the winter that after I got it I couldn't figure out why I had bought it- but it found it's home as it is a 180mm crank that has a small ring of 22t. The other chain rings came off and just the 22t remained.

Tonight I'll pull the cockpit apart as that bike is currently build with SRAM 10sp and I'm not throwing down for a SRAM XX cassette (at $300) so I'll use an old Dura Ace lever and a SRAM X9 for my rear shifting giving me a 11-32 cassette in the back. Then I'll get it all buttoned up and go up and down Chadbourne Hill a few times to make sure it all works. Then before the race I'll pull the rear brake off and save a few more grams- why- why not?

I thought of using my road bike, but knowing how next week is, I didn't want to have to find time to rebuild that bike for road riding- see there is an advantage to having a quiver of bikes!

Next week we have the Dakine race then on Thursday the second race of the Red Jersey Series- so in two weeks I'll have gotten in five races (one running, one hill climb, three mountain bike races)- jezzz that's almost like I'm using racing as "training".

Hopefully by the end of July I'll start feeling a bit better about 24 Hours of Great Glen. Right now I'm nervous about racing solo as I just not in shape. But a good three weeks of riding and racing may change my perception of that (or not)- either way I'll be at Great Glen and it'll be fun.

That's it for now.

Ride on.

DEA

So here was my race

Liz: "Dad, Dennis rode the course in 30 minutes- you better not take longer than that!"
Dad (Dad being me): "I'll try kiddo, but it's pouring and well I'm not fast anymore."
Liz: "Don't try that on me Dad."
Dad: "Ok, go watch your sister."

Eli: "You ready to rock this course like a hurricane?"
Me (feels weird to do refer to myself as Dad when talking about Eli): "Ummm, maybe?"
Eli: "5,4,3,2,1 go, go like the wind."
Me: actually I already couldn't speak, out of breath

Me: (in my head- and even in my head I sound out of breath)- "damn this is hard, watch that entrance, duh, ok, run, watch your shin, ouch f$*&cking pedal, you stupid bastard, ok get on go, go, go- this frikin hurts"
Me: (still in my head, later on course- Whiplash to be exact): "can that time be right, I'm at the top of the course and I'm at 15 minutes, damn I'm flying, I'm going to crush that Dennis Morgan- I'm going to crush him like potato chips on the floor of my car, I'm going to crus... oh shit- ground coming up quick. Ok back up, why did that happen, why can't I see, why is this cloud bank so think, wait it's my glasses, you dumb ass, take them off, into the pocket, where is the pocket, why are you like a retarded monkey drunk on skunked beer- why did I just think that, ok put the damn glasses in the pocket- now run, ok walk, but walk faster, back on the bike you sissy- there you go, hey I'm flying now- ok back off the bike, run, walk, back on, back off, this is getting stupid, go, go, ok ride the rest of this- wow look at that slug- I bet the slugs are loving this weather....."
Me: (in my head, back on gravel): "Oh look at this time, I'm killing it- I can be back in in 5 minutes, I'm the man, Lance ain't got shit on me, I'm so fas......oh crap, A LEFT, are you kidding me A LEFT, I could be so much faster if I went straight- argh, nobody would know if I went straight, just go straight- why are you going LEFT!!! You make some crap decisions in you life, but you do the right thing here- what the hell is wrong with you, ok just keep going, maybe you're not as fast as you thought, oh man another Left- are you kidding me- I can be fast through here- crap traction, don't nut yourself, who is coming up on me? Why are they coming up on me so fast? This sucks. There he goes- look at him all fit and trim and in a UNH jersey, I wonder if they have scholarships for cycling, I wonder if he dopes, I wonder if he's like the next Lance Armstrong, I'm so sick of hearing about Lance, almost as much as Michael, watch that root, duh...."

Me: (back on gravel)- "I can still crush Dennis, I can regain my crown as the fast guy formerly from Center Conway when you only consider a carefully selected group of people, I can get in by 28 minutes, oh I'm cranking now. Wait- a little piece of new single track, sweet, save some climbing, oh I can be in in under 27 minutes- I'm the Mac Daddy! Wonder what Mac is doing? The prick is probably in the hot tub drinking a beer, argh, and I'm racing in the rain in 52 degree temps in July- I'm just stupid, why is there a camel over there? Ok crank this hill, damn I'm going fast, damn I just blew up, damn just get me in, here comes the finish- is Eli even paying attention try to say something, can't, he'll see me- ok- DONE."

Me: (out loud): "I kicked Morgan's Ass!"

Liz: "Dad you beat 30 minutes, but Dennis did it in 25 something."
Dad: "Argh, are you kidding me. Oh well, I can live with that."

Fast forward to this morning- I click on a Garmin Connect link, it shows 24:41

Me: "Damn, I've got work to do. Maybe I should write a funny thing to send to Dennis letting him know that I tried like hell to crush him, but instead was the one crushed, yeah that's a good idea- it'll only take a minute"

Moral of the story- if I can cut the amount of time it took me to write this damned thing- I'd be faster than you!


By the way- it's raining.


later,
DEA

How did the Fourth of July come and go?

How did that happen. One minute it's March and now it's July 6th? Hmmmm, I need to look into this as I think this whole Obama and change that has messed with the time space continuum, might need to invest in a flux capacitor.

Anyway summer is "officially here"- we don't think of the summer solstice as the start of summer, we use the 4th of July. And for good reason, this year we were still in long tights and booties up to the 4th of July as "spring" really sucked this year. But now the sun is out (for now) and maybe the trails will dry out by next year.

The summer race series begins up at Great Glen tomorrow night. It'll give me a chance to get away from the tour on TV (and NOT in HD in Maine!!! grumble, grumble, grumble).

The tour could shape up to be interesting, or Contador is just going to crush everyone and just make Lance mad- that might be funny. I know Lance is trying to say he's ok riding for the strongest man- but that's because he's never had to do it. Ok he did at teh TOC for Levi- but that was in the winter- we never got to see him ride back up from the cars with 12 water bottles stuffed down his jersey- that's what I want to see.

I've got another race next weekend (two races in a week- I feel so pro)- but this one is a hillclimb and I'm scared. 4400 feet in seven miles- gulp. Should be ok, building up a super low geared bike this week just for the occasion. Hopefully it works! Who knows with all this racing and tour watching maybe I'll start gettign some speed and endurance for that silly 24HOGG in August. I hope the course dries out by then (I'm not kidding- it could take that long!)

Back here at work we're still working on getting the last few kids in the door (so if you know of 18-19 year old male who is still wondering why he didn't get into Harvard and is still looking for options next fall- send him my way!) I'm starting to think about trying to build a cyclocross program here at Bridgton Academy. Not sure if we'll start this year, but I'm thinking it could be fun. There are quite a few races fairly close- and I'd bet I could work a deal with a bike company to get a few rigs here cheap- hmmmmmm. Food for thought at least!

Ok that's if from here. Hoping to get out for another ride with JJ in the near future (he's gonna kick my ass tomorrow night- you heard it here first!). We hit up Kingdom Trails last Friday, and it was good. It was slick, but still super fun. That being said- they do have roots over at Kingdom, if I tell you they don't- then I am lying!

Ride safe.

DEA

Father's Day Epic

I had high hopes all week of getting out for 3-4 hours of riding on Sunday. The weather looked crappy and not many folks were responding to the emails I was sending out to see who wanted to ride. I figured it would end up being DEA and me but I was surprised when Charles pulled in. We moved our ride start back an hour from noon til 1 as I had some errands to get done and DEA had a bit of a hangover to get over.

Just as we were getting ready to roll out the rain started again. It was coming down pretty hard but when I went inside to look at the radar it did not show up. Maybe the radar is getting tired of the rain too. At about 1 the three of us headed out for a 3 hour tour. We started on Davis Hill and rode a good bit of the network there and were disappointed to see that there had been some significant logging operations that had ruined a real nice section of singletrack, bummer. We then proceeded around the end of Conway Lake and then through Redstone to some new trail that I do not know the name of but was just soft enough that it was sucking the life from us. We could never really get any momentum going or any flow.




We finally arrived at Sticks & Stones and did most of a lap there and while doing so bumped into Carl from the Red Jersey and the Michelin Mike (not sure he should be called that anymore) who were out for rides too. After seeing them and chatting for a few wee decided to test out the new pump track. There were 6 or so folks at the track which was nice to see. Either I suck at pump tracks or my bike is too big for them. Not sure they were designed for 29ers.



About this time we alldecided it was probably time to start back. I asked which way we wanted to go, left or right, and we chose right. That meant a good climb up Peaked Mountain to the Sidehill Trail. Once we got to the top of the climb I think we were all feeling pretty spent. The trail was a good ride as usual and I showed DEA all of the new stuff that seems to be popping up all over as we rolled along. We then hit the Power Lines and then back through Redstone and on to home.

Overall it ended up being just over 3 hours of actual ride time and 26.5 miles. I had a blast regardless of the rain. Nice to have 3 SS 29er riders out on the trails together. Like a freaky bike gang.

So here's the data from the ride:
Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s) 3:34:16 8:05 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s) 3:05:03 6:58 pace
Distance (mi ) 26.50
Moving Speed (mph) 8.6 avg. 27.3 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +2,007 / -2,008

Avg. Heart Rate 144 bpm Zone 3.6

Temperature (°F) 68°F avg. 69.8°F high
Wind Speed ( mph) NE 8.0 avg. NE 11.5 max.

Might head down to Pat's Peak and pre-ride the 24hr course on Saturday. It would be nice of it dried out some before though.

JJ

Summer Race Series at Attitash

It has been a strange spring season for me as I’ve been recovering from a broken tailbone that had taken me off my bike for a good five weeks. That meant that this year my first race wasn’t Crank the Kanc, but instead the first race of the Red Jersey Summer Race Series.

This year the first stop took place on the Thorne Pond trails at Attitash in Bartlett, NH. A flat, twisty piece of single track that tests your handling and root riding skills. Like most of the Northeast, it had been raining for several days (race day included) so the roots and rocks offered little in the way of traction.

The race started with a mass start of all categories, which is different from how they usually run the race. This meant that when I rolled back in from my warm up lap I found that they were lining everyone up and that I didn’t have time to go back to the car for a pre-race check up on the bike. I knew my tires were running soft so I borrowed a pump from a buddy and put in some air- but the gauge didn’t work so I was doing my best to do an accurate squish test, shooting for 32psi in my Panaracer Rampage tires. Let’s just say I missed that mark, more on that in a minute.

The race began and I quickly move backwards through the pack as my 32x18 that I was running on my Salsa El Mariachi, had me spun out quickly. Once we hit the single track I began to get some of those spots back, and the slight climb on the back of the course gave me a chance to get a few more back. What I was finding was that the air pressure I had put in was a bit more than I had thought, and the roots were really pounding me. Finally I pulled off to let out a bit of air, in the process loosing a few spots that I hoped to get back in the final two laps.

On the third lap I began to hear a clunking sound, that I attributed to the fact that I had left my tool bag on the bike and figured it was my multi-tool banging into the seat post. How wrong I was. A short while later on a step down bridge that you basically aired onto, I found myself on a bike that seemed to be imploding. Some how I didn’t completely wreck and managed to get my feet to the ground and looked back to realize my rear wheel was no longer in the dropouts. This image left me confused for a moment and then I realized I never snugged down my rear wheel after changing the cogs. Rookie mistake that could have been a very costly error. I put the bike back together and chased back trying to catch up to the people who I had by yo-yoing with each time ended up stopping.

By the fourth lap I realized the people I had been chasing had already finished, must have been sport class and I’m guessing I was now taking up the rear of the expert field. Not a great showing by any stretch, but I looked at is I got the best value of any of the racers out there as I paid less per minute of racing then those who went much faster!

Here is the Garmin 705 data from the ride.

In all it was a good start to the season. It felt good to ride hard and chase a bunch of other like minded people through the woods. It also reminded me, yet again, how important it is to have your gear ready and dialed before the gun goes off. You’d think after 20 years of racing I’d have that figured out, but it seems like at least once a year I have to go through this to remind myself- I guess I have it out of the way for 2009!

See you out on the course.

Race Day

The Red Jersey Summer Race series kicks off today, and it'll be my first day of racing this season. I come into this race not in the shape I would like to be, but that's ok. I like to think of racing slowly as the best way to ensure you get maximum financial value out of an event. I like to take my time and admire all the hard work the course crew put in and really enjoy all it has to offer. You just don't get that same level of enjoyment when you are racing at full bore speed!

Ok, truth be told- I'd rather be able to blast around the course but between not riding enough and eating and drinking tooooooo much I'm not going to be that fast. It'll still be fun.

JJ and I are in the planning stages of a fathers day ride, in the rain. As much as rides in the rain usually don't seem like they are going to be fun when you first head out, they usually end up being very enjoyable. Of course they usually also mean much more cleaning and repair work on the gear, but that is alright.

Speaking of gear I'm soon going to be in need of a new SS rear wheel. I could just rebuild using the current hub after a major hub overhaul, but part of me just wants a new wheel all together. I will admit this is a want not a need, but it is something that has my mind working. I checked with Big Al at Team Bikeman.com World HQ and he's giving it some thought, as my original idea of a pre-built WTB wheel was shot down when he gave me his opinion of that hub. I keep looking at the King or I9 SS hub, and I'm crushing on those pretty hard- but that are in a price range that really makes me stop and think. Not that much happens when I stop and think, but it does at least get me to stop. Time will tell what the final call is.

Thinking about doing the 12 hour race at Great Glen instead of the 24 hour race. Not sure why, but I figure since there is an option I should at least think about it. Part of me really wants to put in a good effort in the 24 as I still haven't ridden one to the level I would like, but part of me also knows a 12 hour is 12 hours shorter than a 24 (see how smart I am!)

That's it for now- more drivel when I get a chance.

DEA

Bear Notch Loop

Was hoping to get out and ride again with DEA this weekend but he was busy with work or something like that. I was figuring I was going to be spending my Sunday morning riding solo but at about 9PM Saturday night I got an email saying there was a ride heading out this morning at 8AM to ride up and through Bear Notch. I decided I was better off riding with other folks than alone so I met up with 3 guys and we set off. About 4 miles later we connected with our 5th rider. The pace started off pretty easy as I expected. On of the guys in our group, Sam Anderson, is in college on a cycling scholarship, the others are not. I was riding off the front at the start and all of the suddden this young kid stomps on it and I don't know why, but he dropped me so fast it was stupid. He let up and about a mile later we reconnected. The other three were straggling back some and this was how it was for most of the ride, us two and them three. We'd ride along and then stop and wait to get back together.

Th goal of the ride was Bear Notch. Its a pretty good climb going up almost 1,200 feet in about 4 miles. No let up either, basically one you start up you continue going up til you get to the top.



The ride takes about 21 miles or so to get to the base of the climb and we were there about an hour 20 minutes. We all regrouped and started the climb.

Sam at the base of the climb

Sam stared off in front and I grabbed his wheel. The climb is about 4.5 miles long and averages about 8.5% for the entire time. Sam we keeping a pretty good pace but I was able to stay with him. It had been a while since I had ridden this climb and couldn't remember any landmarks to know where I was or how far I had to go. Sam had his iPod on and I could hear the music faintly over my heavy breathing. I was not sure that Sam even knew I was with him. We got to about the 2/3 mark and he stood up and I thought he was going to make a move but he actually eased up and I rode past him. I think I spooked him. He hopped on my wheel and we rode together a bit further and we came to a scenic vista and he said "want to take a break?"

Vies to the West

I said sure, who knows how much of a lead we had on the rest of our crew at this point. We stopped at a scenic pull-off, had a couple granola bars and talked something we did have in common, shoulder injuries. After comparing war wounds, Tom rode past us.

View to the North

Not wanting to get beaten we both put our helmets back on and started the chase. We caught Tom a bit up the climb but well before the top. I noticed I had a gap on both Tom and Sam at this point and decided it was my chance to get the KOM points. I tried to make a go of it and was able to widen the gap, figuring any minute that Sam would go riding past me. It didn't happen and I hit the top with a few hundred yard lead.

We cruised down the other side a little bit to an overlook to wait for the other two guys. I looked at my watch and realized with all of the stopping and waiting that my hall pass was going to expire before I got home. I told my wife the ride was about 40 miles and I would be home by 11AM, no problem. Well at the top as we waited I saw that it was a few minutes past ten and I was over 23 miles from home. I miscalculated the ride distance by about 8.5 miles, oops.

I told the guys that I had to go, even before the other two had reached the summit. I headed down the descent and was moving along at a nice pace. As I made the turn on the the Kanc, I was hit in the face by a pretty stiff headwind, that probably knocked 3-5mph of the ride pace for that 12 mile stretch but I was able to move right along at about 23mph. It is a fun stretch that you can really go on if you have no wind or a tail wind. With a tail wind you can comfortably ride at 30+ for 12 miles without drafting anyone, pretty cool.

As I made the turn for home and the final 8 or so miles I saw I was going to be about 20 minutes late. I tried to push it as much as I could and kept the pace up the whole way back. I hurried in figuring I was about to be told I was 15 minutes late. We had made plane to leave the house by 11:30. As I opened the door, nobody was home. I checked my phone and I had a txt. They went out to run an errand. Great. I was saved. I hopped in the shower quick and was ready to go by 11:30, just as they pulled in the driveway. Nice.



So the ride ended up being just shy of 50 miles at 48.4 and had almost 2,700 feet of total climbing. Overall pace wasn't too bad considering the makeup of the group and the amount of climbing.

Garmin Edge Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s) 3:11:44 3:57 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s) 2:50:27 3:31 pace
Distance (mi ) 48.40
Moving Speed (mph) 17.0 avg. 38.4 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +2,702 / -2,701

Avg. Heart Rate 151 bpm Zone 4.0

Temperature (°F) 66.2°F avg. 69.8°F high

Hope to get out more this week than last. Maye I'll get over to Bridgton and see what DEA's new trails are looking like.

JJ

Chili Shakedown Cruz

I took the Chili Con out for a short shake down cruz last night. Gave it a good run of pavement, dirt roads, roads that used to be paved but aren't quite dirt yet, and then so doubletrack that led to singletrack that led to nothing track, or as I called it last night "the place where you move to the bottom of the food chain."

The bike ran well, it's very comfortable and pretty quick. The Conti Speed Kings run well, but it's funny how quickly I forget the difference in pavement cornering between a 23mm road tire and a 35mm cross tire. There is that point when you go from riding the upper edge of the tire to dropping down to the actual side and there is that perceivable drop of the bike- took a minute to get used to that.

The shifting on the front feels a bit funky and I need to work on that, but figured I'll get the cables all stretched out first. The new Rival has a trim that the original Rival didn't- that took me a minute to figure out. The brakes work much better than my old XT's that I have on the Surly.

I have a few position things I need to tweak and then I think we'll be good. The sad part is once I get it all dialed in I likely won't ride it again until later in the summer, although it may be the rig I use to go cruise for new MTB trails that I think I see out on my road rides- time will tell.

Got in a fantastic road ride on Tuesday, road a route that I've never hit before and can't believe this great road has been out there and I've missed it for the past 20 years. The ironic part is I can see the ride that the road goes on from my house and from my office window- been looking at it forever- just realized there is a perfect stretch of pavement across the spine of it- I'll take my camera next time as there are some cool views of the mountains and lakes.

Other than that- not much else going on. Busy work weekend coming up with Reunion here at the Academy. Get to play with the new camera I bought for my office (a Canon 50D). So that's it.

Ride on.

DEA

It's Been Awhile

Nice day, and I'm sitting here typing, hmmmm. But there is news on the cycling front, so it is my duty to report it to you (you being me, and maybe JJ, ok and maybe Blue)

My ass is finally getting better. That means the excuse period is over, and now I have to shed all this lazy weight I've put on, and I've put a bunch of it on! I stand on the scale and it jumps right past 200 and hits 207. That's a good 17-20 lbs over where I was last year at this time. Making my goal of 180lbs by 24 seem a bit of a reach. That being said I know where I can cut calories, but I have a tough time doing that. My plan, jump up the burn side of the equation by a lot and cut the consumption side by just a little. My hope is that will result in a weight of 190 by the time I have to drag my fat self up Mount Washington on July 11th. That's five weeks to drop 17 pounds, meaning 3.3+ a week. Not an easy task, but possible. Time will tell.

The scale is one thing, but I've gotten a chance to ride with JJ a couple times over the past few weeks- one the day after I bagged racing CTK and then this past Sunday. Both times he put the hurt on me, but Sunday he rode away from me on climbs in a way that was crushing (in a good way of course). It did two things, one piss me off to ride more, and two made me realize how much I miss riding with him on a nearly daily basis. I've had a lot of good riding partners over the 20+ years I've been addicted to this sport, but JJ has been the best by far.

I've had a few great training partners, Adam Lauer who raced with me for a few years when I first started racing in the late 80's and early 90's, we raced club and for Bridgton Academy. Adam and I shared many a mile on the roads of Western Maine. That and may a frightening road trip to races (Adam had a car, I didn't, and Adam liked to draft off of semi truck on the way to races to save on gas- used to scare the crap out of me!)


Or Seth Turner who would chase down cars that got to close and let them know what he thought about their driving (he could catch them, he's the only person I've ever seen break a crank, drive side of a Dura Ace, broke it mid shaft, rode the remaining 7 miles with one leg). Or Steve Vosburgh who's knowledge of the sport always amazed me, but he was always so much more fit! The "worst" was riding with Ward Solar, he once pushed me up Pinkham Notch- literally. That guy can ride (heal well Ward!).

But Dennis and I started riding in what I'd call my second phase with the sport. Cycling became more of a lifestyle and racing was secondary. Part of that was the realization that I wasn't ever going to be a hotshot racer, and that that was ok because riding a bike is just plain fun even if you are in the back of the pack. It was at that point that I figured out that the longer it took me to complete a race the better value I was getting out of my entry fee! It was also cool because I got to introduce Dennis to the sport. I helped him select his mountain bike, I sold him one of my road bikes at a pretty good deal (lol), and in essence I was like the drug dealer getting him hooked. At the same time his desire to learn and get better pushed me and I started to ride a lot more. We then got A1 hooked, and we all enjoyed the craziness that was training and then racing the Jay Challenge. TWAF was born and SS's were found, Bikeman became and option, we all got to look at X-Rays, cross racing got into my blood, and the list goes on.

JJ and I didn't always talk a lot on rides, but there was a comfort in being out on the road, in the woods, on gravel, that was relaxing. We learned where every town line was in a 50+ mile radius. We watched A1 finally learn how to ride and then start stomping up in races (he is only 19 you know). We all had a good run.

I ended up moving for a job, ironically right back to where I grew up and first started racing. While not to far away I've gotten lazy and haven't taken advantage of sneaking over to the Valley to ride with the crew- but I need to change that as I miss it. Of course I have a few new people I'm breaking into riding with me, but none that will go through the same breadth of cycling experiences I've gone through with JJ. So hats off to you JJ, and thank you for stomping my ass on those climbs Sunday to give me the kick in the butt that I needed!

Onto other news, I got the Chili built, damn she's a nice looking bike! Just a test spin, but smooooth. Can't wait to get it out on the terrain she's built for!




Then in not so good news, on my ride out to meet JJ on Sunday my Garmin took a flyer off the bike at 40mph. The freakin mount broke! The unit is still working, but not a good feeling to have a $500+ dollar piece of electronics hit the tarmac at speed. I need to touch base with Gamin about his as the mount failed badly and it makes me a bit nervous.

This isn't an old mount or one that had been crashed before, so not sure what the skinny is- but I'll keep you posted if I hear anything from Garmin.

Well that's it from here, going to go search e-bay for any of Tom Boonen's old bikes that he might be looking to sell. Bad joke.

later,
DEA

A wet one

With DEA moving to Maine last year it has made it logistically harder to ride together as much as we used to. So yesterday we met in the middle and then headed back to his place for some beers and a BBQ.

The rest of my family was going to drive over and hopefully give me a ride back later on. I left the house as the skies seemed to be getting sorta nasty looking. After about 5 miles I was feeling some sprinkles and knew I was at the last gas station or store I would see in quite a while so I stopped and got a plastic bag for my phone in case the skies did really open up on me.

That turned out to be a good move. I had some good reggea cranking on Pandora on my Storm as I was rolling along. I could see what appeared to be brighter skies up ahead so I hoped that I might be able to outrun the rain. I was very wrong. Within 5 minutes I was getting pelted by big summer storm type rain and some very blustery gusts of wind. Made for some very dicey peddling for a time. Then I started hearing the rumblings of thunder and started to keep an eye out for the flashes of lightening I suspected were approaching. I saw a flash and started counting, one-one thousand, two-one thousand. three-one thousand, four, Booommmmm. OK HR just spiked. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. SO I just peddled harder and hoped that I would not be riding the lightening.



I rolled into Lovell, Maine and saw DEA had arrived at our meet-up spot as well. The rain started to subside and we then continued on our way, he was actually just turning around and heading back the way he had come. DEA got me at the only town line, I didn't know it was coming and by the time I realized what was happening I had not shot. Home court advantage was his. The ride from my house for the first 15 miles or so was relatively flat. The last 10+ miles was not.



We got a in a few good uphills and some pretty fast descents as well. I felt pretty good climbing and went faster than I usually am comfortable while going downhill. Actually hit 45.5 mph which is usually a bunch over the comfort zone and well into the white knuckle zone.

Garmin Edge Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s) 1:28:13 3:21 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s) 1:24:45 3:13 pace
Distance (mi ) 26.23
Moving Speed (mph) 18.6 avg. 45.5 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +1,793 / -1,931

Avg. Heart Rate 160 bpm Zone 4.5

Temperature (°F) 65.1°F avg. 68°F high


All in all it was good to get int the ride, rain and all. Once we got to DEA's place we saw the storm had hit there as well as a really huge tree had the top of it blown off and into the road. Impressive it was.

DEA showed me his new Salsa Cross bike, the Chili Con. It has a wicked cool red paint job which I'm sure he'll put up some pics of. Did a little test ride and it felt smooth. Someday I'll get me one of them, maybe.

We cleaned up and he fired up the grill and I opened my first of many Sam Summer's. Great Sunday afternoon. Let's do it again!

JJ

Crank The Kanc 2009

Saturday morning was the Crank the Kanc Kancamagus Bicycle Hillclimb Time Trial. A race we all try to do each year. A couple years agoe we did it as a 3 person team. We went back to doing it solo last year. This year I was slow on the entry and all of the solo spots were full when I realized that registration had opended. There was one Team spot left. I checked and saw that my TWAF mates had already registered as solo riders. Hmm, what to do??? I registered at a team and told two of my co-workers that we were doing Crank the Kanc and that they were signed up. A team was formed; Charles, Chris and me, Team Bikeman.com/Cooper Cargill Chant.




Usually the concern all week leading up the to race was the weather. Well it was one of my concerns, besides being not riding as much as I would have liked. However doint the Tuckerman Pentathlon in April helped a bit. Earlier in the week the weather looed like it was going to rain pretty hard and be in the low 40's. Quite a combo that could also mean some snow at the top. As Friday night rolled around the weather pattern had changed and had actually gotten pretty nice. When I got up early Saturday morning I was pleasantly surprised that it was warmer than I expected.

We met up at race registration and then got suited up and rolled over to the start. We had a start slot in the middle of the teams and were set to go off at 8:46AM.
We usually stage a car at the top of the climb but we had some friends drive it up for us and they stopped along the way to chear us on. As we waited for the race to commence the sun started to appear and we all started to wonder if we were overdressed. By the race start for me I was wearing a long sleave Team Bikeman.com jersey and bib knickers. The weather turned out to be fantastic. Mid 60's and sunny.




Overall the race was the same as it usually is, 21.3 miles of up hill fun. The first ten are a constant climb gaining about a thousand feet of elevation. The middle section is a little flatter where over the next 6+ miles you gain about 200 feet. Then you hit the wall of the final climb. 4.8 miles where you gain over 1,500 feet. There are no flats or places to rest. Well there are rest areas and scenic vistas, but if you stop you might not decide to get back on the bike again.




Our team seemed to roll along pretty well over the first 17 miles. Each of us doing turns on the front of 90 secs to 2 minutes. I felt pretty descent during the ride, and my teammates also appeared to have good legs as well. Since we had not actually trained together I had no idea how we were going to attack the final climb. As we started up the first pitch I asked the other guys what they thought. The consensus was that each of us ride our own pace and we get to the finish when we do. The only problem with this stratefy is that the team time is when the final team member crosses the line. The good thing is of you are feeling good you can ride your own pace and cruise along.




After the first mile Charles and I had started to lose Chris. He appeared to be starting to suffer some. We were now a bit over an hour into the race. My legs were feeling pretty good and I felt like I had plenty of reserves. At about the halfway point of the climb we thought Chris was about 100 yards behind us. Close enough that he was still in contact. We continued along assmung that he was going to remain there. A little further along and I mentioned to Chrles the I could really use some tunes to spin the peddles too. Neither of us had any and unfortunately Charles started with some Sonny & Cher and then went onto some Captain & Tennille and his rendition of Muskrat Love. It was time to drop Charles.





I think we ended up passing a couple teams on the climb and only got passed by one so that was a plus. As I passed the mile to go marker my legs were still feeling good and I tried to put in as good a finish as possble. I crossed the line as the pain was really starting to set into my legs and lungs. I coasted into the parking lot and looked at my computer, an OK time. About a minute later Charles rolled in. Now we wated for Chris. We assumed he would be right behind us. We were wrong. He had cracked. After the race I asked him if he bonked. He said "a couple times."

Chris ended up coming in about 8 minutes back from Charles and I. It was a fun race and I do enjoy it with a team, however we have not had good luck where everyone is on their game the day of the race yet.

Congrats to everyone who raced. See ya on the trails.

JJ

Realization

Realization is a good thing. Like when you are a kid and you realize you can’t fly, and you realize that when you hit the floor from jumping off the couch. It’s good we realize that before we have the means to get to places like Angel Falls to test our “I can fly” theory. Realization sometimes comes in an envelope- like my bank statement “I just realized I’m definitely not rich!”
For me my most recent realization came yesterday out in the woods of New Hampshire while I was trying to stay on JJ’s wheel out on the trails of Davis Hill. The realization was twofold- my dryer hadn’t shrunk my jersey (I am fat) and two- I’m woefully out of shape.
Of course I had known this, and I had actually done a shameful thing on Saturday, I skipped a race I was signed up for- Crank the Kanc, as I knew I was going to get blown up. Now I did have some actual reasoning, as I came to the realization that I have two small children and didn’t have a game plan for what they were going to do while I went and raced my bike (K was working and my parents weren’t home- obviously I put in major effort in finding a solution).
Instead I took the girls out for a ride, Emma on the trail-a-bike and Bean on her bike. It was fun, a good day of just cruising. We stopped an visited my grandmother and then I took the girls to lunch. I can’t say it was an “epic” ride or a great “training” session, but it was a great ride in its own way. Then yesterday I got out for a ride with JJ and got schooled. I had hoped his legs would have been shredded from his Crank the Kanc effort the day before, but if they were then I feel even worse about my current fitness!
Of course the tremendous upside- I’m going to get faster and lighter, so I do have progress in front of me! The other good news, my broken ass is feeling much better. I am realizing that I am thinking about my ass wayyyyyy too much, I’m worried about falling on it and that is actually increasing the likelihood that I will wreck- man I hate that. I think that fear will subside a bit, especially if I can get out and spend some more time riding in the woods.
So that is the situation as it stands. Now it’s time for the whining and excuse making to come to an abrupt halt- or at least that is my current realization.

Later,
DEA

A New Start?

Graduation is behind me (which was an entertaining, but draining week) and now my schedule frees up a bit more so that I can get out there and start building some miles. This is a good thing, as I'm still standing on the scale and seeing a number that is not that conducive to being fast on a bicycle.

Got out for a good two hour ride today, the first hour (or close to that) was with someone that I work with the second hour was out on my own tackling some of the short, punchy climbs of western Maine.

It felt great to get out and ride for a solid two hours, but it was a definite reminder that I need many more of those two to six hour rides under my belt before too long. We've got Crank the Kanc this coming weekend, that should be a good wake up for the old legs! After that not much on the immediate horizon- but we'll start looking for a few other races to get me motivated for the rest of May.

One of the things I need to start doing is spend some time in the woods working on the trails I began laying out last fall. It will take some time, but I bet I can get about four to five miles built by the end of the season, and then if I make it a goal to add a couple miles each year I can have some great riding here withing a few years (gotta look long term!).

In a couple weeks the new cross bike should be showing up from Salsa pretty soon. I'm pretty stoked to get this into the quiver, and then the cross-check can go back to it's land of fixieness (is that a word).

So that's it at the moment- more entertainment soon as I decompress from a crazy busy couple of weeks.

DEA