My official race season began today with the Tailwind USAC Michigan State Championship XC MTB Series with the Pontiac Lake Time Trail. This race is one of my top 3 with the Pontiac Lake XC race being in that mix also. So for me, I wanted to do very well especially with the Brighton Stage race right around the corner. Today would be a big test. Would my fitness be on track? Could I crack the top 5 in one of my favorite races? Well Mother Nature let us all know that it was still spring. And that it would not be an early season mountain bike race if there wasn't a bit of mud to go around. But she decided to play nice and give us a few hour break and get in some racing. The course drained well, and was still technical and fast. The rain did not keep a lot of folks at home as I expected. The parking lot was full. And almost ever class was huge. This is great news for the State's economy, Tailwind, and the sport of mountain bike racing in Michigan. Hopefully we can start growing the sport again....
As for the racing, I was feeling good. My training has been right on schedule and the first few "tester" races I did early on were pointing to a good day for me at Pontiac. So I lined up and was off. The entire time I was going as hard as I could, but still felt comfortable on all the climbs. The course was still wet and muddy in the corners, but my big 29er Crossmax wheels with Karma rubber hooked up well and gave me the confidence to take some risk and push harder. After my first lap, I was curious as to how I would feel for the rest of the race, but my legs were right on. I kept up a high pace for as long as I could, and did not hold back. About 4 miles from the finish, my seat post decide to reposition my seat for me. So I was force to sit on the point of my saddle for the rest of the race. This was very uncomfortable, but I did not panic. And then shortly after that, a large vine hanging across the trail decided to clothesline me and almost took me off my bike. Again, I gathered my composure and pushed on. The trail was in great shape by now and I was almost done. I big ringed it all the way to the end until my legs filled with lactic acid. I was done. My laps were 43 and 45 mins. Wow! Those were some on my best lap times ever, I thought to myself. This was also good enough for me to hold on to 5th place out of 17 racers. I hit one of my goals!
But my day was not over. As the course improved, I was getting geeked to do some single speed racing. I was not sure how well I would do since I just spent myself in the first race. So I lined up and was off. And within a few mins, the switch went off in my head and I was racing again! I could not believe how well I was feeling. So again, I pushed as hard as I could and felt strong all the way to the end. When I crossed the line I was surprised to see that I knocked out a 44 min lap! This time I did not step onto the podium, but I did get a respectable 7th out of 10.
So my fitness appears to be on. And with a podium finish my confidence is high too. So my next focus is the Brighton Stage race. Next to the Iceman, this will probably be my big mountain bike race of the year... We will see.
Congrats to Brad and Shawn. You guys put in a fine effort today and will be hard to beat as the season goes on.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Yankee Doodle Dandee!
In 2006 I did my first mountain bike race. I was over 230 lbs, I crashed 3 times, and suffered a slow leaking flat tire with no tools. I finished something like 11th with a time of 1:20 or so in a 12 mile TT. That was it, I was hooked. And the place it all happened was Yankee Springs. A lot has happened over the 4 years since I raced at Yankee springs. My kids have grown. I lost 50 lbs. I have moved from a beginner Clydesdale to an Expert racer. Heck, I have even been through a few new bikes! So with the beginning of the new bike season upon me, I wanted to go back and race Yankee...
I have not been to Yankee since my very first race, so I was excited. It almost felt like riding single track for the first time. Not only was I jonesing for some dirt, I was looking for a real good result. Training has been going extremely well, and I have been feeling strong, fit, and ready to compete! So The Yankee TT was the perfect place for me to test the legs on a short technical course, go up against a deep and strong filed, get in some awesome training time, and test out the new Dillinger Single Speed under race conditions.
So in my typical fashion, I got a quick warm up in and strolled over to the start line to see what was happening. I still had 10 mins before the start of my race, but then noticed that hey I should be the next one on the line! They moved up the start times!?!? I threw my bike over the tape and lined up. I clipped one foot in my pedal and the guy said in 15 seconds! OMG! GO... I was shot out of a cannon, and I never looked back. Instantly in the trail I was picking off people left and right. And then I noticed that about 8-9 of these people were in the single speed class???? How can this be when I was in the 3rd wave, which meant I was the 5th rider off in the Elite/Expert Single Speed Class. After that, I ran into a lot of traffic. Especially on the climbs at the worst possible times. On your Left, on your Right. It seemed like I was calling this out all the time. Oh well, enough of my bitching, but I was not the only one.... Back to racing!!
So I railed the Dillinger as hard as I could, and it respond well. My legs felt like jack hammers on the climbs and I was able to power through all the flats with ease. When I thought I may have been slacking, I was able to call down to the engine room for full speed ahead! I came across the line in 51:23. This was good enough to hold 6th place out of 20 in the Elite/Expert Single Speed class. Not bad for the first real mountain bike race of the year.
I was very happy with how the day went, other than the way the start waves were handled. But I know my training is on track. My bike handling was crisp. And I had a lot of fun!
Congrats to Tom Payn for his 4th place in the Expert 30-39! Your off to a great year...
The start of my real season starts next week with the opener of the USAC XC series at Pontiac Lake. This is one of my favorite races and venues to race at. It is also another TT which is right up my alley. So It is not a peak week for me, but I am looking for another good result. And if I'm lucky, I would love to see a top 5...
I have not been to Yankee since my very first race, so I was excited. It almost felt like riding single track for the first time. Not only was I jonesing for some dirt, I was looking for a real good result. Training has been going extremely well, and I have been feeling strong, fit, and ready to compete! So The Yankee TT was the perfect place for me to test the legs on a short technical course, go up against a deep and strong filed, get in some awesome training time, and test out the new Dillinger Single Speed under race conditions.
So in my typical fashion, I got a quick warm up in and strolled over to the start line to see what was happening. I still had 10 mins before the start of my race, but then noticed that hey I should be the next one on the line! They moved up the start times!?!? I threw my bike over the tape and lined up. I clipped one foot in my pedal and the guy said in 15 seconds! OMG! GO... I was shot out of a cannon, and I never looked back. Instantly in the trail I was picking off people left and right. And then I noticed that about 8-9 of these people were in the single speed class???? How can this be when I was in the 3rd wave, which meant I was the 5th rider off in the Elite/Expert Single Speed Class. After that, I ran into a lot of traffic. Especially on the climbs at the worst possible times. On your Left, on your Right. It seemed like I was calling this out all the time. Oh well, enough of my bitching, but I was not the only one.... Back to racing!!
So I railed the Dillinger as hard as I could, and it respond well. My legs felt like jack hammers on the climbs and I was able to power through all the flats with ease. When I thought I may have been slacking, I was able to call down to the engine room for full speed ahead! I came across the line in 51:23. This was good enough to hold 6th place out of 20 in the Elite/Expert Single Speed class. Not bad for the first real mountain bike race of the year.
I was very happy with how the day went, other than the way the start waves were handled. But I know my training is on track. My bike handling was crisp. And I had a lot of fun!
Congrats to Tom Payn for his 4th place in the Expert 30-39! Your off to a great year...
The start of my real season starts next week with the opener of the USAC XC series at Pontiac Lake. This is one of my favorite races and venues to race at. It is also another TT which is right up my alley. So It is not a peak week for me, but I am looking for another good result. And if I'm lucky, I would love to see a top 5...
Friday, April 2, 2010
Barry-Roubaix
I kicked the bike racing season off early this year with the soon to be classic, Barry-Roubaix. Let's just say this race is awesome. The fast dirt roads, the almost unrideable sand, and the quad and lung burning climbs make this one incredible race! In addition, this is a great race to test your early season fitness and see how competition is looking for the year. I went into the race with realistic expectations, but was looking to find some good form and have a good result. In the end I was happy, but it was not without issues. So without writing my life story, here is the cliff notes version on my race.
With the 1-2 mile neutral roll out. I was able to get the legs loose. Then it was on! I stayed near the front group and the climbs started right away. Legs felt good and I was able to gain several most positions. By about mile 8, we had a fast strong group putting out a good pace. I was killing it on the flats. Every time I had a chance to dance in my big ring, I took full advantage. And then it all started to fall apart...
It all started with my chain falling off to the outside of my big ring. I tried to flip it up with my crank arm, but with no luck. I had to stop and fix it. As I stopped, the group I was with rode out of sight! I got back on and started sprinting to try and catch up. Shortly after, my chain fell off again but I was not going to stop. So I tried to reach down and pick it up with my hand. As I was riding down a hill and trying to grab my chain, some how my hand touched my front wheel and it got sucked into the top of my fork and on top of my tire! OUCH! I was moving about 15-20 mph down the hill with my hand stuck in my fork and there was nothing I could do. The rear of my bike kept bucking up. I tried to pump my brakes to slow down. I finally got it out at the bottom, but the damage was done. I had 2 huge holes in my glove with what looked like 3rd degree burns to my fingers from sitting on top of the tire. I stopped to make sure I did not break my hand and figure out how I actually kept my bike up avoiding a more serious accident. From hear on I fought through the pain and finished the race strong even without being able to use my big ring for the rest of the race. I finished 18th out of 49 with a time of 1:58. Not bad considering all that happened.
The highlight of the weekend was letting Loose my my buds from Rouge Racing Project out of Louisville KY! These are the former TSB boys. And we had a great time sipping beers and talking shit. We figured this race will be an annually meac for both teams to meet up in the spring to let loose. And then we will do it again in the fall at the USGP in KY! So look out for this to really start to get out of control....
With the 1-2 mile neutral roll out. I was able to get the legs loose. Then it was on! I stayed near the front group and the climbs started right away. Legs felt good and I was able to gain several most positions. By about mile 8, we had a fast strong group putting out a good pace. I was killing it on the flats. Every time I had a chance to dance in my big ring, I took full advantage. And then it all started to fall apart...
It all started with my chain falling off to the outside of my big ring. I tried to flip it up with my crank arm, but with no luck. I had to stop and fix it. As I stopped, the group I was with rode out of sight! I got back on and started sprinting to try and catch up. Shortly after, my chain fell off again but I was not going to stop. So I tried to reach down and pick it up with my hand. As I was riding down a hill and trying to grab my chain, some how my hand touched my front wheel and it got sucked into the top of my fork and on top of my tire! OUCH! I was moving about 15-20 mph down the hill with my hand stuck in my fork and there was nothing I could do. The rear of my bike kept bucking up. I tried to pump my brakes to slow down. I finally got it out at the bottom, but the damage was done. I had 2 huge holes in my glove with what looked like 3rd degree burns to my fingers from sitting on top of the tire. I stopped to make sure I did not break my hand and figure out how I actually kept my bike up avoiding a more serious accident. From hear on I fought through the pain and finished the race strong even without being able to use my big ring for the rest of the race. I finished 18th out of 49 with a time of 1:58. Not bad considering all that happened.
The highlight of the weekend was letting Loose my my buds from Rouge Racing Project out of Louisville KY! These are the former TSB boys. And we had a great time sipping beers and talking shit. We figured this race will be an annually meac for both teams to meet up in the spring to let loose. And then we will do it again in the fall at the USGP in KY! So look out for this to really start to get out of control....
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Leprechaun Loop 5K! Kick off to training!
For the 2nd year in a row, I have kicked off my early spring training/racing season by switch gears and jumping into the runners world. I figured It would be some good cross training early in the season and so far seems to be working out well. So in the past few months I have been ramping up for the Leprechaun Loop 5k in Port Huron Sponsored by the YMCA. My goals were to have fun, not hurt myself and try to break my time of 21:56 from last year.
I started out slower than last year and wanted settle into a good pace. It worked but there were 20-30 mph head winds for most of the race. Luckily the rain stayed away, but the wind made it a difficult race for everyone. As I came through the home stretch I could start to see the clock and about 25 yrds out. From there I seen 21:52, 21:53, 21:54.... I was out of it for my goal. But I did come in at 22:16. Only 20 seconds off my best of last year. Not bad considering the horrible head winds, my lack of training to be a runner, and this being my 2nd 5k ever. Overall this put me 30th out of some couple hundred people, and it was enough to nail another 2nd place in my age group! I'll take it... Especially for not being a runner.
So my sights are now set on mountain bile racing, and I will be kicking it off this season with Barry-Roubaix! I can't wait. 35 miles of paved to sandy to gravel roads with 2200 ft of climbing. I have a rest week scheduled ahead of me. And then I turn on my training with the Time Crunched Training Program. I have been feeling real good, and am hoping for some better results than last year... But time will tell.
I started out slower than last year and wanted settle into a good pace. It worked but there were 20-30 mph head winds for most of the race. Luckily the rain stayed away, but the wind made it a difficult race for everyone. As I came through the home stretch I could start to see the clock and about 25 yrds out. From there I seen 21:52, 21:53, 21:54.... I was out of it for my goal. But I did come in at 22:16. Only 20 seconds off my best of last year. Not bad considering the horrible head winds, my lack of training to be a runner, and this being my 2nd 5k ever. Overall this put me 30th out of some couple hundred people, and it was enough to nail another 2nd place in my age group! I'll take it... Especially for not being a runner.
So my sights are now set on mountain bile racing, and I will be kicking it off this season with Barry-Roubaix! I can't wait. 35 miles of paved to sandy to gravel roads with 2200 ft of climbing. I have a rest week scheduled ahead of me. And then I turn on my training with the Time Crunched Training Program. I have been feeling real good, and am hoping for some better results than last year... But time will tell.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
"Dillinger Escape Plan!"
Pow! Here it is. My winter project (one of many this year) is finally done! And I have to say, it is damn sexy! I wanted to upgrade my single speed to a 29er since I got my Superfly last year. And it took some time to figure out what I wanted, but finally decided on a Soul Cycles Dillinger XC 29er. Dollar for dollar you can't beat this frame. In fact I picked it up direct off of ridesoul.com during a promo for $309! After blinging the hell out of this thing, I weighed it at my LBS using the fish scale and it came in at 20.9 lbs!!!! That is almost a pound lighter than my Superfly! So here is the detail of all the bling on it. I hope you enjoy...
Mavic crossmax 29
Kenda Karmas 1.90 with Stan's sealant
XTR Crankset with Surly 34t ring
Surly 16t and 17t cogs held on with Surly spacer kit
Carbon Cycles Exotic Carbon Rigid 29er fork (465mm Axle to crown)
Cane Creek S3 plus 5 head set (used this head set to raise to axle to crown to 470mm)
Selle Italia SLR saddle
Thomson elite seat post
Sram 8 speed 890 chain
Time Atac XS pedals
Race Face Next carbon flat bar
FSA OS 99 stem
Sette VX carbon bar ends
Avid Juicy Ultimate disc brakes
ODI lock on Ruffin grips
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Moving on to 2010
Looking forward to 2010, it looks like my toughest competitor is going to be me! This damn weight battle I have fought most of my life is still putting up a fight. Even though I have kept almost 50 lbs off for 3 years now, the fear and struggle to not be fat has been with me everyday. Since my last race on Dec. 6th, I decided to take a break from "eating right" and see what I have been missing. Well about 15 lbs later, I found what I've been missing. Now that I am miserable again, and all my pants are tight, its time to refocus. Even though its not a racing goal, My main focus is to get between 170-180 lbs. If I plan on competing at a high level racing CX, especially in the mud as I leaned this year, I have to improve my power to weight ratio. And losing the fat is the best way I can do it. With 2009 almost behind us, here is a recap on some other stats for the year.
Total Miles -- 3475 (over 400 more that last year)
Training hours -- 295 (Short of my goal of 325, but that was an estimate)
Over 100 races! -- I topped my 100th race since I have started at Lower Huron CX.
USAC upgraded my Cyclocross licence from CAT 3 to CAT 2!
Goals for 2010 -- I have divided my goals into 2 seasons this year. Mountain Bike Racing, and Cyclocross racing. Cyclocross will be my main focus with the majority of the mountain bike racing being nothing more than training for CX! Since I have taken this approach, I will only publish my MTB goals at this time. But I have the rough draft for CX hashed out to help me keep the big picture in front of me.
MTB racing Goals --
Take top 3 overall for Brighton MTB Stage Race
Finish Top 5 overall for Cat 1 USAC MTB XC Series
Finish Top 5 for at least 3 Cat 1 XC or TT races
Break 1:45 at ICEMAN Expert 30-39
Training for 2010 will be drastically different. I will not bore you with the details, but rather update everyone throughout the winter. But in a nut shell, it will resemble my CX training for 2009. Other than that, all my training will be done with a powertap, And a little help from some cycling Jedi Masters...
Total Miles -- 3475 (over 400 more that last year)
Training hours -- 295 (Short of my goal of 325, but that was an estimate)
Over 100 races! -- I topped my 100th race since I have started at Lower Huron CX.
USAC upgraded my Cyclocross licence from CAT 3 to CAT 2!
Goals for 2010 -- I have divided my goals into 2 seasons this year. Mountain Bike Racing, and Cyclocross racing. Cyclocross will be my main focus with the majority of the mountain bike racing being nothing more than training for CX! Since I have taken this approach, I will only publish my MTB goals at this time. But I have the rough draft for CX hashed out to help me keep the big picture in front of me.
MTB racing Goals --
Take top 3 overall for Brighton MTB Stage Race
Finish Top 5 overall for Cat 1 USAC MTB XC Series
Finish Top 5 for at least 3 Cat 1 XC or TT races
Break 1:45 at ICEMAN Expert 30-39
Training for 2010 will be drastically different. I will not bore you with the details, but rather update everyone throughout the winter. But in a nut shell, it will resemble my CX training for 2009. Other than that, all my training will be done with a powertap, And a little help from some cycling Jedi Masters...
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