Race reports: Big Frog 65/Fort Yargo (SERC #4)

This past weekend (4/28-4/29/12) I competed in two mountain bike races.  I’ve been considering competing in a mtb stage race (races multiple days in a row, finish order  determined by lowest cumulative time), and thought this would be a good test of my ability to do so.  The Big Frog 65 is the 65 mile “little sister” of the Cohutta 100 race.  It is named Big Frog because it follows a dirt road course through the Big Frog wilderness area in North GA.  I had pre-ridden the C-100 course with my buddies Van and Monte a couple months ago (two day adventure) and was glad to have signed up for the BF-65 vs that race!  I really like the Tanasi trail system which comprised about 30 miles of the race course, mostly in the beginning of the race.  The remainder of the course is dirt/gravel roads that undulate up and down the folds of the mountains.  I arrived at the Ocoee Whitewater Center (site of the 1996 Olympics whitewater events) Friday afternoon to register and pre-ride a little of the trail to test trail conditions as well condition of my legs.  Both tested out well, so it was off to the cabin I’d be staying in with my fellow Macon racers and families.  We had an excellent pre-race meal provided by Deb and Maria and then off to bed at a reasonable hour—such is the advantage of staying with families with toddlers vs single 20-something yr old partiers!  The predicted chance of thunderstorms did not materialize, keeping the trail conditions pristine, and Saturday morning dawned foggy and cool.  After watching the C-100 start at 7 am, about 200 or so racers lined up for a 7:30 BF-65 start.  The first few miles were on pavement climbing along the side of the highway.  I stayed within several racers of the front, but avoided being directly in the wind.  Going into the singletrack I ended up 8^th wheel—a little farther back than I’d wanted, but some guys cut me off.  Since the pace was fast and opportunities to pass limited, I was glad to see nobody was off the front.  After several miles we crossed the paved footbridge at the Whitewater Center where I passed a few guys and then up the first serious climb.  The guy I had marked before the race was Brian Schworm—he beat me the weekend prior at Conyers SERC.  Sure enough, he attacked on the climb and only one other guy and I could respond.  After about five minutes that guy stopped for what looked like a mechanical issue, and we never saw him or anybody else in our races again (we did pass several C-100 racers).  Brian set a hard pace and started to pull away from me on some technical trail.  I kept up my pace though and tried to be aerodynamic and efficient when the course turned to dirt road after about 21 miles.  After several miles I caught a glimpse of Brian, and he saw me too.  By the time we got to the second aid station at about 33 miles I had caught him.  The course did a big loop around and back to that aid station and we rode together, testing each other often until we returned to it.  I’d hoped to skip the stop, but after losing a bottle on a rough descent (the gravel roads are often as rough as rocky singletrack because of the speeds you reach) I needed to stop to refill my one bottle.  Brian attacked, or maybe rode away is a better way to put it, on the long climb after the aid station back toward the Tanasi trails.  I had him in sight for most of the way back…maybe a minute ahead of me at the most.  I was passing multiple racers still on their way out to the loop (which took us just under an hour).  Most would yell “way to go…he’s just up the road, go get him!” or something like that.  I was working too hard to respond to them much.  Arriving at the road junction at the Tanasi system, a group of JROTC cadets vectored me down the road to the left.  I yelled “thank you!” and went blasting down the road.  Just after I passed a jeep with other cadets in it, I skidded to a stop because something looked terribly wrong with the route—it had me turning back onto the trail where I’d come out hours before, and the arrows were mounted for the other direction!  I flagged down the jeep and asked the cadets if this was the correct way to the finish and they mumbled unconvincingly that it must be, because the markings on the road curved that way.  I explained that we were not supposed to return the same way, but they just shrugged…oh boy!!  I encountered a guy still riding up that way (poor fellow, that must have been a long day) and asked if he’d seen anybody come my direction and he said, yes he had just passed a guy.  Well, at least I wasn’t alone in my misadventure.  I rode on up the long climb and hoped to see anybody that could help me out—but I was entirely alone out there.  After cutting the course which had been laid for riding the other direction and then backtracking a ways, I was becoming despondent…I just wanted to get to the finishing trail and be done with it.  I eventually saw some kids at one intersection and asked how to get to the Thunder Rock trail and they pointed me back the way I’d just come.  I rode on with less and less enthusiasm, until I eventually ended up on the trail I recognized (from my pre-ride months ago) would correctly bring me to Thunder Rock and the finish.  Oddly, nobody else was on it.  Had they all been misdirected as well?  Was my lead so big that I was still in 2^nd place?  I doubted it as I’d already passed 65 miles by a few miles and had made a few stops to ponder what to do.  Still, I was happy that I’d at least get to cross the finish line.  When I did finish (about 30 minutes later than I’d projected when approaching the Tanasi trails) I was ushered over to a bunch of fellow finishers who had been similarly misdirected.  I was told that the consensus was to award finish places based on our recollection of what place we’d been in at the misdirect location.  I thought that as fair as we could do it, so I was awarded 2^nd place overall.  I really would have liked to have finished in less than 4.5 hours and with a 1.5 mile or so final uphill paved drag to the finish, maybe I would have caught Brian.  As it was, we had a great race, and I felt he was the stronger racer and deserved the win.  All the aspects of the race were great, other than to kids mistake—I know how things can go wrong even with a carefully planned race, so I am still very pleased with the job the organizers and volunteers did.

After the post race meal/socializing/awards, Mike, Grant and I headed back to the cabin (Monte and Van would be many hours later doing the C-100).  I ate some leftover spaghetti and meatballs and went into nap mode—time to recover for Sunday’s race!  Since the race in Winder GA started at 9:30, I needed an early start on Sunday’s drive—like 5:45 am.  The drive was very pleasant and scenic until the Gainesville area, and I arrived with plenty of time to get ready.  My expectations for myself were to race hard, but don’t do any damage.  My legs felt pretty good, but Saturday’s 5 hr race was at 2 hr race pace, so I sure wasn’t expecting a podium finish on Sunday.  Only 15 guys started, so getting close to the front going into the singletrack was pretty smooth…I was about 5^th wheel.  One guy went off the front after about 10 minutes and when I saw an opportunity, I passed the other guys all at once and started chasing—my legs felt fine!  It took awhile, but I did chase him down.  The whole time I was doing that I heard somebody else not too far behind.  It turns out that other rider was Rick Pile who I did battle with at SERC Tsali a month ago and who won the SERC series in 2011.  Rick stayed with me on all my surges…he commented that he could never stand and power up stuff like I do.  Rick is a sit and spin guy.  In the middle of our second of three laps I eventually started to pull away from Rick, and with each rider I caught and passed from the classes that started before us I tried to gun it a little more—it helped that they would each try to latch on to me and I would try to get rid of them!   I held off Rick, winning by a margin of about 1 minute 20 seconds.  I don’t know how well I would have raced again today, but I felt really good after the race…maybe time to try a stage race. 

Conyers MTB 4/22/2012

Race report:  Conyers Intl Horse Park/Southeast Regional Championship Series (SERC #3)

After doing a trail running race (10.35 miles) in Tucson a couple weekends back my legs had been quite “dead”.  My (lack of) performance at the Macon Cycling Classic criterium highlighted that.  So I concentrated on putting in a lot of pedaling time in the week coming up to the SERC #3 race…a little counterintuitive since my legs were sore, but I figured it was more important to have the proper “muscle memory” associated with pedaling.  My fitness was fine, and with rest on Friday/Saturday my legs felt decent Sunday morning.  The weather was chilly, with a strong breeze picking up.  Still, with abundant sunshine I knew it would be a shorts and shortsleeve jersey kind of day.  I decided to wear my Georgia Cycling team skinsuit—I may never wear it otherwise!  No pockets on it, so I had to tape a gel to my bike for nutrition while riding.  The snug, sleek feel gave me a psychological boost though at mtb speeds probably nothing else.  Another large rider turnout for the age 40+ experts—29 guys at the start.  The course started on a giant field and went into a blustery wind and slightly uphill before climbing a little steeper and then into the woods/singletrack.  I managed to be 4^th wheel going into the woods…good position.  I did my best to stay on the wheel of #3, but the three guys ahead slowly pulled away, mostly on the tight technical stuff.  I seemed to be gapping the folks behind as well, so I just rode within my limits and didn’t panic.  The race was 4 laps over a pretty good variety of terrain.  The coolest part was a dark tunnel under the 4-lane road (with two separate sections for coming/going) that led to the “granite side”.  This section was, as the name implies, mostly rock.  It wasn’t truly technical stuff—no large drops or step-ups, but still quite bumpy and physically challenging.  After exiting the other tunnel and returning to the other side of the highway, there was another exposed to the headwind section back to the start/finish.  I was still feeling really good by the third lap, and passed the #3 guy like he was stuck in the mud on the infamous powerline climb section of trail.  He tried to hang on, but I was having none of that.  I was passing a lot of 30+ and 19+ experts by then, and really turned it on as I got my quarry, #2, in sight.  I caught him as we started the granite section on lap 4, just a couple miles from the finish.  He was shocked and let me know it by blurting out “you snuck up on me, you bugger!” (He is an Aussie I believe).  I kicked in the afterburner and bounced my way up and down the granite fun-scape as fast as I could.  As I turned onto the headwind section toward the finish and looked back…there he was!  Now I was looking at leading this guy out, into the wind, in an area with plenty of room to pass—no good!!  I decided to go easy for a bit and then gun it about 200 meters out hoping to drop him—I’m not a sprinter.  As my luck would have it, he decided to jump at about 200 meters himself;  I don’t know why as he had a perfect position to jump around me just before the line.  He faded after about 100 meters;  I did not fade and easily took the sprint ahead of him for 2^nd place.  First place was just under 30 seconds ahead of me—he led the whole race…one more lap and I’m sure I would have caught him.  Sill, I’m happy with the result.  Five mtb races so far this year, five podiums.  I felt great after the race, so hopefully I can carry this form to this upcoming weekend’s double-header: Saturday (65 mile marathon race) and Sunday (Ft Yargo/SERC #4 cross country race). 

Trail running race and cycling around Tucson

I got to spend a week in Tucson, Az with family over Spring Break...so of course I had to do some riding! Southern Az geography is basin & range, meaning lots of flat (or slightly rolling) and huge climbs. The ride I did up Mt Lemmon was pretty much the huge climb part. Low point to high point was 6600 feet! The grades of the Mt Lemmon Byway (also known as the Catalina Highway) are pretty moderate--usually about 5-6%. There are many, many viewpoints and the road surface is mostly good. The road tops out at about 8000 feet before descending several hundred and then climbing back to 8000 at the town of Summerhaven. To get to the very top, I turned onto Ski Run road which pitched up to a more aggressive 8-9%. After that, I went up Summit road which was closer to 10-11% in places...then around a gate for the last 1/4 mile or so to the U of A observatory at the very top--9157 feet. After lunch with family overlooking Tucson and miles of mountains/desert, I rode back home--from the 8000 foot level to the base was 40 minutes of uninterrupted (no brakes!) bombing downhill. The route is here: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1067013

My next Tucson cycling adventure took me across wide stretches of basin (like 40 minutes of flat!) then up Kitt Peak, home of the famous Kitt Peak Observatory. This was an even harder effort than Mt Lemmon for me--a hard flat 2 hr TT effort (with the monotony of straight roads through nothing but desert brushland) then a 3600 foot/12 mile climbing TT at about 7% grades. I needed to be at the top by 11:30 for a observatory tour with the family, so I gave it a really good effort on the climb--1 hr 10 minutes for an average speed of 10.9 mph and rate of climb of 3272 feet/hr. I elected to ride down the mountain, but not home! Route is here: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1069173.

On Friday night my brother asked me to fill in for him at a trail running race Saturday morning--he had come down with a flu bug. I hadn't run in 2 months, but what the heck! I had no real expectations for myself other than don't get injured. I started the hilly 10.35 mile trail race at a fairly mellow pace--running felt weird after all the cycling. After a few miles I started to feel a lot more comfortable with my stride, and my competitive side came out. I began reeling in runners on the climbs and bombing down the descents. I eventually latched onto a guy who really flew downhill...he tried and eventually succeeded in dropping me about 1 mile from the finish, and I duked it out with a guy sprinting for the finish of the 5 mile race taking place simultaneously. My time of 1 hr 17 minutes for a pace of 7:27/mile was good for 10th overall and 2nd in my brother's age group. Now my legs are really sore, but I didn't get injured so it was worth it!

I did have one more bike ride--pretty uninspiring highway ride up a constant grade of 2-3% for 25 miles and back down--it was fun cruising at 25+ mph for an hour though.

Knobscorcher mountain bike race, Tsali NC

Race report: Knobscorcher (Tsali Trails, NC)/Southeast Regional Championship Series (SERC #2), 31 Mar-1 Apr 2012

I’ve decided to try the SERC race series this year—more races, wider variety of venues, more competition. Tsali is on the south side of Fontana Lake which sits at the base of the Smoky Mountains—a beautiful setting. Being an early season race and part of a few different race series, it is well attended. Saturday was an individual time trial on a 4.4 mile course. This started at 4 pm, but I drove up early in the day to avoid traffic, get a nice camping spot, and have time to pre-ride the course and still have time for a nap. The trail was wet earlier, but was drying nicely by race time. Racers started at one minute intervals, with pros and experts going first but in no particular order. I didn’t want to be passed, so I let all the pros and some young experts go before me. I went all-out everywhere I felt I could without crashing. I knew it would take some time to complete all of the racers, so as soon as I finished I got something to eat and went out to pre-ride the 15 mile cross country course I’d be riding Sunday. I enjoyed the pre-ride and settled down for a nice camp meal, relaxation and to bed with fingers crossed that the thunder rumbles didn’t portend a wet night, hence wet trails on Sunday. I ended up 1^st in 40+ experts and 12^th overall in the time trial.

Sunday dawned foggy with a thick coat of dew, but no obvious signs of rain. It was very nice to see many old friends and many unfamiliar faces at the start line. We had 30 racers in the 40+ expert class, about twice the norm of races I done in the past few years. The start went up a half mile or so dirt road, with a high speed fight to stay toward the front. Despite having trouble clipping into my pedal, I managed to be about 6^th spot going into the woods/singletrack. The pace did not let up, and many corners/root crossings were slick and treacherous—it looked like it had rained! I managed to work up to 4^th position by about half a lap, and was leading a small group chasing two guys ahead by one lap. We were really moving, completing the lap in just over one hour flat, but with two guys ahead no chance to ease up. By halfway through the second lap it was me on the wheel of Rick Pile chasing Tim Zimmerman just out of sight who was chasing Eric Marland—but didn’t know it since Eric has opened up a gap almost from the very start. I attacked Rick on the last big climb a few miles from the finish, but I couldn’t catch Tim (he’s from Florida and has been racing all winter!), and ended up 3^rd place 1 minute behind Eric and 30 seconds behind Tim.

I really enjoyed the race—great competition, great trail, and a fun place to spend a weekend.