Race report: SERC #7, Clemson SC, 24 June 2012

This race was seventh of ten in the SERC series and also a “make up” race for the GSC series.   Even though I am leading the SERC series and GSC series, it never hurts to have “extra” races in case of a bad day….more on that later!  I enjoyed racing Clemson last year, and the new trails for 2012 were promised to be even better.  It turned out that Lizzi had a soccer tournament on Saturday pretty much on the way to Clemson, and I wanted to make the trip a day early to ride the course anyway, so I went to her tournament and made the trip up on Saturday, camping at the venue on Lake Issaquena.  I enjoyed road riding in the mountains after the Clemson race last year with my brother Tom: http://gni-jclayton.blogspot.com/2011/06/clemson-mtb-race.html, so my trip itinerary included staying Monday for that too.  The race venue was at an old CCC camp just north of the town of  Clemson on Clemson University property—they own a small lake, and thousands of acres of beautiful forests complete with (as a local trail user told me) hundreds of miles of cycling and horse trails and old logging roads.  Lots of shady trees, and small brook and a natural spring on location made for an appealing area to camp.  My pre-ride of the course verified that the new trails were indeed fun, but quite challenging as they were often handlebar-narrow, twisty, with ample climbing.  There was about an even mix of singletrack and doubletrack/jeep road, so passing wouldn’t be too much of an issue, and good fitness a necessity to hammer up the climbs and on the rollers.  It was getting close to dark after my one lap pre-ride, and I ate dinner then made camp.

Sunday, by the 9:30 am race start time it was already sweaty-warm, so hydration would be key.  We only had 14 racers on the line in 40+ expert—I’d expected we’d have more like 20.  The start took us on dirt road, around a 120 degree turn and into the woods.  I ended up forth wheel into the woods—a good spot, so I felt.  By the time we’d exited the first short stretch of singletrack onto a long jeep road climb, the first two guys had quite a gap.  I dug deep and bridged up to the second guy (Eric Marland) while the first guy (Brian Schworm) continued to gap us.  I was joined a short time later by Morgan Olsen and we left Eric a short ways back.  I took advantage of Morgan by drafting him on the downhill jeep roads (roadie trick) and as we started the long climb on the second lap Rick Pile joined us.  Rick hurt himself bad in a crash at the Dausett  race (broken ribs and compression fracture of a vertebrae) so I was surprised and happy to see him back so soon.  Rick attacked, and I followed, dropping Morgan slightly.  As we worked our way through a twisty new cut section that had a lot of pointy pine stumps left, I felt the back wheel get wobbly—I had punctured the rear tire!  After unsuccessfully trying to get the Stan’s sealant to do its job, I put a tube in the tire.  I think I need practice—even though I didn’t have any real issues doing the fix, it took me about ten minutes—way too slow!  Just about everybody in my class, not to mention other classes passed by me.  But the fix worked, and now it was time to do “damage control”.  In a way it is fun to try to come back from behind as I can focus on catching instead of out running people.  I passed all but three guys (Brian, Morgan and Rick), making up a bunch of time.  Looking at my elapsed riding time, I would have come in second quite easily without having flatted—that is assuming everybody else would have ridden the same.  So, while it was unfortunate to have had a flat, and been so slow at repair, I am pleased at my performance even though it meant my first time in the SERC and GSC not on the podium.

After all the post race camaraderie, and relaxing by the creek,  I took a nice hike with fellow racer/pal John Hightower and then drove north to Keowee-Toxaway State Park to camp.  I had just enough time for a camp dinner and then to bed before dark.  The temperature was nice for sleeping and the campground deserted, so I slept well.  I had planned a route that built on last year’s with Tom, going a little further north into the Blue Ridge and adding about ten miles:  http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1343149  This year I would be solo.  I was under way about 6:40 am…and sweating profusely immediately in the morning humidity.  My legs were not too happy about demanding them to power up the long climbs that came pretty quick, and I noticed my heartrate stabilized lower than I expected…maybe a good thing considering I had 90 miles and over 11,000 feet of climbing planned.  After about two hours, I was tired, but had been refueling (I had a mix of gels, bars, and bagels) and rehydrating well.  The climb up to owens gap (3590’) on hwy 281 was particularly tough with mile long stretches of 11% grade.  It was after the descent off Owens gap that I first became confused about directions, which meant a couple extra miles of climbing and backtracking.  On a positive note, it led to a nice view and a chance to refill my bottles at an unattended trailer campground.  Back on track, I passed two ladies walking and just to be sure I asked them if I was on Wolf Mtn road.  They told me yes and to not cross the bridge ahead to stay on Wolf Mtn rd.  So, I did as they said, and didn’t even note what the road was that forked off and crossed the bridge—mistake!  Wolf Mtn road went through spectacular scenery—farms, canyons and ridge views.  And then it suddenly turned into a rough, steep dirt/rock road.  It happened that a guy was scraping the road just ahead as I was off the bike and pushing (barely even able to get traction to walk).  He told me that a storm had washed away the road (basically dirt/gravel on top of a solid granite base) recently.  He also told me that the road remained dirt for the next seven miles and while this was the worst section there would be steep hills (up and down) and lots of mud holes—he was right on all counts!  Other than worrying about a flat and breaking my cleats on the rock, I didn’t mind too much as the scenery was nice, temperature cool, and no storms building up.  I was able to slowly ride most of the road.  I figured I must have overlooked the dirt section on the satellite imagery though I couldn’t fathom how.  The road ended at a T intersection with a paved road at a mountain pass—not what I’d expected.  So I had to decide which direction to go, and chose left….down I went, again through spectacular scenery.  The road eventually flattened out by a small lake with a state park picnic area.  I stopped in to find water and hopefully a map—successful on both counts, though it was deserted.  A study of the map revealed my location and my directional error.  I should have crossed the bridge back on Wolf Mtn road—that would have kept me on paved road as my route had planned.  I would have also not have climbed up to the pass (4400’) or done the trip down to Balsam lake…and then back up.  In good spirits, but knowing I still had a bunch of miles and climbing, I backtracked up to the pass and down the other side.  Down for awhile, and then back up to Pinhook gap where I connected with hwy 215 several miles north of where I had planned to.  The rest of the ride went very smoothly.  It got hot, but I always had, and drank, plenty of water.  I finished feeling spent but still strong after about 104 miles, and I’d estimate 13-14,000 feet of climbing.  A fun, and adventure, filled weekend! 

Race report: GSC #4, Flatrock Park, 17 June 2012

The forth of six GA State Championship (GSC) series mountain bike races was held Sunday at Flatrock Park trails in Columbus GA.  This race was a “bonus race” where 15 extra points were awarded just for showing up…a way to hopefully get racers to come to a less popular/out of the way venue.  The Flatrock trails have some “issues” in my opinion, and judging from the low turn-out, other folks may feel the same.  I don’t know who designed or built the trails, but it was announced at the race that stewardship of the trails has just been handed over to a chapter of the Southern Off Road Bicycle Association (SORBA)—probably a good thing.  My problem with the trail is that it tends not to “flow”.  That is that it takes illogical (and sometimes dangerous) turns, has obstacles/drops/erosion that don’t add much to skills requirement but do add unnecessary danger.  I know it is difficult to build and maintain a primo trail, having been involved with the Arrowhead park trails; designing a challenging but safe trail is an art.  So my criticism isn’t meant to be too harsh….So back to the race.  Only eight of us showed up for the 40+ expert race, despite a beautiful day for racing.  I decided that if I could get the start holeshot, I would take it.  I got the holeshot and led the crew for several minutes until I took a “line” that wasn’t the best, and “Wild Bill” Lanzilotta passed me.  This was another trait of this trail—many varieties of ways to cut course/avoid obstacles, depending on your familiarity with the trail or interpretation of where the trail actually goes (I kid you not!).  Anyway, it was fun to follow Bill—he has been a friend and very competitive rival for years.  I was able to pass him up again a short while later, but he and two other guys (Mike Bonn and John Hightower) continued to duke it out less than 30 seconds back for quite a while we raced through a long stretch of very twisty trail through the forest.  It was all I could do to keep the guys at bay, negotiating my way through the stuff without catching a handlebar/pedal on a tree/root.  I succeeded though, and after a lap I had built a little more time between me and them.  It is a difficult course to get a drink on, so on a short section where we travelled down a paved road, I decided to get a drink.  I failed to slow enough to complete my task though, and as I was putting the bottle back in the bottle cage, I looked up to see me headed straight into a hay bale put in place to delineate the turn back into the woods—crash!  I was up and riding again in about 30 seconds, but that put the boys back in visual (and striking) range.  I was feeling ok though and so I renewed my determination to go hard where I could and focus on being smooth and precise through the twisty stuff.  I got a time check of a two minute split after two laps, so I knew that if I kept riding sensibly I should be able to get the victory.  With so few racers in the younger expert classes as well, I didn’t pass too many other racers, but I still used catching them as motivation to continue to ride well.  One goal I always have is to improve my lap times each lap, and I was able to do that on my third lap, taking the victory by about 2 minutes 45 seconds over Mike Bonn in second with Wild Bill in third.  

Race report: Bump & Grind Omnium, Oak Mtn State Park AL, 2-3 June, 2012

Last year was my first try at the Bump and Grind mountain bike race—I had a great time and this year I wanted to improve on my results in the XC race.  I lost a sprint for 2^rd place and was only 7 seconds out of 1^st!  Bump (stands for Birmingham Urban Mountain Pedalers) and Grind (the race was first held in 1994, maybe they were going through an Elvis revival in AL then?) is a “must do” race event in the Southeast.  The Oak Mountain trails are among the best I’ve ridden and keep getting better.  The trails are well designed and challenging both physically and technically (but not ridiculously so), and also beautiful.  There are also a lot of miles of trail, so a 31 mile race didn’t retrace any of it.   The one hr time change made it easy to arrive there by nine AM so I could register, set up camp (right next to the venue), and preride a couple of the tougher XC course sections with my friend Bruce Dickman, race announcer extraordinaire and ProGold travelling salesman.

The first race of the three race omnium  was short track.  This was basically a 25 minute criterium on a dirt course.  The course was the same as last year, a mix of some pavement gravel, pine straw, steep rutted grassy-off camber hillside and singletrack.  Cat 2 and Cat 1 women and men (and kids) were started together.  My chief immediate concern was whether Bruce would turn us around to go the other way immediately after the start (the race is called “turn and burn”)—he did this last year, and I had a few crashes getting by the mass of riders that were now in front of me.  So this year I started a little more conservatively letting about ten experts in front of me…but there was no turn this year.  I ended up in a train of a few riders behind a guy that let a gap to the front several guys.  With no crashes for me, riding pretty well, ending up about 9^th overall and first in the “old guys” (over 40).  Despite going as hard as I could, my average heartrate was still no more than it is in 3 hour races…I’m more of a long-haul racer.

After grabbing a bite to eat and taking a nap, I warmed up for the next event, the Super D, by pedaling up the paved road to the top of the mountain where the race would begin.  The super D was about a mile of mostly level rocky jeep road and then a rocky, singletrack descent with a couple of technical drops and switchbacks that finished after just 2.6 miles total where it reached the paved road.  I had no expectations of a great performance, being no downhiller/technical expert…I mainly wanted to have fun and stay safe.  I finished at probably top third in the overall expert standings, and 3^rd in the old guys.  After enjoying the typical mtb gathering camaraderie, I settled down for a simple dinner (salad from home and a big tuna sandwich) and a peaceful evening.

I was certainly well rested the next day when I was awakened at 7 AM by Bruce over the loudspeaker announcing the start of the second day of racing. The Bump volunteers had some bagels, bananas, oranges and other snacks and drinks out for racers, so I made that my simple breakfast.  I favor a small carb-oriented breakfast before races, so this was perfect.  I would have preferred an early race start since I was registered and ready to go (and temperatures cooler), but my race was scheduled to start at about 10 AM.  The 40-49 experts were lumped in with the 35-39 and 50+ experts.  I would estimate the field at about 35-40 racers.  The start took us up the paved road about ¾ mile and then onto a singletrack section called Jekyll and Hyde.  My plan was to lead into the singletrack if I could, even if it meant a major effort.  This was so I could power up the swooping switchbacks on the super fun Dr Jekyll portion of the trail before arriving at Mr. Hyde—where things got technical.  I succeeded in my plan, and even had a sizable gap on the next two riders coming into the technical part.  This was great since I had no interference getting through that section and though the two riders caught up to me they didn’t pressure me at all.  Topping out on the climb we immediately plunged back down the same trail the Super D was on (with an aptly named “blood rock” section).  I offered to let the two guys by, but they declined.  I ended up leading them and one other guy that caught us for the next several miles.  Since I wasn’t riding as well as I felt I should…not finding my rhythm, I was glad when they all eventually passed me.  I had no problem staying on two guy’s wheel while one escaped up the trail.  I wasn’t sure if they were in my 40-49 category, but I was pretty sure the guy that escaped wasn’t.  Toward the end of the fast but rooty, twisty, and generally challenging trail around the big lake that sits at the base of Oak Mountain, I passed the two guys and started passing racers from categories that started before mine did (Pros, 19-29, 30-34 experts).  I hit the long gravel/rock road climb up to the top feeling really good, and gave it everything I had powering up it.  I really felt like I was flying up the mountain, passing guys that were just crawling along.  As I approached the top I recognized the one guy (in the 35-39 category) that had escaped earlier.  This motivated me to put in a great performance going down Jekyll and Hyde, and I passed him as well as some other expert and sport category riders (the sport course was 5 miles shorter).  The bottom part of Jekyll and Hyde was like a roller coaster ride…a joy to race!  Still feeling great (as a endurance racer I was just getting warmed up), I went hard the remaining few miles…plus I didn’t want to take any chances of getting caught and missing 1^st place by 7 seconds again!  I crossed the line in 2 hrs 22 minutes, first in 40-49 expert and also beating everybody in the two other categories that started with mine.  I even passed all but two guys from the 30-34 expert category that started 4 minutes before us…a great race for me.

Overall, I finished 3^rd in the expert omnium…no distinction made for being an “old guy” in the omnium.  My standing in this will be combined with another “triple crown” event later in the year for a mini Triple Crown series.  I didn’t even know this until I arrived at Bump & Grind, but it gives me another goal to strive for.