Race report: GSC #7, Helen GA, 22 July 2012

The last race of the 2012 Georgia State Championship mountain bike race series took place Sunday on the trails at Unicoi State Park outside Helen Ga.  In my opinion these trails are some of the best in Georgia—technical enough to challenge handling skills, long/steep enough climbs to challenge fitness, and full of fast and swooping descents to make for a whole lot of fun!  It is a really pretty venue, nestled in the mountains, with a cool, clear creek running through it (great for post race soaking).  I altered my plan to drive up Saturday afternoon and pre-ride the course on account of thunderstorms.  Instead, I left home early Sunday morning to make the drive.  Leaving home at 4:45 am made for a stress free drive (no traffic), and I got to the trail with plenty of time to get ready and pre-ride a lap.  Though there were some muddy patches, the trail was in pretty good shape.  I was once again disappointed by the low turn-out in my age category—nine guys.  One guy that was in attendance was Brian Schworm, who had bested me in the four previous races we’ve met.

I slipped a pedal at the start and so wasn’t in the greatest position as we headed across the narrow bridge over the stream.  But, I quickly passed everybody but Brian on the first climb.  Brian was out of sight within five minutes despite my best efforts.  His riding reminds me of Bradley Wiggins (who just won the Tour de France)—very high cadence, stays seated almost all of the time…just motors up the climbs.  Of course you never know who will have a mechanical issue, or physically blow up, or (hopefully not) crash, so I kept the pressure on.  Plus, I didn’t want to be complacent and fall out of second place.  I was pleasantly surprised to pass many younger expert riders (who started either two or four minutes ahead), even on the first of three laps.  By lap three I felt very comfortable with the trail…most of the muddy spots were drying and I had found the best “lines” through the rough stuff.  My buddy Neil was monitoring a stream crossing that was mandatory to dismount and walk across, and as I went by he told me I was only two minutes behind Eric Murphy, the lead of the 30-39 expert group.  Eric has returned to mountain biking this year after a break where he excelled on the road race scene.  I’ve raced against him on the road a few times…he’s really good.  How good?  Well, he won the Ga State Criterium Championship for Cat 1 (the top amateur class) this year.  So, my goal was to catch Eric who started two minutes ahead.  I really turned it on, and passed a few more racers, but never got Eric.  But, my final time was .01 minutes faster than him, so I was pleased anyway.  It was a great race, and Brian Schworm finished 8 minutes ahead of me, also passing every racer except pro Ryan Woodall.  Even so, Brian had a faster time than Ryan by almost two minutes!  Wow—not bad for a 40+ year old racer!  I was over ten minutes ahead of Perry Thomas in third, so there was an almost 20 minute gap between 1^st and 3^rd places on a less than two hour race.  This was the first time in five years of racing in the GSC  series that I clinched the first place overall series title…hopefully I can keep improving for a few more years! 

Race report: Chewacla Challenge, Auburn AL, 14-15 July 2012

I’ve only raced a couple of mtb XC events not promoted by Gone Riding the last several years (but I have done a fair bit of endurance races).  So, when I saw that a new club was promoting a new trail system with a race, and it included a couple of meals, a nice t-shirt and a concert….I decided to give it a try!  Chewacla is a AL state park just off I-85 outside Auburn, AL.  It’s on the grounds of an old CCC camp and has a nice lake, stream and waterfalls.  I didn’t really visit the park much, concentrating on the race and festivities, but it looked like a great place to unwind for a weekend.  The drive to Auburn is quite relaxing—country highways with sparse traffic for the most part (only 10 miles of interstate).  I arrived on Saturday about 4:15 pm for a 5 pm short track race…just enough time to get changed, register and do a couple of warmup laps on the 1-mile flat and very twisty course.  The race was to be 30 minutes plus 2 laps…most laps/first finisher wins.  With a fairly small turnout (maybe 25 men) we were started in two heats males/females older than 19 years, and kids under 19 years old.  As expected, the race was a sprint from the start and really never let up.  I was initially about five riders back but was up into third by two laps.  The field pretty much exploded with such varying abilities, and four of us settled into competition at the front.  That reduced to three by about 20 minutes.  I took the lead at about 22 minutes and was surprised to hear the announcer call “two to go”.  He didn’t ring a bell (as is customary) with one to go, but when I was passed on the finishing straight (the only straight) I knew I would need to pass and attack hard to win.  Luck had it that the guy clipped a pedal and dropped his chain, allowing me to get a small gap which I held to the finish for the win…which ended up being at just less than 30 minutes. 

Central Alabama Mountain Pedalers (CAMP) organized a nice pasta feast with two bands and mtb movies under a large pavilion on top of a bluff in the park.  Being that I wanted to preride the XC course the next morning before the race, and that I wanted to race well rested, I turned in early, camping out near the race staging area at the CCC camp.  Sunrise comes early in AL, and I was on the trail on my pre-ride at 7 am.  I had been told that the trails were very twisty and narrow, and a look at the map backed that up too.  It wasn’t too difficult to ride at a casual pace, for the most part, but I could see how I would need to be concentrating 100% when racing.  There were almost no wide or straight sections save a mile or so of doubletrack jeep road.  I figured that the jeep road would be where I would need to go all-out to build a time gap.  I recognized a few current and former competitors at the start of the XC race, though there were only six of us in 40-49 expert category.  We started two minutes after the combined group of 19-29 and 30-39 yr experts, and the guys allowed me to lead the group into the singletrack.  My goal was to go as hard as I could in the very short sections between turns.  This meant constant accelerate, brake hard, turn, and repeat.  The turns were often 180 degrees and tight, so precise handling was paramount.  I continued to lead the group which dwindled to two guys that stayed very close.  Both of them are formidable bike handlers and one used to be a top notch competitor.  They were still with me when we reached to jeep road that led up a gentle hill to the start/finish, where I applied my pre-determined tactic and got about a ten second gap.  I knew that if I could continue to eke out a few more seconds as we went that I could then get an even bigger gap the next time on the road—I wasn’t very aerobically challenged since I could rarely sustain much effort given the constant turns.  I started to pass the younger experts, so I knew my pace was good.  By the start of the third lap I had passed all of the younger experts and I focused on maintaining a fast but safe pace to the finish.  I managed to keep the pressure on enough to build about a nine minute lead and didn’t crash, taking the overall and age-group win.  CAMP put on a great event…I think I will participate in more Al mtb races in the future.

Race report: GSC #6, Macon GA, 7-8 July 2012

It was great to have a race at my local trail—Arrowhead Park—for the first time since 2008.  The infamous 2009 Mother’s Day tornados destroyed the trails, and despite a lot of work by volunteers not much progress was made until 2011 when a commercial crew was hired to build several miles of new trail.  From there, the Ocmulgee Mountain Bike Assn (OMBA) did a bunch of our own trail building and finishing work.  A recent couple of very sunny/hot weeks in conjunction with a big uptick in riding made for some sandy spots but all in all the hard work paid off, and the trails were ready to go for the race! 

Saturday was a short track race for additional series points.  I really didn’t need the points, but it never hurts to have a pad when in competition for the series championship.  In any case with the course only 1.5 miles from home I felt somewhat obligated to race.  It was probably 95 degrees at the 5 pm start time, and with a 15 minute plus one lap format there would be no easing up to rest/cool off.  The course was simple:  up a paved road for about ½ mile, then down a snaking singletrack we call “Super D” and a short connector through a weedy, short section for a total of just under one mile.  All of the sport and expert classes were started together, with no age differentiation.  Even so, there were probably only 20 or so folks on the start line.  My strategy was to basically go “full gas” the whole race-- hard as I could up the climb, and not crash on the descent….  I made it up the climb and into the singletrack in third position, behind pro Ryan Woodall and his brother Regan.  I was surprised to see my racing Buddy/competitor, John Hightower, close behind on the third lap and that probably played a part in me pushing just a little bit too hard on the descent.  As I accelerated out of a turn, the front wheel washed out and I slammed into the dirt.  It hurt, but I jumped right up and got going.  John passed me on the next climb—I was still reeling from the crash.  Instead of trying to catch going downhill (he’s fearless), I stayed close enough to reel him in on the next climb, follow him on the descent again, and then on the final (whistle) lap I gave it everything I had and passed him close to the top.  I was lucky to lap Mark Poore and enter the singletrack with John behind Mark.  I was pleased to hold John off and take 1^st in 40+ expert (third overall).  It was fun to have Jodi and Lizzi cheering me on at the top of the hill and the finish.

Sunday, I rode to the race again.  It was pretty cool to sleep as late as I wanted and then have a leisurely ride to the venue as my warmup.  Temps were already above 80 degrees at the 9:30 am start, and humid too.  I guess the heat scared a lot of competitors off, because turnout was slim.  At least my class had nine, which was about as many as the other three expert classes combined!  The course was about six miles per lap, plus a short initial lap to add a couple miles.  I decided to get to the front on the initial paved climb (part of the short lap) so I could ride the entire trail at my pace—local knowledge.  This worked well, except that my main rival of the day, Tim Zimmerman, was right on my wheel so I was giving him that advantage too in a way.  I went as hard as I could and after about 20 minutes we’d left the rest of the guys behind.  Tim passed me as I grabbed some water and then slowly pulled away.  It was really great to have Jodi and Lizzi in attendance again, handing me water bottles, giving me time splits and cheering me on.  After two laps Tim had built a lead of over a minute, but I refused to give up, and brought it to just under a minute by the last (forth) full lap.  OMBA was out in force, not only with a neutral water stop, but also a mister to help cool the racers down, and also scattered throughout the trail to help keep the racers safe and cheer them on.  I made a big effort on the last lap to catch Tim, and approaching the last mile I was told that he was only 15 seconds ahead!  I gave everything I had, but ended up coming up to the finish just as Tim rolled through…maybe eight seconds behind.  I was happy with my ability to make my last lap my fastest (and not crash!) and finish the race only five minutes slower than Ryan Woodall, the pro.  Mountain bike races at Arrowhead are back!

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.

Race report: SERC #6/GSC #3, Dauset Trails, 26-27 May 2012

This past weekend was the sixth of ten Southeastern Regional Championship (SERC) series races and third of six GA State Championship (GSC) series mountain bike races.  This is my seventh year racing in these series, though I have never raced enough of the races to contest the overall SERC series (8 of 10 races minimum).  I’ve won the GSC series as a Cat 2 (Sport) and placed second/third a few times as a Cat 1 (expert). This year I decided to compete in both the SERC and GSC series.  Looking at different mtb series throughout the country, I think we are pretty lucky in GA to have two great cross country mtb race series to do (as well as the Chainbuster endurance series)—Terri and David Berger of Gone Riding put them on and do a super job.  Dauset was the one race I won in the GSC series in 2011, so I hoped to repeat that in 2012.  There was a time trial (TT) of about 4.5 miles on Saturday, with GSC series points of 5,4,3,2, for first through fourth (and 1 point for anyone that raced it).  Since I am contesting the GSC series and Dauset is close to home, I raced it.  After pre-riding the roughly 4.5 mile course, I decided I’d go hard, but not crazy hard for the TT race—just not worth risking a big crash for a few series points (first place in the regular XC race is 30 points by comparison).  I ended up 2^nd place, just one second behind Rick Pyle—good for four points.

 I showed up Sunday with enough time to pre-ride a tougher part of the course (called Huff-and-Puff) a couple of times.  The TT on Saturday was on portions of the Sunday course (which measured about ten miles each lap).  While I wasn’t too worried about my ability on Huff-and-Puff I did need to “dab” a couple of times, and could see how if I was exhausted it could be a potential crash section.  Nineteen racers lined up in 40+ expert class for the three lap (plus a short “parade” lap) race.  The start was up a gravel road for a couple hundred yards and then into fast downhill singletrack.  Dauset is a good course for passing, but I still wanted to get into the singletrack near (or at!) the front—I’ve found in mtb racing that it is a very good idea to stay with the leaders early if you want to finish well.  I hit the singletrack in third position—I’m not the best sprinter, but not bad.  The guy at the front was a bit slow to be leading the pack, and after I gently suggested that, he graciously moved aside.  As my luck would have it, the guy in second place had a mis-shift and so I was pretty quickly in front.  I went as hard as I could up hill on singletrack to the start/finish for the parade lap.  It looked as though only two guys were close, and I had about 50 feet on them.  So, I continued to go hard and the gap seemed to stick—they would gain on the tight/technical stuff and I would gain on the straighter stuff.  I am continuing to improve my technical riding, but it remains one of my weaker points.  After finishing the first full lap, only one guy (John Martin) was in sight behind me, and he was a couple hundred feet back.  Twenty minutes later I could still catch glimpses of him, and we traded shouts to eachother for fun.  I was passing a fair amount of 19+ and 30+ experts (and even a couple pros), but had no issues passing them—much better situation than encountered in endurance racing.  My goal (besides winning the race!) was to keep my lap times as consistent as possible and pass as many younger riders as possible.  Hopefully this would keep me from getting complacent—and it seemed to work.  It was getting pretty hot (and very humid), so it was great to have the local mtb club (OMBA) hosting a water (drink) station, and my thanks go out to Tina and Ray for handing out cups of water (and my buddy Monte for getting the stuff).  With no energy/hydration problems and no crashes, I had a near perfect race and came across the finish in first place after 2 hrs 10 minutes, 2.5 minutes ahead of John Martin—still a long ways off from the pro winner at 1 hr 59 minutes, but I’ll take it! 

Race report: Skyway Epic—61 mile offroad race, 20 May 2012

I decided to race this one a few weeks ago for two reasons:  it utilized some new (to me) trails in AL, and it was long and probably hard enough to be a good endurance/marathon race without being truly “epic”.  As a new race, and without much apparent marketing, it only drew about 60 pre-registered entrants, and I didn’t recognize most of the names.  One name I did recognize was Brian Toone, a very accomplished Cat 1 roadie and climber extraordinaire.  He has a great blog, and from it, I found that he’d reconnoitered (and killed) the race course. I arrived late afternoon on Saturday to preride at least some of the 15 miles or so of singletrack and to enjoy meeting some new people at the pre-race cookout/campout.  The venue was a nice little fishing lake near the city of Sylacauga AL that abuts National Forest land that the mtb trails are on.  So, I picked up my registration stuff and then went for a ride.  The trail was very buff (smooth) and swoopy.  And not much climbing.  This is fun stuff to ride fast, but not so great for a race IMO because it doesn’t challenge the technical (or lung) skills enough.  Plus, you get going so fast at race pace (I was easily holding 15-16 mph just cruising) that one wrong move or wheel slide and you will hit the forest furniture (trees) hard! So, about 5 miles into my jaunt I heard a “pop…fizz”—there went my tire.  So much for smooth trail.  Well, smooth it was as far as roots and big rocks.  Smooth it wasn’t for Neolithic rock tool sharp “tire slicers” rocks embedded in the dirt.  It was such a big gash that I didn’t even try to put a tube in and ride on.  So, hike-a-bike back to the car…luckily I could cut a couple miles off.  I brought the necessary repair equipment (minus a compressor to inflate tubeless tire, but the lake caretaker had a mini compressor that did the trick).  So off I went a little later (but a little cooler out now) and rode the trails.  Meeting and hanging out with a bunch of the Cyclists of Greater Sylacauga (COGS) was fun.  I slept well right at race “headquarters” and with a 5:30-ish AL sunrise had plenty of time to eat and relax while watching the competition arrive.

The 10 am start was en-mass on a gravel road, around a 120 degree turn across a grass field and into the woods.  I lined up at the front (very easy to do, most folks opted to stage back a ways).  I figured I’d go for the “holeshot” so I could ride that fast trail unobstructed.  At least one other guy (Adam Gaubert) had the same idea and was a bit faster, so I ended up second into the woods.  Adam was plenty fast, so it worked well and we got out of sight of the rest of the racers.  The trail did reveal two cool surprises—a giant (15” diameter) turtle right in the center of the trail (I avoided him) and a 4’ snake….but not just an  snake.  It had a perfectly rat shaped lump (I could make out the head and body lumps) in its middle.  I tried to point this out to Adam, but as he later told me “I thought you were saying something about eating my lunch”.  We turned off the singletrack and onto the forest service road after about 5 miles still with nobody in sight.  We worked well together, trading pulls, for about 15 minutes before a figure appeared from behind.  My strategy was to go as fast as I could, despite the possibility of “overcooking” my legs, to get as much time on Brian Toone as possible.  There was a King of the Mountain (KOM) about 12 miles into the race with a $100 prize.  Well, once I recognized that the figure was Brian and made plan “B” to be to stay as close to him as possible up the 1200 foot climb.  He pulled away as the road got steeper a few miles from the KOM, and I was surprised to see Adam stay pretty close to him—I didn’t expect Adam to climb so strongly based on what he’d shown (fooled) me thus far.  I was giving it everything I had, so I resigned myself to ride hard, but smart, to the top and see if I could catch them along the undulating skyway (hence the race name) and down to the turn-around at about mile 25.  I hit the turnaround about 2 minutes after passing them (separated by a couple hundred yards with Adam leading).  So I did a quick bottle fill and two slurped gel packs and I was off.  I took quite a bit of encouragement from the young girl that said “wow that was fast!” as I was leaving. It was good to see that the next two riders coming down were about 7 minutes behind me—a comfortable margin, even with a flat (more on that later!).  I felt really good on the climb back up to the skyway (really just a rough jeep trail, but very nice views), and expected to see my adversaries at some point soon.  I really was taking risks on the loose, rough downhills, but no flats or crashes.  Still, no sight of Adam or Brian, and the aid station estimates of time splits kept going up!  Finally it was back onto singletrack, and this time for about 10 miles.  Time to chase really hard!  I was moving very fast for 3+ hours into the race, trying to focus hard so that I wouldn’t crash hard.  Finally I saw a bit of dust in the air at a corner—somebody must be close ahead!  Sure enough, I came up on Brian and he immediately let me go by.  As is my custom in this circumstance, I drilled it!  I had full confidence in a 2^nd place finish and visions of 1^st place.  Then…..pop….fizz.  No!!!  Sure enough, flat.  I was so focused and so in denial, that I continued to roll on (much slower) until Brian came up and with a “sorry about that dude” went on by.  I stopped briefly and looked at the hole in the tread and, not thinking clearly, decide I needed to roll on with the flat…couldn’t fix it with a tube.  That, and I thought “just a little farther, I can still be in 3^rd”.  Well, 10 minutes turned into 15 and my legs started to protest.  Riding on a flat, especially on uphills is very hard!  I started to get very dejected as I realized that I might trash the rim as well (I didn’t) and still get caught (remember the 7 minutes at turnaround?)  I had really messed up to not try and fix the flat.  Finally after what I calculate as an extra 20 minutes or so I reached to finish.  Everybody, especially Brian, was amazed to see me ride in on a flat.  So, I ended up 3^rd—it would have been nice to possibly have taken first (Brian was only 3 minutes behind Adam at the finish, so had I not flatted it was a real possibility), but that is part of mountain bike racing.  I’d like to do this race again, but hope that they add several more miles of singletrack—if just to put Brian at a bit more disadvantage! 

Race reports: Dirty Spokes Fort Yargo 9 hr solo/ Tanasi (SERC #5)

Another doubleheader weekend (5/5-5/6/12) with two mountain bike races.  After last weekend’s successes the idea of racing 9 hrs Saturday and then a tough 2+ hr race on Sunday seemed daunting, but possible.  Strangely, I’d be racing the same two venues in opposite order, but in the case of Yargo a longer course in the opposite direction and Tanasi a much shorter course but three laps and no fire roads.  I set up my “pit” at Yargo with some friends.  Fifteen bottles of various drinks (mostly water), lots of sports nutrition, two sweet potatoes and a jelly sandwich.  The idea was to drink a bottle every lap (~50-55 minutes) and half a bottle at the pit where I would also consume most of my food.  Although it adds up to a significant amount of time in the pits (I figure about .5-1 minute every lap), I still have a hard time eating anything but a gel while riding.  My chief rival from the last 9 hr solo, Greg Gibson, was in attendance as were some other threats…but no Andy Johnston; he must have been saving his legs for Tanasi—wimp!  The start was fast—about 2 miles of pavement.  I entered the singletrack in 4^th position, right behind Greg.  I could tell Josh Fix (the guy who dominated the 6 hr solo races in 2011) was going for the fastest lap prize, so I was ok with watching Greg chase hard while I set a fast, but sustainable pace.  I figured I would try to stay reasonably close to his times and then hope he’d fade later….The racing was for the most part smooth—lots of passing, usually folks were very considerate, but one lady racer was anything but considerate, refusing to pull even a little to the side.  With three of us trying to reason with her, and getting nowhere, we finally all had to make risky passes.  She spewed profanity and suffered some bumping of her bike (and I guess ego).  Other than Greg, I really didn’t know where my competition was.  He and I rode together until the middle of lap 6 (about 4 hrs).  He was always quicker in the pits, but I’d catch him on a climb.  After trailing him awhile on lap 6, he pulled aside to let me go.  He’d been going a bit slow up the hills, so I decided to test him and sped up a fair amount.  It worked—he dropped off after about ten minutes.  I figured he’d be pretty close behind, and I asked my friends (who’d finished the six hr race) to check the standings after lap 7.  They said they had not seen him go by, but I figured they had missed him, so I kept a solid pace.  By the start of lap 9 I really wanted to know the standings—they said I was a lap ahead, but I couldn’t believe that!  I still kept my pace up, my immediate goal being to catch (lap) my buddy Trey Woodall who was leading the 50+ masters’ category.  About halfway through the 9^th lap, I passed Andy Applegate.  Now I was wondering if I would even need to do any more laps—my feet and hands were killing me from all of the pounding.  So, as I rolled through the finish line of lap 9, I personally asked to see the standings.  Turns out I had lapped everybody—Andy was my closest contender (Greg had stayed in his pit for two of my laps, thus I didn’t pass him on the course).  So at 7 hrs 37 minutes, and figuring Andy couldn’t do two laps in 1 hr 23 minutes (and he didn’t come through on lap 8 until 7 hrs 46 min, so really two laps in 1 hr 14 minutes), I stopped racing.  It was very nice to win a 9 hr race almost 1.5 hrs short of 9 hrs!  I had plenty of time to eat, shower, and clean up my pit before the award ceremony at 7:15 pm (race started at 10 am).  After the awards ceremony, I ate some more (of course) and set up camp right where I was parked.  It was a bit difficult to sleep with my body still settling down, but at least I didn’t have an overload of caffeine like the last 9 hr race.  Temps were perfect for a night under the brightest full moon of the year.

At 5:45 am I was up again, and time to decide on whether to drive 2 hrs to Ducktown TN to race again.  My stomach was a bit sour, my legs a little wobbly, but I felt up for it anyway!  I arrived at Tanasi with just enough time to set up, register and barely warm up my tired legs.  The race starts with a lot of climbing, so no easing into things!  I was a bit surprised to be second wheel behind my new nemesis, Brian Schworm.  Brian didn’t waste much time in riding away from me and Rick Pile who was right behind me.  I looked at my heart rate, and it explained why he was riding away—it was a good 10-15 beats per minute below where it needed to be.  Rick eventually went around me.  The route was familiar as a small part of the Big Frog 65 route from last weekend—lots of climbing, a fast, rough descent, a couple miles of pavement, then repeat two more times for 33 miles total.  My strength improved a little each lap, and I reeled in a bunch of riders from the classes that started ahead, but I could still tell that the 99 miles of racing on Saturday was affecting me a lot.  It turned out that Rick had missed a turn on the first lap, and didn’t return to that spot so he was disqualified—too bad, because he was racing well.  So, I ended up in second place—certainly better than I had expected.  That should be the last time I ask so much from my body—4 races, two of them long ones, in just over a week.  Results are here:   http://www.dirtyspokes.com/forms/results/12mtb_yargo_solo_9.htm and here:  http://www.goneriding.com/images/pdfs/SERC/results/12serc5y.pdf

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.

Granite Grinder 9 hour mountain bike race, 17 Mar 2012

I decided to “step it up” and give 9 hour solo mountain bike racing a try this past Saturday. I’ve done numerous 6 hour solo races, and a team 12 hour race once. I plan on competing in at least one 100 mile race in the dirt this year, so I figured an early season 9 hour endurance race would give me a good feel for my ability to pull that off. For clarification: endurance races are timed, usually 6, 9, or 12 hours long where you do multiple laps on trails, usually between 7-10 miles per lap. 100 milers are usually one or two circuits combining trails and roads (usually dirt). Both take a toll on the body; endurance races are mentally tougher seeing the same terrain over and over (as well as the car beckoning!).

I had a very successful season opener this year in the 6 hour solo race at Tribble Mill park, and so was wondering if I would have similar form (and success) in the 9 hour race. With unseasonably warm temps and possible thunderstorms forecast it promised to be a tough day on the lumpy Conyers course. I began to question my decision to race the 9 hour when former pro and current way fast Masters racer Andy Johnston showed up on the line. To be honest, I thought “there is the winner”. The mass start at 10 am quickly stretched out as riders jockeyed to be toward the front going into the tight singletrack climb. I was in good position 8 or so riders back, and with Andy right there. I knew that some guys would go all out on the first lap to get the fastest lap prize (a pair of bib shorts), but as a 9 hour solo that seemed a foolish thing for me to try. I decided to pass Andy about ½ lap in, which I immediately questioned my judgment on when I saw my heart rate at about 90 max. But I felt good, so I kept up the tempo. A couple hours later, I still felt good, but decided with 7 or so hours to go that I had to ease up a little. Even at a slightly slower pace I began to lap riders, some very respectable 6 hour solo racers. As the laps began to pile up I got the course “dialed in”, which meant that I knew exactly where I could let it fly (no brakes) and how hard to push on every hill. The biggest challenges were to not go too hard and get around slower riders without incident. At about 5 ½ hours with the heat was at its maximum for the day, my buddies egging me on (“you need to GO, first place is only a minute ahead!”, not Andy Johnston), my stomach and legs starting to revolt, I started to crack mentally—3+ hours to go! I don’t know why it works, but it sometimes does—I shifted into a really big gear, stood a lot, and stomped around the course. It worked-- I got faster, and started feeling good (though not exactly fresh). On lap 10 I reeled in first place and started pulling away from Andy in third place. By lap 13 I started to smell victory. The trail was becoming much sparser—6 hour race well over and many 9 hour racers had quit. My last lap, 15, I knew I had it, if I didn’t mess up, so I rode more conservatively. Crossing the line in 8 hrs 43 minutes, I was spent and elated—I’d won and beaten Andy Johnston! As much as I wanted to collapse into a chair, I couldn’t. My body was so used to non-stop moving that, as I devoured “real” vs “race” food, I had to pace around. Weird.

I really am surprised at how well the two endurance races I’ve done this year have gone. I have super confidence on my Specialized Stumpjumper 29er, and I guess really good fitness. I was passed only once in the race, by a person on a two-man 6 hour team. I would have placed a close second in the solo 6 hour race had I stopped then. I will try to keep training the way I have been, and can only hope that my winning streak continues. Race results:http://www.chainbusterracing.com/results/2012GG9HrSolo.htm

Tribble Mill 6 hr MTB race, 18 Feb 2012

My first race of 2012 was the first race in the Chainbuster Endurance MTB Series. I raced the solo 6-hr expert category. I felt relaxed and confident coming into the race--my Specialized Stumpjumper 29er was working very well, and I had good fitness and form. Speaking of fitness and form, my fall and winter training was oriented more toward running...specifically trail running. While there was no doubt that 40+ miles of running a week was not conducive to great legs for cycling, it seems to have given me good fitness and a nice break from miles of droning training rides. And, its good for the bones! I returned to nearly all cycling mid January, which was enough time for my knees and calves to re-acclimate.

I misunderstood the direction for the start, so when I got to the line, I was a couple rows back--being a mass start there were riders lined up about 15 across. The course quickly went down a grassy hill, through a little mud and around a turn onto a narrow gravel/dirt track. From there it went up twisty singletrack, across some technical drops and up more technical stuff. What this meant is that as far back as I was, it would be awhile before I could race my pace. A big gap formed when a Big Dude slowed to a crawl on the climb with about 10 riders between him and me. Why Big Dude thought it smart to line up on the front and go at VO2 max only to blow up 5 minutes into a 6 hr race, I don't know....inexperience or ego maybe. Once he finally pulled over and let the train go by, I quickly passed the other riders except Shey Lindner, who is a Fast Dude. Shey tried to pop me off on technical stuff and grunt climbs, but I was having none of it! We pulled through the start/finish on the first lap together and I led out on lap 2. I felt great, so I punched it pretty hard on the switchback climbs and got a gap on Shey. Soon I saw a familiar rider ahead. It was Jafer Beizer, Cat 1 winner of the 2011 GA state Criterium Championships, and gold and bronze medalist at the 2011 US Mountain Bike Nationals. So, it felt pretty good to catch him. It felt even better to drop him after awhile. Chatting before that with him revealed that he was on a 2-man team with Shey's son, Jansen. Jansen is one of those kids who is rapidly out riding his dad, and most other riders. So, it didn't surprise me that when I heard a rider coming up behind me on lap 3 that it was young Jansen. It was a motivation to ride aggressively, and I kept him at bay until very close to the finish of the lap, riding in just behind him. Lap 4, Jafer took another turn. I dropped him on the first swichback climb. Lap 5, Jansen's turn. He caught me almost at the line, and as I rode past their pit Jafer got on my wheel and vowed out loud that I wouldn't drop him on lap 6--game on! Two things that I don't like about timed endurance races--constantly having to pass slower riders (often in a train chatting away and obviously not "racing") and the repetitive laps. This was different (well, still lots of riders to pass)--Jafer and Jansen were my "competitors", even though they were not really since they were a 2-man team. Well, I did drop Jafer, and on lap 7 I was really motivated! Not just because I was leading the solo race, but because I knew Jansen would be gunning to catch me. I held him off, though just barely. Now on lap 8, Jafer didn't say anything, but I knew he would give it everything he had...this was to be our last lap to finish within the 6 hr limit (as many laps as possible in under 6 hrs). I didn't even bring a water bottle, as I knew I wouldn't even take the time to drink and I wanted to be as light as possible. I went very hard all the way to the woods so that Jafer wouldn't be on my wheel getting a free draft. He was only about 15 seconds back as we started up the switchbacks, but it was holding at 15. I seemed to gap him more on the technical stuff (which surprised me, but oh I do love the way the Stumpjumper 29er handles!) and he'd make up ground on the climbs. About mid course there was another fairly stout climb, but not technical. I knew that if I could get out of sight there and take chances through the technical descent from there, I'd probably have him. I dug very deep and clicked up a gear where I might otherwise click down a gear. Luckily my legs didn't cramp, and crosseyed from effort I gapped him. From there it was dodging trees and a final punch to the finish.

I finished 1st in 6 hr solo expert, beating David Sagat, the guy who beat me pretty handily at this race in 2011 (and the two others we raced against each other) by over 7 minutes. Just as rewarding was "beating" a very capable 2-man team (they won their race). At some (very few) races, everything comes together right. I did have one small wipeout (could have been much worse) and some close calls (par the course in mtb racing), but it was one hell of a race for me. Hopefully I can keep it up--I know Shey, David, Jansen and Jafer will be on the hunt for me at the next race! [Results] and [Results 2]