WORS #11 Bear Paw Rock & Roll

Had the best result I could have hoped for.  It was my 2nd time lining up in the Elite field but this time around I was more confident and aggressive.  It also helps that the last 10 days on the bike I've been feeling pretty good and have had some good rides as of late.

Last Wednesday we went out to the trails to lay down a hot lap and I was going quicker for a full lap than I ever have.  There are a bunch of strava segments at our trails and I torched a bunch of them during my lap.  I doubt those will be falling anytime soon.

Drove out to the course on Saturday with a few teammates in Mt. Borah Van.  It was nice to have that ride and have our team comp the gas.  Thanks Mt. Borah, 360 Real Estate, and Kickapoo Coffee!
Things were rough on course.  Super bumpy, lots of roots and rocks.  The singletrack wasn't super fast due to the technical nature.  Riding the Epic was again, a huge advantage.  Not sure how anyone could ride that course on a hardtail without destroying their back.  We were talking after the race and estimating how much time we spent sitting vs. standing.  The results weren't surprising.  A few climbing sections early in the lap but nothing that lasated longer than 90 seconds.  The rest was punchy inclines.
My bottom bracket or what I thought was my bottom bracket was creaking like crazy and driving me crazy the couple days prior - I just didn't have time to jump into it.  So the whole race every non drive side pedal stroke was making noise.  It wasn't until Monday that I figured out it was my chainring bolts from my Q ring. Nice to have a quiet bike again.

Anyway, race started good.  I had good position, wasn't in the red too much and found my spot in line.  Came out of the first singletrack section onto a dirt road and bridged up to the next group.  From that point it was hang on and try to pick off as many as possible.  Third lap we ended up catching a few faster guys and knew I was going to have a good overall position.  At least better than last race.  Basically held on for the 4th and final lap without anyone passing me but the wheel I was following did drop me.  I was hoping to jump him in the 1track and get a gap because I thought I was faster there but he had more power.

Crossed the line 18th overall and 3rd in the age group.  The winner of the group was top 10 overall so that moved me into the 2nd age group position.  Cole House won.  He had 13 minutes on me.  Not as bad as the 20 Brian Matter had on me at Lake Geneva.  What was nice too was knowing that had I raced the comp category I would have won the overall by almost 2 minutes and age group by 4.  The upgrade was justified.

Next week is another race at Levis Trow/Mound.  Depending on who shows up, I'm primed to do well in the 25 mile race.  Get at me bro

Chequamegon 40 recap and more

A few weeks ago was the Chequamegon 40.  Point to Point "MTB" race.  But mostly ski trail, gravel road stuff.  No single track.  Lots of hills.  Nothing that would be considered technical besides bombing rocky descents at 35 mph and avoiding huge mud puddles.
It's a total power course - basically TT'ing the whole way at aerobic threshold.  I replaced my front S Works Fast Trak to one of the S Works Renegades for less rolling resistance.  The morning of the race the tire lost 15 pounds of air from the night before.  I decided to air it up and just stick with it and hope it didn't go flat.  Damn thing didn't lose a pound of air during the race and I would have liked 5lbs less air in it - that is a lot of air.

Last year was my first year.  I did it with 1.7 legs instead of 2 and got a flat, but managed to finish at 2:36.  Respectable first time but still slow.

This year they introduced starting gates based on how you finished the last 2 years.  So I was in gate 3 probably 400 people back - that was a huge improvement over fighting 2000 other dudes for a spot.

The week leading up to this race was poor.  didn't have any good rides, legs were flat, worked a full day on friday and then drove the 3.5 hours up that night.  When we started I just had no pop in the legs.  The first 10 miles I suffered pretty good.  It was a long ways from where I can be when I'm running good.  I started to feel a bit better as the race went on but I still couldn't hold my own in the quicker groups that were up the road.  I'd occasionally take a flyer from the group I was in on a downhill and bridge up to the next bunch but never did anything great.

Lea Davison blew by me at the halfway point after she flatted early in the race.  I kept her in my sight for 15-20 minutes and didn't let her get much further away but I eventually faded.  She was the 2nd place woman overall and just a week off the World Champs in Austria.

Eventually a teammate came up to me and helped me pick up my pace.  We rode together going back and forth for 10-15 miles.  Eventually after the firetower climb we hit a really tough section of Birkie trail.  Constant rollers with big climbs and a gradual uphill pitch overall.  He was riding SS and basically dropped me.  He finished a minute 30 up on me and I came in at 2:24:30.  The time was pretty good though - I'm happy.  It was good for 129th place overall of 2000 or 1850 - something like that.  That time last year would have been good for top 100 and gate 1

Next year I'll be starting from gate 2 though and with better legs should crack top 100.

Otherwise I've been feeling really strong lately.  had some good rides recently and maybe am the strongest I've been all season, it's tough to say.  Got another WORS race this weekend on a course that should suit me well and then the following weekend is the WEMS Championship race at Levis/Trow Mound.

WORS Treadfest - a cat 1 butt whoopin'

Lake Geneva hosted the 10th race in the WORS series.  It's a good little course.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much singletrack there was.  At first it looks like another ski hill race but it was much better.  The opening section sends you straight up the hill and then straight down.  Repeat that 2 more times and you are redlined 4 minutes into the race.

Previously I was riding in the cat 2 comp category and doing well.  I knew I would be forced up for next season so I beat them to it.  Lining up with 54 other fast dudes is a little intimidating.  Especially when 10 or so of them are "pro."  Brian Matter, Cole House, Matt Shriver to name a few.  When I had exceptional races in the comp category my lap times were good enough for mid pack in the 1 field, although I would have had to knock out an extra lap.  So I was aiming for a mid pack finish.

We started out up the three climbs and I actually had good position going into the woods.  I was suffering though - every time it opened into a passing section I was getting swarmed by 1 or 2 riders.  Eventually I settled in.  I took off my sunglasses and stuffed them into my open jersey.  A minute later they flew out, if they were cheap glasses I would have left them but they weren't.  I got off my bike and ran the 25 feet back to get them.  A small group of 3 or so passed me including 2 that I fought to pass.  Back on the bike and going again. Beginning of lap 2 I blew up going up the climbs.  It was here that I worked my way to the last of the riders.  It sucked pretty good.  If I did a better job of pacing myself my overall would have been much better - it forced me to wait behind the stragglers in the single track.  Halfway through that second lap and I was going good again with 2 more to go.  I was coming up on riders at a steady rate and dispatching of them.  Last lap I managed to pass a few more and got into a good battle with another dude.  He was riding behind another guy when I came on them both in the woods.  I let them know I was going to pass and he jumps the guy in front and pretty much attacks.  I'm stuck behind for 30 seconds or so and quickly close the gap when it opens.  I attack up a climb into the remaining singletrack.  When we enter the final open section he starts sprinting and I had to put a dig in to keep in front but managed to finish ahead of him.

All the other races I was much more aggressive b/c I knew I was fast for my category.  I was too reserved this time not knowing who these dudes were or how fast they were and that slowed me down.  I finished 35th out of 49 finishers. 12 were "pro"  10 of 15 in my cat 1 age group.  I was almost exactly 20 minutes behind Brian Matter who won.  Thats a lot.  He was knocking out 27 minute laps and I was doing 32 minute laps.  Holy shit.

On the positive, my laps at the end of the race were my fastest.  Best case scenario I could have saved maybe 4 minutes total.  If I happened to do that I could have finished in 30th instead of 35th.  MF'ers are fast.

Airing it out on a fast downhill

CTFU

I guess I just want to race Mtb really fast and really well.  Those were the thoughts that made me CTFU to the 1's.  3 WORS races left on the season that I'll be doing.  I can put the good fitness from this year to good use.

Subaru Cup (The relegated version)

I've sort of been looking forward to this race all season - I knew it was the midwest regional championship and I wanted to claim that title.  Problem was it wasn't available to Cat 2 age groupers which I didn't find out until the day before.  Ultimately it's pretty insignificant so whatever.
We arrived Friday afternoon and pre rode.  The course is pretty good, plenty of technical stuff and enough climbing.  Only problem is that it's pretty short, one lap hovers around 20 minutes and the cat 2 do only 3 laps.  Usually they have the comp cat 2's separated from the sport cat 2's with the comp race doing more laps of the elite course - but because of the nature of this one race everything gets a bit messed up.
As far as race length, course options and starting waves, the normal WORS races are actually better for comp riders.  Probably even the cat 1's as they would get more time on the course.

So I was feeling excellent, legs were in great shape, nothing left to do but race.  We take off and I'm gone and out of sight in 2 minutes, I really wanted to push it hard because it was only 1 hour long.  I'm passing dudes left and right.  I'm near the end of the first lap and following a rider who I know from the wave in front of me, and we come upon a section where we need to make a hard right turn into some singletrack.  The guy i'm following makes a shallow right turn and cuts through the course to the next climbing section.  About 3 seconds after this happens I realize what we did.  Ultimately we bypassed around a minutes worth of singletrack.  The way the course winds on itself and the poor marking at that corner allowed it to happen.  As a matter of fact, we weren't the only ones to do it.  We weren't bushwacking to do this either, it was a wide dirt/grass path section. Anyway, I decide to just keep going at that point and figure it out later.  When I go through the start finish I see the race director and yell to him to fix the marking, people are cutting trail.  2nd and 3rd time through they moved the arrow and added course tape to better direct you.

Second lap and I'm suffering a bit more and not riding as clean.  By the 3rd lap I start to settle down a bit and ride cleaner.  I finish alright.  My finish time was just over 1:01.  By the time I change and talk to a bunch of other riders about what happened I'm summoned to the timing trailer.  The officials are aware of what happened and the guy I was talking to was recommending that we add time (about a minute) to those of us that cut that section as opposed to DQ'ing.  Fine with me, that still leaves me 1st.  Well, what ended up happening was moving me down to 3rd  because the next 2 riders were within still within a close enough time  that they felt it would be the fair thing to do.  I'm not really arguing so that is fine too.  The only thing that bugs me is the course marking, and the fact that I can't really know how I truly compare time wise with the other riders if this didn't happen.  I think some of the times got screwed up a bit b/c I finished 1 minute up on riders the wave in front of me.  Add a minute to my time for a penalty and we're even.  But they started 1 minute earlier so I would have ended up being a minute faster still  - somehow some people's times are wrong and it's too much to figure it out.

I did run into a few KC folks, namely those of the Ethos team.  Maybe I should just take the advice of Garet and CTFU.

olympics - vinokourov

Dopers shouldn't be allowed to compete in the olympics.  End of story.  It's a shame that a convicted doper won the gold - it's meaningless now.  Probably half the field was doped anyway.

WORS - Sunburst Showdown

What a crappy race.  Thanks to all the volunteers and people who put it on, but that place had no business being a MTB race.  Literally - what a shitty venue.  It was wide open on the side of a ski hill.  Almost no singletrack and most of it was created by a lawnmower through a grass field.

Hot and dusty, mid 90's.  Took the lead into the singletrack, had another strong rider on my wheel.  Halfway into the lap my chain bounced up and caused my front chain guide to rotate.  With my front Q ring, every pedal stroke was grinding the chain into the chain guide.  I heard it grinding but didn't think to get off and fix it.  In hindsight, I should have, because for the next 1.5 laps I was going backwards in a hurry.  I was blowing up trying to hold the leaders wheel and probably got passed by at least 15 people - people who I know I can beat any day.  I thought I was just suffering from the heat - I wasn't sure but it sucked.  Thought about pulling out after lap 2 but stayed in.
A short bit later and my chain guide shifted up a bit or enough metal ground out that all of a sudden I had 50 more watts and started moving again.  I was pissed that I didn't fix it earlier and it made me realize that had to have been what was wrong.  Sure enough I start passing back all those who passed me - maybe 5 on the 3rd lap and 5 on the 4th and I quickly dropped anyone on my wheel.  It was a little too late though.  I finished 8th overall and 3rd in the age group.  2:30 off the overall win.  I looked at my lap times from the garmin and found that my last 2 laps were each 2 minutes faster than the first 2 not including the start loop.  So maybe I lost 4 minutes total.
Whatever.  The venue was a big let down - will never return again.  3 of our group pre rode on Saturday after driving 3 hours - and decided that paying to race there is a crime.  They skipped the race and rode real singletrack 30 minutes away.

The front view of my chain guide.  The inside  lost a few mm's of metal and it took 0.5 mm off the top of my chain. 

WORS #5 - Red Flint Firecracker

WORS stop #5 in Eau Claire.  This is close as the racing gets to us in La Crosse so it feels like a home course.  Jane and I still opted to go up Saturday and pre-ride.  She was going to race in the sport category and needed to check out the loop.
The course is flat, fast and flowing.  The rain earlier in the week made it nice and not dusty or too dry.  Only 300 feet of climbing or so per lap.
After last week taking 1st overall I knew I could repeat again.  Although with not much climbing it would be tougher.  The flatness of the course evens the playing field, also the less technical nature makes it harder to break things up (although there were some tricky sections).  I sort of fell asleep during the call ups.  I still don't have a call up which sucks, but I got swarmed from my 1st/2nd row and was starting from 4th row when they yelled GO.

Erik P leading out

Fortunately there was a longer than average lead out of double track and gravel.  After a few turns the pace slowed and I was able to work my way up to the front.  I took the lead and put my head down.  Just before we hit the whoops, singlespeed teammate Erik P came around.  It was us going 1 & 2 into the woods.  We had a small gap and settled down a bit.  We hit a passing section and a Bikes LTD rider came around and took the lead.  I was still behind Erik but he soon let me around to give chase.  Neil from Bikes LTD was riding good.  I was sticking his wheel but he was quick and I was a bit concerned he would gap me.  The last  2 WORS races I've been off the front or by myself and haven't really had someone to follow.  It stayed like this for 2/3 through the first lap.  He started to get a bit sloppy in the singletrack and I figured I would take over.  I pulled though in a passing section and he held my wheel for awhile.  By this point we were off the front together with one other guy chasing.  I told him we should work together in the flats and open to keep our gap.  Well that lasted all of a few minutes because I heard a crash like noise and he was 10 seconds off the back next time I saw him.  We came though for the 2nd lap and he was still 10 seconds.  I kept looking back to see if he was closing in the open parts but he was still back there.  We popped out for another long open gravel section and the gap was slowly getting bigger.  I wanted to get out of sight so the carrot could stop hanging in front of him.  After awhile I saw no one and settled down but apparently too much.  End of the 2nd lap I saw Neil and another rider closing in.  I upped the pace again, sprinting out of corners and putting more power down on the climbs.

navigating a tech descent - steeper than it looks

Came through for the 3rd and final lap and didn't see anyone behind.  If I kept it upright and didn't flat I'd probably take the win.  Entered the woods and a friend told me to keep the pace up.  He was riding all around the course and appeared at the halfway point and told me what I translated as I had dropped them for good.  Was passing the straggling elites at this point which is always a good feeling.

Rolled through for win in my age group and my wave.  There was some waiting to see if I took the overall win again as the 40+ wave had started 3 minutes behind.  At 3:04 the first place 40+ crossed the line.  Took the overall by a small margin - he basically did what I did last week - worked his way through a ton of traffic for a good placing overall.

So 3 races and 1 4th overall and 2 first overall's.  I'm pretty happy to say the least.  People have been asking when I'm going to upgrade.  I've decided to wait until after the Subaru Cup (pro XCT race).  This also serves as the Midwest Regional Championship.  Not sure if it's worth doing it that way or what that really means, but I'll try to be fast for that one.  I've got a good plan and it starts with more miles and hours than I've done recently and ramping up to the middle of August.  It's such mental sport - and I'm in a good place.  I'm only getting faster and I'm confident that trend will continue both from a fitness standpoint and ninja singletrack standpoint.

WORS #4 Battle of Camrock

Good ride yesterday.  WORS #4 outside of Madison.  Excellent course, technical, bumpy, tons of singletrack - the way a MTB race should be.  Probably the best course that WORS has, or at least the best course that I've been to.  Limited passing in the first half of the course made it a bit difficult but I had the best race to date.
Everything leading up to the race went as planned.  Got lots of good rest, ate well, legs felt great.  Thanks for a heads up from Britton at Volker bikes in Kansas City, I made the skratch labs rice cakes.  That stuff just became my new pre-race snack.  I put some down on Saturday as an after dinner snack and then Sunday for a pre-race food after I ate breakfast.  That is some clean burning energy.  In combination with the skratch drink mix - you can't go wrong.  Super fuel!!!  

Back to the race, with the abundant tech sections on the course, I wanted the holeshot and be able to ride the singletrack at my pace, which is usually faster than my peers.  Lined up 2nd row (still don't have a call up) and hammered the grassy uphill leadout that levels out for 200 meters before dumping into the woods.  Took the lead and had a train of 3 on my wheel.  Flossed the trails and kept the pressure on until about 2 minutes later when we hit the back of the 40-44 age group wave.  This was very slow going trying to work through that mess.  Not to mention that the open women who were clogging the flow.  Last race we were the first wave of the comp's to go off - what a difference that makes.

Anyway, I had 1 guy on my tail - 10 seconds back for the first 1.5 lap - this slowly grew larger and larger. The first time through the start/finish Jane told me I was in 18th - she didn't know I was leading my wave and age group.  So I had 18 40+, in front who started 2+ minutes before.  I kept on the pressure and was pinning the climbs - lots of short, punchy singletrack.  Was feeling good, took a gel and new bottle from Jane.  Second time through she told me I was in 12th - still no one from my wave had passed.  On the 3rd lap I caught a brief glimpse of the guy in the blue kit after I slowed it down a bit.  I put a few more digs in and never saw him again.  Meanwhile I was still passing people left and right, and starting to come up on the last of the elite field.
Right before I went out for my 4th lap, a stranger asked if I wanted a bottle - I was running low on my last one (my 3rd) and it was the best hand up ever - the most refreshing bottle of ice water I could ever imagine. I had just taken my 2nd gel and this was icing on the cake.  Came through the start finish and Jane had me in 8th overall.  I knew I was running good and with the starting time gaps had to be close to the overall win.  I kept it upright and ended up passing 4-5 more from the 40+.
Crossed the line at 1:50:36.  First in my age group, first in my wave, and first overall by 30 seconds.  So yeah, I had a great race and have begun to do what I know I'm capable of - and I know I will only get faster.  I'm no jedi knight in the singletrack yet, but I'm getting there.  The good thing is that it's easier to become a true ninja in the singletrack than it is to add 50 watts of FTP.  Maybe thats why I like MTB so much?
I will stay in the Cat 2 Comp category for the remainder of the year and with 5 top 10 overall's in one year will earn an automatic upgrade.  So far in 2 races I'm 1st and 4th.

Next week is another good course in Eau Claire for WORS #5.  I'm looking to do the exact same thing as I did yesterday, and will have the odds in my favor.  Ninja studies continue....

Levis Trow Endurance Race.

Saturday was the second stop on the WEMS (Wisconsin Endurance Mountain Bike Series) at my somewhat local Levis Mound.  This was my third time racing here so I knew what to expect - although the course does change up every time.
After a good weekend of racing 1 week prior, I was confident that I could place well, possibly win depending on who shows up.  Weather was hot, hovering around 90 with a big south wind.  Legs didn't feel too good warming up.  Were sluggish and didn't have too much top end.  These races are pretty technical and really don't have any open sections so its more of a tempo race.  25 miles total, 2 laps of the 12.5 course.
Le Mans start - first time I have been forced to run on my leg - surprisingly felt great.  Got to my bike and was off chasing 2 guys up a bit.  Got up to 2nd place before the singletrack.  Settled in and caught my breath, but was anxious to go.  After a mile it opened up for 50 meters and I took over.  Back into the woods we went.  I upped the pace a bit and put in a few small digs and got a gap that kept growing.  I stayed on the gas for the whole first lap.  Struggled a bit in a few sections but was doing ok.  Wiped out at mile 7 in a loose and sandy corner.  I could see that I had a chaser that was about 30 seconds back and regained composure and kept it quick for the remaining of the lap.  didn't really see anyone after that.  Came through the start/finish 2:30 up on my follower.  Grabbed another bottle and chugged half of a Coke.  Was riding really fast for the first couple miles of lap 2.  Passing a lot of the 50 and 100 milers, but never had any pressure from anyone behind.  Once I started hitting the climbs and technical stuff I just put it into cruise control.  Was taking in as much water as I could - tough to do in 100% singletrack.  Made me wish I would have worn my camel back.  Came though the finish 4 minutes slower than my first lap.  2nd place had actually closed the gap and was only a minute behind me.  If he had put pressure on I had some power in the tank go grow the gap - or at least thats how I felt.

Wish I had my suspension set up softer.  I was a bumpy race and I could have used the comfort - I think I def would have been faster on the 2nd lap if I wasn't getting so beat up.

Next week is WORS #4 at camrock.

WORS #3. Finally.

Finally confirmed to myself that I'm capable of racing MTB somewhat fast.

Jane and I went up to Wausau, WI for the third stop of the WORS series.  Drove up Saturday and got to check out the course.  Lots of open sections, ski trail and double track.  Good for passing, bad if you're faster in single track.  I'm not quite sure where I fall in that category.  Probably a good all rounder.  I ride my home singletrack really fast but in other places I still do too much brake checking - but apparently it was good enough this weekend.  Couple singletrack sections had some big rock gardens - but the full suspension 29er made those not much of an issue.  Couple good climbs, 400 ft vertical per lap.  Knocked out 2 laps on saturday and called it good.

Sunday came and Jane was lining up for her first ever MTB race.  She totally killed it.  She was racing in the Cat 3's where they only do 2 laps of a shortened course.  She worked her way to the front before going into the woods and never looked back.  She knocked out 26-27 minute lap times.  If she was racing in the Cat 2 women and kept her pace the same for a 3rd lap she would have placed 2nd overall of the cat 2's!  There actually was another rider who did give her a run for her money.  They traded places the whole race until Jane attacked on the final open section and put 20 seconds on her before the finish.  The rest of the cat 3's were 7-8 minutes back.  So both her and the other chick were sandbaggin.  She says she will be racing more WORS races and in the cat 2's next time.

I warmed up ok, was feeling good, but not super.  Got to the line early and waited.  After call ups there were only a couple spots open on the second row.  Me and some other guy sprinted the 15 meters to the spot and tangled bars.  Luckily I didn't crash because that would have been embarrassing.  So I lined up on the 2.5 row.  They yelled go and we were charging for the first 90 degree turn, I was probably 10 back.  A few more turns and more double track and I was 4th wheel into the first single track.  The guy in front of me was going a little slower than I would have liked and by the time we came out, there was 1 off the front.  I was able to jump him and second place but also, my teammate racing the SS category came around with another SS.  I settled in.  A few more sections and the eventual winner came around and bridged to the leader.  Looking back I should have jumped the 2 SS guys and stuck his wheel but I stayed.  At the end of lap 1 it was us 3 with the 2 up the road and out of sight.  At this point my teammate was blowing up and I left him.  I was riding ok but my 2nd lap was probably my slowest.  A bit later I caught the other SS'er and left him for good.  I was riding alone in 3rd place for the remaining of lap 2 and going into lap 3.  This is where I started passing cat 1 riders.  I passed minimum 10 of them.  I was rolling steady and feeling good.  I never knew how much further they were up the road though - there are too many waves and people on course to know who's who.  No one ever passed me though and I rolled to the finish about 1:30 behind the the 2.  When it was all said and done 1 racer from a later wave and different age group had a faster time and bumped me down to 4th overall.  2nd in the 30-34 age group behind the overall winner.  so yeah, first mtb race of the season was good.  I know i can go faster too.  I haven't done any structured intervals yet - i can add some speed to the tank.

Next up is an endurance race at the IMBA epic Levis Mound trails.

countdown

First big race of the year is Sunday.  WORS #3 in Wausau, WI.  I'm getting pretty anxious thinking about it.  I know my fitness is good and I'm more focused than I have been in 2 years.  Got 100 miles in during the last 2 days.  Monday rode 50 with the wife going easy.  The 20mph winds made it tough at times but not too bad.  Rode the TNWC ride last night and got another 50 in. Feeling good and I was able to hold some decent power up until the last 5 miles.  I'm going to get 1 more ride in 45 min - 1 hour of hard stuff and call it good.

Saturday Jane and I will make the drive up in the AM.  get there, probably eat a bit and then pre ride the course.  Surprisingly I've never pre-ridden a MTB course the day before a race.  But if I'm going all out and want to do well it's a must.  We'll stay overnight and jane might do the cat 3 womens race.

New kits are in for team 360/LaX Velo.  The Mt. Borah stuff is very nice and comfortable - we got hooked up.

flying right now

La Crosse Omnium was a bust for me.  In the road race 200 meters from the finish, a crash happened 5 feet in front of me.  25 mph.  It hurt pretty good.  Lots of rash, a busted open elbow, Rash deep enough on my knee that I could see veins.  I found out they were veins because I thought it was dirt when cleaning things out and ruptured it.  Blood was squirting out.  Went to the ER to get my elbow stitched.  I'm good now, just lots of healing wounds.  The guy who started it had: Broken scapula, broken arm, broken collarbone, broken ribs, collapsed lung.  He made a very stupid move and really had it coming.  The second before the wreck, I thought "this doesn't look good, this guys going to crash"

My bike was destroyed.  Literally.  Frame broken in 2 separate pieces.  Broken bars, a whole bunch of other shit.  Thank god I still have a friend who own bike shops.  Britton at Volker Bikes had a frame for me.

So I sat out a week while I was healing and got back going 6 days later on the MTB.  I was feeling like I should take it easy, but on the Friday night MTB rides we usually let er rip.  2 minutes into the ride and I was back to normal with my riding confidence.  I've just been riding the MTB all week, which is fine with me.  It doesn't feel like a workout though because I'm having more and more fun on it.  I don't think I've ever gone this fast on the MTB.  I've been playing around with wheels, tires and air pressure and I'm having some good discoveries.  A few small changes and I have been just ripping shit up.  It's crazy good riding right now.  So good that when you suffer up the climbs it doesn't hurt like it used to and when I would ride with too much brakes on the tech descents, I'm now letting it fly wide open and literally skipping across rocks/roots/logs that I used to pick my way through.  I literally feel like yelling "yeah" and "wooooo" when I'm riding.  Maybe it's because I've learned my home trails so well now, I don't know.  But other people notice it too, and when you get compliments on your riding it feels good.

Regarding the wheels, I used to ride stock Stans Crest rims with their hubs.  The wheels are light, but are not that stiff.  I didn't notice how much they flex until I got the Specialized carbon roval control sl's.  More spokes, slightly lighter than the crest's but way stiffer.  Those wheels point in a direction and just flat out go.  I put some heavier tires on the stock wheels that came with the bike.  DT Swiss 450 SL's.  I'm running these with tubes and stan's in the tubes for some extra resistance.  leaving the air pressure up a bit to not pinch flat, I'm riding faster with these wheels than I was with the Crests.  Stiff rim, more pressure = great feel and tracking through corners.  So all along I've probably been running the pressure in the Crest's too low thinking that I was getting better traction, but probably compromising overall handling.

Tonight I'm going to ride with the rovals and play around with pressure.  It's funny because I never know the actual pressure.  The gauge on my pump doesn't really read the low pressures - I've always gone by the squeeze test.

First actual race in WORS #3 on June 3rd.  I'm busy all of May and will just keep riding and start getting more intervals the last week of May.

I'm riding with the newly developed Team 360/LaX Velo team.  We're a MTB specific team with pretty much the fastest guys in the area.  Got some good sponsors, like 360 Real Estate and Mt Borah - the clothing manufactorer which is based in Coon Valley, WI - 20 minutes away.  We limited the number of racers to 12 to keep us in the medium team size category.  We will try and take the overall team title for that size.  We will have a good shot too.

Personally, I'm getting a series number for the Comp category.  I've previously raced in this group but never done spectacular.  If how I'm riding is any indication of how the rest of the season goes, it will be good.  My goal is to force them to make me cat up to the 1's.  Which takes 5 top 10 overalls.  Out of an average 100 comp racers per race it will be tough.  There are plenty of fast riders in WI.  Just ask anyone who has ever raced a WORS race.

overdue update

Lets see how much I can remember from the last 4 months?
Winter came in Wisconsin, but not in the usual way.  It was a mild one and the cross country skiing was less than ideal or non existent for most of the winter.  We did make a few trips up to Hayward and Cable, WI to ski on the Birkie trail - which was great.  That trail is a bitch though.  Constant up or down.  You get really good at climbing on skis though.  It's a great leg workout and really helps you carry some strength through to the cycling season.
Jane and I did ski Kortelopet (the half birkie for you non skiers) at the end of February.  Similar to a lot of my adventures in new sports/events I go into a race like this with a laid back attitude.  "I'll just get out there and see how I feel" So I was content to start at the back of wave 9 with all the other first time racers.  But once you start moving you can't help but want to go fast and pass people.  The race was so congested from that far back that you had to go the pace of the person in front of you on the climbs.  Halfway in it opened up a bit and I could move around better.  At this point I felt I was really skiing fast and was feeling good.  I did take a couple falls and one was pretty spectacular.
Considering all the above I had a respectable time.  Good enough for a wave 4 start next year which is probably where I should be.

I've been hitting the gym up a bit trying to build some strength back into my left leg.  At the end of fall it was still noticeably weak.  Leg workouts and core strengthening classes have definitely made me more solid all around. So far this season I can notice a difference.  Hopefully I can maintain good strength throughout the summer and stay in the habit of lifting weights and core workouts.  I did get the hardware removed from my left leg.  It has set me back a bit in limiting my riding for about 2 weeks, but it's been almost a month now and things are great.  I can jump on my left leg and not have it feel "weird."

So on to riding and racing.  I'm basically trying to attempt what I wanted to do last summer.  Which is simply race a lot of MTB races and have fun.  There will be a road race or two thrown in for fitness, but I want to get the epic 29er flying this summer.  Really fast.

Here is the tentative schedule:

4/29  Decorah, IA MTB TT
5/5-5/6  La Crosse Omnium
6/3 - WORS - Wausau
6/9 - WEMS Endurance Series - Levis Mound
6/17  WORS - Camrock
6/24  WORS - Eau Claire
7/1  La Crosse YMCA RR/Cedar Rapids MTB race?

7/4-7/8 Vacation.  Camping/MTB/Kayaking in Hayward/Cable
7/14-7/22  Vacation again.  Copper Harbor Camping/MTB/Kayaking followed by Madeline Island and Bayfield

8/12  MN MTB - Border Crossing
8/18-8/19 WORS - Subaru Cup - Pro XCT stop

9/15-9/16 Chequamegon 40

So from the looks of it, June will be really busy.  July will have a bunch of down time, but hopefully still getting in lots of good miles and hours.  Then in the middle of August is the big race - the Subaru Cup.  Would like to podium for the overall there.  I'd like to fill in the schedule with something early August to help ramp up to Subaru Cup.  We will see what develops.

I did get into Chequamegon again.  The good thing is that they now have starting gates instead of leaving your bike at the start line at 5am to preserve a good spot.  So based upon last years result, I'll be in wave 3. Which would be about 300 people deep instead of 1000 like I started last year.  Also I'll have the fitness of a season of racing and I won't be coming off a broken leg.  On paper I should be a lot better than my 2:36 from previous.

enter the off season

So, here we are again.  Last year around this time I told myself that I was going to make MTB racing my main priority.  This was due to a number of reasons, primarily I have more fun riding MTB than road, and it is easier to drive 2+ hours for a 1.5 to 2 hour race vs. a 45 minute crit or cross race.  But the season was scrapped after the broken leg in February.
I did get into ok shape towards the beginning of fall but the left leg was still underpowered and my out of the saddle climbing was non existent.  I just couldn't power over climbs and would usually have to stay seated and spin it out.  I did turn in a respectable 2:36 at Chequamegon with 1 flat tire.  The whole season wasn't a loss, but enough of it anyways.

So as winter rolls into Wisconsin I've got some planning to do.  I'm going to try to do next summer what I wanted to do this past summer.  Get really fast on the MTB.  I'll still be racing as a cat 2.  I definitely haven't had any results that stand out in the xc races and I'm going to change that.  Ultimately I'll be racing mostly WORS races with the occasional endurance race thrown in for balance.  Crits and RR mixed in the early season for fitness.  The subaru cup will be the target for the summer.  It got moved to mid July instead of late June so that is good for people who live up north and don't begin racing until early/mid May.  In addition, going for the series in cat 2 is well within reach.  If I'm going to upgrade to 1 for 2013 it will hopefully be because they forced me to due to results from 2012.

I do have a surgery date set for March 2nd for the hardware in my left knee to be removed.  Luckily that is only a day surgery and limited activity for 7-10 days while the incision site heals.  So I will need to get in a good block of training the month prior to that so the down time will be my rest.
I got a membership at the YMCA and have been hitting that up trying to get the rest of my strength back  and working on the core.  Been going to a weekly core training class.  It's pretty much all females in there with a female instructor, but it kicks my ass.  It's amazing how untrained the rest of your body becomes when cycling is your main gig.  10 years ago I used to do this stuff in my sleep.  I'm faster on a bike now, but overall strength is in the pits.  They got some good spin bikes too, complete with power meters.  Instead of riding a trainer at home, the spin bike will be a lot nicer.  Cross country skiing will play a big role this winter as well.  It will be great cross training and great for base workouts.  I am signed up for the Birkie in late February so I've got some motivation to ski quite a bit this winter.

WEMS Championships - Levis Mound

The last race of the WEMS series was this past Saturday at the epic Levis Mound trails.  I chose the 25 mile race, and lined up with about 10 other people.  Not that many people, but considering how late in the season we are and there were cross races on both sides of the state, probably appropriate.  More people lined up for the 50 mile, 100 mile and the 62 SS state championship.


Not my video but gives you a taste of the trails. All very good.
This is one of the better sections of trail. This shit is good.

 A quick survey of the competition had me figuring that I wouldn't win this race, but I knew I could podium.  The eventual winner was a pretty fast Cat 1 that has a long history of good results.  I stuck his wheel from the go and we instantly had a gap going into the singletrack.  That lasted all of 2 minutes while on the singletrack and he was just plain faster and smoother.  I kept him in sight for about 15 minutes but then he was gone.  There were about 3 good climbs on the course and after the first climb I passed the leader as he was on the other side of a switchback, about 1 minute ahead.  When I reached that same point I saw 3rd and 4th place riding together, 1 minute back of me.  I tried to keep the pressure on but was making a few mistakes here and there and generally not riding smooth.  I came through after 1 lap at 1:08.  The race director ended up taking some trail out because he thought the lap times would be too long but I think he made them way too short.  Technically it should be a 3 hour race and not 25 miles.  I can do 25 miles in a WORS XC race.
Anyway, I head out for lap 2 and have my only real crash of the day.  Bumped my bars on the right side with a tree which sent me flying into a tree on the left.  Plowed into that tree pretty good and I was down.  Smashed some fingers which left them numb for next 10 minutes but other than that it was fine.  Kept it smooth lap 2 but apparently 2 minutes slower - but I'll take it.  Rolled in at 2:18 for 2nd place.  I thought 3rd would be way behind me as I never saw anyone except for the lap traffic, but he finished only 2 minutes behind me.  Would have liked that to been more.  The winner was about 10 minutes up on me - ouch.

Have been feeling really good lately.  My fitness is coming along and I've been riding my epic better than I ever have.  Just switched out my S Works Renegade front tire for a bontrager 29.2 but just on the front.  Thought I'd test it out. - that thing hooks up nice - way more confidence inspiring than the Renegade - the 29.2 is pretty light also.  under 600 grams.  I still like the renegades as they roll so fast but keep them for select races.  Contemplating racing the last WORS race in Sheboygan next sunday.  Earlier I would have said no way but with as good as I've been riding, I might have to.

Chequamegon 40 recap and picture dump

So this race is sort of a big deal up here in the north woods.  People literally spend their whole summer to "get ready" for this event.  The Chequamegon is a point to point 40 mile mtb race that takes place on gravel/dirt roads, snowmobile trails, and the famous Birkebeiner ski trail.  The latter is essentially a 30 foot wide grass path with a singletrack path down the middle.  My GPS had about 3000 feet of climbing at the end of the race.
Earlier in the year I was moderately motivated for this race.  But leading up to it and spending lots of time on some sweet singletrack, a road race on MTB didn't seem interesting.  However, I was committed and going to see what the hell was going on up there.
Jane and I traveled up with another couple who was doing the race.  We had a cabin rented that was 1 mile from the start line so that was nice.  We hung out friday eve and settled in for our 10 am start time the next morning.  This year there were about 1900 racers and probably 1000 of them had their bike saving their start position by 6am.  Literally hundred of MTB upside down filling the street.  I wasn't too stressed about the race and wasn't concerned about my start position.  My game plan was just to ride and see how I felt.
In retrospect, if I get into the race next year, my bike will be on the start line at 5am to preserve a good spot.
We went out for our warm up and I was so-so.  We rode the 3 miles to where the trail picked up and back. With 10 minutes to race I snuck in the middle of the 1900 and waited. Every other person I knew was much closer and Jack, the guy I traveled with was about 200 spots up the road.  Looking around I got the sense that I needed to be futher up in the field.  Hairy legs and older equipment do tell a story of the type of rider.  As well as the guys who wear baggy MTB shorts.  Nothing against those shorts, I own a pair and like them, just not in this type of race.  They fired the canon to signal the start and we were off.  I started passing people left and right. I was time trialing it and it was hard to find a consistently clear path.  Several others had the same idea and I tried to recover on the wheels of people who were moving quick.

We hit rosie's field (the first trail section) and I get boxed in really quick.  I soon found that riding way off the trail in the taller grass was much quicker than trying to snake through the middle of the trail with the faster surface.  The first 5 miles was a real blur.  I was just passing so many and trying to come over the tops of the climbs pedaling hard.  The epic was allowing me to get on the far edge of the trail and just bomb the descents.  I was flying by people who were on their brakes for traffic and the 29er full suspension was soaking up all the bumps due to my poor line.  It was great.  I was having a ton of fun in the beginning.  Riding great and feeling good.  I passed a La Crosse local at 12.5 miles in and at soon after I passed old man ralph heath.  He's in his 60's and rides crazy strong for his age.  He had great times from previous years and is always fast, so at this point I knew I was going good having just passed him 15 miles in - who knows where he started.  At 20 miles I ride up on Jack.  He sounded excited and surprised to see me.  He is a great rider as well.  We did a 50 mile gravel race together a few weekends prior and he dropped me with 10 miles to go.  The two of us rode together for the next 10 miles.  At times he looked stronger and at times I would ride away but he bridged up.
At 30 miles we hit the firetower climb.  It's basically 4 pitches in elevation and several minutes long.  It's steep, rocky and loose.  Many people walk this section.  I rode it good, not super fast, but good enough.  I crested in front of Jack and OTF of the group we were riding with.  The downhill involved high speeds and big sharp rocks.  I was taking advantage of open trail and let the Epic rip that shit up.  Unfortunately, my thin casing S-Works tires took a pretty good gash to my rear.  I felt the familiar feel of a loose back end and quickly pulled over. Surprisingly, this is the first time I've flatted riding tubeless.  I pulled out the CO2 and gave it hell.  it took about 1 minute of me fussing around trying to get it sealed.  It finally seemed good enough and I figured I'll just continue riding and see what happens.  All told I think I was stopped for maybe 2 minutes.  But realistically, it's hard to say how much time I lost.  I rode up on and passed Catherine Walberg a few miles previous yet she finished about 3 minutes up on me.  Who knows.
I mounted up and began picking off the people who I had passed nearly 30-45 minutes previous.  I remember thinking "you again" several times.  I stayed within myself with only 8 miles to go and no food.  I could feel the cramps coming on and I needed to finish strong.  A few miles down the road, I see the familiar jersey of Jack on the side of the trail.  Flat.  So I pass him back never to see him to the finish.  With 2 miles to go I was bonking.  I couldn't wait to reach the finish line.  I always seem to run out of food or wish I had 1 more GU left in these types of races.
Down the ski hill I flew and crossed the line at 2:36:33. Based upon times from previous years my goal was to be around 2:45 so I nailed that one including a flat tire.  Next year with a better start position and not coming off a broken leg 6 months previous I should break 2:30.  My time this year was good for about 260th overall.  19th in the age group.  I should crack top 200 if all goes well next year.

 Heading out to ride IMBA epic Levis Mound trail

 after the Chequamegon.  Eating lots of donut holes and bananas.

Riding more Hayward singletrack the day after Chequamegon.  We got rained on and had to turn around after 25 minutes or so.

I won.

Me stalking in the background

Now that i have your attention, I will say that there were not that many people in the race. It was a 3 hour endurance race in the "northwoods" of wisconsin. Jane and I were at a friends cabin with several couples (which was awesome), and this race on the WEMS series was only 45 minutes from the cabin. It was the Wasburn Rock and Root, just outside of Rhinelander, WI. Myself and co-conspirator Jack Zabrowski lined up for the 3 hour tour. I hadn't really ridden since the previous race as my bruised/broken ribs have been giving me a bunch of trouble. I wasn't actually sure that I would line up for this one, but after some pre-medding with tylenol, it was doable. I told myself that if I was in pain I was going to shut it down, but at the start I knew I had a chance to win so it was on and I was ready.

My main competition was going to be Jack and some Australian named Owen. I am well aware that you can never trust an Australian as Australia is entirely peopled with criminals, so I made sure to keep a close eye on him. Add in the fact that he is a Cat 1 road racer and lived and raced in Belgium, and his legs were huge......it was going to be a good race. He was however, riding an 26" aluminum hardtail. I knew in a 3 hour race I had the mechanical advantage riding the epic 29, especially because we soon found out the trails were bumpy as shit.

It all started with a 2 mile double track leadout before we came through the start/finish and into the single track. Thank god it wasn't a LeMans start as I still can't run on my leg since I broke it last February. Owen takes off at the gun and I manage to hold his wheel the entire time. We opened up a huge gap right away and my friend Jack later told me that there was no way he was going to go that fast that quick. We empty into the singletrack which was all pretty technical. 100% singletrack the rest of the lap until you come through the double track at the end of the lap (that we started with). Right away I could tell Owen's tech skills were lacking but he had more horsepower for sure. I sat behind the first half of the lap and eventually told him I would lead. As soon as I took over I tried to gap him but it only ever got up to about 10 seconds. We came through the double track at the end of the first lap with him basically on my wheel and he put the hammer down. He immediately opened up 30 second gap. I tried to chase a bit but had to slow it down.

Second lap it started raining a bunch and the trail was getting muddy and slick very fast. I was riding very bad at this time and was suffering. I began thinking that I was just going to have to hold on to 2nd place. However, the last part of the 2nd lap I started picking my head up and looking down the trail like you're supposed to and immediately I start riding fast again. I came through for the 3rd lap and they said Owen was only 55 seconds ahead. It was great, I started riding really fast and was just so focused. I came up on the Aussie within 5 minutes and I knew I had a good chance at getting a good gap. I was getting really anxious to move around and almost crashed. He opened 10 seconds right away but I stayed calm and just rode up to him. I must have been putting on the pressure for him to ride fast because he started making a bunch of mistakes. I think I was being too polite again. How do you handle these situations? If the leader is fumbling around and I'm soft pedaling sticking his wheel, do I ask him to move over or do you just tell him you're going to pass and then try to take it from him? Eventually he bobbled enough and let me go through when he dabbed. With 1/2 to 1/3 lap to go I was out of sight. I was just worried that he would catch me on the double track, but I soon realized he was gone and I had won. I ended up finishing 3 minutes up on him and about 20 minutes over the next closest. Granted it was a smaller race, and not that many people, but I was pretty happy with how things unfolded.

That night at the cabin I ate a shit ton of tacos and it was good. My ribs are in some trouble though. During the race it felt fine, but the second I got off the bike, I could barely move. Still today it's pretty bad. I may sit out next weekends WORS race - we'll see.

WORS - Camrock

Sunday was the latest installment of the WORS series. This time we rode in circles just outside of Madison, WI. It was a new venue to the WORS circuit and it was pretty good. Lots of climbing which is good for me and some technical stuff, also good for me. I traveled to the city of hippies with 2 other La Crosse jerks on Saturday eve to stay at some other jerks house - formerly of La Crosse. This jerk and his wife were gracious hosts and provided us with a pretty good pasta dinner and a homemade sauce that was amazing. We settled in and watched "get him to the greek" which was pretty mediocre. I brought a sleeping bag and a pad and tossed and turned on the living room floor. Awoke at 7am feeling very sleepy, breakfast at some diner at 9, at the race course by noon for our 1:30 start. It was supposed to cool down on Sunday, but it did not. The sun was blazing and it was hot. Not Missouri/Kansas hot mind you, but Wisconsin hot. This means temps in the upper 80's. Although I do miss living in KC, this summer looked pretty stupid weather wise - forget that.

The course started up a long steep grassy climb before you emptied into singletrack. Earlier in the week my legs felt great. However, I could tell I didn't have the pop from earlier in the week during warm up. Still no top end, but enough mid level power to get me through. I was excited though as this was the first race on the epic 29er. All my rides before had been impressive and I was hoping this would be no different.

Anyway, we go and I get a poor start. Not aggressive enough at the start and stuck behind some slower riders. 2 minutes into the race and I'm 45 seconds down on the leaders. This is no new scenario for me and MTB races though. I just have a hard time going 100% for the first part of the race. First lap was good enough though as I was keeping pace with some of the LaCrosse posse, I eventually faded a bit and had to take it down a notch. 2nd lap it started raining and turned everything very slick. There were lots of hike a bikes up the tech uphill stuff. I got caught up at one time, couldn't clip back in from running and lost a few spots. got going, not clipped in and fell again, and bobbled some more. I think I lost about 1 minute and probably 5 spots during this spell. I finally got going and settled down a bit. By then, the rain was tapering and things were drying up quick. I got behind a group of 4 who were apparently out for a Sunday freaking cruise. I stayed behind in the single track as they were holding conversations with each other. I should have been way more aggressive here and ran them off the trail and not waited until it opened up. But once it did open up I told them to move over and quickly dropped them as I put the newly recharged hammer down. A few tried to make the move with me but it was 1/2 lap to go of the 3rd and final lap and I was irritated with lost opportunity. I began ripping some trail on my way to bridging up to and passing 2 more. I got a brief glimpse of what I was capable of when I can ride unimpeded and I knew I was flying. I rolled in 10 minutes down on the overall cat 2 winner. Finished 35 out of seventy something finishers. 7 out of 10 in my age group - which isn't great.

Overall a good race though. Got a little beat up with my falls on the 2nd lap and took some knocks to both knees. The bike was flawless. There were some sections that were pretty rough and a lot of people were talking about how beat up they got. I actually felt decent at the end of my race and could have easily knocked out another lap if I had to. That bike smoothed everything out like butter.

Next weekend we're traveling to the great north woods of Wisconsin to stay at a cabin with some friends. there just so happens to be a WEMS endurance MTB race 30 minutes from where we're staying. So I'll be lining up in the 3 hour solo race on saturday. I hope my upgraded parts come in by then.

there is no going back

I'm referring to the 2011 Specialized Epic 29er that I am now the owner of. There are a few things that I have acquired in my short cycling career that represent huge jumps in performance/fun/going fast. The first would be going to my first carbon road bike from an aluminum framed specialized allez elite. Britton at Volker bicycles helped make that one happen. The Jamis Xenith Race was a great bike. Another would be getting a nice pair of carbon road shoes, again courtesy of Volker bikes. When you switch from plastic road shoes that have zero stiffness - that jump is huge. The most recent jump is riding this new MTB. The combination of big wheels and full suspension is crazy good. The bike is so much more responsive on the front end than my Gary Fisher which was a bit sluggish. Part of that may be due to the larger 2.2 tires on the Fisher. But the rear of the bike just puts power to the ground and it keeps the power there. It's a bit of a lazy mans bike because you can just ride through any obstacle and it just keeps going with momentum.

I rode the cam rock trails last saturday, it was hot and it was the first official ride on the new bike. I got things dialed in pretty good. Sunday I went out to Kettle Morain state forest and rode a shit ton of single track. 25 miles to be exact. and i never rode any section of trail twice - although it would have been nice to, there was some fast stuff. I rode the john muir section then the overgrown connector trail to emma carlin. It was hot and I was low on food. I went through 3 gels and was wishing i had some solid food. Rode back towards john muir thinking I might bonk, but the return route was a lot shorter. Packed up and hit the general store in La Grange which doubles as a bike shop. Had a good lunch and drove the 2.5 hours home. Great day of riding and I was buzzing. I haven't had this much fun on a bike in a long time.