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.