MTB Marathon Nationals

Headed up to Breckenridge, Land o' Thin Air, to put in 50 miles in the mountains against a bunch of locals. This was a tough race, two 25 mile laps with an advertised 5400 ft of climbing per lap. It may not have been that much, but it was substantial.

From the gun I was in trouble with the altitude. I had to back off multiple times because my breathing was getting away from me. I was especially gasping on the upper portions of the course at over 11,000 ft. I settled into the best rhythm I could and just kept turning over the pedals.

I think I was one of the slower descenders out there, at least on the gravel road sections. I seemed to do better on the especially rocky, technical stuff, but on the wider roads guys were passing me all day long.

Rolled my two laps pretty steady, but started to run out of gas a little at the end. At the finish I was pretty hammered, my lungs were actually sore from breathing so much. Weird.

Rhett's Run

This was a great weekend! Gina and I took the Airstream out and camped in Huntsdale on the Katy Trail. We rode up to Le Bourgeois for dinner at the Blufftop Bistro and then back by way of Rocheport. Fun stuff.

Sunday morning we got up and drove into Columbia for Rhett's Run. It is surprising how little I've been on the MTB this year. I haven't ridden offroad since Ouachita (April 5) and have ridden a grand total of 4 times in the dirt this year, training and racing! And wouldn't you know it, it rains in Columbia for Rhett's Run!

The rain didn't really matter too much, the trails were slippery and sloppy in a few places but overall not too bad. I rode the Marathon class and figured I'd be dueling Dwayne for the win. I rode Jeremy's Epic, its a tank but the full suspension made for a comfy day.

We got off the line pretty well and quickly had a small group of 4 leading the way: Dwayne, Jason Stiger, myself and another whose name I don't know (maybe Mitch Johnson). We cruised the first lap and then Dwayne took over the pacemaking and stepped it up a notch. Shortly into the second lap Dwayne flatted and it was just Jason and I. I started setting pace after Dwayne's flat and soon found myself alone.

I settled into a rhythm and was feeling pretty solid. Half way through I started running into Sport riders and was really getting held up. Some guys just didn't want to let me by. In fact, some unpredictable riding combined with impatience on my part, lead me to go down awkwardly on my hand. Finally I got through everyone and had some clear trail to get back into a rhythm. I was set to turn 8 laps as I came through at 2:28 to start my 7th. I had no idea where anyone else was and I was just riding my pace. My lap times were 24-25 minutes so I knew I'd get around in time for an 8th lap. But it was not to be. I flatted on the first rocky descent. Shit! Not having any tubes, I doubled back to the start to see if I could borrow a wheel.

Ten minutes later I was back underway. I rode the last lap conservatively, not really knowing whether anyone had passed me. I rode a 25 minute lap and crossed at 3:02. Later I learned that Jason had passed me and finished a minute and change in front of me. Oh well.

Commuting by bike...

I've been thinking about commuting to work by bike for some time. For me, the cleanup and bike logistics are the main deterrents. They aren't too major, but our building is really not designed to accommodate bicycle commuting. Of course, the roads between home and work suck too. I'd have to take a pretty long route just to avoid the worst of the traffic. Nonetheless, I'm thinking about giving it a try.

On a related note, someone got hit riding on I-35/29 this morning at 4:30AM (story). Now, this is undoubtedly a stupid thing to do, but it is still a tragedy for those involved. What disturbed me the most was the comments on the story left by readers. There certainly is no love for bicyclists in the Kansas City area.

Maybe its time to relocate to a more progressive community.

Biting off more than you can chew...

Joe Martin Stage Race with the professionals: recommended that you train more than 10 hours/week.

Okay, so I thought I had a chance of sitting in and making it to the finish with the group in the road stages and figured I'd probably get shot out the back in the crit on Sunday. I was almost right. I got dropped on Sunday more or less right out of the gate, but I also didn't quite have the necessary fitness to stay with the group on the hills at the end of the two road stages. So, I rolled in after the group in both, but within the time cuts.

Yup, it was pretty hard and I was pretty blown on Sunday. Even though I got blown out I actually think I'm not too far from being able to ride in the group. I haven't done any training intensity this season and I've hardly done any racing. Both of these things would be necessary to be able to survive this stage race, even as pack fodder.

My First Adjustment

I've never been to a chiropractor until today. I have known for some time that my hips/legs were not quite balanced. Even when I was racing years ago I could tell there was a slight difference. I figured this could either be a leg length discrepancy or a skewed rotation/tilt of the pelvis. While I haven't been suffering any chronic pain in my back or legs, I finally decided to see if it could be rectified.

So today I went to see Dr. Kucera at Sage Integrative Therapies. She confirmed that there is something going on in my hips. Specifically it appears to be my left hip and probably my periformis muscle on that side. While I was there, she also adjusted the cervical and thoracic regions of my spine. I am going to see Dr. Kucera weekly for a while and we'll see if things get better.

I have also gotten Graston Technique from Dr. Kucera a couple times in the past. I may see about making it a regular thing.

Martes Noche Criterium - Cinco de Mayo

The rain held off and so the crit was on as usual. Today everything stayed together and it came down to a field sprint, which Shadd won. Some guys are heading down to Joe Martin and were not making any efforts. I made a few surges and on the last one ended up a bit off the front by myself. No one figured I was going anywhere so they let me ride out there for a few laps until about 4 laps to go. I just wanted to get a few efforts in before the Joe Martin Stage Race to hopefully be ready to ride hard on Thursday afternoon.

I don't have any delusions of grandeur for Joe Martin, especially in the Pro/1 category. I am just going down for the training and race miles. Hopefully, I won't embarrass myself too much. I'll be satisfied if I have a decent ride in the TT on Thursday, finish the 2 road stages in the group, and make it through Sunday. There's a decent chance I'll get dropped on Sunday, but who knows maybe I can just latch on to some wheels and stick in there.

Belated Ouachita Report

On April 5th, I lined up to do the Ouachita Challenge 60-mile race in Oden, Arkansas. It was a power-packed field with a number of MTB pros and accomplished amateurs.

We rolled out fairly easy on the gravel road section that started the race. We had a pretty tough uphill a few miles in and the pace was hotter than I wanted to go. I settled into a rhythm with a few other riders and we came out at the first aid station about 5 minutes off the pace of the leader, Jeff Kerkove. I hit the road section with Noah Singer and we were told 3 riders were in front of us, but all out of sight. We put down a good effort over the next 14 miles of paved and gravel roads and caught up to Chris Renshaw and Ray Hall just as we hit the Ouachita Trail.

I settled back into my own pace on the climb and the three rode away from me. In retrospect, I may have held back a little too much on the Ouachita Trail. I did manage to catch back up to Noah at the Aid Station #3, although he proceeded to ride away again on Blowout Mtn. I think Blowout Mtn. was probably my weakest section but because I was holding back I was ready to unleash on the Big Brushy climb after Aid Station #4.

As I came through Aid Station #4, Glen told me I was 1.5 minute down on the next rider. I rode hard up Big Brushy and had Chris Renshaw in sight as we exited the singletrack on to the last 8 miles of gravel & paved road. I quickly closed up the gap to Chris and then we worked together for a mile or so. We hit a few small uphills and I was able to put some distance on Chris. I put my head down and put about a minute on him over the next few miles.

I rolled in 3rd place, 5 minutes down on Noah Singer and 10 minutes down on Jeff Kerkove. The race was both easier and harder than last year. I definitely had better fitness than last year, but the longer course and hills in the first 5 miles made the race more difficult. I still have not got my head in the right place to make hard efforts early in races. This is definitely an issue in MTB races, but has also been a problem in some road and CX events.

Various vids are on YouTube.com

Let's get this party started...Tues Night 4/29/2009

Just a quick post to start things off. Last night was the Tuesday night training criterium. It seemed like everyone was a little tired or unmotivated after a weekend of local racing. A break rolled fairly early and the group was not interested in chasing it down or riding particularly hard.

Luke Lininger, Bicycle Shack junior racer, continued his strong riding by getting in the break and pulling through strong throughout the race.

For my part, I didn't get to ride before the race because of work and just warmed up during the first 15 minutes or so. After that I made a few efforts here and there. In the end I led out Joe Schmalz on the last lap and it looked like he took the group sprint without much trouble.

I am fighting a few nagging aches and pains surely associated with pushing my aging body too much. My back has started bothering me the last couple of weeks, it was especially bad in the Hermann Road Race on April 19th.