2011 Season Recap

Well, the year is coming to a close so I figure I should take a look back on what made 2011 what it was.

I didn't get in to the Leadville 100 so I sent the people at the Dakota 5-0 an email and they let me in. I wrote out the check and was going to put it in the mail, but forgot. That evening I got an email from Leadville saying that they had a spot for me if I still wanted it. Since I could only afford to do one of the events I choose Leadville. I think I made the right choice.

I didn't get into the Ragnarok 105 right away either which was a bummer, but with 2 weeks to go they sent me an email asking if I was still interested and I jumped on that. I drove down to red Wing early in the morning and got all set up. My plan was to try and keep pace with the lead group till Flower Road and then cut it down to my normal pace. I stayed relatively close but knew that there was no way to keep that sort of pace. It was a chilly day but that didn't seem to bother me too much. I remember getting to the first checkpoint and it taking a really long time to get my ipod on. After that I remember a nice 20 mile stretch where I felt really good and then it all came crashing down. By the time I hit the second checkpoint I was ready to throw in the towel, but I knew that there wasn't THAT much more ahead. After climbing most of "Heath's Hill" I felt a little rejuvinated and knew that there wasn't too much further to go. I remember hammering out the last 4 miles or so and finishing in 8:40. All in all it was a great day. I was most excited that my buddy Larry finished the whole thing.

Next up was the Almanzo 100 in Spring Valley. I woke up that morning and it was misting and cold. Not a typical day in mid May. I headed down and there were points where it was raining pretty hard. I thought about turning back, but figured I could manage. By the time the race started it was a light drizzle but everything was already wet. Once we hit the gravel you couldn't see anything as dirt and water was flying everywhere. I settled into a comfortable pace but I knew that it wasn't fast enough. I remember at one point some horses got out of there pen and started running down the road in front of us. That lasted for about a mile and they tired and went to the side of the road. I past the first checkpoint and didn't bother to stop. I was feeling good and didn't want to get cold. I made it about 15 miles past the checkpoint and my entire body was so cold it began to shut down. My thumbs were no longer strong enough to shift gears so I had to use my palm and I could't even get a ziplock bag open. At mile 64 I stopped and got a farmer to give me a ride back to the High School for $20. I don't think I've ever been so cold before. I changed out of my riding gear immediately and cranked the heater in the car. It took me about 25 minutes to finally warm back up again. I was very disappointed that I didn't make it because I had enjoyed it so much the previous year. As soon as I got home I ordered rain gear.

A week later was the Cheq 100 in Cable, WI. This is probably my favorite race of the year since it is almost all single track and just a great area to ride. The year prior I finished in 13 hours and was lost as shit for a good portion of the time. This year things were well marked and no directions were needed. I got up there the day prior and rode an 8 mile section that I knew would be towards the end of the race. Race day was a little gloomy but nothing that I couldn't handle. I started out fast because I knew once we hit the single track the pace would slow greatly. I fell into a nice spot where I was riding as fast as I wanted to and there was no one behind me. It was all good till I missed a turn and had to go back. I got caught with a real slow group and had to restrain myself from passing on the trail. As soon as it opened up I sprinted out front of the group and never saw them again. As I got to the 54 mile checkpoint I was exhausted and just wanted to lay down, so I did. I ate a sandwich, some beef jerky and a banana. I was laying there until I saw some people I knew come in and figured that I should get going. The second half of the race wasn't too tough. It was a lot of the Birkie and fire roads. Once the single track started again though I was praying for the day to be over. Once I reached the last section of trail I stopped and talked to some Canadiens for a minute and headed off. It was possibly the longest section of trail I've ever ridden (In my mind). I crossed the finish line at 10h37m and was very relieved to be done. It was a brutal day.

For the rest of the summer I did some local races here and there and got out on my bike about 3 times a week.

Leadville came in the middle of August and would mark my last 100 of the year. I'll save all the prep etc... for a different post. Race day morning started off bad. I woke up with a stomach ache and took a monster shit. I ate my normal breakfast and we headed to Leadville. Once we were there I got my bike in position and had to use the bathroom again. I thought it was just nerves. Then as race time drew close I made one last trip to the pot. My stomach was hurting and I could feel it turning. At the start line I remember thinking "Fuck, I don't want to do this." So the race starts and I feel ok and am going along at a good pace. Once I got to the bottom of the Powerline section my stomach started acting up again. I didn't stop at the second checkpoint and kept cruising through. At the third I couldn't take it any more, I had to use a port-o-potty. I tried to go as quickly as possible but all I got was gas. I got back on the bike and made it most of the way up Columbine before my stomach hurt again. I made it back down in a decent time and went right back to the port-o-potty, all gas. So I continued on and felt alright. As soon as I left the second to last check point it started really hurting. I made it back to Powerline and was almost relieved that it was now "acceptable" to walk my bike. I kept slowly letting out gas. I was too scared to do this while riding because I thought I might shit myself. So I make it up Powerline and am just hating my bike for no other reason than I have been riding it for so long. I get to the paved hill portion and cruise down, but don't make it much further on the up side. A combination of my stomach plus tired of riding made me get off the bike and push it up a majority of the hill. I slowly made it to the top and stopped at the last rest stop for some water and a banana. I pushed with a group of about eight people for the last 14 miles. I crossed the finish line at 11h07m. I was so happy to be done.

I finished up the year with some more local races and a lot of road riding.

What did I learn in 2011? That it is much harder to do things the second time around. The first time you are excited and want to make sure that you finish. But the second time those same emotions are not there and it can make things much harder.

Am I doing all these events again in 2012? Hopefully. There is just too much satisfaction that overrides all the pain and suffering that happens in the training and actual race to not give it another go.

Don't bring your road shoes

There are a few things that have happened recently and maybe they deserve a little note.
Starting from the oldest. I saw some pictures of some drains around town and wanted to check them out. I went out with and a couple other dudes and checked them out. One of them was fairly easy to get to, but the other two were fairly difficult to get to and the last required a small rope repel. We didn't get to the 4th one, but that's cool, it will give us another chance to get out. The drain were rather warm and there was little smell. I have to think of something to make the rides inside a little more daring. Maybe a dim light race or something.
Here are a few pictures I enjoyed.




Also, I went on a ride yesterday with Curt to our normal spots and ran into some bums having a fire. We had seen the lean-to before but never anyone there. They had quite the fire going and were just hanging out. They seemed courtious enough to continue to go back there, but I'll probably avoid night riding there. As always, it was a killer workout like no other trail in the area.

And since today is Christmas, of course I got some bike stuff. I got a pair of SIDI mountain bike shoes. I kind of needed a new pair. My Lakes are full leather with a lot of grip underneath. This makes them good for spring/fall riding but they get too warm in the summer.
I also had the grand opening of the Bianchi San Jose Pro. It's a great bike and I like it a lot.
I am sure there will be pictures of the bike to come this spring.

Last month

OMG!!! What has been going on for the past month? Not a whole lot really. Just trying to get out riding as often as possible. I have been doing a lot less "mountain bike training" and just more fun rides. I have been out on the Pugsley a lot and the new CX bike a few times. I am enjoying the CX bike a lot more than my road bike. It will be a happy day when the road bike gets sold. I also found a cool app, Strava, that tracks your rides, but you can define start/stop points on hills and have a KOM challenge with other people using the app. So far most of the big hills in the area have been inputted, so its just a matter of getting out and riding them. The Pugsley has taken me on some fun adventures. I'll ride that thing anywhere. If there is a small deer trail or just an interesting area of the wood, I'll give it a shot. I am not worried about "getting in a work out" or things like that. While riding last week Curt and I decided to go check out a different area of woods that we have ridden once before in the summer and didn't really enjoy too much. It was much better in the fall. With all the leaves down it was easy to see where the trail was headed and there wasn't face slappers everywhere. We found a giant climb that rivals a few of the climbs in Red Wing. I am going to have to make it a point to get out there in the spring to trim some stuff back so that it is ridable for most of the summer. From what I've seen so far it will make a great addition to my normal loop. Well, thats about it. BTW: I am loving this weather.

Looming Cold

Last Friday I made it out to River Falls for the Icebox 240. It was advertised as groups of 4 somewhat randomly selected teams racing one at a time for 240 minutes. They changed it to 3 person teams and 9 laps. Each person having to do 3 laps. I liked this format better. Once we got everything sorted out and teams were drawn I was feeling pretty good about our teams chances of winning. We decided that we would do a 2-1-2-1-1-1-1 format so that our weakest rider would only have to do one lap at a time. It was a lemans start and I was 3rd into the woods out of 14. One guy flatted at the top and it wasn't long after that I passed the guy in front of me. I really put the hammer down after that and tried to create as much of a gap as possible. I finished my first lap and started on my second. I kept trying to gauge how far out in front I was, I think at one point it was about a minute (clearly not many of the very fast guys started the race). So the race goes on and on. We are doing well, at one point up 11 minutes overall. Our weak link was our third guy. He just didn't seem that into racing. He took off on the final lap with a 3 minute lead and I bet he didn't even make it up BFH before he got passed. We ended up in 4th place overall. It was kind of a let down since we were ahead the entire race. Oh well, 1-3 had to shotgun beers as their awards and it was too cold for me to even have enjoyed that. All in all it was a good night and I hope to be back again for next years.

It is getting too cold out for the standard biking gloves. The past two times my hands have frozen up pretty good. That is never a fun feeling. I am going to have to start wearing my fleece gloves until we stat getting lots of snow. I don't like the fleece ones because my hands get almost too warm, but I can deal with that. I am hoping for a mild winter so that I can get out a lot. Anything below 5-10 and it is too cold for me and just not worth it. People say it's all about what you wear, but there comes a point when you are either so bundled up you can't move or it's just too cold. Plus theirs nothing worse than suffering in the winter. I'll take all spring, summer, and fall have to offer, but I don't fuck around with winter.

Chilly Gravel

Today started out right. I rode over to Troy's house on the SS for some late season gravel time. It was the first time out on my 40x16 setup. I was a little nervous that I may falter at the tail end of the ride but thought this would be a good chance to test it out. It went very well over 36 miles. I could pedal at a 14 mph pace and still tell that I could go much faster if needed. If I don't get the cyclocross bike in to form by the end of February I think that I will ride the SS for the early season gravel races. I'll probably switch to 40x18 for the ragnarok.
Anyway, the ride through White Bear and surrounding area was fun as usual. I was a little disappointed that we didn't go down to the Arcola Highbridge, but that's alright, it was fun none the less. Hopefully I can squeeze in a few more longer gravel rides before the snow comes but with hockey starting weekend time is getting tight.

New Parts

I picked up a few new parts today for 3 bikes. Got a couple of tubes for the pug, some lock on grips for the SS, and the grand prize, a Thomson stem and Hayes Stroker Carbon hydraulic brakes.

Sunday Runday

Since the Vikings started at 3 today I decided that it would be a good opportunity to get a run in. I usually run about 3 miles but felt pretty good today and stretched it out to 4.5. It is very nice to run outside rather than inside on the treadmill. I started using the nike plus website and it works great for tracking runs and showing details. It also integrates nicely with my playlists. I am going to try and get in at least 15 outside running miles per week. Winter may put a stop to that since I am almost always running with the Burley.
Along my route I kept checking out the creek that runs along side. I think that it would be a great place to ride the Pug. The water appears to be fairly shallow, but any dab would get your foot very wet. I think I'll check it out on Wednesday. I just need to find more time to get out and explore the neighborhood.

Poppin' Bottles

This year I bonked twice on long rides (100 miles +). It is not a great feeling to go through. The mental and physical pains are extremely unpleasant. What did these two rides have in common? In both of them I was using water bottles. Take a look at any pro cyclists, they are never sporting a camelback. I am sure that they have trained themselves to be efficient by using bottles alone. I can see the benefits of using only bottles; easier to clean, no weight on your back, you can use different supplements (nuun, GU Brew), and they can easily be swapped out on a supported course. However my main drawback to them is ease of use. I just can't get myself to reach down, grab a bottle, use it, and then worst of all, put it back. It is a process in mountain biking that I do not wish to go through. They can easily be dropped or shaken loose and when I get to a flat area I really want to hammer down and can't find a good time to "rest" and drink. Uphills are tough as well because your breathing goes up makes drinking more difficult. And who wants to drink on a downhill? On my mountain bike I am more than willing to add the extra 3 pounds to my back to make drinking easy as well as easy access to food and tools. Where the problem really comes in to play is in my ever increasing gravel rides. I don't want to wear the camelback for 100 miles if I don't HAVE to. At this time of year it is not a problem, my body does not require much water and I can just grab a drink at every few stop signs. But for limited support races like Ragnarok and Almanzo, you have to carry an ample supply of water at all times and be properly hydrated throughout. It is going to take more effort on my part but as this season comes to a close I am going to try this off season to get myself to rely more on bottles and less on the camelback. I am sure that for long races I will still go with the camelback for 2012, but as my confidence and more importantly by discipline increase, hopefully I can rely solely on bottles.

Week in Review

This past week was a lot of fun on the bike. I did two adventure type rides. The first one was in Cottage Grove on a dried up creek bed. The rocks were huge and it was a real struggle as we rode our way "up." We cleared a few trees that were in the way and managed to ride almost every section after multiple tries. I have to remember to bring my small tire pump and hand saw along next time to clear a few areas that were impassible or forced us to ride up on the bank. you have to be in a different mind set once you get out there. At most area mountain bike trails the larger rocks are usually the easier route. Since this was not human designed that is not the case and for right now I just have to pick the "easiest" line and hope for the best. Needless to say, I am bummed that Curt found this place so late in the season, but it will be a fun place to ride the Pug in the spring again. Hopefully there will be a little water in there to add to the excitement.


^Curt and one of his 1,354 dabs^


^Might be my 2nd favorite bike now, might^

The 2nd adventure ride was on Saturday. It started under the Cedar Ave. bridge and went along the river, up bluffs, through creeks, bogs, beaches, and mud pits. It was a great day and I am really glad that I made it out there. All these trails are within 5 miles of my house and I feel that I have cheated myself by never going out and exploring these areas. I guess I am too spoiled living so close to Battle Creek. Needless to say, anytime I get a free chance to get out this fall, I am headed somewhere on the Pug. Thanks to Josh for putting it all together.

The 1st

I am thinking more and more that blogging is the way to go rather than facebook updates. It will keep a better record of my thoughts and things that I do. Most of the posts will be about biking and have very little to do with anything else in my life. Maybe I'll include some thoughts that I have while riding from time to time as well. Hopefully I will keep up with it and manage to record more of my biking adventures.