The Weeks That Were

There hasn't been a lot of biking going on in the past two weeks. The colder temps make it much easier to go to the gym and spin for a couple hours.

I went up to Lutsen for a snowboard trip that was a good time. Drank way too much every night and ate unhealthy food. I don't think that I was fully recovered until yesterday.

I went on an 8 mile fat bike ride yesterday. Some snow covered paved path, some wooded trail. It is always fun to get first tracks!

The snow was pretty soft and I was always cutting through to the bottom surface. Combine that with being dressed way to warmly and it made for a tough ride. Getting the winter clothing dialed in has been tough this year with the mild temps.

This brought up my main issue with the fat bike though. While fun to ride in the winter, it just doesn't go that fast. It makes it hard to get in the miles that I would like to.

While riding my cyclocross bike a few months back I made a wrong turn down a closed road and stumbled across a nice wooded area that it seems a few people use to walk their dogs. I road around on the trails that were already there and it seemed like a nice place to ride in the winter on the way over to Carver.

Speaking of Carver, they are having a race there on Sunday which I plan on attending. It should be a good time.

Other notes:

I need to take more pictures. I notice that I will write this blog if I take pictures. A lot of posts have been lacking pictures and thats not very interesting.

Why does it take some parents soooo long to drop their kid off at school? You wait in line to get to the front and then they pull up and it's still a minute before their kid gets out because they are probably saying goodbye. Do that shit while waiting in line, not once you get to the front.

I'm about to end my "No Facebook for 2012" Twitter is great for news and articles and the occasional funny comment, but I don't like it to "connect" with people or carry on a discussion.

It won't be long until Ragnarok training begins. It is going to be a grind on the SS, but I am confident that I can do it.

I'll probably have a race recap on Sunday night.

Fat Bike Race

I was lucky enough to not have hockey practice this past Sunday so I decided to head up to Elk River for the first race of the Cold Bear Challenge.
The beginning was typical of the races up there. More people standing around and bullshitting rather than riding the trainer and waiting for the best starting position.
I got excited when I saw they were giving away a 9Zero7 frame and carbon fork at the final race of the series. I don't know which one I'd like more. Probably the fork. I'd spend the $600 for the frame, but I don't know if I could justify the cost of the fork($400), especially with the beating that I put on my Pugsley. Plus there's all the "hidden" costs to winning the frame. I'd have to move my components over to the new frame and I would ultimately decide that they were unworthy of the new frame and buy new ones... Oh well, given my track record of winning things I'd be happy to leave there with a free GU pack.

Back to the race.
It had a new prologue that was fun to ride. I entered the singletrack in about 11th and was happy riding there for a bit. I only wore two layers of clothing but quickly realized that it was too much. I decided to suffer through it and not stop to shed some clothing. I passed a couple people, but was then passed by two riders that had been behind me the whole time when I fell on a patch of ice.

I settled into a good spot and rode by myself for a majority of the race. My main goal was not to get passed by the skinny tired bikes. It wasn't till the end of section 4 that I was passed by the first guy. I wouldn't see another one for a while.

I got to section 1 and was ready to put the hammer down but it was icy as shit. I fell 3 times and saved myself from falling about 3 more times on icy turns. The bike would just slide out from under me. I hit my thumb pretty hard one time and was sure that it was busted open and bleeding but I decided not to look.

I made it through and headed on my second lap feeling good. Shortly into section 3 at the stairs I locked up my rear brake and went down hard again. Now my pointer finger was in real pain and I was fairly certain it was broken, but once again I decided not to look at it and since it didn't hurt holding on to the bar on went on. I shook the cobwebs quickly and got through the remainder of section 3 pretty quickly. Section 4 was tough, but I made it through alright.

Once again I wanted to use some of my reserves of sections 1 and 2 but was nervous about the ice. I went a little faster as I could see that the sun had melted some of the slick spots. As I neared the end I saw a guy that I had passed a little earlier start to creep up on me and decided to go fast and if I fell, I fell. I made it through fine and finished strong.

All in all it was a good race. I ended up finished 15th out of 33 finishers (37 starters) 16 minutes behind 1st and about 10 minutes behind everyone else. There were a lot of areas that I can improve on that I think will cut a lot of time.

Other weekly notes:

Still waiting on the final entrants list for the Ragnarok.

I mailed in my postcard for the Almanzo 100.

If I had to make a guess there are not A LOT of people registering for the Leadville 100. I seem to get weekly emails from Lifetime that start out about losing weight and then throw in Leadville at the end. I'm still not sold that I really want to do it again this year. There are other races out there that I'd like to try out. But, I really like the feeling when I finish that thing. There's nothing like it.

It seems that a lot of people have already fallen off the wagon and are not going to the gym, which is good for me.

That's it!

What's new for 2012?

I ended 2011 right. I started the day with a 55 mile road ride with some surprise gravel, got hammered drunk, and a cougar made a pass at me while my girlfriend was in the bathroom.

So how can I top this one day in 2012? I don't know, but maybe it'll all unfold in this blog.

On the 55 mile ride I got a flat tire from what appeared to be a rose thorn and had to break out my single speed wrench in order to take the rear tire off. It wasn't that difficult, but it is a pain in the ass to have to lug the wrench around in the back of my jersey pocket since I refuse to wear a hydration pack while road riding. So on Sunday I switch the the wheel set out on the Bianchi with my road bike that I hate. There are quick releases so if I have to change a flat it shouldn't take too much time or require me to have that wrench. The only problem so far is that it does not have a single speed hub on it. Not a huge deal, but I have to get some spacers for it. I messaged a guy that does some carbon work to see if he could make me some custom spacers (Lamest custom thing ever? Probably.) and he said that he could hook me up. I want them custom so that I only need two of them and they line the cog up perfectly. I also saw a clamp that you can buy that goes on each side of the cog that looked pretty cool. I may try that out if the carbon isn't cutting it.

Today I also decided that I am going to layoff Facebook for a while and do a little more on Twitter. My Twitter account (@Brett_100) has been pretty lame for the maybe year that I have had it. My main issue is status updates. I have relatives and people that I respect enough not to clutter up their feed with a bunch of updates and profanity. How long will I stay away? The Vegas sharps are setting the line at 20.5 days.

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.