2012 Ouachita Challenge Race Report

Last weekend was the 12th running of the Ouachita Challenge in small Oden Arkansas.  I've done the race the last 2 years, and it's one of the hardest endurance mountain bike races in the midwest.  60 miles of gravel, road, huge rocks and some of the sweetest bench-cut single-track I've ever ridden. 

I came into the race this year unsure how it would go.  I've had some success there in the past with 9th and 6th place finishes, but so far my results this spring have been mixed.  Add in the hottest temperature for me this year and who knew what would happen.

I stayed with the family in an awesome secluded cabin about an hour from the race HQ.  I try to turn my "bigger" races into mini-vacations since I don't really go on vacation.  Luckily I have an understanding and supportive family.

I was able to pre-ride  Big Brushy (the first trail section of the race) on Saturday, and the trail was in great shape and I felt pretty good so I hoped Sunday would go well.

My strategy going in was similar to last year; try to hit the trail near the front, survive the rocky first half of the race, have someone to work with on the road between the Ouachita Trail and the Womble, and make my race on the Womble.  I've said it before; I'm not a good technical rider.  I'm sketchy in the rocks and not fast on the downhills, but I can climb relatively well and have good endurance.  I have to play to my strengths and the first half of OC just emphasizes my weaknesses.  Make it to the Womble would be my mantra.

My Kuat teammate Cale McAninch was doing the race, and lucky him, he got to sleep in the Kuat van instead of a cabin (that's me posing, not Cale).  I really hoped we could ride together until the road section in the middle of the race since he's a strong road rider, in addition to a great mountain biker.  It was his first OC and chances of us riding the same pace for 20+ miles were slim, but that's what I was shooting for.

The race starts with about 8 miles of pavement/gravel to the Big Brushy section of the Ouachita Trail.  Last year it was pretty mellow.  This year was not.  I ride a 1X10 and was spinning as fast as I could on the flats and could barely hang onto the back of the lead group.  I don't know what the deal was, but people were in a hurry to get to the trail.

There's a long climb right before the trail, and as I made my way up it looked like there were about 20 people in front of me.  I passed a few people and found Cale on the way up.  I jumped on his wheel and rode with him to the top.  Then, right before entering the trail he passed 2 people and they got between us.  So much for riding with Cale.  In a few minutes he's gone and I'm doing my best to avoid rocks and keep from wrecking.  

I got passed by a few people on Bushy, passed a few others and popped out to my support crew after about an hour feeling pretty good.  Blowout mountain, the next trail section was the hardest of the day.  I start that trail feeling pretty confident about myself and my riding ability, but by the time it's over I feel like I'm not a "real" mountain biker and I'm unclipping at the first sign of a rock garden.  The shear size and number of them just beat me into submission.  But I survived it, refueled at the aid station and started making my way up Chalybeate Mountain.  The climbing is what defines this section for me, and while I was making up some time from all my hike-a-bike on Blowout, I also had my only mechanical issue of the day.  The zip tie that holds my derailleur cable to my frame near the rear derailleur broke which let the cable flap around, snagging on my shoe as I pedaled.  I fixed it by using one of the twisty ties from my number plate, but it kept coming undone and I had to stop several times to re-do it.  Frustrating, but of all the things that could go wrong, it was pretty minor. 

 Check out the sweet new Kuat Kit's.  Coming soon to a store (or website) near you!

As I was fiddling with my bike I was jockeying back and forth with Corey Godfrey, a guy that I've ridden with at some point during my 2 previous OC's.  When we popped out on the gravel road for an 8 mile ride to the Womble I told him I'd like to work together so we could make good time on the road.  I told him I didn't think he would get much benefit drafting off me since he's at least 6'6" and I'm at most 5'7", and he said; "gravel's my thing".  So I jumped on his tail and he proceeded to pull me to Sims, where I got a bottle hand-up, waited for me to catch back on, then pulled me to the Highway 298 aid station.  Along the way we caught another rider who was happy to have a draft.

I can't say enough how awesome it was to have Corey to draft off of from the OT to the Womble.  We were flying and I was recovering the entire time.  As we approached the Womble trail Corey said to go on because he was starting to cramp, so I took off, feeling as good as I'd felt all day.  I was sitting around 16th place but soon started catching riders who were having issues with the heat.

About 5 miles into the Womble I caught up to Brandon Melott and Cale.  Brandon was on a single-speed.  Cale was cramping and having heat-stroke symptoms so after riding with Brandon and I for awhile, he pulled over and told us to go on.  Brandon was riding well and it was good to ride with him, but when he pulled over at a road crossing to re-fuel I went on.  I wound up catching a couple more people, then as I was coming off the Womble for the ride back to Oden I caught up to Andy Gibbs, a St. Louis rider I've raced against many times. It was his first OC and he'd burned a few too many matches early on and was running on fumes.  I would have been content to finish the race with him, but on the last gravel climb of the day, he said he was blown and I went on by myself.  I wanted to finish in under 5 hours so I put my head down and rode hard to the finish. 

I ended up crossing the line at 5:01:52 in 8th place.  Much better than I expected for most of the day, so I'm pretty happy with the result.

Here's a link to my garmin data for the day, and here's a link to the official results.  There are TONS of photos out there from the day, so if you're interested, look here, here and here.

The weekend was awesome, and the race, as always, delivered.  I may never crack that top 5 but I'll keep coming back and trying.

Big thanks to the friendly/helpful volunteers at the aid stations and road crossings, and of course to my support crew for keeping me moving. 

2011 Syllamo's Revenge race recap

I do quite a bit of racing and I usually put everything I have into each race, but for me there are 3 big races a year.  Races that I really look forward to and want to do well at.  They are the Ouachita Challenge, Syllamo's Revenge and the BT Epic.  They are all 50+ mile endurance races on some very tricky and challenging trails.  Of these races I've had my best result at Syllamo and this year I feel like I'm doing my best riding, so I entered this weekend's race with high excitement and expectations.

This year the Syllamo's Revenge was held alongside a new NUE Series event the Syllamo 125k.  They would be starting an hour ahead of us and racing the same course, but repeating a couple sections at the end in order to get the longer distance.  I had considered signing up for the longer race, but honestly, the 50 miles of SR are enough, and last year I didn't want to go any further.  I was a little uneasy how the earlier race would effect the trails for us, but everyone would be racing in the same elements so it really didn't make any difference.

The race is near Mountain View Arkansas and I planned on getting a cabin nearby but with 500+ people converging on the area the closest I could get (where dog's are allowed) was a room at a nice place in Calico Rock, the Cedar Rock Lodge.  It was about a 40 minute drive to the Blanchard Caverns Campground, the start/finish area of the race and very clean and affordable.

We made the drive to Calico Rock early Friday, and after checking in and unloading some stuff made the trip to Blanchard Springs Campground so I could pre-ride the first 5 miles of the course.  The ride was great, with mostly dry trails and I felt really good. 

Next we drove into Mountain View to pick up the race registration packet and then headed back to Calico Rock for some excellent pasta at Don Quixote's.  I had the seafood pasta and there was enough for two meals.

Saturday morning I was up at 4:30, ate a big bowl of oatmeal and drove to the race, getting there in time to watch the 125k race start at 7.  Then I rode up the long hill towards Blanchard Cavern to warm up my legs.  On the trip back down I noticed a strange wobble feeling in the lever for my rear brake.  It had a feeling like my rotor was bent and the lever was pulsating.  It had never done that before but I didn't think much of it.

I started the race on the front line and made it to the climb up blanchard road to the singletrack in pretty good shape.  I didn't go all out on the climb since my goal was just to enter the singletrack in the top 10.  In the following picture I'm the 3rd from the right:

A group of 5 broke away a little but were only 30 or so yards ahead.  Cale McAninch passed me and I reached the trail behind him around 6th place.  The pace on the trail was pretty good and on one of the rocky climbs that came after a sharp turn Cale, on a rigid singlespeed had to walk a bit so I passed and he got in behind me.  I got in a group behind 3 riders with Chris Renshaw and Noah Singer in the pack.  We got away from Cale for awhile as we cruised the fast flowing benchcut trail, but when we started some of the slick rocky descents Cale caught back up.  Overall I felt like we were riding faster than I had the previous year and I was definitely working but I was thinking I could maintain the pace for awhile.

About 10 miles into the race on a downhill I went to grab some brake and my rear brake lever went to the bar without slowing me down.  I tried pumping the lever but that didn't work, so I pulled over to see what was wrong.  Cale said that 90% of braking is the front wheel, which is true, but on slick muddy rocks, you need some rear brakes.  I fiddled with the various adjustments on my XX brakes but couldn't get them to work.  There simply wasn't any feeling at the lever, I could pull it to the bar without any resistance.

For the next 4 miles to the first checkpoint I did the best I could but had one crash were I went over the bars and hit my leg pretty hard on some rocks, and was passed by a couple people.  Here's a picture of me about a mile from the checkpoint:

When I got to the checkpoint I was really disappointed.  I'm not a great technical rider and I was really struggling on the downhills without a rear brake.  Plus the big downhills were still to come.  So I decided to call it a day and DNF the race.  I just didn't think I could do it without getting hurt.  Then, Jim Davis (the same Jim Davis that aired up my tire at Berryman a couple years ago) who was at the race supporting his wife Wendy (and everyone else), offered to let me (no told me to) ride his bike for the rest of the race.  I was hesitant but willing to give it a shot.  Then as he was setting the seat height for me he stripped the bolt on his seatpost collar.  I took it as a sign. 

I ended up hanging out at the aid station for awhile and it was pretty neat.  I've never been at one during a race for more than a few seconds.  The racers get a ton of support from friends, family, volunteers and total strangers.  You see a lot of emotion from total joy to fatigue induced suffering.  People battle mental and physical demons during these races, and they don't always win, but most of the time they do.

I ended up giving a ride back to Blanchard to RIM promoter Doug Long.  It was good getting to talk to him.  He has done all of the SR races and this was the first time he had to withdraw.  I could tell it wasn't an easy decision, but one he had to make.  He'll be back.

I'll be back as well.  I need to work on my downhill skills to have a chance to win these races, but I think I can get better.  Maybe riding the rough motorcycle trails at Chadwick would help.

The weekend wasn't a total loss, I got to eat some good food, see some great sights and talk to lots of great people.  The race didn't go as I'd hoped, but everything else did.

The pictures in this post were taken from THIS gallery.  There are hundreds of pictures from the race there.

Now I just need to get my bike fixed because I've got the Ozark Greenways Adventure race Saturday and 6 Hour Indian Camp Creek race Sunday.

2011 Greensfelder Challenge race recap

Last weekend (5/7) was the DRJ/GORC Greensfelder Challenge at Greensfelder county park near Eureka Mo.  It's part of the UFD East series and the proceeds from the race benefit GORC, the St. Louis trail building organization.  I've done the race the last couple of years and it's always a great event that brings out a lot of the St. Louis mountain bike racing community.

I had Syllamo's Revenge the next weekend, which is one of my biggest races of the year, so I entered this race with a goal of putting out a nice solid effort without breaking anything or injuring myself in the process.  

I signed up for the endurance class which is a race where you do as many laps as you can with a 3 hour cutoff.  If you start your last lap before the 3 hours you can finish that lap.  With a lap distance of just over 7 miles I figured it would be a 4 or 5 lap race.

At the starting line I was surprised how many people had signed up.  There are usually 9 or 10 that do the endurance class at series races, but there were over 25.  That's either a lot of people preparing for Syllamo's Revenge, or endurance racing is getting more popular.

The race started with a pretty fast pace and when we hit the trail I was sitting in 4th with Aaron Fader, Dan Miller and Jeremy Bock in front of me.  When we got to the first long rocky downhill I nearly wrecked so I backed off to get my bike under control and I lost the leaders.  But on the subsequent climb I was able to catch back up to Jeremy.  That repeated many times.  

The trail on the first lap was pretty good.  A little muddy but not bad.  On the second lap it was pretty bad.  The rocks and some of the climbs were slick and where there were leaves mixed with the mud it would get packed between the tire and chainstays.  But the sun was out and on each subsequent lap the trail was getting drier and drier.  

Here's a picture of me coming through the start/finish area:

On the second lap I saw Dan Miller on the side of the trail fixing a flat.  He had cut the sidewall on his rear tire in the rocks.  That put me in third.

There was one section of the trail with an uphill rock garden that I couldn't ride, so I had to push the bike for 20 yards or so.  On the third lap I caught up with Jeremy right before this section.  We both walked up the hill and as I jumped on my bike at the top I noticed my front tire was flat.  The bead was still on the rim and I couldn't see any stans leaking out so I figured I'd just burped it.  So instead of putting in a tube I just filled it with air using the CO2 canister I was carrying.  That allowed Jeremy to get away once again.

Then about 15 minutes later as I was making a hard turn I realized that my front tire was going flat again.  Upon inspection I found a small hole in the sidewall of the tire about a half inch from the tread.  I didn't have enough CO2 to fill a tube so I just aired the tire back up hoping it would get me to the start/finish area where I had several CO2's and tubes.  The thing is, I had a plug kit in my pocket that I bought for just this situation and it would have fixed the sidewall hole, but I've never used it before and I forgot all about it.

I limped to the end of the lap and on the final climb the tire was pretty spongy, but ride-able.  When I got to my table I put a tube in my tire and was passed by Jason Zoll and Mitch Johnson.  Now I was in fifth.  

The wasted time of airing my tire twice and putting a tube in meant there wasn't enough time for a fifth lap, so I headed out on my fourth and final lap with the goal of riding hard and having fun.  It was the best lap of the day.  The trails were in great shape and I was feeling good.  About halfway through I caught up with Mitch, and he let me by on a climb.  I rolled through the finish in fourth pretty satisfied with the day.

After the race I ate some delicious BBQ provided by GORC and got to talk with several people I hadn't seen in awhile.  Good times.

2011 Ouachita Challenge recap

This weekend was the 10th annual Ouachita Challenge.  It was my second time doing the race and coming off a solid effort at the spa city 6 hour 3 weeks ago I hoped I'd do well.

The race was Sunday, so Saturday morning I got in a nice hour and a half ride on the womble trail.  I felt really good, like I was floating over the trail.  When I crossed one of the gravel roads I came upon a couple of women that gave me a confused look.  When I said I was pre-riding the trail they said the race wasn't using the trail I'd just left.  It was going to come from the road and enter the trail on the opposite side I was riding.  I was a bit confused since I'd ridden that trail the previous year, but I continued on, eventually turning around and heading back to the cabin.  For the afternoon I was planning on riding brushy mountain, which is used at the start of the race, but I decided against it so I'd be fresher on race day.  Instead I did some sight-seeing.  That is such a beautiful area.

Saturday evening I went to the pre-race dinner/raffle and looking at the race course I found out the reason the volunteers I'd talked to that morning said I wouldn't be riding the eastern part of the womble.  They changed the course and weren't doing the section from the previous year that went on the other side of Ouachia lake.  They were sending us through sims and doing more of western part of the womble.  Looking at the map it seemed significantly shorter than the previous years course, but you can never really tell since the scale of the maps have the trail looking like a straight line when they are never straight.

Sunday morning I woke up at 4:45, unable to sleep due to the nervousness and excitement for what lay ahead.  The start time for the race was 8am so I spent my time eating a huge bowl of oatmeal with peanut butter, banana, raisins and maple syrup.  Then prepping my bike for the race.  

Eventually we drove to the elementary school that is the staging area and start/finish of the race.  I knew the race would have a several mile rollout before hitting any singletrack so I didn't worry about warming up.  I just rode around talking to people I've met a various races and then positioned myself on the front row for the start.  Actually I positioned myself where the start line would eventually be.  I was the first one there but once I planted myself next to the tree people starting riding over to claim their spot.  I ended up between 2 very good riders, one of which recognized me from spa city.  On my right was Aaron Elwell from KS and on my left was Chris Renshaw from OK.  Chris finished 3rd at spa city (I was 6th) and Aaron has beaten me several times, most recently at the KC Cup race at Swope Park last September.  Behind me was Chris Ellis from KC who beat me at the Tour de Tick last year.  Other notables I've raced against were Cornbread from NE, Noah Singer and Hap Seliga from AR to name a few.  I love racing against talented people and I was surrounded by talent.  It was going to be a good day.

The race started with a different route to Brushy than last year.  We still had to ride behind a gentleman on a recumbent bike for a half mile or so, but we weren't on HWY 88 which meant we could take up the entire width of the road.  When we were given the go ahead to race I was hugging the center line sitting about 3 rows back in a huge mass of riders, with 2 or 3 on either side.  It was like I was in a vacuum being pulled forward.  We were going about 20mph on asphalt and I was coasting as much as pedaling.  It was a pretty cool feeling.  

When we made the turn to gravel the pace didn't really pick up any and I was worried the crowd would be too big once we reached the trail, so I rode to the front of the pack and started to ride away.  Of course they weren't going to let that happen so everyone caught up to me and I jumped back in the draft.  We were now racing.

There were 2 lines of riders, one in each lane of the narrow gravel road.  There were a few short hills and people were jockeying for position on the rough gavel in the center of the road.  As the lead of each line changed you would see that side surge ahead but overall we were staying pretty equal.  I was feeling pretty good sitting about 10 spots back when we came to a pretty big hill and the paceline fell apart.  2 riders broke away charging up the hill.  The first one was Wiley Mosley from TX and Elwell was on his heels.  I made a small break with 3 or 4 other riders chasing them.   I figured the start of the singletrack must be near and didn't want to be behind too many riders when we got there.  After cresting the top of the hill Wiley continued to ride away and Elwell dropped back to join our small group.  On the next big climb you could see the volunteers at the top signaling the start of Big Brushy trail.  Elwell took off and when we got to the trail I was in 4th.  

Charging up that climb left me pretty winded, but Brushy didn't let me off the hook because it also starts with a climb.  To make it better there's a nice little rock garden at the top of the initial climb that you get to negotiate while drooling on your top tube.  Overall Brushy isn't that technical, but there is lots of climbing, some steep descents and lots of rocks lining the trail.  I was passed by a few riders and passed a couple others so when I rolled into the first aid station to swap bottles I was sitting in 5th.  Several people didn't stop and flew past me.  I would see them often on the next section of the course; blowout mountain.

Blowout mountain is what the Ouachita Challenge is all about.  Big climbs, screaming descents and crazy rock gardens.  My racing style is about 1 thing; consistency.  Don't go too fast at the start, don't go too fast on the descents, keep a steady tempo on the flats, try not to slow down as the race progresses and climb as fast as I can.  I felt like I was riding well on blowout mountain.  I'd pass a few people going up hill, get passed going downhill and ran across a lot of the rock gardens.  On one of the downhills I pass Elwell as he's fixing a flat on the side of the trail.  I knew I'd be seeing him again soon.  Then near the end of Blowout, as I was going down a hill my left pedal struck a rock and it threw me into a tree on the right side of the trail.  My shoulder slammed into a tree and it felt like I broke something.  But I didn't and the pain went away.  I refilled one of my bottles at the aid station between Blowout and Chalybeate Mountain then started on the longest sustained climb of the day.  

Since the race last year I switched my bike to 1x10 gearing with a 38t front chainring, so while the biggest gear in the back is a 36t, I don't have a true "granny" gear where I can slowly spin up a hill.  While I won't say I flew up Chalybeate I rode pretty well having to stand several times to keep my momentum up and relieve some of the burning in my legs.  After that big first climb Chalybeate is a pretty fun trail.  There are more hills but they aren't bad and the trail flows really well. 

Next was about an 8 mile road ride with a strong headwind that lead us through Sims and on to the womble (where I'd seen the 2 ladies the day before).  That road section was pretty tough.  It would have been nice to be in a group to have someone to draft off of, but there was no-one in sight so I tucked down to get as areo as I could and rode hard.  At Sims I swapped bottles and continued on.  

When I finally got to the womble I said hello to the volunteers, put the offered zip tie on my handlebars and took off.  Womble is a great trail.  It wasn't as effortless as it had felt the previous day, but it was still pretty fun.  Pretty soon I was caught and passed by Elwell, then not long after saw him on the side of the trail again fixing another flat.  He looked pretty frustrated.  As I rode on I was having fun, but I had this nagging feeling.  I was feeling good and I know I was riding faster than I had the previous year, but I was sitting in 9th place, the same as last year.  I felt like I should be in a better position.  Then while I was contemplating life, I was caught by Cornbread.  I didn't try to run from him.  

Endurance racing is weird.  Most of the time you aren't racing anyone but yourself.  You are alone in the woods and you just go as fast as your skill and fitness will allow.  All kinds of thoughts go through your head.  When you're feeling good it's all fun, when you're fatigued or injured it's all bad.  Climbing starts to suck and descents start to be blurry.  But on the rare occasion you see another rider, all that goes away; you're racing someone!

I hate running from someone during a race, I'd much rather chase.  When you're running you feel your own fatigue and in your mind the other person is feeling awesome.  When you're chasing you can see if they are struggling or not and you can attack appropriately.  Maybe you need to let them go and hope to see them again, maybe you need to hang onto them and push them out of their comfort zone until they tire enough to want you to pass them and go away.  Maybe you should try to blow by them and get out of their sight so they think you're feeling good.  That's what makes the racing fun.  I like to push myself and see what I'm capable of, but I like the competition just as much.

When cornbread passed me I hung on.  I rode behind him for awhile and at the top of the biggest climb on the womble he pulled to the side of the trail.  I'm not sure if he was cramping or having a mechanical issue, but I took the advantage and rode away as fast as I could.  

Pretty soon I started catching other riders who were all having cramping issues.  I was tired but physically fine so I was pretty happy to be moving up.  Then right before leaving the womble I caught up to Noah Singer.  As we popped out onto a gravel road I wasn't sure if there was more trail or if we would have road the rest of the way.  I told Noah that I'd just passed 3 people and he said "well lets put some distance on them".  So I jumped to the front and he drafted behind me.  Then after a couple minutes we traded places.  He was riding pretty hard so I told him to not dig too big of a hole and let me pull every couple of minutes.  Then before we could switch we rode up on another volunteer directing us to singletrack.  

I rode behind Noah for awhile and then he pulled over and told me to go on.  I think he was cramping.  It was a pretty hot day, over 80 degrees and lots of people were cramping.  When I passed him I rode hard to get out of his sight and soon popped out on a gravel road where the volunteer said it was 10 miles to the finish.  I didn't believe him since I was over 50 miles in at that point, but I was sitting in 5th and wanted to be done with the race.  So I rode on the last big climb of the race, a big switchback road, on one of the turns I saw someone behind me.  I attacked that hill, rode past the water station and soon couldn't see the rider behind me anymore.  

When I got to the pavement I knew there were only a few miles to go so I tucked down low and tried to ride fast.  I looked over my shoulder and someone was about a hundred yards behind me.  Crap, just like last year.  I  pushed harder, looked again and he was closer.  Pushed harder looked again and he was right behind me.  It was Elwell again.  As he passed me I told him I wasn't going to fight him for it (as if it would have made a difference).  I said he earned it.  So I cruised to the finish in 6th covering 60 miles in 4:57.  7 minutes behind the winner Wiley Mosley.  I'm happy with that.

After the race I ate some pizza, hung around, and had a good time.  Thanks to all the volunteers that support this race and the racers.  They are amazing.

Here's a link to the results, and here's a link to my garmin data from the day.  I saw several people taking photo's during the race so if I find any galleries I'll update this post with a link.

I had a great time and will hopefully be back next year.

Rapture In Misery recap

On Thursday last week I decided to head up to Trenton MO for RIM, a 6/12 hour mountain bike race that's part of the Heartland Racing Series.  I'd never ridden the trails at Crowder State Park but I'd heard it was a really fun race and I hadn't done a long (for me) mountain bike since since Syllamo and figured it was time since I've got some long ones coming up.  I felt bad because there was a party on Saturday that I had been planning on attending, but I really wanted to race and that desire won out.

I arrived at the park a couple hours before the race and saw Zdenek and Adam from St. Louis.  They were both doing the 12 hour solo but I signed up for the 6 hour and saw I'd be racing against Jeff Winkler, Aaron Elwell and Travis Donn among others.  I had my work cut out for me. The pre-race rider meeting was full of warnings about the various trail hazards which was a little unnerving.  When they are talking about the "bone yard" and "widow maker" it doesn't sound good.  The trail was roughly 9 miles per lap and Jeff won the race last year riding 8 laps.

The weather was hot and humid but nothing crazy.  I really felt as long as I stayed hydrated it wouldn't be an issue. Before the race I noticed that my right quad was kind of sore and massaged it a bit trying to losen it up. I figured it would be fine once I got on the bike.

The race started with a short run which wasn't very fast and I was sitting in about 6th when we hit the trail.

I made my first mistake early on.  Jeff was right in front of me and I rode the first lap on his wheel at his pace.  I know that in order to do well I have to ride my own race and not worry about other riders until the latter stages of the race, but in the excitement and wanting to do well I figured I needed to hang on to someone that I knew would be in contention for the win.  It didn't feel that fast but there was no recovery that lap.  I was pushing pretty hard the whole way.  The course has a technical rock garden early in the lap (the "bone yard") some steep non-technical climbs that last a few minutes but overall the course is relatively flat.  Unfortunately I had to ride hard on those sections to keep up.  The downhills were a bit slick from rain the night before so there was no relaxing there either.  I finished the first lap in 48:47 sitting in third, grabbed a fresh bottle of water/perpetuem and headed back out.

I had dropped off Jeff's pace by the second lap and tried to settle into something I could maintain for the long haul.  Unfortunately the damage from riding out of my comfort zone for too long the first lap had been done and even when I backed off I wasn't able to recover and get my breathing under control.  Travis passed me on the last significant climb of the lap as I was spinning in my granny gear. I was really struggling and just didn't have the energy to do antyhing else. The second lap wasn't very fun and I finished it with a time of 53:54.

My third lap was hell.  On the first real climb I had to drop to my granny gear right off the bat and about halfway up my right quad seized with a cramp.  I had to get off the bike because of the pain but it hurt if I tried to straighten or bend my knee so there was no relief.  I must have looked bad because another rider climbing behind me asked if I was okay.  I just had to wait a bit for it to go away.  When I got back on the bike I realized I was sweating like crazy and I couldn't catch my breath.  I rode a mile or so until I got to the aid station that's about halfway through the lap and I just got off my bike, went over there and ate a couple cookies and drank some water.  It was frustrating watching riders fly by.  A few other people stopped (including JP Brocket) complaining of cramps so I wasn't alone with my issues, but I felt didn't make me feel any better.  I eventually started back up but at the base of the climb where Travis had passed me the previous lap I just stopped at the bottom and leaned up against a tree.  That's the first time I've ever gotten to a hill where I just didn't feel I could make it to the top.  I was exhausted and I think I officially bonked.  I eventually finished the lap with a 1 hour 13 minute lap time but as I crossed the start/finish line I told them I was taking a break and went and sat down.  I figured my day was over but I didn't say that, I hoped that I could keep going since I've never quit a race.

As I was sitting in my chair sipping a diet Dr. Pepper I saw Jeff and he came over to chat.  The heat had gotten to him and he was already showered and cleaned up.   He offered me some encouragement but he said his shower felt really good.  I was tempted to throw in the towel but instead just sat there and rested.  JP had stopped after that lap feeling like I did and while we were talking he suggested I drink some pickle juice to help with the cramping.  At that point I was willing to try anything so when his son brought me a big cup I downed it.  It actually tasted pretty good.  Watching people ride by didn't.

After sitting for over an hour I decided to get back on my bike and finish the race.  I felt better so I figured I'd go out, ride a nice easy pace and just try to have fun.  I don't know if it was the pickle juice or the relaxed pace, but that was a really fun lap.   The trails were great and I was feeling fine.  I didn't cramp at all.  With the break time included my lap time was 2:11:26.

I only had time for 1 more lap so I went back out riding like I had the previous lap and again, it was pretty fun.  I stopped at the aid station to eat a cookie and chatted with the guy manning the station for a minute or so.  He was a really nice guy and I know everyone that stopped appreciated him being there.  I ended up finishing my last lap in 1:05 which landed me 14th in my class.  I was glad that I got back on my bike and my reward was a pretty sweet t-shirt that I'm sure I'll be wearing proudly.

While I was hurting, Zdenek was putting the pain on everyone else in the 12 hour solo.  It was his first 12 hour solo race and he won by almost an hour completing 12 laps.  He was a machine out there and it was very inspiring.

Aaron Elwell won the 6 hour solo and actually came in 2nd overall counting the teams.  Travis Donn had an awesome 6 hour debut coming in 2nd.  He raced a very smart race and if he keeps doing the distance events he will do very well.  I hope he does the BT Epic later this year.

Overall I think Heatland put on a great race at a great venue.  It was so cool to be able to shower after I finished and the atmosphere was up there with the best race experiences I've had.  I'll be back next year for sure and hopefully I'll do better.  I've just got to remember to ride my race and not get sucked into the competition early on.  As Travis said it's much more fun catching people than getting caught.

Here's a link to the results, and below are some links to photos I've found:

• http://picasaweb.google.com/cowtowncycling/RaptureInMisery#
• http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=197383&id=626878517
• http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=198302&id=590594556

Wheels of Fire

Springfield Dirt Crits Race 2 report

This weeks race was a bit kinder to me.  I came in feeling pretty fresh after taking Monday off and I think it helped.  Ryan was there taking pictures and all the ones in this post are his. 

The number of racers in both the beginner and open classes are growing which is great to see.  Once the weather cools off a bit I expect it to get even better.

Leading up to the race it looked like my competition from last week wasn't going to make it.  Neither Cale or Jerred were there.  Then about 5 minutes before the race was set to start Cale pulls up, registers and gets in about a minute of warmup before toeing the line.  He had been on the road for most of the afternoon and was rushing to make the race.  I was glad he made it.

At the start I was thinking I could take advantage of Cale's lack of warmup and try to push the pace and see if he would back off or burn too many matches early.  I got the hole shot and rode as hard as I could.

I stood up on the climbs to keep my speed up and I was feeling pretty good.  Cale stayed on my wheel the entire first lap.

On the second lap at the top of a climb coming off of the bat cave trail Cale passed me but I was able to hang on and kept him from getting away.  He would put some distance between us on the flats and descents, but I would catch up on the climbs.

On the forth lap I went around Cale at the top of a hill right before we entered the bat cave trail and I just went for it.  I was feeling the fatigue from the 20 minutes of hard riding but felt like I could keep the pace up.  When I looked back at the bottom of the hill near the start/finish line I could see that he wasn't hanging on.  After the fifth lap I couldn't see him behind me and they called out there were only three laps to go.  At that point I just tried to cruise and not make any mistakes.

The last 3 laps went by pretty quickly and I ended up finishing 8 laps in about 43 minutes.  2 minutes faster than last week.

Luckily Ryan was not at the finish line taking photos.  About 20 feet from the start/finish line there is a mound that the trail goes over.  I decided I'd try to catch some air since there was a nice size crowd standing around, but unfortunately I'm not that good at catching air.  Somehow after the jump I got tilted to the side and I biffed the landing.  I had to walk my bike across the line.  At least I got some good laughs.

My nephew Trevor wasn't able to make the race because of work but he's planning on being at the next one in two weeks.  Hopefully it will be a bit cooler.

There won't be a dirt crit on the 17th.  Instead everyone will be at the waffle road race.  I might have to put the slicks back on my bike.....

Springfield Dirt Crits Race 1 report

Tonight was the first race in the A&B Cycle Dirt Crit series.  I've been looking forward to it since I first heard about the series in June.

I'm not a really fast rider, but I can hold a decent speed for a long time.  These crits are a chance for me to work on that weakness.  Plus racing is fun.

The format for the Men's Open class is 30 minutes plus 3 laps.  The course was a little more technical and hilly than other dirt crits I've read about and each lap was approximately 1 mile.

When I arrived at Sac I discovered both of my tires were flat.  They each had a gash in their sidewalls.  I tried to patch them on the outside hoping it would be enough for the Stans to seal them but after a pre-ride lap they were both near flat again.  So I put in tubes hoping I could avoid the thorns.

I took my Stumpjumper FSR to the race because my nephew Trevor said he was willing to ride in his first mountain bike race.  He did well and ended up winning the beginners class.  He said he had a good time and he'll be back next week. 

At the start of the race I got the hole shot and was in the lead when we reached the singletrack. Right after that Cale McAninch wrecked behind me when his crank hit a stump.  It created a bit of a gap between me and the field but he closed that gap before long.  I was riding as fast as I could near my redline and couldn't pull away.  I finished the first and second laps with Cale on my wheel and on the 3rd lap he passed me.  I tried to stay with him but he just pulled away.

I felt like I was riding well so I just tried to maintain what I was doing and see what happened.  With 3 laps to go Jerred Brackett caught up to me.  Now I had a race.  I rode the last 3 laps as hard as I've ever ridden.  I was able to hold him off until the last turn about 20 yards from the finish.  It was a banked turn and when I came out if it for some reason I started coasting.  I don't know why but I did.  He got on it and before I knew it he was next to me.  I tried to speed up to hold him off but he had the momentum and beat me to the line by half a wheel.  It was an awesome finish.  My mistake cost me but I learned a good lesson.

Cale won by a pretty good margin.  It's going to be tough but I'm going to work hard to try to give him some competition in the coming weeks.

This was so much fun and I can't wait until next week.

Here's my Garmin data from the race (note the 101% max heart rate):

Springfield Dirt Crits

Okay boys and girls, it's official.  The Springfield dirt crits kick off on Tuesday, Aug 3 at Sac River trails.  There will be 2 classes: beginners and everyone else.  Beginners will race for 20 minutes plus 1 lap and everyone else will race for 30 minutes plus 1 lap.  The course will not be technical but that doesn't mean the race is going to be easy.  You will get a great workout and you will have a great time!

The racing will be every Tuesday evening and will run for 8 weeks!

Starting times and entry fees to follow.

Tell all your friends!

UPDATE:  There is a facebook page with more information.  

OMBA Caramba recap

This weekend was the OMBA Caramba mountain bike race at the Sac River Trails in Springfield MO.  The race is part of the Midwest Fat Tire Series.  It was pretty cool because most of the Springfield bike community pitched in to support the racers; Springfield Bicycle, A&B Cycle, Queen City Cycles, Cycles Unlimited, Sunshine Bike and Kuat Racks were out in force.

I've been looking forward to this race for a long time.  Several years ago I learned how to mountain bike at the park and one year ago I did my first XC mountain bike race there which got me hooked on the sport.  I really wanted to do well and have been training on the event's course for the last couple months.  I was probably more nervous coming into this race than any I've ever done.  I've done more important races but I wanted to win this one more than any of them.  

We got some rain in Springfield on Thursday which was just what the course needed.  It had been so dry that the trails were getting pretty dusty and the corners were getting a little loose.  It's a trail system with few straight lines and if you can't carry your speed in the corners then you'll wear yourself out quickly and feel like you're fighting the trail. 

I knew going in that the 8 mile laps were going to take over 40 minutes and with the heat I didn't think one bottle of water+heed would be enough for each lap, so I took my folding table out onto the course at the 4 mile mark and set it up next to the trail with 3 bottles.  That meant I would get a bottle at the start of the lap and another at the middle of the lap.  I would not be dehydrated and could save weight at the same time.

I was hoping for a great turnout with a field like we had at the Mo State Championship games in St. Louis a few weeks earlier.  There are a lot of really fast guys in St. Louis but they have so many races on their home turf that they don't have to travel to race and many of them don't. But a handful did show, like Tim Kakouris  (who won Brommelsiek 2 weeks earlier), and Rock Wamsley.  Travis Donn  and several others made the trip from KC and Dan Miller from Columbia.  Also my Revolution Cycles Racing teammate Jeff Yielding made the drive from Herman.  Some of the Springfield notables in attendance were Cale McAninch and Brad Huff. I think there were 15 or so total Experts that signed up.

At the starting line I was between Tim and Dan.  When we took off the 3 of us were at the front and Tim let me take the lead heading into the singletrack.  For me that was huge because I know those turns so well I can ride them without braking and I didn't want anyone in front of me.  I hit the first section of switchbacks pretty hard and was at the top of the hill by the barn in about 8 minutes.  I was winded but I knew there wasn't anymore climbing for a few minutes.  On the steep climb to the outer loop I lost Tim and I was alone for the rest of the first lap.  I just rode everything as fast as I could trying to take clean lines and gaining as much time as possible.  It was pretty cool because Beau and PJ were at the junction by the barn where we passed by twice per lap.  They were there to give out water if anyone needed it and they were cheering me on like crazy.

Near the end of the lap on the turn that leads to the levy trail, I took it at full speed really leaning into it.  For some reason my rear tire washed out and it caused me to oversteer. I laid the bike down but not before running into a tree.  The tree struck the head tube on my carbon fiber bike and it scared the crap out of me.  Luckily it didn't do any damage, so I jumped up and ran up the hill to the top of the levy.  Unfortunately there were people there taking pictures so I felt a little embarrassed and wanted to say "I can ride that section, I really can!".  I finished the first lap in 41:14 which was the fastest I've ever recorded.

On the second lap I continued to ride hard and built up a couple minute lead.  Then on one of the turns about 25 minutes into the lap as I was really leaning the bike I rolled my front tire off the rim.  That's a testament to how well the rocket rons hook up.  I run a fairly low pressure on the front (about 20psi) and that tire just sticks like glue.  So I flip my bike over, pull the wheel off, check for thorns, find one, pull it out with my teeth, take the stem off the rim, put the CO2 together and hit my only spare tube with some air before putting it in the tire.  As I'm doing this Travis, Cale and then Tim ride by.  They each offer me some encouragement.  After getting the tube in the tire I re-seat the tire bead in the rim and fill it with my remaining CO2.  Luckily the tire holds air so I put the wheel back on, stuff everything in my pockets, flip my bike and off I go.  In 4th place.

I used my only tube and CO2 in the repair so if I flat again I'm done for the day.  I ride the rest of the lap as hard as I can without further incident and finish it with a time of 49:51, so I figure I spent at least 5 minutes on the repair.

At the start of the 3rd and final lap there is a long straightaway with a gradual climb and I could see Tim in the distance.  I didn't know if I could make up much time but my goal became trying to catch him.  I was feeling pretty good but I had to focus on staying on the trail in the corners since I couldn't risk another flat.

I caught up to Tim right where I set up my table with the water bottles.  I followed him for a while and when we got to a hill climb I made my move and passed him.  I rode as hard as I could to get out of his sight and he didn't try to hang on.  Then, about a mile later I saw Travis.  When I caught up to him he pulled to the side of the trail to let me pass.  He said Cale was only 30 seconds ahead and asked where Tim was.  I said about 30 seconds to a minute back and took off to try and catch Cale.  We were getting near the end of the lap but there was a section of tight twisty singletrack just ahead where I usually ride pretty fast and I thought I could catch him there.

I was right and I caught up to Cale about 2 miles from the finish line.  He sped up to hold me off and there weren't any good passing places so I followed him for a while.  I didn't want to have to sprint to the finish so right before the section with the drop, I hit it hard and made the pass.   It was a little sketchy because right after I passed I had to cut him off to avoid a tree next to the trail.  I apologized for the move and got a little worried because the effort made my left quad twinge with a small cramp.  I rode hard to keep him from hanging on but couldn't go all out because I didn't want my leg to seize up.  After a few minutes I looked back and he wasn't there so I slowed a bit and just focused on finishing.  On the last climb before the finish line the cramp on my left leg flared back up and my right one started talking to me as well.  It was worth it though because I won the race.  My time for the 3rd lap was 45:26 for an overall time of 2:16:40.

As usual the post-race festivities were fun and since there was a big raffle just about everyone stuck around.   I had an awesome day and even though I would have preferred not to have had the stress of the flat, I'm glad I was able to come back from it.  Granted I had a HUGE home field advantage knowing the trails so well, but I'm very happy to come out on top.

Ryan and everyone did a great job with this race.  Made me proud.

When I find any photo galleries or official results posted online, I'll update this post with links.

I'm going to miss the next couple races on my schedule because I'm leaving Friday for the seven day Durango to Moab Hut to Hut.  It should be an epic journey.

My next xc race will be 8/8, the Trailblazer Blitz at Spanish Lake. 

There's some great news on the Springfield Dirt Crit front, but it deserves it's own post.  More to come.....

UPDATE:  Queen City Cycles has posted some photos on Facebook.:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=191633&id=67598378356

UPDATE2: Tyler Meinecke found some great pictures from the event.  Here's me at the drop:

Check them out: http://fattireseries.blogspot.com/2010/07/july-11-2010.html  

OMBA Caramba rumor

Word on the trail is that Springfield's own Brad Huff will be competing in this weekends OMBA Caramba at Sac River trails.  That still leaves 2nd place unaccounted for, let me know if you want it.

Come get some!

OMBA Caramba info

I know all you die-hard racers are chomping at the bit, scowering the interwebs looking for scraps of information on the upcoming (July 11th) MWFTCS OMBA Caramba mountain bike race at Sac River trails in Springfield MO.  Well, rest easy because I've got you covered. The secret is out and the course has been marked and although I'm not supposed to let the "out of towners" know what the exact route is, I'm going to break the silence and help you prepare yourself mentally and physically for what is going to be a true test of your mountain biking mettle.

Last night I went on an after-dark reconnaissance ride carrying my trusty Garmin 500 (I was patted down at the gate, you don't want to know how I got it in there), riding extra slow to make sure it recorded every twist, every turn, every elevation change and each time I dodged a tree.  Many spiders were killed in order for me to get this for you so here is the map:

Here is the elevation profile (yes, that's FEET):

The lap distance is 7.25 miles (or 11.69 kilometers) and you can count on it taking about an hour to complete for beginners (if they make it at all), and 40 minutes for expert (not counting tire changes and resting periods) with sport somewhere in between.  The race will have Beginners do 1 lap, Sport 2 laps and Expert has to suffer through 3 laps. 

Oh, and either load your tires with Stans or bring lots of tubes.  The thorns are out in full force. 

Don't say you weren't warned.

If you don't hear from me again then Scott or Ryan reads my blog.  Luckily I think I'm safe with that.

Springfield Dirt Crits

I am completely inspired by the Alpine Shop Short Track Dirt Crit series at Castlewood state park in St. Louis.  It is a series of Thursday night races during the month of July where everyone can come, race their bikes on a fast, fairly flat, wide, non-technical course and just have a great time.  It's as much of a social event as it is great competition.  Plus with the short laps and open field chicane it's a great spectator event as you watch the riders fly by while navigating the sharp turns though the ribbon maze.  It's become very popular and is getting people to ride more and to try racing when they otherwise wouldn't.

I want to do one of these in Springfield so bad.....

So, to get this started, I propose having an informal fun FREE series of races every Thursday in the month of August starting on the 5th.   I have no idea how many people would show up so initially there will be no classes, just one group.  I haven't decided on an exact course but it will be on the west side of Sac River park, on the older and wider trails and will have a chicane in the field north of the parking lot.  It will be a 30 minute race, plus 2 laps.  The laps will be fairly short so there will be lots of laps and hopefully lots of fun. 

Of course the park will still be open to everyone but most of our action will  be taking place in the field next to the parking lot so it shouldn't disrupt anyone.  Open to all skills and abilities.  No prizes, just bragging rights.  And a good anaerobic workout.  Let me know if you think it's a good/bad idea or want to help. 

markgullett (at) gmail (dot) com

Brommelsiek Challenge race recap

This weekend was the 5th event in the United Federation of Dirt eastern cross country series, the Brommelsiek Challenge.  It took place at Brommelsiek Park in St. Charles MO on an approximately 4.5 mile course.  The weather was hot and the turnout was a little thin compared to many races recently, but the folks that did show up are fast and I knew I had my work cut out for me.

On Saturday I met my Revolution Cycles teammate Jeff Yielding for a pre-ride since I'd never been to the course and was really taken back by how nice the place was.  It was a beautiful park.  Everything looked brand new and there were bathrooms and covered pavilions all over the place.  There was lots of parking and overall I think it was the nicest race venue I've ever seen.

As Jeff and I headed out to check out the park, we met up with Mitch Johnson and his Ghisallo crew as they were heading out to take care of the last few touches to get the course ready for the race.  He told us which way the race was going to run and we set out.  After an initial rocky climb the course turned into a mostly smooth, twisty and relatively flat course that was very fun to ride.  I don't like to call any trail "easy" because if you ride as hard as you can then nothing is easy, but I will call this trail fast.  The tight corners, steep dips and sometime loose trail made the speed a little hairy at times but the pre-ride was a blast and it made me really look forward to the race.  Mitch and everyone (including St. Charles County Parks and GORC) have done a great job building an excellent trail system.

I knew going in that with the heat, hydration was key so I drank plenty of water the day before and morning of the race.  I also packed more water than I thought I'd need, which turned out to be a really good thing.

When we lined up before the start of the race I had Dan Miller on his S-Works 29er single speed on my right and Tim Kakouris, Chris Ploch and Bob Arnold on some big wheeled Gary Fischers on my left.  In the second row were Jeff, Tom Albert, Drew Black and Matt James.  I think that rounded out the expert field for the day.  While we were standing there I found out it was going to be a 6 lap race.  I hadn't planned on 6 laps....

After the mass start I hit the singletrack in 4th behind Tim, Chris and Bob with Dan nipping at my heels.  After the first mile or so, Dan passed me, dropping me to 5th.  We were riding a very fast pace and I was having to really work to stay with the pack.  When I looked over my shoulder I could see that we gapped the rest of the field so I decided to just hang on as long as possible and hope that everyone would slow down.  Being at the back of a pack of 5 riders on a dry dusty trail isn't very fun.  I was breathing a ton of dust and they weren't slowing down, so before the end of the first lap I decided to back off a bit and ride at a pace I could maintain.  My time for the first lap was 20:23.  I wasn't very far off the lead pack and the chase group was only about 30 seconds back.

One of the great things about this course was the quarter mile or so of out and back off the main loop to the start/finish line.  At most races you have no idea where anyone else is.  You don't know how far ahead the next rider is, if he's struggling or how much of a lead you've got.  With the out and back you get to see the guys ahead and behind.  You can look in their faces and see if they are charging or are just trying to hold on.  It makes for much better racing.  When you know the leader is only a minute ahead you keep charging.  You can't hide just around the corner, out of sight.

On the second lap I rode hard but not as fast as the first lap; I really used it to recover from the effort I put out trying to hang with the lead pack.  I just focused on riding as smoothly as possible and with such a twisty course I was having to constantly watch my line to keep from drifting off the hardpack trail into the soft stuff.  My time for the second lap was 21:03, about 30 seconds off the lead group, and about a minute ahead of the chasers.

At the top of the climb near the start of the third lap, I saw Bob Arnold had dropped of the back of the lead pack so I concentrated on reeling him in.  I caught him on one of the wooded uphill sections and he immediately offered to let me by.  That's something I always do in the middle of a race.  Once I'm in the flow I don't want to ride someone else's pace.  I figure if they felt good enough to catch me then I need to let them go and hope to see them again if they wear themselves out.  For that very reason unless I come up on someone very quickly I never ask to pass; I'd rather push them out of their comfort zone for a couple minutes so when I do pass they don't feel like hanging on and will sometimes go slower than they were originally.  After passing Bob about halfway through the lap I ride up on Chris Ploch standing on the side of the trail messing with his bike.  He jumped on right after I passed and said he had bent his front derailleur.  I didn't want to go any faster than I was so I asked him to pass.  As I watched him ride away I learned a little about how he races.  I noticed that he wasn't going any faster than I was on the straightaways or in the turns, but coming out of EVERY turn he would duck down into a power position and hammer to get back up to speed.  It was probably only a second or two  faster than I was coming out of the turns, but the time really added up and after a dozen or so turns he was out of sight.  I'd never really thought of that as a way to gain time and will have to try to work that into my riding.  My time for the third lap was 21:03, a minute off the lead and a minute in front of Bob.

My fourth lap was pretty uneventful, but I realized that I need to figure out a way to keep my bottles cool during the race.  There's just not much relief when you ride by, grab a full bottle of water and find it's near boiling.  Maybe if I drank coffee during races...  I wonder how that would taste with Heed?  My time for the 4th lap was 21:24.  Chris had caught back up to the leaders and I was about a minute and a half back but I had put almost 2 minutes on Bob who was sounding a little upset (jokingly) when I saw him ride by.

The fifth lap was interesting.  Dan had fallen off the lead pace and I started seeing him not too far ahead in the grassy field sections of the course.  Near the end of the lap I caught up to him and noticed he wasn't riding as well as I normally see him.  He was not taking good lines and was drifting off the trail in the corners and as a result was braking more than necessary.  When we got to a wider section of trail he offered to let me by.  Soon after I had to go off the trail to pass a marathon or sport rider and I got a stick between my chain and crank.  It didn't break anything but I had to stop and remove it.  While I was stopped they both rode by.  After I got going the other rider let me by and I rode behind Dan until the final field section where he pulled over to let me by.  I finished the fifth lap in 21:44 about 2 minutes off the lead and 3 seconds ahead of Dan.

Then at the top of the first climb on the sixth and final lap I saw Chris standing over his bike under a shade tree.  Just standing there.  Resting.  Baiting us, I thought.  As I rode by I offered him some of my warm water but he said he had plenty.  So I took off.  After a short distance in one of the fields I looked back and saw him and Dan not very far back.  It was time for a pep talk.  I told myself that I could keep the same pace and they both would pass me and I would end up fourth.  Or I could dig a little deeper, ride a little harder, put up with a little more pain and maybe hold them off for a second place finish.  I chose pain.  The rest of that lap I gave it everything I had, looking over my shoulder at every turn expecting to see them chase me down and feeling great relief when they weren't there.  About midway through the final field section I looked back and saw Chris coming out of the woods.  I knew he couldn't catch me at that point but I still rode as hard as I could to the finish.  My time for that lap was 21:21.  I ended up in second place about 2 minutes behind Tim and 30 seconds ahead of Chris.

Here's a link to the unofficial results.

I talked to Chris after the race and he had pretty bad leg cramps due to the heat and extra effort he put out to catch back up to the leaders after his mechanical.

All in all I'm pretty happy with my performance.  I rode within myself and it worked out for me.  Plus I learned a few things I can work on to become a better racer.  Good times.

Springfield was pretty well represented with Jesse Livingston taking 3rd in Cat 2 19-29 and Meg Comte winning Cat 2 Women Open.

My teammate Jeff ended up 7th overall.

I think Brommelsiek would be a PERFECT venue for a 6/12 hour race.  First class all the way.

Here's my Garmin data from the race:

Next up is OMBA Caramba on July 11th at Sac River Trails in Springfield.  The trails are better than they've ever been and I'm hoping for a great turnout.  We need the STL, KC and BOCOMO guys to come tear it up.

Lost Valley Luau recap

This weekend was the rescheduled Lost Valley Luau near St. Charles, MO, that's part of the United in Dirt racing series.  The race was originally scheduled on the same weekend as the Ouachita Challenge, but was postponed because of muddy conditions.

Last weekend, after the Mo State Champ race I headed out to Weldon Springs to check out the course since the only other time I'd ridden there was at the 2009 CXmas, where I didn't remember much trail.  I found a nice mixture of gravel double-track and sweet flowy singletrack that would make for a unique race.  On Saturday, the day before the race I headed back to Weldon Springs with my St. Louis neighbor Dave to get one more lap under my belt before Sunday.  The trail was in good shape with some standing water in places but it was just enough to make a mess, not slow me down.

Since I had pretty severe dehydration issues at the race the week before, I was determined to drink lots of water leading up to and during this race.  While sitting in the parking lot at the mound I downed 3 bottles of water and I took 6 bottles of water to a spot near the finish line where I could get them during the race.

The race started with all expert classes together on a wide gravel path  for about half a mile, then down a steep hill where we joined the loop course near the finish line.  Each lap started with a big gravel hill climb followed by a mile or so of gravel double-track before turning onto fairly new singletrack.  That lasted a couple miles, then a good downhill, a couple more miles of doubletrack, a mile or so of fairly technical singletrack and another mile of nice flat trail to the finish line.  Basically a very fast course. 

On the first hill climb a lead pack broke away and at the top of the first hill climb I found myself in a small group behind them with Drew Black and Tom Albert.  We rode pretty fast, pace-line style with Drew doing much of the initial pulling.  We reeled in Dan Miller who was riding a single-speed and he hung on until we reached the first section of single track.  At that point we caught up to another rider that had fallen off the lead pack and he rode with us for a while.  He went down in a turn but jumped up and only lost a few positions.  At that point it was Drew, Tom, Dan, unknown guy and me.  On a climb leading to the pine trees the dude who is currently nameless let me by and fell back off the pace.  We then had a really fast downhill and started the second section of doubletrack.  I was behind Dan and he was letting a gap develop between us and Drew/Tom so I passed him expecting him to hang with me but I think the spinning on the singlespeed was getting to him and he fell back.   That left me, Dew and Tom to take turns pulling for a couple miles.  I find it truly amazing how much of a difference there is between riding in the lead (or alone) vs. riding in someones draft.  It literally felt like I was coasting when tucked in behind the other riders, and when I went to the front I was working my ass off.  It was a blast.  On the last section of singletrack Drew got a flat so that left just Tom and I.  When we got to the flat trail that finishes the lap I let Tom pull a little longer than I should have but when we got to the end of the lap I felt totally refreshed and ready to hammer up the hill.

I grabbed my 2nd bottle and rode as hard as I could up the hill, expecting to work with Tom on the gravel section ahead but when I looked back he wasn't there so I rode on by myself.  I went as fast as I could and felt pretty strong on both the flats and singletrack.  The only issue on that lap was encountering an angry hissing snake in the middle of the trail after rounding a turn.  It scared the crap out of me; it was rared back and jumped at me as I rode by.  I unclipped and raised my feet in the air, but it took several minutes before I calmed down.

After grabbing my 3rd bottle and chugging up the hill on the final lap I just focused on maintaining a good pace and picking good lines in the single-track.  I passed a few lapped riders but I didn't catch anyone from that lead pack that got away on the first lap.

I finished in 2:07:22 in 7th place overall and 4th in my age group.  Here's a link to the results (not fully updated as of press time);

Here's my garmin data from the day:

Next up is the Brommelsiek Challenge this Sunday in St. Charles.  Supposed to be a flat "dirt-crit" style course that will reward the bike handlers.  That's not my strength, but we'll see how I do.  If it's like last year's Cape Race I might be in trouble.

Missouri State Championship race recap

Saturday was the Missouri State Championship mountain bike race.  It was held at Castlewood state park and was part of the United Federation of Dirt series.  I love riding at Castlewood and was really looking forward to this race; especially after my DNF at Warsaw the week before.  I needed redemption.

I made the trip to St. Louis on Thursday and was able to pre-ride the course Friday morning.  I knew it was going to be a challenge but I did a couple laps and felt pretty good.  It sprinkled a bit during my ride but it didn't effect the trail and everything was mostly dry and tacky which is perfect for racing.

The turnout for this race was great with some of the best riders from all over the state.  There was Ploch, Schottler, Breslin, Kakouris, Elwell, Rines, ect.  You get the picture.  Lots of fast people I've never beaten.  I started sweating as soon as I stepped out of the car.  It was going to be a tough day.

I caught a ride to the park with Rock Wamsley which caused me to pack much lighter than I normally do.  I tried to bring only what I'd need which I figured was 4 16oz bottles of water with 2 scoops of Heed in each.  It was a 4 lap, approximately 2 hour race, so 1 bottle every half hour should be plenty.  Or so I thought.

Walking around and warming up pre-race was causing me to sweat quite a bit so I started "stealing" from my race bottles by sipping out of them to try to keep from starting the race dehydrated.  I did go over to the water fountain and drink quite a bit there, but I don't think I was getting enough.

This race was using the same chip timing system that was used at last year's Burning at the Bluff race.  It is a pretty cool system and I wish more races would take advantage of it.  Now if they could set up a large screen LCD at the start/finish with realtime results and splits that would be even better.

The start of the race was a mass start for all experts (and one sport rider) which I really prefer.  They sent us up the double track hill on Lone Wolf which is a fairly short but very steep climb.  It's so steep that they won't let anyone ride their bike down it.  I wanted to go hard up the hill but I didn't want to go too hard and blow up.  It was going to be a two hour effort and as long as I didn't get behind too many people I would be fine.  I was pretty shocked when I looked over on the climb and saw Chris Ploch;  I guess we had the same idea.

I made it to the top of the hill in about 15th place and here's a video of the sketchy descent after you crest the hill.  I come through at :43 (there's a couple wrecks and near misses of you watch the whole thing).



Right after that climb/descent we came through the start/finish area and soon started up the Grotpeter trail which isn't nearly as steep as the starting hill but much longer.  I went pretty hard up this hill and passed several people.  All of them dropped back except one; Travis Donn.  He hung on and each time I looked back he was keeping me in sight.

Grotpeter lead to the roller coaster which is one of the funnest trails I've ever ridden.  It's only shortfall is that it isn't longer.  I love that trail.  After that we took the Mountain Ridge connector back towards the main park road, followed by a CCW loop around Lone Wolf and back to the start/finish.  All told the laps were a little over 5 miles. 

My problems started pretty early.  Before the race I set up a table near the start/finish line to hold the bottles and planned to pick up one each lap.  When I finished the Roller Coaster trail on the first lap I ran out of water in the bottle I was carrying.  That was less than halfway through the lap.    I had Travis dogging me the entire lap and I was riding really hard but I really needed some water.  When I finished the first lap and grabbed my second bottle I immediately downed over half of it which didn't leave me much for the rest of the lap.   I finished the first lap in about 28 minutes.

Going up Grotpeter Travis passed me and I tried to hang with him but I couldn't.  I just felt weak.  I soon ran out of water (again) and was just hanging on, trying to go as fast as possible.  Then I was caught by Dan Miller racing in Sport Single Speed (who started at least a minute after we did).  He was riding really well and again I tried to hang on but couldn't.  The Lone Wolf climb was very difficult and when I finished the second lap (around 30 minutes) I stopped at the scorers table and asked if anyone had any water or anything to drink.  The event promoter, Ralph Pfremmer tossed me a water bottle and I downed it on the spot.   Man that was a lifesaver!

When I picked up my own bottle I didn't need to slam it and it actually lasted me until the Lone Wolf climb.  But I still felt like crap and just wanted to finish the race.  Again, Lone Wolf was hell.  My lap time was over 31 minutes.

The forth lap wasn't so bad because I knew I was almost done and that is a huge mental boost.  The lap wasn't any faster (31 min) but it wasn't as painful as the 2nd and 3rd lap.  I didn't have anyone chasing me down so I just took my time and rode it out.

I finished the race in 9th overall and 7th in the Cat 1 30-39 class.  I'm pretty happy with that result.  I think I could have done better but everyone that beat me and several that didn't are all very good riders so I feel good being amongst them.  There were lots of racers that weren't able to finish the race due to the heat and demands of the course.

I found lots of pictures of from the race.  Here are the galleries and below are the ones of me.

• Rob's pics
• Alex's pics (have to register to see) 
• Dennis' pics 1
• Dennis' pics 2
• JP's pics (may have to be facebook friend to see)

This creek was the most refreshing part of the lap.  I wanted to lay down in it.

Smiling because it's almost over!

Here's a link to my garmin data for the day.    You can find most of the chip timings here.

Thanks to the promoter (especially for that bottle of water) and volunteers for putting on a great and challenging race.  The post-race food was excellent!

Next up is the Lost Valley Luau.  I plan to take much more water to this one.

Rhetts Run cop-out

Normally in this space you see my race recap from the weekends activities.  Not this time; I didn't do the race.   I planned to do the race and I really wanted to do the race, but common sense prevailed and I stayed on the sidelines for this one.

I was in the Columbia area from Thursday to Sunday.  On Thursday I stopped by Cosmo park (site of the race) and tried to ride some of the trails.  They had standing water from a recent rain so I decided I'd come back Saturday for a pre-ride.

On Friday I drove up to Kirksville to ride the 13 miles of trail at Thousand Hills state park.  The trails there were way too muddy and I couldn't cross the lake spillway so I ended up riding around the paved section of the park for an hour.  The beavers didn't want me to ride the trails either:

On Saturday I went to Cosmo and rode the race course a couple times in the rain.  It wasn't a downpour but when I was finished this is what my bike and I looked like:

The trails were not fun to ride and I knew they wouldn't get any better once 50 or so people started churning it up.  During the ride I talked to the race promoter who was there marking the course.  He sounded upbeat about the race and was hoping for a decent turnout.  I just decided I didn't want to take the chance of breaking anything trying to ride those conditions at race speed.

I went to the race Sunday to watch and think I made the right decision.  I left when it started raining.

Next race is the Down and Dirty in Warsaw Mo in 3 weeks.  I've got some training goals to keep me busy in the mean time.