One finger braking

Most of my thought involving my mountain bike revolves around how I can go faster.  But last night I had a break-through (pun-intended); how I can stop more effectively.

I've always been a two finger braker.  I've read about the benefits and tried to use just one finger but unfortunately I was born with stubby digits and always felt unnatural (and a little rude) using just the middle finger to stop my bike.  My index finger just wouldn't comfortably reach the lever so even though there were times I felt I would have better control leaving 3 fingers on the bar I've erred on the side of being able to stop.

Then last night while fiddling with my bike I realized that the levers on my SRAM XX brakes are adjustable.  The contact point (the distance the lever moves while contracting the brakes) is adjustable as well.  Which means you can move the lever a long way from the bars and have more leverage as you squeeze or you can move the lever right next to the bar and adjust the pad where the brakes will still fully contract.  Awesome!

So I flipped the shifters on my matchmaker xx brackets to the outside and moved the brake assembly in about an inch.  I then adjusted the reach where my index finger could comfortably get to it and the contact pad where the brakes would contract with a 1/2 inch pull.

I tested the setup riding around the neighborhood and it feels great; I can't wait to try it on the trails.

Yay for adjust-ability!

2010 Spa City 6 hour race recap

Saturday was the first race of the year for the AMBCS; the Spa City 6 hour mountain bike race at Cedar Glades park in Hot Springs Arkansas.  It was also the second event on the USA Cycling US Mountain Bike National Ultra-Endurance Calendar.  I didn't have any idea what to expect heading into this race since I'd never ridden the course and didn't know who I'd be competing against, but I'd been training really hard and hoped for a top 10 finish.

I made the trip to Hot Springs with Jesse and Brett who were signed up for the 2 man team competition.  We arrived at the race site around 6pm Friday evening after an uneventful 5 hour drive from Springfield.   We picked up our registration packets, set up Jessie's pop-up camper and headed into town looking for our pre-race dinner.  I wanted pasta so we picked the first Italian restaurant that didn't look super expensive and ended up at Rocky's Corner.  We all had spaghetti and it was pretty good.  I've had good luck when I've eaten huge meals the evening before a race and Rocky's allowed me to test the theory once more.

When we got back to the race site the temperature had dropped considerably so we made a campfire and met a few of the other early arrivals.  It looked like there were only 5 or 6 other groups camping on site that night.  Everyone was really looking forward to the race.  When the fire died out we turned in for the night.  Unfortunately we couldn't get the heater working in the pop-up, but I still slept pretty well considering the below freezing temperatures.

I woke up early Saturday morning to a bright clear sky with no noticeable wind.  It was still pretty chilly but I knew it was going to be a beautify day.  As people started arriving for the race I set up Brett's propane camp stove and made my other pre-race staple; oatmeal with peanut butter and coffee.  I then mixed 6 bottles of Hammer Perpetuem and started carrying our stuff to the pop up tent we set up next to the race course:

With the sunlight I was able to check out the park a bit more and there were some pretty cool features.  There was a bike wash station next to the flush bathrooms, a big tree house like thing with cat-walks, an outdoor climbing wall, a BMX track, an RC track and a small amphitheater. 

The race started at 10 am with a LeMans style 200 yard run to the bikes.  In my last 6 hour race I jogged the start and had a horrible first lap having to stop and go as the riders bunched up on the turns.  For this race I sprinted and was among the first riders to the bikes.  I had a little trouble clipping in when I got to the bike and that allowed a group of riders to get in front of me but I was still in a good position with only 15-20 riders ahead of me.  The race course was approximately 10 miles long and the goal was to do as many laps as possible in 6.5 hours.  My first lap went really well.  I felt great and was able to pass about 10 riders.  For awhile I rode behind the 2009 Leadville overall female winner, Rebecca Rusch.  She had an Arkansas rider directly behind her calling out the upcoming terrain; I thought that was pretty cool.  On one of the climbs about 7 miles into the lap I felt like I could handle a better pace so I passed them and continued on my own.  My time for the lap was 54 minutes.  If I could maintain that pace I would be able to do 7 laps.

The second lap was my fastest of the day at 53:29.  I was feeling really good, enjoying the trail and loving my new bike.  The trails at cedar glades park are really nice with lots of switchbacks and many of the turns are banked.  The hill climbs are generally short and sweet and there are lots of natural obstacles to keep things fun.  There was one really long straight downhill section that was my favorite part of the course.  It followed a switchback hill climb and lead to a really fun banked turn switchback section.  It was a thrilling ride.

On my third lap my legs were beginning to cramp when I pushed it going up the hills and this slowed me down a bit.  The perpetum was working really well since I wasn't tired at all and my time for the third lap was 56:50.

At the start of the fourth lap I grabbed a banana to help with the cramping and continued to ride as hard as I could.  It was really nice that I wasn't experiencing the lower back or shoulder pain I usually experience in the longer races, but the cramping was keeping me from going any faster on the climbs.  It was like I was right on the verge of seizing up.  I was in pain but it was a manageable pain.  I was lucky the hills were as short as they were.  I was lapping many riders and could never tell if I was moving up in the overall standings but I was still loving the downhills and doing as well on the climbs as possible.  My time for the fourth lap was 59:32.

The fifth lap was the worst of the day.  My legs were cramping horribly, even on flat ground.  Then I realized that it felt like I was riding a BMX bike;  my seat had sunk about 4 inches so my legs were never fully extending.  I tried to ride standing up as much as possible, but the entire time I was just trying to get back to the pop-up tent so I could grab an allen wrench and raise my seat.  Luckily nobody behind me caught up to me that lap and my time was 1:03:39 (includes time taken to adjust my seat).

On the sixth lap I felt like a new man.  Since I hadn't maintained the 55 minute laps I was shooting for I knew that 7 laps was not possible so I wanted to do as well as possible on my final lap.  I still had some minor cramps on the steeper climbs but nothing like the previous lap.  I really enjoyed the final lap and I rode it with a time of 1:00:49 for a total ride time of 5:48:19.  I was passed on that lap for the first time of the day; it was by the race leader who was lapping me.

There were 6 people that were able to do 7 laps and if I hadn't been cramping I think I could have also, but I am happy since I finished 9th overall and 1st in the 30-39 age group.  There were 78 male solo riders.

Male order of finish
Age Group breakdown

All racing pictures in this post are taken from the following pages:
http://www.vidosphotoworks.com/cgi-bin/validate.pl?MountainBike1
http://www.vidosphotoworks.com/cgi-bin/validate.pl?MountainBike2
http://www.vidosphotoworks.com/cgi-bin/validate.pl?MountainBike3

Jesse and Brett didn't have as much good luck as I did.  Jessie rode the first lap and was sitting in second place among the 2 person teams when he passed the baton to Brett.  Brett had 3 flats that lap and took about 2 and a half hours to complete the lap.  After Jesse's next lap Brett headed back out and not only had another flat but also had a nice wreck while showing off for the photographer.  They finished last...... 

After the awards ceremony we packed up our stuff and headed back to Springfield.  We stopped at Coltons in Little Rock for a good steak dinner and arrived back in town a little after 1am.  The bikes were a bit dirty, but it was a great time and I'm glad I made the trip.  I need to figure out a way to prevent the cramps I experienced during the race, but if I keep improving in my training I think I'll have a successful racing season this summer.

More Pictures from the parks facebook page.
Nice article about the event's pros.

Perfect Day

Today may have been the perfect day.  It started at 9am with a home-made banana/strawberry/peanut butter/chocolate/yogurt smoothie, followed by an awesome ride at Sac River. 

The trails where great and the weather was perfect.  I met a few other riders and just had a great time.  My new bike is so much fun to ride.

That was followed by a trip to JQH Arena to watch the Bears beat Nevada in a nationally televised bracket buster game.  It came down to the wire, with them winning on a pair of free throws with 3 seconds on the clock.  We had great seats in the second row right behind the bears basket.  It was such a good game.

Then I went back out to Sac River for another ride.  While riding some of the lesser used trails I discovered that Jason Faegans and his crew have been busy building new trails.  They aren't finished yet but I was able to ride 3 of the new trails and part of a 4th one by following the ribbons.  I also found a new bypass they've put in and lots of trail grooming where erosion has degraded the trail.  There are several miles of new trail and it will be really cool when they are finished.  

After the ride I had a really good steak gorgonzola salad and a peanut butter cookie from the Grotto with some wonderful company .  A perfect day.

Spa City 6 hour mountain bike race

My first mountain bike race of the year is in just a couple weeks.  I'm going to do the Spa City 6 hour race in Hot Springs AR on Feb 27th.  My plan for the weekend is to car-pool with 4 guys from Springfield and arrive early enough on Friday the 26th to be able to pre-ride the course a little, then camp at the race site Friday night, race Saturday and either come home after the race or camp Saturday and drive home Sunday.

I think I'm ready for the race.  Hopefully the temps will be in the 50's and the trails won't be too sloppy.  I've been getting in some fairly long training rides and I plan to ride for 4 hours this Saturday.  I don't have any expectation of doing well at the race, but if I can get in the top 10 I'll be very happy.  I'm just really excited to get this racing season under way.

If anyone reading this is interested in doing the race and wants to car-pool from Springfield, let me know in the comments.  Hot Springs is a great town and Saturday night could be a good time.  We are planning on taking only 1 vehicle, but I wouldn't mind driving if a couple more people want to go.  We'll have a pop-up camper and a pop-up cover.  Just bring your bike and a tent.  This would be a good tune-up race for Ouachita, and it's a USA Cycling event.

Here's a picture I took in Hot Springs last year:

It's going to be a great place to ride.

No looking back

I've had my usacycling norba license upgraded to cat 1 so I'm done with Sport.  I race because I want to push myself and I love competition.  I want to race against the best and cat 1 is where they are at, so that's where I'll be.  It's going to be humbling but winning isn't everything.  There's just as much racing going on in the middle of the pack as there is at the front.   I might even be able to catch a few people off guard.

I've been working really hard and it looks like my first race of 2010 is going to be the Leadbelt XC on March 14.  It will be the inaugural event in the newly formed United Federation of Dirt series.  I'm hoping all the spin classes, road miles and hours on the trainer are going to pay off.

Thieves

Last night someone broke into my Jeep and my girlfriends car.  They broke out the passenger side windows on both vehicles and rummaged through all the contents.  They also looked through my shed to see if there was anything they wanted in there.

All that was taken was an old iPhone that I had hooked up to my stereo.  If somebody wanted it that badly they could have asked for it and I would given it to them.  The biggest pain is cleaning up the mess and getting our windows replaced.

The cars were parked in our carport, and this just gives me more incentive to build a garage.  We reported the break-in and theft to the police and they took the report over the phone.  I guess it wasn't serious enough to warrant a visit.

I hope whoever did it either gets caught or turns their life around.  It's a crummy feeling to go out to your car in the morning and see broken glass everywhere.  I'd hate for anyone else to have it happen to them.

Here's the scene of the crime:

Notice the Atlas security sign on the fence.  Unfortunately the security system is for the house only.  Maybe I need to install some lights out there with motion sensors on them.  I really just want a garage....

UPDATE:  I was called by the officer investigating the break-in and it turns out there have been several in the area lately.  He's trying to catch them.  I also found out our neighbors car was broken into the same night but nothing was taken; just rummaged through.  Same MO, broken rear window and the thief went in through the window.  If they had unlocked and opened the door the alarm would have gone off.  Hopefully they report it; I'm going to give them the officers number. 

New Years Day ride at The Ranch

Friday I was able to ride in the annual New Years Day ride at the ranch.  It was an amazing day. (Thanks to Adam for the pictures)

I arrived at 9am and was on the trail not long after.  It's basically a 14 mile loop and it's some of the nicest singletrack I've ever ridden.   There are lots of challenging sections and tons of variety, but what stands out the most is the way the trails flow.  It's just a lot of fun.

I rode with Zednek Palecek; me on my epic and him on his single speed salsa.

After the first couple miles I took the lead tried to set a nice fast pace.  It was pretty cold and I needed the effort to build up some warmth.  Not long into the ride I noticed my rear tire was going flat so we stopped to check it out.  I had a small slit in my sidewall and it wasn't sealing.  We shot some CO2 into the tire and got it to hold air and took off again.  A couple miles later it was going flat again.  I took the tire off, put on a tube and after airing it up a little, ran out of CO2.  Neither one of us was carrying a pump.

We were near a bailout road so Z went back to the cars to get a pump and after a few minutes a couple guys came by and they let me use their pump to air up my tire.  The standing around was taking it's toll on my feet and my toes were getting pretty cold.  I rode out to meet Z, used hit pump to put a little more air in my tire and we got back on the trail and picked up where we left off.

Before we finished the lap Z got a flat on his front tire; it looked like a piece of shale rock went through his tread and the stans didn't seal it.  When he took the tire off there was a snowflake of rubber inside.  He put in a tube, aired it up and we were back in action.

Here's one of the obstacles near the end of the lap:

After we finished the lap we ate a little and waited while I warmed my toes.  I couldn't believe how many people were there; at least 60 on a very cold day.

We decided to head out for a second lap going the opposite direction, with Z in the lead.  He worked me really hard that lap.  He knows the trails there pretty well and would pull away on the downhills and I'd have to work really hard to catch him going up the next hill.  Z is a very strong rider and I was happy to keep pace with him.  Near the end we caught up with Chris Ploch and David Frei and finished the lap with them.  It was funny because on the hills David kept telling me I could pass and I kept telling him I didn't want to.  My legs were feeling pretty burnt and I didn't want to go any harder.

So after about 30 miles of hard riding we were done for the day and ate pretty much everything that was left of the food people had brought.   It was a really nice way to spend a day.

UPDATE:  The pictures Adam Rybar took that day are on SnapFish. You'll have to register to see them (for some reason). Here's the link: http://www5.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3097397007/a=56026446_56026446/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/